Power Group Wars

Power groups have the unique opportunity to wage wars. These wars can be for a variety of reasons, however in general these wars fall into one of three categories. They are roughly in no specific order;

1) To establish a presence in a continent.
2) To attack another Power Group for money, fame, or power.
3) To consolidate power on a continent they already are present upon.

A PG War to establish a headquarters in a new continent can be opposed only by other Power Groups. This is important to state as this is more of a shadow war, in which the defending power groups try to prevent a beachhead from forming for the newly encroaching power group. Wars of this type can be resolved as small skirmishes, a quest or even an arm wrestling competition. There is no limit to the creativity allowed here. Note that since no Head Quarters are the target of such an advance, that even if the defending Power Group is defeated, there will be no immediate consequence to defeat.

However, now the invading PG knows who its enemies are.

Attacks on other power groups are generally resolved as battles. While the attacker has the advantage of going for the throat and aiming to destroy a head quarters or raid its stash of supplies, the defender can resolve what kind of skirmish or quest will resolve the battle. In short, the Attacker can pick any location that the attacker is aware of, (that is to say that they can attack any Group holding or HQ they are aware of, which must be quested for as a spoil, as normal.) and raid it for all its worth. However, the attacker must pick then and there whether they intend to take over the location, or destroy it.

The final option is a mere consolidation of power. A Power Group can target any perceived advantageous holding of the continent and declare a war to attack and control this target. Unlike the other wars, because these target public areas, any player may participate in the war, either as a raider or a defender. In short, these types of wars can escalate to engagements the size of the bazaar war, or merely be unopposed movement into the area.

Now for the process of engaging in a PG War;

1) Declaration of War.

This means you must declare publicly why your PG is at war, in a very specific manner. A link must be provided to any obtained information for an attack on a Clan Holding or HQ. Saying you’re declaring war on another PG is well and good, but you must declare which holding or HQ you’re attacking before you can continue with the war.

2) Quorums.

After the Declaration has been accepted, and seen as legitimate, a Features Moderator will post a quorum for the attackers. It is important to note that players may only be engaged in one PG war activity at a time. This does not mean accounts; it means the actual physical players. For example, if I am on my Tainted Bushido account defending an attack on Akashiman ports, I cannot as Dissinger involved in the fight in any way shape or form, including but not limited to raiding. Once a player has dedicated themselves to a PG war activity, they are dedicated to seeing it through.

3) Defender responds.

In this case, it depends on who’s being attacked how the defender responds. If it is the continent itself, the Writer for that region will decide how to set up the defense of that area, by writing a detailed description of the field of battle and include any important NPC groups that may be defending that battle.

If it is a Power Group, then now is the time for the Power Group to decide how the battle will go down. Note that the Attacker chooses location; it’s the defender who chooses how it goes down. If the Defender does not respond within a week’s time, then the war goes unopposed with victory going to the attacker.

4) Defender Quorum

Now, the defender creates its force to oppose the attack. They may hire mercenaries, but this is inherently a dangerous strategy. By using mercenaries, they immediately give these mercenaries the knowledge of the location being attacked. This means that people who participate in PG Wars may gain the knowledge of several PG Head Quarters, and be able to sell this information to other PG’s or even create their own PG’s to attack them. Caution should be exercised in these circumstances as your friend today may be your enemy tomorrow.

5) Resolve the war.

After Quorum has been achieved, the war will continue on. The result is that a thread (or in some cases threads) will be placed up for people to post in and begin their assault. Because of the often abrupt nature of these wars, Attacker must make the first post in a thread, unless a PG has developed some form of a warning system.

6) Judge the war.

The Features Administrator will go through and judge each thread after a period not lasting more than three weeks has been expired. If a war reaches a natural conclusion early you may notify the Features Administrator ahead of time so the judging can commence. All threads will be closed at this time, and no further posts will count. The person who PM’s the Administrator is assumed to be the final post of the thread, unless stated otherwise.

Abuse of this will be harshly punished.

All judgments will be bare bones, with little to no commentary. Due to the nature of such a large event, it would be near suicidal to have in depth judgments. However, if required the Features Admin will back up any decision he makes with commentary. This is not, however an invitation to try to overturn a judgment. After the judge has determined scores for all the players, he will average the scores for each side, and the side with the larger score will win the war.

Raiding

Raiding is the act of strike and fade. Raids can only be declared, when a PG war is in effect. In the Declaration of War thread for the war in question, any PG can declare their intent to raid, and provide links for the target they are attacking. If a PG wishes to be foolish and raid the location being attacked, they will also take part in the war as a third party. Understand however, that a raid in such a manner will not affect the outcome of the war beyond the scoring of the players. The raid itself will vary in success depending of the score of the raiding faction.

The higher the score, the more you can get while raiding. You also must declare what you are doing on the raid, as several options are available;

1) Looting – a basic stealing of supplies and funds from the PG in an effort to bolster the coffers.
2) Sabotage – An attempt to harass a Power Group by destroying a Holding or damaging a HQ.
3) Kidnapping – If an important NPC is available to a power group, the raid can be on that NPC. If the NPC is a government official or local merchant/official, then a link to receiving knowledge of such a relationship must be displayed, unless it is a public relationship. While such a kidnapping has occurred, a PG cannot make use of the NPC’s bonuses or abilities until they are returned.
4) Assassination – Similar to kidnapping, but a higher score is required to officially end the life of the NPC.

While a War allows for many participants, a Raid requires lower numbers. No more than three players may participate in a raid. These players must not be currently engaged in any PG War or Raid. There is a time limit of until the war ends for the Raid to happen. If a war goes unopposed, then the raid can become a war, should the PG defending the raid wishes. Keep in mind that even if a raid becomes a war, that the limit of three attackers on the raid is still enforced. You gambled that they’d be tied up; it’s your own fault if you become outnumbered and out gunned.

When a Raid is declared, a roster of who’s in the raid must also be submitted, with the approval of all the raid members.