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Important note

All rules listed on this page serve to regulate the direct conflict between players in a gaming environment (PvP) meaning that they are part of the game itself (Either mechanical designed by Conan [Both parties must consent to Mechanical] or dice conflict designed by Old Guard). Please keep in mind that games should be fun at any point in time and should never be used to elevate oneself above others. 

That said, the general rules of the server are always applicable, so please stay friendly and reasonable while fighting each other!
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((Last updated:  4.28.2025))

~Staff rules are subject to change at any time~

PvP Options & Hard reminders 

PVP Join (declare who you are fighting with): This means you have every intent on fighting. You are an active part of combat and can not claim to be an innocent party in the conflict.

PVP Flee: This means you are fleeing the combat area.  You MAY NOT, gather people and return.
After the Int roll, when it comes to your turn, you can attempt your flee using your standard action.  (You must have 2 successes in order to flee the combat.) If you attack in any way, your status changes to fighting.

PVP Surrender:  This means you have no intention of fighting and will be subjected to the cons.

PVP Observe:  You are going to watch the fight.  You can not assist in any way.  If the PvP was not declared on you, you are not subject to cons.

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Stalling on a PvP declaration for an unreasonable amount of time, or for allies to arrive, can end in admin intervention for avoiding roleplay. 

Pre-Buffing: Applying beneficial status effects to yourself while inside of a scene or conflict but not in a PvP initiative

• Pre-Buffing is permitted.
• While within an RP scene that devolves into Intent, any spell cast or ability used to pre-buff is considered to have been used on your first turn in initiative, and consumes whatever action type it costs to activate (Standard, Bonus, Free, etc). 
• If the effect of the Spell wears out before the Intent is dropped you are permitted to act like you would in a normal intent.

Preparation:

• Preparation (Buffing outside of a scene or conflict) is permitted with no restrictions

Joining late: Those who arrive to the Intent within 10 minutes of intent being dropping can join in the PvP. See rule 10a for details.

All parties involved, if it comes into question, should be able to provide screenshots of the intent in their local chat – This must include your entire screen, not a snippet. 

Thralls, Mounts, and Pets are banned in PvP

Rule 3

Being downed: Being downed in PvP occurs when a character reaches 0 hp, and has no ability that can bring them back from being downed. Being downed does not mean your character died. The outcome of a PvP encounter can be anything ranging from bruising or theft, to severe consequences such as character death (A PK ticket must be opened for this consequence prior to the PVP, even if the scene is currently underway to allow a member of Staff to approve the request). The consequence should match the preceding roleplay. Severe consequences require a significant amount of roleplay.

Rule 6

Class Abilities: There are some spells/abilities that change mechanics, and have rules applied to them. If you have questions about if an action is a Class ability ask the player to explain. If you are still unsure please reach out to staff for a ruling.

Rule 9

Skirmish Consequences: Declaring a <PvP Intent – Skirmish> or having your intent reduced to Skirmish consequences via certain abilities or spells has certain effects. No injury status is automatically assigned to any player and no harsh consequences may be performed. The consequences that would be considered mild and acceptable to be performed would be: application of the Wounded status effect, restrainment, or short detainment. Examples of what would not be acceptable: enslavement, rape, dismemberment, major injuries, spell consequences, robbery, or capture.

Rule 10

10a PVP Instance:  Upon <PvP Intent> being declared, both parties are responsible for keeping track of the next 10 minutes. Within these minutes, others that happen across are allowed to participate in the combat through <PvP Join/Observe>. (Granted they do not appear due to using OOC gained knowledge.)

Time Stamps or Emotes are required as markers. After those 10 minutes, the combat is locked until the consequence phase when one side has won.   

10b Consequence Phase: In this phase, if there is no immediate interruption, Temporary IC relocation of those defeated for the purposes of privately doing cons is permitted so long as they are not held after cons are dealt (Unless the con is detainment). 

Those that have happened, or do happen, across the scene can interfere in the consequences with the chance to declare another <PvP Intent>. The victor/victors of the previous combat alone have an advantage in fleeing from it should they choose to.

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Each member that lost the pvp encounter may receive cons.

For those that lost the Pvp encounter, they cannot be attacked again so long as they are sitting below 1/10th of their total Hit points, or an hour has passed since the Con phase was concluded one way or another. If engaged, the original party that lost only has to show their hit points are below this threshold to keep from being engaged again within the time frame.

