Planned Societies

Talk about Societies in general that doesn't relate specifically to any particular existing Society.
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Rias
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Re: Planned Societies

Post by Rias »

Planned Societies UPDATED

This thread gets referenced a fair amount, but the information in the older posts is pretty dated at this point. I figured it was time to post an update, and I'll edit the original post with society info to have a line at the top pointing to this one to get more current information. So, here's the updated Planned Societies Info.

(NOTE: I wanted to stop using the term "spookier Immortals" because it sounds a bit silly and un-serious, so I started using the term "dark lord Immortals" while writing this. That still sounds a bit cheesy but it's at least a step in the right direction. There will be a more official sort of pantheon name for them when I re-sort the Immortals documentation.)

=== Sneaky Shady Society (Real name pending) ===

What you would pretty much expect - a secret group with secret hideouts and shady activity things to do and all that fun stuff. It won't have "thieves" in the name because members won't all necessary be thieves specifically (as in going out and personally stealing stuff), but it -will- all be pretty shady stuff. A character that is only interested in being in on the secrets to satisfy their curiosity but doesn't want to get personally involved in the shady business SHOULD NOT JOIN. All members are expected to pull their weight and do their part for the Society as a whole. Refuse to ever participate and Bad Things Will Happen.

With the powerful temptation that comes with secretive groups like this, joining will likely be more selective and restricted than other Societies - I dont want people rolling up an alt just to join up, get all the secret info, and then never play again (or just occasionally unshelve them to check if any new secretive stuff has been added).

Potential perks:

- Access to sneaky secret areas around town that can be dwelt in even if wanted/banned in the town itself
- Access to occasional sneaky secret areas elsewhere
- Connections to bribe away SOME lesser reputation problems (this won't let people get away with greater crimes like murder, treason, etc.)
- Tasks to do various shady things (stealing, spying, picking locks, delivering threats, smuggling goods, sabotage, etc.)
- Access to some exclusive "imported" (smuggled/stolen) goods

=== Anti-Nethrim (Real name pending) ===

They specialize in fighting nethrim and aim to purge nether-corruption from the land. Some alleged backing by various Immortals, but they are -not- official priests or clerics or paladins or anything like that, and they're certainly not monks or templar from the previous game. Not that some can't choose to style themselves similarly or devote themselves to one or many of the associated Immortals, if that's the angle they're coming from. It's also perfectly fine for members with no inclination toward any particular Immortals to join. Devotion or even acknowledgment is not required - the Immortals (or at least those representing them) are just just there to help the cause.

This group is also -not- overzealous bullyish "inquisitors" who see someone channeling sorcery and instantly attack them. They're focused on actual nethrim, though they are naturally wary of any sources of nether, meaning sorcerers of all stripes are going to be on their watchlists. This doesn't mean they can't trust sorcerers who manage to prove themselves worthy of trust, however. I don't know that they'd recruit any practicing sorcerers though.

They have a fair focus on combat due to wanting to remove rampant nethrim from the lands, but non-combatants are welcome as well - scholars studying ways to counter nethrim and nether-corruuption better, crafters providing supplies for the cause, physickers taking care of other members, adventurers going scouting or to recover potentially useful relics/texts, etc. A dedication to the cause and the skills to assist in supporting its members is all that's really required.

(No thaumaturgy, in case anyone was wondering.)

Potential perks:

- Opportunities for taking the lead in nethrim/nether-corruption-based events.
- Tasks to fight nethrim, scout out/investigate haunting reports, rescues from nethrim, assist with minor nether-corruption purges, seek out and destroy relics of the dark lords Immortals
- Receive temporary "blessings" to gear to be more effective against nethrim
- Maybe some means to allow crafters to give temporary anti-nethrim qualities to gear (lasting longer than "blessings" above)
- Access to some anti-nether artifacts of some kind
- Receive various other temporary boons associated with the various Immortals backing the cause

=== Monster-Hunters (Real name pending) ===

These guys pride themselves on fighting all manner of monstrous beasts to be found in the Lost Lands. They love both the challenge and the bragging rights, and may have a few special hunter's tricks to aid them, and -possibly- even some boons granted by some primal entities/trinkets, though these guys are not specifically druids themselves and do not teach it to members.

