User:Skull Face/Suggestions

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A scratch pad for suggestions on improvements / changes / new features.


Pygmy Cannibal

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 00:37, 15 January 2008 (UTC) Class New native class

This suggestion is for a 4th native type, a native equivalent to the outsiders' Pirate. The Pygmy Cannibal would originate on a small offshore island. Their stature, skills and dietary habits would be an evolutionary adaptation to their surroundings.

Pygmies would have 50 HP starting (70 HP maximum) and access to the standard skill tree (similar to the Pirate class). They would also have access to additional skills of Basic Bow Use, Bow Training, Advanced Bow Training (bow and arrow delivers 4 HP damage per hit), Ritual Feast (a new skill to allow kill bonuses from humans to be taken as AP / HP instead of just XP, with Advanced Close Quarter Combat as a prerequisite) and Pass Without Trace (a new skill to make movement leave no footprints, with Tracking Mastery as a prerequisite). The counter to the latter would be a Scout / Explorer / Pygmy with the Tracking Mastery skill who would still be able to find the tracks.

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Dowsing

Original Text

The first such suggestion would be an additional skill called Dowsing. Placed on the Sixth Sense skill tree, Dowsing would allow a player to scry a location for buried goodies e.g. gems, coins, heavy swords etc. Successful use of Dowsing would indicate the presence of such items and improve the chances of finding same when the area was searched. Dowsing would not benefit standard searches e.g. in the ammo hut or searching trees for bananas. Dowsing would also locate springs of water (handy for filling those water bottles away from the river) and other things of interest (see forthcoming suggestions).

I'm interested in thoughts on:

(1) AP costs

(2) Relative placement on the psychic skills tree

(3) Class restrictions e.g. Shaman only, Shaman and Villager/Settler, others


Wiki Format Text

Dowsing

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 22:12, 13 September 2007 (UTC) Skill (new) Classes as listed

Dowsing would be a skill placed on the Sixth Sense tree at the same level as Psychic Recognition i.e. Sixth Sense as a prerequisite. With this skill a character would have a 'Dowse' button available with a drop-down menu offering a choice of 'for water' or 'for treasure', at a cost of 3 APs per use. Dowsing would also require a new item (forked stick, 1 inventory space, found searching in Jungle squares above level 5 density). Dowsing would not benefit standard searches e.g. in the ammo hut or searching trees for fruit.

Dowsing for water, success rate XX%, will add additional flavour text to the location description thus...

Your forked stick has led you to a small spring gurgling from beneath a rock.

...and will also activate the 'Fill' drop-down menu option for empty bottles and gourds. As soon as APs are spent on any option other than 'Fill', the flavour text and 'Fill' options are removed, simulating the character losing sight of the small spring.

Dowsing for treasure, success rate YY%, will add additional flavour text to the location description thus...

Your forked stick points downwards towards the ground. There is something buried here!

...and will indicate if there is a cache of buried items at the present location. Dowsing will not indicate what these items are i.e. it could theoretically be a cache of mangoes or a cache of gems. As soon as APs are spent the flavour text is removed.

Dowsing skill would be available to all classes except the Soldier, Warrior and Scientist. The skill is a natural for the Villager, Settler, Explorer and Scout (they need to find water). Similarly the skill fits the Shaman very well. The Pirate, being a superstitious creature prone to burying treasure and then forgetting the location, would also seem an appropriate recipient of this skill.

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Diving

This one was sparked by the noticeable lack of pearls on Shartak, and the fact that Blue Oyster Cult's classic ultra-rare 1980's pulp / weird horror / SF heavy metal album 'Imaginos' was playing at the time in question. How can one not be inspired by an album that features BOC, Joe Satriani and Aldo Nova?

The suggestion is that sea squares labelled as 'Water' and 'Deep Water' should have an additional vertical dimensional component. 'Water' would have a movement option to 'Go Down'. If this option is exercised (standard Swimming AP costs) the character will end up on the sea bed and have a movement option 'Go Up' in addition to the 8 horizontal dimensions. 'Deep Water' would have option to 'Go Down' to midwater where there is another 'Go Down' (to the sea bed) and a 'Go up (to the surface) in addition to the 8 horizontal dimensions.

The sea bed would have a few interesting goodies for exploration e.g. a sunken shipwreck (similar in concept to ruins) and the occasional oyster bed (similar in concept to berry bushes). Significant time spent searching oyster beds could yield a pearl (small % chance of success) and oysters for eating / trading (larger % chance of success). Additional critters may be encountered e.g. sharks, a giant squid living in the area of the sunken shipwreck. I'd suggest that the established shark attacks only occur vs those on the surface.

I'd propose that in addition to standard water-based movement AP costs, divers would drown at a rate of 2 HP per mouse click in shallow Water and 3 HP per mouse click in Deep Water. This drowning rate may be offset by an additional skill (Diving) that is freely available to natives with Swimming and to those outsiders who have purchased Swimming and Native Knowledge. Drowning rate would be reduced by 1 HP per click for those with Diving. Logging out (or running out of APs) whilst diving would result in the death of the character as the drowning penalty will be applied every 5 seconds - controversial perhaps but then Free Diving is a dangerous, chancy activity.

In view of underwater physics, machetes, blowguns, cutlasses, rifles, FAKs, healing herbs, GPS, gourds of water / juice, et al do not work underwater, only at the surface. Only thrusting weapons such as daggers and knives function as normal when underwater. Note: it may be time to introduce spears to Shartak Wink

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Simon's Comments

Here's a simplified version. I'm open to suggestions as always, and diving for objects does sound like one of the better ones and worth putting on the wiki once things have been discussed.
I consider "Water" to be something you can wade through at depths varying from knee-deep to perhaps chest high, but nothing more than perhaps 4-5ft. "Deep Water" is anything from 6ft to around 30ft depending on where it is. "Ocean" is just not anywhere you want to be. Perhaps diving in deep water would require a skill (under Swimming), but anyone can hold their breath long enough to sink 5ft and have a rummage around in the sand.
Interface could be:
[ Dive ] for [v 5/10/15/20/30/40/50/60 v] seconds.
where Dive is a button, and the 5/10/... is a dropdown.
The number of AP used would be something like number of seconds divided by 2.5 (eg 10 second dive uses 4AP). Each second you remain under would be one "search" and at the end of the time, you come up with the highest value object that you found whilst underwater. The implementation of a wreck or other undersea feature could be as simple as changing the items you can find underwater and adding a bit of flavour text to the surface description. e.g.
There appears to be a large dark shape beneath you with something glinting just to the side of it.
[Dive - 30 seconds for 12AP]
You dive down and search along the seabed. You find a gold coin.
Perhaps the longer you're down there, the more your search chance increases - eg 1% for every 5 seconds of the first 30 seconds (1-6%) and then add 1% for every second beyond that so 60 seconds = 36%. On the downside, the longer you stay down, the more damage is done; -2HP for the first 30 seconds and then another 5HP for every 10 seconds beyond that so 60 seconds = -17HP but quite a reasonable chance of finding something.
We could add a few unique items that can't be found anywhere else except underwater. Pearls, some shells, corals or sea creatures. That should keep the traders happy


Wiki Format Text

Oysters

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 12:47, 14 September 2007 (UTC) Item All classes

Oysters would be a new item found only in water locations. Oysters in the inventory (1 slot per oyster) would have a button to 'Open' (similar to fruit having an 'Eat' button). They would have a 24 hour shelf life (similar to shargle eggs) after which they would have no food value. Once opened, in the inventory an oyster becomes an oyster shell. These shells have no value and traders will not accept them as trade items.

