Murderer

When one player attacks and kills another without consent, it constitutes a murder. After a player accumulates 5 long term Murder Counts they become a murderer. Murdering (also commonly referred to as PK'ing) characters have several restrictions placed upon them: For example, they can only live on the Felucca facet.

Becoming a murderer

To become a murderer, your character must have 5 or more murder counts. When you take part in killing a non-guilded Innocent and they end up dying, the victim has the option of placing a murder count on you. It is possible that it may take many kills before you become red or it may be just 5.

The instant you are assigned the fifth count, your status changes to red. It overrides all other statuses including criminal (grey), enemy (orange), and guilded (green). Everyone immediately knows of your misdeeds by the color of your name and your paperdoll also gains the title "[name] the murderer".

Staying a murderer

There are two types of murder counts, short and long. Both can by viewed by saying the phrase "I must consider my sins" in game. You received one of each type for every murder report. When you receive another murder report, it resets the timer to zero on any counts you were working off. If you had one hour to go before your next long-term count was removed, that time is now 40 hours.

Short

Short term murder counts last for 8 logged in hours. Currently, short terms counts have absolutely no effect on your character. Before the Age of Shadows expansion, resurrecting with 5 or more short term murder counts would result in a permanent skill loss penalty. Today, short term counts are useful for figuring out how much time is left before you work off your next long term (5 short terms = 1 long term).

Long

Long term murder counts determine what your status is. If you have 5 or more, you become a murderer. The moment you drop to 4, you become blue again. You can become red or blue any number of times you wish; there is currently no limit which will cause you to become permanently red, though a large number of counts can mean your character will retain his or her status as a murderer for a very long time.

Each long term murder count takes 40 logged-in hours to work off. Over the years, there have been a few occasions wherein a murderer reprieve was implemented. There is currently no such system in place, but Draconi has stated they are considering a one-time reprieve in the future. If you go on a murderous rampage and rack up dozens of counts, there is no turning back—it is extremely important you are fully committed to life as a murderer before making the plunge.

One additional way to remove counts exists: using a Forged Pardon, a rare artifact that has a chance to drop from level 5 and higher treasure chests, will remove one murder count from the user.

Restrictions

There are a few penalties for becoming a murderer.

Can only live on Felucca facet. If you receive the fifth count in another facet, you get transported instantly to Felucca.
Shopkeepers will not do business with you.
Blue Wandering Healers and the 8 Virtue Shrines won't resurrect you. A red Priest of Mondain (less common) or the Chaos Shrine will.
Anyone can attack you freely without becoming criminals.
Guards will not protect you against other player attacks.
Your pets are also red and freely attackable by anyone.
Can't activate any Virtues (though they may still gain virtue paths).

One past restriction used to prevent entering towns. This was lifted. Murderers can now enter any guard zone, but if they break the law, the guards can be summoned.