Ravening's page

Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with discussing SAD; I was pointing out that whether or not they're developing it currently shouldn't be the determining factor for whether or not we talk about it.

I agree. Obviously this topic isn't as sexy (or heated) as SAD, but I still think it's worth crowdforging.

You are very creative, I like you. :p

Thank you. I like to think I can be very creative in a self-centered sort of way :) If it doesn't affect me or my intended character concept I tend to not put any thought into the matter. Unless I'm bored, then all bets are off.

I like to think my self-centeredness is both a blessing and a curse. This is part of the charm of being Chaotic Neutral in real life. :-p

I've created a thread to discuss my proposals for Settlement Buildings, Resource Gathering & Strip-Mining.

Brother Zael, can you please copy your most excellent addendum to the new thread.

Thanks

I've copied the below from the main Viridian Circle thread as it probably deserves it's own thread for discusion.

~~~~

One of the stated goals of the Viridian Circle is to target settlements (and individuals) which have expanded and harvested resources in a reckless manner. So that got me thinking, how will we identify settlements, chartered companies and individuals who act in this manner?

Settlement Buildings
There should be a wealth of information that is collected that pertains to a settlement. If there was a mechanic called ‘Growth Rate’, then this could provide the ruling body of the settlement with a figure to display how rapidly a settlement is growing. This would enable them to see if they are growing in an efficient and cost effective manner. This could be a measure of the current skill level of characters assigned to various buildings, as well as the number of projects on the go (and the average skill rating of the contributors), the amount of resources being gathered and allocated to settlement projects and perhaps a measure of the amount of wastage on settlement projects.

In regards to wastage the lead on a project could choose how they want to manage a building project. For instance if a particular kind of training facility is required to be built quickly, then the lead could decide to make a reduction in the quality of the overall project and increase the amount of wastage. Both of these choices would affect the amount of raw resources required for the project, the time it would take to build the structure and the minimum required skill level to contribute to the project. These kinds of choices should also affect the on-going cost of maintenance, development index rating and the end appearance of the structure.

While it might be cheaper and quicker to build structures quickly at reduced quality. This would have an overall effect on the ambience of the overall settlement, as well as effect on-going maintenance costs. So civic pride might come into play, as well as some characters might not want to go to the ‘shabby rundown’ settlement of Brighthaven.

It should also be possible via relevant skill checks and having a look around a settlement to get a feel if a settlement is growing at a reckless manner (by viewing the growth rate and other stats) and what level of wastage has been used to construct the buildings. All of the above would not only assist the Viridian Circle in deeming who to target, but make each settlement unique and feel alive.

Settlement Resource Gathering & Strip-Mining
I’ve mentioned above that there should be a wealth of information available to community leaders of a settlement. This should include the efficiency of their resource gathering efforts. We’ve heard it mentioned that raiders will be able strip-mine resources of rival settlements. I propose that strip-mining be an option not only for raiders, but also for settlement harvesting operations as well as individual harvesters.

This make sense and allows everyone to make a meaningful choice when it comes to harvesting. Do I want to harvest this resource to maximise the quality of the material being harvested or do I want to accept a reduction in the overall quality of the resource so I can do it quickly. This kind of decision making is as applicable to a small harvesting group in the dangerous wilderness, trying to quickly mine a rare but expensive resource. To Settlements (or others) who are at war (or feuding) to quickly harvest resources so they can churn out some needed armour or weapons.

On a side note I think it would be fantastic if harvesters could harvest materials that have a higher quality rating at the expense of increasing the time taken and reducing the yield from the harvested node. For instance a Dwarven harvester who is harvesting an average quality iron deposit might decide to only take the best of the bunch of the iron ore, thus reducing his yield but in return getting good quality iron ore. At the refining phase a refiner could pay less for average quality iron ore (and get more of it) and then refine it to produce a higher quality, or buy the good quality iron ore as it saves them time. They could keep it at this level of quality or refine it to excellent quality iron ore losing some in the process.

Not only does this add another layer to harvesting (and as a consequence refining and crafting) but it also enables the Viridian Circle to target those that are harvesting recklessly. Obviously the last point is the most important ;-p

I would imagine that the way in which you harvest should have a visual effect of the resource node, and also be detectable via appropriate skills checks. So if you stumble across a shonky looking resource node that has been recklessly ripped apart, you know the harvesters have been naughty. Conversely a well-constructed resource harvesting camp would leave the resource node in pristine order. For the above to have any meaning we would need to be able to determine who has been harvesting a particular resource node as well as use skills to get an insight into a settlements resource gathering efforts.

