Tag: EQN/LM

This is a document or design related to the games EverQuest Next and Landmark by Daybreak Games–formerly Sony Online Entertainment.

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Language as a Key Gameplay Element

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Core System

III. How It World

IV. Benefits of Language Mastery

V. Additional Systems

Gameplay-Related
1) Using Language to Restrict Class Access or Progression
2) Language-Based Skills
3) Minor Passive Bonuses
4) Language Conversion for Non-Speakers
5) Ancient / Dead Language Inclusion
6) Language Development

Learning-Related
7) Language Mastery Parameter Weighting
8) Mastery Decay from Non-Use
9) Each Mastered Language Increases Learning Speed
10) Language Immersion Learning Momentum
11) Real-world Language Learning Terminology and Application

I. Introduction

Languages from the different races and cultures be used to further advance character development and improvement of solo and group gameplay. Star Wars Galaxies had the beginning of a great idea with its language system, and I believe there are ways to improve the inclusion of racial or cultural / regional languages into new games to enhance gameplay as a whole.

Below I shall explain the core elements of the proposed language system and how it works, followed by a series of additional systems that can be used to further enhance the functionality or specificity of the language system. Each different language will represent the race or culture or region from which it originates, including the functional and aesthetic differences.

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II. Core System

The core of the language system is that players only start with a common language and a racial / regional / cultural language, and they must slowly learn other languages in order to improve their ability to interact with native speakers or read text from those languages. When speaking and understanding another language is possible, it can change the paradigm by which the character thinks, making some tasks potentially easier or more difficult. For the scope of this document, I’ll be sticking to racial languages, but other options are definitely possible to fit the lore of the game where this is used.

A team where everyone has Mousqueak language mastery will likely be better at stealth and generating less attention when desired, while a team speaking the language of the Amphibors may have improved poison damage and leaping ability. Different languages may help groups of crafters, such as Gnome language helping with gadgets, or Dwarf language helping with brewing beer or mining or metalworking.

Using language as a gameplay element is great for everyone, from casual players that want to have something for their character to do passively in their long stretches of offline downtime, to hardcore players focused on stat-maximization, to players role-playing a “nationalist” group is only willing to recruit an off-race into their ranks by forcing them to master a language they may not yet know at all through total immersion. (I think of the earlier parts of the film The 13th Warrior with the last example.)

Languages could also be used to unlock things that aren’t available to most players. Learning and speaking the language of non-player races can allow players the opportunity to surrender, negotiate, or even accept quests from non-player races or factions. Being able to communicate with dragons may lead to precarious alliances, or simply get a player snatched up and dropped from the clouds by a dragon who dislikes their pronunciation. Entire teams who speak the language of dragons could potentially get special bonuses to elemental damage and resistances that may not be otherwise available.

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III. How It Works

The player starts with two languages, a Common language so they can communicate on neutral ground with everyone else, and a Racial (or cultural, or regional) language which they can speak freely with anyone else who speaks it. Languages other than Common matter when interacting with NPCs and in a party, as NPCs may be restricted to or prefer a certain language, while a party leader can assign the language which they speak while adventuring (and change it on the fly as needed). Lacking a basic level of mastery in a language means communications in that language may be garbled or have words randomly translocated to represent the inability to understand it, and the ability to use it effectively in a party is brought to the point of penalty.

Mastery of a language has four parts: Literacy, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Synthesis.

  • Literacy is the ability to parse the grammar and punctuation properly, as well as recognizing all the letters and symbols used, in order to interpret the written language. This is also helpful for reading notes written with poor handwriting.
  • Fluency is the ability to vocalize and pronounce the words in the proper pattern and rhythm, as well as being able to keep up when a native speaker is speaking the language at a comfortable or fast pace.
  • Vocabulary is the understanding of the words themselves and their meanings, and the volume of words readily available when thinking or communicating.
  • Synthesis is the ability to put words together in a meaningful way. Technical explanation, comedy and poetry, issuing orders during combat, and potentially other things get better as synthesis improves.

Total 100% mastery of each language is built on the 25% provided by each of the four categories, and as each one is used, the character slowly develops them further. Reading more and logging off with a book will help fill in literacy and vocabulary. Fighting or working alongside another player in that language will improve fluency, vocabulary. Everything helps build synthesis, and it builds much faster when the player is actively engaged with the language (speaking or writing in that language) than passively engaged (reading a book or eavesdropping on a conversation).

Not every language may be as challenging to learn as the rest. Some languages may be easier to pick up, but the trade-off is that they don’t provide the same kinds of benefits and bonuses which more difficult languages may provide. Some ancient languages may contain great power when a team with mastery in that language works together, but it could be very tough to learn as a trade-off. Likewise, an invented languages based on Common might be very easy to learn, but provide little extra benefits.

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IV. Benefits of Language Mastery

As the player advances their character’s language mastery, they gain more personal bonuses, as well as contributing more to party bonuses when spoken with a party. There are individual benefits which affect the individual’s ability to perform certain actions, or to communicate with language-specific NPCs. There are also group bonuses, such as things related to mobility or better exploiting an enemy’s weak point.

Each language also has a unique set of penalties if the player or party is below the mastery threshold of 30, which generally counteract the bonuses and add some quirky penalties like getting confused when trying to heal an ally. The penalties are there to represent the character’s inability to think and work in that language, as well as the difficulty of the entire party to communicate and coordinate when people are saying the wrong words or don’t understand what they were told to do.

Below is the proposed progression for how language mastery applies bonuses and penalties:

Personal Bonuses and Penalties

  • When a character is below 30 mastery, they suffer a personal penalty of 3% of whatever the language’s designated penalty is per point below 30.
  • When a character is up to 30 mastery in a language, they no longer face personal penalties.
  • Each point from 31 to 50 provides an increase of 1% personal language bonuses, totaling 20% at 50.
  • Each point from 51 to 80 provides an increase of 1.5%, totaling 65% at 80.
  • Each point from 81 to 100 provides an increase of 1.75%, totaling 100% at 100.

Party Bonuses and Penalties

  • When the average language mastery for a party is below 30, everyone in the party suffers a 0.33% group language penalty per point below 30.
  • When the average language mastery for a party is above 30, the party no longer suffers no group penalties.
  • Group mastery bonus progression follows the same value ranges as personal language bonuses. (+1% per point 31-50, +1.5% per point 51-80, +1.75% per point 81-100)

What bonuses are actually available, and the impact of those bonuses, varies from language to language based on the culture from which it originates. Without knowledge of the scale of attributes, variety of skills, and types of bonuses and penalties which the game could have, I can’t really give much in the way of suggestions here.

One example I’ve thought of is a 10% increase to a certain industrial skill for having a language maximized. Surveying, mining, refining ore, scavenging materials in an area, scavenging materials from pieces of equipment, skinning animals, harvesting lumber or herbs, farming, cooking, brewing, metalworking, woodworking for weapons or for furniture, weaponsmithing for a certain style of weapon, armorsmithing for a certain type of armor, improvised crafting with salvaged parts, musical instrument crafting, bricklaying and masonry, architecture, and potentially many other things could be enhanced by knowing the language of the culture who is best at it.

The explanation is that understanding the language and its culture allows the character to think in the way of that culture and use instructions written in that language to improve understanding. Whether it is the way the language is spoken, the meanings of certain words or phrases, or the ability to describe something to a level of detail and specificity that other languages cannot, mastery in a language would provide improved communication and thinking that improves the quality of a specific task or role.

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V. Additional Systems

Now that I’ve gone through the details of the core system, there are a series of robust options designed to further improve gameplay and immersion. These additional systems can be utilized to add any additional features or components that weren’t included in the core system. The systems are organized into two categories, learning-related and gameplay-related. Gameplay-related systems are ways where language can be tied to things like skills, attributes, and group abilities. Learning-related systems involve different ways which the characters can learn different languages, or ways that learning languages will help with learning other languages.

Gameplay-Related Additional Systems

1) Additional System – Using Language to Restrict Class Access or Progression

Every race can potentially grow into every class in the game, though each individual character is not necessarily going to be able to access every single class. Some races may be more adept than others for certain classes, to the point where not speaking the language of one of these races can keep the character out of certain abilities or advancement, or even from learning the class altogether.

For example, every race may not have a Defender class as a starting option. Races who may start as a Defender can easily unlock the class through gameplay, when compared to the challenge presented to characters of other races. The player must start getting their character’s language skills up in one of the languages of a race that accesses the class by default, and get that language to a proficient level of mastery, before they can either learn or be taught how to perform effectively as that class.

This could go even deeper, providing different versions of common class skills based on which language the character knows. For example, a Dwarf Defender who has learned Ogre language may be able to do the Ogre’s style of shield bash attack instead of the classic Dwarf style shield bash. The Ogre could potentially be more of a slashing strike that uses the edge of the shield, while the Dwarf version could be more focused on knocking an enemy off-balance so a clean hit can be scored as a follow-up. A Mousqueak who learns Dwarf and Ogre languages would have access to both versions of the shield bash.

 

2) Additional System – Language-Based Skills

Some skills or abilities, or modifiers for those skills or abilities, could be made available when a certain language has reached full mastery. These may be skills or abilities that can only be effectively explained in a certain language, such as understanding Amphibor to know how they prepare their styles of food so that everyone can enjoy it. This could also be a way to enhance abilities that the player has already learned, such as increasing the ferocity of a roar-based radial debuff with an understanding of Dwarf pronunciation, or improving the range using Ogre war screams.

This opens the door for some natural racial skills and abilities to be available to other races, like their crafting style and culinary knowledge, or group abilities like Orc battle chants or Dwarf mining songs. There could still be some penalties to effectiveness for using language abilities of a different race, but these penalties would be mitigated in a group where everyone has that language mastered and has the skill or ability unlocked.

Having skills that cannot be fully utilized or accessed without certain languages being learned puts an emphasis on players to spend time learning new languages. This could add an extra layer of depth to the game, giving players another thing to do as they continue their questing. This would also promote role-playing and non-RP gameplay between characters of a similar race, as the racial language mastery will allow them to work well together.

 

3) Additional System – Minor Passive Bonuses

As the player learns and understands a language better, some aspects of the logic and culture and best practices become ingrained in the character’s mind. Whether or not they must be speaking the language to get active bonuses, the character could be granted small passive bonuses for each and every language they have mastered.

Each language would have very small attribute boosts for different levels of mastery. Basic stat attributes, additional damage or defenses against certain types of creatures, innate negotiation bonuses with NPC who are not player-directed, and potentially other features. These features may be amplified when a group is actively speaking the language, or these could be separate from active language usage in a group or as an individual.

This would further encourage players to learn other languages, since it would provide minimal bonuses in a lot of different places, which would add up to a small increase in overall performance and ability for the character. Think of the DCUO weapon skill system, where players invest time and effort in mastering weapons they don’t use in order to get access to raw attribute increases.

 

4) Additional System – Language Conversion for Non-Speakers

When a language is spoken (typed) in-game and players who don’t understand it are nearby, the language will be mashed up and garbled in a way that makes it seem like it was legitimately spoken in that tongue. This does not have to be a very complex system, though it could be pushed very far to preserve the feeling of authenticity when exposed to a different language.

A simpler system would be merely swapping letters. A, E, I, O, U, and Y could be mixed up to keep vowels in the same positions, while replacing consonants for other consonants, and italicizing everything that is not translated. Letter replacements should be consistent with the language, so the same sentence will look the same way if spoken twice consecutively to someone lacking language mastery. As the player learns the language more, some letters in some words will be in their proper positions and without italics. The downside of this system is that experienced players will potentially be able to decipher something that their character doesn’t understand after seeing a language enough times (possibly on other characters).

A more advanced system would be to take groups of letters in a word and replace them with a group of two to five letters that fit the style of the language being spoken. For example, the word “Attack” in Wood Elf could translate as “Leyanani,” where “att” would be replaced with “leyan,” and “ack” would be replaced with “ani.” Likewise, Ogre might reduce “Attack” to “Uhx,” replacing “at” for “u,” “ta” for “h,” and “ck” for “x.” This system would allow for more of the diversity of languages to come out, as the letter group replacements would only contain letters that make sense for the language being spoken. This would be far less predictable than the letter swapping system above, since common words or phrases would look distinctly different in every language. As with the letter swapping system, untranslated text would be italicized, but it would make more sense if entire words are translated at a time rather than a few letters out of each word.

A very complex system would involve interpreting language or detecting and translocating certain words in a sentence, to represent languages having different grammar and parsing than other languages. After applying either letter replacement or letter group replacement, changing the positions of prepositions, adjectives, and adverbs based on their context can make it seem like an entirely different language. If possible, proper nouns and names would be detected and spoken in the Common language since the pronunciation of someone’s name wouldn’t really change much because of differences in language.

The next level of complexity beyond that is actually bringing linguistics scholars on the dev team and inventing languages for every race. For words that can’t be translated because they don’t exist in the language, one of the above systems could be used to obfuscate whatever is being said.

One further method that could be utilized is creating a different set of letters for each language, and characters who do not know the language will see and read the language in that language’s letters / font characters. Levels of mastery will reduce the placement of language letters and show the translated text in the player’s designated real-world language.

 

5) Additional System – Ancient / Dead Language Inclusion

Usually the game world wasn’t created a day before the game begins. There are generations of history, civilizations have risen to power and faded into the sands of time, and we begin with a rich history behind us in any lore-heavy game. The remnants of those languages linger in the ruins and underdepths, and are there for players to discover and decipher.

Tomes or tablets from ancient civilizations may show up all across the world, in anything from an Orc treasure cache to the hoard of a dragon attempting to learn one such language. The occasional ancient malevolent spirit of a bygone age may be cursing the characters for their intrusion on sacred ground, meanwhile players are taking in the opportunity to attempt to link a spoken language to the written words revealed by ancient tomes and tablets so they can better understand it in their path to mastery.

Learning a dead or ancient language should be no easy goal to complete, but largely rewarding for anyone who can take the time or collect the resources to complete the task. Unique bonuses provided by these languages, as well as personal opportunities which may become available through NPCs with this language, are the reward for completing this difficult task. Opportunities to interact with certain types of NPCs may only manifest when an ancient language is spoken by that character. The player can choose to train other player’s characters in that language (possibly charging a hefty fee for training) or whether they will keep it for themselves as a secret.

 

6) Additional System – Language Development

Languages don’t have to be finite in number, and could actually be something players can create and maintain as a part of gameplay. There are many reasons why an invented language could be useful, both for the players and for the game as a whole.

Even knowing every language in the game, a group of players will not necessarily have everything they want from those languages, and seek to form a new language which empowers them for their particular purpose. Perhaps there is no language that talks deeply and precisely of the methods of slaying animate trees and plants, and the players seek to create a language that will aid them in the quest to purge the forests of malevolent plant creatures. The spoken and written language would be designed to allow all kinds of thinking and activities, but would be focused on the structure of phrases and wording related to their specific task. Bonuses to fighting plant creatures, bonuses to harvesting resources and crafting goods from slain plant creatures, and bonuses to detecting plant creatures from further away, could all be features of the new language.

Beyond the benefit of this new language, the players who develop it would be recognized as the creators. They would have exclusive control over the language, choosing individually who they teach it to, whether they will charge for training or sell translation or learning books, and would allow role-players to exclude another player from their typed conversations. NPCs hired to the town owned by those players could be taught the language and be instructed to speak it exclusively, in order to ward off non-speakers and set a tone of exclusivity for the town.

Finally, in the name of emergent gameplay, the ability to create new languages would allow for a very unique form of diversity across every server, as each language formed by players would only exist on that server. The terms of a server transfer may include locking out languages from other servers, unless the player returns to that server with another transfer, or that server is merged with the server which the player is on. This restriction might not apply to language inventors who transfer servers, which may give some players the impetus to transfer servers and spread their language around.

 

Language-Related Additional Systems

7) Additional System – Language Mastery Parameter Weighting

Not all languages are created with an even emphasis on literacy, fluency, vocabulary, and synthesis. Each aspect of language mastery is balanced differently for each language, to represent the characteristics and nuance of that language and the culture it comes from. The score of 100% mastery is broken down into four uneven portions, representing the emphasis on having more or less literacy, fluency, vocabulary, or synthesis to fully understand that language. A character-based language (ex. Chinese) would have a large vocabulary and literacy requirement, possibly causing fluency to be less emphasized in learning the language, or less synthesis to be needed to communicate complex ideas.

This impacts the ways in which players must approach learning each language. Some languages may be easier to learn with language-to-language translation books, vocabulary-building dictionaries, or even books on etiquette and mannerisms. Others may not be as easy to learn from books, but

For example, Ogre might be based on a series of complex grunts, snorts, and stomps, so the literacy and vocabulary requirements might be on the low side, but fluency and synthesis may be weighted more heavily. A book on etiquette and mannerisms may all that is offered for Ogre language scholars, to understand the history of why a left foot stomp and two snorts is a grave insult but a right foot stomp and two snorts is a compliment. Ogre might also be far easier to learn than other languages.

Likewise, Elf might be a very wordy language that is read and spoken in a very simple way. In that case, it would have high vocabulary while being weighted lower for synthesis, and books about vocabulary and use of different words to be expressive or brief may aid faster learning. It may also be easier to utilize language-to-language translation books.

 

8) Additional System – Mastery Decay from Non-Use

As other languages are learned and used, one language can start to experience mastery decay. It can never drop below a certain threshold below where it has been mastered, but the margin of decay is larger for players with a lower level of mastery in a language. Recovering mastery lost to decay goes at an increased rate compared to learning it the first time. Even being near a conversation in a language can help stave off decay or restore decayed mastery.

Below are examples of ranges for mastery decay:

Languages in which the character has not exceeded 50 mastery have a decay margin of 30 points. Re-learning a language is always much faster than the first time learning it, so getting back to 50 mastery from the maximum decay of 20 is not a terrible feat to accomplish.

Languages that have exceeded 50 mastery, but not 80 mastery, have a decay margin of 20. Even if the language mastery score only reaches 51 before decay sets in, the lowest it will decline from there is 31. The language is familiar at this point, but not known as well as a native speaker of that language.

Languages that have exceeded 80 mastery, but have not reached 100 mastery, will only suffer a decay of 10 at the most. This language is comfortable to the character, but there are still things which they might not understand or be able to effectively communicate.

