I: OVERVIEW

 

GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF WAR

Community: Realm Leaders engaging in War will assume an active role in fostering quality roleplay & camaraderie -- Wars must be grounded in mutual OOC respect. 

 

Simplicity: Follow the spirit of the rules, not the word of law -- these rules create an environment for fun and organic War, so loopholing won’t be tolerated. 

 

Dynamism: You can run Wars any way you choose -- if all participants agree, they can (within reason) add, remove, or update any of the rules below before the first Warclaim. Amendments after the first Warclaim should be approved by Moderation to ensure all parties remain on the same page. 

 

WAGING & DECLARING WAR

 

Warclaims

War on Lord of the Craft is fought via ‘Warclaims’, where Realms rally their players and clash in large-scale PvP, in either a Field Battle or a Siege. 

 

Unless both sides agree otherwise, Warclaims are usually held on Saturday or Sunday afternoon between 1PM EST/6PM GMT - 4PM EST/9PM GMT. 

 

Starting a War: To declare a War, a Realm must make a ‘Warclaim Post’ that sets out the narrative of the War, their Wargoal, and their Warpath. The Warclaim Post should be made in the Warclaim Subforum. 

Justifications for War: War is often cruel and arbitrary. Realms may declare and wage War freely at their own peril.

 

 

 

I.I: CONDUCT

War is a unique and important part of the Lord of the Craft; given its scope and scale, there is no more ambitious form of collaborative storytelling than War. 

 

Yet War can also be stressful and tense for all sides, given that it can determine the fates of entire communities and in-game history. Conscious of this, all players have responsibilities when it comes to participating in War to make the experience as good as possible for everyone.

 

Of our Realm Leaders, we expect to lead by example - as the figureheads of War, Realm Leaders have a major role to play in making War a cooperative effort. We expect them to be patient, accommodating, and to act in good faith; in the same vein, we expect them to take reasonable steps to keep players in their Realm from acting out. 

 

Of our Shotcallers & Commanders, we expect calm and flexibility. Leading and coordinating combat scenarios can be rewarding but intense, and often Moderators will need their cooperation to resolve issues in PvP. Like Realm Leaders, Commanders also set the tone for the players that follow them, and so they need to discourage bad faith behaviour when they see it. 

 

Of our Players, we expect courtesy and decency. While War can lead to frustration and upset when certain battles might not go in their favour, lashing out or attacking your opponents OOC is never the solution and is never allowed. Similarly, friendly competition and banter is fine; OOC insults and smearing is not. 

 

Good faith is the single most important facet of a successful War for all sides. Roleplay Leadership Guidelines, Community Guidelines, and Roleplay Standards are especially important in War. Though Staff will never seek to actively intervene in War roleplay, this can be necessary in cases of bad faith, such as targeting communities based on OOC grudges, engaging in egregious Metaplay to secure victory, or unfair or underhanded tactics (i.e., mass off-server recruitment for the sole purposes of winning a War).