Disguise system tweaks
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 3:31 pm
This suggestion is twofold, really: get rid of the part of the name that says (Disguised) when someone is disguised, and change the layout for when a *looks* check is done against a disguised person.
Just seeing the part that says (Disguised) in and of itself is a bit metagamey and often prompts *looks* checks where there previously would have been none, and breaks immersion some from a player's perspective, since they know the person is disguised.
Additionally, if someone fails the *looks* check to pierce disguise, don't tell them. Give them a *looks* readout based off the character's bluff with similar accuracy, and use their disguised name instead of their actual character name.
An example of what I mean would look like this:
In the current system, Jim Bob is disguised as John Doe (Disguised).
While walking around on the street, the name above his head reads, "John Doe (Disguised)." He gets into a conversation with two woodlanders, Billy Blindman and Spotty McSpotterson.
Billy Blindman does a *looks* check against John Doe (Disguised) and gets:
Not recognized!
(You cannot see who this person is (or whatever the message is))
Spotty McSpotterson does a *looks* check against John Doe next, and gets:
Recognized!
(Character: John Doe (Disguised))
You try to assess Jim Bob
(Accuracy: 11):
Physique: Average
Agility: Extremely High
Healthiness: Average
Astuteness: Above Average
Concentration: Below Average
Discipline: High
Charisma: Below Average
Persuasiveness: Low
Intimidativeness: Low
Meanwhile, Jim Bob gets the message
Recognized!
The new system would look like this:
Jim Bob disguises as John Doe.
While walking around on the street, the name above his head reads, "John Doe" just as though it were another player. He gets into a conversation with two woodlanders, Billy Blindman and Spotty McSpotterson.
Billy Blindman does a *looks* check against John Doe and gets:
(Character: John Doe)
You try to assess John Doe
(Accuracy: -24):
Physique: Extremely High
Agility: Extremely Low
Healthiness: Extremely Low
Astuteness: Extremely High
Concentration: Extremely High
Discipline: Extremely Low
Charisma: Extremely Low
Persuasiveness: Extremely High
Intimidativeness: Extremely Low
Where Billy Blindman's results are completely skewed, but the CHARACTER name shows as if he wasn't disguised.
Spotty McSpotterson, however, does a *looks* check and gets:
Recognized!
(Character: John Doe)
You try to assess Jim Bob
(Accuracy: 11):
Physique: Average
Agility: Extremely High
Healthiness: Average
Astuteness: Above Average
Concentration: Below Average
Discipline: High
Charisma: Below Average
Persuasiveness: Low
Intimidativeness: Low
And Jim Bob gets the message,
Recognized!
Exactly what he got before (except the (Disguised) part) including who the player actually is, plus a "Recognized!" message for piercing the disguise. Both of the woodlanders receive a *looks* readout, but one shows the disguised bit while the other (which pierced the disguise) shows the actual readout.
Thanks!
Witchbane
Just seeing the part that says (Disguised) in and of itself is a bit metagamey and often prompts *looks* checks where there previously would have been none, and breaks immersion some from a player's perspective, since they know the person is disguised.
Additionally, if someone fails the *looks* check to pierce disguise, don't tell them. Give them a *looks* readout based off the character's bluff with similar accuracy, and use their disguised name instead of their actual character name.
An example of what I mean would look like this:
In the current system, Jim Bob is disguised as John Doe (Disguised).
While walking around on the street, the name above his head reads, "John Doe (Disguised)." He gets into a conversation with two woodlanders, Billy Blindman and Spotty McSpotterson.
Billy Blindman does a *looks* check against John Doe (Disguised) and gets:
Not recognized!
(You cannot see who this person is (or whatever the message is))
Spotty McSpotterson does a *looks* check against John Doe next, and gets:
Recognized!
(Character: John Doe (Disguised))
You try to assess Jim Bob
(Accuracy: 11):
Physique: Average
Agility: Extremely High
Healthiness: Average
Astuteness: Above Average
Concentration: Below Average
Discipline: High
Charisma: Below Average
Persuasiveness: Low
Intimidativeness: Low
Meanwhile, Jim Bob gets the message
Recognized!
The new system would look like this:
Jim Bob disguises as John Doe.
While walking around on the street, the name above his head reads, "John Doe" just as though it were another player. He gets into a conversation with two woodlanders, Billy Blindman and Spotty McSpotterson.
Billy Blindman does a *looks* check against John Doe and gets:
(Character: John Doe)
You try to assess John Doe
(Accuracy: -24):
Physique: Extremely High
Agility: Extremely Low
Healthiness: Extremely Low
Astuteness: Extremely High
Concentration: Extremely High
Discipline: Extremely Low
Charisma: Extremely Low
Persuasiveness: Extremely High
Intimidativeness: Extremely Low
Where Billy Blindman's results are completely skewed, but the CHARACTER name shows as if he wasn't disguised.
Spotty McSpotterson, however, does a *looks* check and gets:
Recognized!
(Character: John Doe)
You try to assess Jim Bob
(Accuracy: 11):
Physique: Average
Agility: Extremely High
Healthiness: Average
Astuteness: Above Average
Concentration: Below Average
Discipline: High
Charisma: Below Average
Persuasiveness: Low
Intimidativeness: Low
And Jim Bob gets the message,
Recognized!
Exactly what he got before (except the (Disguised) part) including who the player actually is, plus a "Recognized!" message for piercing the disguise. Both of the woodlanders receive a *looks* readout, but one shows the disguised bit while the other (which pierced the disguise) shows the actual readout.
Thanks!
Witchbane