[MUD-Dev] Non-combat advancement and roleplay

[Trump]

On Sunday 24 June 2001 11:12 pm, Brian 'Psychochild' Green wrote:

> One day, Joe Blow, the knife-wielding maniac bursts into the
> throne room.  He has no prestige, but demands that the king give
> him a large sum of money.  The king laughs and tells him to quit
> wasting his time. As Joe rushes toward the king with his blade
> brandished, the guards step in and bring a quick end to Joe's
> life.

You seem to be confusing powerful guards with something else.

Beating Mr Bush in a 1 on 1 knife fight is probably within the
capabilities of your average modern day thug.

Getting past the secret service is most certainly not within the
capabilities of your average modern day thug.

Getting elected didnt make him hard to kill.  Coming under the
protection of a bunch of elite bodguards did.  I'm sure he'd be
quite afaid if you pulled a knife on him.

> Later that day, the empress from a nearby country arrives on a
> diplomatic.  The king knows that she's about his prestige level,
> so he takes precautions against any spells she might throw against
> him.  He also keeps a magic dagger close to him should it come to
> blows; due to the empress' prestige, the guards are more reluctant
> to fight the empress.  It's rumored that she's favored of one of
> the gods and gains protection from him.

This whole example reads to me as 50th level guards are afraid of
100th level empress.  90th level PC King actually has to think about
defending himself.

> A week later, the Dark Lord, Most Feared of the Children of Chaos
> comes to give a threat to the king.  Knowing that the Dark Lord
> has much more prestige than he does, the king treats him with
> respect until the king can find someone to deal with the Dark
> Lord.  The king's guards are powerless in awe to the power the
> Dark Lord wields.

Again, same as the example above.

Realistically your king is only going to be afraid of the dark lord
in a direct competition based on where the dark lord is stronger.
The dark lord has more magic?  King is afraid of dark lord's magic.
Dark lord has a bigger army?  King is afraid of war.  Dark lord has
slain 50 dragons with his bow of dragonslaying?  King doesnt care
and sends 20 guards to beat the dark lord's head in.

Real world example: Bill gates wants to take you on in a fist fight?
You'll laugh.  Bill gates wants to take you on in a game of Tennis?
You are probably not concerned.  Bill gates wants to ruin the market
for your product.  You'll poop yourself.

> Of course, the devil's in the details.  How do players accumulate
> this prestige?  > In the concept I thought out, it comes from
> multiple sources.  To simplify the example, we'll consider
> prestige from two sources, rank and deeds.

Or to simplify even more prestige comes from one source.  Commonly
known as XP.  You get it by killing monsters, saving the maiden, and
in a really good RPG environment you can get it for wierd things
like solving a mystery or winning an election.

> High prestige imposition.

"Green con" monsters wont attack you?

> But, with prestige rules, you can't just hire anyone off the
> street. They have to have a certain level of prestige to even
> approach the person.

Sort of like how high level players often ignore lowbies?

> Thoughts?  Feedback is appreciated.  I'm sure there's holes in
> there somewhere.  I also wouldn't be surprised if someone else had
> a system like this.  Any experiences to share?

Apart from the sharing of prestige and this really doesnt differ
much in implementation from the experience/levels systems which are
so common.  Or a combination of that and something like factions
system EQ uses.


Also I'm not so sure it's realistic.  All prestige is built on a
foundation of brute force (and in a more civilized society - money).
We dont obey laws because we are in awe of the intelligence of
congress.  We do it because the police will force us into a cell.
We are afraid to develop new web browsers because mircosoft will
force us out of the market.


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