PvP and Player Conflict¶
Design Position¶
This is an async MMO. There is no real-time combat between players — no targeting another player and swinging a sword in the same moment they're online. Player conflict is instead expressed through systems that resolve at settlement: caravan raiding, bounty hunting, guild influence contests, and consensual dueling. The stakes are real and the outcomes matter, but the timing pressure is removed.
The goal is conflict that creates stories and reputation rather than conflict that creates grief and harassment.
Conflict Types¶
1. Guild Influence Contests¶
The primary long-term PvP layer. Guilds compete for Trevalkaan district influence and village standing through the contribution system documented in guilds-clans-and-town-control.md. This is indirect competition — guilds are not attacking each other directly; they are out-serving each other.
When two guilds compete for the same town influence position, the guild with the higher 14-day contribution score holds control. Influence is not taken by force — it is earned. A dominant guild can be displaced only by consistent, sustained contribution from a rival.
This creates political drama without requiring any player to be online at the same moment as their rival.
2. Caravan Raiding and the Outlaw System¶
The most direct PvP action available. A player can post a Raid Contract targeting a specific active caravan delivery that another player (or guild) is running. This places the two players in indirect competition through the expedition resolver.
How Caravan Raiding Works¶
- The raiding player identifies a caravan contract posted on the regional board (all active player caravan contracts are visible as board postings with cargo type, route, and sender displayed)
- They post a Raid Contract referencing the specific caravan by contract ID
- At the next settlement tick, both the caravan and the raid resolve simultaneously:
- The caravan player's loadout, route knowledge, Routefinding skill, and any escort party coverage resolve as their defense score
- The raiding player's loadout, combat skills, and party coverage resolve as their attack score
- The outcome is determined by the resolver comparing both scores — the same resolver used for creature encounters, applied to the contest
- On raid success: the raider receives a portion of the caravan's cargo and coin value; the caravan player loses the cargo (the contract fails) and may lose some carried materials
- On raid failure: the caravan completes normally; the raider loses their expedition supplies and gains 1 infamy point
Infamy and the Outlaw Threshold¶
Each successful raid awards 1 infamy point. Infamy persists and accumulates.
| Infamy Level | Label | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Clean | No restrictions |
| 1–2 | Suspected | Market post fees increase 10%; Trevalkaan gate wardens may require inspection (NPC dialog) |
| 3–4 | Wanted | Cannot use Trevalkaan Adventurers Hall board freely — board access restricted to specific commissions; 20% market fee penalty |
| 5+ | Outlaw | Permanently flagged; no Trevalkaan board access; NPCs at Trusted standing or above refuse services; any player holding Hall rank D or above can post a Bounty Hunt against them |
Infamy Reduction¶
Infamy reduces through: - Paying a fine at the Trevalkaan Gate Warden (100 coin per infamy point, clears 1 point) - Completing civic service orders (specially flagged board orders that reduce 1 infamy each; available in limited supply) - Extended absence from raiding (1 infamy point decays per 14 real days of no criminal action, capped at removing 2 points passively)
Raiding Limitations¶
- Cannot raid a caravan being run by a player with Beginner Protection active (the board displays protection status)
- Cannot raid guild-to-guild supply runs that are marked as civic contributions (protection from civic flag)
- Cannot post a Raid Contract against the same caravan more than once
3. Bounty Hunting¶
When a player reaches Outlaw status (infamy 5+), any player holding Adventurers Hall rank D or above can post a Bounty Hunt Contract against them.
How Bounty Hunting Works¶
- The bounty poster pays a deposit (covers the reward) and specifies the target player's name
- The contract posts to the Hall board as a special contract type — visible to all eligible players
- Another player (not the poster) accepts the bounty contract as a standard expedition
- At settlement, the bounty hunter's loadout, skills, and tracking capability resolve against the Outlaw's most recently logged expedition parameters
- On success: the Outlaw loses a substantial portion of coin and carried materials; the bounty hunter receives the reward and the Outlaw gains a "caught" mark that reduces their infamy by 2 points
- On failure: the bounty hunter fails; the contract remains open for another attempt
Being Hunted¶
The Outlaw player receives a notification that a bounty has been posted against them. They see the contract title and that it's active — not who accepted it. They can attempt to reduce their infamy before the bounty resolves by: - Paying fines at the Gate Warden - Completing civic service orders to reduce infamy below Outlaw threshold (which cancels the contract — you can't bounty-hunt a non-Outlaw)
The hunted player cannot directly defend against the bounty resolver — but if they get their infamy below 5 before the tick resolves, the contract cancels.
4. Consensual Dueling¶
Any two players can challenge each other to a Duel at the Proving Ground — a designated combat space in Trevalkaan's North Gate Ward (adjacent to the Hall). Dueling is:
- Always consensual — both players must accept before the resolver runs
- Resolved at the next settlement tick after both parties confirm
- Stakes are agreed before commitment (no-stakes, coin wager, or item wager — both items held in escrow until resolution)
Duel Resolution¶
Both players' loadouts and relevant skills are compared through the same resolver used for creature encounters. The duel is treated as a balanced PvP encounter with no terrain advantage. Role coverage still matters — a solo Vanguard against a solo Ranger is a different contest than two identically skilled fighters.
Outcome bands in a duel: - Strong Success (attacker perspective): Clear win; full wager awarded; opponent takes 1 injury - Success: Win; full wager awarded - Partial Success: Narrow win; half wager awarded (if stakes are coin) - Failure: Loss; wager transferred to opponent
Duels do not cause incapacitation. The loser retains all gear and items — duel loss is not a death event. Only explicitly wagered items are at risk.
Duel Scheduling¶
Duels can be scheduled up to 72 hours in advance. The Hall board displays scheduled public duels (with player permission). Guilds can schedule group duels (small-party vs. small-party, same party size on each side) for tournaments or dispute resolution.
5. Guild Territorial Claims (Resource Nodes)¶
Guilds can formally claim a resource node (surveyed site, grove, vein, named fishing stretch). Claiming a node: - Requires the claiming guild to have performed at least one survey of the node (documented in Cartography skill progression) - Costs a fee posted to the Trevalkaan board as a civic declaration - Grants the claiming guild first-priority access at settlement — their extraction orders process before unclaimed access
Another guild can contest a claim by posting a Contest Contract against the node. Contest resolution: - Uses the contesting guild's combined influence score in the node's region vs. the claiming guild's score - The higher score holds the claim for the next 14 days - Contested nodes are marked on the map as disputed
This is the economic equivalent of territorial PvP — no direct combat, but real stakes for guild-level players.
Anti-Grief Design¶
The following protections exist to prevent the PvP systems from becoming harassment tools:
Beginner Protection covers all PvP: A player with Beginner Protection active cannot be raided, cannot have a bounty posted against them, and cannot be challenged to a high-stakes duel.
Infamy threshold for raiding access: Raiding requires accepting infamy risk. A player cannot raid indefinitely without consequences — eventually they lose access to Trevalkaan's infrastructure entirely.
Bounty can only target declared Outlaws: Bounty Hunting requires the target to have earned infamy 5+ through their own actions. Players cannot be hunted without cause.
Duel requires mutual consent: No duel can proceed without both players explicitly confirming. Unsolicited challenge notifications have a 24-hour auto-decline if unacknowledged.
Caravan contracts display sender: Players can see who posted the caravan and choose whether to run routes for players they distrust. The system gives information, not blind matchmaking.
Report integration: Guild or player behaviors that constitute harassment (targeting the same player's caravans repeatedly across multiple accounts, coordinated infamy suppression schemes) are handled through the moderation system (see supporting-features.md).