MRPG PvP
The PVP system in Mage Wars RPG will be focused mainly around the use of SkyShips, or guild airships, for guild-on-guild combat. The large ships, combined with fleets of players on flying mounts, should make for a very exciting experience.
Contents
Base PvP
Players will be allowed to enter dedicated PvP 'clubs', found in every city, where PvP is permisible and players can show off their skills in pitched one-on-one or group combat. As soon as a player exists a PvP area, they can no longer be attacked by other players. Players may use consumables in this mode and play as though they were in an actual battle. In this system, players will actually be able to "kill each other.
Another aspect of PvP is basic dueling. A duel can happen anywhere and any time. Players may not use consumables, and hit points/spell points will be restored to their previous levels when the duel is over.
Nothing from either mode is to be tracked, these are about fun or testing. Pvp in these modes are not balanced between class and are not part of any kind of competition system. There will be no ranks, rewards, or recongnition of any kind made for PvP in this mode.
Bounty System
The Bounty System is an opt-in form of all-world PvP. Players who have opted into the system are able to post bounties on each other, collect trophies, etc., by hunting each other down. This can happen in any non-instanced environment. Hence, players are safe inside dungeons or anywhere instanced. They can be killed in towns, in the wilderness, even in their own homes if these homes are non-instanced.
If a player has NOT selected to join the bounty-system, they cannot post or take bounties. Those inside are able to place a bounty on the head of anyone else inside, for any reason, of any amount.
Bounty is paid out at the time of the posting, by the poster (if they wish to post a 500 gold bounty, they must pay 500 gold immediately). When another players takes the bounty (kills whomever the bounty was on) they receive that gold, less the warden's cut (probably 20%).
The purpose of the bounty system is basically a giant game of hide-and-go-seek; hence the classes still need not be balanced as the hunted can always run away. Public leaders' boards will show who's had the most bounties placed on him, who's taken the most, and who's actually been killed the most.
Trophies
Players will not be able to loot any items from the bodies of bounty-victims. Instead, they will be able to take "trophies" based on the size of the bounty. Anything from an ear for a small bounty up to the head. The item is then a named-item the player can display in their home or carry in their inventory, usually "The [body part] of [player name]".
Trophies are not bound-to-character and can be freely sold or traded.
The trophy level will vary according to the global amount of gold available on the server. More gold means bigger bounties to get bigger trophies.
NPC Bounties
NPCs are not immune to the bounty-system, but players cannot set bounties on them. Many quest and dungeon bosses will have bounties on them, players participating in the system will be able to take these bounties and collect special trophies. NPCs give out extra experience points instead of gold, but the trophies themselves can be sold for a little extra cash.
Flagging
There is no way to tell from examining individual players directly whether or not they are involved in the bounty system. Instead, players will have to check for the name within the system itself.
Players wishing to flag will have to visit a special NPC found only in MRPG Sun's Beacon. While bounty stations where players can set or collect bounties will be found in every town, only the head warden in Sun's Beacon can let a player in or out of the system. Entrance is free, but in order to opt-out of the system, players will have to pay a fee.
Guild-on-Guild
The mainstay of Mage Wars RPG player-verses-player combat will revolve around a massive system of guild-on-guild battles, taking place in the air, using SkyShips. This can involve multiple guilds, alliances, etc. These battles will usually be arranged well in advance and both parties must agree on the time and location. Battles can be set up for any reason: for fun, for gambling purposes, or even just for the pride of it. No matter the reason, a token some of minimum 1,000 gold must be antied by each guild. Players can also bet items, deeds to land, or anything that can be traded between players. An NPC moderator will be employed, stakes established, and the moderator holding and deeds or items the guilds are engaged in battle over.
This type of combat can further be expanded into organized tournaments in which guilds battle each other in skyships, and even multi-guild on multi-guild teams, with battles including hundreds of even thousands of players. The goal of this style of combat is to be fast-paced and objective-oriented, working more like an FPS than a traditional MMO. This is done so that the classes do not have to be balanced for PvP purposes, and the PvE game can be more fun for all.
Modes
There two mods of battle for this sort of combat: direct ship-on-ship or ship-to-ship. The difference is key: in SoS combat, only the skyships battle it out. In StS, the ships are joined by an army of players riding flying mounts.
Ship-On-Ship
In a ship-on-ship (SoS) fight, roughly five players handle actually flying the ship, while others man the guns and other weapons. They battle another skyship in a dogfight, the winner is the last one flying. SoS will test a crew's piloting abilities and teamwork as they attempt to operate the ship. In SoS ships will not be destroyed, but they will be heavily damaged and the losing ship will loose all of its upgrades.
Ship-To-Ship
Ship-to-Ship (StS) works the same as SoS, except that each ship is joined by dozens or hundreds of people riding flying mounts. Each ship still has a crew to pilot it and operate weapons and defenses, but they also launch swarms of players into the air in a direct assault on the other ship. These players can directly attack the vessel, both outside and in: taking out weapons, attacking weak points, planting explosives, etc. The crew of the target ship will need to maintain its own defensive force which can kill enemy players onboard, repair damage, disarm times bombs, etc.
In StS, both sides use the same number of players. These do not have to all be guild-members; indeed only the people directly operating the ship need to be members of the guild that owns it. However, if the attackers can secure the bridge, they can pilot the ship (probably into the ground).
PvP Gear
In guild-on-guild combat, level, class, and equipment gained through the regular PvE game mean absolutely nothing. Players will purchase and use special PvP gear that is level-independant. They will also use special PvP mounts. Players will choose either fighter, caster, or saboteur gear for combat. Again, PvE level or class have no function, here.
- Fighter: players selecting fighter-gear will be allowed to choose from a two-handed axe, one-handed sword and shield, dual short swords, or a bow and arrows.
- Caster: casters will have a limited selection of spells: they may only choose two, and will keep those two for the entire combat. They will also have a staff for melee combat.
- Saboteur: the saboteur gets a long knife for combat (doing arguably the lowest damage), a tool, time-delayed explosive charges, and grappling equipment allowing them to move around on the outside of the ship. The Saboteur probably has the most fun job. Anyone can disable the explosive charges, and they can only be placed at key points on or around the vessel. Saboteurs cannot sabotage their own ship, but may use their explosive charges as booby traps; they just will not damage a friendly ship or friendly players.
Mounts
Most of the actual combat will be done in the air. SkyShips will have their own defensive guns as well as massive ship-to-ship cannons. The purpose of the mounts is to both facilitate combat between players and to ferry them from one ship to another. There will be a wide variety of mounts each with its own properties (speed, damage, maneuverability, etc). Players can either dismount when they reach the enemy ship, or remain on their mounts to fight inside.