Oysters would come in two varieties, edible and pearl-bearing, but cannot be identified until opened. When an edible oyster is opened (requiring a knife or dagger) the character would eat it immediately and gain +1 HP if below maximum HP with the following flavour text...

You open the oyster and consume the contents, gaining 1 HP.

If the edible oyster is past its shelf life when opened the character gains nothing and sees flavour text such as...

You open the oyster but the contents are inedible.

When a pearl-bearing oyster is opened a pearl is added to the inventory (see suggestion on item 'Pearls') with flavour text such as...

You open the oyster and inside is a small black/white pearl!

Characters who do not have one free inventory slot will still be permitted to open an oyster. In the event that it contains a pearl which cannot be added to their inventory they will see this flavour text...

You open the oyster and inside is a small black/white pearl which slips through your fingers and is lost!

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Pearls

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 13:37, 14 September 2007 (UTC) New Item Water locations

A pearl would be a new item that takes up 1 inventory space. Pearls would only be found inside pearl-bearing oysters. Pearls would come in two flavours, white (19 out of 20) and black (1 out of 20). Traders would value white pearls at 1 times the cost of a gem and black pearls at approx 5 times the cost of a gem.

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Oyster Bed

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 13:37, 14 September 2007 (UTC) Game mechanic and new location Water locations

Certain Water and Deep Water locations would become oyster beds. Oyster beds would not be visible from the surface but would be reported to anyone who dives at their location...

Peering through the murky waters you see oysters scattered across the river/lake/sea bed.

Oyster beds would have a yield and replenish rate for searches similar to the yield rate for fruit-bearing trees and bushes.

Suggested locations for beds of edible oysters would be one or more of the mouth of the northern River, the Pool that feeds that river, the great Lake between Wiksik and Raktam and the shallow water N of Unity Island.

Suggested locations for combined beds of edible and pearl-bearing oysters would be the Deep Water in the NE of the island and the Deep Water off the SE / S of Unity Island.

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Sunken Wreck

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 13:37, 14 September 2007 (UTC) Game mechanic and new location Water locations

One or perhaps two Deep Water locations would feature a sunken wreck on the seabed. The sunken shipwreck would only be visible from the surface at the specific location...

There appears to be a large dark shape beneath you with something glinting nearby.

Diving to and successfully searching a sunken wreck could yield 1 to 10 gold coins, a cutlass, a dagger, a knife, a bottle of rum or beer, a FAK, a silver skull cross, a rifle, a box of bullets etc.

Suggested locations for a sunken wreck would be the Deep Water in the NE of the island, the Deep Water off the W tip of the Durham Peninsula and the Deep Water S / SE of Unity Island.

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Submerged Ruins

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 13:37, 14 September 2007 (UTC) Game mechanic and new location Water locations

A specific Deep Water location would feature a submerged ruin on the seabed. The submerged ruin would only be visible from the surface at the specific location...

There appears to be regular rectangular shapes on the seabed beneath you with something glinting nearby.

Diving to and successfully searching the ruin could yield 1 to 10 gold coins, a machete, a spear, a dagger, a knife, a bottle of beer, a healing herb, a rabbit foot charm, a blowpipe, a bundle of darts etc.

Suggested locations for a submerged ruin would be the Deep Water in the NE of the island and the Deep Water off the SE / S of Unity Island.

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Shallow Diving

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 12:47, 14 September 2007 (UTC) Skill / additional mechanic All classes

The new ability to shallow dive in Water locations would be made available to all classes for free. It would permit characters to dive to seabed (Water) or riverbed (River, Lake, Pool or Waterfall) locations only. This ability would not apply to Deep Water, that would require a separate skill.

Diving in Water locations would require 1 APs to get down, 1 APs to surface and 1 APs per 10 second search conducted. When in the appropriate location a button labelled 'Dive' with a pull-down menu of dive times (10 secs to 120 secs) would be made available to those with this skill. Maximum total expenditure for one dive is 14 APs. Shallow diving in Water carries no risks at this time.

Searches during a dive would be conducted in the same manner as those in land-based locations and would have an YY% chance of finding something as determined by the actual location (e.g. oyster bed, shipwreck) and Scavenging would increase the chance of a successful search. In the event that the character maxes out their inventory partway through a diving search, the dive is finished early and the character is forced to the surface; no APs are spent on searches that would be futile but the costs and risks associated with dive and surface are still incurred.

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Free Diving

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 12:47, 14 September 2007 (UTC) Skill All classes

The new Free Diving skill would be a sub-skill of Swimming. It would permit characters to dive to seabed locations in Deep Water as well as increasing maximum bottom time for shallow dives.

Diving in Deep Water would require 2 APs to get down, 2 APs to surface and 1 APs per 10 second search conducted. When in the appropriate location a button labelled 'Dive' with a pull-down menu of dive times (10 secs to 160 secs) would be made available to those with this skill. Maximum total expenditure for one dive is 20 APs. Diving in Deep Water carries a similar risk of shark attacks as swimming there i.e. XX% chance of a bite assessed per AP spent on a dive.

Improved diving in Water locations would require 1 APs to get down, 1 APs to surface and 1 APs per 10 second search conducted. When in the appropriate location a button labelled 'Dive' with a pull-down menu of dive times (10 secs to 180 secs) would be made available to those with this skill. Maximum total expenditure for one dive is 20 APs. Shallow diving in Water carries no risks at this time.

Searches during a dive would be conducted in the same manner as those in land-based locations and would have an YY% chance of finding something as determined by the actual location (e.g. oyster bed, shipwreck, sunken ruins) and Scavenging would increase the chance of a successful search. In the event that the character maxes out their inventory partway through a diving search, the dive is finished early and the character is forced to the surface; no APs are spent on searches that would be futile but the costs and risks associated with dive and surface are still incurred.

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Black Powder Weapons

Black Powder Weapons - +25% to hit with powder and ball firearms only (not rifles) - a new skill for the Pirate class.

Add new complementary items:

(1) Powder Horn - Takes up 2 inventory slots. After each use has a 20% chance of running out (guarantees at least one use). When carried through a water square each powder horn has a 20% chance of being soaked and rendered useless. Found only at the shipwreck, the ruined armoury, and the tower on Midway Island (history y'know).

(2) Lead Ball Ammo - Takes up 1 inventory slot per ball. Found only at the shipwreck, the ruined armoury, and the tower on Midway Island.

(3) Flintlock Pistol - Takes up 2 inventory slots. Base hit chance 20%. 1 shot. Does 4 HP damage on a successful attack. 1 AP to prime with a powder charge from a powder horn, 1 AP to load 1 lead ball, 1 AP to fire. Found only at the shipwreck, the ruined armoury, and the tower on Midway Island. When loaded and carried through a water square each pistol has a 50% chance of being soaked and the powder rendered useless - the weapon must be unloaded and cleaned (2 AP) before it can be primed again. Misfire on 95%-100% destroys the pistol and causes 4 HP damage to the user c.f. breaking machetes.

(4) Blunderbuss - Takes up 3 inventory slots. Base hit chance 30%. 1 shot. Does 8 HP damage on a successful attack. 2 AP to prime with a powder charge from a powder horn, 3 AP to load 3 lead balls, 1 AP to fire. Found only at unspecified locations c.f. heavy swords. When loaded and carried through a water square each blunderbuss has a 50% chance of being soaked and the powder rendered useless - the weapon must be unloaded and cleaned (3 AP) before the blunderbuss can be primed again. Misfire on 95%-100% destroys the weapon and causes 8 HP damage to the user c.f. breaking machetes.

