PVP Policy

= Policy Defunct: See [|the House Rules]

PvP Pilot
This policy is exploring the ability to allow players to engage in narratives previously forbidden in our cooperative gameplay rules. It is deliberately restrictive to avoid common pitfalls of these systems and focused on collaborative efforts. If the admin team is unhappy with the results of this pilot, we will terminate the policy immediately.

Signing Up
The PvP gameplay will not be the server standard; instead, any player interested in participating must request the admin team give them the PvP role. This role requires notating which of your characters will be eligible for PvP in a tracking sheet we will maintain. If you decide that the risks of PvP are too unpleasant for you, the admin team can remove your role if you have not initiated a PvP instance for at least one month. Players who give up their PvP role will not be permitted to rejoin it, unless the circumstances of their opt-out were not related to the server.

PvP Flagged Traits
A part of the new PvP system is the acknowledgement of several qualities for either their likeliness to instigate PvP or their lack of downside without PvP. This set of qualities will now require that a player receive the PvP role and add their character to the tracking sheet.
 * 1) SINner (Corporate - 25 karma): These runners are considered likely traitors by other runners, because they are part of a privileged class with valuable ties to the corporations they may be working against on a job.
 * 2) *These SINners cannot turn down an initiation of PvP by a character who has found out about their real SIN, but can flee. They can turn down other initiations of PvP normally.
 * 3) Superhuman Psychosis (2 karma): This quality explicitly says there is nobody you won’t kill. This includes your fellow runners.
 * 4) *These characters cannot turn down an initiation of PvP by a character with a combat role (leaving the combat works the same way the quality’s Composure test works; they may attempt the test once per Combat Turn).
 * 5) Leroy Jenkins (20 karma): This quality forces you to attack anybody who you consider a threat.
 * 6) *These characters must make a Composure test to turn down an initiation of PvP that comes in the form of a threat.
 * 7) Cyberpsychosis (10 karma): This quality sends you into a psychotic break.
 * 8) *When your quality is triggered by a critical glitch, you must attack or initiate PvP with any or all characters present. (NPCs can be attacked without initiating PvP)
 * 9) Tough and Targeted (10 karma): Everybody wants a piece of this character.
 * 10) *If this character turns down an initiation of PvP, a negative rumor is spread.
 * 11) Poor Self Control (Vindictive - 5 karma): Everybody can end up on your hit list, just for a bad joke.
 * 12) *If this character turns down an initiation of PvP, you must initiate PvP with the offending character within a week, or as long as it takes to schedule one with the other player and a PvP GM.
 * 13) Wanted (10 karma): There’s a bounty on you, and runners like cash.
 * 14) *These characters cannot turn down an initiation of PvP by characters who know about their bounty, but they can flee. They can turn other initiations of PvP down normally.
 * 15) HMHVV (any): These characters have an unnatural thirst slaked best by their fellow metahumans.
 * 16) *These characters cannot turn down an initiation of PvP, but they can flee.
 * 17) Blood Magic (metamagic)
 * 18) *These characters cannot turn down an initiation of PvP from a character who has seen their use of the Sacrifice metamagic, but they can flee.
 * 19) Toxic Traditions (Toxic Shifts and the Elder God Tradition)
 * 20) *These characters cannot turn down an initiation of PvP, but they can flee.

Quality Replacement
To account for the new changes in the handling of certain qualities, players who do not want to join the PvP system are free to select an equivalent amount of negative qualities to replace their flagged quality with. If there are no other qualities you would rather take, you may go into karmic debt and remove the quality. This karmic debt must be paid at least 50% (round up) of all gained karma until it is gone.

Wanted, a Revision
This quality can be earned during play, depending on events sometimes outside of your direct control. Gaining this quality will require that the character become PvP active, so there is an alternative available. A character who finds out they are now Wanted has the opportunity to turn themselves in before the bounty hits the board, thus acquiring a different set of qualities or consequences without interacting with this system.

Guilt By Association
Characters who are part of a team, a technomancer tribe, a group bond, or sharing a lifestyle who are not PvP flagged are still at risk of entering PvP if they agree to appear in a PvP active scene. Unflagged characters who do not agree to appear in a PvP active scene are not considered to have broken any obligations their character has toward a PvP active character requesting aid.

Where You Can PvP
This is not a serverwide implementation, and that means we are not obligating all of our staff to run PvP. Instead, only GMs with the PvP role will be overseeing PvP, and it is not permitted during a job unless the GM and all players agree to make the scene a PvP active one. Outside of jobs, players may request PvP active scenes in IC-Channels (just request a PvP active GM to oversee the scene) and Side RPs (submit these requests normally).

What PvP Can Be
This policy does not permit freeform PvP. Instead, we are allowing players to take actions that can instigate PvP, and actual PvP may only occur in response to such an action. These actions can range from challenges or threats to overt greed or petty sabotage; the rule of thumb is that your instigating action cannot cause literal damage or put the target in immediate danger. If the player you are challenging is in a game, they may start PvP; if not, they and you need to work together to sort out how this situation deescalates. If the player you are challenging cannot turn down PvP because of a quality, they still have first action and can respond in any way that does not break their quality’s rule. PvP is broadly defined to contain any action that causes condition monitor or significant narrative damage to a character. Set ups, assault, sabotage, and doxxing are all under this umbrella. While the range of options is quite wide, and we encourage you to be creative in your efforts to win, the Code of Conduct still applies. If a player has their character surrender and confirms the surrender out of character, it stops there. The RP cannot involve any banned content, and the GM has discretion to end the RP early. It is important to remember that PvP is a narrative tool, not a rewards method. No matter how a PvP goes, you cannot take anything of value for yourself, even if the other player is willing.

The Spoils
Now you may be wondering how a victory works, or why you’d pursue a Wanted character when you can’t claim the cash bounty. The answer is that, for the most part, the narrative experience is your reward, as well as the thrill of winning a challenge. However, we are authorizing some incentives to those who will do the dirty work of the shadows. First, PvP Side RPs are eligible for karma rewards as usual, and the GM has discretion on whether it may be eligible for the rewards we reserve for more intense RPs (Solo fights will never reach that threshold). Second, a character who successfully claims a bounty will instead receive a contact whose job is to manage bounties for that organization, and this contact can hook the character up with other contacts or favors with that organization based on their performance as a bounty hunter (don’t worry, cooperative players; bounties will occasionally appear on NPCs too).