Newb Questions

[FreeRangeVestric]

That depends on how nasty/creative the creatures who see you passed out are.  

But when your stun goes to 0, you'll be unable to move or use mostly any commands (except for stat, emote, score, skill, etc.) for a short amount of time. Steal is also guaranteed to work on you while you're in this state, and you're very easy to kill. You can still emote, but you can't target anyone in your emotes. After a while (the exact time seems to vary depending on a few factors), you'll recover a minimal amount of stun and wake up.

[Barsook]

There is a thread on this somewhere.

[Azerick]

Thank you, and I'm sure everyone is lovely and innocent, I am sure noone would steal from me javascript:void(0);

[Azerick]

Me again! How do I undo a bundle of feathers into separate feathers?

[Kalai]

Me again! How do I undo a bundle of feathers into separate feathers?

Craft bundle into feather

[Azerick]

Ahhh, thank you!

[icewindsong]

I don't know if i should make a separate thread to ask in, but this seemed to be the appropriate title.  I'm new (haven't made a character yet) but I'm already coming up with questions.  I just don't know if anyone has answers to give.

One think I wondered about is the sea of silt.  I read the lore entry on it, and that there are islands in it and so on.  One concept I had for a ranger possibly could be an explorer (sailor?) there.  My question is if its a practical idea?  I'm just assuming there are some kind of mount or dust-ships or sand-skiffs that can travel on it.  Does it happen often enough for a character concept, or is it more like something that only happens in a special event once every couple of years or longer in RL?  I'd probably get frustrated or annoyed in that case and should avoid.  But if one can find/buy/craft their own transport or join a guild that sends missions out on it regularly, that's different.

Another thing I wondered was about a cook or chef concept for a character.  That mostly would be RP for me to find a position and so on I know.  The question would be what guilds/subguilds cook, and which can go the highest in it?  It wouldn't be right to (unintentionally) shoot myself in the foot by making a great chef my core concept, and then taking a guild that can never rise above apprentice level or something?

Is there any kind of a "Roles-wanted" thread where clans/guilds/houses advertise some opening for rp they want filled? (for example, house Osh pastry chef, to relate it to my above question)

Lastly (for the moment) from the description of Archery skill, last paragraph: "You can shoot in a direction by providing a distance instead of a target. Valid distances are the same words seen when you look in a direction, "near" for one room, "far" for two rooms, "very far" for three rooms. You will have no chance of hitting a target if you use distance, but it is useful for sending a warning shot."  So it seems to be saying ranged attacks don't work except at non-range, where they immediately start melee?  Isn't that kind of the opposite of the core concept of archery..?

[manipura]

I don't know if i should make a separate thread to ask in, but this seemed to be the appropriate title.  I'm new (haven't made a character yet) but I'm already coming up with questions.  I just don't know if anyone has answers to give.

One think I wondered about is the sea of silt.  I read the lore entry on it, and that there are islands in it and so on.  One concept I had for a ranger possibly could be an explorer (sailor?) there.  My question is if its a practical idea?  I'm just assuming there are some kind of mount or dust-ships or sand-skiffs that can travel on it.  Does it happen often enough for a character concept, or is it more like something that only happens in a special event once every couple of years or longer in RL?  I'd probably get frustrated or annoyed in that case and should avoid.  But if one can find/buy/craft their own transport or join a guild that sends missions out on it regularly, that's different.

Another thing I wondered was about a cook or chef concept for a character.  That mostly would be RP for me to find a position and so on I know.  The question would be what guilds/subguilds cook, and which can go the highest in it?  It wouldn't be right to (unintentionally) shoot myself in the foot by making a great chef my core concept, and then taking a guild that can never rise above apprentice level or something?