Note that all classes could shoot these weapons at base rates, and Soldiers could shoot them at above base rates with their more advanced Firearms skills. Add 1 AP to time required for unskilled users (i.e. anyone without Black Powder skill) to prime their weapon with powder. Skilled users of powder weapons were known to be able to reload much quicker than unskilled users.

The skill would not make pirates superior to Soldiers or Warriors but it would give them additional options and RP flavour. From POV of AP usage vs damage inflicted, using the skill with multiple pistols would make a Pirate slightly more effective in combat (36 HP for 20 APs vs 30 HP for 20 APs) than solely with a cutlass and maxed HTH skills, but only until all their pistols are discharged. This fits nicely with the image of a volley of lead from pre-primed weaponry followed by HTH combat. The blunderbuss is a less serious proposition, more for flavour than anything else, and could be adjusted to allow a small %age hit chance for 2 HP damage vs each person in the same square as the target, mimicking a scattershot blast into a crowd.

Availability of powder and balls is deliberately kept problematic. Along with misfire chances this would keep these new weapons from flooding the market too quickly (hopefully). Balls and powder could be manufactured later...

Comments? Thoughts?

EDIT: Amending soak/malfunction chance on the powder horn as, historically, they were often capped and watertight(ish).


Black Powder Proficiency

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 12:35, 9 November 2007 (UTC) New Skill Pirate

This suggestion is for a new skill, Black Powder Proficiency, that would be available only to pirates. The skill would cover both the preparation and firing of black powder weapons. This skill would confer a +25% hit chance for black powder weapons only and would also reduce the by 1 the APs required to prime such weapons with a charge of powder.

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Flintlock

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 12:35, 9 November 2007 (UTC) New Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, the flintlock pistol, a black powder weapon from the pirate era, found only at the shipwreck, the ruined armoury NE of Durham and the tower on Midway Island.

The flintlock would take up 2 inventory slots. Base hit chance for all classes would be 20% (45% with Black Powder Proficiency) delivering 4 HP damage on a successful attack. The flintlock would be a 1 shot weapon requiring 2 APs to prime with a powder charge (1 AP with Black Powder Proficiency), 1 AP to load with 1 lead balls and 1 AP to fire. When loaded and carried through a water square each flintlock would have a 50% chance of being soaked and the powder ruined - the item description would change to a useless flintlock. Such a weapon would have to cleaned using 2 APs (1 AP with Black Powder Proficiency) and the ammo added back to the user's inventory before the flintlock could be primed again. When used there is a small chance that a misfire (e.g. 95%-100%) would destroy the weapon and cause 4 HP damage to the user c.f. breaking machetes.

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Blunderbuss

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 12:35, 9 November 2007 (UTC) New Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, the blunderbuss, a black powder weapon from the pirate era, found only at unspecified locations c.f. heavy swords.

The blunderbuss would take up 3 inventory slots. Base hit chance for all classes would be 30% (55% with Black Powder Proficiency) delivering 8 HP damage on a successful attack. The blunderbuss would be a 1 shot weapon requiring 3 AP to prime with a powder charge (2 APs with Black Powder Proficiency), 3 AP to load with 3 lead balls and 1 AP to fire. When loaded and carried through a water square each blunderbuss would have a 50% chance of being soaked and the powder ruined - the item description would change to a useless blunderbuss. Such a weapon would have to cleaned using 3 APs (2 APs with Black Powder Proficiency) and the ammo added back to the user's inventory before the blunderbuss could be primed again. When used there is a small chance that a misfire (e.g. 95%-100%) would destroy the weapon and cause 8 HP damage to the user c.f. breaking machetes.

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Powder Flask

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 12:35, 9 November 2007 (UTC) New Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, a flask of black powder, found only at the shipwreck, the ruined armoury NE of Durham and the tower on Midway Island.

A powder flask would take up 2 inventory slots. A powder flask would be used to prime a black powder weapon. After each use has a powder flask would have a 20% chance of running out (guaranteeing at least one use). When carried through a water square each powder flask would have a 20% chance of being soaked and rendered useless. Useless or empty flasks would show as 'Empty Flask' in the inventory.

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Lead Ball

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 12:35, 9 November 2007 (UTC) New Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, a lead ammo ball for black powder weapons, found only at the shipwreck, the ruined armoury NE of Durham and the tower on Midway Island.

A lead ball would take up 1 inventory slot per ball. A lead ball would be used to load a black powder weapon.

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Iron Constitution

Original Text

Why do pirates have access to the First Aid skill anyway? Medicine of the pirate era was notoriously dodgy and ship's surgeons often doubled as carpenters, cooks, barbers et al. Maybe what they really need is a unique skill called "Iron Constitution" which allows them to gain (for example) extra HP from all sources (beer, rum, water, fruit, herbs and FAKs) but not to the level of First Aid or Natural Medicine... say +1 HP for fruit and water, +2 HP for everything else, just for argument's sake... FAKs and Herbs would still have a place but less so.

The flaw with this is that they'd have to forfeit on the First Aid skill... would it be worth it?


Wiki Format Text

Iron Constitution

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 22:33, 13 September 2007 (UTC) Skill / balance change Pirate Class

Why do pirates have access to the First Aid skill? Medicine of the pirate era was notoriously dodgy and ship's carpenters, cooks and barbers often doubled as the ship's surgeon. This is why pirates are so often depicted as scarred and missing limbs, teeth, eyes et al.

This suggestion is for a unique skill called Iron Constitution which allows pirates to gain extra HP from all sources (beer, rum, water, fruit, herbs and FAKs) over and above the base HP gain rate for the item. A pirate with Iron Constitution will gain +1 HP for consuming fruit, water, and fruit juices, +2 HP for consuming beer and rum, and +2 HP for using FAKs or Herbs on himself. The skill does not affect FAKs or Herbs applied to others.

This skill is intended to provide a touch of character and make things a little easier around the resource-scarce shipwreck. My suggestion (possibly controversial) is that pirates be allowed to choose either Iron Constitution or First Aid but not both. Hard men would take Iron Constitution as their defining skill whilst wussy gentrified pirates would take First Aid. If implemented, existing players of pirates would be given a one-time opportunity to trade their First Aid skill for Iron Constitution.

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Haunting

Psychic Link

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 21:42, 1 October 2007 (UTC) Skill All classes (spirits)

This suggestion is for a new ability that aids a spirit in haunting the last person who murderered him or her. With this ability the spirit of the recently deceased gets a compass that points in the direction of the person who killed them. The compass would work in the same manner as the current Exploration and Cartography locations ability that points a traveller towards a target location. Spirits with this ability also get a 'Haunt' button which teleports them to the current location of their murderer at a cost of 25 APs.

The haunting ability remains in effect until either the spirit chooses to be revived by a shaman (the ability does not carry over into life) or the spirit is exorcised by a shaman (exorcism breaks the bond between murderer and victim). If a character dies at the hands of an NPC (e.g. squid, shark, wandering shaman) or by suicide then the haunting features remain inactive when the dead character assumes spirit form.

Relative placement on the spirit skill tree is suggested at the same level as Shocking shriek (i.e. Haunting scream is a prerequisite). This placement is open for debate, as is the actal name of the ability e.g. psychic link, haunt, curse etc.

