Combat
Darken Vale uses a simple hit system using Hit Points that determine a player’s overall level of health. Protection through armour uses a Global armour points system, but a Local system for hit allocation that is quick to pick up and easy to understand.
How Hits Are Scored & Called
All players start with 5 Hit Points. Some characters are able to gain more as they advance and grow in strength and resilience- & certain powerful NPCs may well have many more. When a part of the body is struck by a weapon- the Body/ Torso, Arm or Leg, it is damaged, and Hit Points are deducted from the character’s total. The wound taken must now be acted out- a limb may now be useless, or a serious wound to the body will be debilitating…
Attacking players do not call their hits- the defending player must declare what is a legal hit and what is not. Fair play and sportsman-like behaviour is paramount. Players who abuse this crucial rule will be removed from the game. If there is any doubt, just continue the fight and take the strike again.
Types of Hits
When a player is struck in combat, the location that they are wounded in will require a different reaction:
Head & Groin Shots - Blows to the head/ neck or groin are strictly forbidden and will be penalised. Any player that strikes another player in the head or groin will be asked to ‘sit out’ of the current combat (Hand on Head). The character is not dead- but is placed in the ‘Sin Bin’- and cannot gain benefits when that particular combat resolves (XP, buffs, etc.)
Limb Hits – This is a hit to the arm (between the wrist and top of shoulder) or leg (between ankle and top of hip). A limb that is struck will become damaged and must be acted out accordingly.
An arm struck twice cannot be used to wield a weapon or shield until healed and must be cradled close to the body for protection.
A leg struck twice must be dragged and walking with a slow limp is the fastest the player can move until healed.
Mortal Wounds - A mortal wound is caused when you are hit on the torso – front or back. After taking a mortal wound hit, a player must then hold an arm across their stomach/chest and act out being in great pain and will enter a state of BLEED OUT. They can stand, stagger and fight, but with increased difficulty.
Bleed Out - Once players received a Mortal Wound, they will begin to bleed out of their grievous wound, their life slowly draining away until they receive medical aid/ healing. Spell- type healing spell will stop this process immediately, as will the application of certain bandages from the Surgeon Profession. If another 5 minutes passes without receiving healing, the character dies.
Death - A player that experiences character death (reduced to 0 health points) must place their hand on their head to signify they are no longer in play. At this point they have 10 minutes where they may be resurrected by another player with one of the required skills. If there are no players able to resurrect them then they must then move to the designated Graveyard area and wait there to respawn.
Combat Calls
Combat Calls During combat, certain calls may be made by players as they use different abilities or by the Elders to make rules calls and judgements that will affect proceedings. It is important to listen out for these calls- combat can be exciting and noisy- as careful play and attention to calls will allow for smooth play with less stops for explanations.
Elder Calls
Man Down / Time Freeze- Upon hearing this call you must stop whatever you are doing at that moment.
Graze- The hit in question caught only clothing, not the player fully, or bounced off a weapon or shield. The hit does no damage.
Double Tap- The hits in question were quick, ‘rat-a-tat’ hits in quick succession- they did not have a full swing attached to them. The hit does no damage.
Light- The hit has no power attached and just glances off. This can be linked to a Double Tap, above. The hit does no damage.
Too Hard/ Pull- The attack was excessive and too hard. The attacker must 'pull' their blows going forward. Care must be taken to fight safely. The hit does no damage.
Too Fast- The hit is possibly a wild swing and has no power behind it. Care must be taken to fight safely. The hit does no damage.
Player Calls
Armour - Whether through a hit making contact with an armoured location, or due to some spell- like effect, with this call, the blow is cancelled out. Abilities that add Armour effects can be stackable to simulate extra layers of protection. Each impact on the Armour reduces the amour rating by 1. Once this reaches 0 all armour is considered destroyed and the wearer no longer protected.
Dazed - Target cannot act in any way for the duration (usually 10 seconds) as if concussed or confused.
