Idea #1 - Promotions
This has been in discussion back and forth for a while, but I think it bears consolidating and maybe brainstorming. I don't think anyone is suggesting that there haven't been improvements to the cabal ranking system - whereas one used to sit at 50 for hours before getting inducted, and then hours again at veteran before a promotion to trusted, those things all happen relatively quickly now. But, there's still the question... can we do better to make a more fluid system for the IMMs and the players.
So here's my proposal:
CABAL INDUCTION
Create an automated system of measuring whether someone has met the requirements for induction. For example, per the "Cabal Entrance Requirements" thread, most cabals require(d) that prospective entrants have...
- Between 5-15 clan quests completed
- Some cabals also require a PK (Syndicate and Nexus)
- Some cabals require other RP contributions (Merchant, Tribunal, Warmaster)
- Some cabals have a level requirement
Of these things, three can be checked with a mob prog or hard code. The intangible requirement - that is, RP - is a little bit more difficult to quantify on a standardized basis. BUT, something close to it can be achieved, and then certainly if someone flies under the radar without really meeting that requirement, that could be a time for the cabal IMM to step in. Here's what I'd propose:
- Have a "cabal induction" quest that can be activated once a player has met the basic level requirement + PK requirement + clan quest requirement (the objectively measurable requirements). That quest can be, to some effect, the RP test for entrance into the Cabal.
- Add a check to the clanmaster so that every time a clan quest is returned, clan rank can be adjusted (as necessary) based on the number of clan points earned.
Joe Lawlubber joins Militia at level 15. Over his trip to 50, he completes the requisite 10 clan quests, follows all the laws, earns some RP points (for a history, notes, journals, or RP logs, etc), and is generally a good clan member. He will be automatically promoted to Veteran due his clan quest completion. Once at level 50 and having achieved 10 clan points, he can approach the clan master and use a TBD command (say Cabal Test) to activate a real-time quest to start the Tribunal Entrance Exam, which will test his knowledge of the Maxim and ensure that he understands his responsibilities. Each Cabal Imm can design their own test with some amount of flexibility based on the questions they want to ask and the limitations of a hard-coded vs OLC-coded system.
If Joe Lawlubber successfully passes the Tribunal Entrance Exam, the Clanmaster automatically allows him to apply for the cabal (checking, of course, that the cabal isn't maxed at the moment). If he fails the Tribunal Entrance Exam, the Clanmaster deducts 5 clanpoints from Joe's record and he can try again after completing another 5 clan quests. Another stipulation here could be that it costs X (5-10?) RP points to activate the Clan Test.
CABAL PROMOTIONS
Being in a cabal can be great - but it can also be an uphill battle if you're the underdog. Or it can just be frustrating if you feel stuck at a certain rank (especially since most of the "good" cabal skills start at Trusted). With that in mind, I do wonder if Trusted should be the plateau where automated promotions stop at, compared to Veteran. Here's what that could look like:
- Reduce Inductee promotion time to a 4 hour clock (effectively 5 hours, counting the zero hour)
- Keep Member promotion time to a 9 hour clock (effectively 10 hours)
- Increase the Veteran promotion time to a 14 or 19 hour clock (effectively 15 or 20 hours).
This ensure that players that meet the time-based requirements - especially players that "binge play" - are rewarded for their efforts, even if their 30-35 hours of in-game playtime occurs over the span of 3-4 days, as opposed to someone else's two weeks. However, it also doesn't create an unlevel playing field for the "hour a day" folks that can only commit to... you guessed it, an hour a day.
Immortals could still bypass these clocks by manually promoting someone - if they do, however, I would advocate that a hard-coded check be added to the "cabal promote " command where it would reduce the clock for their following level by the amount of time remaining on their existing level. For example, if I was just inducted, do something really impressive and the Cabal IMM sees it and decides to manually promote me, that's great! But then... oh boy, now I have 17 hours to wait until my next promotion?! Big oof! Making it a true promotion in terms of the time required to obtain the next rank would make a manual promotion a special reward that the cabal IMM can give out at their discretion, with a meaningful impact behind it.