The below is copied from the Crowdforging True Neutral as a an active alignment for reference purposes and for discussion.

Nature´s Warrior[pvp-flag]
you are a protector of nature, you roam the lands looking for strip-miners using destructive exploitation, and bring nature´s wrath upon the defilers.
To do so you get the commune with natureability which lets you scan your current hex for destructive exploitation

Stripminer[pvp-flag]
you are out for the fast money, while flying this flag you can use destructive exploitation.
your harvesting speed is increased by x%, but because of your reclessness you
-also loose x% of the maximum amount of ressources you could have harvested otherwise.
or
-reduce the respawn rate of that ressource within the hex.

the Nature´s warrior flag emowers it´s user to hunt down stripminers only! using it to star attackin other eople, even flying other pvp-flags should include consequences.

both flags open you up for pvp from other parties.

---------

To expand on the sinner rating and ways to use it.
- some religions could employ inquisitors hunting down heretics(=high sinner rating) ;)

One of the stated goals of the Viridian Circle is to target settlements (and individuals) which have expanded and harvested resources in a reckless manner. So that got me thinking, how will we identify settlements, chartered companies and individuals who act in this manner?

Settlement Buildings
There should be a wealth of information that is collected that pertains to a settlement. If there was a mechanic called ‘Growth Rate’, then this could provide the ruling body of the settlement with a figure to display how rapidly a settlement is growing. This would enable them to see if they are growing in an efficient and cost effective manner. This could be a measure of the current skill level of characters assigned to various buildings, as well as the number of projects on the go (and the average skill rating of the contributors), the amount of resources being gathered and allocated to settlement projects and perhaps a measure of the amount of wastage on settlement projects.

In regards to wastage the lead on a project could choose how they want to manage a building project. For instance if a particular kind of training facility is required to be built quickly, then the lead could decide to make a reduction in the quality of the overall project and increase the amount of wastage. Both of these choices would affect the amount of raw resources required for the project, the time it would take to build the structure and the minimum required skill level to contribute to the project. These kinds of choices should also affect the on-going cost of maintenance, development index rating and the end appearance of the structure.

While it might be cheaper and quicker to build structures quickly at reduced quality. This would have an overall effect on the ambience of the overall settlement, as well as effect on-going maintenance costs. So civic pride might come into play, as well as some characters might not want to go to the ‘shabby rundown’ settlement of Brighthaven.

It should also be possible via relevant skill checks and having a look around a settlement to get a feel if a settlement is growing at a reckless manner (by viewing the growth rate and other stats) and what level of wastage has been used to construct the buildings. All of the above would not only assist the Viridian Circle in deeming who to target, but make each settlement unique and feel alive.

Settlement Resource Gathering & Strip-Mining
I’ve mentioned above that there should be a wealth of information available to community leaders of a settlement. This should include the efficiency of their resource gathering efforts. We’ve heard it mentioned that raiders will be able strip-mine resources of rival settlements. I propose that strip-mining be an option not only for raiders, but also for settlement harvesting operations as well as individual harvesters.

This make sense and allows everyone to make a meaningful choice when it comes to harvesting. Do I want to harvest this resource to maximise the quality of the material being harvested or do I want to accept a reduction in the overall quality of the resource so I can do it quickly. This kind of decision making is as applicable to a small harvesting group in the dangerous wilderness, trying to quickly mine a rare but expensive resource. To Settlements (or others) who are at war (or feuding) to quickly harvest resources so they can churn out some needed armour or weapons.

On a side note I think it would be fantastic if harvesters could harvest materials that have a higher quality rating at the expense of increasing the time taken and reducing the yield from the harvested node. For instance a Dwarven harvester who is harvesting an average quality iron deposit might decide to only take the best of the bunch of the iron ore, thus reducing his yield but in return getting good quality iron ore. At the refining phase a refiner could pay less for average quality iron ore (and get more of it) and then refine it to produce a higher quality, or buy the good quality iron ore as it saves them time. They could keep it at this level of quality or refine it to excellent quality iron ore losing some in the process.