Dodge - This call ignores any other effect that would strike the target. Whereas Armour and Shield effects negate a hit/effect, a Dodge means it never landed in the first place. A player can only dodge attacks from their front arch (180 degrees) and cannot Dodge attacks originating from behind. You can’t dodge what you can’t see coming.
Fatigued - This call means the target cannot act for the duration (usually 10 seconds) due to extreme tiredness/ exhaustion.
Fear (X) - These are a specific type of Alter effect that induces fear and terror in a target. The (X) descriptor means character levels will be compared to see if the effect takes place- as described in the individual ability or spell.
Heal - These effects generally remove damage or an Alter, Control or Fear effect from a target. The particular details will be outlined in the spell description.
Knock Back (X) - This call will cause the target to move back X amount of paces- subject to terrain and health & safety conditions.
Knock Down - This call will cause the target to fall prone on the floor. The front or back of the torso must touch the ground- subject to terrain and health & safety conditions.
Shield - This call prevents damage in some way. Rather than grant additional armour, like an Armour effect, a Shield effect stops damage cold and negates the Un-blockable definition. Shield effects from different sources are not stackable. Only one Shield effect can be on a player at once. Usually the strongest overrides the lesser shield.
Un-blockable – It is common for magical energy once it hits its target to penetrate even the strongest armour. Any attack that caused un-blockable damage ignores Armour protection.
Some Basic Reminders, Have fun and role play!
Please be aware of your surroundings at all times! During heavy combat folks may be moving all around you and changing positions. Be aware of your swings and follow through and there could be someone who has moved right next to you during battle. If you are struggling with accuracy or control restrict yourself to swings towards the legs, arms, or mid chest, and avoid swings to the top of the shoulders.
Safe and prudent shield bashing and pushing on flat end of shields is allowed by SASHED players only. You cannot however control the other persons shield.
When using the Cleave ability role play it as it is a large powerful swing while still maintaining medium contact.
Band SystemDarken Vale uses a simplistic band system to keep track of NPC strength while also showing who can be engaged in physical combat and who cannot and how many lives a player has.
Band Placement
All bands should be on the characters left hip, arm or wrist so they can be clearly seen by all other players. They cannot be tucked under armour, costumes or props. If you have a question as to if your bands are in an OK part of your body, please ask an Elder for approval before you start playing.
Purple Bands – Life Bands
Each player when signing in will receive 3 Purple bands. Whenever a player is killed then 1 purple band will be taken from them by either an Elder, an NPC or another Player that dealt the final blow. If the player is not resurrected by another player, then they must go to the respawn area. They will then come back to life with only 2 bands. Once all their purple life bands have been taken (without other player resurrection) they are considered permanently dead.
White Bands – Spirit Bands
When a player is killed, and their purple life band taken before they respawn there is a chance that certain players will have the skills to bring them back from the dead. These healers will then bring the character back to life and give them a White band to replace their lost purple one. The next time they die they will lose another purple band and can be resurrected and so on. HOWEVER, once a player has all white bands, they will no longer be able to be resurrected by another player and must respawn at the respawn point.
Orange Bands – Vendor Bands
These are referred to as vendor bands and are in place to protect actual vendors or other NPC’s that are otherwise in the game for entertainment or other non-playable reason. They may interact with characters but for the safety of their surroundings, props etc. you cannot engage, loot or kill an orange banded player for any reason. The band is preferred to be solid orange (not too dark) or fluorescent orange.
Yellow Bands – Non-Combat Bands
These bands are referred to as non-combat bands. They can be worn by players who may have a disability or pre-existing injury where physical combat is just not possible for them or may injure them further. These players can be looted, killed, poisoned etc. as normal, however, the band simply indicates the player CAN NOT be physically attacked at all for 'any' reason, but can still be engaged via a non-physical combat.
Rock – Parchment – Shears
Yes! The old stone-paper-scissors game. When a Yellow band player is to be “attacked” the two parties will engage in this old game. The winner of each round describes the wound they have inflicted on the loser. “I slice your right leg” “I stab you in the side”. The loser of the round reacts as if wounded and loses 1 Health point. This will continue until one player retires and runs away or until one player is reduced to 0 hit points and they fall down dead. Both players will not be permitted to use any skills during this mock battle. The playing field is equal.
