The Basics of SWmud PK

Do you want to see totally different side of the mud? Do you want to compare your skills and speed to other players? Do you want to become a player killer? By signing the book located on Coruscant you can do so, and become one of the elite player killers. Signing is not recommended for new players, you should be familiar with the MUD before you sign.

Prerequisites for Signing and Unsigning:

There are two prerequisites you must fulfill before you are allowed to sign the book, with one exception. The 2 requirements are:

1. you must not be a diplomat.
2. you must be level 4 or higher *

* Bounty Hunters and Assassins are automatically signed Army when they advance in their respective guilds, but they are not allowed to PK until they reach primary level 4.

If you wish to remove your name from the book, you will suffer a monster death. It sounds bad, but it only takes a couple hours to regain a level. If you are signing to "try it out," have your primary guild higher than your secondaries in case you want to unsign. (Bounty Hunters and Assassins must drop the guild before they can unsign. If it is your primary guild, then you must suicide the character in order to not be a PK.)

Keep in mind, player killing is not for all people. By signing the book, you will become among the most loved and hated on the MUD. Should you decide to sign, there are a few things you should know.

Basic Rules and Code of Conduct:

ARMY VS. NAVY - If you are Mercenary or Pilot, you have the option of signing as a Navy PK instead of an Army PK. Navy PKs can only PK in space; they cannot be killed on the ground. Army PKs can attack and be attacked both in space and on the ground. Level limits still apply, though there are some adjustments to understand about Space PK.

PK RANGE - You can attack anybody 4 primary levels or fewer below your own primary level and anybody of higher primary level. This is always your PK range, unless you are an HM bounty hunter.

PK EQUIPMENT - There are many items throughout the mud known as 'pk items'. It is customary to give back all equipment to those you kill except for credits and PK equipment. You do not have to do so, but if you keep others' equipment, be prepared! Those who kill you will likely keep your equipment! And having to re-equip in order to fight again is no fun for anyone.

DEATH - When you die on the ground, you lose all experience, similar to a space death, except that you can go back and pick up your equipment.

PLAYER-IMPOSED RULES - The Player Council has formed some laws about player killing. If you go link-dead (disconnect) while fighting or quit out (not in a "safe" area) you will be 'outcast', and most PKers will be angry with you. Also, Council Members have the ability to 'condemn' a PK on their own team and 'appoint' other PK team members to punish you. Level restrictions do not apply to PK appointees who are hunting the condemned.

These rules are not wiz-made rules, but rather rules that players themselves have enacted upon each other, so they are subject to change and are not written down anywhere in most cases, but pass from player to player. Check with members of the Player Council or other PKers for the current rules or a given team.

Advice:

IF YOU SIGN THE BOOK, PLAN TO DIE. Don't get discouraged though, with every death, you get better! The best advice I can give you is to ask an experienced player killer on your team to give you advice, answer your questions, and help you attempt to kill others until you can figure it out yourself. Player killing opens up many possibilities in roleplay through clans.

GENERAL MUD KNOWLEDGE IS THE BEST HELP YOU CAN HAVE WHEN YOU PK. The surest way to obtain this is to play for a while and explore. 'Explore' does not mean arriving at a planet and asking others where the bank or shop is, but actually looking for it yourself and remembering how to get there again. Thorough exploration of commonly visited planets is one of the best ways to survive in pk, as you will know your environment as well as, if not better than, your opponent.

THERE ISN'T ANY SET GUILD COMBINATION THAT MAKS YOU GOOD or means you can't win, though there are certainly some race/guild combos that aren't likely to help. Assassins and bounty hunters have a wide variety of skills that will benefit you in a fight, but it is not necessary to be one or both of these guilds to be successful. (There have been many players who have created PK characters specifically to prove that you can PK with just about any guild and race combination as long as you know what you are doing.)

CHECK THE KILLERS LIST OFTEN to see who is around that could cause trouble. Truces are sometimes broken. As a player killer, you are almost always either hunting or being hunted. Don't idle where anyone is likely to find you. If you see a member of another team, pk or not, expect that every pk on that team knows your location immediately. If there's a PK Jedi level 19+ on another team, know that you can be farsighted if they are on the same planet as you, and that any other pk could be learning your location. Non-PK are no longer allowed to farsight PKers.

SMUGGLER CABBIES ARE YOUR FRIENDS. Taking cabs can put a strain on your bank account, but it pays off when you don't get caught in a shuttle fight that you can't win. Always have enough money on you to be able to cab off of the planet you're on. Don't put yourself in a corner because you forgot to carry that extra cash. And be aware that Bounty Hunters can also bribe cabbies not to take you anywhere or to take you to the wrong place.

AVOID SOLEADA LIKE THE PLAGUE. This is the biggest mistake new PKs make. If you're on Soleada and not in your condo, expect to be jumped. Quickly. This planet is naturally the second most frequented spot in the game, next to Coruscant. You will be seen there, you will be jumped there, and you will die there. I'd even advise using Sluis Van Shipyards or Death Star condos for storing equipment. There's no rule against killing someone that's unequipped, just a gentleman's agreement that is sometimes broken.

HIDE SKILLS ARE A BIG PLUS, though not required. Defels and Noghris reign supreme, and give smugglers a lot of consideration for their ability to hide. Unless you want to depend on always having a camo cloak, this is a sure way to avoid trouble. More importantly, there's no better way to approach an enemy than invisibly, or do like bounty hunters and assassins do, and wait for the enemy to come to you while you're faded or blended into the shadows.

LEARN TO USE THE ALIAS SYSTEM. A lot of times in PK there's simply not time to type out full commands, so if you don't already do so, use aliases and even nicknames to make things quicker. Reflexes are extremely important, and will be trained over time, but one letter commands make everything simpler, assuming of course you remember which does what! There are also items on the mud which can help you switch aliases quickly from one PK to another, if you find them.

Conclusion:

Essentially that's it. Preparation for fights and knowing when to run is well over half the battle in most cases. Especially at lower levels, many fights end quickly. Go in, invisibly if you can, drop a droid, and kill the bad guy. Bouncing is not only legal in PK, it's strongly encouraged. Pick a character to play and utilize skills and items available to you as fully as you can, and HAVE FUN DOING IT.

No matter how good you are, you're gonna lose fights sometimes, even when you really shouldn't. Avoid viewing the enemy as 'bad people' who you can bad mouth. They are trying to do the same thing as you, kill you for their own greater glory, and it's extremely bad form to insult their character just because they were successful this time. There will always be a rematch.

This panic file was written by Coug and Carnal, both long time players and PKers of SWmud.
The file has been updated by Liria as information changes.