Militaristic Clan Sdescs

[DrunkenSalarr]

There are a number of militaristic clans in the game, most of whom have some sort of ranking structure and insignia (e.g. T'zai Byn Sergents have two-stripped studded sleeves, I will continue to use the Byn throughout this post as most players have had a Byn character).

I was thinking a nifty code change might be for clan members only, to have the insignia alter the sdesc much like some other items in game. The tall, muscular man  becomes The tall, muscular trooper.  This kind of change only makes sense within the clan as rank is often the first thing you notice when you are in such an organization, even before you look at someone's face.

[Veselka]

Sure, but only if it isn't a targetable keyword like Templar is.

Group combat gank galore. Woe be to the Sergeant.

Might be nifty with Nobles too. Sometimes they're covering their rings or not immediately like "oh Noble" until you weed through their equipment description. If we had eyes inside Zalanthas we might much quicker recognize "that's definitely a noble". So unless they take precautions to change their clothing, most "clan equipment" + clan rank would lead to these modifiers.

[WarriorPoet]

Love it.

[Lotion]

The Tan Muark have a thing where if you look at someone who is also clanned as Tan Muark there is a line below their mdesc showing their rank in the clan. While neat I don't think something like that would be appropriate for Byn. I think impersonating a member of a clan using stolen clothes should absolutely be something that can be done without staff intervention.

[Jihelu]

Sure, but only if it isn't a targetable keyword like Templar is.

Group combat gank galore. Woe be to the Sergeant.

Might be nifty with Nobles too. Sometimes they're covering their rings or not immediately like "oh Noble" until you weed through their equipment description. If we had eyes inside Zalanthas we might much quicker recognize "that's definitely a noble". So unless they take precautions to change their clothing, most "clan equipment" + clan rank would lead to these modifiers.

Honestly I'd be fine with it tagging them as 'sergeant' if they are wearing that gear, with the possible assumption being you don't wear your big ole 'sergeant' sign in combat.

I thought militaries/groups in history have low key, at times, hidden who their leaders were in combat so people couldn't assassinate them?

[Barsook]

Love it.

but only if it isn't a targetable keyword like Templar is.

[Incognito]

Great idea!!!

Only problem I foresee is the race of the PC getting hidden, and that could likely create confusion while interacting with other PCs/NPCs.

A solution could be to have the race appended in the modified sdesc.

Something like : The black-haired elf would change to the black-haired elven sergeant or the yellow dwarf would change to the yellow dwarven trooper.

So, like mentioned above by others, while the rank wouldn't be targetable as a keyword, the race actually would.
Even if the PC's desc says elf or dwarf, their modified sdesc would include their race, and that would be an additional keyword (i.e. elven or dwarven).

[Armaddict]

The old militia dustcloaks waaaay back in the day used to make 'soldier' both the sdesc noun and a keyword.  Perhaps you could attach similar code to ranking equipment, like stripes or cloaks?  Perhaps those keywords should be within clan only, the same way that you presented for visibility (if I read you right)?

[MeTekillot]

Good idea.

[Intuition]

Ultimately where does this idea lead to? Templars are universally known priests of the city states so it makes a bit more sense that they would get a little special treatment. There are some in game reasons why soldiers might not be universally known as soldiers or recognized as such by every single living entity in the game.

[Jihelu]

I really can't think of any people who'd have trouble recognizing a templar and not a soldier.
They advertise themselves pretty heavily.

Everyone in this game collectively decided that color coding and wearing big ole symbols of 'I work here' was a good idea.

[Lotion]

The old militia dustcloaks waaaay back in the day used to make 'soldier' both the sdesc noun and a keyword.  Perhaps you could attach similar code to ranking equipment, like stripes or cloaks?  Perhaps those keywords should be within clan only, the same way that you presented for visibility (if I read you right)?

They keywords should be for whoever wears them regardless of if they are codedly clanned. Impersonating someone with stolen clothing should absolutely be a thing.