Languages that have reached 100 mastery are only able to decay by 5 points at most. This language is second-nature to the character, but they may misspeak or forget an archaic word a few times if they have spent a long time in other languages.

 

9) Additional System – Each Mastered Language Increases Learning Speed

For each language that a character gets up to 100 mastery, aside from the default languages, will provide a benefit that adds an extra +1% to language learning speed. For the first few languages, the increase will be very minimal and difficult to notice, but accumulating knowledge of more languages will start to increase the pace of learning. It encourages players to get languages all the way to 100% when they can, rather than jumping around and getting a little bit here and there. It also helps reduce the difficulty of learning challenging or scarcely-used languages as the player discovers them.

This can be augmented by grouping languages into families. Languages that are similar in roots and origin are going to be easier to learn for someone who knows one of those languages, but someone with no exposure to those languages will have a tougher time. Races and cultures who share similar roots may have a lot of words and phrases in common, so the increased rate of learning for those languages may be higher while providing little to no benefit to learning languages that are not associated.

An alternate way for this system to work is for each language in a family to add a passive increase to other languages in that family. With some words and pronunciations in common, knowing one language in full will give a scant amount of understanding of a different language. A Wood Elf might have 5% mastery of Dark Elf language by default, for example. This could even be combined with the increased learning rate, making it easier to learn each new language in that language family.

 

10) Additional System – Language Immersion Learning Momentum

The longer a character spends with a language without having exposure to other languages, the more they are fully immersed in that language. While the penalties will not be negated in any way, being exposed to only one language at once can potentially increase the rate of learning that language by a high degree. For every hour the player is exposed to one language exclusively, they gain a compounding “momentum” bonus to the rate of language learning (somewhere in the range of +5% to +10% per hour) which helps to facilitate rapid learning of new languages for very dedicated players.

This is something a group of players must do by choice. Since every player will already have mastery of the Common language, it would require a group to all agree to speak one language, and never respond in the common language unless they want to risk negating the hour’s bonus or even reducing the immersion bonus set from previous hours of work. The bonus for restricting players in this way is to provide accelerated learning for their allies.

 

11) Additional System – Real-world Language Learning Terminology and Application

http://languagedevelopment.tripod.com/id11.html
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/words/370/Semantics.pdf

The choice to use Literacy, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Synthesis, is done because those are simple terms which are easy for players to understand. In the science behind the study of how languages are learned, there are a few recognized elements that are considered the fundamental aspects of how languages are learned. Instead of these, language learning could be broken up into categories based on real-world research and understanding of the subject.

It would be possible to rework everything above to accommodate the change from the simpler parts of language which mastery is built on, in order to replace it with terminology that reflects real-world understanding of how language is actually learned.

The first link [which is unfortunately no longer available] describes language as being made up of 4 parts: Phonology, Semantics, Pragmatics, and Syntax. Phonology is the character’s ability to interpret sounds as communicable speech, and Semantics is the character’s ability to recognize the meaning of what is being vocalized in a language. Pragmatics is how these sounds are being used. All three of these are important in speech and conversation, but not necessary for reading. Syntax is the placement and context of words being used in a sentence, and this is important to reading. While this applies to speech, the content in this link does not address the written language and how that may be understood, and doesn’t provide any insight into how overall mastery of a language involves the written word.

The second link has the same four characteristics, as well as including Phonetics and Morphology to the discussion. Morphology addresses how the word is constructed, which would be more important for reading the written language. Phonetics is understanding how the sounds are actually produced, which is different from Phonology. Using the second link as a guide, the divisions of mastery described in the core document could be changed as follows (or something similar):
Vocabulary → Pragmatics
Synthesis → Syntax
Fluency → Phonetics
Literacy → Morpholog

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Categories
Portfolio

Flesh Corruptor

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Path of the Flesh Corruptor

III. The Arsenal of a Flesh Corruptor

IV. Skills, Techniques, and Abilities

1. Corrupting Elixir
2. Prehensile Lashers
3. Corrupting Magics – Local and Distant
4. Heroic Movements
5. Living Armor Creation and Maintenance

V. Legacy of the Flesh Corruptor

1. The Good Doctor
2. Circus Catastrophe
3. Metamorphosis
4. Ultimatum
5. A Dragon’s Eternity

I. Introduction

This is a concept for a new class for any game where it would make sense. The concept came to me when pondering an amalgamation of various magics and abilities, until it took shape into a unified concept for a complete class. The concept is in two parts, where the first half addressed the functionality of the class, while the second half tells what is known of the tale of the very first Flesh Corruptor.

This is a class that could potentially fit within a game, either for players or as a very limited NPC-only class that is seen very rarely. It is almost enough content to use as the basis for an entirely new single-player game. There is a great deal of risk-reward, as all but the Corrupting Elixir and mastery of Corrupting Magics will be lost at the moment that the Flesh Corruptor is slain, and they will have to rebuild their living arsenal from scratch.

One other drawback of the Flesh Corruptor is their limitations in dealing with NPCs who are not battle-hardened and cannot bear the sight (or smell) of a Flesh Corruptor in full gear. The creatures intent may be noble, but their abominable well-armed appearance will often limit the amount by which anyone will interact with the Flesh Corruptor. Alone in the wilderness, this can be an advantage – even bandits aren’t brave enough to see what the thing they see as a monstrosity could actually do to them. This frightening appearance is lessened by the presence of one or more partners, unless they are also Flesh Corruptors.

When using the word corruption, it is meant in the context of altering something from a state of normalcy to abnormality. In this case, it is magically and chemically changing the material to a state where the effects of death and decomposition are altered and unable to be fulfilled, thus locking it into a state of being alive due to death being corrupted and unavailable. They likely still require nutrients, however.

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II. The Path of the Flesh Corruptor

The Flesh Corruptor uses a certain brand of magic and techniques that are generally considered to be forbidden due to the unsightly and brutal methods used to succeed, as well as the extreme risk involved with them. One who is trained by a grandmaster has a chance at utilizing the power and potential of a Flesh Corruptor, while anyone trained by less than a grandmaster should prepare for a painful and tragic death when their elixir fails or the living flesh turns against them.

Flesh Corruptors specialize in brewing and utilizing Corrupting Elixirs, as well as preserving live flesh and tissue to forge their living arsenal of dismembered parts. Corrupting Elixirs are designed so that they can be consumed and exuded from the Flesh Corruptor, as well as having properties that allow it to destroy inert organic material while preserving living organic material in an undying state. Of the living arsenal, the preferred form of weapon is a Prehensile Lasher, such as a tentacle or a Manticore’s tail, which must be coated in Corrupting Elixir immediately upon being severed from the beast to preserve it in a living state for use as a weapon. In addition to their arsenal, Flesh Corruptors have Corruption Magics available, allowing them to induce a variety of unfavorable bodily effects on targets by touch or even at a distance.

The powers of Flesh Corruption aren’t inherently evil, but the ability to obliterate inert organic materials and use of living parts for equipment generally ranges from off-putting to horrifying, especially due to the appearance of the Living Armor and Prehensile Lashers. A Flesh Corruptor must walk their path knowing that they will be refused at the gates of towns and turned away by strangers in need of aid, and must be forgiving of the understandable biases of common folk and common creatures. A Flesh Corruptor must be self-sustaining. Evil creatures are more inclined to seek the power of the Flesh Corruptor, but without proper training they can be just a big a threat to themselves and their allies as the targets they are fighting.

The power of a Flesh Corruptor is tied to their life force. If it is extinguished, even for a moment, the link is broken. When the link is broken, all of the living material which the Flesh Corruptor had dominion over will immediately succumb to the effects of rapid dissolving, as the Corrupting Elixir will now see them as dead and inorganic. This will often deter a Flesh Corruptor from engaging in battles where they may be slain, though some are undaunted by the thought of death for them and their stolen articles of living matter.

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III. The Arsenal of a Flesh Corruptor

Living Armor – Flesh Corruptors are unlike any other combatant, as their Living Armor is derived from the preserved living flesh of other creatures. The ability to collect these articles of gear and enhance them in various ways is a unique process, but a necessary one to maximize their combat prowess, as well as aiding them with leveraging the effects of consuming a Corrupting Elixir. There are two main components to Living Armor, the first being the base material, the second being enhancements. Base material consists of large patches of flesh that were ripped off live beasts and preserved in a living state with the Corrupting Elixir. Enhancements include any additional spines, scales, horns, or other features which are added to the surface of the Living Armor. The result is a symbiotic armor that protects the user while helping to provide an avenue for their abilities to be utilized.

Prehensile Lasher – Created in the same way as the Living Armor is the favored weapon, the Prehensile Lasher. This weapon is created by slicing off the proper appendage and treating it immediately with Corrupting Elixir. The tissue becomes locked into a living state that prevents it from being allowed to die, as well as allowing the Flesh Corruptor to gain dominion over it. The result is a deadly weapon that can grab and contain enemies, quickly jab at nearby targets, deliver powerful lashes, and even tear armor asunder. Tentacles with stickers are one preferred form of weapon, as they can easily grab targets and tear objects apart. Tails equipped with stingers or barbs are also heavily used, as the ability to strike with a piercing jab that delivers a deadly toxin is exceptionally useful. In addition to delivering a strike, a Flesh Corruptor can use their attacks to inflict Corruption Magic that requires direct contact onto the target, further enhancing the deadliness of the attacks.

Corrupting Elixir – The most important thing for any Flesh Corruptor is the ability to create and utilize a powerful Corrupting Elixir. This powerful brew is designed as a magical substance which preserves living tissue in a living state. However, it will cause acid-like decay and ruin to organic matter which is no longer connected to a life source or alive on its own, such as parchment, wood hafts, and leather armor. This is used by the Flesh Corruptor to preserve flesh, skin, hide, scales, or just about anything else, in a living state that renders it subject to the will of the Flesh Corruptor. The Corrupting Elixir can be consumed by its creator while channeling certain magical energies, and the corrupting power it contains seeps in before being disbursed throughout the armor or released as a type of attack. This can enhance the armor, exude toxins to damage close attackers, or perform various other effects. If used carefully, the Corrupting Elixir can be used to temporarily stave off bleeding from wounds for the user or others, as well as locking the damaged tissue into a live preserved state where it can resist the effects of further damage until the effects wear off.

Corrupting Magic – The basis for a Flesh Corruptor’s techniques involving power of dominion over prepared living flesh, as well as half of what is needed to create the Corrupting Elixir, is their control over Corrupting Magic. This magic is mostly used or delivered by direct contact, but some magic spells can be delivered over a distance. Preserving a piece of live tissue with a Corrupting Elixir requires direct contact, as well as use of their own elixir, meaning that nobody else can do this task for the Flesh Corruptor and they must prepare material themselves. The ability to infuse proper corrupting energy into a Corrupting Elixir is a combination of using the proper ingredients as well as attuning it with the proper magic. Failing to do this results in a horrible death, raging from exploding into a cloud of toxic bile to turning into an unstoppable rampaging monster that attacks everything in sight, but it is fortunate that players who walk this path will only attempt these deadly brews with the training of a true grandmaster.

Arsenal Configurations – There are three arsenal configurations which one will normally see on a Flesh Corruptor.

  • The first is wielding a Prehensile Lasher in their primary hand, while wielding a Corrupting Elixir in their off hand. This allows them to use both schools of Flesh Corruptor powers, as the Prehensile Lashers are not effective for managing potions and Corrupting Elixirs.
  • The second is wielding two Prehensile Lashers. This doubles their ability to strike at enemies or attempt to contain them, and makes it easier to constrict a single target by wrapping them up and squeezing them to death.
  • The third is wielding a Corrupting Elixir with another item. A shield could be paired with this to help the character get close enough to unleash brutal corrupting attacks on a target. A melee weapon could be used to rapidly utilize harm done to enemy armor by the elixir, or aid with acquisition of a new Prehensile Lasher. An item that helps to channel magic may also be used to extend the range or improve the potency of Corruption Magics.

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IV. Skills, Techniques, and Abilities

1. Corrupting Elixir

Below are techniques which may be utilized by consuming a portion of the Corrupting Elixir. The design of the elixir will determine the specific effects that each ability will do, and it is up to the Flesh Corruptor to make the elixir to their particular specifications.

Metamorph – This is the ability to change or improve features of the Living Armor and Prehensile Lashers to better fit the situation, or to provide enhancements if the previous metamorph has worn off and decayed. These include adding spikes and spines to the surface, adding tough scales or even hard shell-like material to the exterior, and other physical alterations that can improve offensive or defensive capabilities.

Exude – This is the ability to produce and emit different chemical substances. Toxins delivered through skin contact, slippery goo that makes it tough to land a solid blow on them, corrosive gas that melts through flesh and armor alike, and other various utilities and attacks.

Risk – This is the ability to assume the risk of bodily harm for the chance to unleash a devastating attack. Generally these attacks are in the form of projectile vomit, using the Flesh Corruptor’s own natural body as the mechanism to deliver the attack. Other forms of attacks are also possible, but generally they are less effective (and often less appropriate) than the projectile vomiting of deadly material.

Preserve Wounds – When a mighty wound has been delivered to an ally, the elixir can be used to preserve the wound in a state where its harm will be rendered unimportant to the wounded for a period of time. This happens in various ways, but usually it leads to the wounded recipient of aid being able to return to battle a bit tougher to kill than when they went into it. However this is a dangerous technique to use when cloth, wood, or leather obstructs the wounded area, as those materials will be destroyed and potentially compromise the integrity of their overall defenses.

Ruin – This is when the elixir is used to dissolve organic material that has no life source and is thus dead matter. This can be used to damage the weapons and armor of assailants, destroy barricades made of wood or bone, quickly remove nets, and even dissolve decaying undead creatures with ease. All elixirs will do this, but can be designed for specificity to be effective for certain materials.

 

2. Prehensile Lashers

Lash – This is an area-covering basic attack. It is not fast enough to combo other attacks from it, but it is possible to continue rapidly lashing a target until they are out of range. Lash will knock targets backwards along with dealing damage, making it easy to repel a group of enemies with a well-timed barrage of lashes.

Jab – This is a basic thrust attack, quick and precise. It has decent range and speed, and can the tip of the lasher can further improve the damage-dealing capabilities. This can be used to combo into a Grab or Disarm attack, or continued with more jabs in repetition to chisel away at the target.

Lunge – This is like a Jab, but with longer range and further striking intent. Any enhancements to the tip of the lasher will allow it to do even more damage. It takes a bit longer to recover from a Lunge than a Jab, so a Jab cannot combo from a Lunge, but a Grab or Disarm can still be used after.

Grab – After Jab or Lunge, or within lash range, it is possible to grab an opponent. This starts to contain the enemy, making it awkward for them to move away or launch attacks properly. Some lashers or abilities can inflict damage while the Grab is being maintained. This can be used to combo a Pull.

Pull – Used either after a Grab, or when the enemy is in close proximity. It is possible to Pull an enemy close. This engages a Grab if it is not already engaged, and will disrupt the victim from whatever they had been doing. This can be followed in a combo by Ensnare or Twirling Drop.

Ensnare – This can be leveraged off of a Pull, or simply performed on an enemy that is in colliding proximity. The enemy is grabbed and wrapped up, restricting their ability to maneuver or deliver a solid blow. Anything on the surface of the Flesh Corruptor will be affecting the Ensnared victim, allowing them to be contained and slowly killed. This can combo into Constrict, Twirling Drop, or Tear Asunder.

Constrict – This is an attempt to squeeze the target until they die from being crushed or having deadly features adorning the Flesh Corruptor cut in deeper. This is physically taxing to maintain, and may exhaust the Flesh Corruptor after a long time. This can combo into Twirling Drop or Tear Asunder.

Twirling Drop – When an enemy has been grabbed and ensnared, one easy way to inflict damage and disorientation on the victim is to dump them violently on the ground with a spiraling motion. This prevents any sort of safe-fall position from being utilized, causing the target to be damaged and stunned by the uncontrollable impact.

Tear Asunder – This is an attempt to rip apart the target, either to destroy their armor, or collect fresh skins or features by ripping them off the living creature. The off-hand is generally used to contain the target while the primary hand is trying to take a piece off the victim. If it is successful, the target is pushed sideways with something being ripped off, if it fails it may still do some damage and they target will still be pushed.

Disarm – This is an attempt to dislodge the target’s equipment from their hands. This can come after a Jab or Lunge, or can be performed on its own within Jab range.

Sweep – This attack is an attempt to grab one of the target’s legs to pull them up off their feet. If it is successful, the target will be violently knocked over, with a chance that their head will slam into the ground. This can be performed within Lash range or closer.

Melee Combo Chain

Jab/Lunge → Grab → Pull → Ensnare → Constrict

Pull or Ensnare can chain to Tear Asunder

Pull, Ensnare, or Constrict can chain to Twirling Drop

Grab, Pull, and Ensnare can also be used as entry moves in the combo.

 

3. Corrupting Magics – Local and Distant

Local Corrupting Magics are the versions which can only be used through local contact, though this contact can be extended with a Prehensile Lasher. The effects of the magic are channeled by the Flesh Corruptor while they attack, so each attack performs an attempt to use the corrupting magic successfully on the target.

Distant Corrupting Magics can be used differently, but are also more limited. While some of the more potent magics are transferred through touch alone, some quick magics can be used to temporarily nullify enemies efforts in various ways. These spells can also be used through contact with a higher success rate, but a strong enough spellcaster can have similar efficacy of these at a distance as with local contact.

Sneeze – This magic causes the target to lose focus for a moment and violently sneeze, halting their current action and causing them to pause for a second. This can create opportunities to exploit lowered defenses, as well as stopping a spellcaster in mid-spell. This has a moderate chance of success with distant use, but the target will start to resist the effects with continuous usage, at which point local contact or a different magic would be necessary.

Vomit – This causes the target to stop what they are doing to vomit, then catch their breath afterwards. This can put a target out of the fight for a moment, or make them vulnerable for a period of time. This has a low chance of success with distant use, but repeated attempts will build upon each other and eventually take effect with enough effort.

Indigestion – This causes a creature who has recently eaten to suffer ill effects within their gut. This can cause painful bloating and cramping, which can slow down an assailant or cause them to take longer to complete every action. This can only be delivered through local contact.