Summary of the playable character band system
In order to survive a game however, your character must have at least one Life or spirit (purple or White band) left at the end of the game. If your character lost all their life and spirit bands, it is roleplayed out as though your characters body has become unfit for your characters spirit and thus can’t be revived.
Death does not replenish your armour or mana, those require skills to fix.
NPC Band System
Darken Vale uses the NPC band system to keep track of and show levels of NPCs at a game. Below are the details to the system and what each band means.
Solid Black – Low/Medium level NPC or monster. Bands are worth minimal amounts (average of 50 XP) and may vary per game. Most characters should be able to engage these targets via 1 on 1. The Higher the level of the NPC the more bands they may have on them.
Solid Grey – Elite level NPC or monster. Bands are worth maximum amounts (average of 250 - 500 XP) and may vary per game. Most characters should not be able to engage these targets via 1 on 1. These are highly dangerous and will most likely have many high-powered abilities and it is highly recommended to engage these targets as a group.
NPCs who are extremely high level will indicate this by tying their NPC bands together. SO, if you see a monster with 4 solid grey bands tied together as one... when that monster is killed, the victor will get all 4 bands! As you may expect, this will also lead to a tied band monster being much harder to kill.
It is not wise to simply slay a target wearing NPC bands. Just because they are playing an NPC, does not always mean they are a “bad guy”. An NPC may be holding important quest items, lore, documents or other things that are vital to the game.
NPC’s may have hit points above and beyond what is worn on them. This is in place to represent the strength or difficulty of their character and make them much harder to kill than a typical character. Sometimes NPCs are far outnumbered and must adjust their hit counts so that characters get a challenge from the encounter. This is dictated by the Elder in charge of the NPCs for that game and is usually indicated on the NPC character form handed to the NPC before they play that role.
If you slay an enemy, you keep one life band (like an achievement) until the end of the game or hand it in at the GOD (Game Organisers Desk) to be recorded against your character and the bands reused for other NPC’s. If your character is killed, you do not give NPC bands to other players. NPC bands cannot be traded for loot and coin among players since they are looked upon as trophies. Note that mana bands cannot be traded, ever. If a character is caught trading mana bands, they will move to death status. NPCs must have NPC bands on them, or their hits do not count (ignore them). Once an NPC is out of bands, they are considered dead and must report back to the Elder in charge of NPCs. Monsters cannot touch another player without permission to touch unless both parties (yes, even the NPCs) have a game sash on. Enemy NPCs will kill you and take your loot. If a monster is returning with loot, it will not be added to the players character account.
Economy
Gold, Silver, and Copper are officially tracked items at this time. Elders can substitute coins for jewels or other props but when your money is calculated at the end of the event, it must go in per the system below.
The official tracked system and values are:
10 copper = 1 Silver
10 Silver = 1 Gold
100 Gold to a Gold Bar
1 diamond = 10 gold
Economy goes hand and hand with professions. It is the driving force between trading goods and services. The economy was designed to be used at games. Stashing most of your coin before an adventure may leave you unable to pay for services or goods you may need.
Loot Chests
The challenge with multi-day events is that Darken Vale make the tents non-lootable (so players can stash non-game items in their tents). This means that during the night (and many times during the day) players will stash coin, quest items etc., in the non-lootable tent (whether they intentionally mean to cheat or not). To alleviate this from happening Loot Chests must be used in overnight games where players are going to sleep in game.
All players that are going to sleep in game are required to have a loot chest outside and no more than 2 paces from their tent. This chest would not be lootable as a whole (meaning that a character cannot simply pick up the entire chest) but if the chest were broken into, the items inside could be looted. You cannot carry your loot chest on you without holding it in at least one hand or on your back / in a large sack etc. If your loot chest is on you and you get looted, you must present your loot chest and it must be clearly marked.
Darken Vale uses a simple hit system using Hit Points that determine a player’s overall level of health. Protection through armour uses a Global armour points system, but a Local system for hit allocation that is quick to pick up and easy to understand.
