Brainstorm: Faction Challenges for Rep

[Phantom Lamb]

We've got a couple of ideas brewing, but we'd like to get some more from the community. We're looking to create in-game methods for earning faction rep -- ones that don't require DM monitoring.

Ideally, we'd like:

• Incorporates skills, not just combat
• Promotes PCs from multiple factions persuing the same goal or target (conflict and competition between each other)
• Is repetable (rather than a one and done quest)

So -- any ideas?

[Intrepid42]

You could create a set of quest items flagged so they are identified and placed either onto the ground or into the Killer's/LastAttacker's inventory OnDying or on a successful Grapple.

Sort of like "Capture the Flag". These could be incorporated into appropriate quests.

You could do all sorts of other things with this. For instance, having the "flag" could impose a movement penalty to allow the competition a chance to intervene.

Quest Example:

Exigo/Thayans/others could be tasked to follow trail sign (Survival) to capture some rare endangered magical creature alive for alchemical purposes. A Use rope check may be needed also.

Treehuggers could use Survival to hide trail sign, or subdue the hunters to retrieve the bound/immobilised creature, or sneak into the Camp to retrieve the creature from the cage (a last-resort measure that risks attack or Rep loss from the Guards if the skill check is failed) before it gets moved elsewhere.

This is just an example. This particular one would make the life of a ranger a bit frustrating IC unless there was some limitation on it eg the Trail sign only being "active" if there was someone with the opposing quest active in-zone.

[TheBlankStare]

Great idea! This will be a lot of work well spent. I've no idea how much work but are some ideas.

For characters with profession and crafting skills it would be really cool if they could use those skills not for just gathering materials for player crafters but also for gathering and creating materials to aid their factions.

Profession: Cook - Factions have members that need to be fed. I've seen a lot of kitchens around Sundren that don't really get used all that much. A script that could allow someone to cook meals in them for some reputation points once a day or so could really put that skill to use. Maybe have it grant a variable number of rep points. Something like double their skill check result. It might require materials like fish, berries, carrots to be in stock to do it.

Profession: Fisher - Cooks need food to cook so fisherman could supply those kinds of things for them to work with. They could get rep points based on the types of caught fish that they return to the faction kitchens.

Profession: Miner/Woodcutter - Faction smiths need materials to work with to make the weapons and armor that the faction uses to arm itself so rewarding rep for different ores and woods would make good sense.

The characters who invest in crafting skills could be rewarded in a similar manner for using those skills to create things that can actually be used and donating them to their faction. This could be handled through a conversation with an NPC or a "Donation Box" present wherever faction leaders are located. Donating nice set of full plate to the Triad could get you a really nice boost to your rep. Donating gold to your faction could also be a way to raise your reputation.

I think some sort of inventory widget could that could be used to grant rep points would be cool too. If you happen to see a member of your faction who does something that furthers the goals of the faction you could use it on the player to grant a few rep points to them. Maybe 25 - 50 but it could only be used once a day or so. It might even be possible to activate it through the menu option that appears when you right click on the toon to see it's faction allegiance.

Factions might also need help with specific tasks involving unknown items. Random NPCs appearing in faction locations at random times might need help deciphering old texts. Decipher Script could be used to help them out. Some factions might need documents forged in order to further their goals. Characters that have Forgery to assist with that would be incredibly helpful.

A faction might need to get some information about some random topic. Sending a PC on a miniquest to talk to different PCs to uncover the information with a few Gather Information, Diplomacy or Intimidate checks could be interesting.

Using Perform to entertain people in places like Talent and Balance (or anyplace with a "stage") could be lots of fun.

When factions have people that need to be interrogated players with Sense Motive could prove very useful to find out if the person is lying or not.

Some factions would likely give big rep points based on the quality/value of items that have been found just "laying around." (Sleight of Hand.) There could be different rep rewards for anything turned in that is marked as stolen.

I'm sure that I'll think of a few more but these could be pretty fun.

[Redjack]

Clerics using knowledge religion to spread the faith. Knowledge Planes etc.
No idea how you could incorporate this, but clerics should be preaching the word.
Conversions to another faith. If a cleric could guide a person to a npc that could convert someone to another faith. Would be cool if a priest could do actual conversions in some fashion and gain rep for doing so.
Sundren has plenty of cleric types. Would be nice if we could gather the flock. While preventing conversions from being abused.

[Phantom Lamb]

These are some good starters. I like the ideas for skills!

How can we mold these to encourage competition between PCs in different factions?

[BedlamX]

Great idea and something that is definitely needed since if you are not in a faction that one of the DMs has taken an interest in (due to numbers of active players or whatever), the banners are the only way to get faction points as is. And the banners are getting to be a pain, in my opinion. As is, you run through the Virindale to get to the Ogres (thus messing up anyone training there), or run the risk of having to face PCs at the higher ones like Cartel or Veritas (since they have to take the banners back to where their faction has its banner to get the points).

Not sure what would work for quests without having to make ones fairly specific for each faction, though. That sounds like a LOT of extra work to script a set of quests for each faction. But, if you are using skills instead of just combat, each faction draws members with different skill-sets, so this may be necessary (druids/rangers have a very different skill set than Red Wizards/Thayan Knights for example). Would there be a way to have some quests need an either/or skill to complete the faction task (like Diplomacy to talk the NPC into helping, Intimidate to get him to cough it up, or Sense Motive to catch something he did not say to finish the quest)?

