Village Defense - Civilian Militia

DestinyCall · 2019-05-29 05:24:21

After spending multiple lives getting killed by knife-wielding Eves, I was pondering the problem of village defense. Walls aren't really adequate for a number of reasons, dedicated guards are impractical, and I am against the idea of excluding all contact with the outside. But having to deal with a constant influx of re-spawning murderers is pretty intolerable. With the recent changes to fix the rampant Eve spawns, this problem might go away on its own but I did have a few ideas that might be worth considering for the future.

As a person who likes to spend my life in the pursuit of village improvement rather than war, I want a way to defend my home when it is attacked. We need a civilian militia. Not town guards, armed with swords and bows, but the common villagers ... farmers, lumberjacks, carpenters, bakers, and shepherds. People who are living peacefully, but willing to put themselves in harm's way to protect their home and family. We already have the tools. We just need the ability to use them.

I propose two major changes.

First - a cheap and accessible tool for temporarily disarming an attacker. Change the long shaft to allow it to be used as a non-lethal weapon. An "attack" with the long shaft will cause the target to drop any held item and be slowed for three seconds. The shaft will break when used to successfully strike another player, turning into a broken shaft that decays on a similar timer to the broken stone hoe. This tool could be used to quickly disarm an attacker and would make use of a common item available in most villages, regardless of tech level. However, it is a single-use item, so it cannot be easily used as an offensive weapon. It would mostly be useful as a way to prevent an attack or take a held weapon away. There is no age limit on picking up a long shaft, just like with snowballs.

Second - make common steel tools into defensive weapons. Change the steel hoe, steel axe, steel pickaxe, steel adze, and steel shovel so they can be used as weapons. But ONLY when the targeted player is currently holding a bloody knife/sword/bow. Not sure if this distinction is currently possible in the game engine, but what I want is a weapon that can ONLY be used defensively, to attack/kill someone who has JUST attacked/killed someone else. These tools can be used to defend the town against violence, but they CANNOT be used to start violence. The first strike must come from a knife, bow or sword. After being used as a weapon, the tool would become "bloody" and you would be slowed and unable to drop the tool, just like with the knife. People might need to feed you. After one minute, the tool returns to normal and you can go back to farming or whatever. I think this would also help to prevent "murder chains" where a single griefer kills someone, then gets killed by someone, who is then killed by someone else and then they are killed by another person and so on. If you see a person holding a bloody tool, you know that they acted in defense, even if you missed the initial events. They were not the first person to strike. There might need to be an age limit on steel tools, since they can be used to kill. However, the killing is limited to defense and the long cool-down timer means that a child who uses a tool as a weapon will likely need other people to keep them alive while the tool is bloody, so an age restriction may not be necessary to prevent abuse. The lack of age restriction would mean that anyone, young or old, can help defend against murderers.

So imagine that you are working peacefully in the village, tending your carrot farm and you hear a scream! So you grab your steel hoe and rush toward the sound. After arriving on the scene, you find your sister bleeding out beside an unrelated man holding a bloody sword. You charge at the intruder, swinging your tool above your head and avenge your family with a single decisive blow from your trusty hoe. You don't have to go find a knife or sword to kill the intruder. And you don't have to stand by while a single murderer wipes out the whole village. Each village has an army of people who can quickly come to the defense of their family. A civilian militia that can be assembled quickly and without the need for special equipment that has no use beyond killing.

Last edited by DestinyCall (2019-05-29 06:47:35)

Guppy · 2019-05-29 05:54:54

Sounds great. This way, you actually need an army to raid a village instead of 2 people with swords, and even small villages have a way to defend themselves

futurebird · 2019-05-29 06:01:33

I like the idea that any tool, hoes, shovels, chisel etc. can be used to attack a person. But it only harms them if 3 people hit them in quick succession.

Come at them with your pitchfork farmfolk.

testo · 2019-05-29 09:14:05

Just revert back cursing to anyone. Killing a griefer does nothing, they already accomplished his goal by the time he gets killed. Cursing was actually useful and forced them at least to be sneaky. War was a massive failure, because what we got in return were terror suicidal strikes. Did you ever see an army vs army engagement? A gang fight at least? I didn´t. The closest I saw were a few 2/3 people massacres on a starting village and a ton of suicidal strikes. Genocide and war are way different things.

Have you ever wondered around your village using a horse in deep desert/jungle/tundra? Yes? Then you know what is there. A ton of useful stuff and clothing, horses and carts with pies, a bp with a knife and a dead corpse. A bow with a BP full of steel. They just don´t care. This is not real life mechanics. In real life you have enough time to get to know who you are living with, and the other person has to keep living his life. Here you have absolute anonymity and infinite lives. Stop the rationale that the game "has to be balanced" to allow griefing. Even with open cursing there was a lot of destruction and sabotage, what did we expect after a shield like this one?

Friendly Isopod · 2019-05-29 13:57:10

The long shaft idea might be used to grief by taking every long shaft in sight and hitting random townspeople with them, but I love the defensive tool idea. That would be great. We're kind of powerless right now but a way to defend against attacks without a sword would be a game changer.

On the topic of town defense, I've already suggested this, but guard dogs. Put them at the edges of your village. They bark when non family or dangerous animals get in range, and if an animal gets close they attack. With a human maybe only have them attack if they're wielding a weapon, but hopefully the sound of barking would notify the town that something was going on and give advance of a possible threat nearby.

RodneyC86 · 2019-05-29 14:23:18

Friendly Isopod wrote:

The long shaft idea might be used to grief by taking every long shaft in sight and hitting random townspeople with them, but I love the defensive tool idea. That would be great. We're kind of powerless right now but a way to defend against attacks without a sword would be a game changer.
On the topic of town defense, I've already suggested this, but guard dogs. Put them at the edges of your village. They bark when non family or dangerous animals get in range, and if an animal gets close they attack. With a human maybe only have them attack if they're wielding a weapon, but hopefully the sound of barking would notify the town that something was going on and give advance of a possible threat nearby.

At least making the griefer horde every long shaft a massive chore before they can play their little game. They also to account for farming implements, and someone will notice they are being taken away

Saolin · 2019-05-29 15:39:06

I like the premise of this idea.

DestinyCall · 2019-05-30 00:52:53

The straight shaft could also be used to stop theft. If someone grabbed an item and you want them to drop it, you could smack 'em with a shaft to force them to drop it.

Good for preventing an outsider from running away with a basket of iron, but also handy if you little brother makes you mad by messing with your stuff. Might not want to kill him, but you don't have time to ask nicely when he is about to use your rope to make a third firebow.

Last edited by DestinyCall (2019-05-30 00:53:26)

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2019-05-29 05:24:21

Village Defense - Civilian Militia

#2 2019-05-29 05:54:54

Re: Village Defense - Civilian Militia

#3 2019-05-29 06:01:33

Re: Village Defense - Civilian Militia

#4 2019-05-29 09:14:05

Re: Village Defense - Civilian Militia

#5 2019-05-29 13:57:10

Re: Village Defense - Civilian Militia

#6 2019-05-29 14:23:18

Re: Village Defense - Civilian Militia

#7 2019-05-29 15:39:06

Re: Village Defense - Civilian Militia

#8 2019-05-30 00:52:53

Re: Village Defense - Civilian Militia

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