All players on Empire of Crowns roleplay sim are encouraged to choose the rule sets they think most appropriate for their roleplay. We allow both freeform and dice RP, with freeform combat following the rules stated above. All combatants in the roleplay must agree unanimously on which rule set to use for their play but if no agreement can be reached, the default rules for EoC are the EoC Standard HUD Combat Rules written below.
During dungeons and events, these rules may be altered as decided by the sim admins or owners to allow more variability. Any alterations to the rules stand only for that event alone, and may not be carried outside of that specific combat.
Please also remember that not everything is a numbers game. Some of these rules are meant to keep the logic and flow of RP, not just to make you win or lose.
At the start of combat, everyone makes a roll using the INIT. ROLL option to determine the posting order. The highest roll goes first, and then the other combatants go in descending order. In case of a tie, the tied people reroll their initiative and the new results are used. Every combatant starts with three hit points unless unless they have bought more HP using the XP system.
You have several options when it comes to actions available to you, but generally you make a post and then make an (opposed) roll to determine the effect. If you make a roll outside of your turn, that roll is forfeit without exception.
After combat has begun, any new or added combatants to the initiative order must gain the consent of all current combatants then enter combat in the last position on the next rotation. For instance, a player has asked to enter combat in the middle of the combat order on Round 2. All current combatants agree to allow him to enter the combat. He must wait until the last combatant has acted on the next rotation, which is at the end of Round 3. If this player instead was a planned ambush and all combatants agree they may enter combat, and agree to the surprise attack, they may enter combat at the end of the same combat round that they declared their involvement.
The most basic of actions. You post your attack and make an opposed roll against your opponent. To make an opposed roll, click the roll button, choose the ROLL VERSUS option and choose your opponent. If you roll a natural 20 it is always a hit, just like a natural 1 is always a miss.
At zero hit points, a combatant is out of the fight and can not be brought back. It does not mean they died, just that they are somehow incapable of continuing to fight. They get to make one post to remove themselves from the scene on their next turn and then they are removed from the fight.
Another basic action. To heal, you post how you’re healing and who you are healing and then you make a roll by choosing the HEAL ROLL option, and selecting your target. This will present a heal roll with your bonus included (if any) against the opponents roll. If you succeed your rolls, then the target regains one hitpoint. Please note the regular healing rules still apply. A combatant at zero hit points can not be brought back into the fight in this way and nobody can gain more than their maximum amount of hit points.
The Defending Another action can be used on your turn in combat. You do not make a roll for it but instead merely designate the target of your Defending Another action. Until your next turn, all attacks against your designated target require two attack rolls instead of just one. If both of the rolls miss, no damage is taken. If one attack hits, you will take one HP of damage. If both attacks hit, you and your defended target will each take one HP of damage. A Defender can only defend one target at a time and a target can only be defended by one defender at a time. A Defender or a character who is charging an AoE cannot be defended with the Defending Another action.
Fleeing combat is the one exception to the trend of ‘post first, then roll’. To flee, you first roll the dice, indicating that you intend to flee. To succeed, you must roll a 10 plus 1 for every opponent. Like any other action this can only be done on your turn in the post order. If you succeed, post your success and leave the combat. You are not required to leave the scene when you flee a group fight, but you may not affect the ongoing fight in any way. If you flee from a duel, you must leave the scene. If you fail, you are stuck in the fight and can try again the next round.
Any character capable of taking on a shape, shapeshift, polymorph, or transform, must spend one action to perform the shift. They perform additional action as the re-arranging of bones and vocal chords prevents any tactical coordination on their part.
An Area of Effect, or AoE, describes an attack that may hit multiple targets during your combat round. An AoE comes in three required phases with distinct rules for each phase, they are Charge, Attack, and Recovery.