If the party that lost instigates a fight, proof will need to be submitted to show the aggression and thus override this clause.

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A character that logs on in their home and walks out of their home to view an immediate encounter in progress does not count as showing up due to OOC knowledge. It should be expected that if a fight starts in one’s compound or home, other residents are likely to show up and be able to interfere in the allowed stages naturally.

If proof is shown that a player was contacted OOCly to show up from out in the world it will be handled as meta.

Rule 12

PvP in ‘Light’ Hub:  Any PvP in the surface hub is locked to Skirmish Cons.
PvP in ‘Dark’ Hub:  Any PvP in the Underdark hub is locked to Skirmish Cons.

Notes

For contentious PVPs staff can be requested in a help ticket to provide oversight to ensure things go smoothly and remain civil. 

An advance warning is required.

In cases where a PVP turns sour when unexpected, a help ticket can be opened for this as a usual player concern would at the time.

Please use the form below to request staff oversight:
**PvP oversight form:**
**Discord name/Character name**:
**Time of pvp**:
**Involved characters**:
**Reason for oversight**:
If pvp is arranged between clans, please include the name of the clan leader/representative to be added to this ticket with proof of consent to this from the player.
**Discord name/Character Name:**
**Screenshot of consent for being brought in to ticket:**

Dice Combat Guide

Initiating PvP – To initiate PvP, declare such with an OOC message following an emote indicating your intent to attack. For example: “/me cackles and prepares to cast a spell “Fools! My power level is over 9000!” (<PvP Intent – Bad Guys>)”. The scene is still open for 10 minutes after intent is dropped, and newcomers can join the initiative at the top of the next round. After 10 minutes, the scene is instanced until the Con phase. Refer to PvP Rule #10 for more details on PvP instancing. 

Starting PvP – All players present will first either join in the PvP with <PvP Join (Side joining)>, <PvP Flee>, <PvP Surrender>, or <PvP Observe>. All answers to initiative should follow an emote indicating what you are doing. For example: “/me draws their sword and prepares to answer in kind (<PvP Join Astralyn>)”

• If joining, specify what side you’re joining in with
• If fleeing, you will only be able to roll flee roles until you either escape or are downed.
• If you escape, you must leave the scene
• To flee, use the ‘Flee – Evade’ or ‘Flee – Outrun’ abilities in RPR. 2 successful flee rolls must be made before you can flee. Using these abilities requires your standard action, and also counts as a ‘Dash’ action, allowing you to move your base movement speed again
• If surrendering, you are treated as if you have 0 HP, and can be conned if the opposition wins the intent. If all on one side surrenders, that side loses by default. 
• If observing, you must stay for the entirety of the PvP encounter, until the instance opens up. If you choose to observe, you may not initiate <PvP Intent> with either party involved, though if you are attacked you may defend yourself. If you bait an intent by harassing the other party, this is void

Those fighting will roll initiative (this is found in the Shift+R menu under Dice Tab), and the order will be from the highest numbers to the lowest numbers. In the case of two numbers being the same, those two players will roll again to see who goes first between them. Once initiative is accounted for, and everyone is ready, the player who rolled the highest may take their turn and begin the Combat.

Stalling on a PvP declaration for an unreasonable amount of time, or for allies to arrive, can end in admin intervention for avoiding roleplay. 

Ending PvP – PvP is over when only one side remains, and all other opponents have either fled, surrendered (Can be done at any point during the combat), or been reduced to 0 HP. Once PvP is over, the victors may choose to deal consequences, or ‘cons’ to all of the fallen. Victors must declare their cons and follow all consent rules in doing so.

PRE-BUFFING: Applying beneficial status effects to yourself while inside of a scene or conflict but not in a PvP initiative

• Pre-Buffing is permitted.
• While within an RP scene that devolves into Intent, any spell cast or ability used to pre-buff is considered to have been used on your first turn in initiative, and consumes whatever action type it costs to activate (Standard, Bonus, Free, etc). 
• If the effect of the Spell wears out before the Intent is dropped you are permitted to act like you would in a normal intent.

