​​Factions

Factions are groups that have taken over a Control or Resource node. Factions are given a spot on this page, a faction storage box, and access to a limited amount of guard NPCs, determined by the type of nodes they own. Factions must have a member of the admin team invited to the group as the sole owner, and characters may only be a part of a single faction at a time. In becoming a faction, a group becomes part of Orcrest lore - and as such must be free to become fixtures beyond the tenure of a single character. Factions become open to leadership changes, coups, and similar things that might see control of them pass from the initial leadership group. In exchange, they are given increased sim and story support, as well as given an allotment of prims to decorate their nodes with.

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Resource Nodes

Resource nodes are small outposts that factions can control. Each one can be harvested once a week by any member of the faction, and each one produces a different resource - with the exception of the Market, which provides silver and an upgrade to your guards. Resource nodes come with two guard NPCs placed at their entrance or in a central location. The five resource nodes are: the Den, the Hollow, the Market, the Mines, and the Ruins. Factions may hold up to three resource nodes.

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Control Nodes

Control nodes are larger faction bases that have some degree of control over the local territory. The faction that holds a control node is considered the legal authority not just within that node, but across the whole sim layer that node is found on. Control nodes come with twelve guard NPCs: four at the main entrance, two groups of two in important secondary locations, and four singular guards scattered in less important locations. In addition, twelve guard NPCs will be scattered around the layer they have control of. The three control nodes are: the Blackwood Camp, the Palace of Alimáqa, and the Rosehand Keep. Factions may only hold a single control node.

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Neutral Nodes

Both Control and Resource nodes start in (and may return to) neutral control. When the nodes are neutral, there will be a series of NPCs residing inside. To claim it, you must defeat all the NPCs in a single, uninterrupted process, with the same members in combat. This means no swapping people out, no leaving to go heal, no capitalising on someone else's failed attempt, but you can use consumables between fights. If you succeed, please immediately put in a story ticket with SL names of the members of your party and the logs of your run, including timestamps. Note: to take a Neutral Control node you still must either own the resource node on the same layer or be ICly granted safe passage by the owners of that node, as you would if players owned it.

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Taking Control and Resource Nodes

Once a node is in the hands of a faction, it can be taken from them by another group or faction with a 4v4 planned battle. Each node can only be attacked in this fashion once per week, and a node can not be attacked within two weeks of it being taken by a faction either from a neutral state or from a battle. In addition, factions may not schedule more than one planned battle against a specific faction at time, and may not attack a specific faction more than once a week.

 

When planning a battle, the attackers must coordinate with the controlling faction to find a time that works best for both groups. The controlling faction should typically offer times within a week or two, except where prevented by weekly lockouts or the initial capture period. If circumstances prevent this, please contact staff so we can work out a fair solution for everyone.

 

If both sides agree they may convert the scheduled battle to a larger event (ex. two 4v4s, with winners facing each other). Regardless of size, however, the attacking party must also defeat the primary NPCs (the two resource guards or the group of four control guards). The defending faction can choose if that happens before or after the 4v4 fight, but any members of the attacking faction who are above 0 HP may use consumables between the fights (so long as they do not trade for them).

 

Lastly, in order to take a control node from a faction, that faction can not have any resource nodes, and the attackers must either own the resource node on the same layer or be ICly granted safe passage by the owners of that node. If a battle is scheduled while this is true, and then either condition becomes untrue in the interim, the battle may still take place and the control node may still be taken.

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Losing Faction Status

Factions that no longer control any nodes are not automatically dropped from faction status, though they will lose access to their faction storage and prim allotment. If the faction leadership so chooses, or after a lengthy period of time without managing to reclaim a node, the faction will revert to a group and lose its restrictions. In addition, if a faction becomes inactive it may lose faction status even if it currently holds one or more nodes. In this eventuality, the nodes will be returned to the neutral state, or the storytellers may make an event out of it at their discretion, and the faction will become a group once more. 

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Faction Guards

Each faction can select their guard models from a number of provided options. If a faction wishes to retexture their guards, they can send full perm textures/materials to staff to apply to their guards. Such retextures will be kept for only that faction's guards. If a faction wishes to have a model other than the options provided by staff, they can upload and send full perm models to staff. These models will be made available to all factions as well as potentially used as storyteller NPCs, but factions can have a unique texture as above. Textures and models must adhere to general sim quality standards, both in appearance and efficiency.

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