Note: This design is currently being reworked. The final version may have some significant differences than what is described below.

Honor is part of a philosophy within Ultima Online known as the Virtues, and is one of eight pursuits within the upcoming Virtue system.

The Virtue of Honor has been described as:

"The courage to defend and uphold the truth."

Pursuit of Honor will be designed around an arena-based dueling system, which will track all results of related "duels of honor" combat.

Joining/Participating:

• Players can use special bulletin boards to sign up their characters to participate in dueling tournaments.
  • These bulletin boards will be placed inside and outside of towns, allowing for even "reds" to participate in duels of honor.
  • Players can only sign up for that day's duels.
    • Characters with less than 500 skill points cannot sign up for a duel.
    • Each character may participate in one dueling bout per 24 hour period.
  • Sign-ups for dueling tournaments begin 60 minutes before the start of that tournament, and end 10 minutes before the start of that dueling tournament.
    • For instance, if you sign up between 7:00pm and 7:50pm, you will be selected in one of the dueling bouts occurring between 8:00pm and 8:50pm.
    • Sign-ups for a dueling tournament will close when there are 180 characters signed up for that tournament period, or when there is only 10 minutes left to the next tournament.
• Each dueling tournament is divided into six 10-minute bouts. In this way each dueling tournament lasts one hour.
  • Each dueling bout will take place in a special arena. Each arena will allow 10 characters to duel one-another at one time. Each duel will be "free-for-all" style, with the last character standing declared the winner.
  • Only characters that are selected for duels will be allowed to enter the arenas; characters that are not part of an active duel will not be able to access or visit the arenas.
  • There will be three dueling arenas, and all three may be used simultaneously. In this way up to 30 characters may be dueling (albeit in separate areas) at one time.

Preparing to Duel: 10 minutes before each hour, the duels begin.

• Characters will be randomly grouped together. While players may find themselves grouped with friends and guildmates, this would be a random happenstance.
• Players who sign up will be messaged and given their dueling bout time.
  • Players who are not online are dropped from that tournament session line-up. Another player who has signed up will be given that opportunity to duel.
  • Players who are not online and become dropped from a particular tournament session may sign up for the next dueling tournament.
• Each duelist will receive a gump or message 10 minutes before their scheduled dueling bout, asking if they are ready to duel.
  • Should the player fail to respond to this gump within 10 minutes, he will be dropped from this dueling tournament, but may sign up for another one.
  • A character must be considered "ready" in order to duel.
    • If the character is mounted (on a horse, ostard, etc.), he may not duel.
    • If the character is under the effects of any stat-altering spells or potions, he may not duel.
  • Should the player fail his readiness check, another gump will appear and describe why to the player.
    • When the player has corrected this situation (such as by dismounting his horse), he may then accept the first gump.
  • Should the player pass his readiness check, his character will be brought into a waiting area.
    • No fighting can occur in this waiting area.
    • No spellcasting can occur in this waiting area.

Example of an arena Blue-green marble tiles are starting locations.

Dueling:

• Each of the 10 players in a dueling bout will be placed together in an arena before the duel, one on each of 10 start points.
• None of the duelists will initially be able to move or act.
• A countdown will appear to these duelists, counting from 5 down to 1.
• At the count of "1," the duel begins, and all duelists may act.
  • Felucca rules will be used, regarding "pushthrough."
  • The arena will have some special rules, where player will not be able to:
    • Hide
    • Cast Invisibility
    • Cast Recall or Gate Travel
    • Cast Teleport
    • Use an ethereal mount
    • Steal
    • Cast Blade Spirits, Energy Vortex, or Summon creatures
    • Stat bonuses gained through the pursuit of Humility will not count in an Honor duel
• Each time a character is hit, a check is made to see if that character would normally die from that attack. If not, the duelist continues, but if so:
  • That character is removed from the arena and returned to where they were before accepting the duel.
  • No actual damage is done to the character. (Note: any potions, healing rags, reagents, etc., that were used during the duel will still be gone, and armor & weapons that were damaged will still be as such.)
  • The character is fully healed.
  • A message tells the player his placing in that dueling bout.
  • Note that, because the character does not actually die, no stat-loss (such as from being in a faction or a murderer) will occur.
• When there is only one character remaining in a given duel:
  • A message announces to that player that he has won the duel.
  • That character is removed from the arena and returned to where they were before accepting the duel, fully healed and undamaged.
  • A town crier announces that character as the winner.
• Each dueling bout will only last for 10 minutes (including the 5 second start time).
  • If a duel does not have a decisive winner, and there are multiple characters remaining in that bout at the end of the 10 minute time frame, all characters within that arena will be fully healed, and removed.
    • A town crier will announce that more than one person survived.
    • All surviving characters will gain "points" based on their ranking (see below).

