The Outlaw's Guide

• Hating law or having a vendetta because ‘XYZ happened in my past’ is a very one-sided approach to hostilities with law.
• You can be distrustful and even standoffish, but going after law without any prior issues with those particular characters could be seen as lazy storytelling. After all, that character hasn't done anything to you.. Yet.
• Instead, you should have a goal for the crimes you commit, what lines you personally will and will not cross, and what lines Deputies have to cross before they become a target, etc.
• Those decisions can be molded by your character's backstory.

• Deputies are players too. Their characters have backstories and lives outside the badge, and their roleplay matters just as much as yours.
• You may not realize this, but long after the interaction with you has ended, there's paperwork that law are OOCly obligated to do, documenting your crime.
  
• It involves:
  • making sure that details are as accurate as possible
  • listing off the crimes you committed
  • calculating times and fines
  • cross referencing if you have any other paperwork or outstanding warrants, and so much more.
• Make the interaction worthwhile, have dialogue and banter, try to get into the deputies heads, lead a thrilling chase, and should altercations lead to gunfire, enjoy the scene, don't go for immediate headshots to grind everything to a hault.
• Understand that Deputies have some IC and OOC limitations on what they're allowed to do for you.
  • For example, WHY would a criminal ever assume a deputy has keys to a Bank Vault? It is for that reason, criminals are not allowed to kidnap deputies to try and use them to access a bank or other kinds of doors. A deputy is not a Key.

• Wanting to cause chaos just because you're bored or “just wanting to give RP to Deputies” is a form of RP we wish to avoid. After all, you're not the only criminal on server causing trouble and giving law work to do.
  
• Always consider why your character is robbing a store, bank, or person.
  • Do they actually have something you want or need?
  • What does your character actually need this money for?
  • Are you providing for a family or gang and don't have any job worthy skills?
• Having a reason or motivation behind your every action will make your character and roleplay that much more compelling.

• If people have spent enough time around your character, pulling up a bandana doesn't magically make you unrecognizable. Your hair, scars, manner of speaking, voice, attire, etc all play a part in recognizing you.
• If a character recognizes you, especially if they've met and spent time around you before, calling you out is not fail RP. Your disguise just needs improvement.
• You also cannot unrealistically change yourself to create a disguise. Some examples are:
  • Changing or removing scars
  • completely changing hair such as having super long hair when it was short before, or a full beard when you were clean shaven before
  • Completely changing the color of your hair.
  • Altering height or skin tone.
• We will not be permitting users to have 'wigs' or 'false beards' as a means of skirting around this ruling.
• We understand that not everyone is a voice actor and can easily change the way they speak. However, that is something you need to consider when playing a criminal. Perhaps consider having a 'Partner in Crime' that does most of the talking, instead of forcing other players to ignore your very obvious voice.
  • You still need to occassionally speak while in your disguise to avoid accusations of powergaming.

Whether robbing a store or a simple roadside robbery, this segment implies that anyone you are holding against their will is a hostage.

• Let's face it, robberies are exciting! Emotions can run high and adrenaline can kick in, but as the robber in the equation, you have a responsibility to contribute fairly to the roleplay before you.
• All hostages must be legitimate and unscripted.
  • You cannot have one of your friends pretend to be a hostage.
  • You cannot OOCly preplan with someone to volunteer as your hostage.
• Running in and shouting “Hands! Hands! Hands!” is something we do not want to see our criminal RPers resorting to. The better approach would be to start a casual conversation, leading your victim into a false sense of security before springing your trap.
  • This also gives your would-be victim a fraction of a chance to defend themselves or try to negotiate their way out of the situation, enhancing the roleplay.
• NPCs are NOT allowed as hostages.
  • They are AI programmed to react in a limited set of ways and are incapable of valuing their life the way a player would and cannot RP back with you or the deputies.
  • This also includes threatening to harm the NPC store clerk or bank teller. If you have to have a hostage for your robbery, find and kidnap another player.
  • You also cannot change your voice pretending to be the hostage.
• Remember that your hostage is only useful to you alive and unharmed.  The moment you injure or incapacitate your hostage, you risk deputies having no further reason to negotiate with you and may just shoot you down.
• If your hostage is being cooperative with your demands, there's no need to injure or incap them.
  • However, a lippy one or a deputy who gets mouthy is a valid reason to apply “pressure” to the situation.
• If you have a hostage that is committing blatant NVL and not respecting the danger they're in despite your best efforts to stress the gravity of the situation, you are well within your rights to incap them.
  • Just remember that a player committing rule breaks is no excuse to commit rule breaks as well. Get through the RP scenario, and report it after. Staff and Admins will handle it from there.

Everything you do as a player should be with providing story and roleplay with others in mind. If there's no law or player witnesses around, scenes are vital to helping roleplay lead back to you.

Scenes should be informative and helpful. If you leave behind bootprints, how big are they? If there's a lock of hair, what color and texture is it? If it's scrap of fabric, are there any distictive patterns or material that should be noted?

Did an NPC 'Witness' see your horse? Maybe a scene of a witness vaguely describing your horse so as to eventually lead back to you in some meaning roleplay.

More information about our scene expectations can be found here.

• This should go without saying as it is a server rule, but we would not be doing our due diligence if we were not reiterating it here. All forms of torture RP, both physical and psychological, requires CONSENT.
• The level of torture you inflict should be clearly discussed with the other participants of the scenario. You need to know what lines you can and cannot cross with your fellow players.
• This can be done by asking via /ooc or reaching out via discord DMs. If they do not respond, assume the answer would be ‘no’ and progress the RP forward.
• You need to consider WHY you are torturing someone and why you're employing the method you're using. Torture is meant to have a lasting and sometimes permanent effect on the victim. There needs to be a valid reason why you're doing this.
• Do not use torture if you are unwilling to be tortured in return. There is a very real likelihood that your victim or allies of your victim will retaliate and try to exact revenge. And while no one outside of a court ordered execution can force a player to perma, torture is a heinous crime. It should be a consequence you are willing to consider if caught by vigilantes.

• Pacing means more than just how frequently you commit crime. You should take into consideration the server population, the times in which law are active and able to respond, and so on. Jumping on and committing crime all day every day, one thing after another is terrible pacing and isn't the least bit enjoyable for the players you affect. You want to be taken seriously, not seen as a pest.
• There is no hard and fast rule for this, but Good pacing can be seen multiple ways. One criminal or group might rob someone traveling alongside the road a few times that day, and lay low for a day or two before striking again. Another form of good pacing is robbing a store, and if they manage to get away, laying low for a few hours or days before hitting the next target. This helps your fellow players from getting burnt our and frustrated.
• You should never target the same victim over and over again without reason. If you're just picking random targets, you should avoid going after the same person. Let them recover for a few days before robbing them again. However, if you have beef with someone, that's a different matter.
• Pacing also means a reasonable and intriguing rate of escalation in the kinds of crime you commit. Jumping from breaking a town ordinance right to murder on a new character is poor pacing.
• Pacing also means making yourself AVAILABLE to possibly be caught. Even if you're not planning to commit a crime that day, if you know your character is wanted, you should still be out riding around and available for a chance for deputies to catch you. Obviously be smart about it. No criminal actually wants to be caught, but committing crime and then not logging onto that character to avoid capture is fail RP.