Hunger – This causes a creature who has not eaten for some time to start suffering the ill effects of hunger and starvation, even if they aren’t actually out of nutrients to keep them going. This can cause combatants to retreat, or cause them to attack with full ferocity if you are their intended meal, but however they respond will be affected by diminishing strength as the effects of hunger set in. This can only be delivered through contact.

Illness – This is an attempt to throw the target’s immune system out of line, attempting to turn elements of it against the rest of the body. This results in the sudden onset of illness, and repeated uses of this magic on the target will advance the illness further. It may not be healthy to eat meat from a creature killed in this way, or safe to use their flesh for Living Armor or Prehensile Lashers. This can only be delivered through contact.

Hallucination – This attempts to cause the target to experience hallucinations, by altering chemicals in their bloodstream to ones with hallucinogenic properties. If successful, the target will begin to see things that aren’t there, think they know things they don’t know, think they can do things they cannot do, and their ability to do anything in a meaningful way becomes significantly hindered. This can have side effects, causing the target to go into a berserk rampage of blind rage, or somehow making the target able to anticipate and dodge attacks that they normally would not. This must be engaged with contact, but it can be sustained and increased in intensity through additional distant uses.

Normalize – Remove harmful bodily effects from the target. This is used to aid the Flesh Corruptor or their allies with any abnormalities to their overall health. Distant use requires more effort and produces worse results, and being in close proximity is ideal to help with diagnosis of the symptoms being suffered.

Unmorph – This is an ability that allows the Flesh Corruptor to pull a shapeshifter out of their shifted form and back to their normal form. This can only be be done through local contact, and only works if the thing which causes them to be shapeshifted is removed or unavailable after they have shifted back to their natural state, otherwise they will simply revert to the shapeshifting form they were in previously.

 

4. Heroic Movement Techniques

Diagonal Vault – When getting close to a wall, a Prehensile Lasher can be used to thrust upward and / or forward off the wall to continue moving in their desired direction. Doing this between a narrow chasm can be used to ascend the chasm with ease.

Grab & Swing – Overhead objects, including stone ceilings and archways, tree brances, bridges, and other features, can be used to grab onto and swing across like a rope swing. They may jump off at the end of the swing, or stay in position to try to find a better jump, or simply dangle in position until they are ready to drop.

Double Grab & Swing – This is able to be performed with two Prehensile Lashers equipped. Instead of breaking contact and leaping forward like the Grab & Swing is used for, this method doesn’t require contact to be broken, allowing for a more predictable and metered pace of travel, as well as the ability to move slowly above an area instead of dramatically swinging and launching forward.

Fly Paper – Some Living Armor surfaces may allow for the Flesh Corruptor to simply stick themselves in a stationary position on a wall until they decide to be mobile again. A Diagonal Vault or Grab & Swing can be followed off this with ease to get movement going again.

 

5. Living Armor Creation and Maintenance

Living Armor is a craft of its own kind. The ability to create Living Armor is through the use of the Corrupting Elixir, Corrupting Magic, and samples of hide or other parts taken from creatures, a suit of armor and weaponry is possible to create. Once a piece of living material has been prepared, the raw side can gently bond with the creator, and will not damage them if it is removed, but will not be removed with any ease unless by creator’s will.

This means that the goal is full body coverage by any means, and keeping materials in a state of good repair across the entire body. The living equipment can be put on in a very piecemeal way, making it possible to improve protection in deficient areas without having to replace everything. Maintaining it can be done by eating and drinking while the equipment is being worn, or designing and utilizing a Corrupting Elixir that can promote regeneration on its own.

In addition to surface, other parts can be used to add improvements. Prepared sensory organs can be utilized to enhance the user’s senses in various ways, including making night vision or thermal vision possible for someone with conventional eyes. Spikes, spines, glands, plates, and various other offensive and defensive features can also be prepared and added to the equipment, though the areas it is being attached to must be large enough to take in the addition in full, rather than spanning across two or more pieces.

Through creative use of materials and additions across many types of creatures, along with utilizing the Corrupting Elixir to make it more deadly or defensive in battle, makes it a unique and powerful way to gather and upgrade an arsenal.

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V. Legacy of the Flesh Corruptor

There are many rumors and legends about the first Flesh Corruptor, Dr. Medoket Gidzmuh, and a few parts of their true history have been preserved in moderate detail over the years. Locations are not known, but the key events that occurred over a century ago are still known to scholars and historians, some by the aid of a powerful scryer peering into the past. Below is the most complete record of these key events, which are thought to have happened somewhere between 100-110 years ago.

1. The Good Doctor

Dr. Medoket Gidzmuh had developed great renown for their ability to mend flesh, cure ailments, and brew the most exquisite potions. The middle-aged woman had dabbled in magic and practical medicine to aid their understanding of potion-making, and had ascended in each to a level of unrivaled excellence. The good doctor took up practice due to her own personal fears of death and dying, and dedicated her life to studying the preservation of life itself.

This meant training a new team of healers to replace her, who she selected from the best and brightest of the volunteers who came forward to take on the task. Two years were spent getting each and every one of them a proper education in magic for healing, conventional techniques for healing, and brewing potions for healing wounds and remedying other ailments. After training what she decided would be enough disciples to replace her need in the local society, Medoket began following up on some loose ends that she’d come across in her research. Every thread that was left hanging was explored, theorized, and experimented on, until conclusive results could be determined and reproduced with success.

Dr. Gidzmuh continued down a new line of research, in order to determine what methods are possible to preserve life in a living state. She found that life itself was not a scalable value, but more of a binary analog, where any amount of life or no amount of life were the only two states which organic matter could exist. This also led to research in the transitive and communicative properties of life, determining that a conduit between a living being could be enough to help dying tissue stave off death and decomposition. The conduit could even be made to work remotely, though remotely it would only sustain life rather than allowing it to be interacted with by the one whose life is sustaining it.

Dr. Medoket Gidzmuh was finally ready to take all this new research to experimentation, to see if it would be viable for medical practice. A new type of potion was brewed, equal parts magic and chemistry, to create an elixir that could be used to establish and maintain a living conduit between themselves and the tissue of other living beings. This was called the Elixir of Communicable Life. A test would be needed to try this new potion and its effects, but Medoket had never seen battle once before in their life, so the idea of attempting to test this experimental system on a wild creature didn’t seem like a worthwhile prospect. Above all else, she realized that her fear of death had shifted to a fear of not completing this new research before eventually dying.

2. Circus Catastrophe

By a stroke of bittersweet fortune, a Circus came to the city where Medoket lived. The Circus was celebrated by all, as it gave people a chance to see spectacular feats of entertainment. The Manticore Tamer’s performance hinges on the Manicore being doped up beforehand to allow for safe handling, but the dose that was used was apparently not strong enough. The handler was ill-prepared for what happened when the cage was opened, finding in horror that the beast had not been adequately subdued at about the same time as their head was being cleaved from their body by the gaping maw of the beast. Soldiers quickly rushed in to help, while Medoket rushed in to see if she could do anything to try to save the decapitated Manticore handler.

By the time she fought through the retreating crowd and reached the handler’s corpse, death had already set in. She tried using the elixir to establish a conduit anyhow, but it failed to produce the desired result, and instead began to melt away the body of the deceased trainer. Cursing and screaming at the elixir didn’t make it work either, but it did draw the Manticore’s attention towards the frustrated doctor. The creature pounced on her, leaping through a wall of sturdy soldiers to pin her down. The breath of the beast was most foul, and the fear of dying before completing this research became overwhelming.

Before the claws got a chance to dig deeply into Medoket’s shoulders, she tried something that she’d never tried before, channeling magic through localized contact. She quickly focused and gave it an attempt, trying to tickle the lungs and throat of the creature to agitate some reaction. This made the beast pause before raising up to let loose a loud mucus-spraying sneeze. The beast was stunned by this odd turn of events, but had less than a moment to contemplate it before it reeled back and thrashed with a deafening screech. The Manticore move away from Medoket and turned once again towards the soldiers to attack them with even more ferocity – but without its tail, which was severed by a precise slash of a halberd by one of the soldiers.

Seeing the massive stinger flopping and trashing about gave Medoket an idea, and she quickly leaped upon the flailing appendage to douse it in the Elixir of Communicable Life. While the handler was dead by the time she got to it, this Manticore tail was still alive and moving, still able to accept the establishment of the conduit. And this time, it took hold, but Medoket had no idea what the conduit would actually do for the tail, or for her.

One by one the soldiers fell or retreated, leaving only a few of the bravest and most powerful standing. The Manticore had been wounded heavily, but the attempted doping for the performance had fully worn off, leaving it in a state of ferocious desperation. Seeing the soldiers closing in, the beast once again leaped towards Dr. Gidzmuh, who was in the process of inspecting the point of severance on the tail now that it had been locked to her own life force.

Without thought, acting only on unknown instinct, Medoket found herself thrusting the stinger towards the Manticore in a way that would normally only occur if it was still attached to its body. It snapped forward and pierced the beast’s heart, delivering a fatal dose of its own neurotoxin directly to the bloodstream. The massive beast staggered, looking at Medoket with a gaze of fear and confusion, before slumping over to die. After a soldier severed the beast’s head, there was no celebration of victory, only a count of the dead and dying. Medoket hid the tail under a bench and tended to the wounded masses, once again energized in finding that their research had finally come to fruition.

3. Metamorphosis

Continuing to research the detached Manticore tail drew a great deal of criticism and fear from townsfolk. They demanded that Dr. Medoket Gidzmuh, their revered healer and doctor of many years, must move to a new structure on the edge of the city before they may continue their research, as they fear the Manticore tail could somehow become animate and attack them or somehow summon more abominations. The alternative was the choice to be cast into exile.

Medoket took the first choice, establishing a new laboratory in the new building, and setting out to continue the research. The Circus incident instantly hardened the spirit of the good doctor, giving her confidence to continue the research and even pursue lucrative avenues of collecting live samples. She set up a series of traps near the laboratory, as well as a few in the wild, which were meant to help with capturing new specimen for experimentation.

Before setting out to the wilderness, she took the time to understand what the tail responds to, how it interprets her instincts and senses into taking action, and began to learn how to control the stolen stinger. She also found that it would not regenerate any harm it sustained or venom it could carry unless she was in contact with it while consuming and digesting food. She found that she began to rely on it, and she became inseparable from it.

When some of the traps started to work, and she could collect live specimen, Medoket would get to work with researching them. She found that a live insect which was fully coated with the elixir would live an exponentially long time compared to their normal lifespan, so long that she wasn’t sure if they’d eventually die or if they’d live until the end of her own life. She did not have dominion over the insect though, not even with physical contact. However, an insect prepared in this way could still die by being destroyed. She also found that wounds on creatures could be locked into a state where they don’t heal but also don’t bleed, working as a temporary remedy that can then be supplemented by healing magic or healing potions.

Growing curious about the effects, Medoket consumed some of the elixir in various different ways, producing interesting results. Depending on the magic energy she was channeling for herself, the elixir would have a different effect. One less appealing effect was projectile vomiting a potent acid. One more appealing effect was to be able to cause any damage inflicted on her living armor and prehensile lashers to regenerate immediately, allowing the armor to offer more protection than usual.

While conducting this research, she also experimented with using the skins of tougher creatures she’d gathered and forming a type of armor out of it. This armor-making process was a grisly sight, as the creatures she’d used for the materials were also used for experimentation in living with certain important parts removed and how that affected creatures. The various living skins didn’t need to be sewn together, as they can congeal to the surface of the skin of the one whose life force sustains them, as well as being removed at will. The unfashionable but functional armor was paired by various new prehensile and coiling appendages, from tails to tentacles to a beheaded snake.

4. Ultimatum

A bright summer’s day helped a watchtower guard spot a horrible, twisted creature leaving the laboratory on the edge of the city. This monstrosity was Medoket, who was venturing out with her newly found equipment to set out for some of the lesser-checked traps. None of the traps yielded any results, one had been smashed open from within, and another from the outside, but none of the rest had anything either. Upon returning home, she found a small army waiting to greet her, with arrows drawn and spears forward. The captain ordered her to come no further. She demanded to be let back in the laboratory. The captain didn’t even see her tiny wrinkled face through the massive fleshy pauldrons she was wearing, and was even more horrified when he found that it was the recent experimentation of their former doctor.

While she was away, the captain personally opened the door and gazed upon the experimentation himself. The creatures living in what appeared to be a horrid state, the collection of living skins and appendages laid out across many tables, and an alchemy set that looks like it gets used frequently. He first referred to what his lookout described the Flesh Corruptor, which was the phrase being thrown around by the soldiers as they waited for what they though was a monstrous creature to return.

The captain would not honor the request for Medoket to return to the laboratory. Soldiers moved in and surrounded her. She offered to remove the fleshy armor to prove that she was still just a regular person with irregular armament, not a twisted creature that they thought they were seeing. Her request was denied. She appealed to them one last time, reminding them that she had healed all of them at one time, and any she didn’t were tended to by her medical disciples. She told them that her experimentation will lead to new magics and ways for healers to help the wounded and dying with more efficacy, and that they needed to let her continue in order to perfect the process so that it can be taught to others. The captain was reviled with the idea of anyone using the magics and techniques Medoket had been exploring, and countered with an ultimatum: exile or death.

Medoket backed down. All of the research and experimentation can be reproduced elsewhere, she thought. She felt that it was truly a shame that her laboratory was being set ablaze to guarantee that she has no reason to return, but was now used to dealing with dangers in the wilderness than most seasoned fighters wouldn’t dare to battle alone.

5. A Dragon’s Eternity

Seeking shelter in a secluded place that would not be disturbed, Dr. Medoket Gidzmuh found a cave in the mountains that seemed as if it were made for her. She was disturbed by none as she moved along, neither beast not bandit would dare approach the monstrous vision. Wide passages with ample ventilation, a hot water spring, and easy access to nearby wildlife, provided many of the necessary features to immediately restart the laboratory and improve upon the last one.

Curiosity brought Medoket to explore the caves to great depths. She found ways to extend her senses to acquired sensory organs, and utilized an array of eyes from different creatures to help with the expedition. Each section was recorded in great detail in the sprawling and ever-growing map Medoket was working on, but it came to a pause on one fateful day. The day she spotted the dragon.

A pale dragon slept in a massive chamber deep in the mountain range. This particular cavern had an entrance that was easily big enough for the massive creature, but the position and nearby mountains guaranteed that it never saw light at any time of the year. The dragon slept for years, the entire time Medoket was there she’d only seen it move but once.

Medoket spent many years in this cavernous laboratory, but she could never get her mind off that dragon. If only there was some way some scales could be safely removed while its sleeping, she thought. After coming to a point where it seemed the research was complete, she decided she’d try to get a sample from the dragon somehow before trying to return with this research.

She finally mustered the boldness to give it one try. She moved into the dragon’s lair, careful not to make any noise that could stir the scaly giant. Inching ever closer to a set of scales that looked like it may have once been damaged, she almost got to them before some rocks collapsed under one of her feet. Medoket reeled and regained her balance next to the small collapsed area. The reverberations from these rocks falling managed to awake the dragon.

Upset by the sight and smell of the creature it was looking at, the dragon immediately got up and got ready to attack. The creature seen in front of the dragon didn’t seem to be fazed by its size. The dragon spoke.

“I don’t know what you are, monster, but you shall pay for waking my slumber in my home. This mountain is my home, and I watched it rise up over the ages before making it my home. I am a Dragon, I am eternal, I always have been, and I always will be. Let my name be the last thing you hear before you die: Azabrast!” it said. The walls trembled as he spoke, dislodging piles of dust from cracks and crags above.

Medoket took the dusty distraction as an opportunity to strike. She leaped through the air and startled the massive beast with a strike to the underbelly. The Manticore Tail was scarcely able to penetrate the scales, but that wasn’t Medoket’s only weapon any longer. She took a drink of the Elixir of Communicable Life while channeling a magic that would allow her to grow long razor-sharp spikes along the length of the tail, turning it into a far more ferocious weapon. Azabrast’s might was met with Medoket’s ferocity and speed, and the two were entangled in fierce battle for over an hour before Azabrast called for a truce.

“Enough. I understand now. At first I had no idea what you were, but now I can see that you’ve found a way to bind your own life force to the living flesh of others. I am now quite intrigued by you, far more than I am offended that you stirred me from my slumber. I have all the time in the world, and I wish to learn from you.” The walls did not shake when Azabrast spoke this time, but instead an inquiring calmness.

Medoket agreed, seeing that she could gain from the situation. She spent the next three years teaching the arts of healing and brewing to Azabrast, going down to every minute detail. Azabrast learned these powers well, even creating an Elixir of Communicable Life of their own. When it was finished, Medoket tried the efficacy by bathing in it, thus binding her life force to the dragon in the same way as the insect was bound to their life force back at the lab on the outskirts of the city. So long as the dragon is alive, the venerable Dr. Medoket Gidzmuh shall continue their research somewhere in the world.

The legend ends there. We unfortunately don’t know where the city was that Dr. Medoket Gidzmuh had been before going into exile, nor the mountain range, though that knowledge is somewhere to be found in the world. Azabrast likely lives on in their mountainous home, though there is no way to know if they or Medoket are still alive or not unless either were to be discovered.

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Categories
Portfolio

Legendary Brewing

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. The “Formula” for Brewing

A. Prepared Materials

1. Wort
2. Inoculant
3. Container

B. Active Process

1. Temperature Control
2. Fermentation
3. Timing

C. Hazards

1. Oxidation
2. Contamination

D. The Result

1. Hot and Cold Distillation

III. Designing Wort and Inoculating It

A. Wort Contents and Properties

1. Water
2. Fermentables
3. Unfermentables
4. Herbs & Spices
5. Other Adjuncts

B. Inoculants

1. What It Ferments
2. Ideal Temperatures
3. Target for Brewing
4. Contaminants

IV. Additional Considerations

A. Fermentation Chemicals and Byproducts
B. Sometimes Vinegar Happens
C. Simple Qualitative Hierarchy of Potions
D. Non-Uniform Palette and Physiology
E. Fermentation Bomb Weaponry

V. Practical Examples

A. Case 1 – Tea for an Epic Bite

B. Case 2 – Commission for an Adventurer’s Guild

I. Introduction

Brewing is a science that developed through a historical survival technique which later morphed into culinary art. While humanity has been brewing for ages, we’ve only really known about it since Louis Pasteur and contemporaries of his era began understanding and quantifying microorganisms. The basic idea is simple, and can easily be extrapolated into MMORPGs to be a fantastic system for players to indulge.

