Roleless PK and Player Stealing

Player killing, or pk, and player stealing is allowed to all above the newbie level (11+) and who do not carry the [+] flag. Any who are IR (6 levels above and below) are fair game if you have a valid roleplay reason (for pk). Attacking or stealing from those who are BR is considered OOL and will be handled by the guild [Vermillion], the law enforcement guild of Dark Risings.

Be sure to read help [rules].
Be sure to read help [etiquette].
Be sure to read help [laws].
Be sure to read help [clarification].
Be sure to read help [cross-char].

Part One: What is Roleless PK?

Most obviously, it is attacking someone without your having developed through history and/or social interaction a reason for doing so. You must have a particular reason to attack that particular player. We do not permit certain roles such as a serial killer or a person who is driven by insanity to randomly kill people. We do not permit killing merely to gain equipment. We do not permit killing because of OOC conflicts. That’s the easy part. The other areas are varying shades of grey and I’ll try to explain a few of the more common ones.

Killing based on race or class. This is the most common excuse and the most easily abused ‘role’ for roleless PK. It is not against the rules to play a role of one who kills people of a certain race or class, but usually, people playing this role are sketchy to say the least. Let’s say you’ve decided to play a role to kill all elves. You must have some motivating issue from your history that would make you slaughter every being of elven descent. And you must hate them all. If we catch you even smiling at a pretty elven lass, we will punish you severely. The key here is consistency. Don’t play a role where you kill weak elves, but leave the mean nasty elves who can kick your sorry butt alone. If your racial hatred does not apply across the board, it is not a valid role.

PKing from within a guild. As a guild member, your PK is dictated by the role of your guild. Your guild imms will regulate what is appropriate here. For some guilds, such as Crimson Rain in Rapture or an Inferno completing a contract, it is appropriately in role to PK someone they’ve never had contact with. If you are PKed by a guilded person and you feel the PK was inappropriate, deal directly with the guild immortal.

Stealing and failing steals. If you are a rogue, you are not required to have a particular IC reason for stealing from a particular person. However, using stealing, specifically failing a steal, to engage in PK requires an IC reason. If a person pursues you and you happen to win, so be it, but don’t use stealing as a means to PK. Repeated stealing and stealing while without equipment will also be dealt with harshly. Generally, don’t be a pain about it.

Being insulted or annoyed by someone. If you insult someone, don’t be surprised if they kill you. If you annoy someone, likewise. If you perform an IC action and someone responds with violence, this cannot be considered roleless. This includes anything you say or do over the IC channel or in IC notes. But again, this is easily abused and we will keep a close eye on habitual killers.

Now, while these can all be valid reasons for PK, if we catch you abusing them, we will punish you to the full extent of the rules. A person cannot go around killing everyone who annoys him or her yet never work otherwise to develop a role. Note that the rules say roleplaying is required to PK here. That means all the time, not just when you want to kill someone.

Part Two: So, You’ve Been Rolelessly PKed.

All right, so say you believe you have been PKed by someone with no in-role reason to do so. Here’s what you should do and what you should expect to see.

Contact an immortal who is on at the time. Ask a visible immortal or ask, once, over OOC. If no one responds, write a note to imm detailing the situation as calmly and simply as you can.

Just because you tell us you’ve been rolelessly PKed does not mean we will whip out the slay button and award you all of the offender’s equipment. We will look into the situation. We will speak with the attacker and get his or her side of the story. Now this part is important - when we do this, the attacker is not going to say, ‘You’re right, I rolelessly PKed that guy.’ They are going to give us their reason, it may be real or fabricated cow manure. Our job at this point is to figure out who is telling the truth and if the reason was part of a valid role or not.

This takes time. Generally what we do is monitor the behavior of the accused offender and watch their future PKs. We do not guarantee reparations because you were killed. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and deal with the loss. With your help though, we can eliminate roleless PKers on a long term basis.

So say you followed this plan and have been told by an immortal that they are looking into the matter but are unable to prove anything. What can you do??

Turn it into a roleplay situation! Just because the other guy sucked at RP doesn’t mean you have to! Give that roleless cretin some IC hell. Do not expect to never get killed in this game. When it happens, deal with the repercussions as your character would react. The point is this – If you want other people to RP before they kill you, set a good example with RP yourself. In the long run, it is this behavior, and not our slays, that will eliminate roleless killing.

Part Three: How to Avoid Becoming a Roleless Pker!

When I’m investigating a reported roleless PK, there are a few things I look for to determine what kind of roleplay is going on.

A good desc. If you’ve written a good description, I can see that you’ve put thought and effort into your character.

A written history. If you write to everyone in advance that you are a person bent on eliminating foul necromancy, we can see how your past has influenced your present choices.

Establish a reputation before you start killing. Say I’m a new evil imm who would slay you if you even looked at me with disrespect. And say on my first day visible, you look at me funny so I slay you and eat your corpse. And it’s totally in my role! But – I have not yet taken the time establish my role and given appropriate evidence that I should act in that manner. Take time to establish your own role and make who and what you are known before you get out there swinging your broadsword.

Roleplay in the off-season. Make sure you are RPing even when you aren’t plotting destruction. This is a lot of what I’m looking for. Practice good habits, like not speaking OOC in says or emotes. Make sure there is more to your role than just killing.

Hope this helps some. This is just my interpretation of the rules, given to help you understand a little more what some of us are looking for. And as always, we reserve the right to punish if we deem you are breaking the spirit of the rule.

Player Stealing

A rogue who steals from, or fails a steal on, another character and is attacked because of it may NOT seek revenge for these attacks. Only after the rogue has reached safety, and fight lag has run out, and he is attacked again by the victim may he seek revenge for the attack.

As a matter of etiquette, a player thief should shy away from KOing and looting a victim who fights back unless circumstances clearly warrant such treatment. Also, insults from someone you steal from should be expected and not used as justification for attack. Err on the side of conservative and do not abuse your license to steal, lest the gods become angry and make of you a fine stew, with garlic and taters.

A player thief who makes a habit of picking on inexperienced players may find themselves struck down by the gods without warning.

Charming/Sleeping someone to steal from them requires the same level of RP foundation as a standard attack made for the purpose of KO/murder.

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