Keep in mind that a check could be added (since there are often other requirements - e.g. bounties collected, gold deposited, challenges completed) for other benchmarks that a caballed character might need to meet to get that Trusted level promotion. For example, an RP point threshold or another cabal-related benchmark, etc.
IDEA #2 - CABAL EQUIPMENT
Let's face it... there are some pretty sizable disparities in the cabal equipment that's available to each organization. For example, it was discussed recently in Discord that Savant and Warmaster both have pretty stellar kits (a little more in favor of Warmaster) in terms of their equipment. Just running some of this gear through the point balance system, not all of it lines up exactly. For example...
an Emblazoned Surcoat
Object 'surcoat silk emblazoned' is type armor, material silk.
Extra flags: inventory.
Weight is 5, value is 500, level is 40.
Armor class is 10 pierce, 10 bash, 10 slash, and 10 vs. magic.
Affects hp by 75.
You have a feeling only a Knight can use it.
AVAILABLE POINTS: 9
TOTAL POINTS USED: 9.5
Technically speaking, this item is unbalanced under the new system. But is it really? First, the weight could be raised to 10 to add another point. Second, the level could be raised to 50 (like all other cabal gear) to add another point. And third... I get that having that much HP on a single item piece can be a good time, but is it really necessary?
Here's another example...
some Demonskin Plate
Object 'demonskin plate demon skin burning black' is type armor, material demonskin.
Extra flags: inventory burnproof.
Weight is 15, value is 900, level is 50.
Armor class is 12 pierce, 12 bash, 12 slash, and 7 vs. magic.
Affects savingspell by -2.
Affects damroll by 3.
Affects hitroll by 3.
You have a feeling only a Nexus can use it.
AVAILABLE POINTS: 10
TOTAL POINTS USED: 12.075
This is another weird one because the plate damages you occasionally in combat, which I would suggest should reduce the total points used by a small factor. But again, this item is technically not considered balanced. And moreover, is it especially useful? It can be... to select combinations.
So, how would I propose we fix this? Glad you asked!
INTRODUCE BIFURCATED CABAL GEAR LINES - THE "WHY"
Warmaster already created a precedent for this, it's just a matter of making it unilateral between all cabals and possibly expanding on it further. Currently Warmaster offers there different chest pieces - one for monks (does not encumber), one for blademasters (does not encumber) and one for everyone else (would encumber if worn by a monk or blademaster).
By adding cabal gear that meets the needs of various race/class combinations, we accomplish several end goals:
-
We create a desirability to enter a cabal, thus promoting the RP and PK rewards (and challenges) of being a caballed versus uncaballed character. Statistically, since most characters that last more than a few days end up in a cabal for some or most of their lifetime, this is probably the least valuable contribution.
-
We reduce dependency on often out-of-stock rare and unique items by making cabal items more desirable to all cabal members, allowing those items to take their rightful place as an enhancement to a usable kit, as opposed to a necessity for PK viability.
-
We allow for unique (read: seldom played) race/class combos to take advantage of cabal gear to turn a "junk" build into a viable one.
INTRODUCE BIFURCATED CABAL GEAR LINES - THE "HOW"
So for starters, let's talk about procs. Many cabal items have different progs - some offensive, some defensive, some passive - that give the items utility. First and foremost, I would propose that these procs be considered outside of the scope of the numerical balance system, since they are both widely variable and difficult to quantify. Could you treat any proc as a "spellforge" in terms of item points? Sure. Should you? Not in my opinion. Otherwise you run into an issue with this point that I'm going to make right about... now...
My point in this section is to demonstrate how and why cabal equipment should be as or more useful than most rare/unique items in the overworld.
Let's break it down into some numbers:
of slots per cabal: 8
of cabals: 9
Total # of slots: 72
Let's assume the following:
-
50% of cabal slots are filled by melee characters (50% per cabal + all of Warmaster)
-
50% of cabal slots are filled by mage characters (50% per cabal + all of Savant)
-
50% of cabal slots are filled at any given time (currently there are 22 active cabal members, 33 total cabal members, so this likely isn't too far off)
What that gives us is an average of 18 melee characters and 18 mage characters that need to be equipped at any given moment. So let's look at gear... these are purely anecdotal, but having played for a long time, I'm probably not far off on the list...
