Escalation Simplification
Escalation Steps
The following levels are the steps involved with escalation, when combat starts for the first time it begins at level 1.
- Unarmed combat, excluding combat-enhancements such as drugs or martial arts, such as ephedrine variants, northstars, brass knuckles, which are classified as lethal.
- Combat involving non-lethal enhancements, civilian items or weapons which are designed to exhaust or repel, rather than kill, such as stun batons and disablers or common tools like crowbars.
- Lethal combat and the use of deadly weapons. Guns, majority of bladed weapons from shivs ships up, and explosives all start lethal combat under this policy.
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. 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 with the exception of defense against security, unless playing a free agent or hostile role.
-
Security may skip to the nonlethal stage of escalation (stage 2) if necessary to safely enact an arrest or search. Security may skip to the kill stage of escalation if it is clear the aggressor has nonlethals and will use it 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. Station/Crew aligned roles may help security, but cannot hinder security. Note, this does not mean crew aligned roles are permitted to seek out and kill or detain hostile or free agent roles, but it does permit crew to assist security in the immediate term if a fight occurs.
- 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.
- Initiating combat against security as as an aggressor while station aligned will be considered self antagonisim regardless of the circumstance.
Faction Escalation
Certain factions or antagonists have their own additions to the escalation policy that allow for different responses towards other players.
- 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.
Station/Crew
- Station/Crew are aligned to the station and should be friendly towards crew and should not be attempting to unnecessarily start conflict.
Free Agent
- Free Agent roles have no alignment and do not need to be friendly towards the station, but must have a reason to initiate combat.
- Free Agent defenders may skip to the âkillâ phase of escalation.
- Defenders may skip to the âkillâ phase of escalation when fighting a Free Agent.
Hostile
- Hostile roles are against the station.
- Hostile roles may skip to the âkillâ phase of escalation immediately without any prior interaction.
- Hostile aggressors and defenders may skip the âkillâ phase of escalation when fighting a role against their interest.
- If the hostile role is a member of the stationâs 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.
This escalation policy was mostly taken and overhauled from Beestation13, it might be missing some key points of what escalation is but is intended to replace escalation rule 2.11 in itâs entirety.