The law of the land

PvP / PK / PvE

Fellwake is a PvP game at its core, balanced around fighting other players. A fair fight costs nothing but the loot. Murder is a different matter.

1 · Flagging

White, purple, red

The whole world outside town is open for PvP. Your name colour shows everyone whether you are flagged right now.

WhiteUnflaggedThe default. Attacking a white player means holding a key down on purpose, so nobody starts a fight by accident. Area skills are the exception: they hit everyone and flag you.
PurpleFlaggedAttack a player, or heal, buff or protect someone purple or red, and you turn purple. It ends two minutes after your own last attack.
RedMurdererKill a player who never flagged back and you turn red. Anyone may attack a red player freely.
LogoutNo escapeOnly white characters vanish when they log out. A purple or red body stays in the world for up to 30 minutes, where it can be killed and looted.

2 · Clean PvP

Two purples, one winner

You attack someone and turn purple. They hit back and turn purple too. One of you dies. That is a clean fight: no Player Kill, no Infamy, and the winner's name stays purple, not red.

The same holds for a clan war over a mine or a brawl on a road. As long as everyone killed was flagged, nobody is a murderer. The loser pays the normal price of death, described below.

During sieges, registered fighters flag but never turn red.

3 · The Player Kill

Killing someone who never fought back

If a purple player kills someone who never flagged back, someone still white when they died, that is a Player Kill. Only the killing blow counts. This is what switches the Infamy system on.

You becomeRedThe moment the kill lands, and for as long as you carry any Infamy.
You gain1 Player KillA running count. From 5, it puts your own worn gear at risk when you die.
You gainInfamyA separate number. It decides how long you stay red.

4 · Infamy

How it grows, and how it falls

It grows faster with every kill

Each Player Kill adds more Infamy than the one before: 100 for the first, then 5% more for each kill after.

KillAddsTotal Infamy

Paid off in blood

Each monster worthy of your strength removes 25 Infamy. A monster far below you removes nothing. Time removes nothing.

Dying helps a little

Under 5 Player Kills, each death removes a flat amount. From 5 kills, a death removes 10% of your Infamy or the flat amount, whichever is more, and only one death every 30 minutes counts.

Gold

Gold can lower your Player Kill count, and with it your gear risk. It never touches Infamy.

Life as a red

HuntedFree to killAnyone may attack you without turning purple themselves.
CursedNo easy defenceYou need the same deliberate key to hit back at a white attacker, and killing them is another Player Kill.
ShunnedNo NPC will deal with youYou can still trade with players, but shops, trainers and every other NPC refuse you.
TownsPeace zonesYou may walk in, but you cannot fight back there, and the guards will kill you.

These are the starting numbers. They will be tuned during the alpha.

5 · Death

The same price for everyone

White, purple or red, a death costs the same: the haul and the horse, not your last month.

DroppedYour packEverything you carried lies on the ground for whoever stands over you.
DroppedYour mountThe horse goes with the haul.
KeptYour armourWorn gear stays on your body and loses durability. A smith can mend it, until one day it breaks.

The one exception: 5 or more Player Kills

Once you have 5 or more Player Kills and are red, every death rolls each item you wear separately against the chance below. Items that drop go into the same lootable pack. This is the only way worn gear ever drops.

5%5–9 kills
10%10–14 kills
20%15–19 kills
40%20–24 kills
80%25–29 kills
100%30+ kills

Work out your own risk

In game, your character's record will show your Player Kills, your Infamy and every item you have lost to it. That record is planned and not in the alpha yet.

And PvE

Player against the world

Monsters, raid bosses and the night itself. PvE matters: it feeds the economy, and slaying worthy monsters is how a murderer works off their Infamy. It exists to serve the PvP, not the other way round.