I make this suggestion even though my main character is a confirmed headhunter. This skill is intended to improve roleplaying / gameplay by giving spirits a reason (a slim one granted) to be in places other than the medical hut. And it would result in killers being haunted by their victims. Those who police the settlements against murderers might themselves be haunted in turn but other innocents would be safe from the murderers... for a while at least... --Skull Face 21:42, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

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Curse

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 14:46, 18 October 2007 (UTC) New skill/mechanic Shaman

This suggestion is for a new shaman skill called Curse placed on the psychic skills tree at the same level as Exorcism. A curse would be called down upon a specific map square (indoor or outdoor) via a blood ritual costing 5 AP and 5 HP. Cursing a location requires a dagger or knife to draw blood but grants no XP. Spirits in a cursed area would benefit from a reduced AP cost for Shrieking, Wailing and Possession (-1 AP) and would deliver 50% more damage (and thus gain 50% more XP) when Shrieking and Wailing. Furthermore, it is suggested that spirits in a cursed area would be YY% more resistant to Exorcism.

Cursed locations would be detected by anyone with Sixth Sense. For those people the location description would include text along the lines of:

This place makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
You feel an otherworldy chill in this area.
You sense an inimical presence nearby.

Temporarily cursed areas may be cleansed by any Shaman who performs an Exorcism once the area is free of spirits. Successfully exorcising the spirits grants XP as normal and cleansing the area would grant a further 5 XP. It is suggested that permanently cursed locations (e.g. battlefields, ruins) also be created.

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Bless

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 12:19, 23 June 2008 (UTC) New skill/mechanic Shaman

This suggestion is for a new shaman skill called Bless placed on the psychic skills tree at the same level as Exorcism. A blessing would be placed upon a specific map square (indoor or outdoor) via a blood ritual costing XX AP and 5 HP. A blessing would last for 1 hour server time for every 2 APs sacrified to the blessing process. Blessing a location requires a silver skull cross and a dagger or knife to draw blood but grants no XP.

Blessed locations would be detected by anyone with Sixth Sense. For those people the location description would include text along the lines of:

This place has a peaceful, tranquil air.
You sense a calming presence nearby.

Spirits in a blessed area would suffer an increased AP cost for Shrieking, Wailing and Possession (+1 AP). In a blessed area those with Psychic Recognition would take less damage (-1 HP) from spirit Shrieking and Wailing attacks. Furthermore, it is suggested that spirits in a blessed area would be YY% less resistant to Exorcism.

A blessing upon an area would automatically be removed should someone be killed in that area. It is suggested that permanently blessed locations (e.g. sacred temples) also be created.

Comments
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Hex

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 12:19, 23 June 2008 (UTC) New skill/mechanic Shaman

This suggestion is for a new shaman skill called Hex placed on the psychic skills tree at the same level as Exorcism. A hex would be called down upon a specific map square (indoor or outdoor) via a blood ritual costing XX AP and 5 HP. A hex would last for 1 hour server time for every 2 APs sacrified to the process. Hexing a location requires a human skull and a dagger or knife to draw blood but grants no XP.

Hexed locations would be detected by anyone with Sixth Sense. For those people the location description would include text along the lines of:

This place makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
You feel an otherworldy chill in this area.
You sense an inimical presence nearby.

Spirits in a hexed area would benefit from a reduced AP cost for Shrieking, Wailing and Possession (-1 AP). Furthermore, it is suggested that spirits in a hexed area would be YY% more resistant to Exorcism.

Temporarily hexed areas may be cleansed by any Shaman who performs an Exorcism once the area is free of spirits. Successfully exorcising the spirits grants XP as normal and cleansing the area would grant a further 5 XP. It is suggested that permanently hexed locations (e.g. battlefields, ruins) also be created.

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Shartak Mountain

The central mountain of Shartak should be visible in the distance.


Shartak Mountain

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 12:26, 20 September 2007 (UTC) Environment / mechanic All classes

This suggestion is to alter the basic location description to include the direction and approximate distance (near / distant / far) in which Shartak Mountain can be seen e.g.:

Looming over you to the S is the bulk of Shartak Mountain.
Off in the distance E you can see Shartak Mountain.
Far to the NW you can see the cloud-covered peak of Shartak Mountain.

Jungle density that restricts line-of-sight would also block the view of the mountain. The direction would be plotted to the (theoretical) peak of Shartak Mountain as defined by Simon.

This suggestion is intended to ease navigation for new players and to explain how natives get around without the use of outsider devices. By default all the compass directions are known to starting characters as mini-map orientation remains consistent; presumably they carry a compass. If characters are not presumed to have a compass see my compass suggestion.

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Compass

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 12:26, 20 September 2007 (UTC) New Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, the humble compass. It would be found in the Weapons Hut and would occupy 1 inventory slot. If clicked (for 1 AP) the compass would report the approximate direction to Shartak Mountain provided that the jungle density does not block line-of-sight.

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Chemistry / Athanor / Coal / Orichalcum

The perennial question on Shartak is "Why would natives need (or cooperate with) outsiders? The answer is that only outsiders have the ability to transform the ores found inside Shartak's mountain.

Chemistry

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 11:15, 19 September 2007 (UTC) Skill Scientist Class

This suggestion is a new skill for the Scientist class. Chemistry would be a gateway skill allowing Scientists to identify substances and to easily create metals or chemicals from raw compenents e.g. orichalcum pellets from orichalcum nuggets.

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Coal

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 13:08, 19 September 2007 (UTC) Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, coal nuggets. Coal must be dug up in one of the caverns around the central mountain of Shartak.

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Lead

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 15:14, 28 September 2007 (UTC) Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, lead. Lead comes in two forms. The first, raw form, lead ore (galena), is found in the various caverns in and around Shartak mountain. The second, purified form, the lead ball, can either be manufactured from lead ore or found when searching certain locations.

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Orichalcum

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 13:08, 19 September 2007 (UTC) Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, orichalcum, the mysterious magical metal used by both King Solomon and the ancients of Atlantis. Orichalcum comes in two forms. The first raw form, the orichalcum nugget, is found only in the caverns on the upper levels of Shartak's mountain. The second, purified form, the orichalcum pellet, must be manufactured. Each nugget or pellet occupies 1 inventory space.

Due to its ephemeral nature, traders will not purchase or accept orichalcum ore as a trade item. Orichalcum ore will crumble to dust if moved more than XX spaces away from the central mountain. It must be refined and purified in a native encampment prior to long-distance transportation. Orichalcum pellets function as a power source for, and are consumed by, exotic outsider devices.

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Charcoal

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 15:14, 28 September 2007 (UTC) Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, charcoal nuggets. Charcoal must either be manufactured or searched for at location(s) TBC.

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Potassium Nitrate

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 15:14, 28 September 2007 (UTC) Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, potassium nitrate (saltpetre). Saltpetre crystals must be collected by searching in the bat-infested caverns of Shartak mountain.

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Sulphur

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 15:14, 28 September 2007 (UTC) Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, sulphur. Sulphur crystals must be collected by searching in the coastal swamps in the NE of Shartak island.

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Bats

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 14:40, 17 October 2007 (UTC) Animal All classes

This suggestion is for a new animal, vampire bats. They would be similar in nature to rats (low HP, move in swarms) but would be much more aggressive, attacking players in the same location with a similar frequency to shark attacks. Bats would roost in the cave that provides a shortcut through the SE tip of Shartak Mountain. Their guano would be the main source of potassium nitrate on Shartak.

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Gunpowder

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 14:40, 17 October 2007 (UTC) Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, gunpowder. Gunpowder must be created by mixing the correct proportions of raw ingredients (potassium nitrate, sulphur, charcoal in 6:1:1 ratio) in an athanor.