Heavily combat-focused, but I could see crafters join to work with the pelts and whatnot, and scholars to study the creatures that are being hunted (maybe some tasks to bring some in alive for study in captivity?).

Potential perks:

- Opportunities for taking the lead in events centered around powerful beasts.
- Tasks to fight powerful beasts, cull rampant beast populations, capture beasts, track/scout beast dens, provide skins/pelts
- Receive temporary druidic trinkets that grant various minor boons/buffs
- Occasional exclusive access to rare beast hides/components for use in crafting
- Periodic hunting competitions
- Specialized beast-fighting knowledge - the more a specific kind of beast is fought, the better chances for rerolls/extra damage/critical hits against that type of beast. (Sliding bonuses - can't "max out" all beast types at once. May use the affinity system for this.)
- Access to exclusive druidic NPCs/primal ritual sites/something-like-that to grant some minor temporary boons

=== Tse Gaiyan ===

They're back, and they still have it out for the infested. The Lost Lands chapter is desperate to try and contain the rampant infestation in the region, and has no particular focus on rangers and agents like the previous game's incarnation. They take anyone they can get to try and keep the resen in check. It's the cause that's important, not the methods. Access to a few tricks and gear that prove useful against infested.

Part of their cause -is- the protection of mankind's settlements from infestation, so they do have a somewhat protect-the-people vibe to them in that way, but their big primary focus is definitely containing the resen infestation and fighting infested creatures. They're a highly pragmatic bunch, but at the same time they also strongly stress taking responsibility for one's actions. If breaking the rules is what it takes to thwart the resen then so be it, but they still are expected to own up to their actions and take responsibility for them afterward. "Freedom and Responsibility" is an oft-quoted creed of theirs.

Fairly combat-focused, but non-combatant members can support the cause in various ways - stealthy scouts, crafters of gear for the fighters, scholars studying the resen, physickers administering to wounded soldiers and treating early stages of resen infestation, etc.

(As a personal favor, please DO NOT bring baggage from The Other Game. Tse Gaiyan ended up in a very bad state over there (due in large part to changing GM hands multiple times) and this is a great chance to start them afresh.)

Potential perks:

- Opportunities for taking the lead in infested/resen-based events.
- Tasks to fight, track, scout out, cull, spy on, capture, rescue people from infested creatures.
- Access to some anti-resen poisons of some kind.
- Access to some beneficial concoctions/salves/potions resulting from resen studies (controversial but effective!)
- Access to the Tse Gaiyan Chapterhouse with some outpost amenities.

=== Wyrvardn ===

The revival of an old Aetgard organization dedicated to keeping the peace, this new Lost Lands version focuses mostly on trying to keep the more troublesome of their fellow man in check: Highwaymen, brigands, blood cultists, cabals of rogue sorcerers, that type of thing. They have a vague code of ethics they're expected to adhere to as they do consider themselves protectors of the people. (No, nothing as strict as the previous game's Templar.)

The Five Tenets of the Wyrvardn are: Honor, Courage, Tenacity, Prowess, and Strength. Their symbol of a five-pointed star embodies this to members of the Wyrvardn, a tenet for each ray of the star. P.S. "Strength" doesn't mean purely physical might and muscle but also strength of will and spirit.

They also have a secondary cause that is seeking relics and records to try and piece together the lost history of Aetgard, which could have particular appeal for Treasure Hunters, Bards, various scholars - anyone interested in Aetgardian history, really.

Significant combat focus but again, non-combatants can join who want to support the cause in other ways as mentioned with previous combat-heavy societies.