However, this is not a basic system by any means. This document serves as a guide with concepts to assist the process of creating a meaningful and believable fantasy potion brewing system. Much of this is intertwining my experience as a gamer / game developer with my experience as an award-winning craft homebrewer, in order to make a system that utilizes realistic concepts of brewing, fermentation, and distillation, to create a dynamic and diverse crafting system for making potions and other beverages.

Potions are often a highly-overlooked part of fantasy games, but the actual process of brewing and producing potions is generally glossed over and often made instantaneous. An expansive brewing system is not only worthwhile for letting players make more powerful potions for tougher encounters, but also as a way to make potions a dynamic part of the in-game economy and market system. The system below details how potion-making itself can be designed.

A lot of things are definitely being glossed over here. This document could easily be much longer and in-depth, but without specifics on the content and features and attribute + buff relationships, it would be a whole lot of theorycrafting that might not mean anything.

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II. The “Formula” for Brewing

Brewing can be represented by a simple formula for the sake of initial explanation:
(Prepared Materials * Active Process) / Hazards = Product

Which can be broken down as follows:

(Wort + Inoculant + Container) * (Temperature Control + Fermentation + Timing) / (Oxidation + Contamination) = Product ((Distillation is an option here))

 

 

A. Prepared Materials

1. Wort is the fermentable and unfermentable materials used in brewing. Water and any minerals contained with it, sugars extracted from fruits or grains or starchy foods, herbs and spices used for flavoring and preservation, and any other adjuncts which may be included for various effects. Some of these things may be boiled, extracted with hot water, added after boiling, and added in various other parts of the process. Wort will need an entire segment of its own to fully explain the process and details.

2. Inoculant is the raiding party of microbes that is going to perform fermentation. Generally this is yeast or bacteria, though the sources and quantities added definitely matter. Baking yeast, champagne yeast, wine yeast, ale yeast, lager yeast, all have a great deal of variation in what they would do, and each is required to be the correct type for the style of product to come out right. Allegedly bees and wasps carry the yeast that is most similar to what a brewer would want to use to make beer. Each yeast will also work on things differentially, where some may work on certain carbohydrates differently than others, or process non-sugars differently than others (since yeast affect things even if they aren’t actually eating it to digest it and produce alcohol). Temperature has a major effect on yeast as well, that is explained later.

3. Container describes the type of vessel the brew will be fermenting in. This can be anything from a glass carboy or fermentation tank for closed fermentation, or an open bucket or large stone trough for open fermentation. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, and both have a has a strength and a weakness. A closed fermentation system is protected from having heavy objects fall into it, but excess fermenting material and byproducts cannot be extracted from them except when the brew itself is siphoned out. An open fermentation system is more susceptible to contamination, as objects can more easily fall into it and cause contamination, but extra fermenting material and byproducts can be cropped off the top and reused or disposed. Generally a wooden barrel designed to impart flavor will be part of the aging process, but it is possible to ferment in a barrel as well.

 

B. Active Process

1. Temperature Control is one of the three main processes, and it is listed first because it matters first of the three. Temperature affects the entire process, from the moment the inoculant is added to the wort, to different phases of the fermentation process, to proper storage and serving. The temperature should generally be towards the mid to warm end for the tolerance of the inoculant, allowing it to get started strong and set up shop with all its metabolic processes. Once fermentation has started, keeping the inoculant within certain ranges will cause it to produce different flavors (more esters and potential off-flavors come from higher fermentation temperatures). As well, the rate of fermentation is effected by temperature, where heat will cause it to ferment harder and produce an often harsher product, while lower temperature for the range will take a bit longer and can even potentially get stuck and become inactive.

2. Fermentation is the second process listed, but it really is the one which everything hinges on. As soon as the inoculant enters the wort, fermentation begins, and the result is officially the weakest form of fermented product possible. One could technically stop here and say, “Yep, its a potion, lets bottle it,” but they wouldn’t be doing any justice to the materials that went into it. This is the process of the inoculants working on everything they can in as efficiently a way as they can, until they’ve reached a threshold of access to resources relative to material they’ve already fermented. Some inoculants may start to fail or produce off-products after they’ve only converted the brew to 5% of the target substance, while others may still be running strong and clean well past 8%.

3. Timing is the amount of time it takes for processes to be completed, as well as making sure things don’t take too long and have issues. Some ingredients are added during the fermentation process, some especially late to make sure they are still fresh and potent when it gets bottled up. When the desired level of fermentation has occurred, the brew can be pulled and bottled, or it can have other processes done before completion. To achieve higher clarity in the finished product, it may be necessary to siphon the fluid from the first container into a second, to allow more of the inoculant and other particles to settle out to the bottom of the solution.

 

 

C. Hazards

1. Oxidation occurs when the brew is exposed to oxygen once the output of CO2 from fermentation has reduced. Oxygen causes the product to grow stale more rapidly, deteriorating the freshness and potency of the components. There are two places where it will generally become a hazard: when fermentation has fully subsided (especially in an open fermentation system) and any oxygen trapped in the bottle when it is sealed. Additionally, exposure to light (specifically UV) will cause photo-oxidation, which will harm the brew in the exact same way.

2. Contamination is from any inoculants which don’t belong but have found their way in anyhow. Usually when fermentation is starting to ramp up or is in full force, the frothy inoculant and CO2 being exuded by the brew will keep out any potential contaminants, and the fermented product (generally alcohol outside the context of potions) is usually strong enough to keep non-acclimated contaminants from making an impact in a competitive and intolerable environment.

 

 

D. The Result

The result of the brewing process is a potion! Where it goes from here is up to the player. It can go directly in bottles, it can go in a specially-prepared wooden keg to age for a while, and the aged product can be mixed with a fresher product then re-aged to make something completely new. Distillation is also an option, and it be done by Hot or Cold distillation.

1. Hot and Cold Distillation

The two ways a potion can be distilled are through heat and cold. Heat distillation will strip away more of the additional effects and components, concentrating the desired product and capturing little else with it. A bunch of bad brews can potentially be salvaged into a worthwhile distilled product. The risk of hot distillation is creating a concentrated toxic off-product (unless that is the intent). By contrast, cold distillation concentrates the product by freezing the concentrated brew away from the water it was brewed with, allowing the distilled result to keep most of its properties though still retaining any unwanted byproducts from the rest of the process. Distilled products are almost impossible to contaminate, and oxidation will not harm them in a meaningful way compared to undistilled potions (and may be needed to get it to the final desired state). Photo-oxidation has zero effect on a distilled product.

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III. Designing and Inoculating Wort

A. Wort Contents and Properties

There are many elements that can go into the process of brewing the wort, and each one affects the final product.

1. Water is the first major factor. Most potions will start with water, juice, or some other aqueous solution. The acidity of the water, as well as presence of salts, minerals, and other chemical substances, can all have a profound effect on the potion that is being brewed. Some processes involved with brewing (mashing and sparging grains, for example) might require different concentrations of minerals and acidity in the water to achieve the desired effect. There are potentially also enchanted waters that can be used, either water that has been blessed or enhanced in a way that will allow it to impart magical properties in the final product, or water that is magically enhanced to make up for deficiencies in the water or the rest of the process to ensure a high quality product despite low skill or poor materials. If the water is right for the thing it is being used for, it will greatly enhance the quality of the product. If any water is used without any knowledge of its properties, a high quality product can still be produced, but it isn’t getting any help from water (and water could even be hindering its potential).

2. Fermentables are the sugars and starches and other components which the inoculants are going to utilize during fermentation. These will be converted directly into the chemical components which give the potion much of its power. How much the fermentables can be utilized depends on the inoculants and the conditions present during fermentation. Different sugars could produce different things, for example glucose from grapes might be converted by some inoculants to a healing elixir, while fructose from melons may be converted by similar or different inoculants to produce a mana restoration elixir, and lactose from a tiger’s milk may be fermented into something which increases strength and maximum health.

3. Unfermentables are components which either can’t be fermented by the inoculants that were added, or are unable to be fermented at all (such as ash from roasted grains) are another part of the potion. While they provide less power than the fermented material, what they provide is components that improve flavor, affect the color, and change the quality of the properties as the brew ages. They also can end up being food for wild inoculants and contaminants, especially if these elements are attempting to ferment material that was unfermentable to the intended inoculants.

4. Herbs & Spices add extra effects and benefits to the potion, both for process and for effects. Fragrant oily herbs and buds like hops, geranium, and sage, provide flavor and preservative properties to the brew, as well as a healthy dose of antioxidants. Spices like orange peel may be added to improve flavor or add other types of effects. In this context, herbs would also be responsible for effects like improving elemental or status effect resistances, enhancing attributes, granting gradual health regeneration, and plenty of other properties. There is definitely a point where the size of the load of herbs and spices can be too much for the brew, making it extremely bitter and tough to drink like nasty medicine, so it is better to find a strong but balanced load of herbs and spices to add, and allowing the fermentation process determine the final quality and presence of effects provided by the herbs and spices. Herbs and spices help to stave off contamination, improving the lifespan and reducing hazards during the brewing process. While the herbs and spices are not actually fermented by inoculants, they are still consumed and processed into a different state through fermentation.

5. Other Adjuncts include anything else which may be added to the wort, for any number of purposes. Wood or nuts to accentuate and enhance the flavor, glycerin to improve the smoothness, magical ice essence to control fermentation temperature and make it easy to chill while lagering or cold distilling it later on, fish brains because your character is a bridge troll and they enjoy that sorta thing, pulverized energized silver that helps resist some things and slowly turns the character’s skin blue, whatever it may be. These can make or break the recipe, so it is important to experiment in smaller batches rather than wasting a large amount of material on a potentially foul or even ruined product.

B. Inoculants

1. What It Ferments
Inoculants ferment sugars and starches and anything else they can metabolize. Each yeast and bacteria and other inoculant is able to ferment a spectrum of fermentable materials, but no inoculant is able to get absolutely everything by itself. Leaving a portion of fermentable material unfermented helps immensely with flavor. While carbohydrates may be the thing which is being metabolized, everything in the fermenting potion is affected by the inoculant in one way or another, so having fermentables for the inoculant to work with are important in making sure the inoculants can enhance and amplify the effects provided by unfermentables and additives in general.

2. Ideal Temperatures
Each inoculant works differently at different temperatures. Too cold and it comes to a stop, even settling out of solution to the bottom of the fermentation container. Too hot, and it simply dies. On the cold side, it will work slower than normal, and might not reach the desired level of fermentation. On the warm side, off-flavors and byproducts may be produced, and the quality of what is being fermented is rougher and more astringent than usual. Each inoculant has a range where it can safely operate without fear of stoppage or off-products, and that range can differ greatly from one to another. Even within that range there is variation, as well.

3. Target for Brewing
A large part of brewing is knowing what you are actually trying to brew, and the inoculant is a major factor in that. Two batches of the exact same wort, with a different inoculant in each one, can end up being functionally and categorically different from one another. Conversion from fermentables to the desired products is another factor, as some products may require a lower percentage of fermented material for their style, while some may require over 10% conversion of the volume to achieve the desired product.

4. Contaminants
Beyond the inclusion of adjuncts that may befoul the potion, contaminants are what will ruin a potion the fastest. Undesirable inoculants, such as bacteria in a yeast-based brew, will cause a multitude of hazardous problems. First, off-flavors and products will be produced, which can even make the potion harmful or disagreeable to consume. Second, it can hinder the positive benefits because it is competing with the desired inoculant(s) for resources. Third, contaminants that are included towards the end of fermentation or in the bottling process will potentially cause a second round of fermentation to go on (which may be imperceptible) and can even cause bottles and other containers under pressure to forcefully explode.

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IV. Additional Considerations

A. Fermentation Chemicals and Byproducts

Yes, fermentation is used to produce alcohol and a variety of other chemicals. Some of them may be dangerous. Distilling these chemical solutions down can potentially create additional chemical products. In the context of potion-making, some of the chemicals being produced could be essentially liquid magic carrying the magical properties and essences that went into the brew, though there may still be alcohol or other byproducts present. Some presence of alcohol may be required to preserve healing potions so wild inoculants don’t utilize the healing properties which allow them to spoil the potion.

B. Sometimes Vinegar Happens

Off the above list is cooking vinegar. Sometimes a bad batch can be salvaged into something worthwhile by turning it into vinegar, and this cooking vinegar can be used by chefs to infuse their foods with powers and properties that it would otherwise not have gotten. I could see a player making an entire career of buying bad batches and converting them into powerful magical vinegars. A vinegar potion could exist, but it wouldn’t be very pleasant unless they are of a race that drinks straight vinegar without a second thought – they may get a bonus from it!

C. Simple Qualitative Hierarchy of Potions

Below is an example of what the hierarchy of potions, from simplest and least effective to most complex and potent.

Single material uninoculated – This may be little more than a tea of boiled herbs, or a simple malt syrup. The most basic effects of these materials will be transferred through the potion, but it will not have the potency or dynamic characteristics that a well-crafted brew will have, and they will succumb to oxidation or contamination or simply becoming stale from aging more rapidly than other potions. The trade-off is that they can be produced very rapidly, even in the field with very simple tools and a campfire.

Multiple materials uninoculated – This has a bit more complexity and power than a single material potion, but doesn’t compare to a like-quality fermented product. It may not last any longer than a single material uninoculated potion, but it has the potential for more diverse effects that can start to have synergy with one another.

Simple inoculated – This represents the easiest possible potion to make with an inoculant, which means it cannot be made in the field and requires a place to ferment. Something fermentable and some inoculant were put together to make a potion. It will keep better than something uninoculated, and will be more effective.

Complex uninoculated – This is a fine quality uninoculated potion, produced with equipment that isn’t readily available in the field. It carries all the faults and considerations of uninoculated potions, but is a much higher quality product than a simple inoculated potion.

Simple distilled – This is the result of distilling a simple inoculated potion. It does mostly one thing and little else, but packs a lot of power compared to the undistilled version. Because distilled products keep extremely well, this can go in a jar on a shelf and sit there indefinitely without worry of oxidation or contamination.

Complex inoculated – A great deal of time, care, and effort went into the preparation and use of the materials for this potion. This is nothing less than amazing, and should be taken seriously by whomever plans to use it. Every part of the brewing process was completed with a watchful eye and a steady pair of hands. While these can fetch a good price for their obvious power, they can be made even more amazing with extra work.

Complex inoculated distilled – The above potion distilled. It will be the most powerful distilled potion around, but will still lack the full complexity and diversity of the original product.

Complex inoculated aged – A complex inoculated potion which has been put in a high quality container to age. This is likely a wooden barrel that was specially prepared for this specific batch.

Masterwork – Multiple complex processes went into the making of this potion. It is almost a shame to drink it in anything but an absolute life-or-death situation. It likely took the handiwork of multiple skilled brewers to make this exceptional product.

D. Non-Uniform Palette and Physiology

Another point that could be interesting: potions affecting each race differently. Humans and gnomes may enjoy the taste and effects of a potion because they share similar physiology and flavor palettes, while elves may find it dreadful and impotent for any effects, and kobolds may find it to be a deliciously addictive laxative. This means brewers would need the aid of their various allies to taste test and try out brews, in order to find who it works best for, and who should probably avoid it.

E. Fermentation Bomb Weaponry

There’s really no practical application or controllable mechanisms in real-life to try to create a device like this, so please do not try this at home, this idea is strictly for use in a fantasy world. For brewers looking to bring some extra bang to the battlefield, sealed thick glass containers full of fermentables and rapid magical inoculants that produce toxins can be prepared. They are kept chilled and individually-packed. They can be activated in two ways. One way is shaking it furiously and throwing it, which will either explode on contact or burst after a short “pressure fuze” time has elapsed. The other way is applying heat to it, which will cause it to burst when the hyperactive inoculant gets from warm to hot. Anything mixed with the explosive potion, plus anything produced by the inoculant itself, will be sent along with razor-sharp glass into the flesh of any unfortunate foes in the radius. A massive catapult-sized container of this type would be potent for assaulting an enemy encampment without destroying their infrastructure.

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V. Practical Examples

Let’s explore what this might actually look like in a few specific cases. First I’ll present the scenario, followed by recipe, process, and result.

A. Case 1 – Tea for an Epic Bite

Scenario: Out in nature, an adventuring comrade is bit by the infectious maw of a unique wild beast. The toxic bite cannot be cured without a potent antibiotic magic, or a combination of healing salve with a potion of remedy. While the healing salve is being prepared, a potion of remedy is in the works by the team’s experienced chef and brewer. Choice herbs are selected from plants in the area, combined with clean water from a canteen. The herbs are added at different intervals, so they are boiled for 15 minutes, 10 minutes, 5 minutes, and some are added just before the pot is pulled from the fire. After cooling down enough to drink, and after the healing salve is applied, the tea is consumed in an attempt to purge the infection from within. With some effort, the pungent remedy is consumed, and recovery begins.

Recipe: 1 quart of water
4 oz Wise Owl Sage
4 oz Purple Jute
4 oz Blood Chard
4 oz Black Parsley

Intent: Each of these are known for remedying effects, but the brewer hasn’t a clue which exactly does what, so they just go for a shotgun approach to the solution. They recognize that it might not be the most pleasant thing to drink, but should work with the healing salve to fully remedy the horrible infection delivered by the nasty creature’s bite. This will not be inoculated or aged, and will be consumed immediately, preventing any hazards. The quality of the water is negligible for this, but it happens to be very pure and clean without minerals or other additives.

Process: After being picked and rinsed, the herbs are gathered in roughly 1 ounce bundles. The target brewing time is 15 minutes. Once the water reaches a boil, 1 ounce of each herb is thrown in. The brewer uses their brewing hourglass set to determine how much time has elapsed, adding another set of herbs after 5 minutes of boil, 10 minutes of boil, and finally at 15 minutes when the pot is pulled from the fire. The pot is allowed to steep for 1 hour before being strained into a cup and served to the wounded adventurer. The air is now filled with the piercing aroma of herbs, which may soon attract unwelcome visitors.

