Escalation Policy

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Escalation Steps

The following levels are the steps involved with escalation, when combat starts for the first time it begins at level 1.

1. Unarmed combat, excluding combat-enhancements such as drugs, mutations or martial arts.
2. Combat involving non-lethal enhancements, civilian items or weapons which are designed to exhaust or repel, rather than kill.
3. Lethal combat and the use of deadly weapons.

Depending on your role, you may be exempt from these steps. For example, traitors are welcome to kill anyone who attack them, regardless of escalation. See "Faction Escalation" below for more details. Good roleplay may justify skipping the unarmed phase of combat.

Aggressors and Defenders

A player is considered the aggressor when any of the following is met:

• They perform the first strike.
• They are trespassing.
• They are chasing a player who is attempting to flee.

The aggressor must not escalate past what the defending player has responded with, and must seek medical treatment for their victim in the first instance of combat with someone.

Any player who is not an aggressor is a defender. Defenders may escalate one level above what the aggressor has used against them.

Further Clarification

This policy further lays out how conflicts are expected to be resolved. Any breaches of this policy will be classified as self-antag.

If someone is holding a weapon, or shows clear intent to use a weapon, then the unarmed phase of escalation may be skipped when initiating combat would otherwise be allowed. You may not use lethal force against security until they have used it against you. If someone is unable to continue fighting or surrenders by giving up their combat ability, harmfully damaging them further will be considered lethal combat regardless of the weapon used. In the case of group combat, all participants in the combat encounter follow the same stage of escalation even if they have not personally performed actions that would escalate the conflict. Players who witness the initiation of combat against another player may participate in the defense against the combatant, but are always considered an aggressor. Players that refuse to disperse from a group of combatants may be treated as if they are part of that group of combatants, even if they have not performed any combat oriented actions. Players healing or enhancing the combat capabilities of combatants before the conclusion of the encounter may be treated as combatants siding with those that they are assisting. For trespassing, access does not imply authorization - authorization is granted by permission or the need to be in a location. If a player initiates combat against another player more than once, the defender will not be considered an aggressor when chasing them. While in the process of performing a capital crime, or any action that may lead to future harm, a player may be treated as an aggressor acting under the lethal force stage.

Faction Escalation

Certain factions or antagonists have their own additions to the escalation policy that allow for different responses towards other players.

1. Station - Aligned to the station and should be friendly towards crew. Should not be attempting to unnecessarily start conflict.
2. Neutral - Neutral roles have no alignment and do not need to be friendly towards the station, but must have a reason to initiate combat.
   • Neutral defenders may skip to the 'kill' phase of escalation.
   • Defenders may skip to the 'kill' phase of escalation when fighting a neutral role.
3. Hostile - Hostile roles are against the station.
   • Hostile roles may skip to the 'kill' phase of escalation immediately without any prior interaction.
   • Aggressors and defenders may skip the 'kill' phase of escalation when fighting a hostile role.
   • Hostile roles follow the antagonist policy but may have some additional privileges outlined below.
   • If the hostile role is a member of the station's crew, security must follow space law and make attempts to revive the victim if the situation permits.
   • The crew must make a reasonable attempt to deconvert hostile roles that are known to be deconvertable.

Not all factions are immediately obvious, once a character appears to be a part of a certain faction, or is performing actions that a specific faction would follow, then the appropriate response may be followed.

Escalation Guidelines

Role and Faction	Alignment	Special notes
Station Crew (Nanotrasen)	Station
Transformed Station Crew	Station
Rescued Derelict Crew	Neutral
Slaved Golems	Neutral (Special)	Aligned to their master only.
Free Golems	Neutral
Silicons	Neutral	Have no alignment, but are bound by their laws. Crew escalating against silicons should seek to have the units repaired.
Unbound Positronic Brains	Neutral	Have no alignment and may optionally align to their creator while they have no laws, but must avoid actions which put them at risk of being shutdown whilst they are at the mercy of the player holding them.
Malfunctioning Silicons	Hostile	May completely ignore other laws due to law 0. May perform high-impact actions freely when their AI triggers doomsday/delta alert, but are allowed to defend themselves from hostile crew.
Malfunctioning AI	Hostile	May perform high-impact actions against all crew after the doomsday has been activated, which can be done once the crew is making attempts to destroy it. May perform high-impact actions against crew and departments who show intent to destroy it, such as those producing ion weapons.
Traitor (Syndicate)	Hostile	The 'hijack the emergency shuttle...' and 'die a glorious death' objectives allow high-impact actions against all crew.
Blood Brother (Syndicate)	Hostile	The 'hijack the emergency shuttle...' and 'die a glorious death' objectives allow high-impact actions against all crew.
Changeling (Syndicate)	Hostile	The 'hijack the emergency shuttle...' and 'die a glorious death' objectives allow high-impact actions against all crew.
Brainwashing Victims	Neutral	Must follow their directives and may perform high-impact actions if the situation calls for it. The station may respond with reasonable force to capture and deconvert anybody who appears to be assisting a known threat to the station.
Nuclear Operatives (Syndicate)	Hostile	May perform high-impact actions against all crew.
Heretic	Hostile	May perform high-impact actions against all crew once ascended.
Blood Cult (Nar'sie)	Hostile	May perform High-impact actions against all crew after ascending, and against unconvertable crew at all times.
Clockwork Cult (Ratvar)	Hostile	May perform high-impact actions against all crew on Reebe, unconvertable crew at all times, and crew which pose a serious threat to the defense of Reebe.
Space Wizard (Federation)	Hostile	May perform high-impact actions against all crew.
Space Ninja (Spider Clan)	Hostile	May kill anyone who witnesses them pursuing an object.
Revolutionary	Hostile	High-impact actions are permitted against targets and anyone that cannot be converted.
Pyroclastic Slime	Hostile	May perform high-impact actions against everyone.
Sentient Animals	Neutral (Special)	Aligned to their master only, otherwise are neutral. The station may treat all slimes as hostile.
Teratoma	Hostile	Must never perform high-impact actions.
Morph	Hostile	Must not use high-impact actions, but may kill all crew for the sake of consuming them.
Swarmer	Hostile	Must not perform any actions that make the station untenable.
Abductors	Hostile	Must not use high-impact actions to achieve their objective, but may use lethal force if they are forced to.
Obssessed	Hostile
Xenomorph	Hostile	May freely kill to reproduce and hijack the shuttle.
Space Pirate	Hostile
Revenant	Hostile	May perform high-impact actions against all players.
Nightmare	Hostile	May freely kill anyone creating light through low-impact means. May not use high-impact actions to achieve their objective.
Ashwalker	Hostile	May sacrifice outsiders to the necropolis and are hostile towards all non-ashwalkers. Should not willingly leave Lavaland.
Lavaland Syndicate	Hostile	Must not leave their base.
Other Lavaland Roles	Neutral
Space Dragon	Hostile	May kill anyone to regain health.
Giant Spiders	Hostile	May kill anyone to reproduce.
Blob	Hostile	May perform high-impact actions against all players.
Fugitives/Spacepol	Neutral	May perform high-impact actions against the other party. Crew response is determined by in-character actions.
Vampire	Hostile