Sorry for more questions than suggestions. I just don't know anything about how quests and such can be scripted and don't want to suggest the impossible.

[BedlamX]

Could use the whole "this group and that group have the same interests' bag. Like was posted earlier, Thayans and Exigo will have some overlapping interests. I'm sure the Veritas and Legion/Hands/Red Blades would have something to be at odds over. Maybe even the Legion trying to out-do the Blades by taking in a certain Veritas member? Hands could be in the same search giving a 4-way competition/quarrel. The Cartel and Thayans have a DM event-type-thing going, so they would be easy competitors/adversaries.

Pitting usually friendly factions against each other will be tough, but doable as competition to one-up each other. I don't have a complete grasp of all the factions, though, so can't make many more specific comments. Sorry.

[Anks]

Profession: Cook - Factions have members that need to be fed. I've seen a lot of kitchens around Sundren that don't really get used all that much. A script that could allow someone to cook meals in them for some reputation points once a day or so could really put that skill to use. Maybe have it grant a variable number of rep points. Something like double their skill check result. It might require materials like fish, berries, carrots to be in stock to do it.

This makes sense for alot of the servers factions but what about those evil doers?

This could be changed abit, to allow the cooking of fetuses for faction.

On a more serious note, maybe repeatable quest like picking up rare components at the end of dungeons that multiple factions could work toughether in conjuction to obtain. Would also cause a bit of conflict if everyone has to work for a single contested component that spawns every couple of hours or so.

[BedlamX]

Would also cause a bit of conflict if everyone has to work for a single contested component that spawns every couple of hours or so.

Oh gods...why do I have visions of WoW running through my head?

[nezzerscape]

First I would like to state that being able to use many of the skills that are out there for some purpose is a good thing! Unless your background is in the culinary arts why would you waste skill points in cooking? To cook for your faction! Now there is a reason to use points there and perhaps add a bit of flavor to a fighter that just kills.

While I think that being able to get rep point is needed, ideally there should be ways to lose then as well. If the a member of the Helm “donates” some poison that they picked up -30… silly Paladin poison if for kids, err for evil players and should have been destroyed when you find it.

Hmm perhaps some rep points for destroying items of value that another faction is seeking? Magic is a gift from the gods, wizardry is steeling!

I know random is not an easy thing to do but if a standard quest is put out there; everyone will do it and not have any real meaning to the charter (much like the flags). Everyone does the same handful or starter quests independent of their class/alignment/… If there is a handful (for each faction) that gets rotated randomly it might make it more real/meaningful.

I would like to see commoners spawn quests/tasks and not remain teal so everyone knows to hit them up… Every 300 players that passes, a commoner asks the player to get their cat down from a tree. Depending on their faction they are awarded differently. A member of the Triumvirate should get the cat down with-in a fixed amount of time, alive and well or take a hit in rep points (the superman scenario). A member of the Black Hand may get 5 points for telling the commoner “where to go” or 30 points if they get the cat down via an arrow (the joker scenario).

Wouldn’t add to the game if you stubble in to Aquor and find a fully clad paladin trying to climb a tree, or have to explain to your comrades why you were late for the crusade.

Or even combine aspects… the goody-two-shoes paladin finally makes his way into the tree to get the cat and a member of the cartel walks by and plucks the cat with a single shot… -5 rep point for the paladin, 30 rep points for the cartel and +5 rep points for the cartel for spoiling it for the paladin.

A simple thing to add is if a cleric resurrects someone, the cleric get points added to the faction of the play player that they resurrected is a member of (perhaps takes a hit in their own faction if the person they resurrected is a member of an opposing faction).

Just some thoughts,
Nez

[Biohazard89]

Well another use for skills would be the use of the Armor and Weapon crafting Skill's...Equipment does get wear and tear. so maybe get somekind of thing for metal workers to repair faction tools, equipment, etc.

Also Alchemists...People do need things like Armor Oil's, soap, Mundane tonics, etc.
could also be a way to earn faction rep.

And maybe put a one Real life Hour cooldown timer on the use of these things and make the yield VERY low so it still will take detication to reach any sort of result.

Just brainstorming here.

[Fezzik]

* runs with Bio's idea *
You could use the crafting fatigue for the time being (or continue it if it isn't going to be used in the newer crafting system) to do this. Spend a certain amount of fatigue "fixing things or making tonics" and you get some rep... and since it tones down with time normally, that portion is already taken care of. The System could be just an adapted donation box scenario.

[Phantom Lamb]

Unfortunately, we won't be touching anything with the current fatigue or crafting system. The conversations / dialog boxes will likely be replaced, so any work we invest there would be lost. It is possible to use the skills themselves though.

[AsuraKing]

Oh! oh! i got one for Blackwood!!!

Merc contracts? that suits them right? o.O

[Quoth The Raven]

Have NPCs give out WANTED quests that target a random player of roughly same rep and level from an opposing faction. For example, an NPC of the Hands could ask one of their players (level 10, 1500 rep) to hunt down a PC member of the Dark Advent (level 11, 1300 rep) for a reward and reputation. The reputation gain (and loss, if the quest is failed?) would be substantial - at least compared to other methods.
Also, if there's an assassin-themed guild, allow players to request hits to an NPC of that faction, and the NPC will later pass them on as quests to the PC members. This in addition to their normal quests.