Player Character Conflict: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 10:12, 20 July 2023

PvP = Player vs Player, conflict between player characters (PCs), often referencing to violence between PCs.

PvE = Player vs Environment, where the primary conflict is between PCs and Non-Player Characters (NPCs).

Death Unto Darkness is not a game driven by intra-character conflict. Our stories are about the servants of the Inquisition cooperating against the external threats that threaten to bring about humanity's extinction. Although the Inquisition often has competing objectives it’s not the intent of the game team to create situations where PvP conflict would be a norm we encourage via our writing.

However, the Game Team does not want an inorganic situation where intra-character violence is mechanically impossible. It is a grounding fact that conflict between characters can occur - for whatever reason. One of the core driving themes of Death Unto Darkness is that actions have consequences, and a character who is acting in a heretical fashion or against other players must face those consequences even if those are retribution from other player characters.

But just as there are consequences of a heretic actions, there are consequences for violence against your fellow agents and you answer to the Ordos Prosperitas ultimately, a character found to have killed or violently assaulted another is answerable to the Inquisition, and can face penalties up to and including execution or permanent incarceration - so it is best to have evidence to back up your actions.

Even without conflict being initiated by the actions of characters, Death Unto Darkness takes place in a world where the dark powers of Chaos can turn someone you thought was a friend into an enemy, or where sanity cracking can make a frothing murderer of the most kindhearted soul. There is a risk of any character being involved in violent PvP even if they are the most cooperative individual even if they are defending against it.

Reporting Crimes and Heresies

Sometimes you lack the ability to enforce your will when you notice wrongdoing - in such a circumstance where you believe that a character is up to no good you may pass on information to Inquisitorial Authorities (the Game Team) who will react appropriately to the news based on presented evidence. This may result in punishment during the downtime between events or some kind of uptime consequence if it is thematically appropriate to the event to have an immediate Inquisitorial response. Violence against Abhumans, Psykers and Inhuman Characters The Imperium is a vile prejudiced place and even amongst the highest ranks of the Servants of the Inquisition those prejudices remain strong - although it is already noted on the pages associated with them - playing characters like this is embracing the clear and present danger of being treated constantly, often without justification, as a risk to a mission by other characters.

The most obvious example of this is that most NPCs will turn a blind eye if a character shot a Psyker because it began to experience strange warp effects because that is the accepted protocol for dealing with Psykers.

To this end we’ll caution here again that you should be -certain- when playing a character like this that you are willing to accept this kind of treatment up to and including your death being justified by what you were, rather than any actual crime.

OOC Welfare of Players

While we are choosing to make the risks of PvP violence very clear above we appreciate that there can be emotional reactions to having your character violently harmed by another player - we encourage players, where violence is not spontaneous, to try and have a ref or game team member present to ensure the welfare of the defeated party - and we are called on as soon as you can if it is spontaneous, if there is any welfare concern.

Where you want to take another character captive rather than killing them, please involve the Game Team to arbitrate a satisfying resolution for all players - being held in a room all weekend is not everyone’s cup of tea - and the game team can at least give a way for a captive character to exit so the player can choose to use a stand-in character or be able to adapt to accommodate that situation and ensure the player’s enjoyment of the event is at least better than their characters.

When role playing violent conflict between player characters, please be mindful of the OC experience of others. A character who constantly threatens other characters to win an argument would not be promoted to the level of the characters in this game, who are expected to be capable of functioning at a higher and more independent level than the usual Imperial first-reflex of violence. This is an IC gloss on an OC request to make sure physically smaller, quieter and less aggressive players are not forced out of some game areas by volume or physical intimidation.