PREPARATION:

• Preparation (Buffing outside of a scene or conflict) is permitted with no restrictions

Thralls, Mounts, and Pets are banned in PvP

How combat works – Every turn in dice consists of a standard action, a bonus action, a movement action, and free actions. Below is the list of what you can do on your turn. Try to be considerate of your fellow Roleplayers, and consider what you will do on your turn BEFORE your turn comes around. Preparing your turn actions and your emote (within reason) helps the flow of combat greatly. 

Swapping Weapons – You can draw OR stow one weapon as a free action. If you wish to SWAP weapons on your turn (Put a weapon away AND draw a new one out), this will cost your standard action.

MOVEMENT:

• Climbing: While climbing, the total remaining movement speed is halved unless you have the perk Spider Climb. While climbing, weapons and somatic spells cannot be used.
• Water: If the water is deep enough to trigger a character’s wading or swimming animation, it is considered difficult terrain (movement speed halved). Tritons, lizardfolk, and water genasi are excluded.
• Vaulting: If your character’s shoulders are above an object, you incur no movement penalty from climbing over it. Gap closers (abilities that rush towards another player) cannot be used if a vault is required.
• Fall damage: In PVP, falling more than 2 full walls’ distance triggers 1d6 fall damage per wall fallen. Winged races are exempt from fall damage unless stunned/immobilised at the time of fall.

How Weapons, Armor, and Items Work
Currently, Old Guard has implemented many of the items needed for combat into RPR runes. Below is a list of what items are and are NOT runes, and how to acquire them

RPR Runes: Options available in the “Runes” tab in Shift-R when the item for that rune is in your inventory

• Armor (Obtained via runes Kit. To be unarmored, unequip any armor rune)
• Shield (Obtained via runes kit)
• Potions (Created by an Apothecary that has learned the Alchemy research)
• Magical Items (Created by a Blacksmith that has learned the Arcane Smithing research, or by an Arcanist that has learned the Mystical Creations research)
• Weapons (Obtained via runes kit)
• Various weapons have their own special ‘yellow’ weapon attacks available if you’re proficient in the category of proficiency that weapon belongs to.
  • Martial Weapons: Greataxe, Maul, Greatsword, Spear, Longbow, Whip, Shortswords
  • Simple Weapons: Daggers, Axe, Mace, Javelin, Spear, Broadsword, Thrown, shortbow
• You may flavor your weapon with something of a simiar shape/style to the rune you equip. For example, a Spear can be flavored as a quarterstaff (But not as a handaxe). Use your best judgement in how you choose to display your weapons, and do not abuse the fact that runes cannot be seen.
  • An example of abuse may be having a weapon equipped that you did not display on your person or draw from a Bag of Holding, or equipping a Longbow rune, but holding a greatsword. Represent your character accurately when interacting with the rune system
• Weapon properties
  • One/Two-handed: How many hands it takes to hold a weapon. There is no dual-wielding outside of daggers and shortswords. Shields should only be held if you have a hand free to hold it.
    • Trying to use a shield and a Two-Handed weapon at the same time will result in a status over your head, and your attributes all recieving a -10.
  • Finesse: Weapon rolls are made off Strength or Dexterity, whichever is higher
  • Reach: Attacks can be made from 2 tiles away
  • Ranged: Attacks can be made from more than  2 tiles away.
  • Offhand attack: An extra attack can be made as a bonus action

Attack and Damage Rolls:

This is how your attack and damage rolls for physical attacks are calculated

• Melee weapon and unarmed attacks rolls scale off Strength
• Exceptions made for Finesse weapons: Javelin(If Simple weapons proficient), Whip, Daggers, Bow, Thrown Weapon, 1-Handed Sword
• Ranged weapon rolls scale off Dexterity
• Bow

How AC is calculated

AC is calculated based on the armor type you are wearing (Light/Medium/Heavy), and your Dexterity attribute. 

• Unarmored: 10 AC + DEX

• Light: 12 AC + DEX
• Medium: 15 AC + DEX (Max of 2)
• Heavy: 18 AC
• Shield: 2 AC

Standard Attack Action

In a Standard Attack Action, you may make as many Red or Yellow attacks as you have attacks for (See the table below for how many attacks your class/subclass gets. Read your subclass features as well, as some of them grant you additional attacks)

Assuming 1 attack in your attack action:

• 1 Yellow OR 1 Red

Assuming 2 attacks in your attack action:

• 1 Yellow AND 1 Red
• 2 Reds

Assuming 3 attacks in your attack action:

• 1 Yellow AND 2 Reds
• 3 Reds

All ranged attacks/spells require a line of sight.

