I’m tempted to say Space: 1889, but to be honest, my copy of the game fell apart years ago and I no longer recollect much of the rules.
I’m now torn between checking ebay to see if I can replace it and the suspicion that the prices asked would make me weep.
[quote=Alexis Kennedy]
>typo
[color=#009900]Oh cripes yes. So: if your Notability is 5, then if your Making Waves is 5+ when Time comes calling, your Notability won’t drop. I originally wanted a slightly more tailored maintenance mechanic, but simplicity is, as always, a win. <–NB DRAFT.[/color][color=#009900]
A notional mince pie, btw, to any student of gaming trivia who can identify the early GDW game that very directly inspired this mechanic.[/color][/quote]
Ohh, the sense-making in my head-brain! I feel silly now.
Also, no idea, but I’m going to say Traveller because Traveller is one of those names that inspired things.
The concern I’d have with that mechanic is that cashing in making waves deletes all waves. So if you put in the effort to not only maintain your notability, but also attempt to upgrade, you’ll end up with no waves at the end of the week due to the upgrade. Would it be possible for the notability upgrade action to give a “token of amnesty” to folks who have put in tremendous effort to get to the upgrade (which can take a full week at higher levels. I remember grinding 42 levels of waves to get fro N6 to N7. It took a -while-. And to lose it because the cash in takes all waves would leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
Maybe a quality you gain when you increase Notability, like “Raising Star!”. It resets each week when time the healer comes, and if you don’t have it then notability drops a point if less than half your making waves.
I think making the Nadir remove a point of notability would be neat. So if you really wanted to keep your notability you could just skip visiting the cave that week. Also, it kind of makes sense? Maybe?
As I see it, Nadir affects you and makes you forget things. But Notability is something that comes from others - you are Notable in the eyes of people of London. You would need to take all these people to the cave to loose Notability. That probably wouldn’t end well. At least Eyeless Skulls would be easier to find…
I’m guessing En Garde! but don’t actually know off-hand whether that was GDW and have to go eat mince pies - err, lasagna, but my mother-in-law’s :-).
On a TOTALLY different track, heading back to the UK next week. Any shipments of candied rats that arrive at the FB office are entirely coincidental, I assure you…
[quote=Alexis Kennedy]
[color=#009900]I mean that, for instance, I’m always itching to go back and convert the other big crime jobs to Heist mechanics, or extend some of the long-awaited story content, or add Shadowing to the Crowds of Spite - which was always the original intention - especially now that the engine can do fancier things. But there’s always twenty things to do.[/color][/quote]
This makes me so happy. I’ve mentioned in the past (mainly on the IRC channel) that it bothers me that we have these major heists (Robbing the bazaar and brass embassy), but partly due to their mechanic and partly due to their level, the reward is rather underwhelming.
This creates two problems, lore-wise, in my mind. The first is that I’m a master thief who stole things nobody dared steal before… and I could have made more money sticking to the small time. The second is that you kinda hit your peak around level 60, and not just with Shadowy. At around level 60 in your stats, you’re a star of the empress’s court, professor at the greatest university in the Neath, a master thief who steals from the most dangerous people around, and a duelist who fights to the death in a world where true death is relatively rare. And then all the stuff you do afterwards, like working at the labyrinth of tigers or Mahogany Hall, seems like a step backwards at that point. I suppose one could argue that you’re seeing the rise and fall of a hero, though only watchful and persuasive have that. Shadowy and Dangerous just kinda die down, like you went "Well, I am such a master thief, there is nothing I cannot steal! …time to steal dead rats from market stalls forevermore."
Anyway, one thing I do think would be nice is if the current level of robbing the bazaar/embassy is basically "run in, grab whatever’s not nailed down, and run out," with higher level versions that involve snagging a greater or rarer haul (And as a member of the CVR, I would LOVE an option when robbing the embassy to focus on grabbing souls and contracts). Of course, with it moving over to the heist format it would be a simple matter of making it need more progress.
I dunno. “Thefts of Particular Character” are a very good source of things. Heists are fun to do once or twice, but a bad thing to grind. For example: I woke up and spend 20 actions on Casing in eight clicks, after that I can forget about the game for 3 hours. If I was on a heist I would have to deal with six individual random cards (which would take more time) and than I would have to check every hour for new cards. And the action/reward ratio is random.
It’s kind of the same thing with robbing the Bazaar. You would rob it once to prove that you can do it. But it can not be a constant source of income.
