MissEvelyn wrote: ↑Fri Jan 31, 2020 11:07 pm
Personally, I think we slow things down a bit by making writs much more complex. Introduce random challenges to the writs, like for example, study the banners underneath the Goblin castles to determine which goblin clans have taken over. Something beyond "kill these" and "explore this".
I could come up with a whole host of small things the PCs could do beyond just killing, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Heck, we could even have the writ agent ask a question based on the writ's location, and if you answer correctly, you get a bigger reward. Naturally, the answer to the questions could be made randomized so that the information is different in every run, making it impossible to just memorize all the answers.
I think something like this is an awesome idea and also in general as mentioned on another thread, that the social side of the character sheet should perhaps be focused on a little more for interaction within the world.
What brought me to Arelith personally as a new player last year and also what differentiated it from my old server were the systems that provided immersive tools and social RP options within the world. Things like the language system, the deep secrets within the world, the varied races and political systems etc, tracking etc. In previous worlds I have played on these things were not viable through mechanics and so people had to simply just 'pretend' their characters could do these things and it created a less well rounded and flatter experience. Arelith has a lot of systems that made playing DnD fun in the first place. Being actually able to do more than simply left click and attack provides you with the tools you need to embody the character role you are actually trying to be and so including these things more into the leveling process would encourage players to 'act out' the things they want to do.
Some other ideas to add:
-The theater in Cordor could reward XP for well written sonnets, or poems, or tales for example for bards.
-A random system from a thieves/adventurers type guild asking for items held/taken by monsters around the world that need to be retrieved (either pick-pocketed, or found somewhere)
-A series of scouting options like mentioned above to cover information on areas that might have been overrun, or now that we have the 'boss' system, where really strong monsters have risen to prominence.
-Medical/care style RP where NPCs come to certain areas (hospitals) with afflictions that need curing by prominent PCs and so groups need to go and find a combination of ingredients to cure that are random.
There's a ton of other things that I could think of if given time, but social systems like these would likely encourage RP between parties, offer non combat and interaction driven encounters and parties. Keep layering these kinds of systems into the world and you'll find that PvP/flat circle grinding naturally becomes lower down the list on things that people want to turn to when they log in, because they are creating stories and character arcs as they go very easily and naturally.
Re: The original debate. I don't think you should ever really go into a situation thinking "how do I stop this person, or that person". You should simply be true to the character that you are playing and then hopefully on both sides, eventually interesting stories will be built and come to fruition.
For example, are you a Paladin that has no fear? Cool, then in that moment where you are surrounded by enemies and they are being hostile, perhaps you have no fear to stand there protecting those you are with whilst they get to safety. Will it put you into what some might call a 'losing' situation as a player? Sure, but you are being honest and playing both the strength and the weakness of your character & backing up the selfless and altruistic nature of the Paladin. Will your character likely be captured, or taken by the 'evil' group, perhaps, but then the agency of you being immune to fear as a positive trait has now become a complicated issue that both gives your character respect (from those he has martyred himself for), but also offers an interesting engagement for all involved, because those you have fought might react to your selflessness and your courage in interesting ways.
On the flip side as an evil char, perhaps you are overwhelmingly greedy, or arrogant. Perhaps you have an obsession with control/domination and rather than constantly trying to 'win' every encounter as evil vs good, view your character in a way that also allows those flaws to come to the surface. Perhaps you overstep your reach, or get too confident about the things you can achieve and eventually put yourself into a situation where through your own misguided confident and greed you also enter into what might be called a 'losing' situation by traditional players.
I guess my point is, as in the other thread is that strengths and weaknesses of your characters can be very situational and they won't always and shouldn't always simply be things that allow you to 'win' at all costs. We are playing level 30 chars, but they still have flaws, they still have fears, they still have socially driven things that will cause them to make mistakes, or overstep, or react in a way that isn't optimal from a gaming standpoint and that's cool, interesting and it develops more in depth stories that way. When you are happy to do that and role play through those eventualities and stay true to the character you might find that the idea of winning vs losing takes a back seat fairly easily to complex narratives and relationships between a series of flawed characters all interacting naturally.