Mr Happy
Scholar
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2006
- Messages
- 574
First, I will say that RPG factions and faction conflict are completely my bag. If done well, they are excellent vehicles for choice and consequence, roleplaying, world reactivity, and world background. And from what I’ve read, it seems like AoD’s system has nailed it. A few fun questions though..
So how does the weakening of factions work? Is it simply a described state, or is it measured in territory, population, wealth or influence? Is affecting faction strength mostly done through quests, or is there a lot of opportunities (like the smuggling example) to affect factions in a non-quest situation? (For example, would killing a head honcho or a lot of less important guys have any affect outside of a quest? If you simply wiped out a faction, how would the world react? Etc.)
Likewise, can you strengthen groups at all (recruit, donate etc), and if so what general consequences would this have? I recall you giving some example about the thieves’ guild getting wiped out as a result of some quest. Let’s say you bolstered up the thieves guild, could they survive the attack? That sort of thing. (not sure if this is exactly the situation you described, but you get what I’m saying)
Just one final thing. Is there some measured relation between factions (similar to how your reputation with them is tracked), or are these relations only expressed through consequences of quests, like the thieves guild being decimated? If there are measured inter-faction relations, how much influence does the player have over them (i.e. can you get the merchants pissed at the thieves? etc.)
Sorry for the ridiculous amount of questions, but AoD’s faction system sounds excellent, certainly my kind of thang, and that part of the article really got me curious about this.
June 2, 2006 RPG Dot interview
Q: Are there any NPC schedules, reactions to player actions or other elements that help create a dynamic world?
A: The gameworld is very reactive. Everything you do affects someone or something and has consequences. NPCs play specific roles and functions in the gameworld. For example, one of the thieves' functions is smuggling. That function is connected to other characters and their functions, creating some interesting action-reaction scenarios for players to, well, play with.
If conditions for successful smuggling operations have changed (smugglers are dead or arrested, the shipment hasn't been sent from another location, corruption among guards has been eliminated, etc), the smuggling stops. And now that affects someone else. Some craftsmen who relied on the supply of cheap ore are out of business. The Merchants' Guild becomes stronger, expands its trading operations and influence.
If you manage to weaken a faction significantly, another faction will see an opportunity and move in, again, affecting a lot of things. The bigger the rock, the bigger the ripples.
So how does the weakening of factions work? Is it simply a described state, or is it measured in territory, population, wealth or influence? Is affecting faction strength mostly done through quests, or is there a lot of opportunities (like the smuggling example) to affect factions in a non-quest situation? (For example, would killing a head honcho or a lot of less important guys have any affect outside of a quest? If you simply wiped out a faction, how would the world react? Etc.)
Likewise, can you strengthen groups at all (recruit, donate etc), and if so what general consequences would this have? I recall you giving some example about the thieves’ guild getting wiped out as a result of some quest. Let’s say you bolstered up the thieves guild, could they survive the attack? That sort of thing. (not sure if this is exactly the situation you described, but you get what I’m saying)
Just one final thing. Is there some measured relation between factions (similar to how your reputation with them is tracked), or are these relations only expressed through consequences of quests, like the thieves guild being decimated? If there are measured inter-faction relations, how much influence does the player have over them (i.e. can you get the merchants pissed at the thieves? etc.)
Sorry for the ridiculous amount of questions, but AoD’s faction system sounds excellent, certainly my kind of thang, and that part of the article really got me curious about this.