User:Skull Face/Suggestions

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

Cannibal

Natives are lacking something so why not have a 4th native type, the Cannibal, based from a small offshore island village? Specialist skill would be Cannibalism (obviously) that allows them to feed off the dead and regain HP.

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.

Comments
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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

Comments?

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!

Comments
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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.

Comments
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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.

Comments
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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.

Comments
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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.

Comments
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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.

Comments
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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.

Comments
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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.

Comments? Thoughts?

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

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.

Comments
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Haunting

From POV of the deceased, wouldn't it be better if spirits were given a compass that points in the direction of the guy who killed them (in the same manner as the current Exploration / Cartography locations ability can point to where you want to go)? With this ability a spirit would be able to haunt their murderer until they were exorcised. This would be a spirit ability called Haunting.

Obviously there's an issue in that humans with Trekking move twice as fast as spirits. So there's a need for improved spirit movement. Either a new ability called Spirit Flight (0.5 AP per square moved) and/or a button that is created when Haunting is purchased and becomes active when in spirit form. For 25 APs the 'Haunt' button will teleport you to the current location of your murderer. If your last death was at the hands of an NPC (e.g. squid, shark, shaman) or by suicide then the 'Haunt' button is not active. Exorcism by a shaman cancels the Haunting compass and makes the 'Haunt' button inactive, hopefully encouraging the spirit to get a life. Revival by a shaman cancels the Haunting compass i.e. the ability does not carry over into life.

I suggest this even though my main character is a confirmed headhunter. Consider what this could do for roleplaying and gameplay. Killers would be haunted by their victims and spirits would have a reason (a slim one granted) to be in places other than the medical hut

Geodolite

An answer to the issue of having GPS units on Shartak.

Orichalcum

The magical metal of Shartak mountain.

Chemistry / Alchemy / Athanor

Why natives need outsiders?

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 create metals or chemicals from raw compenents e.g. gold from gold nuggets.

Comments
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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 nuggest. Coal must be dug in one of the caverns around the central mountain of Shartak.

Comments
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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.

Comments
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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. 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.

Comments
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Spirit Ward

Magic lantern.

Prospecting

Mines and rivers.

Jungle Drums

Native communications network.

Signals

Outsider / pirate communications.

Well Of Life

Player shamans can do revives.

Spear / Spear Fishing

Natives on an island and no spear-fishing?