Vanderlin is a roleplay-first server. You should look to engage in a story- whether comedy, tragedy, or something in-between- and NOT to 'win.' Losing is fun if it's interesting! YOU can make it interesting!
In Vanderlin, you are expected to be playing a character at all times. This is a place offering an approachable HRP environment, so you are not necessarily expected a several page long backstory for your characters, but you should be acting as a character in their selected position/role.
Admins reserve the right to decrease PQ (player quality) at their merit if you do not engage with the world and characters around your own with thought, acting, and good faith. In the inverse, admins reserve their right to GRANT PQ for outstanding or remarkable roleplay in some way or another.
Heresy, by its nature, is at opposition with many of the game powers. You should expect to face hardship and even assault for heretical actions or proclamations.
This includes playing as races that are perceived heretical in positions of power, such as Half Orcs, Tieflings and Dark Elves. If you are a member of these races and not heretical, then you should make sure you are a paragon of virtue, and should prove to the kingdom that you are to be trusted.
In addition to this, as characters in positions of power, there is an expectation that you will not be openly heretical. Vanderlin is a pious place, ruled by a King who is annointed by the Priest and from a bloodline blessed by the Ten. Therefore, you should seek to hide your heresy, and make it grow into more open heresy across a round, rather than being openly heretical at roundstart.
Kings should NOT be openly heretical unless there is a round long roleplay that leads into them becoming more and more openly heretical. This includes their laws, announcements and name. As a King, you set the vibe of the round and the kingdom as a whole.
An example of what we are looking for vis a vis 'drama' given a 'friendly werewolf' incident:
ACCEPTABLE:
A werewolf with a prior drug addiction retains a slim connection to their humanity when exposed to their favoured substance, rendering them relatively harmless for the drug's effects. This creates a dilemma for the town- do they continue to fund and guard this creature that could break out and murder at any given moment, or do they execute the creature as soon as it returns to its humanoid form?
UNACCEPTABLE:
A werewolf joins the town guard, speaking unbroken Imperial, for the sole reason of 'because they could.' There is no drama here, it is uninteresting, and now a powerful creature has joined the ranks of the watch to bolster them against other round engagement drivers.
In order to make this situation acceptable, there should be prior roleplay, attempts made by church and townsfolk to commune and engage with the creature. Attempts and performance of the creature itself to retain its humanity rather than it being an innate skill, demonstrating at least some level of internal struggle. An alliance should be the finale, the conclusion of a round, rather than its initial premise.
IN THIS HYPOTHETICAL: The town is not at any point required to grant the werewolf mercy as their conclusion, given that they have some level of engagement and back-and-forth. It is a danger, a wild creature, and quite possibly their doom. This section exists only to cover a chronic issue of thoughtless alliegiance of antagonists.
Antagonists should not be teaming up with each other to murder the population. Antagonists are held to higher standards involving their lethality versus the general population- a bandit does not profit from murdering everyone, for example.
A lot of players may be first entering the higher roleplay sphere with this server. That's okay! We're happy to have you!
You may be wondering about this 'escalation' concept mentioned several times in our rules. Escalation is an arbiter of drama, put simply. Think of an intense movie scene between a villain and a hero. It rarely jumps straight to battle, right? They have a back-and-forth, voicing gripes, monologuing, throwing insults or declaring 'THY END IS NOW!' They fight whilst conversing, throwing quips back and forth...
The latter is much harder to pull off with the mechanics at play, admittedly. It takes at least two people fighting a battle where neither cares more about winning or losing over creating a fun scene. That is largely unrealistic as an expectation within the medium of Vanderlin- though not impossible.
So, what do we expect?
Fundamentally, we hope that the victim can enjoy the role as much as an assailant. At the very least, part of it. "Losing is fun," when it comes to roleplay involves being allowed at least a chance to look death in the eyes and respond before it hits. All players should try to engage with their environment, whether antagonist or not.
You should approach a player you intend to attack with an indication, whether verbally or with an emote, of your intentions. You should give them time to respond, either verbally, with an emote, or an action, before engaging.