How Hits Are Scored & Called
All players start with 5 Hit Points. Some characters are able to gain more as they advance and grow in strength and resilience- & certain powerful NPCs may well have many more. When a part of the body is struck by a weapon- the Body/ Torso, Arm or Leg, it is damaged, and Hit Points are deducted from the character’s total. The wound taken must now be acted out- a limb may now be useless, or a serious wound to the body will be debilitating…
Attacking players do not call their hits- the defending player must declare what is a legal hit and what is not. Fair play and sportsman-like behaviour is paramount. Players who abuse this crucial rule will be removed from the game. If there is any doubt, just continue the fight and take the strike again.
Types of Hits
When a player is struck in combat, the location that they are wounded in will require a different reaction:
Head & Groin Shots - Blows to the head/ neck or groin are strictly forbidden and will be penalised. Any player that strikes another player in the head or groin will be asked to ‘sit out’ of the current combat (Hand on Head). The character is not dead- but is placed in the ‘Sin Bin’- and cannot gain benefits when that particular combat resolves (XP, buffs, etc.)
Limb Hits – This is a hit to the arm (between the wrist and top of shoulder) or leg (between ankle and top of hip). A limb that is struck will become damaged and must be acted out accordingly.
An arm struck twice cannot be used to wield a weapon or shield until healed and must be cradled close to the body for protection.
A leg struck twice must be dragged and walking with a slow limp is the fastest the player can move until healed.
Mortal Wounds - A mortal wound is caused when you are hit on the torso – front or back. After taking a mortal wound hit, a player must then hold an arm across their stomach/chest and act out being in great pain and will enter a state of BLEED OUT. They can stand, stagger and fight, but with increased difficulty.
Bleed Out - Once players received a Mortal Wound, they will begin to bleed out of their grievous wound, their life slowly draining away until they receive medical aid/ healing. Spell- type healing spell will stop this process immediately, as will the application of certain bandages from the Surgeon Profession. If another 5 minutes passes without receiving healing, the character dies.
Death - A player that experiences character death (reduced to 0 health points) must place their hand on their head to signify they are no longer in play. At this point they have 10 minutes where they may be resurrected by another player with one of the required skills. If there are no players able to resurrect them then they must then move to the designated Graveyard area and wait there to respawn.
Combat Calls
Combat Calls During combat, certain calls may be made by players as they use different abilities or by the Elders to make rules calls and judgements that will affect proceedings. It is important to listen out for these calls- combat can be exciting and noisy- as careful play and attention to calls will allow for smooth play with less stops for explanations.
Elder Calls
Man Down / Time Freeze- Upon hearing this call you must stop whatever you are doing at that moment.
Graze- The hit in question caught only clothing, not the player fully, or bounced off a weapon or shield. The hit does no damage.
Double Tap- The hits in question were quick, ‘rat-a-tat’ hits in quick succession- they did not have a full swing attached to them. The hit does no damage.
Light- The hit has no power attached and just glances off. This can be linked to a Double Tap, above. The hit does no damage.
Too Hard/ Pull- The attack was excessive and too hard. The attacker must 'pull' their blows going forward. Care must be taken to fight safely. The hit does no damage.
Too Fast- The hit is possibly a wild swing and has no power behind it. Care must be taken to fight safely. The hit does no damage.
Player Calls
Armour - Whether through a hit making contact with an armoured location, or due to some spell- like effect, with this call, the blow is cancelled out. Abilities that add Armour effects can be stackable to simulate extra layers of protection. Each impact on the Armour reduces the amour rating by 1. Once this reaches 0 all armour is considered destroyed and the wearer no longer protected.
Dazed - Target cannot act in any way for the duration (usually 10 seconds) as if concussed or confused.
Dodge - This call ignores any other effect that would strike the target. Whereas Armour and Shield effects negate a hit/effect, a Dodge means it never landed in the first place. A player can only dodge attacks from their front arch (180 degrees) and cannot Dodge attacks originating from behind. You can’t dodge what you can’t see coming.