But if “Thefts of Particular Character” are left as is, and robbing the Bazaar is turned into a Heist, that would be cool, I guess.
Back to the topic. May I suggest Notability/MW to be added to the list of qualities on the left side of the page? You would probably want to check them often.
I like Heists, even as a grind. I had good results getting a Premises at the Bazaar on an alt using it (granted, I only used 10 actions to raise Casing rather than 20). Definitely looking forward to seeing some of the big crimes turned into proper Heists.
I was not referring to Thefts of a Particular Character. I was rather referring to the older content, of which robbing the bazaar or brass embassy are the high difficulty versions that grant the Master Thief quality.
[quote=Urthdigger]
I was not referring to Thefts of a Particular Character. I was rather referring to the older content, of which robbing the bazaar or brass embassy are the high difficulty versions that grant the Master Thief quality.[/quote]
Yeah, I am just saying old content is still relevant. There is nothing wrong with robbing the Bazaar once and sticking to the smaller targets after.
But I get what you are saying too.
edited by Fhoenix on 12/23/2013
So, that is excellent news about losing Notability. Makes it much easier to maintain, now!
[quote=Alexis Kennedy]>forgotten
[color=#009900]I mean that, for instance, I’m always itching to go back and convert the other big crime jobs to Heist mechanics, or extend some of the long-awaited story content, or add Shadowing to the Crowds of Spite - which was always the original intention - especially now that the engine can do fancier things. But there’s always twenty things to do.[/color]
>typo
[color=#009900]Oh cripes yes. So: if your Notability is 5, then if your Making Waves is 5+ when Time comes calling, your Notability won’t drop. I originally wanted a slightly more tailored maintenance mechanic, but simplicity is, as always, a win. <–NB DRAFT.[/color]
[color=#009900]
[/color]
[color=#009900]A notional mince pie, btw, to any student of gaming trivia who can identify the early GDW game that very directly inspired this mechanic.[/color][/quote]
Well, My own dream would be a Notability that plain doesn’t fade until you actually use it to obtain something, but sure this mechanism would be a HUGE improvement on the current system. I don’t think I get the GDW game though. Traveller? Space 1889?
[quote=Alexis Kennedy]
[color=#009900]A notional mince pie, btw, to any student of gaming trivia who can identify the early GDW game that very directly inspired this mechanic.[/color][/quote]
[quote=streetfelineblue]
Well, My own dream would be a Notability that plain doesn’t fade until you actually use it to obtain something, but sure this mechanism would be a HUGE improvement on the current system. I don’t think I get the GDW game though. Traveller? Space 1889?[/quote]
I’d like to know too. I’m going with Space: 1889 solely due to the Victorian theme, but admittedly have no knowledge of the rules, other than that there is a social level stat. I forfeit my notional mince pie.
[li]
[li]
OK, it was GDW. So I’m sticking with this. Had a fun time playing this by mail, back in the day. Yes, I’m that old…
[quote=Fhoenix][quote=Urthdigger]
I was not referring to Thefts of a Particular Character. I was rather referring to the older content, of which robbing the bazaar or brass embassy are the high difficulty versions that grant the Master Thief quality.[/quote]
Yeah, I am just saying old content is still relevant. There is nothing wrong with robbing the Bazaar once and sticking to the smaller targets after.
But I get what you are saying too.
edited by Fhoenix on 12/23/2013[/quote]
Actually, if we’re splitting hairs on this, "Thefts of a Particular Character" is level 120 content (That’s when the challenge is "chancy"), while the stuff like robbing the brass embassy is 74-84. Also, it’s not so much about old content being relevant: It makes sense that you’re not doing the level 60 content anymore at level 200. My issue is what those actions are, and how it seems you do all the coolest and most important parts of your "career" early on. As I said, I would be most happy if the current stuff at that level was toned down a little, with bigger and better variants as high level options.
I’ve found a great source of making waves - try converting Tales of Terror to Extraordinary Implications to Uncanny Incunabulum. Hopefully this way I’ll also get enough Incunabulum to take to the University and actually get an Impossible Theorem.
Thanks for the tip. I’ve noticed there are other trade cycles that award MW, though not many. I’ve been considering checking them all next time I’m in the mood for a project.
Do you have a rough idea of CP per cycle?
[li]
There is! You need to rob it at least 9 times to get your master thief to level 5!