Not only does this add another layer to harvesting (and as a consequence refining and crafting) but it also enables the Viridian Circle to target those that are harvesting recklessly. Obviously the last point is the most important ;-p

I would imagine that the way in which you harvest should have a visual effect of the resource node, and also be detectable via appropriate skills checks. So if you stumble across a shonky looking resource node that has been recklessly ripped apart, you know the harvesters have been naughty. Conversely a well-constructed resource harvesting camp would leave the resource node in pristine order. For the above to have any meaning we would need to be able to determine who has been harvesting a particular resource node as well as use skills to get an insight into a settlements resource gathering efforts.

Any chance of getting additional regions added to the
Pathfinder Online Add-On: Regional Trait Pack? Perhaps via a poll? If there was one for the Mordant Spire I'd purchase it in a heartbeat.

Well, my main reason is, i looked at what we know so far and imaginged playing a TN druid.

-If you attack and Kill stripminers, you are the attacker and if you succeed you get pushed towaards low rep CE. or are they free game as they have attacked a POI first?
-if you attack an aggressiv expansionist city or its citizens, see above.

-what can you do to stay TN? either you have to counter your C And E actions with L and G ones, or you have to wait till you Alignment returnsn to TN.

From an RP point of view, i think this sucks.

so the reason i started out with this was that i wanted to implement ways to shift your Alignment to TN.
Which is not that easy; as i said above, what actions could you code into the game that would make sense?

so i thought, if the current system can´t do it, is there another way to get there?
This would be my solution.

Added benefits: it would be usful for more then just the TN druid,
It would give choosing a religion a deeper meaning, it could be purely optional,

You make a good point. It seems like it could be difficult to be TN and act in way that means you don't need to gain points in lawful to counter balance your accumulated points in chaos. I'm so glad my character who will be called Raven (original I know, but sounds kinda woodsy) is Chaotic Neutral and not True Neutral. It allows me to happily break the law while protecting the natural environment.

@Shane and Gedichtewicht

Feuding is an option and certainly it will be used, but you are both forgetting something kind of inherent to what we (the Viridian Circle in specific, this might not apply to anyone else) are somewhat intending.

To be honest, there will be times where we don't wish to feud an entire company, for instance it could be a small sect or rogue element doing the strip mining without the broader company being aware. Or it could be we don't want our name to be attached to the killing but we have to take a direct hand in the action due to no mercs available.

Whatever the case (those being loose examples to give the idea not specific cases that we plan on doing per se) there will be times when feuding is NOT what we want, nor will it be the best solution for the parties involved (either one side, both sides, or all-sides). IT could also be that the individual taking these actions doesn't belong to a company. In any case, if the only option is "feuding" then I feel like it will force into a "black and white" aspect. If that makes sense. Either Defcon One of Defcon 5 with no in between.

I think having an alternative (let us call it "crusading") to feuding would be nice, where a company can declare a certain individual, party, or company and higher as a target for only the members in that company.

This basically will be feuding, but allow more specific scope and can be based on alignment.

OOORRR we could just expand "feuding" to get the same effect.

You make a good point. Unless a system is in place so we can target these lone wolves who're recklessly harvesting (or just using undead) it could be tricky for the Viridian Circle to deal with them without losing reputation. The closest mechanic that we could currently use is SAD, and make a ridiculous demand in the hopes they would turn in down so we could fight them without losing reputation. The problem would be if we asked for 10000 coin for them to stop and they actual pay us. Then we can't act against them without losing reputation. Using the SAD system in these types of situations feels wrong.

If its possible to attack a resource node we could attack what they're harvesting hoping to provoke them. But I'd guess that would automatically put us in the bad books and lose rep. And again if feels kinda wrong to destroy a resource node to prevent 1 bad apple from harvesting.

My only other thought would be for us to fly a special flag that allows us to target harvesters and harvesters to target us, without losing reputation. This would open us to the type of meaningful PVP that we're interested in. I'd much rather something like than resorting to SAD or attacking a node.

Also just because we had this flag on, and we could target reckless harvesters doesn't mean we always would. Having a bunch of nature loving freaks (plus there pets and their summons) turn up on your patch while your trying to harvest might be enough to scare them off.

If we can get it right, the biggest and best difference of PfO will be the [b]community[b/].

It might be a bit early to crowdforge this idea. Hopefully the dev's will be able to slot some of these ideas away in the back of their minds while they finishing of escalation cycles for EE.