Result: The herbs produce significant levels of antibiotic-type antitoxin, gradual health restoration, gradual lost attribute restoration, temporary greater resistance to all toxins, temporary minor vision boost, and temporary minor plant empathy. Without taking more time to study each one, the brewer has no idea which herb contributed what, and what effects may be present in insignificant levels. The effects of the water have no bearing, and the lack of fermentables and inoculants means there is no modification or amplification of the potion’s effects. While it takes a few tries, the adventurer is able to gulp down the entire cup of foul green liquid, and the infection appears to be immediately getting better upon consumption.

 

II. Case 2 – Commission for an Adventurer’s Guild

Scenario: An Adventurer’s Guild has settled on a local brewer to design them a potion which will give them an advantage against a mighty dragon that has been assaulting their distant settlement. The potion must give them immunity to fire, fear, charm, and must be distilled so it doesn’t take up a lot of space. They don’t realize that the brewer they selected can produce high volumes of mid-quality one-purpose non-distilled potions, but is not very experienced with more complicated brews. Pride guarantees that they take up the task despite their apparent lack of skills for this complex a task. Taking the down payment for the batch, the brewer set out to get equipment and materials for the job. They have just barely enough to get all the supplies they think they’ll need, as well as a low-end heat distillation kit from local crafters to perform the distillation process.

Recipe: This recipe was designed using things of which the brewer is knowledgeable and has had success in the past, or is advised in a guide they’ve been provided by fellow brewers.

– Mash
10 pounds Honeycomb Wheat (establishes base color, provides most of the fermentables)
1 pound Medium Quartz Malt (improves flavor and adds different fermentables, minimal color change)
1 pound Charred Barley (improves flavor, color, and enhancements to anything fire-related)
2 pounds Assorted Stone Fruits, diced (improves defensive / resistance properties)
1 Bear Heart, diced (provides resistance to fear)
10 Scorpion Brains, diced (provides resistance to charm)

– Boil
12 ounces Wise Owl Sage (to enhance status effect change resistance)
½ ounce Rainbow Algae (clears up the solution during the boil, reducing negative byproducts)
4 ounces Magically-Enhanced White Garlic (improves stability of benefits during fermentation)
1 ounce Tormentor’s Radish (provides fire resistance when fermented, painful to consume unfermented even if cooked)

-Inoculant
Standard Potion Brewer’s Yeast (amplifies magical properties while minimizing production of non-magical chemicals)

Process, Brewing: River water is collected, boiled, and tested. The water is treated with sulfuric acid and calcium silicate to reach the proper hardness and pH balance, as well as providing extra sulfur for the fire resistance component. The various fruits, along with the scorpion brains and bear heart, are mixed with the grains for the mashing and sparging processes, which finishes by being drained into the kettle. This is then boiled for an hour, with 8 ounces of wise owl sage added at the start of the boil, 4 ounces of magically-enhanced white garlic at the 30 minute mark, and another 4 ounces of wise owl sage go in with the ounce of tormentor’s radish before the heat is cut. ½ ounce of rainbow algae is also added 15 minutes before the heat is cut, in order to help draw unwanted particulate out of solution to produce a clearer product. The finished wort tastes like a sweet, spicy, bitter, horrid mess, but it appears that it has potential to be a powerful potion.

Process, Fermentation: Standard Potion Brewer’s Yeast is used for this fermentation, which will guarantee the preservation and amplification of magical properties while minimizing production of alcohol and other non-magical chemicals. Because it is being ordered on short notice, the brewer decides to run the fermentation process on the warmer side for the yeast, which should also help with fire resistance enhancement. A small charred oak barrel is being used as the vessel for fermentation, with a pipe fitted to the lid so yeast and gas can escape instead of having pressure build up. A few days before the order is ready, the yeast has stopped producing gas, and it is time to move on to distillation. Before this step, the brewer tries one small bottle of the potion, using their potion testing area to confirm that it does indeed provide them with the desired resistances without any unsightly drawbacks. Despite the heart, brains, garlic, and radish, it actually tastes pretty good.

Process, Distillation: Despite their best efforts, the brewer is unable to fully get a handle on heat distillation, but is unwilling to chop the profits and hire an expert distiller to finish out the process. They do their best with their limited skill, and make what appears to be a fairly well made product. That is, a lot of water was extracted out, but the brewer has no idea what the distilled product will be like. They bottle it all up, and try a sample of the batch in their testing area to see if it even works before calling the guild officers over to check it out.

Result 1A: The brewer is able to demonstrate the power of the potion to the guild, all right. Standing with mere cloth on their body, they walk to the middle of their testing area, and consume the potion. They then instruct the guild’s wizard to unleash their most powerful fire attack possible, which ruins the cloth but leaves the brewer completely unharmed. The next test of charm and fear effects are tried, both of which fail to affect the brewer. Confident that the potion does what the brewer says it does, the guild is ready to make their transaction and set off towards the dragon. The brewer stays in put for a few minutes, continuing to explain the benefits and bonuses they are feeling from the potion, until after a few minutes they finally shut up and lead the guild officers to the business desk. To make sure there is not a bait-and-switch going on, the bold ogre captain takes a drink and proceeds to the testing area, where the effects of the potion are indeed proven and no negative perceivable effects are known to the guild. The guild buys all 60 of the remaining potions in the one-ounce vials they were bottled in.

Result 1B: The dragon is being called out to a clifftop arena selected by the guild. Arrows tipped with hard acid crystals are used to enrage and draw the dragon into position. As the dragon settles in a favorable spot, the raid leader announces for everyone to consume their potions. Timed like clockwork, everyone takes a drink of their potion at precisely the same time. Quickly cries of desperation ring out into the air, as the guild’s bravest warriors find themselves victims of a petty hack who managed to stall the transaction of a harmful potion long enough to clear the blinding property that apparently affects everyone but ogres. Everyone but the ogres in the group go blind, due to chemicals produced by the poor quality heat distillation process. While fire, charm, and fear effects may not work against them, the claws and teeth and tail of the dragon certainly do, and it isn’t long before the bold, blinded, defenseless guild finds itself quickly defeated.

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Categories
Portfolio

Ancestral Lineage in Character Creations or Gameplay

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Methods of Implementation
     Question Series
     Minigame Series
     Revealed Through Gameplay
     Select from a Branching List
     Fully-Randomized
     Combining Multiple Systems

III. Effects on the Character
     Base Attributes or Skills
     Attribute or Skill Progression
     Affinity, Hatred, or Understanding
     Starting Zone
     Starting Story
     Unlockable Skills or Abilities
     Navigating the Spirit Realm

IV. Effects on Gameplay Interactions
     Hometown Reputation
     Factional Relations
     Inherit Responsibility
     Mentoring Relatives
     Generational Aggressors
     Relatives Struggling Over Ancestral Relics
     Ancestor-Related Generated Content
     Constant Judgment

V. Other Thoughts

I. Introduction

This document explores ways in which the character’s lineage can be included as a factor in gameplay, both for character attributes as well as in-game content and events. This might be tied to the character creation process, and there shouldn’t necessarily be right or wrong choices, just things which may or may not fit the player’s style or the kind of history they want to be tied to when they interact with the world. This can also serve as an extra form of content for players to indulge, if their family history is not immediately revealed to them through character creation. Discovering a character’s family history can be a way to promote further discovery and uncovering of content for each character.

Lineages can be done as a unique, instanced thing for each player (or possibly each account) or done in a way that is shared in common with other players. Depending on how much players can select their lineage, groups of players using the same race could actually give themselves a lot of ancestors in common.

There is no way to separate nature and nurture when looking at the whole product of a person, who they are, what they are, and how they got there. In a fictional world of wondrous content, many heroic features and traits can be passed down through the generations. Some may be latent, some may be present in every generation. Likewise, certain deficiencies and fears may also be passed down, ingrained in their being and difficult to overcome.

Earlier in life I had wondered if reproducing younger vs reproducing older would produce the same product under the exact same conditions, or if the product would be different from one to the other. This has been revealed to me definitively as “yes” as modern science has been able to prove this. One study that particularly reminded me of my curiosity of the subject is a recent study I saw, where phobias could actually be passed down directly to offspring after learning it as a behavior. This means two players can even end up with two different sets of inherited traits from the same common ancestor. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/10486479/Phobias-may-be-memories-passed-down-in-genes-from-ancestors.html

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II. Methods of Implementation

Below are different ways in which a lineage system can be implemented. Each has distinctly different features, but there are ways in which some of them can be blended together to create an even more dynamic system.

Question Series – This method has been used in many games in the past for many different purposes. In those games, the player is asked a series of questions, sometimes they seem to have relevance, sometimes they are completely abstract and arbitrary. This would have to be a meaningful and worthwhile series of questions, asking about their ancestors and their achievements and how they failed when they did. How the player’s answers determine the character’s ancestry could be implemented in many ways, but it should not produce results that makes a character better than another at the start or over time.

Minigame Series – This would significantly expand the character creation process, and possibly instead be an app or game of its own. I think of a rapid aptitude test barrage (like WarioWare), or a series of micro-adventures (like Half-Minute Hero) that rapidly play out the events in the world up to that point, though it could really be approached in many ways if this route were chosen. The games must not punish the player for the choices they make, but each result should simply be part of the overall influence that will determine which ancestor they will have (or the properties of that ancestor).†

Revealed Through Gameplay – The character already has a lineage, but they don’t remember it or never learned of it. Amnesia, adopted as a child, born into slavery, or perhaps the known lineage only goes back a couple generations then gets hazy. This lineage is revealed through gameplay events. This could be predefined with the character without any input from the player. For example, visiting a town where an ancestor had lived may get you recognized by one of the elders, who may have stories to tell and details to reveal that unlock a bit of the family lineage. Family history could be something which is unlocked through gameplay, and applies things the player is actually doing to the events they’ll see in their family history. A miner could learn of their family’s pickaxe somewhere in an abandoned mining ghost town and be on a soft quest to reveal their history, or a warrior could learn about how their great grandfather was the captain of the guard at a revered city long ago and be on a journey to learn more about them and their achievements.

Select from a Branching List – All of the families and lineages are known, and since there isn’t really racial cross-breeding, it shouldn’t be too expansive. Start from the furthest ancestor, and each selection gives more branching options for the next ancestor, and this goes until the player has connected the tree all the way down to them. Each person they can select has a back-story, positive traits, negative traits, trade-specific artifacts and relics somewhere in the world, and history that the player can somehow encounter through gameplay. There may be additional ways to filter available choices for players, such as character name or starting aptitudes, in order to make sure that every player doesn’t have the exact same choices for their lineage.

Fully-Randomized – The family lineage is randomly generated and assigned at character creation, without any input from the player or any way to choose it. The importance and worth of each ancestor’s deeds will also be randomized, but weighted in such a way to make sure every has at least a few worthwhile ancestors whose deeds are recorded in history. In order to prevent any dissatisfaction over not being able to share ancestors in common with friends without deleting and remaking the character many times, it may be easiest to make sure no players have any direct ancestors in common whatsoever.

Combining Multiple Systems – Many of the above systems are not exclusive from one another, and would be possible to blend. For example, branching list selection options could be generated based on the success of the minigame barrage or question series. Depending on the level of player choice, desired effect, and amount of history revealed for a character post-creation vs during creation.

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III. Effects on the Character

Below are explorations of the different ways in which lineage can have an impact on the character. Whether it has impact on the character only at the start of the game, throughout the game, or only after they’ve played for a while, could all be a factor.

Base Attributes or Skills – Instead of the base attributes or skills of the character being based on racial defaults, they are instead based on the achievements and physiology of all their prior ancestors. The professions and achievements of previous ancestors could be the things which provide the basis for what attributes or attribute ranges could be, such as a 10th generation miner starting stronger and able to carry more than others, as well as having family-taught techniques to work with. This may apply to other things, like resistances to elements or forms of magic, affinity to certain foods or drinks, and other gameplay features.

Attribute or Skill Progression – Whether or not the base attributes or skills are affected by ancestral lineage, the rate and difficulty of progression may be influenced by the family’s past. Some people can naturally put on muscle easier than others, some proportions naturally give people advantages at some activities compared to others, some physical or knowledge-based skills may be easier to develop aptitude in because of the way the brain developed. These could raise the speed of development, or reduce the difficulty of training needed for increases of higher levels.

Affinity, Hatred, or Understanding – This comes specifically from the inspiration about passing down phobias. It is possible that ancestral lineage will allow the character to take a liking to certain things, and their affinity for those things may give them natural bonuses when dealing with it, or natural compulsion to interact with it above other things. Likewise, hatred passed down through traumatizing experiences could easily lead to the character having an immediate dislike or distrust that cannot be easily overcome, and may even impact interactions like providing less healing to disliked races than healing their own kind. Understanding is passing down traits that help someone learn and figure out something naturally compared to others.

Starting Zone – Where your most recent of ancestors lives / lived is where you’ll start. This helps with early depth and immersion, as that ancestor’s deeds can be spoken about by NPCs through interactions, and may determine what kind of starting home (if any) you may get. This would be great for promoting meaningful interactions in one’s hometown, and give the player a sense that the location is truly home for their character, at least when they began their adventure.

Starting Story – Before the player is brought to a common area, their lineage determines the instanced single-player history / flashback scene that the player goes through in order to learn gameplay controls. How the player completes their intro instance could determine where they start and what they start with.

Unlockable Skills or Abilities – Not fully knowing one’s lineage opens the door for them to unlock new skills or abilities through gameplay. These may be skills or abilities that can otherwise be acquired or learned from other sources, or they are the same racial abilities for every race but the order in which they can be unlocked is affected by lineage. Likewise, advanced skills might be limited until the later lineage has been learned about and that ancestor’s achievements are fully known to the character.

Navigating the Spirit Realm – When a character dies, their essence must fight it’s way out of a dark region of the Spirit Realm to return to life. The powers and abilities of the character are granted to them by their ancestors from beyond all planes of life, who lend the character power as they try to struggle back to the realm of the living. Each death lets the player choose which powers and abilities they use to fight their way out, but each ancestor who they ask power from will be spiritually exhausted and unable to provide aid for a period of time.

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IV. Effects on Gameplay Interactions

Below are different types of gameplay interactions which may occur as a result of the ancestral lineage. The deeds, achievements, debts, and caches of ancestors still have lasting impact in the world. Relatives who are players or NPCs may also be a factor in these interactions.

Hometown Reputation – In the place where the character starts, they are already known to the rest of the town. Whether they grew up there, or are a new arrival who was a subject of much local gossip for a time, the character’s presence in town is established. Some friends they’ve made, some relatives they may have who live there, some competitors whose business they compete for, may all be impacted by ancestral lineage and their ancestor’s past relations with the town.

Factional Relations – Depending on the actions of your ancestors, different groups and factions may view you differently. Whatever different types of factions there may be, both player-with-NPC as well as NPC-only, will potentially have different reactions based on the lineage. This could also be racial or town-specific instead of faction-specific, depending how the game is designed. A great-granddaughter of a famous Ogre warrior who was also an Elf-cooking master of great renown may be known far and wide for their utilization of family recipes, but be hated by all Elves everywhere.

Inherit Responsibility – When the game begins, there is already a mundane role or job that the player can choose to perform or forsake, because it is what the character does in town. This may pair with crafting role selection at character creation, where the player would assign a role and that is what they do as their first job, but have extra aptitude and possibly quality tools for that role which nobody else would otherwise start with. This could also create opportunities for claiming on old debts owed to the ancestor, or fulfilling their old debts to help them rest peacefully in the afterlife.

Mentoring Relatives – The parents, siblings, or other relatives of the character may act as an early mentor and help give the player guidance in learning their past, as well as a possible source of quests or other content. Relatives are meant to give the sense of family in the world, so characters don’t seem like they were generated from thin air and instead have tangible flesh-and-blood NPCs for the character to interact with.

Generational Aggressors – Just as some people may be friends for generations, there can easily be aggressors who are hostile as the result of generational struggle between the families. Whether local, located in another town, or met exclusively out of town, these aggressors will always show hostility or even attack when they see the character. Rival families of crafters or traders, assassins from a cult trying to recover a long-lost artifact an ancestor may have stolen, bandits whose ransom plans were foiled by an ancestor, and so forth.

Relatives Struggling Over Ancestral Relics – As a way to infuse competition or rivalry between family members who share a legendary ancestor in common, there may be quests or events which lead characters towards a goal of acquiring relics of their ancestors and claiming them as family heirlooms. This can get both players and NPCs involved, allowing multiple parties with their own interests in mind to compete for access to these items. They might not even be that powerful, but owning them may grant special benefits due to the people who know the legend of that ancestor acknowledging you as the heir. This may allow access to bank vaults or other secret places which that ancestor stashed loot or clues to something even bigger.

Ancestor-Related Generated Content – Whenever players are questing out in the wilderness, there’s a chance that they’ll stumble across a clue or lead related to one party member’s distant lineage. It may or may not immediately be revealed to players that it is the case, but instead could be revealed as the events unfold. Story elements which that ancestor’s history interacted with could be used to continue the content and push the team deeper towards discovering amazing secrets (and loot) that had been lost to the ages.

Constant Judgment – Every character’s conscience is weighed upon by the deeds and actions of their ancestors. When they are faced with a tough decision, they will consult their conscience and dwell upon their ancestors actions in a similar situation. When they cannot find the right answer, they may be visited by their ancestors, especially ones who have become restless in the afterlife due to the deeds of the character. This can be interwoven during rests, loading sequences, or even upon death or restoration from death. Living relatives may also nag on a character’s conscience.

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V. Other Thoughts

This is meant to really increase the level of immersion. I am personally really glad to see where the concept has gone since I initially set out to design it, and I’m hoping there can be suggestions from the rest of the community for more ways which these concepts can be implemented. After writing this, I really like the idea of characters knowing who their ancestors were 2 tor 3 generations back, but the rest beyond that is a haze which they have to uncover.

Whether the players are Role-Players or just looking to enjoy the game, this system provides advantages for everyone. There are plenty of gameplay opportunities and chances to access meaningful loot, as well as a plethora of interactions that can further push along gameplay. Players may get a sense of duty and familial responsibility (or choose to reject it) for their character by fulfilling tasks related to the family and discovering more about their lineage.

