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In Rational Magic, meaningful PvP is not to be discouraged, although every table can set their own rules for this. Players may have secret identities and hidden agendas which cause PvP. Players can decide their characters are “turned” to the merits of aligning with a different faction or have been mind controlled by a rival faction Geas spell. Conflicts of loyalty are not specifically encouraged, but they certainly can be fun.

In Rational Magic, non-meaningful PvP is always forbidden. Non-meaningful PvP happens because a player (or several) are being un-sporting, bullying, not participating in the shared understanding of the Game World, or disguising bad behavior in the excuse that their character is just “that type” of character. The game master’s advice section advises the GM to  “warn the offender that their actions will be met with repercussions, one of which being that, very simply, the game stops. Or have a giant rock come out of space to squash their character – it has about the same effect.”

Smart PvP is an alternative (and recommended) option which places the following rules on PvP within the Rational Magic game:

• PvP is allowed
• As a result of the PvP, at the next Downtime, the player engaged in PvP must Resolve a Lore Sheet that was directly related to the PvP. To “Resolve” a Lore Sheet is to fulfill certain free-form conditions – essentially end a quest.  This generates an XP bonus which can be spent on a new Lore Sheet… the old Lore Sheet kept on the charactersheet as a diary record but no longer mechanically relevant.  
• If a player cannot Resolve the Lore Sheet because the Resolve condition was not met, the player cannot spend the Lore Points (essentially XP) until that Lore Sheet is resolved, or;
• The player needs to create a new Lore Sheet related directly to the PvP exchange before any other Lore Points are spent.
  
  

PvP often has serious implications for a campaign… and I cannot say that Rational Magic / The Lore System can solve those implications.  However, the Smart PvP rule is here to emphasize that when players do fight with each other, it is a significant experience that the players must record in a Lore Sheet.