Action Economy Breakdown:

A typical turn gets 1 Standard Action, 1 Bonus Action, 1 Movement action, and any number of Free Actions:

• Standard Action: One of these may be taken per turn:
  • Drink A potion
  • Dash (Move double your base movement speed)
  • Attempt a PvP Flee
  • Swap Weapons (Stow held weapon(s), and draw new weapon(s))
  • Wake someone who is sleeping
  • Attempt to break out of restraints
  • Break down a door/gate.
  • Picking up a previously disarmed/abandoned weapon
  • Blue ability (Typically a spell or Class/Race Feature. Only 1 leveled spell is allowed per turn (Cantrips are not leveled spells)
  • Standard Attack Action
    • Yellow and Red attacks each cost 1 attack action. You can only use 1 yellow in a standard attack action
    • Each subclass gets a specific number of attack actions that can be made in their Standard Attack Action, so check the table below for your subclass’ number of attacks. 

• Bonus Action: One of these may be taken per turn
• An orange ability is a Bonus action. (Typically a spell or a Class/Race feature)

• Free Action: multiple of these may be taken per turn (Conditions apply)
• A pink ability is a free action. Pinks typically have a condition that needs to be met before they can be activated (Such as a successful weapon attack, or an enemy moving within x tiles of you). Refer to your ability descriptions for clarity.

• Movement Action
• By default, you have 2 tiles of movement. Some races and subclasses modify your base movement.
• If flying, you CANNOT fly higher than 1 tile off the ground
• It takes 1/2 your movement action to recover from prone

Example Turn:

 Conan the Fighter, now in close with their opponent, has 3 attacks in their standard attack action as a fighter. On their turn they attack with 1 Yellow and 2 Reds as their standard action, then Shield bash as a bonus action, then move back 2 as a movement action, and finally use a free action to activate a class feature ability.

Conan the Wizard, having taken damage, uses their standard action to drink a healing potion, and then uses their bonus action to misty step away. They then use their movement action for 2 more tiles of movement, and finally end their turn by activating a class feature ability with their free action.

Number of attack actions in a Standard Attack Action  (Note: Some subclasses have abilities that allow you to take EXTRA attack actions. The below table is used to describe what your subclass receives by default):

Attacks in a Standard Attack Action, per class/subclass:

• Barbarian – 2 attacks
• Bard – 1 attack
  • College of Valor – 2 attacks
• Cleric – 1 attack
• Druid – 1 attack
  • Circle of the Moon – 2 attacks (In beast shape)
• Fighter – 3 attacks
• Monk – 2 attacks
• Paladin – 2 attacks
• Ranger – 2 attacks
• Rogue – 1 attack
• Sorcerer – 1 attack
• Warlock – 1 attack
• Wizard – 1 attack
  • Arcane Tradition of Bladesinging – 2 attacks

On Old Guard, we handle raids like any other form of PvP between players.  When ‘raiding’ a player base, there’s no noticeable difference between this and any other pvp elsewhere, and should follow all PvP rules.

If a door or gate stands between you and the one being ‘raided’, an attempt to breach the door would count as a complete ‘Standard Action’ regardless of success or failure.  Staff can be requested to oversee this ‘raid’ if players believe there is reason for staff to be present.  In such a case, advance warning would be advised to ensure a member of staff is available.

Please use the form below to request staff oversight:
**PvP oversight form:**
**Discord name/Character name**:
**Time of pvp**:
**Involved characters**:
**Reason for oversight**:
If pvp is arranged between clans, please include the name of the clan leader/representative to be added to this ticket with proof of consent to this from the player.
**Discord name/Character Name:**
**Screenshot of consent for being brought in to ticket:**

If pvp concludes with the ‘raiding’ party victorious, please see the PvP consequences section for a guide on base-related consequences.

Skirmish Consequences:  A Skirmish is essentially a brawl, a non-lethal competitive spar or fight, etc., one where you are not looking to break someone, but rather humiliate.

Acceptable cons:  A non-life-threatening beating, loss of hair, broken finger etc., what is expected from a less serious fight.