However complex or simple the character’s lineage may be, it could be great to have at least something which ties the character to the world’s history, so they don’t seem like they spawned out of nowhere as an adult whatever-class-they-choose or washed ashore as a family-lacking amnesiac like every other player in the game. Instead, lineage and ancestry means they are part of a long line of whatever their ancestors were.

†In typing the part on a minigame series, I recall the game Heimdall in the 90s which featured a minigame at the start of the game to determine who your starting crew would consist of. While this isn’t necessarily a lineage-defining minigame series, I feel its worth noting because it does impact initial gameplay decisions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimdall_(video_game)

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Categories
Portfolio

Multiple Organizations

Also known as: Group Organizations: Guilds No More

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Group Organization Superstructure

III. Group Organization Features
– 1. Group Organization Headquarters System
– 2. Carrier Network System
– 3. Adventurer’s Guild System
– 4. Group Mentoring System
– 5. Group Workshop System
– 6. Trade Union System
– 7. Warband Formation
– 8. Group Organization Travel Network

IV. Membership Management Considerations
– 1. Membership Restriction
– 2. Membership Recruitment
– 3. Membership Visibility
– 4. The Hard Choice

V. Original System

I. Introduction

This concept [written later in 2013] leverages a previous concept I wrote back in August 2013, on the concept of multiple forms of guilds and organizations for players. That document can be found below the main content of the expanded system.

I’m reworking that concept here, in order to better define the concept and intentions, as well as to redefine the system to be based on the Group Organization superstructure and how they can be designed for modularity and meaningful cross-over between groups. Part of the resistance to the idea of “multiple guilds” is the way it is phrased, and I found that a lot of players conversing on the subject were relying on their experience with all-encompassing guilds in the classic one-guild system instead of being able to see that a completely different paradigm for player groups is possible.

 

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II. Group Organization Superstructure

Every guild, clan, corporation, trade union, outfit, thieves den, or other major group, starts with the formation of a Group Organization (GO). This structure is very limited in what it can be at the start, and different features must be unlocked by various means to become accessible. These groups are more permanent in nature than the temporary Party and Raid Group options, as these groups don’t dissolve when they are down to 1 player or everyone who was a part of it logs off for the day. Dissolution of a GO requires effort, and membership may even be able to veto decisions made by leadership to disband the GO to prevent spiteful officers from ruining the small gaming community created by that GO.

The Group Organization is where meaningful group activities are organized and conducted, as well as being the place where progression for that group is handled. GO progression and advancement is based on the activities and achievements of its members, as well as presence of the physical things needed to access certain features (like having a crafting workshop in order to enable advanced crafting-related features for larger projects) which are up to the players to set up and maintain.

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III. Group Organization Features

1. Group Organization Headquarters System

This is the building that will be used by the group, to represent them as well as offering shelter and a long-term base of operations. These will need to be expanded every once in a while to accommodate new features, as well as getting upgrades to defense as fame and notoriety increases. These are also needed for the group to have its own mail service, which is necessary to utilize a variety of GO features.

As the permanent long-term structure for the group, the Headquarters is also the place where group activities can be safely engaged. Threat of attack or other engagement is relatively low, since the GO can restrict access to some or all features to only members. The layout of the facility can be done to promote maximum efficiency and productivity for all tasks. Having a recognized structure also makes it possible to hire NPCs to work there as vendors or maintenance staff or any other task.

The Headquarters also serves as a place for the GO to display all of their achievements, trophies, statues, world event participation rewards, and anything else which they may obtain for proving their worth. Each of these objects for display could potentially grant minor bonuses to all members, or just ones present at the GO building, so expanding the HQ to house everything might not be a bad idea. These objects are not owned by any player, and are only available if the GO has a structure. One other type of achievement is the player-made memorabilia piece, which is a physical object that is assigned to a certain event and placed on display. This could be anything from commemorating a personal victory to honoring an ally who has passed on in all planes of existence.

A GO without a Headquarters is limited to the most basic of features. Chat, membership management, and GO names displaying by the character’s name, are about all they would have access to. Some achievements may still be earned, but without a place to display them, their benefits will be inaccessible.

One other feature of the Headquarters and other permanent establishments is the area of influence. Any feature of the building which is connected to another part of the building by a walkway, stairway, ramp, or hallway, counts as as being interconnected. This is necessary to guarantee that all features will be able to synergize with one another properly. Another method of establishing interconnectivity is a surrounding barrier, such as a moat or wall, which creates a defensible space that covers a section of separate structures. These two systems allow for more of a castle or fortress to be used for everything, or alternatively more of a town or walled urban city with separate buildings.

2. Carrier Network System

One of the main features of a GO HQ is the ability to establish a Carrier Network Station. The Carrier Network is a system where various flying creatures are used to spread news or deliver items between two Carrier Network locations. This is essential to many systems, and provides access to news and clues that wouldn’t otherwise be available unless players set up their own personal Carrier Network Station.

Along with the Stations are Hubs. Carrier Network Hubs are intermediary locations where a Carrier can stop off to deliver information and goods, and even pick up any pending orders that will be going back with the carrier to the return point. Hubs don’t have the infrastructure for housing and handling Carriers, so they may only be used for limited drop-offs and pick-ups.

A Carrier Network Station consists of five parts: housing, contact point, training area, nest area, and package processing. Housing is where the Carriers will stay when they are resting. Contact point is the area where they take off and land, which may need to be able to be sealed off in case of an attack. Training Area is a separated caged-in area where trainers can train young Carriers for future tasks. Nest Area is where new carriers are bred. Package processing is the area where mail can be set to send, or is received and sorted.

Initially this is only done with smaller creatures, but larger carriers can be raised and trained, giving the option for larger packages. This will require expanding the nest to accommodate incubating larger eggs. The housing area will need to have enough space to comfortably accommodate the larger creature. The training area may need to be expanded, or even have a new one built as an auxiliary building to make sure it is large enough to facilitate proper training. The package processing would need to be upgraded to accommodate larger packages, since it wouldn’t be simple mail and smaller goods anymore.

3. Adventurer’s Guild System

The Adventurer’s Guild System is designed to promote the efforts of groups who want their players to be able to set out on epic journeys guided by some clue or task or goal, and to be able to claim special prizes and trophies for the GO through efforts engaged in this way. These prizes and trophies and displayed separately from the general ones, and are shown in the Adventurer’s Guild area rather than the main Headquarters hall (though the two could be seamlessly interconnected).

The smallest structure to count for an Adventurer’s Guild is a Guild Office, and this requires a Carrier Network Hub, as well as at least one Carrier Network Station at one of the GO headquarters. The Guild Office needs to be little more than a desk that can send and receive letters, and keep records on what has gone on. Cash and other rewards are delivered directly to the personal mailboxes of the characters who complete Adventuring Quests. As the Guild Office size increases, and the Carrier Network is improved, quests from further away become available, and the size and variety of quest reward types increases.

Adventuring Quests are special requests to complete tasks. These can be anything from collecting something, slaying something, participating in a certain aspect of a rallying call, following up on a clue on some ancient map, escorting somebody into the murky depths of the wilderness, helping someone break into an ancient vault, or plenty of other things. Not every quest provides a trophy, and the ones which do are generally difficult, but there is no way of knowing which will be the difficult ones by reading the description. The character who accepts the quest is the leader for that quest, and it is up to them to assemble a team and complete the task, or suffer the shame of defeat or quitting the job.

Adventuring Quests are purely optional, and players are absolutely not expected to mindlessly grind quests all day. Some quests may take more than a day, and require some thinking and planning to successfully complete, so simply accepting quests with the intention of easily walking through them is not a realistic thing to expect. There may be prerequisites for the leader, in order to be sure that somebody will have the minimum level of skill needed to complete the task when the team gets to it.

4. Group Mentoring System

One of the major advantages of a GO is that more skilled characters can aid less-trained characters in increasing their understanding of a subject, so the less-skilled character can develop their skills more rapidly when they finally engage in practical application after meeting with a mentor. A Group Study is the place that is used or mentoring, and the quality and variety of media in the study will further aid the process.

When mentoring is being engaged, one specific skill must be selected. The gap between the highers kill and lower skill represents the Theoretical Potential which can be accumulated. Books or learning kits may be used to accelerate the rate of filling in Theoretical Potential, as well as increasing the quality by which it actually takes effect, and the duration by which is will last when mentoring has ended.

Theoretical Potential represents the amount by which the skill will increase at an accelerated rate. This might be as low as 1.1x or possibly even higher than 2x, depending on the quality of the mentoring. Mentoring doesn’t happen in a quick conversation, and the rate of Theoretical Potential filling in will be as low a 1 per 10 minutes and possibly as high a 1 per minute for a character who has a lot of experience at being a mentor. The rate at which Theoretical potential degrades is based on the character’s intelligence score, though degradation is staved off through continuous practical application.
Mentoring isn’t exclusive to GO members, and it would even be possible to provide permissions for an outsider to be a mentor or receive mentoring. This could even be done by contract as a paid service, allowing skilled players to leverage some earning power simply by being more skilled. This works when players are logged off as well, so long as they are both in the study when they do log off.

5. Group Workshop System

The Group Workshop requires any building that counts as a workshop to be owned and maintained by the Group Organization. This can be modularly expandable in order to promote growth and facilitate crafting diversity. A workshop can exist separate from other buildings, though it may not be wise to leave one ill-defended unless it is a temporary structure.

The Group Workshop System is meant to help a larger group of players consolidate their equipment and efforts. Equipment, recipes, expertise, and even workpower itself, can be leveraged by the group to improve the quality, rate, and diversity of items that can be produced. Both mentoring and sharing of workpower is possible by requesting them from online players at the workshop, or offline players who logged out in the workshop and have completed any pending projects.

Centralizing equipment is one way a Workshop can provide advantages and benefits to the members. Instead of each member needing to use public equipment, or own a workshop or home of their own, they can put equipment in the GO workshop and share it with the rest of the group. Likewise, other folks can put equipment relevant to their professions, further extending the overall crafting capabilities possible at the workshop. Over time, an array of equipment of varying qualities and disciplines will populate the workshop, allowing members at all levels of skill to participate in crafting.

Recipes can be shared from any member to the Workshop Manuals. These Manuals are available for any member to use, but recipes may not be copied from the manual without the permission of the officers in charge of the workshop. This guarantees that unique recipes between groups don’t get spread around, so a member of a Workshop Group can’t just rip off recipes and sell them or give them away elsewhere. Officers may also restrict member access to Workshop Manuals based on other criteria (needing the minimum skill to make it, for example) either from crafting it themselves or even from requesting it as a commissioned piece. Workshop Manuals will be exclusive to the Workshop in which they are located, and an officer or designated member must physically run a copy of the manual from one workshop to another (or utilize any fast-travel that may be available, or send it via Carrier Network if the recipient has a Station or Hub) for the receiving workshop to get the recipes.

Mentoring is possible when the watchful eye and patient guidance of a player character is available. When a player goes to craft an item, they may bring in mentors to observe and give them pointers, which improves the success rate along with increasing skill at a slightly faster rate. Mentors can be invited from members who are within the workshop, as well as any who have logged off in the workshop, so long as they are not in the middle of another task.

Utilizing the talents of offline and online players alike is another feature. Players in the proximity of the workshop can lend a hand with crafting, either helping to speed the process up or improve the quality. It is also possible to have another player craft an item that they can make, regardless of the skill level of the person who makes the request and provides the materials.

For the most profit-minded of groups, two sets of fees can optionally be imposed. The first is a property maintenance tax, where every crafting requires players to pitch in a certain value to keep help with upkeep and maintenance of the building. The second is a commission fee, where players are required to pay fellow members a certain value in order to have them assist with crafting or craft an item themselves. This is strictly optional though, it is not required for any group.

6. Trade Union System

Whether or not crafting is a tasks which the GO participates in, trade is always on the table as an option. Once a Carrier Network station has been established for the GO, it is possible to declare Trade Union status, though it will need a separate space like the Adventurer’s Guild before it can actually be implemented. A Trade Union has features for players to place or receive group orders and contracts, set up normalized trade routes with regular deliveries and payments, trade large amounts of material across distant regions, and find GOs who are in need of something which may already be owned in great quantities.

Group contracts allow for two sets of features to be offered. The first set of features is for a group of players to place an order for certain goods or products. This is done through the Carrier Network or through interacting in close proximity at the Trade Union Office. Anyone in the GO can contribute to completing this order, and once it is completed, materials will be distributed to all the parties who placed the order. If the Carrier Station can’t accommodate packages of that size, the contact will only allow for in-person pick-up, though that can be handled at the gates outside the GO HQ if outsiders aren’t to be let in. The other feature of Group Contracts is for players to place an order together, using their pooled resources to get better rates for bulk materials or products.

A GO can set up contracts with individuals or other GOs to have supplies moved at regular intervals along a trade route. NPCs can be hired to make the deliveries, and they should generally be able to do it with safety, though players may take up the task of hauling and protecting the goods themselves if they are willing to handle the risk. These contracts are great to guarantee steady repeat business over a period of time, and to ensure that certain supplies or materials will always be well-stocked.

As the Carrier Station improves, the ability to find materials or needs for materials further away becomes possible. Placing orders for distant materials, or accepting an order to deliver local materials to a far-away place, generally costs more due to the risk involved with transporting materials over a great distance. Completing distant material deliveries can be a very lucrative way to earn money and see the world.

Some GOs may have an abundance of something, or a few units of something exceptional in which they specialize, which they make publicly available. Other Trade Unions may browse the catalogs of any Trade Unions within the Carrier Network radius, and allow for purchases to be made by mail or through in-office pickup.

7. Warband Formation

When a large Warband forms to go on the hunt, the forces of nature and magic become aware of their presence and intent, guiding them towards glorious battle with adversaries in the region. This causes Warbands of all sizes to be able to set out in the world and locate meaningful combat. Powerful creatures, local bandit camps, infested caverns or ruins, swarming armies of the undead, and plenty of other things, can be found by a Warband through the guidance of natural and magical forces alike.

Two things are needed to form a Warband: a decoration and a war room. The war room allows the warband to look at local maps of the region together, and any local reports of odd activity, and decide on one or a few points to explore and investigate. Before setting out, a temporary aesthetic item must be crafted and worn by each member to prove their dedication to the Warband. Should the Warband succeed in a task of great glory, the Warband symbol will be dedicated as a permanent decoration for the GO, as well as permanent high-quality versions of the Warband symbol being dedicated to all the members. If the Warband should fail and be defeated, the symbol will be stolen off of them, and they must fight to reclaim their symbols or form a new Warband with a new symbol the next time.

The world treats a Warband differently than any other group type, acknowledging that the group will stay together until they complete a task of some worth. This may open up access to a quest or objective or clue that leads them to an epic showdown, or even to start in motion an event which will have reverberations throughout the server’s history. Warband that follows through on investigating nearby activity is guaranteed to see combat either way, as the powerful presence will repel weaker creatures while attracting the attention of more powerful monsters or coordinated enemy groups.

The size of the War Room determines the size which the Warband may be. Generally all members must be present at the start of the Warband, and throughout any key battles, to properly participate and receive credit. The War Room may increase in size to accommodate larger groups and more distant maps, but the range of the Carrier Network Station determines how far reports of activity will come in to populate the points of interest in the Map Room.

8. Group Organization Travel Network

Everybody, don’t murder me for maybe suggesting that we might possibly allow player to use a fast travel system. I can understand people not wanting this due to the logistics of players being able to go between multiple points without a great deal of limitation, but the idea has to be written and fleshed out regardless of being generally unpopular. There are four ways which this can work: instant, track, portal realm, or stone of return.

Instant Travel for GOs is just as it sounds. Each GO HQ must have its own Teleport room, though some may only be one-way to save resources. There can be limits applied to use of these, such as only being able to use them when all the inventory bags have been cleared out, a cooldown of a few minutes to a full 72-minute day before they can be used again, a required item that is expended upon teleporter use, or even a temporary debuff representing teleportation sickness that weakens players on the other side.

Track Travel is a system where a path between two GO headquarters is defined, and to set up automated travel mounts. These mounts are trained only to ride the player to the destination, and return hope upon completing this task. The player may dismount and return at any time along the trip. This requires for stables to be set up, which will need to be upgraded and expanded over time to accommodate more mounts. Each mount must be taken along the path manually so that it may learn the path, but this is only needed once per destination per mount.

Portal Realm Travel is use of teleporters, but these teleporters don’t safely and instantly transport the character who uses it. Instead, it works by teleporting them to a compressed dimension which lets them travel at a rate of 100 to 1 compared to traveling through the world itself. However, this dimension itself is a dangerous and ever-changing place. Dangerous hazards await anyone who uses this method. Spending too long in inside, or being overwhelmed by hazards, will return the traveler to the portal they entered from, though with fatigue from the draining effects of being in the portal realm. When entering the portal realm, all the connected realm portals will be visible in the distance, so each player must find their own way through the maze of moving terrain and hazards to get through before they become fatigued and get spit out. This realm could also be used to other quests and content, but that detail would require its own concept document.

Stone of Return is a stone which is cast through the destination portal, and captures the location of that portal. When someone enters another portal in that GO’s network while focusing on a stone they own, the stone is consumed and the player is transported. Any stones held by the character as they use a portal will be unaffected, except any stones prepared to return to the portal they enter will be nullified, so the stones cannot be used to create more stones between one another. One character may charge many stones and bring them for others to use, so a GO can have a stockpile of stones available for their members to use, and the errand of charging more stones and returning with them could be a regular duty for some members.

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IV. Membership Management Considerations

1. Membership Restriction

Every Group Organization has a series of options to allow or filter possible applicants from joining them. The most basic of these are Open and Closed, where “Open” allows players who are part of another GO to apply and be a member of both, while “Closed” restricts new members to being only a part of their GO and no others. The third “Limited” option gives choices for a GO who only wants to specialize in a few things to allow fluidity between various groups with their membership.

A. Closed GO functions much like the standard guild in any game made before, making sure there’s no possibility that members can be a part of another group without definitively quitting the group to join the new one.

B. Open GO functions in the opposite way of Closed, where anyone who isn’t restricted by their current GOs can freely apply and become a member if accepted. This works well for groups that have a single purpose (crafters, spelunkers, acting troupe, etc) where members are expected to join other Open GOs to get access to the features their main GO doesn’t provide. This can also be purely social, not using any features or having any development, simply being their for the aesthetic and shared communications.