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-<div style="border: 2px solid black; border-radius: 1em 0 1em 0; background: #EEE; text-align: center">This page is a draft and feedback is being welcomed so this shouldn't be taken as the final version while this notice is on it.</div>
+'''PvP''' = Player vs Player, conflict between player characters (PCs), often referencing to violence between PCs.
-'''PvP''' = Player vs Player, conflict between player characters (PCs), often referencing to violence between PCs.
 '''PvE''' = Player vs Environment, where the primary conflict is between PCs and Non-Player Characters (NPCs).
-Death Unto Darkness is a primarily PvE game, not a PvP game, and it aims to represent the struggles of the beleaguered Agents of the Holy Ordos against an ever-multiplying number of threats within and without.
-We generally discourage player-initiated ''violent'' PvP between characters, especially as a method of conflict resolution as it detracts from the PvE-driven narrative central to our events. The threat of killing another character can be a potent tool for silencing social conflict roleplay as the time, cost and emotional commitment to a LARP character means it places significant psychological weight on encouraging ''the player'' to stop engaging for fear of being robbed of that.
+Death Unto Darkness is not a game driven by intra-character conflict. Our stories are about the servants of the Inquisition cooperating against the external threats that threaten to bring about humanity's extinction. Although the Inquisition often has competing objectives it’s not the intent of the game team to create situations where PvP conflict would be a norm we encourage via our writing.
-This does not mean DuD never see's Player Characters turn on eachother violently. This is a setting where telepathic domination, spiritual corruption, malfunctioning technology and minds collapsing into madness can result in violent outcomes. So be aware that while we discourage players from initiating violent conflict it can easily be provoked.
+However, the Game Team does not want an inorganic situation where intra-character violence is mechanically impossible. It is a grounding fact that conflict between characters can occur - for whatever reason. One of the core driving themes of Death Unto Darkness is that actions have consequences, and a character who is acting in a heretical fashion or against other players must face those consequences even if those are retribution from other player characters.
+But just as there are consequences of a heretic actions, there are consequences for violence against your fellow agents and you answer to the Ordos Prosperitas ultimately, a character found to have killed or violently assaulted another is answerable to the Inquisition, and can face penalties up to and including execution or permanent incarceration - so it is best to have evidence to back up your actions.
-=== Social Conflict ===
+Even without conflict being initiated by the actions of characters, Death Unto Darkness takes place in a world where the dark powers of Chaos can turn someone you thought was a friend into an enemy, or where sanity cracking can make a frothing murderer of the most kindhearted soul. There is a risk of any character being involved in violent PvP even if they are the most cooperative individual even if they are defending against it.
-Social conflict is a natural part of the Imperium, with religious conflict and discrimination against people hailing from specific social castes or perceived as having genetic aberrations being themes of the DuD setting, these conflicts exist to create depth for roleplay interactions and are heavily encouraged and something someone should be aware of before playing our game.
-The Imperium is not a nice place and most of the people within it are not, by our standards, nice people - the challenge of the Imperium is that ultimately monstrous personalities are normalised and common, especially amongst the servants of the Inquisition. The trouble is that with the multiplying threats to the Imperium, Inquisitors and their agents are forced to cooperate against the rising tide - even with those they hate and despise.
-=== Inter-Character Violence ===
-Because we use a cinematic narrative system with a ‘death spiral’ mechanic, our combat rules do not translate well when players come up against each other as the cinematic nature begins to break down. Thus, we decided to introduce specific rulings regarding violence between players.
-* Where '''Player Characters''' are attacking other '''Player Characters''' then it is always assumed that when you hit 0 Endurance you become '''Subdued''' rather than '''<span style="color:red">Bleeding</span>'''.
-** A player may choose to become '''<span style="color:red">Bleeding</span>''' ''if they wish to'' - if you wish to take another character alive rather than killing them you can use the '''I'm taking you, alive''' call to make them Subdued instead.
-* If you have '''Subdued''' another character you '''must''' hand them over to Inquisitorial Authorities (the Game Team) immediately or allow them to recover from the condition.
-* If you choose to become '''<span style="color:red">Bleeding</span>''' then if you die as a result of players resolving to execute you or place you in a lethal situation (such as throwing out of an airlock) you may not use '''Fate''' to avoid your fate '''unless the Game Team agrees''' - by becoming bleeding you have accepted a lethal fate.
