[Vida] The Criminal's Guide

Dark Devil escreveu:

THE CRIMINAL'S GUIDE

I - The RP

In RK, one of the most prominent, and more enjoyable, options of the life of a highwayman is Role-playing in the forums.

Remember, Role-playing the criminal does not mean insulting and flaming anyone. England has a glorious past of honorable gentleman thieves, such as Robin Hood.
You can keep your private life in secrecy and register in the forums with another name, as multi-accounting in the forum is not forbidden (RP: people can wear masks or disguise themselves to hide their identity). But remember, DO NOT use multi-accounting in-game, as this is forbidden, and may result in having your accounts may be deleted, in addition to it NOT being RP.

II - Robbery
1) In-Game
In order to practice robbery, you must be on a "node", or a point somewhere in the lands outside the towns.
In order to get to a node, first click on Duchy, then Travel.
You will then have the possibility to travel, usually to another town
"You can go to Plymouth, to the southeast"
Or on the road
"You can go on the road, to the northwest "
If you choose "On the road", then the next day you'll be "On the roads" and you'll be able to choose the Activity "Rob travelers" (In Duchy/Travel/Actions)

Options : Click on "Moves options"
At the bottom of this window, you'll have the choice "In case of fight... "
It is recommended that you choose: "I will not hesitate to kill my opponent", as choosing ”I will try to spare my opponents life” can lower your fight ability.

2) Fight Coefficient - Game mechanisms
I will not rewrite what has already been done (and well) by Baiboe in this thread in the Library
All you have to know is that Strength is the more important stat. You gain 1 point in fight coeff for each 50 Str. point.
From 0 to 49 Str -> fight coeff: 1
From 50 to 99 Str -> fight coeff: 2
From 100 to 149 Str -> fight coeff: 3
From 150 to 199 Str -> fight coeff: 4
From 200 to 249 Str -> fight coeff: 5
more than 250 -> fight coeff: 6
A stronger fight coeff doesn't guarantee you a victory, it is still quite possible that you will be defeated by someone who is weaker than you.

3) Groups
When one chooses to rob in a group, your fight coeff. points will be added (Also, be aware that travelers walking in groups are stronger as well!!)
You can create a group in Duchy/Travel/Groups.
You can create a group if you're on a town or on a node.
Warning: If you create a group in a town and the next day no one joined your group, then it vanishes and you will have to create it again! (Note that this is not the case if you create a group when you're on a node) The advantages of being in a group is that you are stronger, and can attack other groups of many travelers. The problem of being grouped is that one has to share the loot, and must be well organized to move all together without attacking yourself.


4) The loot
On a successful robbery you get all the money and all the inventory of the victim (although not his property inventory, nor his clothes). By robbing in a group, the loot is then shared equally.

5) Weapons
Contrary to the popular belief, official weapons like Axes or sticks are useless! They do not add any fight coeff. point (this has been tested and checked). So, only trust your fists!

6) The good spots
If you're lost, take a look at The Map of England
The best spots are nodes between two Counties, because itinerant merchants travel by these roads in order to transfer goods and money.
Other good spots are known are "dead-ends" (road to north Marlborough, west of Fowey/Launceston, north of Sevenoaks, etc... ), where you'll find many dead bodies, usually newbies who tried the option to travel, ended up on the road and gave up the game. This is a secure way to make money easily (they usually carry on 50 pounds on them).

After a successful robbery, don't stay on the same node, or you may end up robbing the same dead body again and again!

Also, working in Cornwall will help your chances of keeping your loot, as they have adopted the RP robbery (See details). Keep in mind that, while this doesn't guarantee you a safe robbery, you can at least have a chance to escape. If you do this then be careful to follow the RP rules.

7) The Justice
This, sadly, is almost unavoidable, as you are quite likely to be caught and put on trial at least once. Let us speak frankly: criminal activity is not the most profitable, nor the safest job.
Some advice is to have fun in the Court of Justice, and Always Role-play! Any judge will prefer to have a robber playing his role with style rather than a ghost they'll never hear, and may be more forgiving towards you. Be respectful, gentle and assume your acts. Of course lying or providing falsified documents is not forbidden (as long as you're not caught, or course.)
If you don't feel comfortable with justice, then just ask for a lawyer, as there are many lawyers in England who are just waiting for some work (ask KublaKahn, Egolend, Methos, Lady Vaness, Willum, dragonflame, Uranium, The_Light or drrino)

III – Rebellion
Rebellion is the second greatest activity a criminal can have, although it requires many friends, and organization is essential. Be careful of traitors and spies, as they can screw up your plans in one post to the Sergeant.

