Acceptable static content

[Teric neDhalir]

There has (always) been a call for more things to do on servers during DM-free times so I'm keen to know what players would be interested in doing. I think it was MorbidKate that suggested things like mining or smithing on another thread. Would you really be interested in shifting rocks from one place to another? I have a mage on the server who could take on apprentices; would doing a couple of (RL) hours work to learn a spell (i.e. get a scroll) be acceptable? And by work I mean something tedious like copying spellbooks. I see posts praising other projects way of doing things, so come on, give me some concrete ideas of what you want to do.

Cheers,
Teric

PS. Please do not say "crafting" that's a whole other topic.

[Wynna]

Yes!

I have written small statics for straightening library shelves, making ink in the scribery, washing dishes and sweeping floors. They are tiny things in comparison to something that you describe that occupies a significant portion of time, but only because I haven't had the time to develop them into more.

Would love to see more of this sort.

[Demson]

I am.

I would like it to be tied into DM-ing, though. For example, doing the university statics would make the university staff look more favourably at you in roleplay... Just to make it more dynamic.

Simply keeping a tally of who does what and provide the feedback to DM's could give it a nice extra dimension.

[bartleby]

Anyone that would like to use the mining system the moonshaes uses is more than welcome to it.

[Avaz]

Interestingly, I've been in talks this past week with several key people about putting together a list of statics that would bring some life to the server.

They would range from short little fedex quests, to digging for treasure (complete with map and shovel ingame usable items), to a detailed quest chain with multiple NPCs that includes multiple dialogue paths that ultimately lead to alignment shifts.

As I've told the others I've spoken with, I have NO experience with the toolset or scripting, but once I have a list put together I will share it and start to try to learn some toolsetting for myself, so all the hard work isn't on everyone else's shoulders.

[HATEFACE]

I hope they don't grant xp. These types of statics seem geared toward granting pay.

[Lusipher]

Crafting.

if no crafting... class specific statics.

[Rick7475]

Crafting.

if no crafting... class specific statics.

If you don't mind, I'd like to open a new thread on crafting.

[Lusipher]

Id love to see it in ALFA. People have it in other PWs but we beat it to death here. It can be done right. People just gotta give it a try and see how it goes.

[Teric neDhalir]

I hope they don't grant xp. These types of statics seem geared toward granting pay.

While agreeing with you in principle the way standards are set up is that xp and gold are in lockstep. If you have one then you have to have the other, as I understand it. Or rather too many exceptions to that rule might result in an imbalance in a PCs xp/gold ratio. In my example above, however, of a wizard doing chores for his master you could argue that it's exactly the sort of thing that should be advancing your charcter's skills.

Rewards for such statics are not what I want to debate here, though. An idea of non-combat, non-fedex activities is what I'm after.

Thanks.

[Brokenbone]

Anything related to advancing skills in a character class is a good candidate for static stuff.

I think above a bunch of "bookish" stuff is mentioned re: wizards, maybe some of that would fit scholarly clerics in an okay way. Perhaps an "if Int over 12 or 13" type condition. Would catch fighters and everyone else too at that rate, but hey, maybe you see a rogue who styles himself an "expert" scholar type.

Rogue-type training environments can be fun. Pick a pocket on a dummy without making a bell jingle, pick a series of progressively more difficult locks, navigate some nasty traps, pass some test where one walks down a hall without alerting a guard dog or something, all of these might belong in the context of a thieves' guild, temple to Mask, or other places one might get schooled in the sneaky arts.

If the above was made more woodsy, it might fit for rangers or highly skilled druids, priests, others as well. More a "wacky old trapper in a hut willing to impart knowledge" as opposed to a thieves' guild type of thing.

Warrior type classes might always reasonably stand a dozen different variations on participating in, or offering, combat training. Can be as simple as pounding on a straw dummy, dressed up with an NPC barking orders at you as you do the pounding, or could be asked to get into a (non-lethal, if that script's in now) fight with NPC students. It's in this reverse context of "offering tutelage to an NPC student" that one could at least draw some pay, though as requested above, no need to get into rewards stuff.

I suppose for various eggheaded classes, giving advice to some professional NPC on various topics could be done. Give advice to a magistrate who wants to figure out an issue re: grazing land, give three or four dialogue choices, maybe some having hidden low or high DC skill rolls associated with them, and difficult-to-predict outcomes as to whether that was particularly wise advice in the circumstances. Magistrate's just one possibility, could be a bard advising a fellow on how to win a girl's heart (1. Play hard to get (10% flat chance it works for him), 2. A sweet sonnet will do (maybe some moderate DC perform roll to extemporize one for the NPC) (, 3. Dirty Limericks, try this one (maybe some high DC perform roll to come up with something that will attract her interest and not get him slapped around). Could also give advice to butchers, bakers, hunters, garrison commanders, you name it. Still, having some hidden mechanics in the background can at least inject some challenge, so that PCs with different skill / ability investments end up with different results from providing one of three or four pre-selected dialogue choices. Statics can only offer so much, but the numbers behind it can mean one guy's suggestion of dirty limericks crashes and burns, another obtains a reward.