-* A character handed over to the Game Team with sufficient proof of wrongdoing will likely be removed from play or returned to play with some corrective measure (like a bomb collar) but that decision lies '''exclusively''' with the Team and their judgement IC represents the sanction of Inquisitorial Authority.
 === Reporting Crimes and Heresies ===
-'''Sometimes you lack the ability to enforce your will when you notice wrongdoing''' - in such a circumstance where you believe that a character is up to no good you may pass on information to Inquisitorial Authorities (the Game Team) who will react appropriately to the news based on presented evidence. This may result in punishment during the downtime between events or an Inquisitorial edict for the individual to be subdued and brought to the Inquisitorial Authorities.
-=== Unjustified Use Of Force ===
-It might be tempting to beat someone who doesn't agree with you into a pulp or get friendly muscle to do it for you - especially if they're loud and obnoxious - but the Inquisition expects its Agents to conduct themselves like civilised individuals, not Orks. Agents who cannot work together without coming to blows with their fellow Servants of the Inquisition rapidly find themselves released from service or posted to isolated posts where their lack of decorum presents no threat to the mission of the Holy Ordos.
-This says nothing of what happens those found to be guilty of Murder either directly or via unjustified executions.
-=== Provoking the Use of Force ===
-Even the Inquisition understands the primciples that sometimes violence occurs when one side was 'asking for it'. Most often then not this is when one party involved is actively attempting to betray the Imperium or Holy Ordos or do something that would critically endanger the other.
-An Agent is generally considered to be deserving of the use of force against them (thus absolving their attackers) if they;
-* Willingly and knowingly aided and abetted the enemies of the Imperium.
+Sometimes you lack the ability to enforce your will when you notice wrongdoing - in such a circumstance where you believe that a character is up to no good you may pass on information to Inquisitorial Authorities (the Game Team) who will react appropriately to the news based on presented evidence. This may result in punishment during the downtime between events or some kind of uptime consequence if it is thematically appropriate to the event to have an immediate Inquisitorial response.
+Violence against Abhumans, Psykers and Inhuman Characters
+The Imperium is a vile prejudiced place and even amongst the highest ranks of the Servants of the Inquisition those prejudices remain strong - although it is already noted on the pages associated with them - playing characters like this is embracing the clear and present danger of being treated constantly, often without justification, as a risk to a mission by other characters.
-* Actively sought to harm the Holy Ordos and the Imperium or attempted to rebel against their spiritual authority.
+The most obvious example of this is that most NPCs will turn a blind eye if a character shot a Psyker because it began to experience strange warp effects because that is the accepted protocol for dealing with Psykers.
-* Actively engaged in the worship of the Dark Gods or Daemons
+To this end we’ll caution here again that you should be -certain- when playing a character like this that you are willing to accept this kind of treatment up to and including your death being justified by what you were, rather than any actual crime.
-* Intentionally summoned one into reality without proof of Inquisitorial sanction to do so.
+=== OOC Welfare of Players ===
-* Became possessed by a Daemon.
+While we are choosing to make the risks of PvP violence very clear above we appreciate that there can be emotional reactions to having your character violently harmed by another player - we encourage players, where violence is not spontaneous, to try and have a ref or game team member present to ensure the welfare of the defeated party - and we are called on as soon as you can if it is spontaneous, if there is any welfare concern.
-* Denounce the God-Emperor.
+Where you want to take another character captive rather than killing them, please involve the Game Team to arbitrate a satisfying resolution for all players - being held in a room all weekend is not everyone’s cup of tea - and the game team can at least give a way for a captive character to exit so the player can choose to use a stand-in character or be able to adapt to accommodate that situation and ensure the player’s enjoyment of the event is at least better than their characters.
-Inevitably you should know that if you do things that lead others to believe that you are working against the Holy Ordos, Imperium and the mission you have been assigned to there are concequences and these will be enforced.
+When role playing violent conflict between player characters, please be mindful of the OC experience of others. A character who constantly threatens other characters to win an argument would not be promoted to the level of the characters in this game, who are expected to be capable of functioning at a higher and more independent level than the usual Imperial first-reflex of violence. This is an IC gloss on an OC request to make sure physically smaller, quieter and less aggressive players are not forced out of some game areas by volume or physical intimidation.