1) In-game
Go to My Home/Rebellions
two options: Attack the Town Hall, or Attack the Castle
To attack a town Hall, you must be twice as numerous as the militia assigned to the Town.
Usually, a town will hire between 2 and 4 militia per day, in addition to the 2-3 people that the County provides for them. Let's say that, if a town hires 5 militia a day (the minimum amount, it may be more), then you will need at least 10 people to attack the town! Try to have a net of spies that can guide you to the less guarded town.
To attack a Castle, you need to be twice as much numerous as the militia affected to the Castle. Usually, there's around 10 guards at the Castle, so you must be more than 20!!

2) Possibilities
If the rebellion is successful, then the rebel with the highest charisma becomes mayor.
If the rebellion fails, well, you just have lost one working day (nothing warns the Prosecutor that you tried to rebel)
Plundering a Town: the best way to plunder a town is to sell the Town inventory at 0 pound and buy it for yourself or your accomplices (the best way to be synchronized is to meet in a tavern).
In order to prevent screenshots of your activity and people (who are not your accomplices) buying your stuff, be sure to choose the good time, when people are usually sleeping.
You can also sell items you have in your own inventory at expensive price and buy it with the Town treasury.

Be aware that you cannot carry more than 255 items! If you buy 500 items, you'll only have 255, the 245 other will be lost forever

Don't be shy, everyone will know that you are plundering the town, so take advantage of the situation to role-play your rebellion, use the mayor's ability to send messages to everybody to claim your loot or advertise for your organization.

Also, be sure to be quick, as a rebellion never lasts for more than a day.
If you really want to screw up the town, you can also waste the State points it has by starting lawsuit against chosen people (this waste Justice points), by sending several mails to the people, (this wastes Communication points), and the worst of all: raise incredibly high taxes. Remember, this should only be done if your aim is damage to the town, rather than personal gain.

3) Justice
For rebels (the ones who become mayor, anyways), there is no real possibility to escape (fairly, anyways, as you can use teleportation to colony, although that is not RP), and you will likely be trialed and probably fined heavily (especially if you raised taxes). Here, I offer you the same advice as for robbery: take a good lawyer and role-play it!

IV - Other crimes

1) Libel
Libel is the act of spreading false rumors about someone in order to dirty his reputation. This is a very low-level of criminality, and should only be used if one is really upset with someone.
This is not punishable by any English laws

2) Market Manipulation
This is the act of buying something at a low price, then selling it for a higher price in a monopoly situation. This is not punishable by any English laws (excepting bread and corn, which, being basic food items, have been given price caps. Please refer to the laws of your Duchy for more information about these two items). Note that this can only work if you can generate a monopoly situation This can be done by buying all of one certain item in a market (I.E. buying all the knives at 18 pounds, and then selling them for 25 pounds [this would be effective because the pig breeders can not wait for very long to slaughter their animals]) Be sure to keep the supply and demand of items in mind (Ex.: buying all of the fruit in a town would be ineffective, as people can wait for the next day to buy the cheaper fruits, and buying them all would be difficult).

3) Slavery
This is the act of hiring someone to work for you for an obscenely low wage, such as 12 pounds.
This is a very low level of criminality, one without glory. Please, stick to the minimum wage, or higher.

4) Treason
Ah, what a pleasure to betray! Even more so if you're not caught, of course. Wink
There are many, many situations that can be defined as treason (I.E. using a grant for your own profit, recruiting people for a rebellion, and etcetera)
The version that most find the most enjoyable is giving (or selling) information to an opposing side. There is no real need for a guide to being a traitor. You are either born a traitor, or you're not.

5) Economic attack
This is another form of market manipulation, although on a higher level.
You must have a lot of money to in order to practice this activity, as well as a good motivation, such as being granted (secretly or not) by one county to attack an opposing one.
The goal is to buy a lot of items somewhere (for example those bloody hides that no one wants), travel to another county, and sell them to the auto-buy. This can utterly devastate a town’s economy.

6.) Witchcraft
This is the act of having more than one account. Normally, these accounts benefit each other, but any multi-accounting is forbidden. Witchcraft is punishable by law, and all clones will be burned, and the main account may be fined, jailed, or executed (in cases of extreme abuse). This, like slavery, is a crime without glory.

V – Pros and Cons of the Criminal Occupation

Pros
One of the main interests of the criminal occupation is the Role-playing possibilities that it generates for you, and for the Militia Guilds. Many of the people who enjoy Role-playing may be attracted to this type of life. In addition, several counties are now adopting the Role-playing robbery, which, if implemented, will mean a definite possibility to make a good deal of money off robbery. However, keep in mind that this has not yet been implemented everywhere, and be sure of which ones do and do use this process.

Cons
Sadly, as RP robbery is not universal, the chance of capture and punishment is very high, resulting in the loss of many profits, as well as ruining any political aspirations one may have had.

VI –Conclusion

While being a robber may not be the most profitable, nor well respected of jobs, it is an ideal choice for those RP buffs out there, and those looking for a bit of danger in their RK lifestyle. Also, do keep in mind the numerous other criminal paths, some more profitable then others, and make your choice wisely. Being a criminal is not for everyone. And, remember, above all- have fun with it!