Is there any kind of a "Roles-wanted" thread where clans/guilds/houses advertise some opening for rp they want filled? (for example, house Osh pastry chef, to relate it to my above question)

Lastly (for the moment) from the description of Archery skill, last paragraph: "You can shoot in a direction by providing a distance instead of a target. Valid distances are the same words seen when you look in a direction, "near" for one room, "far" for two rooms, "very far" for three rooms. You will have no chance of hitting a target if you use distance, but it is useful for sending a warning shot."  So it seems to be saying ranged attacks don't work except at non-range, where they immediately start melee?  Isn't that kind of the opposite of the core concept of archery..?

Hello and welcome!

The world has silt skimmers for those wanting to try traveling the sea of silt.  I have never personally had a character go skimming around, but I am fairly certain that they are like other 'vehicles' in game (wagons, argosies etc) and you would need a character with the pilot skill.  It can certainly be attempted, getting a skimmer and seeking out a great adventure, just keep in mind that without the pilot skill, or without a friend who has the pilot skill, you won't be going anywhere.

There is only a small handful of guilds/subguilds who can actually master cooking but everyone in-game can cook.  It's one of those skills that everyone has.  Those who haven't picked a guild/subguild who can master cooking will max out at advanced.

As far as there being a Job Listing thread for Houses or clans, no not really.  That is something you would have to look into in-game.  The threads on the GDB that deal with role calls are typically one of two things: a family role call by a player, who has gone through the first steps of getting their family concept okayed by staff, or a role call by staff when there is a specific position in a House or clan that they are looking to fill.  Other than those sorts of role calls, everything else would be done in game and in character.  However, you will see when you get into the game that there are 'rumor boards' in the cities, generally in bars or taverns. They essentially are message boards in-game where people can leave information for other players.  Remember though, most people don't read in Zalanthas, so even though this is a message board, the information on it pertaining to House's looking for an employee for example, should be treated more like gossip you heard around the bar.  And it isn't there for players to leave personal messages for their friends, it is more of a place for players to make note of important goings-on in the city.  Things that the rumor-mongers and gossips in the taverns would likely be yammering about.

As for archery, I think you are just misunderstanding the explanation.  You certainly can hit things in distant rooms.  What that part of the help file is saying is that if you shoot a -distance- and do not specify a target, you won't hit anything.  You will simply fire an arrow into that room. 
If, for example, you are in a room and you look east, you might see:

Code Select Expand

[Very Far]
Nothing.
[Far]
A little Zalanthan critter is here, scurrying about.
[Near]
Nothing.

You can either fire an arrow and try to hit the critter, or you can fire your arrow in the direction of the critter with no chance of hitting it.

Code Select Expand

shoot critter east
You will shoot at the critter.

Code Select Expand

shoot far east
You will fire an arrow into the room with the critter, without attempting to be hitting it.

[Harmless]

I believe the mainguilds with the highest cap for their cooking skills are Pickpockets, merchants, and rangers. I am sure pickpocket goes up to "master" level of cooking, but I am a little less sure about rangers and merchants.

but as manipura says, everyone can learn a wide range of basic recipes.

[manipura]

I believe the mainguilds with the highest cap for their cooking skills are Pickpockets, merchants, and rangers. I am sure pickpocket goes up to "master" level of cooking, but I am a little less sure about rangers and merchants.

but as manipura says, everyone can learn a wide range of basic recipes.

Merchants and pickpockets can become better at cooking than a ranger can.
Always amuses me that pickpockets have the potential to become some of the best chefs in the Known.

[icewindsong]

I don't know if i should make a separate thread to ask in, but this seemed to be the appropriate title.  I'm new (haven't made a character yet) but I'm already coming up with questions.  I just don't know if anyone has answers to give.

One think I wondered about is the sea of silt.  I read the lore entry on it, and that there are islands in it and so on.  One concept I had for a ranger possibly could be an explorer (sailor?) there.  My question is if its a practical idea?  ...

Another thing I wondered was about a cook or chef concept for a character.  ...  The question would be what guilds/subguilds cook, and which can go the highest in it? ...