Fatigued - This call means the target cannot act for the duration (usually 10 seconds) due to extreme tiredness/ exhaustion.
Fear (X) - These are a specific type of Alter effect that induces fear and terror in a target. The (X) descriptor means character levels will be compared to see if the effect takes place- as described in the individual ability or spell.
Heal - These effects generally remove damage or an Alter, Control or Fear effect from a target. The particular details will be outlined in the spell description.
Knock Back (X) - This call will cause the target to move back X amount of paces- subject to terrain and health & safety conditions.
Knock Down - This call will cause the target to fall prone on the floor. The front or back of the torso must touch the ground- subject to terrain and health & safety conditions.
Shield - This call prevents damage in some way. Rather than grant additional armour, like an Armour effect, a Shield effect stops damage cold and negates the Un-blockable definition. Shield effects from different sources are not stackable. Only one Shield effect can be on a player at once. Usually the strongest overrides the lesser shield.
Un-blockable – It is common for magical energy once it hits its target to penetrate even the strongest armour. Any attack that caused un-blockable damage ignores Armour protection.
Some Basic Reminders, Have fun and role play!
Please be aware of your surroundings at all times! During heavy combat folks may be moving all around you and changing positions. Be aware of your swings and follow through and there could be someone who has moved right next to you during battle. If you are struggling with accuracy or control restrict yourself to swings towards the legs, arms, or mid chest, and avoid swings to the top of the shoulders.
Safe and prudent shield bashing and pushing on flat end of shields is allowed by SASHED players only. You cannot however control the other persons shield.
When using the Cleave ability role play it as it is a large powerful swing while still maintaining medium contact.
Band SystemDarken Vale uses a simplistic band system to keep track of NPC strength while also showing who can be engaged in physical combat and who cannot and how many lives a player has.
Band Placement
All bands should be on the characters left hip, arm or wrist so they can be clearly seen by all other players. They cannot be tucked under armour, costumes or props. If you have a question as to if your bands are in an OK part of your body, please ask an Elder for approval before you start playing.
Purple Bands – Life Bands
Each player when signing in will receive 3 Purple bands. Whenever a player is killed then 1 purple band will be taken from them by either an Elder, an NPC or another Player that dealt the final blow. If the player is not resurrected by another player, then they must go to the respawn area. They will then come back to life with only 2 bands. Once all their purple life bands have been taken (without other player resurrection) they are considered permanently dead.
White Bands – Spirit Bands
When a player is killed, and their purple life band taken before they respawn there is a chance that certain players will have the skills to bring them back from the dead. These healers will then bring the character back to life and give them a White band to replace their lost purple one. The next time they die they will lose another purple band and can be resurrected and so on. HOWEVER, once a player has all white bands, they will no longer be able to be resurrected by another player and must respawn at the respawn point.
Orange Bands – Vendor Bands
These are referred to as vendor bands and are in place to protect actual vendors or other NPC’s that are otherwise in the game for entertainment or other non-playable reason. They may interact with characters but for the safety of their surroundings, props etc. you cannot engage, loot or kill an orange banded player for any reason. The band is preferred to be solid orange (not too dark) or fluorescent orange.
Yellow Bands – Non-Combat Bands
These bands are referred to as non-combat bands. They can be worn by players who may have a disability or pre-existing injury where physical combat is just not possible for them or may injure them further. These players can be looted, killed, poisoned etc. as normal, however, the band simply indicates the player CAN NOT be physically attacked at all for 'any' reason, but can still be engaged via a non-physical combat.
Rock – Parchment – Shears
Yes! The old stone-paper-scissors game. When a Yellow band player is to be “attacked” the two parties will engage in this old game. The winner of each round describes the wound they have inflicted on the loser. “I slice your right leg” “I stab you in the side”. The loser of the round reacts as if wounded and loses 1 Health point. This will continue until one player retires and runs away or until one player is reduced to 0 hit points and they fall down dead. Both players will not be permitted to use any skills during this mock battle. The playing field is equal.
