Rules for Chases

[Lago 2572]

In my time in Al'khazar, the guards have had to apprenhend many criminals. The problem is that the criminals run while you type. You can't kill them because it's a no PvP area, and as there is no system, chases are rife with powergaming. Nowadays opposed d20 rolls are used to determine who succeeds, but that does not take into account who has the advantage, and people keep rerolling for second, third and fourth attempts to break free. I've thought of some rules for chase sequences, opinions?

When a person (Person 1) wants to stop someone else (Person 2), such as a guard attempting to arrest a suspect, Person 1 says such to Person 2. This starts the chase sequence.

START: Person 1 gets to take an Action Attempt at the start.

ACTIONS: When you take an Action, you annouce what you are doing. Try to write it in an RP way, but it must be clear. You may do one of three things:

Draw your weapon.

You select a weapon from your inventory. If you do this, your opponent may then take an Action.

Run away.

You may run, and your opponent must wait 5 seconds before chasing you.

Attack! (Tripping them, toppling a stack of books, smashing them in the face...)

If you attack, follow these steps:

Announce what you are doing over chat.

Make a /roll.

The person you are taking an action against makes a /roll.

The highest roll wins.

If the attacker wins, the defender takes a -5 penalty to rolls for the rest of the chase.

The winner may run or take another Action. If the winner runs, the loser must let them go and wait five seconds before pursing again.

Normally you /roll 20, but this number changes depending on the circumstances. Bonuses or penalties increase or decrease the number you roll, so a +5 bonus means you would /roll 25.

Having a better weapon drawn gives you a +5 bonus.

Having armour on gives you a +5 bonus. (you can't change your armour during the chase)

The defender gets -5 when an attack succeeds, as above. These penalties stack, but the /roll can never be lower than /roll 5.

CHASE: If Person 2 ever runs, Person 1 may chase Person 2 until he or she gets within two blocks of him or her, at which point they must stop and Person 1 may make another Action attempt.

ESCAPE: If Person 1 fails three consecutive Action attempts, or if Person 2 escapes the settlement, Person 2 escapes, and may leave the settlement unharmed by Person 1. Person 1 may attempt to arrest Person 2 again if, and only if:

Person 2 does not leave within a minute.

Person 2 reenters the settlement after leaving.

This does not stop a new Person 1 starting a new chase, but they cannot have been involved in the last one.

CAPTURE: Binding your Target: Person 1 may attempt to bind or cuff Person 2 when they take an Attack Action. You may only do this if you have cuffs or something else to bind them with.

When you attempt to bind, you do not add any bonuses to your /roll (if someone is trying to bind you you still have your bonuses!) but once they are bound the chase is over and Person 2 must obey Person 1's instructions on where to move, they cannot resist.

MULTIPLE CHASERS: Sometimes more than one person is chasing.

During the chase sequence, only the person that got within two blocks of Person 2 may make the action attempt.

All the chasers must let Person 2 go and wait 5 seconds if the attempt fails.

If Person 1 then gets to make a second action, they may choose to let another chaser take it instead, but it is their choice.

If Person 2 escapes, all the chasers must wait one minute before chasing him again as per escape rules.

These rules would only apply in NoPvP zones.

Thoughts?

[Notw1lll 1]

That sounds like quite a good system; from my experience as a guard, the main issue with chases at the moment is that if the chaser attempts to perform some action (such as shouting at the pursued to halt, attempt to tackle them to the ground etc.), they need to stop in order to type whatever they are going to do, and this means that the individual can easily escape.

[karlfranz90 0]

Lets not turn this into a tabletop game. I think people just need to follow rp, and if they refuse to be fair, they don't deserve to be on the server. If a guard says he trips me, ill rp falling down, and then getting back up before talking. Adding additional rules to running and actions will make the game more cluttered and confusing to new players, not better.

[Lago 2572]

Nowadays in Al'khazar, most conflicts are decided by /roll. This just puts a system to it.