Is there any kind of a "Roles-wanted" thread where clans/guilds/houses advertise some opening for rp they want filled? (for example, house Osh pastry chef, to relate it to my above question)

Hello and welcome!

The world has silt skimmers for those wanting to try traveling the sea of silt.  I have never personally had a character go skimming around, but I am fairly certain that they are like other 'vehicles' in game (wagons, argosies etc) and you would need a character with the pilot skill.  It can certainly be attempted, getting a skimmer and seeking out a great adventure, just keep in mind that without the pilot skill, or without a friend who has the pilot skill, you won't be going anywhere.

There is only a small handful of guilds/subguilds who can actually master cooking but everyone in-game can cook.  It's one of those skills that everyone has.  Those who haven't picked a guild/subguild who can master cooking will max out at advanced.

As far as there being a Job Listing thread for Houses or clans, no not really.  That is something you would have to look into in-game.  The threads on the GDB that deal with role calls are typically one of two things: a family role call by a player, who has gone through the first steps of getting their family concept okayed by staff, or a role call by staff when there is a specific position in a House or clan that they are looking to fill.  ...

Okay, that makes more sense than what I thought it was saying, about archery.

About silt-skimmers then, do they regularly get used so there's some hope of being involved with them?  Or are they considered too valuable to do anything with except when someone running a house or guild or whatever says 'hey, its been 3 years... lets send the boat out!' and then it gets used for a weekend rp, and goes back to idle for a few more years?  Hoping you, or someone, knows.  I'm just poking at the viability of character concepts here.  I'm sure there's rp to be had while it just sits at a pier every day, but it doesn't seem like it would be satisfying for a "dust-sailor" character concept - like playing a hunter who only sits at the bar and never hunts, or a bard that never performs.  If individuals can buy dust-skimmers, that's different... then its just a matter of working, earning and saving to afford one.  Then I could organize my own expeditions.

Reading the helpfiles, the only one that mentions cooking specifically is House Servant, while Merchant says they are skilled in many kinds of crafting.  They were my initial candidates for the cooks, but I could see a case made for either of them to be the 'right' class.  On the one hand, everything I read suggests that subguild crafting tends to be more limited and Merchant is the primary guild for crafts.  On the other hand, House Servant lists being a Chef for a large meal as one of its focus points, so maybe it is the path for chefs and a Merchant would be considered too busy to fully probe the intricasies of cooking, conceptually.  So rather than guess, I thought it is more practical to just ask.  I didn't think this would be secret information - I'm not asking for recipies to craft food in the game, just which guild(s) is the proper choice.    Maybe I'm overthinking all this, but again, just trying to be practical.

(Noting the post by Harmless as I was typing the above)  Pickpockets and Rangers?  I wouldn't have guessed them.  It kind of makes sense if rangers' foraging food lets them find components of more complex foods.  Pickpockets is a surprise.  Does 'Master' mean they can make anything that isn't clan/house-restricted?  Or are there gradations within 'Master' level?

[Harmless]

Master is cool because it allows you to "mastercraft" for that skill.

Mastercrafting is a process by which you can build a new recipe and item. For example, let's say there's a kind of stew that doesn't exist in game but I want my character to make it. If my character has cooking mastered, then I can roleplay them researching a new recipe for a few weeks. I can ask other characters if they know of recipes similar to what I have in mind. If it looks like it doesn't exist yet, then I can begin looking for a good recipe to make it. I would research in the game with other PCs again what ingredients to use.

After some time spent roleplaying this process, I can submit a mastercraft request to the imms describing the recipe I have in mind, the finished product's short and long description, and the process by which my character has been researching it.

If you don't have cooking mastered, then you are not allowed to invent new recipes in cooking.

Therefore pickpockets and merchants are awesome to play.