Also imagine if two rival settlements approached the same escalation cycle to befriend them and put them on to the other party. You could have a situation when the rival settlements enter into a bidding war, or there could be a race to see what settlement accomplishes the EC quests first.

All of this could be further complicated by the fact that not all EC monsters will keep their word of honour. You could end up buying the friendship of a chaotic evil EC only to have it surprisingly turn on you. Perhaps all of this could modified by how closely the alignment of the settlement/individual matches the alignment of the EC, adjusted by skills you've acquired in diplomacy and the appropriate knowledge sub-skill.

Going by that train of thought, there could then be "good guy monster" escalations. A camp of Crusaders heading north, stop and get gently convinced that the no good "evil" settlement is a front for demons from the world wound...

Indeed. I wouldn't be surprised if evil escalation cycles crop up around good settlements and vice versa. This would allow a lawful good settlement to help an escalation cycle of heroic knights that is near that evil settlement.

I was also thinking about the idea of paying tribute to protect yourself from an EC. This could be done by smaller settlements that don't have the manpower to defeat it. An element of danger would be added if the tribute needs to be delivered to the monster hex. No don't rival settlements would find a baggage train full of this tribute a tempting target, even if its nothing fancy and common resources useful for settlements. Stop enough of the tribute getting through and a settlement could find themselves in a very sticky position.

...The current stage of the escalation describes what is happening at that point in the event. For example, the Bonedancer goblin invasion begins with scouting parties of goblins searching for good places to attack. When players kill or chase off enough of the goblin scouts, the Bonedancers send stronger parties of wolf-handlers to find out what's been happening to their scouts. In the face of growing opposition, the Bonedancer shamans decide to reinforce their warriors by robbing the local graveyards and animating the dead. Each stage generates its own specific quests and missions for PCs who want to defeat the threat—or, in some cases, egg it on.

As I've mentioned previously the Viridian Circle want to be skilled at advancing escalation cycles (EC). This raises a number of questions:

• How would an EC cycle be advanced
  
• If we help an escalation cycle to advance, do we becomes allies of the EC and thus immune to its effects
  
• How can you advance an EC, since it is initially hostile to everyone
  
• Would it be a viable strategy to encourage EC's to grow around you to provide a dangerous buffer zone around your settlement.

My preference would be to allow characters to go to a specific spot on the monster hex (possibly via stealth), where we can attempt diplomatic relations with the monsters/creatures. If our diplomacy checks are favorable we become non-hostile in the eyes of the monsters and we will be given a series of quests to enable the monster hex to grow rapidly.

If we are successful in a number of these quests then it would be nice if we could declare a settlement as an ally to the monsters and a specific settlement as a preferred enemy. This could tailor what direction the EC heads in (i.e. towards the enemy settlement). Hexes belonging to the allied settlement would be left alone by the monsters, which could eventually completely surround the settlement and provide a handy buffer zone. If you assist a monster hex to grow to a certain size, then perhaps you gain a special monster related artifact to place in your settlement.

Perhaps by allying with monster hexes your settlement could gain access to special equipment, skills, mounts or defensive properties.

A downside to allying with a monster hex is they require regular tribute to continue to leave you alone, and other settlements could discover that you've been assisting them during there own fight against the monsters.

I'm ok with a basic initial character customization during EE. My hope though would be that like Eve our avatar would be used for the portraits of our characters. That way if a local most wanted board ever became a reality, it would our main portrait picture for the poster. This may not be enough for players to actually identify characters in game but it a nice to have and justify why our characters can automatically identify criminals that are on the most wanted board.

Ravening, why did you only list TEO, T7V and UNC. What problems do you have with PAX or the dwarves company (Deep<something>) or others for that matter?

We have no problems with any other company or group. We'd happily work and group that respects the natural world.

Lam wrote:

Ravening, why did you only list TEO, T7V and UNC. What problems do you have with PAX or the dwarves company (Deep<something>) or others for that matter?

I believe he was pointing out perceived rival groups. Pax is not a perceived rival group to any of the three he mentioned, rightly or wrongly.

The Viridian Order doesn't have any issues with any of the groups listed above. It's as Bluddwolf says, the various groups have issues with each other. So when a spat occurs we wouldn't help either side, unless one of those groups or settlements of the groups are acting recklessly towards the natural world.

Our standards are fairly clear which makes us predictable and reliable allies. Cunning groups would try and manipulate rivals into abusing natural resources. If this became a pattern, then its fairly clear where our assistance would follow.

