[MUD-Dev] re: PK and my "Mobless MUD" idea

[Jay Sax]

Re: PK's plus my "Mobless Mud" concept

John Bertoglio wrote:
> 
> Method 1: Create IC PK restrictions which make the PKer decide to
> RP monsters.
> Method 2: When a character racks up a certain number of kills
> morph them into a junior monster.
<etc>
> 
> John Bertoglio
> 
> --
Ha! thanks john, I love this one about junior monsters and so forth.
It inspires me to share one of my ideas which I hope I, or some of
the other fruitful-brainers among us can develop further at some
point.

I call this one "the mobless mud" (aka "the monsterless mud").

Motivation:

 why even worry about repops, monster-generators,
 dungeons that have good motivations, cities that 'work' economically
 and logically (proper amount of land under tillage, good water
 supply, mining nearby, workers in the trades, etc)?  Why not just
 set up all the systems properly and let all this stuff develop?

Implementation, broad stroke:

  Inhabit your world with
   - animals of various sorts (few in number at first)
   - a few people
   - resources (minerals, water, herbs, grains, whatever)
   - terrain features (rivers, mountains, valleys, whatever)
   - climate

  Painstakingly define rules for all the above to make them
   more or less self-sustaining in a simulation sort of way, to wit:
   - herd growth, predation, animal husbandry, and so forth
   - plant growth, spread, disease, whatever
   - climatological change, growth, decay, storm formation,
     all that sort of thing (and seasons too I guess)

  Again with rules, this time for combining, breaking apart,
   building, etc:
   - surveying, mining, smelting, etc.
   - blacksmithing, coppersmithing, fletching, whatever
     (and not just for weapons and armor of course)
   - woodcutting, carving, lamination, warping, and all that
   - plant, plow, harvest, etc.
   - construction and destruction (walls, buildings, carts, etc)

  Define rules for voluntary associations (guilds, factions,
   clubs, whatever)
   - social status and standing, reputation, etc
   - fun social activities like creating/quashing rumors,
     status decay/enhancement, smears, you name it.
   - hired/hireling relationships

   Define rules for activities that can create 'monsters' --
   e.g. unholy magics that summon warped demonic presences, or
        pseudo-scientific processes designed to do the medieval
        equivalent of gene-tailoring to create new species.

Hoped for result:

  You want a dungeon? you build one.

  You want a castle, you get the money (or influence over a
  large enough group, or both), you get the materials,
  you build it, you staff it, you protect it.

  You want the mighty stone of irresistable magic force? great,
  so once you've got it, you create a fortress or dungeon to protect
  it, fully staffed with defenders and laden with traps and the like.

  And you make sure there's food and water and proper pay for all
  these.  Or maybe you try to create slave-beings using those
  unholy magics.  Hey!  cheap work.


Conclusion:

  I'd like to see this implemented.  Or something similar.  It seems
  to me if one simply steps back far enough by creating all the
  systems to support creation, combination, fabrication,
  experimentation, discovery and all those neat things so many of
  us love to do, then let the world be defined by those systems.

  I'd LOVE to play in a world like that.  I think!  Or at least to
  have the chance.  And I've given a lot of thought to the social
  aspect and think that it could go a LONG way to making things fun
  (with institutions, status, reputation, influence, etc).


- -- 
>--------------------------------------------------------------------+
  Jay Sax                             <arnet is moving, back soon!>
  Partner, Alternate Reality Net      cimri at technologist.com
<--------------------------------------------------------------------+

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
   Jay Sax                             cimri at technologist.com
+- Partner, Alternate Reality Net -----------------------------------+



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