Points:

• If only one person in the dueling bout survives, the points for that duel are distributed as follows:
  • Tenth duelist removed: 5 points
  • Seventh, eighth, or ninth duelist removed: 3 points
  • Fourth, fifth, or sixth duelist removed: 2 points
  • First, second, or third duelist removed: 1 point
  • Note: If there are less than 10 duelists in a bout, then no one can receive 5 points for being the "tenth duelist removed." The winner in this case (the ninth player out), would get 3 points.
• If there are two survivors in a duel, the points for that duel are distributed as follows:
  • Both survivors: 4 points
  • Seventh duelist removed: 3 points
  • Fourth, fifth, or sixth duelist removed: 2 points
  • First, second, or third duelist removed: 1 point
• If there are three or four survivors in a duel, the points for that duel are distributed as follows:
  • All survivors: 3 points
  • The three most recently removed duelists: 2 points
  • All other duelists: 1 point
• If there are five or six survivors in a duel, the points for that duel are distributed as follows:
  • All survivors: 2 points
  • All other duelists: 1 point
• If there are seven or more survivors in a duel, the points for that duel are distributed as follows:
  • All survivors: 1 point.
  • All other duelists: 1 point.

Awards:

• At the end of each month, the top 3 ranking characters of that month's dueling tournaments will receive:
  • A "no-loot, no steal" sash, showing their dueling ranking and the name of the month.
    • Only the sash's owner can wear this sash.
  • Their name listed on the official Ultima Online Web site for that month.
  • Their name listed on an in-game list of winners for each month.
• [Concept only] At the end of each month, the top ranking character will receive a special tower.
  • These towers will be of a special, new design.
  • Most of these towers will be placed in the ocean, and will not reside on the mainland or any existing island.
  • Owners of these towers will automatically receive a special "blessed" item that will allow them to Recall to their tower.
    • This item will be "no loot, no steal."
    • This item will not require any Magery skill in order to use it's ability to Recall.
  • These towers cannot be transferred, and will not allow for co-owners.
  • These towers will never need to be refreshed.
• Guilds (of 5 or more members) with high scoring duelists will be tracked, and the "Top 10" dueling guilds will be ranked on the UO.com Web site.
• Players may be able to associate their characters with (NPC) towns, and these towns will be ranked on the UO.com Web site. (See below)
• In the event of a tie:
  • The character with the most duels is ranked higher.
    • In cases where characters have the same number of points and duels, the winner will be decided randomly.
  • An example if 3 duelists tie: Cal has 45 points and has fought 15 times, Augur has 45 points and has fought 12 times, Gromm has 45 points and has fought 12 times.
    • Although all characters have 45 points, Cal gets first place, because he has dueled the highest number of times.
    • Augur and Gromm are equal in dueling points and number of duels, and so the winner of this tie is decided randomly.
    • The remaining character is awarded third place.

[Concept only] Allying with Towns: Each character may duel for the Honor of a particular (NPC) town. Characters may change this allegiance once each month.

• Characters will go to an inn in the town which they wish to represent, and choose it with the bulletin board provided.
  • Players will be given a gump asking them to confirm this choice.
• Once allied to a town, that character's points are counted toward that town's total dueling ranking for that month. These rankings will be displaying on the UO.com Web site.
• All Britannian and Lost Lands ("Second Age") towns, from both facets, will be included as choices.

Gaining Honor: Dueling points and Honor "points" will be gained in two different manners. Every character that participates in these duels will gain some amount of Honor, although those that excel will gain a slightly higher amount.

• First place: a great deal of Honor
• Second place: a large amount of Honor
• Third place: a fair amount of Honor

Dishonorable acts: There are certain actions that are considered dishonorable. Performing these actions, even if that character is not dueling, will reduce the amount of Honor a character has to some degree. These activities include:

• Stealing from an innocent (character or pet)
• Attacking an innocent (character or pet)
• Using poison in any way (even against monsters). This includes:
  • Applying poison to food
  • Applying poison to a weapon
  • Using a poisoned weapon
  • Casting poison

Virtuous Title & Abilities: When a character has achieved enough Honor points, he is considered to have achieved a certain step on the path of Honor.

• When a player moves his cursor over the Honor symbol, a title will be displayed, indicating the step currently achieved in Honor for that character.
  • First step: Seeker of Honor
  • Second step: Follower of Honor
  • Third step: Knight of Honor
• Players who progress any number of steps on the path of Honor, but do not continue to actively pursue it, may discover that this Virtuous title reduces in steps over time.

• Each step gained in Honor will progressively allow the character to be more resistant to dishonorable attacks, such as resistance against poison.
• Characters that have progressed any number of steps in Honor cannot be affected by level 1 poisons.
  • First step: A chance to reduce poison effects by one level, and a small chance to cure it outright.
  • Second step: A chance to reduce poison effects by 1 or 2 levels, and a chance to cure it outright.
  • Third step: A chance to reduce poison effects by 1, 2, or 3 levels, and a chance to cure it outright.