What is Crime Roleplay?

Some characters aren’t entirely too fond of the law and following it, and some folks may want to have their ne’er-do-well characters do crime. Crime RP and criminal characters are perfectly okay, provided they follow our rules and guidelines! Crime RP can be super fun and gives the various guard characters something to do so it can spark a lot of roleplay: roleplay is all about action and reaction, so doing Crime RP well means you can open a lot of opportunities for roleplay.

Do be aware that even if your character has a disregard for IC laws, you as a player must still remain respectful of OOC rules and follow them. We're all here to have fun, and the rules help everyone have a fun experience in game.

Some Things to Know:

Why is my character committing crime?

This part is fully up to you! There are lots of ways to earn money legally in character, whether completing fishing quests, going silver mining, or getting a job — so, why does your character want to do crime? Is there something in their backstory? Do they just hate laws as a concept? Do they feel that no one will give them a fair chance so they need to steal to make money? Were they raised in a family that taught them crime was the only way to live? Giving your character a reason for committing crimes allows for a lot more depth of roleplay and allows your character an arc (whether they end up a law-abiding citizen or a well-known criminal mastermind).

What counts as Crime?

We have an IC legal code called the Stone Bay Code. This code outlines the various crimes within the kingdom such as theft, assault, murder, and the like.

If my character gets caught, what happens?

If your character is caught, they’ll first be arrested or detained by guards, and then arraigned (where they enter a plea of either guilty or not guilty). If pleading “not guilty,” they’ll have a full court case scheduled, where the prosecution will have to prove guilt in court. If your character pleads guilty, they’ll be sentenced at the arraignment.

Your character may be sentenced to fines, material orders (where they’ll have to cobble stone or gather packed mud), or in cases of extreme severity (like treason) they may be banished or executed, in which case you’ll have to make a new character.

But I don’t want to get caught.

When doing Crime RP, you must acknowledge that you may get caught and face IC consequences for IC actions. Once you have engaged in a roleplay action, you must be willing to face the IC consequences, as per our Rule 4 of our Roleplay Guidelines.

How Do I Do Crime?

There’s plenty of things that constitute “crime.” One of the big ones is stealing.

"But wait, isn't stealing against the rules?"

Out-of-Character theft violates our server rules, and will result in a warning or ban from our Support Team. However, if you reach out OOC to the player who plays the character you want your character to steal from, you can make sure it’s okay with them first and thus no server rules will be violated.

Example: I, the player Jo, want my character Robert to steal from my friend Alex’s character Tess. I, Jo, DM my friend Alex to ask, “Hey, is it okay if I have Robert steal from Tess in-character?” If Alex is fine with it, then I can have Robert steal from Tess, and no server rules on theft have been broken. Once Tess discovers that they have been stolen from, they can file a report with the Royal Guard, and the Guard can then investigate!

Additionally, you’ll need to steal or trespass etc when the other player is online. Taking advantage of someone’s timezone to specifically go through their character’s stuff when they’re not online violates our rules as well as defeats the chance that you’ll be caught by the character from whom you’re stealing.

What not to Do:

Example: I, Jo, wait until I know my friend Alex is asleep and offline so my character Robert can break into Tess’s house and steal from Tess.

• Why is this bad? Offline raiding + removing any chance for action from the other character.

What to Do:

Example: I, Jo (who has already okayed potential theft with Alex), see that my friend Alex is online, and my character Robert goes to Tess’s house. Though Alex is online, Robert sees that Tess is not home and breaks into Tess’s house to steal their silver.

• Why is this okay? Alex is OOC okay with the IC theft, and even if Tess is not home, there is still a chance for them to come home and encounter the thief.

Another of the big ones is assault (aka attacking someone with your fist, a weapon, or other item). For this one, you don’t necessarily need to check with the player OOC, since you're not killing their character permanently or violating any OOC rules. Your character might lurk in an alleyway, behind a tree, or some other location waiting for an unsuspecting victim and jump out and attack them when the moment is right.

However, be aware that the Curse does bring Karans back from the dead (very often, at least), at which point the other character might be able to identify your character.

Alternatively, if your character is caught in the act by guards (or other armed Karans), you cannot log out to “escape” and will instead need to flee in game, whether by boat, horse, pearl, or other form of travel. Logging out is considered combat logging and violates our rules.

How-To Crime Roleplay Checklist

If Specifically Stealing

• Have I the player checked in with the other player beforehand to make sure this is okay OOC?
  • This makes sure you're not violating our OOC rules about theft.
• Is the other player (whose character I’m stealing from) online so there is a plausible chance that they could catch me in the act?
  • Offline raiding is against our rules, as it prevents any action or reaction from the other character.

If doing Crime in general

• If I’m in a disguise, is there something identifiable about my character so there is a plausible chance someone could connect my character?
  • Fully changing your skin so there’s absolutely zero chance of discovery prevents the chance of your character potentially being caught. Even something as simple as a piece of your character's hair being visible or their eyes being visible helps make sure there is a further chance for roleplay in the future.
• If I’m caught, am I willing to accept the consequences?
  • If you cannot check this box, do not do Crime RP. IC actions can have IC consequences, always.

As always, if you're confused by any of this and want some more clarification, feel free to #open-a-ticket.