Charge – In order to employ an AoE, a character must first spend their turn charging it. This is the first phase of an AoE. During a charge, a character may speak, or move (but not to attempt to escape combat), they can take no other action or their charge is immediately canceled. A character remains in the Charge phase until the successful employment of their AoE or they are interrupted. An Interrupt is defined as any successful hit against a character that is charging. An interrupt does not necessarily require damage to be dealt, but any successful ‘roll against’ will interrupt a charge. Once a Charge has been interrupted, a player may take any action on their next turn, or start again with a Charge for their AoE.
Attack – Attack with the AoE begins on a player’s turn immediately after their successful Charge turn. During Attack, the combatant will choose up to three different targets. These targets are selected before any rolls will be completed and announced at the end of the post. Then, they will perform an attack roll on the EoC Dice HUD for each of these targets. A success will remove 1 HP from the target it hit, and failures will not remove any HP.
Recovery – The Recovery phase of an AoE is far more lenient than the Charge phase. During a Recovery a character may move, speak, or attempt to escape combat. They cannot attack until their next turn. A character remains in a Recovery phase from the end of their Attack round through the next full round of combat.
• NPCs Cannot be ignored – They are there for a reason, and should be acknowledge by your character.
• In a faction area with posted NPCs you may summon a total of one NPC (with 1hp) to help fight. If this NPC is defeated, you may not summon another one.
• NPCs must act realistically – ICly, NPCs are their own person (barring summons). They may have their own personalities, their own backstories, ect. But they must be played out realistically. If you are a dragon attacking the city, the NPCs will not side with you. If you have been arrested for murder, the guards are not going to be your friends.
• If you attack a standing NPC (a guard, ect) , you must roll the posted number or above. If you succeed, the NPC is defeated. If you fail, you lose 1hp, and you must either roll again or flee in your next round. If you choose to flee, you cannot fight that NPC again for 24 hours.
• You may have only one pet or summon at a time. Any pet or summon must take one 1hp from your own pool, and adds only one attack roll to combat. You must post your NPCs actions within your own post, and roll for both your attack and the NPC’s attack immediately after.
As mentioned above, there are two different types of assistant NPCS – pets and summons. The main difference is that pets must be noted in the RP before combat begins, while summons can be brought in after combat at cost of an extra non-attack post. A Summoning action comes in two required phases. They are Charge, and Summon.
Charge – In order to Summon, a character must first spend their turn charging their attempt. During a charge, a character may speak, or move (but not to attempt to escape combat), but they can take no other action or their charge is immediately canceled. A character remains in the Charge phase until they successfully summon a creature or they are interrupted. An Interrupt is defined as any successful hit against a character that is charging. Once a Charge has been interrupted, a player may take any action on their next turn, or start again with a Charge for their Summon.
Summon – On this phase of the Summoning action, your summoned creature comes immediately into play and they can act on this turn. You however, must recover, and your actions are limited to move, speak, or flee. Your Summoned creature, regardless if it is magical, animated, or called from the gate as a local guard who will fight for you, will take one HP of your health for its use. If they had just taken your last HP you can no longer take any more actions during combat but your summoned creature may still act within the confines of Summons and Guard rules until it, too, is struck and defeated.
Character Death should not be taken lightly. While we do allow resurrections, they must follow the rules below.
• If your character dies, they must stay dead for one IRL week.
• Resurrections require at least two other players – a priest, and a healer – to be performed. You cannot be resurrected until you find two such players to do the deed.
• You cannot use your own alts to resurrect your character.
• Some races are ‘immortal’ – namely fae and demons. These races do not need to be resurrected. However, if they die, they must remain dead for the same length as other characters.
In EoC we do allow players to use multiple accounts for different characters. However, there are a few basic rules that go along with this to prevent metagaming.
• If you wish to join a fight with your alt, you must state that the character is in fact your alt, and you must gain approval from all the other combatants. If you do not wish to reveal your alts, then you may not join combats alongside another one of your characters.
• Alts cannot be used to perform any major duties for your other characters. You cannot use an alt to create a magic item for yourself, or to resurrect your own character.
