Murder & Bounty System¶
Murder is a choice on this shard — and every choice has a price. Our justice system replaces the classic short-term/long-term murder counts with a single murder counter and an escalating ladder of consequences. The design goal is simple: the lone killer is a predator; the gank squad is vermin. Solo murderers can survive and even thrive. Groups that mass-slaughter will grind themselves into ruin.
The Ladder at a Glance¶
| Murder Counts | Status | Consequences |
|---|---|---|
| 0–4 | Citizen (blue) | No penalties. Counts quietly decay. |
| 5–9 | Murderer (red) | No one may heal or aid you. No parties. Every death: 10% stat loss for 1 hour + 1 hour in prison. |
| 10+ | Dreadlord | Death costs 20% for 2 hours + 2 hours in prison — and your severed ears can inflict permanent stat loss. |
Murder Counts¶
Counts are only given when a victim reports you. After an innocent player dies, they may report their killers; each report adds counts and a karma hit.
The Accomplice Multiplier — counts scale with how many of you it took. Each reported killer gains counts equal to the number of murder-eligible attackers on the victim at the moment of death (capped at 5):
- Solo kill → 1 count
- Three-man kill → 3 counts each
- Five-man gank → 5 counts each — the whole squad goes red on one kill, Dreadlord on the second
Decay — counts fall at 1 per 24 real hours of logged-in time. Offline time doesn't count. Prison labor is faster (see below). Nothing else reduces counts — not gold, not ears, not death.
Ping-Pong — every time your counts hit exactly 5, a permanent ping-pong is recorded. On your 5th ping-pong you are pinned as a Dreadlord forever: counts are set to 10 and can never fall below it by any means. Threshold-dancing has a career limit.
Life as a Red¶
Two rules define every red's existence:
No beneficial acts — from anyone. Heals, cures, resurrections, buffs, bandages, bard songs, pet and summon healing: all blocked from every player, including other reds. Only self-targeted actions work. A red guild is just a row of isolated health bars — no cross-healing, no force multiplication. The murderer's path is a lonely one by design.
No parties. Reds cannot create or join parties, and going red removes you from your current one.
Death & The Prison¶
Dying as a red carries an automatic sentence — no choice, no gump, no appeal:
| Tier | Temporary Stat/Skill Loss | Prison Sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Murderer (5–9) | 10% for 1 real hour | 1 hour, mandatory |
| Dreadlord (10+) | 20% for 2 real hours | 2 hours, mandatory |
The curse is temporary — everything restores exactly when it expires — and both timers run in real time, persisting through logout and server restarts.
The prison is inescapable during your mandatory sentence: no recall, no gates, no help-stuck. When your time is served, you choose: leave, or stay voluntarily and work. Voluntary prisoners may walk out at any moment via the Warden.
Prison labor — mine ore in the prison and deliver it to the Warden. 8 real hours of labor burns 1 murder count — three times faster than natural decay. Labor credit is banked and persists across sentences, stays, and logouts. The mine is not a punishment; it is the road back.
Bounties & Severed Ears¶
Placing a bounty — only a murder victim can place one, through the report window, up to 5,000gp per report, withdrawn from their bank on the spot. Every victim may contribute; the killer's pool accumulates until claimed and is displayed on the bounty board.
Severed ears — when a Dreadlord dies, anyone may butcher the corpse with a bladed weapon (looting rights not required, once per corpse). The ears record his identity and murder count at death — and rot in exactly 2 real hours, no matter where they're hidden. Ears from anyone under 10 counts are worthless.
The turn-in — deliver the ears to a Bounty Officer before they rot, while the Dreadlord still sits in his cell:
- He suffers permanent stat loss (5–15%, scaled by his count at death) and must rework his skills
- You are paid half his bounty pool — the other half is destroyed forever
- His murder counts are unchanged
The race — a Dreadlord falls and three clocks start: his killers race the ears toward town, his allies race to intercept the courier, and he watches from a cell, able to ask the Warden only one question — are my ears still in play? Ears drop on death like any item. Winning the kill is half the job; the other half is the road.
Why the classic exploits fail — having a friend kill you and split the bounty loses every time: half the pool burns on payout, collection costs the Dreadlord permanent stats, and counts never move. There is no reset button in the bounty office.
The Bounty Hunter Guild¶
Anyone can collect a bounty. The Guild is for those who make a life of it.
- Joining: 5,000gp fee at any Bounty Officer. Requires zero murder counts and zero ping-pongs.
- Staying in: a single murder count expels you instantly, no refund. Hunters who cut corners become the hunted.
- Hunter's Writs: members may take a writ on any listed Dreadlord — a tracking bearing toward that target for the writ's duration. The target is notified he's been marked. He knows someone is coming; he doesn't know from where.
- The bounty board: posted at every Bounty Officer — the shard's Dreadlords, ranked by the price on their heads.
Quick Reference¶
| Rule | Value |
|---|---|
| Red threshold | 5 counts |
| Dreadlord threshold | 10 counts |
| Count decay | 1 per 24 real hours online |
| Prison labor rate | 8 real hours of work = 1 count |
| Murderer death penalty | 10% / 1 hour + 1 hour prison |
| Dreadlord death penalty | 20% / 2 hours + 2 hours prison |
| Ears rot timer | 2 real hours from death |
| Permanent stat loss (ears turned in) | 5–15%, scaled by count |
| Bounty payout | 50% to the hunter, 50% destroyed |
| Max bounty per report | 5,000gp |
| Guild fee | 5,000gp — zero counts required, one count expels |
| Ping-pong limit | 5 crossings = Dreadlord forever |