Pulling out a weapon in response to someone threatening you in the aformentioned ways is escalation. They can and will kill you, justifiably.
In the event that you are within the act of escalation with an individual and other combatants approach you, your situation will be considered 'relaxed' escalation. Being run up upon by guards as you are engaging with someone should not put you at an extreme disadvantage.
Some locations apply relaxed escalation to all inhabitants, such as the TERRORBOG, MALUM'S ANVIL, and TOMB OF MATTHIOS (dungeon).
Some roles are afforded 'relaxed' escalation based on their presence as monsters, where their appearance serves as 'pulling a weapon' mentioned previously. Examples of this are skeletons, werewolves, vampires etc. Any fight between a visible monster and others may be joined. See specifics in the table at the bottom of this section.
The biggest distinction between full and relaxed escalation is the expectation of giving your victim a chance to respond. Relaxed has no such expectation.
No role should wordlessly or emotelessly kill another, even if they are a monster, unless explicitly stated.
| Antagonist | Escalation Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Non-villain | Full | That's right, you! Normal player! It doesn't matter your class/job. You can be evil, you can cause chaos, you can murder people. Do so with flare, tell a story- not just looking for frags. Be interesting. |
| Inquisitor | Full | Given antagonist datum, but is not technically a villain. Rules above apply. |
| Bandit | Full | Barely a villain figure. More akin to a player who's made it their goal to rob people. |
| Vampire Lord | Full | Should escalate with and be escalated against as any other player. |
| Vampire Spawn | Full | Should escalate with and be escalated against as any other player. |
| Lich | Relaxed (Conditional) | If visibly a skeleton, may use relaxed escalation. If disguised, must escalate as any other. |
| Lich minion | Relaxed (Conditional) | Should act defensively until given order by lich. Must follow their lich's orders. Inherits lich rules on escalation otherwise. |
| Werewolf | Relaxed | In their werewolf form, initial escalation is handled visually. They may be treated as living weapons. |
| Zizo cultist | Full | Should escalate with and be escalated against as any other player. |
| Aspirant | Full | Should escalate with and be escalated against as any other player. |
| Peasant Rebel | Full | Should escalate with and be escalated against as any other player. |
| Assassin | None (Target) | For their targets, people who have accepted their position as 'hunted,' no escalation is required. Otherwise, they should escalate with and be escalated against as any other player. |
| Zombie | None | You are undead, with your only urge to feed. You should not seek a cure for your condition or act as an unafflicted player. |
| Mage Summon | Full | You are a fully intelligent summon, brought from your realm to this one to serve your summoner. Should escalate with and be escalated against as any other player. |
OPTIONAL READING: The following are example situations of proper escalation. Your escalation does not need to look exactly like this. This is more of an inspiration than anything.
The Attention Grab:
The Intrique:
The Turn-around/Hostility
Use emotes! Especially before you're about to do something!
A werewolf stalks its prey in the trees. It watches a guard patrol below.
The wolf jumps, crashing down atop a man, howling in triumph.
The guardsmen scream, reaching for their blades and moving forward.
Battle commences.
A werewolf stalks its prey in the trees. It watches a guard patrol below.
The wolf jumps down in front of the guardsmen. It screams in rage, uttering the gutteral growls of Bestial. It jumps back up into the trees.
The guardsmen shout, calling the others to form around in a circle. The wolf could be anywhere!
The wolf jumps down again, emoting snarling and dripping drool down its gaping maw.
The guardsmen emote clutching their weapons with white-knuckles, yelling, "The beast! It's here!"
The wolf approaches, one pounding step at a time. It emotes how it hungrily eyes the exposed neck of an underequipped woodsman.
The woodsman gulps.
The wolf lunges, and attacks!
As a noble turns the corner into a dark alley, they see a cloaked figure behind them.
The figure emotes a sinister smile glistening in faint torchlight.
The noble slowly backs away, backwards strafing and pixel shifting against a wall. "Who are you! What do you want from me!"
The figure responds, "Your coin pouch. Lose it, or your life." They draw a dagger, holding it threateningly.
The noble, perhaps foolishly, pulls out their own. Combat starts, and the figure attacks!