Nonlethal brawls. Or: "I'll dek u m8. Rite in teh gabber"

[Crackerjack]

Currently, it's really hard to be a bandit unless you want to be a cold blooded killer. You can't reliably rob someone, since you don't know for sure what they have in their inventory. Your only real recourse is to kill the person and loot them, or if you're a robin-hood type, take their word for it that the rotten orange is really all they have yes really.

IMAGINE IT:

You're walking down the road, woods on either side of you. Suddenly a bunch of bandits spring out and start beating you with a baseball bat, and/or throwing punches. You fall to the ground after trying to fight them off, and after delivering a few more kicks or punches they empty your inventory and make off with whatever they feel like, leaving you bleeding on the ground, probably unconscious but completely unable to move for a set time. Eventually you can stand up, emptied of your vital supplies, but you're still alive. Rip up your shirt for bandages, lick your wounds, then plot revenge.

MECHANICS:

It could be another state of PvP. "Brawl". When activated, if you have a non-lethal weapon equipped (Perhaps fists will work as well?) it will deal damage but has a very low chance of outright killing someone. The victim is knocked to the ground after a certain amount of hits/damage, and is unable to move for a set amount of time. The victim can then be looted, but is still alive. If SP, the player could also be knocked unconscious for a few minutes. To indicate someone is in the brawl state, an icon could pop up over the person's head. It could be a fist, or an angry face, or... Something. While in this state, you can immediately switch to lethal - or "classic" PvP as it stands, after 1 second of cool-down, or as soon as you pull out a lethal weapon: Any kind of gun, or "sharp" item.

POTENTIAL:

I believe this  could open up a lot of new interactions in MP and SP. The "furious" moodlet could automatically lock you in the brawl-state, triggering a fist-fight in the middle of the safe-house. You could swing a punch at someone in a disagreement, or make your banditry life possible without having to resort to cold-blooded murder right off the bat.

Heck, we could even have fist-fights for the glory of ruling the group, if you want to run it like the Dothraki. Then, when the fist-fight escalates and someone accidentally dies, you'll have a body on your hands and have to figure out how to deal with the fallout...

[Fryhizzle]

I've yet to meet a bandit in a game that didn't want to kill you.  I think the breed would die out before spreading its ideals.  Makes me think of what the bandits say in Skyrim: "You'll be so much easier to rob you when you're dead!"

     

 

[Suomiboi]

I'd like to see some more non-lethal ways of attacking too, but I think that the brawl system you're suggesting would only play in MP servers that use the safety system. In SP I'd just prefer getting knocked out cold with a certain chance, with blunt weapons and unarmed.

This would certainly create some interesting situations where you could then try to get your stuff back or retaliate.

I know that people are going to come up with the 'why not just kill them?' argument. But consider how you'd behave if the difference between killing and knocking out someone would cause your NPC best buddy to hate you and question your friendship.

A general thumbs up for knocking someone unconscious.

[Footmuffin]

Say you just left a group, and have practically nothing on you. You see a surprisingly better-off survivor who looks weak, stupid, and very vulnerable. You don't quite have the heart to kill them, but also don't have the time, energy, or chances to find your own stuff.

If I were in that situation and weren't the well-equipped, stupid, weak survivor, I'd definitely try to beat them up and take their stuff. I'd also want to wear clothing that would anonymise my appearance, to put them somewhere they wouldn't try to follow me from, and do little to no talking as well.

Edit: oop I fixed it so it wasnt super cray also suomiboi sent their thingy while i was composing this so like pretend I sent this earlier

[PhantomWarlock]

Great Idea! I would love beating somebody down with a wooden bat! But if they're on the ground, out cold, there should be one other option, when you right click.

 

 

 

"FINISH HIM"!

[Some Clever Username]

I love this idea! It's not like every group of bandits are killers... and not every group of bandits care about your life...

[Daman453]

Yup love this idea!

[DarkyDaFool]

I love this idea as well, as long as it doesn't make ALL baseball bat fights non-lethal.

[Konrad Knox]

Melee combat should have a random chance to knock the opponent down like it does a zombie, and then the downed person should be lootable until they get back up.

[Viceroy]

 

I've yet to meet a bandit in a game that didn't want to kill you.  I think the breed would die out before spreading its ideals.  Makes me think of what the bandits say in Skyrim: "You'll be so much easier to rob you when you're dead!"

     

 

 

 

I have been robbed by Nasko on one of the first MP builds, kind guy, even let me keep my weapon. He took the other stuff though.

[ludo0777]

Instead of this, add the ability to surrender by pressing a button.

 

When you do this you go down on your knees and can be tied up or looted.

 

So a bandit can threaten you and then rob you but only if you surrender

 

If you don't then they will have to kill you