Random(ish) encounters to add some flava and RP

[Gorri]

Since playing a woodsman of sorts I noticed something missing on the server that could add some nice spice, and RP, particularly for mid and low level characters.

My observation is mostly about the Viridale, but my suggested solution could apply to many areas on the server.

In the whole Viridale, from end to end, every square inch of it... there is not a single forest creature. Only gobs, orc, gnol, and ogre. On many occasions I just wanted to run into the forest and shoot a deer, skin it, make meat cuts... involve other folks in the hunt... bathe in blood.... that sort of everyday woodsman experience.

My suggestion is... wouldn't it be nice if:

1. There was a random encounter of the woodland variety in many parts of the Viridale. (The random encounter table would have things like snake, badger, mouse, rabbit, wolf, big cat of some sort, bear, bat, bird, boar, nothing (meaning no encounter)... whatever is in the toolset already and easy to add to an area [though I understand the random aspect might not be so easy])

2. Furthermore if that random encounter critter had a random drop... skin, horns, feathers, paw, meat, head of a Legion officer it happened to eat yesterday, nothing... etc.

Perhaps the encounter could be based on level as I know from experience there is already some level adjusted spawns. e.g. newb spawns rat, mid lev spawns angry goat, higher lvl spawns bear. Though I have to say a newb running into the woods in an area where he thinks hes safe then meeting a wild cat or bear would be quite fitting and hilarious as it is the newb that is being hunted.

Perhaps you need to have a spot or listen or survival check before the beasty even spawns to provide the realism that some hunters are good at what they do and can actually find critters. (Too bad Animal empathy is gone from NWN2 as it would also be nice to have pretty druid lasses walking out of the forest with a horde of [one] crows flapping about her head.)

In other areas, and just throwing things out here... rat, spider, bat, snake in spooky areas like the graveyard in Sestra or the Necropopulous or mines; actual elk in the spine; you know... have a look at some DM guide random encounter tables for ideas and just about any area could have something like that applied.

Until then I think I'll bug a DM about having a little hunting event if me and a few outdoorsee folks happen to be on at the same time. Why program when you can have DM point and click, right?

Cheers,

[grant]

There were wolves and badgers and wolverines, a dire boar, a dire wolf, followed by spawns of multiple dire animals that regularly decimated parties at various times. I like to think they were all removed to make that portion of the forest safer for RP and PvP with out some critter spawning and ruining your ability to auto-rez after death.

[Gorri]

Another idea I had while walking around and thinking this over is, what if there was an item, like the fishing rod.... but it was a hunters bow or hunters spear. (something you wouldn't need a feat to use)

Like fishing, you could find an area to hunt by "using" item. If your survival is high enough, a deer or something could spawn, or perhaps it would just be dialog like fishing and in the end you get an animal carcass that could be used for skin, meat, and bones... senews.. what have you.

I find it ironic that the forest critters were removed to encourage RP... :P

Thanks

[Gorri]

Bah, and even OTHER idea I had... to help prevent critters from stomping newbs or ruining RP -- was to have forest critter spawns in stealth mode and un-hostile. Like a real hunter, you'd need a decent spot to even see it and it wouldn't attack unless you shot it. Just throwin noodles at the wall to see if anything sticks.

Cheers

[Doubtful]

Attacking non-hostile things is a sure-fire way to cause the NPC factions to either flip out at either the player (Always a surprise when you wander into a new area to discover that all the NPCs are hostile to you- Makes arriving in the Legion areas fatally interesting) or at each other (leading to massive NPC massacres).

I'm not sure that their should be creatures wandering around the forest all willy-nilly either, the Gnolls and other critters will have probably done a fine job of thinning out most edible wildlife, and ensuring what survives is highly paranoid and stays the hell away from predatory things..

Wild things are pretty notorious for avoiding things that might eat them - Humanity included. Unless you go out all stealthy, knowing the area and a lot about the animals the most you're likely to see of wild creatures is a faint glimpse - Something that's easily RP'd without the need for spawns.

That said, having hostile creatures spawned as a result of conversations (IE: Talk to trapper bob who'll say 'You want wolf pelts? There's a pack of them that lives at X' or 'Deer hide? They often get water at Y stream, be careful of the white bucks though, they've got a taste for human flesh' then have them spawn when you're there) could be quite nice, making the animals a usable resource like the trees and mining veins.

Lastly, one of the things the awesome DEV team are currently working on is a whole new spawning system, meaning that encounters can change according to faction, party size, time of day and a lot of other jazz. That might mean the occasional friendly spawn.