#1 Chest Piece: Torso of Adeptus - 2 available
#2 Chest Piece: Fullplate of Twin Sabres - 1-2 available
#3 Chest Piece: Titanium Fullplate - 8 available
#4 Chest Piece: Keeper's Tunic - 11 available
#5 Chest Piece: Shadow Plate - 20 available
That means that to cater to the 18 melee characters that exist on average, we are making it halfway through the stock of the Keeper's tunic (which is also heavily used by mages) before everyone has a piece of armor. When you look at two-slot categories, the amount that the top gear is oversubscribed by just increases further. What this does is create a disparity in the available gear that makes it difficult for a new character to hit their stride and have a meaningful impact in PK.
By creating items - for example, a signet ring for each cabal, with variations for mages, melees, and rogues - that is PK viable and even desirable beyond the Ring of Accuracy (for example), you allow for rare and unique gear to be an augmentation, rather than a necessity.
THE NEW EQUIPMENT - WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
First and foremost, I'd propose that each cabal have one purchasable piece of gear for each of the two-item slots (except neck, which already has the RP necklace). So that's an addition of one RING and one WRIST piece.
Second, I'd propose that cabal gear be split between mages, melees, and hybrids based on the current point system. My goal would be to see us identify slots that a piece of cabal gear could/should fill, and have every potential member of the cabal be able to reasonably (and desirably) use a piece of cabal gear that fills each of those slots. (To make that more clear - if the slots are Ring x1, Wrist x1, Torso, Body, Light, Face - then I should be able to use a variant for each of those slots, whether I am a drow battlemage, an elf paladin, a halfling thief, or a stone giant warrior).
Third, I'd propose that procs be tied into who the gear is intended for. For example, melees might get access to a few utility procs (the Knight missile shield item, for example) whereas mages could get access to a different item with a different proc.
Fourth, I'd propose that all cabal items be brought up to and balanced as level 50 items. This is largely the case, but is not ubiquitous currently.
So let's go back to our Knight armor from earlier...
CURRENT
an Emblazoned Surcoat
Object 'surcoat silk emblazoned' is type armor, material silk.
Extra flags: inventory.
Weight is 5, value is 500, level is 40.
Armor class is 10 pierce, 10 bash, 10 slash, and 10 vs. magic.
Affects hp by 75.
You have a feeling only a Knight can use it.
AVAILABLE POINTS: 9
TOTAL POINTS USED: 9.5
PROPOSED MAGE ITEM
a Sigil's Emblazoned Surcoat
Object 'surcoat silk emblazoned sigil' is type armor, material silk.
Extra flags: inventory.
Weight is 5, value is 500, level is 50.
Armor class is 10 pierce, 10 bash, 10 slash, and 10 vs. magic.
Affects hp by 50.
Affects mana by 20.
Affects hitgain by 5.
Affects managain by 5.
Affects ward of the crown by 3.
You have a feeling only a Sigil can use it.
AVAILABLE POINTS: 10
TOTAL POINTS USED: 10
PROPOSED MELEE ITEM
a Praetorian's Emblazoned Surcoat
Object 'surcoat silk emblazoned praetorian' is type armor, material silk.
Extra flags: inventory.
Weight is 5, value is 500, level is 50.
Armor class is 10 pierce, 10 bash, 10 slash, and 10 vs. magic.
Affects hp by 30.
Affects hitroll by 3.
Affects hitgain by 5.
Affects ac by -10.
Affects stand ground by 3.
You have a feeling only a Praetorian can use it.
AVAILABLE POINTS: 10
TOTAL POINTS USED: 10
SUMMARY
I think cabals can be an even more vital, vibrant part of the game than they already are. And by making clan promotions, inductions, and cabal promotions up to Trusted automatic, this creates a more even opportunity for players of both the "binge" variety and those that play more casually. It also frees up the Immortals in charge of each cabal to focus on other duties rather than tedious cabal/clan administration. And finally, as mentioned earlier, it takes some of the burden off the rare/unique item pool, allowing those items to be used as supplemental/augmentative rather than primary gear selections.