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Athanor

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 13:08, 19 September 2007 (UTC) Item Scientist Class

This suggestion is for a new item, the athanor, a small coal-burning vessel that facilitates chemical transformations. The athanor would be available only from trading posts at outsider settlements. Cost would be XX GC or equivalent. Supply would be very limited e.g. 1 per week per settlement. The athanor would occupy 5 inventory spaces when carried.

The athanor must be installed in a hut by a Scientist before it can be used. Only 1 athanor may be installed in a location. Installed athanors are removed from the user's inventory. They have 10 HP and may be attacked by all weapons other than dagger, knife and blowpipe. Once installed the athanor will appear in the interior description of the hut:

A complex-looking ceramic vessel occupies a clear space on the floor. It has a door in front, a sooty chimney and a funnel coated in coal dust.

When an athanor is present in a location, additional buttons will be available:

Load Athanor - all classes - only available when an athanor is empty - requires 1 AP and YY ore nuggets - with adjacent pull-down lists for number of nuggets and type of nuggets
Unload Athanor - all classes - only available after the athanor has been loaded and before firing - requires 1 AP and removes YY nuggets from a loaded athanor up to inventory limits
Fuel Athanor - all classes - requires requires 1 AP and ZZ coal nuggets from inventory, fuel hopper cannot be unloaded
Fire Athanor - Scientist class - only available after the athanor has been loaded and fuelled - requires 8 APs
Open Athanor - all classes - only available after the athanor has been fired - requires 1 AP and removes YY refined items from the athanor

Each successful use of an athanor converts all raw materials into their equivalent manufactured material e.g. orichalcum nuggets to orichalcum pellets, lead ore to lead balls. Athanors have a small percentage chance of exploding during use, delivering 5 HP damage to all persons present in the location, destroying the vessel, contents and fuel and leaving nothing of value.

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There must be a way to refine this mechanism. In this form it's too complex. Perhaps have the system detect raw ingredients for use in athanor and present a drop-down 'Use Athanor to create...' menu with options such as Gold/Lead balls/Gunpowder/Orichalcum. This bypasses the need for loading, unloading and arsing about with chemical ratios?
Furthermore, Scientists with Chemistry skill should get significantly better results from an athanor than anyone else. Perhaps normal people get only half the output from an anthanor whilst Scientists get the full output?


Kiln/Oven

A variation of, or adjunct to, the use of an athanor for the creation and purification of metals, alloys and chemicals. Kilns and ovens would be a starting point for construction projects.

Kiln

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 12:00, 20 August 2008 (UTC) Item All classes

Speak with Cyadora on this one. Construction of, and use of, kilns to fire bricks and ceramic pottery.

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Clay

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 12:00, 20 August 2008 (UTC) Item All classes

Speak with Cyadora on this one. Raw materials for use in kilns.

Comments
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Bricks

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 12:00, 20 August 2008 (UTC) Item All classes

Speak with Cyadora on this one. Bricks fired in kilns. May then be used in construction projects.

Comments
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Pots, Jugs, Amphorae

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 12:00, 20 August 2008 (UTC) New item All classes

Speak with Cyadora on this one. Pottery objects fired in kilns. May then be used to carry water, oil, grain, wine, beer.

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Pottery

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 12:00, 20 August 2008 (UTC) New skill Villager and settler classes

Speak with Cyadora on this one. A skill for villagers and settlers to allow them to throw pots, form bricks and use kilns.

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Theodolite

GPS technology seems anachronistic for the general feel of Shartak. This suggestion prooposes a Steampunk alternative to GPS technology.

Theodolite

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 12:26, 20 September 2007 (UTC) Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, the theodolite, to replace the GPS unit and provide a handwaving explanation for accurate surveying of Shartak by outsiders and pirates. It is a steampunk variant of the 18th/19th century surveyors' theodolite and would be used to calculate vertical angles and aid in positional triangulation.

In locations that do not block line-of-sight to the peak of Shartak Mountain, the vertical inclination angle to the peak and the approximate known height of the peak would permit a rough calculation of the horizontal distance from the peak. This calculation would be refined by use of a barometer reading giving approximate current height above sea level. The distance from the peak alone is not sufficient to calculate location. The missing element would be the angular direction of the peak, obtained from a compass reading vs the angular scale on the theodolite. Thus the angular direction of the peak would be obtained. With this second item of information the approximate location on the island would be calculable.

Unlike the automatic always-on GPS unit the standard theodolite must be clicked (for 1 AP) to give an approximate GPS locational reading. The theodolite would occupy 3 inventory slots (similar to a rifle) due to the need for the lens array, supporting tripod and chart. The theodolite would require solid ground and line-of-sight for accurate use and thus could not be used in Deep Water, higher density jungle or indoors. It would also be fragile and have a small (XX%) chance of being destroyed in a hostile attack.

As an optional extra the location information provided by the theodolite may be subjected to error of 1 or 2 location squares. This error would be removed for the classes Explorer/Scout and Scientist. Multiple readings / APs may be needed if strict accuracy is required.

Comments
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Spirit Ward

Magic lantern.


Prospecting

Caving

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 11:00, 29 August 2008 (UTC) New Skill Classes as noted below

This suggestion is for a new skill called Caving that is designed to address issues concerning the Shartak cave network. This skill would only be available to Explorers, Scouts and Cannibals. It would also be suitable for Villagers and Settlers. The skill would be placed on the Exploration tree with Exploration as a prerequisite.

Caving would allow the character to sense the location of nearby exit(s) thanks to a combination of instinct, experience and reading of air currents... and maybe some blind luck. Whilst in a cave system the character would be provided with one or more items of flavour text such as:

There is a cave exit very close to the <compass direction>.
There is a nearby cave exit to the <compass direction>.
There is a distant cave exit to the <compass direction>.
There is a very distant cave exit to the <compass direction>.

In thus case <compass direction> would be the tunnel route to follow and NOT the direct geographical compass direction.

Caving would also permit the character to use Tracking skills in the cave network. Due to the rocky cave floors only the two most recent tracks would be made available when Tracking in this manner.

Mechanics: The distance-to-exit could be calculated by some form of flood-fill / seed-fill algorithm. It may be too demanding to have the server do this passively for every step taken by a Caving character. If so, the directional information should only be provided when the player actively uses the Tracking skill. This would make Basic Tracking an additional prerequisite for Caving.

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Prospecting

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 11:00, 29 August 2008 (UTC) New Skill Classes as noted below

This suggestion is for a new skill called Prospecting to improve the search rates for Villagers and Settlers when digging for raw ores e.g. gold nuggets. Prospecting would also enable panning for gold in rivers. The skill would be placed on the Exploration tree with Exploration as a prerequisite.

Prospectors in mountains / caves would require a shovel to allow them to dig. Prospectors would require a pan (or sieve) to find gold in rivers. It is suggested that nuggets be found as either large or small gold nuggets and perhaps even as gold dust. AP costs would be commensurate with digging costs i.e. Digging will reduce AP costs in caves / mountains.

Initially it is suggested that NPC Traders purchase undefined ore. However if additional ores are to be added, an NPC Assayer should probably be added to deal specifically with raw precious metals and gems.

This skill will require new items to be implemented - gold nuggets, gold dust, pan.