Of particular interest to us will be how settlements act when they are under the greatest pressure. If a settlement that has a good record of respecting nature, suddenly becomes short-sighted and strip-mines their resources when facing intense pressure. Then that is incredibly damning in our eyes and shows a short-sighted attitude.

It's easy to be 'good' when things are fine and dandy. It's how you act when under pressure that shows us your true self.

Actually, there is nothing in the description about Animate Dead binding souls or even bringing an evil spirit in to possess the skeleton. All it says it that it animates a dead body, the same description as animating a lifeless object.

Now we know that necromancers are bad people because that's what the books (and much genre literature) tell us, but the assumption in Animate Dead being evil is that they are bad because... they are bad. In game fluff terms the necromancer is the pale and antisocial guy who has an unhealthy fascination with dead people.

However, this is assuming a lot of flavour and genre. The rulebook itself merely describes animating a skeleton as
** spoiler omitted **...

I believe it's the type of magic (negative energy) and how it is done that makes it evil. Yes it's very similar to animate object. But animate object doesn't use negative energy to bring the bones to life. It becomes more obvious with the higher level undead creation spells that actually trap and bind the soul to the body. At least with a skeleton you're not summoning the previous host back to make it move, as its a mindless undead.

My viewpoint is that the act of summoning and binding negative energy to the bones is inherently corrupting to the spell caster, while animate object is using a process to make the same object get up and move, but doesn't affect the caster. You could temporarily doe something similar with telekinesis as well. Though it would require concentration to move the corpse around.

We also have to remember that good and evil are much more of an absolute force in Pathfinder and similar fantasy games. It's evil because it's evil

The Viridian Order extends greetings to a fellow neutral aligned CC. I'm sure they will be times when our interests align or we want a place to shop or craft. As long as the Go-Rin-No-Sho is low impact on the environment we'd be happy to co-operate with you.

Yep Animate Undead and Create Undead are evil spells, while animate object isn't.

I was getting worried for a sec with Ryan's & Stephen's talk about why pets are bad/difficult for the server. Especially as someone who wants to play a Druid. So I'm happy to hear that they intend for this to be a core part of the Ranger & Druid classes.

In relation to necromancy, I think it would work out just fine to use undead to protect settlements, large scale battles and especially for harvest and hauling.

Perhaps the choice to have a settlement protected by skeletons might be quite cheap and give you a large volume, while not necessarily being as good as expensive live troops. A settlement could also have more expensive undead minions, which have different abilities from live troops so it all balances out.

The only advantage to waiting for a role to be added is that you may have the idea of a "pure" build for Roleplaying reasons that you don't want to sully. Otherwise you sacrifice nothing by playing as soon as you can, and just starting down the path you want to play when it is added to the game with an older, more experienced character that already does other things.

Interesting point. I'll be training skills that are appropriate for being a druid as well as a Wizard, such as stealth, survival, tracking, animal handling (if its in there). It should give me a few more options when I start down the Druid progression. In relation to dedication bonus, I believe other skills and abilities won't affect it, as long as you only have skills and abilities to a skill role locked in.

I suspect we'll be fast allies, as long as the TEO shows respect for nature and doesn't over-exploit your resources. Which it sounds like you don't intend on doing. No doubt the Viridian Circle will stumble across information or places of interest to TEO. We'll happily share that with our allies. After all the Viridian Circle can't be everywhere and do everything, so by sharing all of our mutual goals are more easily achievable. I can see much interest within the Viridian Circle (which already has a member of TEO among our number) in joining your excursions.

You should note that we're likely to be friends with TSV, TEO and UNC. Any battle between these rivals groups we will remain 'neutral'.

@BrotherZael @Ravening

anonymous Google is your friend, though I would hazard "Harlequin Romance" has a Wikipedia entry. If an old dogger knows that, ...

Why look things up when you can play dumb and get others to do your leg work?

My witch doesn't like plants much... Unless they are a special herb or flower needed for a love potion or perhaps a, hush hush, undetectable poison-brew for troublesome neighbors...

If your witch got there powers from nature they'd fit right in with our merry band.

NEVY JOIN US THE VIRIDIAN CIRCLE GROWWWSSSSSS

Like a fungus between your toes, we're tenacious, we're pernicious and just plain fun, though slightly crazed.

She's CN to the core....