[karlfranz90 0]

But the roll system is very simple, and allows for people to get on with their lives/ go to jail quickly and easily. Adding these additional rules to such events would only complicate matters, and confuse payers who may not be used to such things.

[Lago 2572]

This is pretty much what happens anyway. Resolving everything with just /roll 20 leads to repeat attempts every few seconds and people escaping a gauntlet of armed guards down a narrow corridor.

I've tried out this system or slight variants of it before, and you'd be surprised how quickly people pick it up and how well it works. I used it for a fight in the city once, every result was RPed, and it worked pretty well.

[V0idsoldier 1139]

No offense to you or anything, but as a player of DnD the whole point, and I cant stress this enough, of A 3d game like this is so you do NOT have to roll, that ruins the point. In a fight the person with the better gear or skill wins, there is no reason for rolling, in a chase I wouldn't sit there and wait for someone to tell me they are going to try to hit me, I am going to run. The WHOLE point of a video-game is so you can see what is happening and don't have to roll.

[problematic z 477]

Eh i like the 5 second rule but am not fond of the roll system, it would make the chase slow and not very exciting.

A good chase=Surprises !

Usually if i'm chasing someone or am about to initiate i say:

*Draw's sword

The other person would say something like *steps back

And then the chase will start.

[firespirit44 1323]

No offense to you or anything, but as a player of DnD the whole point, and I cant stress this enough, of A 3d game like this is so you do NOT have to roll, that ruins the point. In a fight the person with the better gear or skill wins, there is no reason for rolling, in a chase I wouldn't sit there and wait for someone to tell me they are going to try to hit me, I am going to run. The WHOLE point of a video-game is so you can see what is happening and don't have to roll.

Well the reason why /roll exists is because of the non-pvp zone. Everything would be settled easily if the non-pvp zone everywhere was removed. Leading to more RP situations like assassination, raiding, etc. But then many players would go QQ, so meh.

[Sultan 3953]

Yes just remove none pvp zone

[Lago 2572]

People would take the guards more seriously if they could stab you on the spot, yes. The way it seems to go at the moment though is someone is caught by /roll, then every 30 seconds or so they /roll again. This is the same system as is in use, just with rules to it to prevent constant rerolls.

[moondoggy 27]

In D&D there is always a DM so it's much easier. He or she tells the story as your characters roll. In MC it's much harder because most of the time there are no GM's to moderate skirmishes and players much mod themselves. Problem is most players don't find flaws in their character and neither party wants to lose EVER so the /rolling turns to flaming and powergaming. There should be ONE initial roll, the winner gets the upper hand from that point on. If the Guard wins the first roll, the criminal is cuffed and cannot break free. the next /roll would be for length of imprisonment or breaking out of cell earlier and guard should get two rolls because he has upper hand. it's like gambling, you roll once and the winner takes all. If the players are more adept in rp then more rolls can be granted as both players agree fit. problem with this however is everyone is an expert...also people don't understand the concept of "double-or-nothing" adding up also increases chance to lose everything.

[V0idsoldier 1139]

In D&D there is always a DM so it's much easier. He or she tells the story as your characters roll. In MC it's much harder because most of the time there are no GM's to moderate skirmishes and players much mod themselves. Problem is most players don't find flaws in their character and neither party wants to lose EVER so the /rolling turns to flaming and powergaming. There should be ONE initial roll, the winner gets the upper hand from that point on. If the Guard wins the first roll, the criminal is cuffed and cannot break free. the next /roll would be for length of imprisonment or breaking out of cell earlier and guard should get two rolls because he has upper hand. it's like gambling, you roll once and the winner takes all. If the players are more adept in rp then more rolls can be granted as both players agree fit. problem with this however is everyone is an expert...also people don't understand the concept of "double-or-nothing" adding up also increases chance to lose everything.

Agreed, I dont like it, that is why I avoid non pvp zones, well said by the way.