[Lara]

I can not find our notes on this, so this may not be as well thought out as the original idea was when we were in the middle of it. I'm just going to jot down my best memory of it, and Mith and I will have to put some focus into it.


First, there are two different types of usable tiles in RPCSS when before there was only 1.  We need to know which tiles have players living in the hex vs those that are not available for housing.  So populated vs arable and wilderness. Fictionally, NPCs live in all of the hexes, in one form or another, but you can't show every necessary NPC house on a UO map, we have to use our imagination.

Second, every populated hex controlled by a Noble House will have the option of calling for guards.  These guards are not out right hostile until activated.  Does the house have to pay for guards in every one of their populated hexes?  Do they get free guards in their home hex or any of their fort or castle hexes?

• Guards spawn either in the direct center of the hex or in a location defined by an RPCSS admin in RPCSS.  This is to resolve any locations where the direct center is a bad spawn point.
  
•  Guards wander up to 60 tiles from the spawn point, which should be enough to cover the whole hex size of approximately 128 tiles.
  

So if you are a member of the hex controlled house/guild the guards are friendly to you.  If you are a member of an ally house/guild, or using a disguise kit the guards will be friendly to you.  If you are from an enemy house, the guards will "eye you with suspicion" but not DO anything.  We need players to be able to go to events in enemy areas to RP out conflict.

• Members and Allies can summon Guards to them.  How they is done, and what is the range, needs to be discussed.
  
• Guards can call more guards, when and how this is done needs to be discussed.
  
• Guards will attack any ally, disguised person or enemy who attacks either the guards or a house member.
  
• Guards will only attack a house member if they directly attack a guard, and only the attacked guard will respond.
  

Third, when an army is in a arable or wilderness hex it will show up with scouts and men-at arms in the spawn with the "Champ Spawn Trigger MOB".  

• Scouts, men at arms and the champ spawn trigger mob spawns in the direct center of the hex unless otherwise defined by an RPCSS admin.
  
• Scouts wonder out at a range out of 45+ tiles from the trigger point, men at arms wander 15 tiles, and the Champ Spawn Trigger MOB ranges 5 tiles.
  
• Scouts and Men at Arms are hostile to enemy PCs and will attack.  Scouts try to "activate" Men at Arms.  Men at Arms try to "activate" the Champ Trigger.
  
• The Champ Trigger is not immediately hostile to PCs, see below.
  
• Champ Mobs spawn with a small command tent and encampment to make it "look good".
  

I had originally thought that we shouldn't make the Champ trigger hostile to players, and rather wait until the player attacked it.  David didn't like the "feel" of that and wanted the world to feel more hostile then that, especially if you wandered into enemy territory or an enemy encampment.  

So we have added the scouts which are hostile to enemy PCs and "try to warn the main army".  These guys should be easy to avoid or draw out and kill.  They are not very bright.  If a scout succeeds in trying to warn one of the men-at arms, they will try to "pass the word on" to the other men-at-arms.  If one of the men-at-arms is close enough to the champ trigger mob then the champ spawn will POP. 

Fourth, What happens if the army is actually IN a populated hex?  I can't remember what we decided for this.

• I know that there won't be any scouts or men-at-arms.
  
• Can the army be triggered by a house member if they can get to the champ spawn trigger and activate it?
  
• If one house takes over another houses populated hex thru force, but has not yet CLAIMED it in RPCSS does the process function differently?
  

[Lara]

Guards, updated notes from tonights discussion.

Guards should respond to "Guards!" in any area on the map marked as populated, fort or stronghold.  They don't need a spawn location, because they will come to the player(s) that call them.

Only two guards come for the average person and those two guards are tough but not insta kill.
Warlord, spy master and coin master of the guild controlling the hex can call up to 4 guards.
Leaders can call up to 6.
Guards do not stack.

Guards defend in the following order, regardless of who is the actual aggressor:
- Citizens
- Allies
- Unallied PCs or those in Disguise

Note, Unallied PCs will not be defended against other unallied PCS, only against enemies of the guild controlling the hex.

Additional Note:
Allow enemy guilds to "pay off" the guards so their response is modified in some balanced way.

[Lara]

Additional:

If the army is actually in the hex when the guard is called that means soldiers are bivouacked in the immediate area and the response should be SIGNIFICANT.  I'm not sure what these means game way, but more then just the guards should generate, perhaps it should trigger the champ spawn?

Attacking a populated/fortified location with their army within the walls has got to be a "are you kidding me?!" kind of response.  We have scouts and the ability to determine where armies are with some basic preparation, no enemy should start a PvP battle on a populated/fortified hex and not expect overwhelming response from the army in town.