PROJECT: New Tradeskills

[Jopper13]

We are looking for help to come up with workable rules and balancing for some new trade skills.

Here is the list we are trying to get more traction on. Feel free to chime in and add ideas or take the bull by the horns and try to create new trades if you feel like it.

Feel free to add ideas to this list as well.

IDEA LIST:
Commander - Minor, Some sort of bonus to NPC groups or factions?

Mercenary - Minor, some sort of coin bonus?

Emissary - Minor, able to gain faction exp for two groups at once? Or represent another group? Not sure yet.

Surgeon - Medium, similar to healer but bloodier and riskier, but unique healing.

Miner - Medium, able to dig up rock ore, smelt into ingots, and find gems?

Torturer - Medium/Major, able to extract information from others, maim and cripple or even kill others.

[Amicus]

Yeah, those are some interesting ideas. As several of you know, with my character having an information focused background, I'd be up for something like the tourturer soley for the information gathering aspect...not sure I'd want to necessarily go for it right off the back, but more "last means."

Having an information trade skill could be useful for certain characters...with mini skills like

"Scouting Ability"::

Allow for the individual to have an idea of safer routes that avoid current hot-spots or Mordok/bandit/hostiles as in caravan routes or troop movement, but slightly longer routes as a trade off. Knowledge of quicker, but risker routes to move soliders. Perhaps, Knowledge of stashed goods in the "woods," people have hidden.

"Blackmail"::

Get something for "free," right off the back to help an individual of faction from another...but a higher chance of repercussions in the near future if no reperations are given

"Word of Mouth"::

Get a message delivered to any individual behind the scenes at a cheap price/free, but risk message being undelivered or changed, like a game of telephone. Pay silver or trade a favor, and the likelihood of it being delivered goes "up."

"Double-Cross,"

Get one NPC whose willing to be a turncoat, for a "cause," for (X) silver being deducted at the start of the game. Backstabbing someone in a bandit group in case you get captured? Alter a manifest to "misplace" a load of supplies from a noble?

"Silent Investor"

Knowing various things on Mardrun, you have an idea of what merchant groups, mercenaries, nobles, etc are looking for money and promise a return of investments, you acquire coin at a faster rate. The unlawful events might get coins faster...but longer you invest, the riskier the outcome as it gets raided/siezed. The lawful ones, might start out slow, but the longer you invest, the better the outcome. The middle of the road, might force you to invest "3" months solid instead of the others, month by month, so you're locked in place. Each has its own risk or rewards...

Something like that, for a more "support" based character like a Rogue/Merchant/Etc.

Just some more ideals to add to the list

[Archmage Vazra]

-I don't know how I feel about "torturer", seems kind of wonky. I think that sort of thing should be handled strictly through roleplay. The decision to cave or resist shouldn't be taken away by a mechanic.

-For simplicity, perhaps mercenary and commander can be combined into a single trade which could alllow bonuses to ongoing faction combat. (Or otherwise allow character participation in yhat fighting)

-Perhaps Emissary could also serve as a courier trade? (Or that could be seperate entirely) It could serve as a political counterpart to the proposed combined mercenary/commander trade.

-while se are on the subject of trades, I think Merchant needs a looking at. It doesn't really... Do much right now. For a 5 exp trade, you basically get the ability to take profession. Unless I seriously underestimate the faction economic bonus, its most useful function is as a prerequisite. Maybe the risk and reward of the investment ability could be tweaked a bit?

-I've have two ideas for trades to put forward. "Scribe" and "Spiritual Leader",

Scribe would allow you to create a scroll which store a single spell for later casting. It would be a lengthy process to create one, and using it might require you to actually read the scroll aloud. Any individual spell caster would only be able to carry one such scroll, and they would need to be able to cast the spell themself to use it. Essentially, this frees up a couple points of mana for a price. Might be interesting if added with the proposed meditation changes.

