Shattered Kingdoms

I think the problem is that we simply need a shitload more players. Whether this happens or not.

A little while ago Cannibal and I were talking about dual membership and came up with some ideas. I was hoping he might be motivated to post since I had lost the motivation to after posting so much. Although, I think some of these ideas are too good to leave in just our heads. Also to be fair, most of the ideas are Cannibal’s because unfortunately I was (and maybe still am to an extent) trapped in my own trains of thought.

The first set of ideas are to help cabals be more secret if dual membership comes about. To start there would be a toggle that allows a member to be seen on the who list by those that are in the cabal. This toggle would default to being off so that they would not show up on the who list as a member. This means it is possible for a cabal member to be in game without another cabal member knowing they are also a member via the who list.

The next idea regarding cabal secrecy involves the cabal channel. This would be changed so member’s names would no longer appear when used. In stead of the name either cabal member or cabal leader would appear. This allows for a member to exist and partake in the cabal channel without giving away his identity. And it also allows the leader to communicate/give orders without revealing himself either. Just an add-on to this idea, if possible it would be nice if instead of just appearing as cabal member it could be replaced by the player by whatever name they wish.

The last idea regarding cabal secrecy is to create objects that when worn will change the appearance of the wear to sexless, race-less, and change the wear’s description to a preset description when worn. I know an object like this already exists but I would like to expand it to every cabal. Also each cabal would have three different types of these objects: one for the leaders, one for the members, and one for the one to be inducted. These objects allow for cabals to have their induction rituals while maintaining the secrecy of all the members including the one being inducted and it allows for meetings that protect identities.

If we add these ideas with the change of cabal powers to be used with concealment we see that total secrecy in a cabal is possible. As long as the member or the leader doesn’t reveal that member’s identity there is no way for others to know. This includes use of OOC means.

The next idea doesn’t deal with cabal secrecy but the ability to tribunal jump. The ability to move from one set of ideals for a secret society doesn’t make sense so the oath-breaker should remain in place for cabals (but the former cabal could re-induct if they so desired). Although two other flags would be created for tribunals: the honorable discharge and the dishonorable discharge. Since a person’s desire to protect/serve their homeland is far different then that of cabal ideals they should be allowed to switch tribunals. When a tribunal leader goes to induct a character they would be informed of any past allegiances and what type of discharge they received. Therefore if the character in question received a dishonorable discharge the tribunal leader could stop there and decide against induction but isn’t disallowed from doing so. This would make simple tribunal jumping harder but far from impossible. This helps the problem of cabals naturally drawing greater loyalty then tribunals but it still exists.

The last idea discussed involved giving another spell to cabals. This was discussed because it was believed that the difference between tribunals isn’t great enough to create a loyalty that isn’t easily replaced by what another tribunal would offer. Therefore we discussed the concept of redistributing powers from cabals to tribunals but felt the cabal might need something then.

Now this spell is the same and yet different for every cabal and would significantly impact the economy of a country. The spell would be a group casting spell and its effectiveness would be based upon the number of casters. There is also a draw back to casting the spell, namely every caster would lose access to their other cabal powers for a time. How long the caster are without their cabal powers is inversely related to the number of casters. So the more casters the more powerful and/or longer the affect and the shorter each caster has to go without access to their cabal powers. This makes the use of the spell something that a cabal can use as a bargaining chip with tribunals but because of the cost something they would have to be committed to using. Also since it is a group spell there aren’t worries of a disgruntled cabal member using it flippantly.

Now this spell's affects could be positive or negative. For example the Druids might get a spell that has a beneficial affect called plentiful harvest and a negative affect called pestilent harvest. In one case the economy of a country is helped by having an above normal harvest and the other hurts the economy by having a sub-par harvest. Now every cabal would have this type of spell but it would affect different things for each.

That’s it for the new ideas. I’m not saying Cannibal has any particular belief but a majority of the ideas here are spawned from his creativity. Personally, I think these are great ideas and think it would be worth while for D to consider.

Lei Kung

Everytime Lei_Kung makes a post, God kills three kittens.

At least I know something good is coming from my posts then.

Lei Kung

I generally find your posts insightful actually, Lei Kung, even if I don't always agree with you.

This could all easily be fixed with the addition of a command similar to auto anonymous - let's call it auto affiliation.

Auto affiliation -
Toggles your cabal or tribunal identity from 'known' to 'secret'. On group channel instead of seeing:

[Your name]: <message>

you'd see:

[Member]: <message>

On the WHO list:

[--- ---] Bob the newbie
[Elf ---] Dora the Explorer
[--- ---] Phil McKraken - Sorceror extraordinaire
[Hum Brb] [CABAL NAME] YOUR NAME HERE
[Del Nec] [CABAL NAME] Nizzerat the Flixmonger

Phil, being a secret member, does not have the cabal's name next to his own, while you would see Nizzerat's like normal if it is toggled off.

Only thing I'd change is that leader's would NOT be able to go secret.

Thanks for the complement, that isn't something you see too often on these boards, so I appreciate it.

Lei Kung

That was my first reaction too but after talking it out I came to the realization that there is no benefit to forcing the leader's identity being known. On there other hand, there are benefits to the leader keeping his identity secret. For example, the leader might suspect that a character he is going to induct might have placed himself (the inductee) in his (the cabal leader) sights as a spy for a tribunal. Therefore, he still wants the guy but doesn’t want to reveal himself. With the cabal channel showing a message being from the leader but not his identity he can issue all needed orders and information without having to reveal himself.

On another note, when I mentioned "if this is possible", I was refering to the ability to allow players to change [cabal member] to [the name of the player’s choice] when using the cabal channel.

Lei Kung

I've already voiced my problems with LK's ideas to him personally, however I'll say there is merit in some of the changes it just isn't as fix-all as it really seems.

One problem - how do you induct someone without them knowing you're the leader of the group?