Me too. And so is my character :)

We are certainly willing to try working in a peaceful manner with your order. Potential conflicts may arise if you are working with bandits operating in or around our home settlement. But foreign engagements with bandits outside of our areas of interest shall cause little contention.

We respect our allies. Therefore it's unlikely we'd take a direct hand against the TEO and support banditry or make nasty escalation cycles for you to deal with, unless you operate against our guiding interests. If nothing else the Viridian Circle is much more trustworthy no evil groups. If we give our word we mean it.

I see a rosy future for all of us. And to show our appreciation we'd no doubt be willing to assist you with your endeavors even when they don't directly correlate with our own. One good turn deserves another, after all.

Ravening wrote:

As you probably know the Viridian Order is a neutral aligned group that is concerned with protecting and preserving the balance of nature. On a personal level I view myself as a role player first and foremost, so I wholeheartedly agree with the founding principles of TEO. While member of the Viridian Circle may work with bandits and may even SAD harvesters that strip-mine we will be doing it for purely IG reasons that tie in with our character concepts. So this is my attempt to extend an olive branch to the TEO, who'll we'll mostly likely be supportive of, unless your settlement is abusive towards nature and the natural world.

If you would Sir, could you better define the bolded part, especially your definition of "strip mining"? There are some people, affiliated or not, that might like to know what you consider the limits.

I would add that some may be taking lumber so that lower vegetation might have a chance in certain areas.

Thank you in advance if you can. :)

Well said Gedichtewicht. That is what I remembered (more of less ) of strip-mining. Having said that I thought it would be possible for any harvester (not just raiders) to strip-mine a resource. So if strip-mining is limited to raiders (which I hope it won't be) then you're better be 'ethical' raiders. Otherwise strip-mining another settlement is a sure fire way to get our attention.

The Viridian Circle would equally choose to target settlements where necromancy was a practice. There may be other factors that affect our decision making process. We probably won't know for sure until we're actually in game. Hopefully this clears things up for you.

It certainly sounds along the lines that Malaficia would follow, so I'd be interested in a loose coalition along those lines.

Malaficia your druid/witch character idea would be won't welcome to join this diverse band of odd balls. So far we have a CN character (mine) and a NE Kobold. So with a name like Malaficia you should fit right in. :)

As you probably know the Viridian Order is a neutral aligned group that is concerned with protecting and preserving the balance of nature. On a personal level I view myself as a role player first and foremost, so I wholeheartedly agree with the founding principles of TEO. While member of the Viridian Circle may work with bandits and may even SAD harvesters that strip-mine we will be doing it for purely IG reasons that tie in with our character concepts. So this is my attempt to extend an olive branch to the TEO, who'll we'll mostly likely be supportive of, unless your settlement is abusive towards nature and the natural world.

Greetings, the Viridian Circle would like to make it known that we would be willing to work with you on a semi-regular basis. Since banditry is a useful tool in limiting the spread of rapacious settlements, we would be willing to provide intelligence, aid and assistance when our interests overlap, and even join in the fun from time to time.

Kobold Cleaver wrote:

For the record, I can say that, should a mole rear its ugly head, my main goal for a while will be destroying (or at least annoying) whatever party/settlement they belong to. ;D

Ravening wrote:

I prefer to feed them mis-information and sit back and watch the fun. It's also fun to give out a 'key' bit of info and watch where it goes. That way we can track the source.

My own utterly diabolical plan is to simply enjoy playing the game with them exactly as I would if they weren't moles or spies...

That's just too evil.

I prefer to feed them mis-information and sit back and watch the fun. It's also fun to give out a 'key' bit of info and watch where it goes. That way we can track the source.

As I'm keen to play a witch/druid for character 1, and a paladin for character 2, implementing more of the core and base classes is obviously on my wish list.

I'd also be interested to see how clerical domains are going to work, notably Animal Domain which gives an Animal Companion at 4th in PnP. With the current absence of druid the Animal and Plant Domain cleric is obviously an option for me to look at.

All in time, I guess. Make sure the base game is working and then start dripping in the extras.

Your witch/druid character could make a fine addition to the Viridian Circle Though both of your classes and there skills won't be available on day one, so you'll need to play something different in the meantime.

Welcome all. It came as a surprise that I'm still considered a member of this illustrious company. A pleasant surprise.