C. Limited GO allows players to join the GO only if it does not overlap with any of the functions and features of their current GOs (aside from the most basic features, like being able to form a party and share in GO chat channels). This is good for groups who want to have members in common between two groups (maybe one for adventuring and one for crafting), while having unique members who are only a part of the group which applies to them.

2. Membership Recruitment

Recruiting can be done in a variety of ways in order to guarantee the proper type of player is joining a GO. Likewise, a player can understand the terms of that GO before they apply or seek membership through a current member.

A. Public recruitment is for any group that wants as few filters and limitations as possible for members to join and participate. A Public GO is listed among GOs that a player can join freely on the server, and players simply need to go to wherever the Public GO listing is located to find one and become a member. Or more than one, since many will be using open or limited membership systems.

B. Invite Only recruitment is just as it reads: the only way to join the group is to be offered a chance to join by a member who is designated with invite permissions. Any membership restriction method can use this, however I would expect to see it used heavily by Closed or Limited GOs. Invitations don’t consider the character’s current affiliations, so a player can’t use the invitation system to see if another player is a part of a secretive group or not.

C. Application allows players to apply, and have their request and any requested information provided in the application reviewed by a recruiting officer to determine their viability as a member.

3. Membership Visibility

Some groups want to be sure their members take pride in the GO name and make it apparent that they are a member of that GO. Others may want to be extra-private and make sure nobody knows that they are part of a secret society of assassins.

A. Mandatory means that a requirement of being a member of the guild is to have the GO name showing at all times.

B. Optional allows the player to decide whether they want to represent the GO, another GO, or no GO at all.

C. Only to Each Other means the members of the GO don’t reveal their membership to anyone but other members, which is for the most secretive of groups.

4. The Hard Choice

When a GO changes their membership system for exclusivity from another associated GO, it will have sweeping effects that take effect immediately. When a change is made, it will take effect in 72 hours for all existing members, and apply immediately to any new applicants or people who apply during the 72-hour change period. All members will get email notification that their GO has changed its membership rules, which guarantees that no lone officer with management permissions can take down the GO by changing membership without everyone getting notification and ample time to resolve it. When the 72 hours is over, players who didn’t make a decision on which GO they want to stay with of the two or more which may be conflicting, will be forced to make their final decision. Access to features of the restricted GOs will be limited until the member makes a decision of which they want to stay with.

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V. Original System

Clans, Societies, Guilds, Companies, Parties, Warbands, and Custom Groups, should all be different ways to organize players, and they should overlap rather than being exclusive.

First I’ll explain what each one is, then I’ll explain why they should exist rather than having all these features grouped into one social organization.

 

Organization Types

Clans represent a family-like relation. This can be merely a roleplaying element, or it could have mechanics where players of that clan gain certain bonuses which leverage the progress of every member of that clan. Alternatively, it could be used as a way to fill in some low-level class abilities so every new character from that clan will start a little tougher than a default starting character (which would also be a way to have friends get their friends into the game quicker).

Societies should be formations of clans and individuals that represent the social organization of a larger group. The smallest form of this organization would be a tribe, and the largest would be a nation. This unlocks the potential for larger operations, including the ability to potentially establish a settlement and declare sovereignty apart from a scripted world event alert. Leaders of clans and clanless representatives will be charged with the task of maintaining the society, managing the resources and building projects and defensive alerts for the society based on what their subset of society contributes.

Guilds represent a group of adventurers of any kind, with the intent of working together for greater adventures and treasure. Nobody is restricted by their clan or society or other social organizations, so anyone may join a guild regardless of their other relations. Guilds work together to develop their guild hall, filling in statues and trophies from their victories, and guarding it from looters. The guild hall provides extra buffs and bonuses and benefits to players based on the trophies they have collected, so fending off thieves and raiders is rather important.

Companies represent a trade and crafting organization. Sharing research and schematics, sharing workpower during downtime to get things built or researched faster, pooling resources and facilitating equitable trade of rare resources between members, and maintaining a common shop where all the members can sell their goods, with revenue being distributed fairly between all participants. Other social organizations don’t impact someone’s ability to be a member of a company.

Parties are the traditional role from most MMOs. Form up a small group with a few players, and the group dissolves when everyone logs off or leaves the group.

Warbands represent a large raiding force made up of anyone and everyone willing to participate. The goal is to pick a target and attack it until it has been subdued or demolished. Warbands can be a spur-of-the-moment group, and quickly dissolve once the objective has been completed. Warbands get bonuses for the number of members actively fighting in a close area, and players gain individual Warband Membership experience which can be invested in warband proximity auras that they are active whenever they are in any warband. Leadership will always transfer to the member of the warband with the most time spent in the warband without logging off when the leader leaves. Warbands persist after logout, as opposed to a party, so players can log back in and join the warband at the point of attack if it hasn’t dissolved since they last logged on.

Custom Groups share no bonuses, but allow players to create extra groups with exclusive membership protocols. Organization and communication is the primary purpose of these groups.

 

Why is it important to have more than one form of organization?

The main reason to have different forms of organization is to let players subdivide their various relations and interactions in the game.

Someone may be a member of a clan consisting of their ultra-casual group from a previous game, but have a burning desire to be a hardcore crafter, so they can stay with their clan or society but get their crafting satisfied through the company they join or form (or they can just be a freelance crafter). They may also want to get in a lot of combat, so they have the option of joining a warband and kicking around some monsters with a large crew every now and then, or joining a guild and questing across the realm.

Likewise, someone may not care to be part of a group, they may just want to kill stuff. They might just jump from party to party or warband to warband as they play, getting their combat in where it is hopefully going to be the thickest.

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Biomes & Biodiversity

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Establishing the Characteristics of a Biome

III. Gradual Transition Between Biomes

IV. Attributes for Plants and Animals

V. Not the Sonoran Desert Everywhere

I. Introduction

Biomes and biodiversity are a great way to infuse a sense of environment and a living world into any game with a large world. The purpose of this document is not to catalog the different varieties of biomes which could exist within the games, but instead to provide some general guidelines and considerations for how biomes should exist and how biodiversity should populate those regions.

A lot of this takes into consideration that the game world is compressed, that some biomes in-game may be much closer together than they could ever exist in the real world. This also takes into consideration that biomes aren’t surface-deep, and things below the visible surface are just as important to the biome as what can be seen on the surface.

I may not be a geologist, but I know that pouring sand in a forest doesn’t make it a desert.

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II. Establishing the Characteristics of a Biome

Biomes are large stretches of area with similar weather and geological characteristics. The characteristics of a biome will influence the types of plants and animals that can exist there, as well as different types of materials which may not be available in other places. Below are some of the characteristics which can be defined for a biome, and these features will gradually be affected or slowly replaced as one biome transitions to another.

  • Weather patterns may be determined by the types which normally occur in that biome.
  • High and low temperatures for the season may determine wildlife diversity, as well as the timing by which some plants reach a state where their rarest materials are available.
  • Humidity can affect volatility, conductivity of electricity-based attacks, and various other properties.
  • Soil composition, like the composition of clay and other minerals and presence of permafrost, can influence what can grow there, and determine the challenge for burrowing creatures (or players) to get through masses of soil.
  • Seasonal variation can determine how drastically the biome changes for different seasons, which may allow for further variation in an area or similarly limit what can survive there to things which can withstand harsh conditions year-round.
  • Altitude can determine how much ground water the area soaks up, affect the standard temperature, and potentially cause fatigue if creatures change altitude too rapidly without acclimating. Different organisms will exist at different altitudes, which can promote a semi-stratified look and feel to these locations like one would see in the real world.

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III. Gradual Transition Between Biomes

A game world is often very compressed compared to real-world scale, so it makes sense that desert and tundra can potentially be as close as 10KM apart from each other. There should never be a distinct rough-cut transition from one biome to another, and the transition between them can be done in a way that is extremely smooth and organic.

The distance between two biomes should be a fair distance apart, and for the purpose of this document I’ll be using 10KM as the standard. This can easily be scaled to a size which makes sense if the concept is actually implemented.

In order to allow for a gradual and natural transition, the entire world can be set up on a 100×100 square meter grid, which will assist with facilitating terrain transition over long stretches. This also takes into account materials under the surface as far down as the biome goes before reaching an underground region, so simply replacing the surface layer of a region will not be enough to affect major change.

The content of a region will determine if the region is Full or Transitional.

  • Full terrain regions are ones which are made up of 95% or more of a single biome. This discrepancy of 5% is to account for player-constructed architecture or temporary instanced content which may not entirely fit the biome but still be placed there.
  • Transitional terrain regions are ones which have a blend of two or more biome types. These are any combination where less than 95% of a biome’s characteristics are represented in the region.

Part of what determines the mix of two or more biomes is how close the transitional areas are to the full areas, but also the blend of biomes in the 4 adjacent grid spaces as well as the 4 spaces connected diagonally at the corners.

Representation of one biome in an area cannot be more than 1% higher than all adjacent grid spaces, meaning that no more than a 1% increase in the representation of one biome can be found in a gird space that is adjacent to another. This guarantees a very smooth transition over a long distance, and fully prevents biomes from having very abrupt transitions.

What it means for a biome to be represented in an area is that the material conditions and physical properties of that biome are expressed in some amount in that area. Weather patterns, hot and cold temperatures, humidity, soil composition, fertile or permafrost, seasonal variation, and altitude, can all be a factor in how a biome is expressed in a region, as detailed above in section II.

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IV. Attributes for Plants and Animals

In addition to the combat or harvesting attributes associated with the flora and fauna of a region, there should be survival attributes which determine how well they can survive under various conditions, which are vital to their disbursement and availability across the game world. Every organism will be able to exist in an area based on their tolerance to temperatures and temperature shifting, ability to move about or spread through natural mechanisms, ability to survive on available food sources or with available minerals and precipitation, susceptibility or resistance to toxic and otherwise harmful features or organisms in the area, how well it can be out-competed and choked out by another species, ability to stay in the area year-round or need to migrate, and potentially other features. Weaker burrowers may do poorly in permafrost or chaparral because the soil is tougher for them to get through, for example. Some plants may not release certain chemicals or even flower in the same way as one in a different biome, so finding a plant isn’t necessarily enough to be able to harvest exactly what is desired from it.

Ranges for these attributes can also be used to determine speciation and evolutionary differences. A plant existing in a certain temperature range for centuries could develop a different color, fruit size / shape / color / flavor, and leaf patterning than other species. A furred beast in different regions may have different coloration to help blend with the terrain, as well as having different fur patterns or other altered features to further represent adaptation in that area. Depending on the characteristics of the region, and what the plant or animal needs to survive there, it can be assigned variations that make it unique from other species while retaining many of the important characteristics.

Not every organism has a biome it fits into. Many things will be able to exist across multiple biomes. Some things may only be able to exist in transitory areas between certain biomes, as the blend of conditions they need to survive is specific to those transitional regions, which further promotes exclusivity and scarcity of their specific materials.

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V. Not the Sonoran Desert Everywhere

This is important enough to me that I need to mention it. The Saguaro cactus only naturally occurs in ONE PLACE on Earth, yet so many cartoons and video games have gotten this wrong over the years and put this iconic cactus in places where it doesn’t belong. It has become the token symbol of desert regions, while Beaver-Tail cactus is seemingly everywhere. If something similar to the Saguaro cactus is used in the game, only use it in ONE type of desert biome that happens to be rather lush and green for a desert, not one with sparse plants and sand dunes. Be consistent about it too, don’t allow it to be generated outside of the one region where it is placed.

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Battle-Based Looting

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Core System

III. BBL System Types
     1. Damage to Loot
     2. Damage Reduces Loot Durability
     3. Direction-Specific Damage
     4. Hitbox-Specific Damage

IV. Considerations for Utilization (deprecated)
     1. Landmark Considerations
     2. EverQuest Next Considerations

V. Conceptual Examples

I. Introduction

Battle-Based Looting (BBL) is a system designed to make the loot tables for each combat target limit or allow access to certain types of drops based on how the target was defeated. This will force players to limit or alter their playing style in order to get the loot they desire from enemies, and it can be done in different ways depending on what the game itself can utilize.

The inspiration for this system is why I left World of Warcraft. After killing all the bosses in the first full-length instanced raid dungeon, every weekend for a year straight, and not once ever seeing a specific crafting item I was seeking drop from any of them, I quit for good. Blizzard would never disclose how loot randomization works, and there was no conceivable way to tip the scale in a way that would favor certain types of loot. In the context of modern fantasy MMOs, or really any RPG with combat, the ability to have a system that generates kill loot based on how the player fought the opponent can add an extra layer of consideration to gameplay, and can increase difficulty or a sense of reward for playing the game in an intelligent way.

There are many ways in which this system can be accomplished, and each one can be utilized in a variety of different ways. On the surface, players will know that certain items only come from certain targets, but they will need to pay attention to what they are doing if they want specific goods and materials which might be possible from the target. This is doubly true if they need a very specific component for a recipe or to fulfill the request of another character, especially if the target is particularly rare and few in numbers.

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II. Core System

The overall core of the system, the goal for implementation of this feature, is that the way in which players fight a creature will determine the quality and / or variety of loot that may be available. Depending on the type of target the player is facing, some attacks may be far more effective at dealing damage, but the tradeoff is that they also destroy more of the target’s equipment or collectible materials by using attacks that are extremely effective. This not only lets players try to choose their battles to get what they need in as efficient a method as possible, but it also infuses a risk-reward factor into every battle where the player may need to use their character’s less effective attacks and defenses in order to gain the desired loot.

This is meant to be a factor in every battle, from a solo combatant against a single target, to a small party against a group of targets, to a massive warband engaging a giant monster in combat. When a party is seeking to get from one destination to another or mine for resources, and loot from enemies is not a factor, the types of attacks which they my use will likely be the most powerful and effective for the targets they face. When a party is seeking to carefully wear down targets for maximum plundering and unmarred resources, they will have to take their time with each and every target, creating more risk of more enemies coming or the target managing to tap into some undiscovered strength to repel attackers.

There isn’t a set list of attacks which are more destructive to loot than others, but it is contextual based on the target. This means there aren’t abilities that are stronger for the sake of killing faster and smashing loot, or a set of abilities that are weaker just for the sake of preserving enemy loot, though those elements could be built into the character’s abilities. Fire ignites cloth and burns trees to ash, but is a fine choice to use if all you want is the target’s sword. Some attacks may be less destructive and still effective for inflicting damage based on the type of loot desired, but it is up to players to discover which ones are the attacks and abilities with these properties.

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III. BBL System Types

Below are the four different ways which BBL can be implemented. None of them are exclusive systems, and all four can actually be use to create an extremely dynamic system. These four system types are: Damage to Loot, Damage Reducing Loot Availability, Direction-Specific Damage, and Hitbox-Specific Damage. Any of these four system can be utilized together to create a combined system with more richness and diversity.

1. Damage to Loot – Using this system, different damage types inflicted on a target will differentially wear down the enemy equipment. Each item which can be looted from the enemy (including body parts) have their own health / durability / overall integrity, as well as their own resistances to different types of damage. The resistance to damage for items is different from the protection it offers the wearer, for example a piece of metal may survive intact while the wearer is frozen to death behind it because the metal doesn’t insulate the wearer against freezing. 

As damage is inflicted to the different items through battle, they will get worn down, causing the damaged items to be available either in a degraded state or not at all after the battle. The appearance of the target should indicate which types of weapons and attacks to use to improve the odds of getting certain goods or materials, and there may be skills which help to identify what the target has and how to attack for the best chances at a particular type of loot. This can also allow for a system where players can defeat enemies that are much tougher than them by slowly wearing down the target’s equipment until it is destroyed, but that means the only loot their armor provides is scraps and twisted chunks of metal. 

2. Damage Reducing Loot Availability – This system will cause damage of different types to reduce the odds of certain items showing up in the target’s loot table. This means that attacks won’t outright damage or destroy the items and materials on the target, but lower the odds that certain ones will appear. It may also lower the quality of items that may be looted, where a damaged or destroyed version of an item visible on the target’s body will be offered instead of an intact one. The total amount of damage inflicted on the target (minus the effects of healing or in-battle repairs) is factored into the loot distribution, so fighting a target who constantly heals during the battle may leave nothing but flesh and bone by the end of the battle. This method can be done in a way that is forgiving, so there’s at least a slim chance of getting an intact item despite using attacks that greatly reduce the odds of getting it. 

3. Direction-Specific Damage – This system causes loot tables to be affected by where different sources of damage came from. Depending on the orientation of the items on an enemy, it will be easier or more difficult to collect those items as loot based on where the damage is being dealt. Items that are generally oriented towards the front of the enemy, or cover all directions but are weighted towards the front (like a breastplate with nothing but the leather harness on the back), are easier to collect if the majority of the damage comes from rear-striking attacks. This makes sure that players eliminate an enemy in the proper tactical means in order to weigh the access to loot in their favor.

4. Hitbox-Specific Damage – This system causes loot tables to be affected by where damage is inflicted on the enemy. More damage to a given hitbox reduces the chances of getting loot (or at least intact loot) from that location, but focusing damage on that hitbox will increase chances of loot from other parts of the target. Attacks which are not localized to one spot, or envelop the target in full, will disperse their damage across the different hitboxes, and hitboxes will be weighed based on their vulnerability to determine where more of the splash damage ends up affecting the possible loot items.

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IV. Considerations for Utilization

This document was originally written with EverQuest Next and Landmark in mind in 2013 before players had any chance to try it out. The rest of this section has been left unaltered for the purpose of explaining how it can work in both a resource-based sandbox as well as a teamwork-based RPG.

EverQuest Next and Landmark will be very dynamic games with many diverse features, including the collection of resources and equipment from enemies. While they are different products, there are ways by which both could gain from using these systems.

1. Landmark Considerations

As a resource-collection game, the ability to get the right materials from creatures will eventually be a factor. There might be a variety of ways to defeat the creatures, but each method may produce different harvestable resources. Every creature can be the source of multiple categories of materials, which means less creatures are needed to populate a diverse crafting system with a variety of materials.

