Guild Specific NPCs Bounties

[Calodan]

Okay so HamsterHyde and I were talking today about something that I was interested in asking the community and the server about.

First off can DMs spawn NPCs that can have a conversation and be triggered by guild specific PCs? Like they only spawn or talk to you to initiate aggresions if you have a certain modifier it is looking for? I.E. A guild key?

If this can be done. Is it possible to create a bounty board or mission board for that guild where they can see the mission/bounty and clues and go looking for it?

I think something of this sort could give guilds more to do for their members and if it can be done allows DMs to interact with guilds in more ways without needing to host entire events. Any DM can log in and put down the NPCs or whatever the mission is for that guild and the trigger can be their guild key. This makes it so the guild itself can complete that mission and have ways to RP beyond Player driven and DMs can put more attention to this and events for the main population?

No discuss and Hamster maybe you can clarify too?

[flipside43]

You would need developmental support in two ways, first to make the NPC that has the conditional script (as the DMs cannot just spawn this) that the blueprint is uploaded to the DM creator and secondly, if possible, get a freestanding kemo board (I think they are working on this?) and the DM could write on it. Unless a dev can work some sort of magic that I am unaware of to make it automated.

[Calodan]

You would need developmental support in two ways, first to make the NPC that has the conditional script (as the DMs cannot just spawn this) that the blueprint is uploaded to the DM creator and secondly, if possible, get a freestanding kemo board (I think they are working on this?) and the DM could write on it. Unless a dev can work some sort of magic that I am unaware of to make it automated.

So it is possible?

What about template builds? Like template NPCs that the DMs can use. Of varying levels or what not? This way they can just spawn the template NPC and then be good? I mean it is fairly obvious now that it requires more than just spawn it so how best can we stream line it and make it easy to do?

[flipside43]

Well there's a far distance between possible, plausible and usable. It's really up to a dev to say for sure about what state it will look like, if you can find someone to build it. You should, hypothetically, be able to get a conversation based off a trigger. It would need to be tailored for every guild in the game I would suspect as well, since conversations cannot be edited in the DM creator. Really need a knowledgeable dev to chime in though as my toolset experience is a bit limited.

[Valefort]

An example to see if I follow correctly :

Kory speaks to Captain Crownsilver of the Flaming Fist, he knows Kory is a Hoarite and therefore informs him confidentially (ie a conversation node only available to Hunters of Vengeance's guild key owner, or Radiant Heart for example) that Joe Sucker, a known Baldurian criminal, sought refuge in the countryside near Greenest.

Then whenever Kory&co go to Greenest it could spawn a special NPC informing them, through for example a diplomacy DC, that Joe Sucker was seen specifically in "that" part of the countryside .. and then when the party travels there boom, encounter with Joe Sucker and his goons. Fight or ... not necessarily ? Capture ? False story ? Anything is possible.

However that's some work and it would also be fairly static. I mean I can make multiple spots for Joe Sucker to spawn and pick one at random, randomize his reaction among a few options as well as randomize his goons but diversity and unpredictability will only go so far without a DM.

Regarding bulletin boards they can be added to any guild now, and they won't share messages with another. A DM could post something on the guild's board after spawning Captain Crownsilver and go do something else.

[Calodan]

An example to see if I follow correctly :

Kory speaks to Captain Crownsilver of the Flaming Fist, he knows Kory is a Hoarite and therefore informs him confidentially (ie a conversation node only available to Hunters of Vengeance's guild key owner, or Radiant Heart for example) that Joe Sucker, a known Baldurian criminal, sought refuge in the countryside near Greenest.

Then whenever Kory&co go to Greenest it could spawn a special NPC informing them, through for example a diplomacy DC, that Joe Sucker was seen specifically in "that" part of the countryside .. and then when the party travels there boom, encounter with Joe Sucker and his goons. Fight or ... not necessarily ? Capture ? False story ? Anything is possible.

However that's some work and it would also be fairly static. I mean I can make multiple spots for Joe Sucker to spawn and pick one at random, randomize his reaction among a few options as well as randomize his goons but diversity and unpredictability will only go so far without a DM.

Regarding bulletin boards they can be added to any guild now, and they won't share messages with another. A DM could post something on the guild's board after spawning Captain Crownsilver and go do something else.

Personally that whole thing sounds awesome!

[Steve]

An example to see if I follow correctly :

I see it more like:

Kory speaks to Captain Crownsilver, who has a secret mission loaded up via DM+Dev submission—if this could be made easy to do...—only visible to a PC that has a Guild key or Name Tag...such as Kory with the HoV.

Kory receives the information via an IG, IC vehicle—Crownsilver—at Kory's pace/time frame, and, could also be a surprise thing! Right! We all like surprises!

So Kory plus/minus others, based on what Crownsilver has to say, go and attempt to find/retrieve/investigate X. That X being not necessarily something concrete in terms of a spawn/mob/NPC—though it could—but just about anything, even ephemeral, that the Players could do on their own...without DM supervision.

Then, Kory +/- others could "report" back their actions via the Forum, or something.

I guess if this was not an NPC but a private bulletin board, there could be Player/DM interaction via this board.

Essentially, what is being proposed to happen IG simply IG-atises what is or can be done via Forum interaction, in Private Guild sections. As it stands now, a DM could very well place a message in the Forums, a riddle/clue/bounty, and also get IG and place NPCs or drops around, where the Guild needs to find them (if they find them).

I think what would really be important here, which is obvious to me, is if DMs could place mobs/NPCs that persist over Reset. THEN, we're talking, because that means that the Guild/Players could react to the message—either via IG NPC/bulletin of Forum—and be able to react whenever RL time frames allow (and the DM would not have to constantly log in to replace such custom things).

How I see it, at least.

[Valefort]

Ok I see. A persistent NPC is doable but for the DM to st up his conversation on the fly .. yeah that won't be immediate at all, if possible.

[Face]

i would not mind to play Joe Sucker for some guilds.

[Calodan]

So the question is then. If it can be done and made relatively streamlined for use would DMs like this as a tool for giving guilds things to do? Would they do it? And is there a Dev willing to work on this if so?

[Valefort]

I must distinguish between hostile and non-hostile. Giving the possibility for DMs to make a persistent hostile NPC through resets is doable relatively quickly (or a mute neutral NPC but what good is that ?).

Giving the DMs the ability to create a dialog tree from within the game that will be associated with an NPC ... that's not trivial and necessitates some programming from outside nwn2. Would DMs even use it ? They might as well open the toolset for a less clunky interface.

[Calodan]

Well anyway if we can at least set up guild specific triggers so DMs could in theory set up things that persist for guilds would be cool.