Ravening wrote:

Personally if I was going to speak to someone I'd include written emotes in my chat bubble text.

*Looks the man over in green armour, her eyes seeming to linger on his defined muscles and great axe on his back, before flicking to meet his eyes with her own piercing green gaze* "Greetings stranger you may be just the man I need for a delicate mission?" *an amused smile flickers briefly on her heart-shaped face*

"Harlequin Romance - The MMO"

I really wish I got this reference, never heard of a Harlequin Romance. Since I don't get it I'll laugh along politely and pretend I do.

Hahaha ROTFLOL

Greetings.

Please add me to the stupendous Viridian Circle mega-group of tree-huggers and naturalist (not that kind of natualist, the other kind). Also much to my surprise I'm apparently still a member of TSV.

Ravening wrote:

Fauna and flora do it the right way while most settlements do it the wrong way. It’s perfectly clear cut if you think about it!

They do it the way that is conducive to their own survival, just like people do. Ants pile sand, beavers dam rivers, humans build towns. The more social an animal is, the more likely it is to work together to build stuff. Whether it's an axe or a beaver or a termite doing the biting, animals do their thing and trees fall. Yes, it's perfectly clear cut if you think about it.

I'm truly shocked that after reading posts in this thread that you entertain the vain hope of having a constructive adult conversation with me in relation to the merits of settlements and how they're almost exactly live ants.

As Brother Zael said we target naughty settlements, harvesters and individuals. Also since this is a game, this is our way of 'maximizing human interaction', which means if you're bad (which is purely subjective from our point of view) you become our content we become yours, or more likely we use others to do our dirty work for us :)

Have fun trying to ferret out the moles!

Since my character spends a lot of time in various animal forms, it isn't unsual for him to eat ferret's and moles for breakfast.

Pax Keovar wrote:

Have fun trying to ferret out the moles!

These are 'beauty marks', tyvm. </sniff>

Indeed what fun would there be if the occasional ferret or mole didn't rear there tasty head.

Druid and Ranger should have priority, methinks.

I agree. Especially since I want to play a Druid.

Can everyone who is truly interested in pursing the goals and objectives of the Viridian Circle please send me a PM. I have ideas of how we can crowdforge our dastardly plans away from prying eyes. Whatever you do, keep it a secret.

*hangs head in abject foolishness*

True wisdom comes from admitting you don't know it all my friend. Turn your back on the comforts of civilization and embrace the awe and majesty found in nature. Join with the Viridian Circle and you journey to true wisdom shall commence.

I always wanted to play a evangelical type character, maybe my character will head in this direction, after all. It's so much fun.

I might have totally misunderstood, but I think Kobold Cleaver was trying to be funny...saying he will have to redesign his character because you will not let him focus on picking flowers.

Or maybe the social dance going on here is just too complex for me...

Funny? What does funny mean?

Actually I was being equally funny. Though it’s not the first time people think I don’t understand humour. I understand humour fine, most people don’t understand deadpan humour!

Forencith relax a little man. We don't expect newcomers and outsiders to fully understand our level of social enlightenment in just a few days... or years...

Indeed. The ways of nature and her protectors are inscrutable to the uninitiated.

And if I’m perfectly honest the most of the time even the initiated are left scratching our heads at things both scrutable and not!

For is it not written that “Wisdom appears as foolishness to the foolish one.”

Ravening wrote:

Your incessant bloodlust and desire to destroy our enemies shall be sorely missed.

Say what now? Grickin was totally gonna bring glory to the name of Groetus, god of the endtimes, by talking to fawns, picking flowers, and singing to all the adorable woodland creatures about how he longed to find his true love.

But you make it sound silly. Maybe he'll just become a murderous psychopath or something.

Obviously only you can decide what path you must take Brother. Though as my father was want to say "It's always better to have a murderous pyschopath on yourside, than against", so your particualr skillset would always be welcome among the Viridian Circle.

We will respect your choice, whatever it may be.

Ravening wrote:

it would be pretty boring if us druidic types hung out in the woods all day talking to animals and picking flowers.

I may have to rethink Grickin's concept...

I’m truly sorry to hear this Brother Gricken. Your incessant bloodlust and desire to destroy our enemies shall be sorely missed. I wish you the best in your murderous and botanical endeavours.