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In-game Messaging

Carrier Pigeons / Messenger Bats

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 13:13, 21 November 2008 (UTC) New Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, the carrier pigeon (for outsiders), the messenger bat (for natives) and the talkiing parrot (for pirates). A carrier pigeon would be available only from a settlement trader. Each would occupy 1 inventory slot and be listed as Pigeon (Write). Using a carrier pigeon would require a single click, 1 AP and would permit the sending of a message to a designated person on the character's Contacts list. A drop-down menu would offer a choice of written language for the message (if the sender is capable of writing in another language).

Once a message is sent the pigeon would be removed from the sender's inventory and added to the receiver's inventory as Pigeon (Read). To read the message the receiver would click on the pigeon in their inventory at a cost of 1 AP. Once a message is read the pigeon would be removed from the receiver's inventory and placed back in the sender's inventory. There would be an XX% chance that a pigeon does not return to the sender i.e. pigeons may effectively be 'consumed' when sending messages.

Flavour text would be used to indicate the departure and arrival of a pigeon to everyone present at a given location. The flavour text would be of the form:

Blackbeard releases a talking parrot into the air.

A messenger bat flies into the room and lands on Serious Sam's head.

Another possible option when sending a message is to have a drop-down menu that permits the receiver to be either a Character (from the contacts list) or a Clan (the sender must be a member of the Clan). Alternatively, two types of carrier pigeon may be needed, a standard pigeon for personal messages and a more highly-trained (and more expensive) pigeon for clan messages (which could also be used for personal messages if necessary).

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Jungle Drums

Native communications network.

Signals

Outsider / pirate communications.


Reincarnation / Vortex Of Life

Player shaman should be able to revive.

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 13:34, 23 June 2008 (UTC) New skill/mechanic Shaman

This suggestion is for a new PC shaman skill called Reincarnation that only becomes available for purchase when the player reaches level 30.

It is well known that the NPC shamen use stationary 'wells of life' to enable the revive process. PC shamen would use a 'vortex of life', one of an unspecified number of invisible storms of psychic energy that move randomly across the island. A vortex can only be detected by someone with Psychic Recognition and would leave a trail that is visible only to those with both Psychic Recognition and Tracking Mastery. The proposed vortices would move at a rate of 1 square per 60 minute server tick in much the same manner as a roaming shaman.

An additional 'Request Revive From' button would be available to a spirit, with drop-down menu box listing all the PC shamen on the spirit's contact list. It would cost the spirit 1 AP to request a revive from a shaman. Multiple requests would be allowed, costing 1 AP each. Successfully obtaining a revive from a PC shaman will cost the spirit 25 APs.

A PC shaman with the Reincarnation skill will have requesters' names added to a list next to a drop down 'Revive/Decline' button (c.f. the trading or juicing mechanics). Requests will remain active on the list until the spirit receives a revive or the shaman declines the request. Declining a request costs the shaman 0 AP. To grant a revive the shaman must be standing at the centre of a vortex of life; each revive costs the shaman 5 APs and 5 HP, and rewards the shaman with 10 XP. A shaman must be alive to revive or to decline revive requests.

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Spear / Spear Fishing

Natives on an island and no spear-fishing?


Stealth / Stalking

Multiple levels of stealth skills:

(1) Difficult concealment in the jungle so that you are not visible on the minimap unless someone is in the same square, 4 APs

(2) Less difficult concealment in the jungle so that you are not visible on the minimap unless someone is in the same square, 3 APs

(3) Easy concealment in jungle so that you are not visible unless someone searches the area, 3 APs

(4) Super concealment in jungle so that you are not visible unless someone searches the area, 2 APs


Dead Wood / Charcoal / Fires / Flint & Tinder / Cooking / Hunting

Deadwood

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 13:13, 2 October 2007 (UTC) New Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, dead wood branches. Dead wood would be found only in Jungle squares containing trees (density 5 or higher) or inside empty huts in camps. Each dead wood branch would occupy 1 inventory slot and function as driftwood.

Comments
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Flint & Tinder

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 13:13, 2 October 2007 (UTC) New Item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, a flint and tinder box for the creation of fires. This item would be found by searching empty huts in camps or the cabins at the shipwreck.

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Animal Corpses

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 13:13, 2 October 2007 (UTC) New mechanic All classes

This suggestion is for a change to the game mechanics, reworking animal corpses into items that can be used by characters. Animal corpses would be described by a food value, food volume and a trophy value. Corpses must be butchered to take advantage of their value(s). All of these values would be zeroed 24 hours after death due to scavengers consuming the corpse.

Anyone who kills an animal can butcher it immediately to get one item of food for cooking or one trophy. Those with the Basic Dressing skill can butcher the corpse to gain two items (food value and or trophy items). Those with Advanced Dressing (only available to Scouts and Villagers) can gain all elements of the corpse. Corpses may be carried to a settlement for others to work on.

Suggested corpse sizes:

TIGER - inventory 65, requires Bodybuilding to carry

MONKEY - inventory 2

ELEPHANT - food value 3HP, food volume 20, trophy value 20 GC

ALLIGATOR - inventory 65, requires Bodybuilding to carry

PARROT - inventory 1

SHARGLE - inventory 2

SQUID - cannot be carried or floated

RAT - inventory 1

BEAR - inventory 65, requires Bodybuilding to carry

LARGE DEER - inventory 55, requires Bodybuilding to carry

SMALL DEER - inventory 45, requires Bodybuilding to carry

LARGE STAG - inventory 55, requires Bodybuilding to carry

WILD BOAR - inventory 55, requires Bodybuilding to carry


Suggested food values and volumes:

TIGER - food value 3HP, food volume 8, trophy value 5 GC

MONKEY - food value 2HP, food volume 2, trophy value 1 GC

ELEPHANT - food value 3HP, food volume 20, trophy value 20 GC

ALLIGATOR - food value 3HP, food volume 8, trophy value 5 GC

PARROT - food value 1HP, food volume 1, trophy value 1 GC

SHARGLE - food value 2HP, food volume 2, trophy value 2 GC

SQUID - food value 3HP, food volume 75, trophy value 5 GC

RAT - food value 1HP, food volume 1, trophy value 0 GC

BEAR - food value 3HP, food volume 10, trophy value 5 GC

LARGE DEER - food value 3HP, food volume 4, trophy value 3 GC

SMALL DEER - food value 3HP, food volume 3, trophy value 2 GC

LARGE STAG - food value 3HP, food volume 6, trophy value 4 GC

WILD BOAR - food value 4HP, food volume 5, trophy value 2 GC


Suggested trophies:

TIGER - skin, teeth, claws

MONKEY - paw

ELEPHANT - tusks

ALLIGATOR - skin

PARROT - feathers

SHARGLE - claw, feathers

SQUID - ink sac

RAT - none

BEAR - skin, teeth, claws

LARGE DEER - skin

SMALL DEER - skin

LARGE STAG - skin, antlers

WILD BOAR - skin, tusks

Comments
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Cooking

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 13:13, 2 October 2007 (UTC) New ability All classes

This suggestion is for a new ability, cooking, to allow players to cook and eat animals they find in the jungle. Cooking requires a flint and tinder box and consumes 1 item of fuel (driftwood or deadwood) from the player's inventory. At the base level cooking a corpse provides a single item of relevant food value.

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Bodyguard

Bodyguard

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 14:58, 9 October 2007 (UTC) Skull Face New Skill All classes

This suggestion is for a new skill called Bodyguard, to be placed on the Close Quarter Combat skill tree at the same level as Balanced Stance. When in the presence of another player or an NPC, characters with his skill would have access to a 'Guard' button with two adjacent pull-down menus. The first would be a pull-down menu of APs to be used, minimum of 1, maximum of 10. The second would be a pull-down menu of the current characters (AKA victims) at the location (c.f. the 'Attack' menu). The player would thus spend 1 to 10 APs to act as a bodyguard for a chosen victim. For each AP thus spent the player would automatically be the target of one attack directed at the victim.