• You cannot ‘know’ information that your alts know without some logical way of communicating between your characters – sending a note, sending someone else to tell them, ect. If two of your known characters are found to have shared information, you may be asked to prove how you exchanged that information between characters.
• Each healer may only heal up to three HP total in combat.
• Each healer may only heal each combatant by one HP per fight.
• Healers may not heal themselves.
• Healing potions used in combat may restore only one HP, and must be rolled for using a ‘normal’ roll. A roll under 10 fails, and the potion is used up without restoring a HP.
• Healing AoE’s are allowed both in and out of combat. An AoE, just like with attacks, can target up to three people at once. However, once cast you may not heal anyone else for the duration of that combat. It also requires one post of charging before casting the AoE.
All magic has limits. – Your character will be fatigued by magic that they use, no matter what. Eventually their magic will run out. You will not be able to cast powerful spell after powerful spell, and should you try your character will very likely experience adverse effects.
• Resurrections can only be performed by head healers and/or priestesses (not acolytes). You must have two people to perform the ritual, and one person to petition. This means to be resurrected you must have three different people willing to do such a thing for you. Death should not be taken lightly.
• Any powerful items must have proof of their creation, or must be approved of by an admin – Magical items only need approval if they significantly alter your character’s abilities, or lend a bonus to their attacks. Examples: Daywalker ring (allows vampires to be out in sunlight) Lighting spear (grants the ability to perform one AoE a week without charging up first), Soulbound Weapons, ect. Minor magical items like staffs or bags of holding do not require approval. ( You can find the magic item app under the ‘applications’ dropdown.)
Separate from the simpler rules of magic, wards are powerful protections cast by a single mage or groups of mages with the intent of protecting a place or a thing. The strength of these wards is determined by the number of mages casting them, and their breaking is just as complex as their casting. Please read the rules and guidelines below to gain a better understanding.
• To break any ward, one must be in physical proximity. No standing in the gardens and trying to break a ward in the Zer’Tath tower.
• When in RP and trying to break a ward or enter a warded area, the ward will activate once every two rounds. This means you can either flee or make another attempt to break the ward before it strikes again.
• Like an NPC, a failed strike against a ward will drop you one hitpoint for each failed roll/attempt.
• The strength of a ward is determined by how many people help cast it. The weakest wards are cast by only one mage.
• As stated above, the number of spellcasters creating a ward determines how strong the ward is, and thus what roll is required to break it. A weak ward cast by one person will require a 16 or higher to beat. Every two casters working on a ward ups the roll by one. 2-3 people needs a 17 to beat. 4-5 requires a 18 to break the ward. ect. Some wards are special to the lore, and may require different rolls to beat.
• Wards weaken over time. They must be regularly strengthened or re-cast to avoid failure. (Once a month for weak wards, once every two months for powerful ones)
• You may only attempt to break a ward once per day. In the event of a group assault upon a ward, the attempt will go as follows: Just like casting a ward, the number of people in your group will bolster your attempts. A group of mages will choose one representative to roll for them, and then add a bonus determined by their number. Two mages is +1, 3-4 is +2, 5-6 is +3, and any more is a +4. Additionally, a staff member must be present in at least an OOC capacity to observe any group attempt at ward breaking.
Character bonds are allowed, but they must follow certain guidelines to avoid godmodding and metagming
• The further you are from your bonded, the weaker the bond grows. If you are standing right next to your bonded you may be able to feel their feelings, hear every thought, ect. but the further you are the more effort that takes.
• Just like with alts, you cannot automatically ‘know’ information that your bonded knows. It still must be communicated through RP.
• You cannot automatically know your bonded’s exact location. If you intend to find them, the summon or attempt to locate must be posted. I.e. if you are in a scene and wish to summon your bond partner, you must post in local that you are doing so.
• Related to above, if you summon a bond partner to join a fight, they are not automatically included. You must still seek consent from all other parties, and a bond partner must wait at least a full round between the summoning post and their posting into the scene.