Spiritual Leader could perhaps assist in meditation similiar to either weaver and bard, and maybe offer benefits to faction or unit morale by giving some kind of service in game. Perhaps it could also offer some benefit/relief to corruption victims or those with otherwise afflicted spirits?

[mendicantmedic]

I agree that "Torturer" seems kind of iffy. If the roleplay is legitimate enough and both players are invested, someone can be broken without needing to bring mechanics into it. In Dystopia Rising, where the player base is more mechanics-focused, Torturer might make sense; however, my (albeit limited) experience with LH suggests to me that with a smaller, more dedicated group of players, we can trust each other to play it well.

I've had a look at the Surgeon thingy and I'm sending my thoughts via e-mail. So far, though, I like it! Gives players an alternative to the high-cost Healer skill. (And will hopefully encourage more warrior/adventurer types to pick up healing skills.)

There is another trade skill I think would be useful--"Messenger." Or perhaps "Falconer" or "Hawkmaster" or something, depending on whether it would be played as a foot messenger or message hawks. Right now the rules about sending messages seems sort of vague; I know that there's a hawk tower that factions can have, but sometimes we as players can send letters to arrange meetings even without that faction resource, and there's been a few open letters sent around? Having certain PCs or NPCs with the Messenger skill would clear that up. Pay a few coins, and your letter gets where it needs to go. Obviously this would be a trade with a high potential for profit, so it should probably be expensive to prevent everyone from picking it up ... Like maybe you can't get it if you have certain other trade skills (a Hunter would be constantly on the road and thus able to work as a Messenger, while a Blacksmith, not so much) or you need special lore?

[blueruby]

My thought with Commander would have a number of effects, most of them based heavily around faction mechanics and the Resources: Cohorts skill. Some of the effects I would like to see (or consider for inclusion) would be:

• Any month in which the Commander accompanies their faction's military unit (or one from their employer/homeland/etc), that unit is considered to have the Commander perk at no extra cost. This would likely bench the PC for that month (unless it's for a combat event in which the unit is participating), and would have to be a unit with which the commander would realistically be familiar. It would also potentially put the Commander in harm's way if the unit is attacked.
• Additional hits for NPCs brought in using Resources: Cohorts who are wearing the heraldry of the Commander's unit/faction/warpack.
• Allowing an NPC procured with Resources: Cohorts and wearing the proper heraldry to count towards the number of characters needed to gain the bonus XP from displaying a flag or standard at an event. The NPC wouldn't earn the faction XP, but they would only need 3 PCs in attendance along with the NPC and the flag to earn the bonus point.

I could see Mercenary working as a trade. I could see it having a couple of effects:

• Opens up new contracts to the PC, potentially yielding a very substantial payout after that contract is complete.
• Would allow the Merc to temporarily join a faction in exchange for silver and earn them extra XP, with the potential for the contracts to be bought out and the XP awarded after the event, should the merc switch teams.
• Allows for a more substantial payout at check-in, rolling randomly to determine silver earned, but also dealing a random amount of damage that would need to be repaired, since fighting for money is dangerous.

I think Emissary would be fun to have a simple effect or two, perhaps can add a small bonus to political units they accompany, and allowing them to wear a second faction's heraldry in addition to their own, earning XP for the second faction but activity for the first?

I keep having Surgeon explained to me, and I keep forgetting what I'm told, but I remember loving the idea. How would it be different from Healer? Why would it be worth taking instead of Healer? Why would anyone go to a surgeon if it's more dangerous, since we already have healers at most events?

Miner sounds like a very specialized Laborer trade, foregoing the versatility for an increased effect along one particular path. It could be fun, but I would honestly prefer it to be either more RPed as a Laborer, or made a low priority compared to the others.

