Not Everyone Plays Nice
For every farmer, there's a bandit. The Bustling World lets you indulge in the darker side of human nature.
The Life of Crime
Item | Description |
|---|---|
Stealth & Burglary | Break into homes at night. The stealth system accounts for sound and visibility. |
Gambling | Visit underground dens. You can win big or lose your shirt. |
Assassination | If someone crosses you, you don't have to wait for the law. |
Justice & Consequences
The game has a robust legal system.
Bounties: Commit crimes, and you get a bounty. NPC bounty hunters (or other players in multiplayer) will come for you.
Jail: Getting caught means prison time. Or execution, depending on the severity.
Faction Warfare
On a larger scale, you can become a warlord.
Item | Description |
|---|---|
Recruit Mercenaries | Build a private army. |
Siege Cities | Take over territory by force. |
Negotiate alliances or betray your friends. The AI factions play by the same rules you do. |
The "Social" Systems
Feature | Description |
|---|---|
Marriage | You can woo NPCs, get married, and start a family. |
Lineage | Your children inherit traits. |
Gossip | News travels. Your reputation precedes you. |
The Underground Economy
The legitimate market is only half of the economic picture. The developers have framed a parallel underground network that runs alongside it: gambling dens, secret banks, fences, and bandit strongholds. Players can plug into this network as customers, as employees, or as competitors. Each role has its own surface in the wider economy and trade loop.
Underground Surface | Role | Player Use |
|---|---|---|
Gambling dens | Underground games of chance. | Quick income or quick loss. Useful for laundering money earned through other crimes. |
Secret banks | Stores wealth out of sight of the authorities. | Useful when wanted level is high and legitimate banks would seize funds. |
Outlaw strongholds | Bandit and pirate camps; criminal employers. | Source of contract work, illegal goods, and recruitable allies; also targets for bounty hunting. |
Black-market merchants | Fences and smugglers. | Buy and sell stolen goods at discounts the legal market will not match. |
Criminal Career Paths
There is no single "criminal" career. Crime in the sandbox is closer to a set of overlapping specializations, each with its own day-to-day rhythm.
Burglar. Specializes in stealth and night-time entry. Income comes from stolen goods sold through fences.
Gambler. Lives off the underground gaming tables. High variance and high social network value.
Assassin. Takes contracts to remove specific NPCs. Income is large per job but reputation cost is severe.
Bandit leader. Builds a private force and runs raids or extortion. The mercenary-army system overlaps with military and warfare.
Warlord. Scales up to seizing settlements outright. The faction system in factions tracks the resulting balance of power.
Consequence Flow
Every crime feeds the wanted system. The crime and wanted system article covers the mechanics in detail; the summary table below is a quick reference for what happens when each rung is hit.
Action | Immediate Effect | Follow-Up |
|---|---|---|
Petty crime (theft) | Small wanted increase if witnessed; nothing if clean. | Local guards may investigate; reputation drops slowly. |
Violent crime (assault, robbery) | Moderate wanted increase; victim's family remembers. | Bounty placed; bounty hunters and guards become more active in the area. |
Murder | Large wanted increase; lasting reputation damage. | Bounty hunters travel between cities to pursue; family members of the victim may plot personal revenge. |
Faction warfare | Triggers full conflict between the player and the target faction. | Diplomatic and economic fallout across the map; allied factions may step in. See diplomacy. |