[manipura]

Like I said, I've never gallivanted around on a skimmer, but as far as I know anyone can buy one.  I imagine they're pricey, and unless you have pilot or a friend who can pilot it you won't be going anywhere.  As for them being available for anyone to buy though, yes, that's the case.  I believe the person who sells skimmers has a few different types too, all different prices most likely.  No idea if the most expensive one is 'better' than the cheapest one or not, in terms of piloting it or whatever.

Umm, cooking.  I always thought that House Servant masters cooking, it seems like they should, but I've never played one so I'm not too sure about it.  Rangers can forage food, but will never be as good as a merchant or a...pickpocket  or (perhaps) a House Servant?  Even though rangers are one of the few guilds/subguilds who can forage food, I sort of think of it as they are never going to be the best at cooking because they are cooking over a campfire   So while they may have the ability to dig up and hunt a bunch of great ingredients for a fancy recipe, putting it together might be beyond them. 

'Master' level in a skill (cooking for example) means that, with the right ingredients, you can attempt to cook something that is coded as a 'master level recipe'.  It also means that you are much more likely to succeed at any recipe you are attempting because you are very skilled in that trade/art.  Doesn't mean you will always succeed every time mind you, but at master, you are considered to be very highly skilled.  If you are in House or a clan, you will be able to attempt any crafting recipes that are House/clan specific, so long as you have the appropriate skill and skill level to do so.  If you are an independent, it doesn't matter if you're the best chef in the Known, you won't be able to figure out how to recreate the divine pastries that Kadius was serving at their last bash, not unless you are with the House.

The other thing that mastering a crafting skill allows you to do is to 'mastercraft' an item.  Mastercrafting Help File
As you can see in the help file, if you haven't looked at it already, a master level crafter can design their own items and submit them to be added to the game.  This might be an item you are wanting, or an item someone has hired you to make etc.  You provide all the information for the item, what it looks like, how it's made, the room echoes when you are attempting to craft it, the cost of the item.  Every last detail.  I think it says in the help file that only pick-making, brewing and component crafting are -not- skills which can be used to design mastercrafts.  Every other crafting skill can though, even cooking. 

So mastering cooking (or any craft skill) doesn't just open up a few more really neat items/recipes for you to attempt, and doesn't just give you a better chance at succeeding, if you are so inclined it opens up the possibility of you being able to add to the game with appropriate items that you have designed yourself.

[Gimfalisette]

If you want to roleplay a master chef, and get the most opportunities to do things like catering parties, then I'd strongly recommend making a merchant/whatever * and going to work for House Kadius. You'll have no shortage of materials, there will be people around you to help you get common and rare supplies, and the potential to cater parties and events in either city. It would be a really rich roleplay opportunity.

Working for Kadius or any of the other GMHs as a merchant guild character is the way to go for a newbie if you want to work on your skills. It's super-hard to be both indie and a newb.

Since you haven't made a character yet, you'll need to make one that starts in Allanak or Tuluk anyway, so why not roll it up today? Time to stop deliberating and just get in the game


* Pick any other subguild that either won't have a lot of overlap with merchant (e.g. one of the combat subclasses, or something that includes a language - maybe caravan guide?), or pick a subguild that will give you boosted crafting skills, e.g. tailor lets you start out with the basic skills of a tailor. (One of my favorite sets of merchant skills.)

[Cerys]

I second Gimfalisette's opinion - merchant is the way to go for all crafting related stuff.  They're the best crafters in the game, and crafting skills will comprise the majority of their skill set. Yes, this includes cooking - they are also awesome at cooking.

The House Servant subguild doesn't really add a lot to the merchant experience, but you can still take it if you want. This is a roleplaying game, not the min/max arcade - and many people who play Armageddon don't use any of their skills but the language skills!

