Scotchwood Mex

Easy Mode: Easy Mode is for people who have no major interest in their characters dying. You have access to private topics, maims turn into severe bruising that inhibit the use of the damaged body part for the rest of the thread, what would normally cause deaths turn into your character simply being knocked out. However, everything isn't good for you, this also means that your character will never be able to pass Tier 3.

• Exceptions to these Rules: Should you attack someone on Hard Mode with killing, crippling, injuring, or maiming intent OOC or IC, you lose your Easy Mode protection and may have the same done to you. May it be killed, maimed, injured, etc as long it is the same intention.
  
  
• You cannot make private travel threads, but they can still be No Kill due to your Easy Mode Protection.
  
  
• Also, there are also events which your character will be at risk if you choose to enter them.
  
  
• Lastly your character can be vulnerable to death if you will it.
  

Hard Mode: This is for people willing to take more of a risk for more of a reward. In this mode you can reach up to T6, and there are other things available to you, like world positions. However, your character is always death enabled. A hard mode person is not allowed to make a "No Kill" thread or a Private thread. Their whole existence is open. Hard Mode is to promote a more realistic One Piece Roleplay-verse and while people are eligible to die while on Hard Mode, our aim here is not to make this a place where people meaninglessly kill. Hard Mode was introduced to promote interactive RP where people value there allies and teammates. Hard Mode is for an experience closer to Canon.

• Exceptions to these Rules: If you are situated on your island, or your ship, you are permitted to make a private thread between you and crew members. HOWEVER, you cannot make a private travel thread on your ship, you are still at risk of invasion in those threads.
  
  
• Protection for Private Topics on your Ship can last for a duration of 15 IC Post, afterwards the topic is Open whether you are on the ship, setting sail, etc.
  

Changing Modes: Changing modes is also possible if you start out a character, and realize the mode you chose does not really suit you. Unfortunately, to prevent people making the first choice without thought, or using easy mode to their advantage getting as high as they can with Easy Mode, and jumping to Hard Mode, there are penalties to both sides changing modes.

• Easy Mode Penalties: If you're on Easy Mode, and you change to hard mode, you are bumped down an entire tier, and will have to build your way back up. Anything spent on something you cannot have anymore because of tier problems, (You were T3 with a T3 only sword, and you've been knocked down to T2), will be refunded.
  
• If you commit an action such as attempting a death blow on a PC that strips you of Easy Mode protection, you will be considered a Hard Mode player from then on. This counts towards your single Mode Change.
  
• Hard Mode Penalties: If you choose to jump to Easy Mode, you get everything taken from you that is Hard Mode only, and a tier down.
  

Finally, there is only one difficulty change someone can go through ever. There will be no chance to buy/trade/sell/casino a difficulty change if you decide you want to change back, ever. So make all of your choices carefully.