Torturer is sort of a gray area for me. I love the concept, they would have absolutely existed, and their skills would likely be more taboo than the other trades. It adds a great level of tension, as any of us who have played antagonistic PCs can vouch. Forcing people to give up truthful answers can get into some weird territory that would need to be handled very carefully. It also needs to be addressed that, similar to Trade: Prostitute, this skill could and likely would put people in situations they find uncomfortable, unpleasant, and traumatic. The difference between the two is that Prostitute is a trade you can willingly engage with, whereas Torturer would (generally) not be voluntary. It will force players to consider their PC's willpower and dedication to holding onto information, and my biggest concern (and the reason I would like to see some form of mechanic or at least guideline for breaking a victim) is because metagaming to me would be a very real threat to this skill, especially with an XP cost and inherent risk already as high as it is. 
That being said, I also think it would be good to have the skill able to stabilize a Mortal Wound (Possibly allowing Profession to upgrade someone from Dying), representing training in the art of keeping people alive against their will.

[jimmu]

Jun 10, 2016 13:09:07 GMT -5 Jopper13 said:

IDEA LIST:
Commander - Minor, Some sort of bonus to NPC groups or factions?
Having a Commander is a plus to any faction. Having a good commander could be expressed by some type of bonus. I envision a ranking system such as: after leading 10 successful battles with less than 50% troop loss would give the commander a plus one hit point to his or her troops. If he or she suffers 3 consecutive loses, the bonus leaves. Continual losses could lead to a -1 on hit points?

Mercenary - Minor, some sort of coin bonus?
Being a grunt for a faction who doesn't have enough troops for protection should have a bonus. A simple coin would be best. The game could set the going rate. Seeing Mercenaries fight for coin, they could be bought out by more money. Mercs fight for money, not colors. This will add another level of concern to the commander of making sure the Mercs stay around.

Emissary - Minor, able to gain faction exp for two groups at once? Or represent another group? Not sure yet.
For someone who wants to use the pen over the sword, this is an interesting role. Not all games would support this role. Mordoc would eat the emissary.

Surgeon - Medium, similar to healer but bloodier and riskier, but unique healing.
Yes, I am in. This could be fun. The healers spatter their mumbo jumbo but the surgeon cuts right to the point. Fake stitches, rubber hands .. (not wrecking clothes), red corn syrup and extra body parts. This could be set up for the larger battles. I also think surgeons should have a chance of losing the patient and the patient having a chance of a botched surgery. When you go to the surgeon your just making the wound bigger in the chance it will heal. Surgeons who successfully cure 10 PCs/NPCs could gain a saving bonus. For every botched surgery, the save chance goes down. With a surgeon scoring method, you may have a really bad one players would refuse to go to.

Miner - Medium, able to dig up rock ore, smelt into ingots, and find gems?
Depending on the game, this could be good. In Freefall the miners played a big part. Just don't saturate the field with them. Same importance as a smithy. The miner should know all known minerals used in Last Hope to be a miner. Maybe call them a Mineralist? This way they can extract wood from the forest also?

Torturer - Medium/Major, able to extract information from others, maim and cripple or even kill others.
 I feel this one as mentioned by others could create an awkward situation. It may be best if handled by NPC's who know the role ahead of time. If a PC doesn't want to break, the torturer will have to use a drastic measure. ( Little Shop of Horrors - Billy Murry in the Dentist chair scenario  ) This is where role play becomes tough. How do they react without prior knowledge? How would you prevent bleed over if the torturer took out a PC by being over zealous? 

[Master Artemis]

I like these ideas. The torturer would be kinda weird (i still like it as a player), I also like the Emissary as it can represent 2 factions (would be ideal for a political char it should also give some sort of bonus to a political faction.), ALot of these new trade ideas seem like that would be good off-screen trades (with the exception of miner and surgeon). Either way, i like it

[Archmage Vazra]

I'm still a large fan of the emissary trade. It opens up huge doors for roleplay and character development. It would also help ease the tension as factions compete for new members.

I'd take this. Vazra wants to be a Phoenix "wine taster".

[valdus]

Are any of trade skills going to be implemented into 1.5? I haven't heard any talk about it in a while if so I would be very interested in taking the commander skill.

[Basil Gavras]

Trade skills are usually updated independently of the main rules, like factions