Roleplay and You

[Vahene]

I think a scrying or messaging system is a wonderful idea.

K

[Kamen]

*tracks down Edana and grief kills her*

[Twist of Cain]

Another one I'd seen was a working message board. Place it outside of the inn where people tend to log on. You click on it, select post a message, then you speak the title and afterwards the message body. It displays the messages back to people when they check the board.

If either of these are of interest...

Apparently someone's posted working code for something very similar to those message boards for NWN2 here, ready to go.

As far as the magical sendings go, here is the code for those. Edit: I note from the descriptions that it does not appear Peeper's version requires you to have some sort of Stone to receive messages. Probably a good idea to add if this were considered. It's NWN1 code, but probably easy enough to tweak for NWN2.

I'd also make costs for sendings increase per sending, and reset them every once in a while.

EDIT:

Well, we all know what us players think now, especially my spammy self. I wonder if any DMs might fill us in on what they're thinking? (Without the TOP SECRET bits of course) I'm sure there is a lot of insight to be had from observing players as a DM that we players are missing here.

[superpoweredchimp]

I think we need some people breaking away from their weekly meeting groups and getting in game spontaneously. This is where the most driven RP can happen, at any given time. Weekly groups seem to be some sort of PnP-style boxed-in thing, where the storyline of the group has little idea of what's going on outside of the group, and seems to have no effect on what's going on outside of the group. I certainly don't think that people are wasting their lives playing on Dasaria. Because if it's not Dasaria, then it's something else, like reading books, playing WoW, or collecting Pokemens.

I think that another thing we should realize is that players don't need to rely on DMs as much as they think. Yes, the DMs can spawn that Canite legion to put your build/powergaming to the test, but what about player-led events? The past few nights, I've been doing some awesome things with my character, and a DM actually helped out with some of it, rather than lead it. It's been some of the most fun I've had in years on this server.

[Twist of Cain]

I think that another thing we should realize is that players don't need to rely on DMs as much as they think. Yes, the DMs can spawn that Canite legion to put your build/powergaming to the test, but what about player-led events? The past few nights, I've been doing some awesome things with my character, and a DM actually helped out with some of it, rather than lead it. It's been some of the most fun I've had in years on this server.

Yes, there are always players on, regardless of wether DMs are on or not. The more things can be placed into the hands of the players, the more constant RP you will see. I won't say "you don't need DMs," since you need the chance of being rewarded to motivate players (including simply making NPCs come alive), the knowledge that a DM might be observing, and delegation of plot elements to player groups when possible, etc. Still, that's much more efficient in terms of getting constant RP going on than DMs trying to be on all the time to drive it. Of course, some might consider it a downside that the more you place into the hands of players, the more often the opposing force will be other players, meaning PvP may take a more central role.

[Gixxer Chixxer]

Of course, some might consider it a downside that the more you place into the hands of players, the more often the opposing force will be other players, meaning PvP may take a more central role.

...Which is perfectly fine (even good!) so long as such PvP is kept IC, for IC reasons, in a well-controlled system.

Setting up the latter is the trickiest part. For one, all PvP should be subdual (so, for example, if an innocent bystander is hit with an area spell, it can be RP'd as such, rather than having it turn into a situation where there's noone to rez and the bystander has to spend XP/gold to respawn [or, that feature could be turned off altogether and I wouldn't miss it]. Of course, keeping it IC doesn't prevent certain problems in regards to ego, wherein the minds of individuals involved 'their character' was 'supposed' to win. A lot of people play with certain ideas in mind for their character, and often, losing to the bad/good guy isn't in that agenda. PvP (actually, PvP is OOC, so from now on I'm going to use CvC--character vs character) based plots, themes, and combat are all perfectly enjoyable within a mature environment. It's up to the DMs to make sure immaturity is dealt with. The vast majority of the time, in my playing and DMing experience, the OOC problems resulting from CvC come from the same minor handful of prima donna players who are given too much slack and never punished appropriately (or removed altogether).

Maturely handled Character vs Character plotlines and conflicts, with DM aid and subplots, have probably the most enjoyable RP I've done over the course of my NWN 'career'.

[Wired]

CvC -- I like the term!

[Peregrinus]

...rather than having it turn into a situation where there's noone to rez and the bystander has to spend XP/gold to respawn...

How many times does it need to be repeated: PvP deaths do not result in XP/Gold loss upon respawn. If you've had it happen, it's not suppose to, and is a bug.

Also, I also like the term CvC.

[Cythis]

When RP can seem harsh. Not to totally throw a twist and I will keep this as general as possible without getting detailed, but how have you guys gone about doing things the hard way when it comes to enforcing a sort of RP reality.

Example - rogue tries to PP you and you get in a fight with him, he doesn't flee. You kill him. If you had a scroll to rez him, would you? Let's say if you yourself were evil? I guess this really focuses on the RP of the post PvP.

[superpoweredchimp]

Well, I would hope that the reaction to a pick-pocket wouldn't be instant PvP. "PvP" should be reserved for those truly necessary and epic moments. If someone picks your pocket, it's perfectly fine to roleplay smacking them with the hilt of your blade without having to right click and attack. And that's what I constitute as CvC. CvC does not always equal PvP, and PvP does not always equal CvC.

[Redleafe]

This CvC thing is catchy eh? Awesome.

Oh and Per, I've lost xp and gold every time I've lost a CvC encounter, bug or not it has happened to this guy.

[Cythis]

good point Chimp.

[Sorc]

ME Likes CvC too
My 2 aggressive characters too, and while my some characters will avoid CvC , certain ones will seek it...And do it, if offended... I find that its not correct to enforce some RL OoC politness rules over CVC and characters which are extremely Chaotic or Evil... Cmon... Just remeber Khelgar even... which was CG... he always wanted CvC.... and telling that my aggresive, strong C character wont initiate CVC upon suddenly "Hostile" spell being cast on him - is not correct, and not polite......
If my CN char being pickpoketed and initiate CvC - and then someone will comment OoC about me making CvC situation - that the thing that will break Immersion, RP feel, and must be judged harshly by DMs.... if one plays the game, do BAD things to others (steal, which is also PvP action - hey one can steal glowing essences, and it is PvP, not CvC action) , and being catched and punished - he should be ready to acept that without whine, going OoC, or misintepreting PvP/CvC rules.
Cmon - be real - you DO NOT lose any XP/gold being PvP killed... And RP losing and being punished RP is much more polite act OoC wise, than running from punishement or complaining about it - thats for case if you talk about OoC politness..

[Mon-da-oth]

I have always considered Pick Pocket a PVP (or CVC for the politically correct term) event. Most of the people I have encountered using it are low level characters whose players think its cool to go around robbing everyone because it is so hard to get caught with just a few points into the skill. If you have PP someone you have just attacked them.

The higher level characters who do use PP are more likely to be RP'd characters.

[Wired]

Killing a pickpocket caught red-handed has always been fair play here.

The PvP rule-set is actually pretty straightforward if you think of it.

• The encounter must happen for a valid roleplay reason. If a defender has no idea why they're being attacked, somebody's probably done a disservice to someone.
• Every encounter begets a winner and a loser, and the loser is out. If anything happens after that, other than their accepting honorable defeat and moving on with their day, somebody's probably done done a disservice to someone.