If the attack would have been a hit with a ranged weapon, i.e. blowpipe or rifle, the bodyguard takes the hit instead of the victim only 50% of the time (the other 50% of the time the victim is still hit). Bullets and blowpipes fired by trained soldiers and warriors are much harder to defend against than melee attacks. Flavour text would be as follows:

Attacker text - You attack Blue Hummingbird. Raffles interposes himself. You hit Raffles for 4 HP damage.
Bodyguard text - A Rat attacks Blue Hummingbird. You interpose yourself. You take 4 HP damage.
Victim text - A Rat attacks you. Raffles bravely interposes himself. He is hit for 4 HP damage.


If the attack would have been a hit, the bodyguard takes the hit instead of the victim. Flavour text would be as follows:

Attacker text - You attack Blue Hummingbird. Raffles interposes himself. You hit Raffles for 3 HP damage.
Bodyguard text - A Rat attacks Blue Hummingbird. You interpose yourself. You take 3 HP damage.
Victim text - A Rat attacks you. Raffles bravely interposes himself. He is hit for 3 HP damage.


If the attack would have resulted in a glancing blow with a melee weapon, the target is hit as normal. Flavour text would be as follows:

Attacker text - You attack Blue Hummingbird. Raffles interposes himself. You recover your balance and hit Blue Hummingbird for 3 HP damage.
Bodyguard text - A Rat attacks Blue Hummingbird. You interpose yourself. The attacker slips past your guard and hits Blue Hummingbird for 3 HP damage.
Victim text - A Rat attacks you. Raffles bravely interposes himself. The attacker slips past Raffles and you take 3 HP damage.


If the attack would have been a miss, the bodyguard is missed rather than the target. Flavour text would be as follows:

Attacker text - You attack Blue Hummingbird. Raffles interposes himself. Your attack misses.
Bodyguard text - A Rat attacks Blue Hummingbird. You interpose yourself. The attack misses.
Victim text - A Rat attacks you. Raffles bravely interposes himself. The attack misses.


Players using the Bodyguard ability must have sufficient unused APs to allocate towards the defence of the target i.e. they cannot deliberately go into negative APs when setting out to bodyguard. In the event that multiple players choose to bodyguard the same victim at a location, one of the bodyguards is selected randomly for each attack before the results are calculated. In the event that the nominated victim leaves the location before bodyguard APs are used up, any unused APs are lost and not returned to the bodyguard.

This skill would permit a group of players to defend a potential victim. Examples would be villagers defending a shaman who is exorcising a healer's hut, or an SPF activist attempting to save an elephant from a hunter's rifle.

Comments
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Spirit Additions

Change To Seance

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 22:22, 12 October 2007 (UTC) Altered mechanics Shaman, Villager and Settler

This suggestion is for an alteration to the shamanic 'Seance' skill. At present the use of 'Seance' merely reveals the passive spirits in the current location square. With this alteration the use of 'Seance' would automatically make all nearby spirits visible to the Shaman on the mini-map in the same way that other players or animals are visible in the mini-map. This would allow for efficient, targeted exorcisms.

Upon pressing the 'Seance' button the Shaman would expend 5 APs to enter into a trance. Once in the trance the 'Seance' button would change to 'Leave Trance'. Whilst the Shaman is in the trance all spirits in range become visible on the mini-map. This visibility would include showing spirits inside a hut if the shaman is outdoors and spirits in the terrain outside a hut if the shaman is indoors. Any actions taking by the Shaman (with the exception of an Exorcism) cost an additional 2 APs per action e.g. moving 1 square with Trekking would be 2.5 APs, entering/leaving a hut would cost 3 APs, speaking would cost 3 APs.

The exact AP numbers for entering a trance and taking actions whilst in a trance are up for debate. As an alternative to changing the 'Seance' mechanic this could be made an additional skill called 'Spirit Vision' that has 'Seance' as a prerequisite or a complete renaming of the 'Seance' skill.

Comments
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Life Sense

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 00:01, 21 December 2008 (UTC) New skill/mechanic All classes

This suggestion is for a new spirit skill called Life Sense. This skill would allow a spirit in an occupied area to see the HP and name(s) of the living person(s) closest to death. It does act a little like Triage but it does not require that skill nor does it require that the spirit be of the same origin (outsider / native) to reveal the name / profile.

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Ghostly Touch

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 00:01, 21 December 2008 (UTC) New skill/mechanic All classes

This suggestion is for a new spirit skill called Ghostly Touch. This skill would allow a spirit in an occupied area to touch a living person and thus reveal the person's name and profile.

Comments
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Poltergeist

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 00:01, 21 December 2008 (UTC) New skill/mechanic All classes

This suggestion is for a new spirit skill called Poltergeist. The new skill Ghostly Touch would be a prerequisite. This skill would allow a spirit in an occupied area to attack a living person using the spirit character's fist %age hit chance and delivering 1 HP damage on a successful attack.

Comments
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Dehydration

Dehydration

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 22:50, 21 December 2008 (UTC) New game mechanic All classes

This suggestion is for a new game mechanic based around dehydration. In tropical climates dehydration is a significant factor in daily existence and can be dangerous. This suggestion proposes a mechanic whereby characters are subject to dehydration. In a manner similar to shark attacks, characters are hit by dehydration every 12 hours (at 00:00 and 12:00 server time) for a loss of 2 HP and 2% from all percentage based skills (these losses are cumulative). The lost HP and negative percentage effects of dehydration may be cured by consuming water, fruit juice or fresh fruit. FAKs and herbs will cure lost HP but will not cure negative percentage effects.

Comments
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Psychology/Psychoanalysis

Psychology

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face 14:45, 19 August 2008 (UTC) New skill tree Scientist class

This suggestion is for a new game skillset for the Scientist class. The Psychology skills tree would allow a scientist to talk to others at his current location and soothe their fears of the supernatural. The game effect arising from this would be the reduction of damage done by spirits vs characters at the Scientist's current location.

To use this skill the Scientist would spend a variable number of APs to create an AP pool (up to his maximum currently available or up to a predefined limit such as 10 AP, whichever is the lowest). Every time a spirit attack occurs, the AP pool is reduced by 1, the Scientist automatically lectures all present with psychobabble that disproves the existence of spirits, and the damage done by that attack vs each victim is reduced by 1 HP if the speech is deemed successful. Once the AP pool is reduced to zero the Scientist has run out of arguments and the spirits get free reign to do as they please. Mechanically this should only work as long as the Scientist remains at the current location after spending his APs. If the Scientist moves from that location the APs should either be lost or a portion returned (e.g. only 50%).

The XP gained by a spirit during the attack will not be reduced by this effect e.g. a spirit gets 4 XP for damaging one victim with 4 HP wail but the actual damage inflicted ends up being 3 HP. This is rationalised as the Scientist talking his patient down and 'curing' the psychological damage. If a spirit attack kills a character (i.e. takes them to 0 HP) the Scientist cannot bring them back up to 1 HP. Spirit damage and effects are applied before the psychobabble effects.

The Scientist would gain 1 XP per 1 HP damage prevented. Example: In a hut of 10 people (9 people and the Scientist) a spirit wails for 4 HP damage per person (40 HP total). The Scientist successfully lectures to the room. Actual damage inflicted is 3 HP per person. The scientist would gain 10 XP for talking to those people during that attack; yes, psychobabble works on the Scientist too!