[icewindsong]

I think after what I've been reading, I will relegate the sea of dust idea to a later time or character.  One of the complaints I've read about is people not using enough emoting during battles, and I probably would treat it much like a regular hack&slash dikumud if I go with a combative character first.  My cook idea seems like the better choice to not only get used to the system (and life in the world), but learn to do it reflexively whatever I am doing.  My first look at it makes it seem fairly complex.  I have worked a little with personal-pronoun objective, subjective and possessive substitutions in the MUSH environment, but Armageddon's system seems far more developed.  And I like that, but it will be a challenge to learn and become practiced at using correctly, I think?

Would a GMH want a chef character working for them?  Maybe for the Family members?  That might be a good alternative to just going looking for a hire to some noble house, as I should probably at least be close to masterdom before taking that kind of step.  Probably any kind of negotiation or interview along those lines would require a demonstration of ability, so it would be good to actually be able to cook.  That brings up the question of wether joining a GMH's employees is by a set contract time, or is it a permanent kind of thing?  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD4F-mEMlRo


Modified to add: I suppose next is to ask if anyone knows wether the north or south is more culinarily developed?

[Bushranger]

For emoting all you really need to keep in mind is ~ for person/you and % for person's/your. The rest are much more situational and you can get by really well without them (I hardly use others and while my RP could be more flowery with the more complicated substitutions I don't face any trouble at all)

GMH's certainly hire chefs, especially Kadius who specialize in luxury foods. Kurac might be a good choice if your character wants to specialize into survival type foods: Trail mix, travel rations and preserved snacks. Don't overlook noble houses though because they often have parties and dinners where a chef would be valued. They often take in novices so they can be trained to specifically cater to the nobles tastes!

I really love the idea of chefs as a character concept icewindsong. Looking forward to having you in game!

[LauraMars]

Nobles definitely hire newbies/beginners. Especially if they know that newbie has the potential to one day make an artistic representation of their face out of bread dough, carru meat, and dried Kalan fruits or something.

I'd say that both cities are pretty well developed when it comes to food. There is a lot of food in armageddon!

(Despite, y'know, the majority of the population being destitute and starving)

[icewindsong]

Well then.  I've seen a lot of references to Allanak's nobles on the board, but not a lot about Tuluk's.  Is it the more active?  The north sounds more pleasant in the descriptions, with forest and grassland around it.  But Allanak might be better for rp opportunity?  I guess it doesn't make much difference to start if I want to go to a merchant house since they're in both places, but if I look for nobles then.. ugh.  What to do?  Can someone get citizenship in both cities?


And an unrelated newbie (to the GMB) question:  How do I set a picture to be on the left with my posts, like everyone else?

[Harmless]

As to which city is more active, it varies all the time, but Allanak is going to be a bit busier for the next few months probably given the new role call.

As to which city is more food friendly, I would.say if yiu want to learn your cooking RP in a clan, it depends on how many players are in your timezone in that clan, which might or might not be allanak. If you wanted to try and gather materials yourself to cook (which I don't recommend for a new merchant due to how dangerous it is) then the north is a better bet.

[manipura]

Setting up an avatar is easy-peasy:

Click Profile (depending on whether you've customized your GDB layout, this should be at the top left somewhere, with Home, Help, Search, Logout etc)
Click Forum Profile Information (should be a little box/menu with Profile Info and Modify Profile.  This is where you can modify and personalize some things about your profile.)
Just check the option "I have my own pic" then copy and paste the URL for the picture/avatar you are wanting to use right into the space provided.
Click the Change Profile button at the bottom to save your changes/preferences and that's it.

[Rahnevyn]

Well then.  I've seen a lot of references to Allanak's nobles on the board, but not a lot about Tuluk's.  Is it the more active?  The north sounds more pleasant in the descriptions, with forest and grassland around it.  But Allanak might be better for rp opportunity?  I guess it doesn't make much difference to start if I want to go to a merchant house since they're in both places, but if I look for nobles then.. ugh.  What to do?  Can someone get citizenship in both cities?