How does the Viridian Circle feel about natural species vs. those of extraplanar origin? Would they feel that the invasion of so many different races from different planes, from Aasimar to Wayang (assuming some of them are eventually added) might spell destruction for their natural world? Would they help Human and Elven civilizations fend off the attacks of Outsiders?

I'm interested in this group, though it might not be the best fit for my ideas.

Hey! These freaks of nature (outsiders) should stay where they belong and leave the material plane and our jobs for material planar natives.

Kidding aside Brother Zael and Brother Gricken are correct. We judge individuals by their actions not their origins. Having said that, a full on planar invasion would make us perturbed in the extreme, especially if the invaders started to change the material world to their liking.

If a settlement of outsiders attacked another settlement, and the outsider settlement was respectful of nature, then we wouldn’t necessarily side with the Humans or Elves, as this is no different to the endless pointless squabbles that ‘civilized’ people love to indulge in. Individuals within the Viridian Circle might side with the native settlement, but as a whole it would take some convincing that we should side with humans and elves over others.

In regards to assisting Human an Elvin settlements where our ideals overlap, that would be a personal matter for each member of the Viridan Circle to decide. We’re much more likely to assist a settlement against aberration & undead escalation cycles. Though we might be equally inclined to warn neighbouring settlements as to the location and disposition of these threats and let them do most of the donkey’s work.

We’d equally be willing to assist a settlement that is hostile to a settlement that has been very naughty in relation to expansion and harvesting natural resources. Don’t confuse this with loyalty or friendship though, as we’d turn on them in a heartbeat if they became as bad as the hostile settlement, or assist yet another settlement to help bring them down. We're equal opportunist in that regard. Our only loyalty is to preserving nature.

Ravening wrote:

It's fair to say that he views settlements and 'civilization' as the greater of true evils

Damn those evil ants, and birds, and beavers, etc. all changing the natural landscape and abusing the flora of the world to suit their own selfish whims.

Being an animal means being a parasite; only plants collect their own energy and (usually) live or die wherever they happen to land.

LOL

Fauna and flora do it the right way while most settlements do it the wrong way. It’s perfectly clear cut if you think about it!

Also this is a game *shock horror* as such it would be pretty boring if us druidic types hung out in the woods all day talking to animals and picking flowers. It behoves us to be in conflict with some settlements, harvesters and individuals. That way we become their content and they become ours. All for perfectly explainable and understandable reasons that makes sense in-game, role-play wise and is true to the spirit of our character roles.

The reason for it was for criminal/subterfuge activities, such as the assassin. If the assassin kills a guy he shouldn't be immediately known to the victim, same can be true with bounties and bounty hunters.

The assassin or spy in particular because if their name is known possibly who they work for is known, and at that point it almost ruins the reason for a spy or an assassin. You do things in hush hush part of the time to hide who is doing it.

Based on the current system both the spy and assassin would be experts at making disguise kits based on clothing or armour. This will then give them a generic name and reputation (and alignment I believe) that fits midway into the Settlements range. These disguises would be good enough to pass a quick trip to a store and casual interactions with others around the Settlement. The more the disguised character interacts with others the more likely he will be discovered via an opposed perception-type roll.

If an assassin is successful in killing his mark, then I would expect that the victim wouldn’t be able to place a bounty on their head, as the assassin has operated within the rules (as we currently know them). Anyway that I remember from the blogs, though I could be out of date.

I would hope the bring in Witch & Oracle fairly soon. It all depends on our crowdforging efforts though. I'm not that familiar the other classes, but I guess magus would be fairly easy to introduce as its more of a mix and max of abilities from other core classes.

Greetings I’m withdrawing from this project as I’ll be focusing my energies of the Viridian Circle.

If there is still interest in creating a NE settlement called Shadow-Haven then you have my blessing to carry-on with this project.

A logician's wife is having a baby. The doctor immediately hands the newborn to the dad.

His wife asks impatiently: "So, is it a boy or a girl"?
The logician replies: "yes".

Whats wrong with the answer, I reply to doubles like that all the time. Personally I think it adds to my charm, others tend to disagree :)

Personally if I was going to speak to someone I'd include written emotes in my chat bubble text.

*Looks the man over in green armour, her eyes seeming to linger on his defined muscles and great axe on his back, before flicking to meet his eyes with her own piercing green gaze* "Greetings stranger you may be just the man I need for a delicate mission?" *an amused smile flickers briefly on her heart-shaped face*