======Guard====== {{:patterns:guard-oblivion.png?direct}} [[games:oblivion|Elders Scrolls IV: Oblivion]] =====Description===== A guard is an [[patterns:npc|NPC]] that guards a person, place or thing in the game world. Guard NPCs may begin as normal [[patterns:inpc|interactive NPCs]] until the player preforms a trigger action on whatever it is guarding. After this point the guard NPC can either become an [[patterns:enemy|Enemy]], or force a [[patterns:dialog_tree|Dialog Tree]] with the player, which gives the player a chance to talk their way out of the situation. Guard NPCs can function as [[patterns:blockade|blockades]], preventing the player from moving forward until conditions are met and threatening the player with attack if they are not yet met. =====Variables===== * **Guarding**: the guard NPC will attack the player if they preform a trigger action on one of the objects guarded. Common guarded objects include [[patterns:portal|portals]] to important areas, [[patterns:item|items]], and other [[patterns:npc|NPCs]]. * **Trigger Action**: what actions taken on the guarded objects will cause an attack on the player. Occasionally this action is activating a physical [[patterns:trigger|trigger]] in the world. Common trigger actions include: [[patterns:kill_action|kill actions]],[[patterns:activate|activate actions]], and [[patterns:move_action|move actions]]. * **Chase Area**: how far the NPC will chase and attack the player if a trigger action is performed. Often this area will be infinite, but can also be bound to specific rooms or map areas. * **Line of Sight Required vs. Not Required**: whether it is required that the guard NPC can see the trigger action happen in order to activate and attack on the player. * **Defeatable vs Undefeatable**: once triggered, is the guard defeatable in combat, or are they immortal? Compare [[games:oblivion|Oblivion]]'s city guards, who are defeatable, to the inquisitor's men on the first island in [[games:risen|Risen]]. See also [[patterns:unwinnable_fight|Unwinnable Fight]] and [[patterns:soft_gate|Soft Gate]]. =====Examples===== * [[games:oblivion|Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]. Killing a civilian in an Elders Scrolls city triggers the city guards to attack. * [[games:dragonage|Dragon Age: Origins]]. Pouring dragon's blood on the urn of sacred ashes in Dragon Age will trigger its guardian to attack the player. ====In Worked Examples==== * [[examples:desertgate|Desertgate]] =====Related Patterns===== * [[patterns:unwinnable_fight|Unwinnable Fight]] - See the variable //undefeatable//. Activating a guard NPC's trigger may result in an enemy that cannot be killed, and will continually attack. * [[patterns:soft_gate|Soft Gate]] - If a guard NPC is protecting an area, or item that is needed to advance the game, and he is a much higher level than the player, that guard acts as a soft gate, impeding progress until the player is of high enough level to face him. * [[patterns:trigger|Trigger]] - All instances of the guard pattern involve some sort of trigger attached to an object or area, which determines when they become hostile. =====Quest-Level Relationships===== * [[patterns:quest_tied_item|Quest Tied Item]] - A quest tied item can be one of a guard's protected objects. * [[patterns:kill_action|Kill Action]] - Potential trigger action. * [[patterns:activate|Activate]] - Potential trigger action. * [[patterns:move_action|Move Action]] - Potential trigger action. {{tag>level:npc games:oblivion games:dragonage}}