You cannot be a citizen of both cities at once. You've probably seen more discussion of Allanak's nobility at present since there is currently a role call out for new Allanaki nobility. However, new noble PCs were brought in to Tuluk not so long ago as well. The noble 'scene' is active in both places, but it has a different feel in each; read a bit of the documentation and you'll see some of the differences!

One other thing to note; although geographically Tuluk does have a forest and grasslands nearby, don't think of the territory as a verdant, comfortable climate. There are growing things, but it isn't all greenery and pleasantness; closer to a savannah than a fertile valley. Tuluk also (just recently, thanks to Tektolnes) has to contend with a rather large active volcano that has sprung up to its southwest.

[icewindsong]

Thank you for all the answers!  As you can see I have a picture now, and now that I'm working seriously on my application, well, more questions! 

Right now I'm working on description, and discovered the tdesc command.. so now I understand what I can do for hair other than have one always-set style.  But I am wondering about skin and hair colors.  I've looked at some example descriptions, and I can see there are dark skinned and pale skinned and others in between, not just the dark hair and skin I would expect people to evolve in an unrelenting strong-sun environment.  But its a fantasy game and I bet it was left up to people so we don't all look alike and players are happy.  My question though is...  are there any particular colors associated with different areas?  Pale-skin more often from Tuluk for instance, and dark from redstorm and allanak?  Red hair typically from nomad hill people, etc.   Before I decide on an appearance I wondered if there are already defined associations like that?

Also wondering... I assume more obscure adjectives for description and sdesc are okay as long as they're appropriate to the character, used properly, and can be found in the Merriam-Webster dictionary?

[Bushranger]

Some of the tribes do have common physical traits. Gypsy men for example don't usually grow thick facial/body hair. When you apply for clan documentation to join one of these tribes you can ask the staff for advice on this. As for the city-states these are rather varied and due to various waves of migration both are quite multicultural. When Allanak burned, pillaged and conquered the north there were refugees who came south. When there was a famine in Allanak there was a wave of migration north to Tuluk. When there was a deluge in Tuluk many people fled to the drier climates of the south! This is all due to historical events that have occurred during the lifetime of Armageddon. Red Storm is a haven for run away slaves, outcasts, pirates, scum and villainy (think Mos Eisely space port with Silt Skimmers instead of YT-1300 freighters) so is similarly cosmopolitan.

This thread: Revenge of the Dappled Dickens Whelp is a great thread on exactly your question. Obscure adjectives in short descriptions is one of the topics that seems to come up regularly on the GDB and various personalities have differing opinions. I tend to echo Sanvean's advice "there's a difference between a big word used in order to convey a precise shade of meaning and a big word used because you want to stand out.  I wholeheartedly support the first, but fear that the second often leads to what I can only call "Thesaurus syndrome", where the word is allllmooooost correct but just enough off that it's trying to make the word do something it shouldn't." When your character concept is sophisticated and erudite use refined adjectives to convey this and when they're rough and common labourers use direct and monosyllabic words.

TL;DR No cultural norms in the City-States for physical traits. Obscure adjectives are allowed!

Also nice avatar

[icewindsong]

Thank you!  

I'm uncertain what degree to be sophisticated and erudite at the start, but not signifigantly perhaps.  Assuming she comes from money (merchant-level money, but not merchant-house or noble wealth and privilege) then she may well be more accustomed to luxuries in her life than the masses below her status.  I imagine that what she knows from her past, however, will be nothing contrasted with what she will (I hope) become involved in during play. 

As for the words I've chosen, they have precise meanings and there's no stretching going on to use them.  Words that to explicate in simple english would require a longer phrase.    Our language is full of them, adopted from many of the other major languages of the world.  These are no exception, but of course I found them both while reading one of our own dictionaries, so I know they were in common enough use at some point to be inducted into our lingual collective.  The idea of having rare or possibly unique-within-Armageddon descriptive terms is something I consider desirable as using common ones would lead to confusion and misdirected communication.