Instead of controlling the fighters, how about a new DIPLOMAT archtype for non-violent players? They are incapable of any violent actions and can gain xp through influencing and questing only.

Guildskills:

RHETORIC - a more efficient version of influence. So instead of bashing, Diplomats can win ego battles to gain xp. May be the PvP ego battles can be expanded a bit too to make it more interesting.

HENCHMEN - a defensive skill to hire henchmen to protect the diplomat, from healers to heavy-hitting bodyguards. These will never initiate combat and they will only attack when someone has commited an aggresive act against the diplomat. Higher skill levels allow more powerful bodyguards. Killing a diplomat is still possible but it would probably take a group of competent fighters to do so and it is very likely that there will be casualties (and the Avenger would still work).

DIPLOMACY - miscellaneous abilites that include drafting documents to allow passage into enemy territories, temporarily lifting enemy status (self only), providing 'grace' to sentient mobs (so they cant be bashed so they reset faster), and offering a bonus to charisma to other players etc.

They will be allowed to participate in influencing villages of course, and they should do a better job than other combat-oriented archtypes. It is up to the City/Commune to have their own team of diplomats when a village opens up.

This is just a preliminary idea for giving a viable way for peaceful players to avoid violence altogether.

Influencing and questing effect players and cities/communes. Why should a diplomat be allowed to help raise Crow without the chance of dying? Why should they be allowed to influence villages without opposing armies taking them out? Diplomats are not immune to damage in real life, and if they aren't ever attacked, its because of social agreements. I say, if you want something like this, then forge those social agreements in game. If you want rules of war, make conventions in game. Don't hard-code in things that would normally require active participation in a social creation.

No Olan, the idea of the Diplomat is the following:

He can't engage into anykind of physical conflict by his own accords.
All his skills are aimed to be "diplomatic", involving a lot of Influence skills
As a form of defence, the diplomats have an a party of IC bodyguards protecting the Diplomat. Meaning, that whenever someone attacks the diplomat the bodyguards jump to defend him.

So, basically the diplomat doesn't have fighting skills, just skills to have ents to defend him, skills that allow him to excel in Influencing. And other form of politics. Though always being a victim of death.

The balance lies in each city having their own diplomats to help with influencing. PvP ego battles could be made more interesting with addition skills, so instead of bashing at each other, diplomats argue with each other to 'death' (not physical death, but a defeat which prevents him from engaging in another ego battle for some time). Now combat archtypes would have the option for not engaging in ego battles with diplomats, and they have the option to attack the diplomat, who will be heavily guarded but will gain no xp should his attackers are killed by his guards.

The idea is to have a true non-violent path for pacifists instead of having peace-loving hippy warriors and guardians and mages, whose skills are 80% PK-oriented.

For the last time, being a pacifist does NOT render you immune to harm.

Passive resistance is often met with non-passive assertion of whatever is being resisted.

The key is - Diplomats would -not- be immune to attack. You get a group of warriors, or one or two good warriors (Daevos) and you could destroy one.

Say, a tri-trans Diplomat, you run in and slash them, but a bodyguard jumps in front of the blow, three warriors start attacking you. When their bodyguard falls, their healer starts healing them. Get a group of 5, all immediately attack with damage, their bodyguard falls, (afflictions, etc., would go past the bodyguard and affect the character), kill them, or kill their healer, then them.

Difficult, but not impossible.