Emergency Powers of the Mayor: Assignable NPC Security

RottenStray

Behold! It is I, the long-winded one. Back with another unsolicited idea to increase the responsibility of mayors. XD.

Mayors or their council are now able to assign an NPC security detail to node-specific priorities as a part of their emergency powers. Mayors are given a pool of "As needed" NPC troops which are a finite resource (The number of available troops will depend on the level of the node, and the number of NPCs already on assignment). Mayors are never allowed to control their NPCs directly or select the specific number of NPCs on assignment. The NPC pool will not impact node security guard numbers.

Territory defense:
1. Mayors may loan node NPC troops to an adjacent node that is at war and/or expectant of a siege.
2. These loaned NPC guards are assigned to the new node until the war or siege has ended.
3. NPCs are not recallable once they are assigned.
4. NPC troops that die on assignment or if the assignment node fails, then those troops are put on a respawn timer of several days but will then be returned to the pool of NPC.

Native threats:
1. Mayors are now able to assign NPCs to patrol their node's area of influence. Native threats include random events, world bosses (such as your mom), corrupted players, and expectant sieges.

Citizen Caravans:
1. Mayors that are not at war or under siege may now assign an NPC troop to protect citizen caravans.
2. The caravan is only allowed to accept ONE NPC troop if its destination is an adjacent allied node.
3. Caravans must pay for NPC protection. NPC protection will only be in effect as long as you are moving towards the designated node and they will be on a time limit.
4. Caravan NPCs are always mounted, and may repel PVP threats, but may not chase enemies outside of the caravan's PVP threat range.
5. NPCs will disband once they have arrived at the allied node and will immediately be added to the mayor's pool of troops.

Cheerz!

tautau

Mayors already have some limited powers to hire NPC guards if the node is going to be attacked.

From the Wiki:
Leadership powers

Depiction of a mayor.[89]
The government has a lot of say in the direction of the nodes development. Directing assets, building projects, tax allocation, defensive ability etc. Players have the ability to not only create these cities, but they have the right of self-governance.[19]

Government officials have wide-ranging leadership powers.[90]

Mark foreign citizens of other nodes as enemies of the state.[91][92]
Declaring war on another node and rallying citizens to the cause.[74][91]
Entering into trade agreements with other nodes.[91]
Mayors are able to set tax rates for their node.[93]
This includes setting tax rates that apply to tavern games.[94][95]
Allocating money gathered via node taxes.[74][19]
Directing treasury funds into building projects and/or improving node defensive structures, such as stronger walls and gates, traps, and siege equipment.[74][96][97][19]
Mayors can also allocate treasury funding to hire mercenary NPCs to defend their node during sieges.[98][19]
Tax money may only be used to fund node development.[99]
Mayors are able to initiate quest-driven systems that non-citizens can participate in. The mayor can use a portion of the node's treasury or goods as rewards for quest completion. Players will be able to interface with the node to view the quests that are available to them.[66]
These quests can be used to bring in material components to help combat node atrophy.[66]
Nodes have a number of node policies that are proposed by the mayor to be voted on by citizens.[73][74]
Governments may be able to choose a node name from a predetermined list.[100][101]

Edit: providing link: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Nodes#Racial_influences