Full Consequences: If you wish to inflict a grievous injury (See below) abduct, enslave, mutilate, take a soul etc., those fall under Full Cons, and must coincide with what the person you’re roleplaying with consents to (if applicable). 

Big Consequences Require Big Roleplay! If you are giving someone heavy consequences, it is a requirement that the preceding roleplay reflects that severity. “It’s just how my character does things” is not a valid reason for the first encounter PK of someone. If a consequence is given out without adequate roleplay, it will be retconned and the perpetrator reprimanded depending on the severity.

Please refer to our injury system for more information on severity of injuries in general.

Grievous Injury

When a significant injury or the removal of a body part is dealt as a Full Con, this would be considered a grievous injury.

To inflict this consequence, an ability called “Inflict Grievous Wound” in your RPR must be used on the one receiving the consequence.

A grievous injury cannot be healed by any means for 24 hours, so any attempts to regrow a lost limb.

For example, healing would be unsuccessful until 24 hours have passed,. You would need to rp having lost that limb for the 24 hour duration.

Consent Sheets

Checking Consent Sheets is mandatory before giving consequences. Ignoring someone’s consent sheet or otherwise breaking this rule will result in immediate disciplinary action. Regardless of one’s consent sheet, a player always has the right to FTB a scene.  We have a consent sheet in-game via *Shift-R*. It is mandatory to fill it out after you’ve created your character.

Do not coerce people into altering their consent sheet: If someone has answered no to either question on their consent sheet, you are not allowed in any way, shape, or form to attempt coercing them into accepting these cons by pressure.

Mirrored Consent is a requirement on this server. Any Consequence you inflict on another player must be allowed on your own sheet.

3rd Party Consequences

In a scenario where X and Y are fighting, at the finale of the fight, consequences are to be dished out (If the victor decides to enforce cons.) This means the victor, and solely the victor can apply consequences. This means that a third party, who is in association with the victor, cannot apply consequences. Yet, this does not apply to bounties placed by another player ie. Capture, Kill, etc.

Build-related Consequences

Consequences relating to a player’s own build can take a few forms.  The ones important to our rules are detailed below.

Any inquiry as to a consequence outside of this definition should be directed to a help ticket.
(Note:  A player cannot be forced to destroy their build or move as a consequence.)

• Thievery:  Items can be removed from a base, similar to how many items a single person could remove during a break-in. The limits of how much can be taken are found here.
•  Physical damage to a building:  This may only be what is consented to by the building owner.
• Superficial/non-permanent damage:  This can be done in the form of POIs.  (Burn marks, ruined upholstery, trashed rooms, etc)

Permadeath Reminder

Permadeath is a very serious and very real consequence of your character’s actions on the Old Guard Server. It is not a consequence to be handed out lightly and should be utilized as a tool to create a powerful and immersive storytelling experience. Permadeath is only meant to be a means to further an IC story and all Permadeaths must be submitted in a ticket.

DM’s can use heavy cons or kill players during a DM Event. There will be an announcement before the start of the DM event if the possibility of death applies. You may choose to leave the event if you do not wish to risk death. If not resurrected IC you will be placed on a 30 day cool down as per normal PK rules.

Good Antag Death:

The ‘Good Antag Death’ policy will make it so that if you play an antagonistic character that makes good story and is PK’d, you can have transfer your mastery to whatever new character you roll. To register for a Good Antag Death, ask for such in your PK ticket that you open when you’re killed. Reminder: Antagonistic does not mean ‘evil’, just that you drove conflict. If you die in the course of a conflict plot, you were someone’s antag, and would qualify for this policy.

Things we will check:
– The RP that led to your death
– Ask your killer whether they felt you’d given good story
– Utilize our own understanding of the RP going on, if appropriate

This policy is meant to encourage antags to prioritize good story over playing solely to win. Playing a respectful and story-oriented antag is a hard thing to do, and many times goes without thanks or support. We hope to encourage antags of this caliber to step forward by lessening the time-cost of rolling a new character.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY WITH ALL RP BUT ESPECIALLY in ANY PVP encounters, and very important in events leading to Permadeaths.

Make sure that you are always talking with the other player whether or not you choose to force permadeath. Permadeath is a very serious and final thing. It can not be taken back and as such we ask that you try to find a compromise by other means before choosing to carry out permadeath.

Resurrection: