War System User Guide

OVERVIEW

• Sieges are between nations - who attack, and towns - who defend
• A nation can start a siege against a town at any time (except when a town is new, peaceful, or was recently sieged)
• Towns cannot fall due to war costs (they can only go 'bankrupt', preserving the town completely but blocking expansion)
• Town structures & stored items remain safe (because town perm protections are unaffected)
• Towns can be plundered (transferring gold from the defeated town to the victorious nation)
• Towns cannot be captured by force. Instead, empires grow by 'persuading' towns to join them (by offering rewards and/or threatening plunder)
• Soldiers keep inventory if killed during a siege (giving all players a chance to stay involved in battles and practice combat skills, regardless of their wealth)
• Casual & cross-timezone players can contribute to most wars (because the siege duration is 3 days)
• Player battle fatigue is moderated (because fighting is organised into 1 hour 'battle sessions' for each player. After each session, the player gets a 10 min. enforced break from combat)
• Peaceful towns can opt out of war (by toggling 'peaceful', a town opts out of war, receiving immunity from siege attacks & taxes. It also gets a public /t spawn. In return, its residents cannot enter siege-zones and its nation choice is more restricted - the town can only join nations with a strong presence in the local area. See below for full details).

ACTIONS

• Attack town - As a king or general, place a colored banner in the wilderness close to a town. This action will initiate a new siege on the town. 0.5G/plot (plus up to 200% depending on town size) will be deposited into a 'war-chest', which will be automatically recovered by the siege winner. While under siege, the town has PVP forced-on, cannot recruit new residents, cannot claim/unclaim, and only residents can spawn there.
• Gain Siege Points: Banner Control - As a military-ranked attacked or defender, gain banner control for your side, by remaining near the siege-banner (16 blocks horizontally, 6 blocks vertically) for 10 minutes (a glow effect will show you the remaining time). Once your side has banner control, 30 siege-points will be awarded automatically every minute for each player on the banner control list. Players on the list do not have to stay in the siege-zone, but banner is control is lost once all listed players log off.
• Gain Siege Points: Kill Enemy - As an attacker or defender, kill enemy players of military rank, within 150 blocks of the siege-banner. Each kill gives a base 150 siege-points, regardless of how the player was killed. Allies of the attacker/defender can contribute fully.
• Gain Siege Points Bonus: Counter-attack - If your siege opponent has banner control, and one of their soldiers is killed or dies in the siege-zone, the siege-point award is increased by +5% for each soldier on the banner control list.
• Win Siege - Be the side with the best score when the siege-victory-timer hits zero. The attacker requires positive points to win. The defender requires negative points to win.
• Plunder town - As an attacking king or general, after the siege is won, place a chest in the wilderness close to the town. This action will rob the town of 0.5G/plot (plus up to 200% depending on town size), transferring it to the plundering nation.
• Abandon attack - As an attacking king or general, place an all-white banner in the wilderness close to the town.
• Surrender town - As the defending mayor, place an all-white banner anywhere in the town.

COMMANDS

• Assign Town Military Ranks - As a mayor, use the normal ranks system to assign:  guard, sheriff. Both can gain banner control in defence.
• Assign Town Military Ranks - As a king, use the normal ranks system to assign:  guard, captain, general. All can gain banner control in attack. Captains/generals have a leadership aura which affects nearby kill points, and generals can execute siege attack/abandon/invade/plunder.
• View Town Siege Information - View detailed information on a siege affecting the town, using '/t'
• View Nation Siege Information - View a list of sieges the nation is involved in, using '/n'
• Revolt - As a mayor, when 10 days have passed after a siege defeat, revolt and be free of an occupying nation using '/n leave'.
• Ruin Town - As a mayor, deny your town to an invader using '/t delete'. Your town will enter a ruined state for 3 days, after which full deletion occurs. In this state, all perm protections are disabled.
• Reclaim Town - As a resident, if your town falls into ruin, then after 24 hrs. have passed, reclaim it and become mayor, using '/t reclaim'.
• Receive Nation Refund - As a king, if your nation gets deleted for any reason, including capture of your last town, you will be refunded(100%) of the initial setup cost. This can be claimed using '/n refund'.
• Toggle Town Peacefulness - As a mayor, declare your town to be peaceful using '/t toggle peaceful'. The status will be confirmed in 5 days (2 days if the town is new). Once confirmed, the town becomes immune to sieges, taxes, & nationality-spawn-restrictions. It gets a public /t spawn. Nation choice is more restricted, the town can only choose a nation which has a 'guardian town' with 75 chunks. A town qualifies as a guardian town if it has 20 plots or more, is non-peaceful, and has no current or recent siege. Peaceful Town residents cannot receive nation-military ranks, and are afflicted by 'war allergy' if they enter a siege zone.
• Toggle Town Non-Peacefulness - As a mayor, declare your town to be non-peaceful using '/t toggle peaceful'. The status will be confirmed in 5 days (2 days if the town is new).

FAQ

• Q. My town is peaceful and does not wish to fight. What can I do ?
• A. The best option is to toggle your town to peaceful using "/t toggle peaceful". After a few days your town will become completely immune to sieges + taxes. You will also get your own public T spawn, and can spawn-travel regardless of enemy/ally restrictions. In return, your nation choice will be restricted (and may change automatically depending on the geopolitical situation in your local area),

• Q. My nation is peaceful and does not wish to fight. What can I do ?
• A. The best option is to pay the 'neutrality cost'. This is due if your nation is located close to aggressive 'barbarians' of some sort. Like ancient Rome, you pay a regular 'tribute' to the to remain peaceful. (enough so that the barbarians gain nothing and lose reputation by attacking)

• Q. Everyone is block-glitching these days. Won't this make walls useless if the system is deployed on towny-main ?
• A. No it won't. Walls will obstruct enemy movements and help you control the battlefield, while also giving you an elevated firing position (for bows).

• Q. How do I use military ranks ?
• A. Only give military ranks to players who can be trusted. Soldiers: Can get banner control, and don't lose items on death. Captains: Same, but with a leadership aura. Generals: Same, but they can use siege management actions: attack/abandon/invade/plunder. WARNING: Do not remove ranks from a soldier while they are in a siege zone (or even logged out there).