Home Justice & Law Enforcement

Justice, Law Enforcement & Bounties


5.1 Worker flee

On first hostile action against a worker (damage or hostile intent):

worker.state = FLEE
worker.move_speed = flee_speed_base × flee_panic_multiplier   # very high
worker.flee_target = lodging | nearest_guard_post | employer_residence
  • Job paused; resumes after reaching safe point + calm timer if attacker gone.
  • Workers have HP — can die if caught (evil on killer).
  • In civilized zones, crime event also dispatches guards (§6).

5.2 Neutral NPCs

Shopkeepers, quest givers, labor brokers: same flee optional; many are indoors or non-combat with guard escalation only.


6.1 Crime event

CrimeEvent {
  criminal_entity_id,
  victim_entity_id,
  crime_kind: AttackNeutral | KillNeutral | AttackWorker | KillWorker |...,
  position,
  zone_security_tier,
  timestamp,
}

6.2 Response

  1. Find guards within response_radius of crime (emplacements + town patrol pool).
  2. Guards path toward criminal at high speed.
  3. On range + LoS: engage combat (12) — guards are strong, co-op.
  4. On first guard aggro against criminal → add/update wanted record (§7).

Guards do not follow criminals into wild unless border chase rules (optional, short leash).

6.3 Wanted in town

When a wanted player enters civilized tier with active warrant:

  • Patrol guards path toward player when in extended radius.
  • LoS + within engage range → attack (same as PvP, guards as faction).
  • Player can flee town; warrant persists on regional boards (§7.1).

6.4 Guard lethality vs evil

Criminal evil Guard behavior
Low / moderate Attack until unconscious → capture → jail
Very high Lethal engagement — guards more aggressive, may kill

Threshold configurable per ruleset (guard_lethal_evil_threshold).

7.1 Wanted record (central ledger)

wanted_entry:
  character_id:...
  display_name:...
  crimes: [kill_worker, assault_guard]
  evil_at_posting: 340
  bounty: { silver: 50 }
  posted_at:...
  origin_region_id: northhold
  spread_regions: [northhold, millbrook]   # grows to nearby towns over time
  expires_at:...                            # entries timeout — not forever
  status: active | captured | expired

Wanted boards are fixtures in towns. Listings are regional first (origin_region_id), spread to adjacent towns over configurable time, and expire after wanted_ttl unless renewed by new crimes.

the terminal client: flatland wanted list, flatland wanted accept <id>.

7.2 Player bounty hunters

Action Result
AcceptBounty(wanted_id) Hunter flagged as authorized; GPS hint optional (region only, not exact)
Kill wanted (valid combat) Hunter claims bounty to bank; wanted cleared; evil unchanged for hunter
Capture wanted (§8) Deliver to jail → full bounty + bonus; wanted cleared on booking

Bounty reward: equal split among valid bounty party members on turn-in.

Invalid kill (wrong target, accomplice) — no payout; may increase hunter evil.

7.3 Funding

Bounty pool from: town tax (10), employer restitution on worker kill, crime fines on capture.


8. Unconscious, kill & capture (PvP)

Extends combat (12) and death (07).

8.1 Unconscious state

When player HP → 0 in PvP (and optional elite PvE):

state = UNCONSCIOUS
duration: until revived, killed, captured, or self-recovery
actions: none — stuck in place (minimal chat optional)

Not dead — no corpse yet; inventory remains on body.

No auto-death timer. If the winner ignores the body, the unconscious player eventually recovers and may leave. Another player may capture while down. High-skill targets may escape restraint before jail (chance vs captor skill).

8.2 Winner interaction

Standing adjacent, channel Finish intent:

Choice Requires Outcome
Kill — Normal death flow (07) — corpse, respawn, penalties
Capture rope / manacles item (consumed or durable) Target → CAPTURED

Killing unconscious neutral/worker still applies evil + crime event.

8.3 Captured state

captured:
  restrained: true
  follow_captor: true
  inventory_locked: true
  skills_disabled: true
  escape_chance: f(DEX, relevant_skill, captor_skill)  # before jail booking

Captor escorts to jail fixture → TurnInPrisoner → prisoner enters JAILED (§9). Failed escape attempts extend restraint timer.


9. Jail

Field Behavior
Location Town jail NPC / cell fixture
Sentence base_sentence + f(evil, crime_severity) in ticks
While jailed No world actions; offline time may count (config)
On release Wanted cleared; evil reduced; respawn at jail exit

Logged-out prisoners remain jailed — cannot evade by disconnect.


10. Combat integration

Topic Rule
Friendly fire Still on (12) — killing ally workers adds evil + employer grievance
Guards Faction town_guard; cannot be bribed at launch
Unconscious Overrides auto-attack on downed target
Workers Valid combat targets; flee on first hit

11. Worker death (employer impact)

Effect Detail
Worker HP → 0 Worker dies — replace via new hire unless worker insurance active
Insurance Paid policy — respawn worker at lodging after delay + fee
Replacement Hire new worker; retrain
Killer evil + wanted if guards respond; employer notification
Insurance Future — crafted worker bond policy

12. the terminal client / agent

flatland wanted list
flatland wanted accept bandit-42
flatland capture <player>              # on unconscious target
flatland jail status
flatland pray --sanctuary temple_northhold --duration 300
flatland evil                          # self rating + recent changes
flatland guard-zones map               # overlay security tier (debug)

13. Phasing

Phase Scope
5 Zone security tags; evil attribute; monster redemption
6 Worker flee; guard crime response; wanted board
6b Unconscious PvP; kill vs capture
6c Player bounties; jail sentences
7 Prayer sanctuaries; watchtower emplacements; employer restitution

15. Cross-references

Topic Doc
Death & corpse 07
Combat 12
Workers 13
Economy / tax 10
Attributes 11
World zones 01

Guards use same combat intents as players (12). Workers flee uses movement from 11.