The AP cost for psychobabble cures may be scaled up or down to limit the effectiveness of this skillset, as can the maximum APs that may be put into the pool. Additionally, psychobabble speeches are not automatically effective, they have a success rate that is assessed once per wail (or, alternatively, once per listener per wail (much more complex)). When evaluating psychobabble success once per wail there would be two speech pools at server-side, one for successful speeches and one for unsuccessful speeches. Example psychobbabble speeches follow:

Successful psychobabble:

  • Back off man, I'm a scientist!
  • Tell me about your childhood...
  • And how do you feel about that, hmmm?
  • Say it with me! "He thrusts his fists against the posts..."
  • Om mani padme hum!

Unsuccessful psychobabble:

  • I'm a doctor, not a magician!
  • /me starts and trembles violently, muttering about the wind playing tricks.
  • I can't work under these primitive conditions!
  • /me sings in a cracked falsetto voice, "Daisy! Daisy! Give me your answer do! I'm half crazy..."
  • Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war... with the... cross... of... Jesus?
  • I'm not listening! I can't hear you! Nah, nah, nah nah naaah!

It is suggested that there be three discrete levels of Psychology skills (mirroring the Spirit skills tree), with Triage as an initial prerequisite. Each level fixes the success chances, AP pool sizes and suchlike. These levels would operate as follows:

Psychology - 5 AP pool size - 27% chance of success - available at level 5 or above, Triage as prerequisite

Psychoanalysis - 10 AP pool size - 40% chance of success - available at level 10 or above, Psychology as prerequisite

Psychiatry - 15 AP pool size - 60 % chance of success - available at level 20 or above, Psychoanalysis as prerequisite


In a situation where multiple Scientists are in the same location with an AP pool prepared, each spirit attack will trigger a lecture from all Scientists at the same time. Competition within the scientific community is fierce!

Finally, this skill will only work on those who fully understand the Scientist i.e. natives who don't have Expert Langauage or better cannot benefit from the protecting effects (and the Scientist cannot gain any XP from protecting them).

Comments
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Ghost Ship

Ghost Ship

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 16.45, 18 August 2008 (UTC) New game mechanic Pirate class

This suggestion is for a new game mechanic for the pirate class. A new game entity, the Ghost Ship, would be introduced to roam the waters of Shartak. The Ghost Ship would move around Shartak in a fashion similar to a roaming shaman but it would be confined to water locations. The Ghost Ship would be 'piloted' by an NPC undead pirate (Captain Slaughter) with the following suggested abilities:

  • 300 HP and regeneration of lost HP (as per current NPC shaman regeneration)
  • a heavy cutlass that delivers 5 HP damage per hit
  • grow tougher when he kills a PC (as per existing giant squid / rogue elephant / man-eating tiger mechanisms)
  • dodges in combat (as per existing NPC shaman)

The Ghost Ship would function like a roaming shaman but only for pirates i.e. acting a transport between the spirit realm and the material realm rather than a moving platform that people can use to hitch a free ride. Full revives at the Ghost Ship would cost 25 APs. Pirates in spirit form would also have the option to teleport to the Ghost Ship at a cost of 5 APs but would remain in spirit form. With these mechanisms the Ghost Ship would effectively leave a trail of pirate raiders and pirate spirits in its wake.

Suggested flavour text when at the Ghost Ship's location:

You are in deep water. Also here is a huge, spectral pirate ship. You can see Captain Slaughter at the helm.

The Ghost Ship would sail in random fashion in deep water off the coast. The movement coding would be a combination of that used for the roaming shaman and giant squid. Pirates reviving at the ghost ship will have to cross deep water to make their raids, offsetting the effectively cheaper AP cost of revives at the Ghost Ship.

Sometimes the Ghost Ship will be off the coast of the Empty Quarter. Other times it will be off the coast of York, Durham or Derby. In the latter case the town will be knee deep in pirate raiders / spirits until the defenders get their act together and counter-attack the ship. When at the same location as the ship the Captain would be listed as an attack option in the drop-down target list. If someone kills the Captain they can force the Ghost Ship to materialise randomly elsewhere (c.f. existing mechanics for killing roaming NPC shaman).

Pirates are the most deprived faction on the island with no class-specific skills and a terrible camp miles from anywhere. The addition of this functionality would, at a single stroke, allow pirates to behave like pirates and give them a reason to keep playing the damn game!

Comments
This is a distilled version of the original forum discussion. Credit for this suggestion belongs to a number of people from the forum - STCFG, Buttercup, Jhelai, FirstAmongstDaves and myself.

Vodouisant (Voodoo Practitioner)

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 21.55, 20 August 2008 (UTC) New skill Pirate class

This suggestion is for a new skill for the pirate class, placed on the psychic skills tree with Psychic Recognition as a prerequisite for purchase. Pirates who purchase the Vodouisant (voodoo practitioner) skill enter into a pact with the darker forces of the Vodou cosmology. For 2 APs cost the pirate may perform a ceremony to capture the spirit essence of a fallen enemy in an empty bottle / gourd and thus create a spirit jar. The resultant spirit jar would be a new trophy item for pirates. The spirit must be captured from a deceased person that the pirate has recently killed.

At its most basic level this skill is the pirate equivalent of the Headhunting skill used by natives. However a spirit jar also has a practial use. For 5 APs a spirit jar may be ceremonially destroyed to release the imprisoned spirit. Via the principals of sympathetic magick this allows the pirate to attempt to drive away one spirit from his current location (chosen at random if there are multiple spirits). As with Exorcism this process is not completely automatic (chance of failure to be determined by Simon). Driving away a spirit will grant 5 XP to the pirate and add 1 successful exorcism to the pirate's profile stats.

Comments
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Spirit Jar

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 21.55, 20 August 2008 (UTC) New item All classes

This suggestion is for a new item, the spirit jar. To all classes except the pirate, the spirit jar is a trophy item similar to charms, necklaces and skulls. To a pirate vodouisant a spirit jar is a valuable item that may be used to attempt to drive away angry spirits.

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Bokor (Voodoo Sorceror)

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 21.55, 20 August 2008 (UTC) New skill Pirate class

Vodouisant as a prerequisite. More dangerous voodoo skill / curse.

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Houngan (Voodoo Priest)

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 21.55, 20 August 2008 (UTC) New skill Pirate class

Bokor as a prerequisite. Highest level voodoo abilities.

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Ranged Weapons

Already got the rifle butt attack. Work on additional concepts

Bandolier

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 21.55, 20 August 2008 (UTC) New item Soldier class (mainly)

A single item to hold up to 10 bullets. A bandolier would take up 2 inventory spaces whether full or empty. Pushing bullets in to or out of bandolier loops would take 1 AP per bullet. Bandoliders would be a luxury item sold at the trader (c.f. backpack). A player may carry a maximum of 2 bandoliers (an artifical limit) and they would show in the profile (c.f. charms, skulls).

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Quivver

Author Timestamp Type Scope
Skull Face Skull Face 21.55, 20 August 2008 (UTC) New item Warrior class (mainly)

A single item to hold up to 10 darts. A quivver would take up 2 inventory spaces whether full or empty. Adding or removing darts from a quivver would take 1 AP per dart. Quivvers would be a luxury item sold at the trader (c.f. backpack). A player may carry a maximum of 2 quivvers (an artifical limit) and they would show in the profile (c.f. charms, skulls).

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