Life And Death

Ours is a world of ever-evolving stories, full of wonder, adventure, and consequential danger. Living within the city walls, many folk only hear the stories told by passersby. Never to see these great wonders for themselves or to face unknown danger and live to tell the tale. Others, however, choose the path less traveled.

Essence Of Character


To understand how life and death works in the world of Backt'rol, you must first understand the concept of Character Essence. Essence of Character, like traditional 'Experience Points' ubiquitous in the genre, allow players to increase the character's ability to effect the world. Unlike Experience however, Essence of Character is produced not just through slaying enemies, but by traveling the world, interacting with other players, and experiencing the world around you.

Knock-Out
Another important concept to grasp is the 'K.O' or Knock-out, that is to say, your character has lost his or her consciousness and is incappable of interacting. Most combat will result in a party being rendered unconscious. In this instance, the felled will receive a "Knock-Out Count" which will decay over a period of time. If you recieve too many Knock-Outs before your previous have time to decay, you risk your character's permanent death. Looters that attempt to take from the unconscious risk waking them.

Death, and Rebirth
Upon being dealt a fatal blow, your character will fall and their Character Essence will be funneled back to the Isle of Kesna'buir. After reaching the isle, you will find you've lost your corporeal form and that you must some how regain it. You'll also find that most Essence of Character you've spent on Perks, Skillcaps, and Player Races have been returned to you. You have a few options:
 * The first and least costly option is to begin a new character, with a new names, no posessions and no prior knowledge of past experiences (any claims of said knowledge will be considered meta-gaming). If a player chooses this options, not only will they not lose Essence of Character, but they will be awarded 15,000 bonus EoC.
 * The second option, costing 50,000 Character Essence, is to return to the physical realm as a ghost, capable of limited interaction, but with prior knowledge and experience. Note that certain races are only acquired via quests only completeable by ghosts.
 * The third option is to purchase a new playable race and return to the world with a new name, and no prior knowledge. The cost incurred by this option will be dependant upon the race.
 * The fourth and final option is to return to the world as the same individual at a cost 500,000 Essence of Character. A player may choose this option a total of two times per character.