Summary of the playable character band system
- You cannot attack, be attacked, looted or killed with an orange band on (vendor band).
- You cannot physically attack or be physically attacked with a yellow band on. Only combat player through stone-paper-scissors game allowed.
- Bands must be on your left hip, belt or wrist (Visible) and long enough to see clearly.
In order to survive a game however, your character must have at least one Life or spirit (purple or White band) left at the end of the game. If your character lost all their life and spirit bands, it is roleplayed out as though your characters body has become unfit for your characters spirit and thus can’t be revived.
Death does not replenish your armour or mana, those require skills to fix.
NPC Band System
Darken Vale uses the NPC band system to keep track of and show levels of NPCs at a game. Below are the details to the system and what each band means.
Solid Black – Low/Medium level NPC or monster. Bands are worth minimal amounts (average of 50 XP) and may vary per game. Most characters should be able to engage these targets via 1 on 1. The Higher the level of the NPC the more bands they may have on them.
Solid Grey – Elite level NPC or monster. Bands are worth maximum amounts (average of 250 - 500 XP) and may vary per game. Most characters should not be able to engage these targets via 1 on 1. These are highly dangerous and will most likely have many high-powered abilities and it is highly recommended to engage these targets as a group.
NPCs who are extremely high level will indicate this by tying their NPC bands together. SO, if you see a monster with 4 solid grey bands tied together as one... when that monster is killed, the victor will get all 4 bands! As you may expect, this will also lead to a tied band monster being much harder to kill.
It is not wise to simply slay a target wearing NPC bands. Just because they are playing an NPC, does not always mean they are a “bad guy”. An NPC may be holding important quest items, lore, documents or other things that are vital to the game.
NPC’s may have hit points above and beyond what is worn on them. This is in place to represent the strength or difficulty of their character and make them much harder to kill than a typical character. Sometimes NPCs are far outnumbered and must adjust their hit counts so that characters get a challenge from the encounter. This is dictated by the Elder in charge of the NPCs for that game and is usually indicated on the NPC character form handed to the NPC before they play that role.
If you slay an enemy, you keep one life band (like an achievement) until the end of the game or hand it in at the GOD (Game Organisers Desk) to be recorded against your character and the bands reused for other NPC’s. If your character is killed, you do not give NPC bands to other players. NPC bands cannot be traded for loot and coin among players since they are looked upon as trophies. Note that mana bands cannot be traded, ever. If a character is caught trading mana bands, they will move to death status. NPCs must have NPC bands on them, or their hits do not count (ignore them). Once an NPC is out of bands, they are considered dead and must report back to the Elder in charge of NPCs. Monsters cannot touch another player without permission to touch unless both parties (yes, even the NPCs) have a game sash on. Enemy NPCs will kill you and take your loot. If a monster is returning with loot, it will not be added to the players character account.
Economy
Gold, Silver, and Copper are officially tracked items at this time. Elders can substitute coins for jewels or other props but when your money is calculated at the end of the event, it must go in per the system below.
The official tracked system and values are:
10 copper = 1 Silver
10 Silver = 1 Gold
100 Gold to a Gold Bar
1 diamond = 10 gold
Economy goes hand and hand with professions. It is the driving force between trading goods and services. The economy was designed to be used at games. Stashing most of your coin before an adventure may leave you unable to pay for services or goods you may need.
Loot Chests
The challenge with multi-day events is that Darken Vale make the tents non-lootable (so players can stash non-game items in their tents). This means that during the night (and many times during the day) players will stash coin, quest items etc., in the non-lootable tent (whether they intentionally mean to cheat or not). To alleviate this from happening Loot Chests must be used in overnight games where players are going to sleep in game.
All players that are going to sleep in game are required to have a loot chest outside and no more than 2 paces from their tent. This chest would not be lootable as a whole (meaning that a character cannot simply pick up the entire chest) but if the chest were broken into, the items inside could be looted. You cannot carry your loot chest on you without holding it in at least one hand or on your back / in a large sack etc. If your loot chest is on you and you get looted, you must present your loot chest and it must be clearly marked.