Anyhow... this the kind of "ten thousand foot" type idea you looking for?

[Demson]

Again, I really think we ought to tie this into DM plots and story advancement. Static quests should be considered as DM-ing by proxy. Who will build or at least decide upon these statics (dynamics?) anyway? The HDM's.

Less XP and GP, more story advancement and plot intrigue. For XP and GP I'll play a MMO, thank you very much.

An example: two quests along the stretch from Rivermoot to Silverymoon. One is to patrol and keep the are safe from bandits. The other one is to waylay merchants and such.

Players wouldn't be pitted against each other, but against NPC encounters. They can roleplay the PC encounters anyway.

If allot of patrols are done, the server 'plot' will be that the stretch becomes safe. If allot of ambushes happen, it becomes less safe. Players can in turn react to this, leading to more oppertunity for roleplay, story advancement and dynamics.

Just no gold and xp please.

This will probably require allot of work and oversight... But that's what we have administrations and staff for, right?

[dergon darkhelm]

A nice litte "micro-economy" of statics:

At a dwarven mine complex ....... quartz deposits occur in veins in the mine. mine quartz using a hammer (perhaps a str check when "bashing" to get a quatz crstal). This could be a slow and painstaking process taking up hours of RL time if wanted.

A tiny amount of exp and gold is given at the central collection point in the mine.

The quartz crystals are then loaded into heavy boxes where they are transported to the halfling electrical trap maker who buys them. PCs could carry boxes to the halfling village

The halfling trap maker not only needs quartz but also "zombie bat" eggs as part of the material. (((zombie bats aren't undead, but for some reason often roost in caves where there has been an undead presence before....also they are an odd egg-laying mammal ...feel free to bulk up the dialogue with "Bat eggs? I thought they were mammals?!" Oh not *these* zombie bats" "etc.)). Trapmaker sends PC into cave to get the eggs where in order to reach the ceiling ledge where they nest a climb check DC 15 is needed.
A small amount of exp /gold given.

Option: cave could have a rare undead requiring guy with ranks in climb check to party up with guy with ranks in kill stuff.


Once the trapmaker has all he needs.... ((Hell ....you could have him ask for metal wire from the human smithy down in Kulhaven too etc))... the Trapmaker then can hire PCs to put up money to carry completed minor electrical traps up to silverymoon where they are sold to a market vendor.

Market vendor gives the PCs some pay as a middleman and takes the traps.

Minor elctrical traps could be the classic means of catching the Whitehaired Reticulated Glacier Snake, who's neural nets are highly sensitive to electrical current, making them easy to stun with the traps. ((not sure on scripting here, but I would figure a way to make some creature templat auto die when hit with a trap and drop a "stunned snake" item)). This could be a surival check to find where the snakes are hidden.

The stunned snakes could be sold a restaurant in Silverymoon where they are served freshly skinned on location .....a delicacy among high class patrons.

So there three components are non-combat and two are fed -ex. They could help to give a sense of interconnectedness and "reality" of the economy.

[Demson]

[quote]So there three components are non-combat and two are fed -ex. They could help to give a sense of interconnectedness and "reality" of the economy./quote]

As long as we keep the economy in the hands of DM's, and not paper models. A human mind can provide much better reactions and feedback than a system of standards can.

Hah - I'm probably ranting here... I've struggled with this subject allot in other design debates.

[dergon darkhelm]

Again, I really think we ought to tie this into DM plots and story advancement. Static quests should be considered as DM-ing by proxy. Who will build or at least decide upon these statics (dynamics?) anyway? The HDM's.

Less XP and GP, more story advancement and plot intrigue. For XP and GP I'll play a MMO, thank you very much.

An example: two quests along the stretch from Rivermoot to Silverymoon. One is to patrol and keep the are safe from bandits. The other one is to waylay merchants and such.

Players wouldn't be pitted against each other, but against NPC encounters. They can roleplay the PC encounters anyway.

If allot of patrols are done, the server 'plot' will be that the stretch becomes safe. If allot of ambushes happen, it becomes less safe. Players can in turn react to this, leading to more oppertunity for roleplay, story advancement and dynamics.

Just no gold and xp please.

This will probably require allot of work and oversight... But that's what we have administrations and staff for, right?

I, of course, agree with the general notion that statics would be better and more meaningful if tied in with plotline.

The unfortunate reality, imo, is that it is an unrealistic expectation of our builders to make such a complex, dynamic set of systems systems and an even more unrealistic expecation that DMs will be able to be ingame with enough frequency to consistently move plotlines forward.

Plotlines *always* have times of lull and *often* die completely.

Having low exp/low gold non-combat activities for the significant (majority) of time that PC is *not* being DMd is an important facton in player retention.

Nothing to do encourage either farming of spawns of logging off.