Landmark is meant to eventually be a feature-rich sandbox tool for letting players create their own content, even using the game to design D&D campaigns or something of equivalent complexity. This means players will be able to create original systems and original projects. Having the ability to use one or more of the BBL systems in their content and campaigns gives the creators more control and specificity for any content they make.

2. EverQuest Next Considerations

EverQuest Next is gearing up to be one of the most advanced and feature-rich MMOs ever made, and is poised to be a major step forward for MMOs and Sandbox games alike. For a game of this level of quality, adding elements to make the way combat is engaged more meaningful are always welcome. In this case, the way players gain loot and materials from the targets they fight will be based on the ways in which they fight those targets, which means proper planning and tactics are needed to effectively take down targets to gain their desirable loot. This can make a simpler enemy more complicated or dangerous to fight, or make a powerful enemy even more dangerous for anyone who wants to try to claim loot from it.

Using multiple BBL systems lets players utilize a variety of different strategies to maximize their odds of getting meaningful loot. If items an enemy uses can break or be rendered unusable by some attacks, this should also be reflected in their loot after the battle. For enemies who have their best loot on one part of the body, or it is weighted towards one direction, using positioning and hitbox targeting to hit the less-important areas becomes an option.

This system truly rewards a group of players for being tactically sound and coordinating to defeat a target effectively. Some targets may be too difficult to safely kill in a beneficial way solo, but the presence of a group allows for more diversity of attacks and damage sources, more angles of attack, and more opportunities to hit the enemy from angles that are exposed or otherwise indefensible. Whether solo or in a group, bringing the right tools and skills for the task is important to success.

This system helps to lower the value of slaying creatures who can be executed with relative ease, making the effort to defeat them equal to the loot they provide. Smashing through a pile of weaker enemies with massive attacks will render most of the items and materials destroyed beyond use. If loot isn’t the goal, and getting to a destination or protecting an ally is the goal, then it won’ matter too much to players if they are not getting loot for the groups they eliminate.

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V. Conceptual Examples

Below are three examples which were written during the conceptualization of this document.

In speaking with Dave Georgeson at E3 2013, we briefly discussed this concept in the context of a tree. Burning a tree to death will produce charred wood that probably isn’t good for very much aside from burning it some more. Striking it with lightning may potentially split it, damaging some wood but leaving some usable material. Freezing it might not kill it, but it might make the leaves fall off, reducing its regeneration capabilities and allowing the leaves to get crushed as the battle rages on. A wind attack may only slow it down. Bows might not really harm it. Crushing the tree in a gravity vortex might not kill it, but it might strip some of the leaves and weaker branches. While less safe due to the massive flailing branches, slaying the tree with swords and axes and hammers might give the highest chances of obtaining sap, leaves, and high quality wood for lumber.

Another example would be an armored humanoid champion. The champion would enter the fight with 100% durability across all of its armor. Lightning attacks will cause metal to arc and fuse, lowering the quality and durability of metal equipment. Fire attacks will potentially singe or even ignite cloth equipment, and anything flammable would certainly explode and be non-lootable. Gravity attacks may shred leather better than anything else, or potentially wreck the metal armor and weapons. Freeze attacks will render their potions frozen, causing any well-sealed ones to burst or leak or lose potency. Smashing rigid armor with hammers will smash it up and reduce the quality of loot. Slashing weapons will slice up flexible materials. Piercing weapons will still harm armor, but generally less than smashing on rigid or slashing on flexible. Spreading damage across different sources, and killing the champion before it can heal multiple times, are important to getting more and better loot. Don’t use attacks against that champion which will destroy the pieces of equipment you want to keep, and the stuff that is dropped will be the best quality and be in the best shape possible.

Hitting a Frozen Lich with fire might be a fantastic way to inflict damage upon it, but it will guarantee that any robes, wands, or spellbooks will be destroyed along with the Frozen Lich. Likewise, it may take a group coordinated fighters with crushing weapons to take down a Frozen Lich with the above items intact, but any bones or magical gems will be damaged or destroyed in the process. A combination of both could leave some of those items partially intact, but using other damage sources to defeat the Frozen Lich is ideal for maximizing those two types of loot (though other forms of loot, like the wet ashes of a Frozen Lich, won’t be available).

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Taetham’s Slayer

This is a document written as a supporting example for the Advanced Gear System – Item Composition and History document.

Another document, The Fighter from Cityplace, is also written in support of the Advanced Gear System document, and was written before this document.

 

Taetham Sharderock had been lending a hand in the local blacksmith’s shop for as long as he could remember. From his days as a young child he had either been helping in the front-end, or helping carry or hold small thing in the back where equipment is made. He eventually got a chance to start making simple tools and objects from prepared ingots, and developed to being able to smelt quality alloys and craft fine products with them. The head blacksmith and shop owner, Hargaan Parsinat, was committed to convincing Taetham that making swords is the highest evolution of blacksmithing and that he still isn’t ready. This was out of Hargaan’s jealousy of Taetham’s incredible talent and dedication.

When a massive one-month order for enough swords for an army came through, Hargaan had no choice but to teach Taetham the early parts of the process, in terms of shaping the blade and crafting the shape of the hilt. Underestimating his own abilities and that of Taetham, Hargaan found himself with a full order of crude blades and hilts within a week, and only converted a tenth of them into the finalized product. Determined to keep Taetham around a a high quality laborer, he agreed to teach Taetham the next step in the process, to add tapering to the blades and prepare hilts for the sword to be placed in them. By the end of the second week, all the blades and hilts were converted by Taetham, while Hargaan only managed to complete another 15% of the swords to completion. Seeing that he was out of options, he showed Taetham the final steps in adding the fuller, sharpening the blade, and refining the hilt for balance. Hargaan also made Taetham sign a contract that he’d never make this sword for anyone else or at any other shop, and that it may only be made at Hargaan’s shop for Hargaan to sell or distribute.

The order was completed by the end of the third week. Content with keeping as much of the profit as possible, Hargaan told Taetham that he may use the spare materials from the order to make himself one thing, aside from Hargaan’s signature sword. While Hargaan was out delivering the order, Taetham began heating the furnace to make two new alloys, one for the blade and one for the hilt. He started crafting a blade of a new design, as well as a a hilt that is more perfectly balanced and comfortable to use. The final product made the swords he’d been producing for Hargaan appear to be the work of an expert copying an amateur.

As the final tempering process was being completed, Hargaan returned, furious to see this amazing new weapon in his shop. At first he could not believe it was Taetham’s work, but then realized that he had indeed been surpassed by his student over the past month. Enraged from jealousy, he took the blade from Taetham and told him that the sword belong to the shop because of the contract, even though its a different design, and that Taetham was no longer welcome to work at the shop anymore. Hargaan told him that the sword would be on sale the following day.

Taetham visited the local weapon dealer next day to buy his sword. It was placed in the replicas case, and marked down at a low price. The front-end store clerk’s assistant was confused about it because they’d never seen it before, but the transaction was quickly completed and Taetham headed home with it. Not sure whether to sell the sword or to keep it as a demonstration of his skill, he pondered his options on the way home. A few folks took notice and interest in the new sword.

Alaryns Eaglebridge, an adventurer who has known Taetham and Hargaan for many years, was one of the people who took notice of the sword. In order to learn more about it, she took a shortcut and was waiting outside Taetham’s home when he arrived, claiming she’d stopped in town for supplies and decided to come by to visit. Taetham invited her in and explained the falling out that had just occurred with Hargaan. Alaryns inspected the blade and praised Taetham for his incredible skill. She offered at first to buy it from Taetham, but he refused. He instead countered by offering to lend her the sword to test it out and give him feedback on how to improve it. She accepted this offer, and dubbed the blade Taetham’s Slayer. 

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The Fighter from Cityplace

This is a document written as a supporting example for the Advanced Gear System – Item Composition and History document.

Another document, Taetham’s Slayer, is also written in support of the Advanced Gear System document, and was written after this document.

The Fighter from Cityplace starts with an iron sword, it gets broken in battle, and the blade is reforged with better steel. The new weight makes it unwieldy, so adjustments are made to the hilt to rebalance the weight, which also gets some steel involved. As the blade sees more combat and gets repaired with quality steel, it eventually becomes a steel blade with a high level of design refinement, as well as having absorbed the magical essences of many mighty creatures.

Seeing the perfectly crafted blade, a novice crafter from Cityplace asks to borrow the sword to learn from it, in exchange for a good titanium sword that serves as a serviceable replacement. The fighter accepts, and starts to hone the new titanium sword through expensive repairs and epic combat to slowly include bits of mithril, allowing the sword to move slowly towards being composed of only mithril.

A letter summons the fighter back to the crafter in Cityplace. They’ve learned all they can from the sword, even enhancing it up to mithril, and getting it primed for magical gems and runes to be added to the hilt and blade respectively. The crafter asks if they may have the titanium sword back to learn from, offering to cover the cost of repairs and enchantments to the sword that used to be made of iron. The fighter accepts, and trades the powerful but mundane titanium sword for an extremely powerful and highly-enhanced mithril sword. 

There are now two swords that this fighter and crafter have made a part of history through their continued actions. After ascending to the ranks of the highest crafters in the land, that crafter can now take refined adamant ore and turn it into the finest custom swords around. Meanwhile, having slain some of the greatest of beasts and acquiring a blade of otherworldly materials, they no longer require the services of their crafting ally. The sword that was once made of iron is now a legendary item, held as the symbol of improvement and perseverance that guide’s the fighter’s own guild. The crafter uses their first titanium sword, reforged and honed just as the iron sword was, as a symbol of learning and dedication which guides their crafting union.

Years later, after they’d both taken their leave to travel the world, tragedy strikes Cityplace. An invasion of multiple hostile forces leads to the ruin of Cityplace. The leaders of these groups now squabble over the spoils, as one Orc captain tries to get their hands on both the legendary swords of Cityplace to infuse with magics and powers that were not available to the crafter and fighter. Upon hearing the news of the demise of Cityplace, the fighter and crafter join forces to build an army to reclaim the stolen weapons, which are now even more powerful than when they were last used.

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Advanced Gear System – Item Composition and History

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Composition

Structural Properties

Material Properties

Maintenance

Maintenance and Material

Maintenance and Structure

III. History

Influences

Major Events

Epic Potential

IV. Follow-Up Documents

I. Introduction

This is a concept for designing an advanced system for the gear and equipment, in order to greatly expand all the features and factors that go into a piece of gear. This is separated into two intertwined sets of properties: Composition and History. Composition is the sum of all the individual parts that make up the whole, and each of those parts can be individually analyzed and worked on. History is a detailed log of everything relevant to the item, including how it was maintained and by who, major and minor events the equipment has been involved in, and what has happened to increase the overall potential of an item.

Even with as much as we know about the final plans for the equipment system, I have a tough time giving concrete examples and quantifying values. This concept serves more as a design for how to approach a system where every item’s past is a part of the whole of a character’s arsenal, and can become a more important part of the world and its history.

Of the many things I do in life, creating weapons and armor and general goods is not one of them. I understand that there may be details which I have potentially missed in writing, gotten wrong, or excluded where it should have been included, in writing this document. Any advice and suggestions for things that could be included or improved would be great.

My first presentation of writing on this subject can be found below in “The Fighter from Cityplace”

And that was extrapolated into the very beginning of a new story here, which I never finished but someone else sure could. That is the story of “Taetham’s Slayer” posted below.

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II. Composition

All of the parts which make up a piece of equipment are important to the overall attributes, effects, and and usability of the item. The haft of the axe is just as important as the blade. The plating, articulated chain, and cloth under-padding of a full platemail suit all work together to provide the total package of protection and comfort. Gems, runes, magical enchantments, and material upgrades all factor into the component to which they are attached or imbued.

Structural Properties are the factors in the actual manufacture and design of the equipment. This is the size, shape, weight, balance, strong / weak points, harmonic properties when it is struck or strikes something, functionality, and factors of design which might improve durability or functionality.

Examples: Designing a sword blade with a fuller and distal tapers will create a lighter blade than simply sharpening a flat sword-shaped piece of metal. Putting a different grind† on the edge will affect how long the edge stays sharp compared to how well it can cut finer materials, and maintaining a sharp edge is definitely important to reducing durability damage during continuous use with no maintenance in-between. Being able to adjust and fine-tune factors like center of percussion††, balance, and harmonics are also important to improving the quality and usability of the sword. Likewise, a sturdy cooking pot with a chinstrap attached won’t provide as much protection as a helmet with full head coverage, and the cooking pot helmet lacks acoustic designs to reduce the head-rattling percussion that occurs when a metal helmet is struck by something.

Material Properties represent all the different material components used in the item. The overall quality of the materials used, the blend of materials and alloys, power infused in of gems and runes and other adornments, and the actual type of material being used where another form of material could be used instead. Whether an item is repairable or not is also a factor of the material properties, as some brittle or easily-worn materials may need full replacement when they are broken or worn down.

Examples: A sword with a blade that is 70% steel and 30% mithril, with an integrated pommel + crossbar that is 50% brass and 50% iron, bearing a ruby on either side which confers engulfing flames on the blade. A suit of hardened elephant leather armor, with elephant leather that was cured and tanned in a way to make it extremely stiff, put together with steel chainmail and padded cloth, to create an organic platemail which can receive enchantments that metal-based armors cannot accept, but maintenance may require full replacement of damaged plates as the leather cannot be mended like steel can.

Maintenance is a major factor in composition, and has two major aspects to it. The first is when and how the item must be repaired and reworked to maintain functionality, and what it takes to complete that maintenance. The second is how the item can be enhanced or upgraded to make it more functional and effective through the maintenance process. Maintenance is how the Structural and Material properties are affected.

Maintenance and Material: As an item is used more, or as parts break or wear down and need replacement, the quality of the materials and crafter’s skill will determine the effects of maintenance on the overall item. Low skill can result in poor maintenance that shortens the lifespan and reduces the effectiveness of that item, even if high quality materials are used. Likewise, a low quality material in the hands of a skilled crafter will also produce poor maintenance results and compromise the item. A crafter should use materials which they are able to work with, and only take on items within their skill range, in order to avoid poor repairs and angry customers. One limited option for maintaining a crude item is an Upgrade Repair, a specific form of maintenance where superfluous material is removed from areas where it isn’t needed and used as the material to complete the maintenance.

Examples: A metallurgist with limited blacksmithing experiences creates a sword. Its strong, it works, but the shape and design is fairly crude. After being damaged in the field, the sword is taken to a talented blacksmith, who is able to improve the design of the sword’s blade and recover enough material from the upgrades to mend the damage to the blade in full. That sword is damaged again, but in desperation it is repaired in the field with inadequate equipment, throwing off the weight and balance while weakening the blade where it was maintained.

Maintenance and Structure: The actual upgrades and benefits from maintenance can be quite diverse. Maintenance isn’t just repairs, but other refurbishing or adjustments or changes to the style. Taking some length off a weapon to compromise damage and range for speed and precision. Reshaping a metal cooking pot into a helmet that doesn’t deafen the wearer if they should ever get struck. Maintenance is how gems and runes and magical enchantments are added to a pre-existing item. Just as poor material can ruin an item, poor structural maintenance can decrease the effectiveness of an item significantly. Just as high quality material can improve an item, high quality structural maintenance can vastly improve the functionality and usability of an item.

Examples: In a pinch, a Dwarf warrior located the halberd of a slain combatant and used a tool from her field tool kit to cut off most of the haft, and then tied a stone to the bottom to act as a counterbalance. While crude in appearance, the halberd-gone-battleaxe is more than enough to get the Dwarf back in battle were she is needed. After slaying a monster of great renown and absorbing its essence into the new hal-battleaxe, the material became ready for a powerful enchantment. Before getting the enchantment done, the Dwarf first gets her weapon reshaped back to the size and proportions befitting a Dwarf warrior, as well as affixing the stone counterbalance better than it had been before. What was once a plain halberd is now a refined magical Dwarf-sized battleaxe that has already seen significant combat.

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III. History


History is the temporal component of the item, how the item gains extra powers and properties based on where it has been, what it has done, and what has been done with it. Materials themselves can also carry these properties, and materials from historically-significant sources (or ones that later become significant) may carry a history of their own.

Influences makes up the total of all major and minor things which influenced the item’s usage, growth and development. The harvesters who collected materials to create the axe and the regions where they were harvested from, the crafter who makes the axe, every crafter to maintain it, every creature slain by it, every tree it chopped down, every vendor whose hands it passed through, every adventure to grip the haft and use it for something, adds another layer of influence to the item. Influence comes into play when someone with affinity to that influence comes in contact with it, such as an apprentice crafter working on a sword their former master had designed and assembled years before, or a creature being fearful or enraged by seeing a spear that has slain a thousand of their kind.


Major Events are influences where the item is involved with something storyline related. Commissioned swords crafted for the NPC defenders at the new city being built, a shield that managed to resist the breath of a fierce dragon long enough for the dragon to be slain, a helmet crafted from a shard of the shattered armor of some god or deity. This will potentially add unique attributes to it, or make it possible for certain unique events to be unlocked or accessed by having it. For example, cloaks worn by players leading NPCs during a major battle may cause enemy assassins to hunt and target them, even after the battle has been completed.


Epic Potential is the amount by which the item can be improved based on events in the item’s history. Some epic potential fulfillment will happen automatically from use, while others must be utilized by a crafter. Each event in the item’s history can either add directly to automatic fulfillment, like slaying 100 of a certain creature to gain an affinity to slaying that creature, or chopping down 100 of one type of tree and gaining affinity to better harvesting of that tree type. Things that don’t add to an automatic fulfillment will increase the improvement potential, which is the ability for skilled crafters to make superior enhancements like adding or altering magical gems, runes, and essences. Epic potential can be raised with general use and maintenance, traveling to different places, each new influence, each influence to interact with the item after a long time apart, each battle it has seen, powerful creatures it has wounded or slain, allies it has fought in duels, introduction of splendorous materials, and many other things.


†More info on grind types can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grind

††More info on center of percussion can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_of_percussion

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IV. Follow-Up Documents

Two documents were written in support of this, which serve as examples of how it can be applied. 

The Fighter from Cityplace explores the interplay between a swordfighter and a crafter who pair up to advance swordsmithing technology through use, analysis, and enhancement.

Taetham’s Slayer is the story of a talented crafter with a jealous mentor, and the betrayal that leads to a fortunate turn of luck. 

 

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