(As a personal favor, please DO NOT bring baggage from The Other Game. The Wyrvardn had a very awkward start over there and were kind of cursed from the beginning, and people tended to focus on only very specific (and often misconstrued) facets of the organization. This might be the Society I'm most excited to reboot so it can get the chance it deserves and will hopefully be more like it was intended to be.)

Potential perks:

- Enjoy that "protectors of the people" feeling, and the associated reputation benefits with some NPC interactions (but don't let it get to your head!)
- I feel like this Society has particular potential to be rather tight-knit, due to it having its strong foundational tenets and a personable group of founder NPCs that will likely have a more frequent presence.
- Tasks to fight, cull, track, scout out, spy on, capture, rescue people from, etc. various human foes (brigands, cultists, Liberi, etc.)
- Tasks to search for/recover Aetgardian relics and texts.
- Some sort of "mental discipline" minor buffs based on each of the Five Tenets of the Wyrvardn (only one at a time).
- Over time, recovering more relics and knowledge of old Aetgard may afford the Wyrvardn some additional benefits ...

=== Harbingers (Full name pending) ===

Harbingers unashamedly represent and spread the influence of various dark lord Immortals. (It's not just Aranas anymore!) Whether they're in it out of real devotion to the Bigger Bads or they just consider it part of a deal to get a little extra power from supernatural entities, they -are- required as part of the arrangement to overtly spread the influence of the dark lords. Which is to say, this is not for the undercover closet devotees trying to deceive everyone about their loyalties. The purpose the Harbingers is to increase the influence and acknowledgment of the dark lords far and wide.

Members of the Harbingers are going to tend toward the antagonistic due to their affiliation with Immortals that draw power from not just acknowledgment but also things like fear and respect, so Harbingers will likely struggle to maintain good relations in many outposts. Shadgard will outright refuse to accept them, but they will be welcome in the other primary player faction town.

I think there's an expectation that these guys will be combat-heavy based on The Other Game's incarnation of the Harbingers of Aranas, but really with the Harbingers it's more about spreading the word and influence of the represented Immortals (and receiving power from them in return, of course) than necessarily putting on heavy armor and stomping around with a big weapon (though that is also certainly encouraged for those who wish to do so). That said, they're likely to get involved in fighting due to their cause being in conflict with a lot of other peoples' ideas regarding which Immortals should be getting recognition and influence, so there you go.

Potential perks:

- Be that dark, sinister character that can be a really fun angle to play (but does require a thick skin due to all the opposition they will receive).
- Opportunities for taking the lead in dark and sinister events involving the dark lord Immortals.
- Tasks to spread/solidify influence of the dark lords by: Delivering messages/orations, performing dedicatory rituals, leaving intimidating/grisly dedicatory displays, putting the fear of the dark lords into the population by roughing them up or instilling supernatural fear/wonder/etc., helping spread creatures favored by the dark lords, helping spread nether-corruption, roughing up/scaring/capturing/killing opposition targets, seeking various relics of the dark lords and their past followers, seeking and destroying various relics of opposition Immortals and their followers
- Various minor boons based on the supporting Immortals
- Various minor curses based on the supporting Immortals
- Access to some dark artifacts with various effects (more for cosmetic/flavor and wow factor than major mechanical benefits)

=== Some Kind Of Assassin-ish Group ===

Considering it at the moment. May potentially be the sort of yang to the Wyrvardn yin, like Harbingers kind of are to Anti-Nethrim Society. And they could have optional CLAWs. Ehem.

===== Societies we probably WILL NOT see as player-joinable =====

- Rook Parlour: They exist in the lore, but I feel like having them as a Society would pretty much be strongarming all Warlocks into joining this group, because why would someone pursuing mastery of sorcery NOT join the sorcery-focused Society? And then those who didn't would feel penalized, like "oh you're not a REAL sorcerer because you're not part of the Parlour, you don't get our cool tricks." I don't like that kind of no-brainer situation, and would rather leave Warlocks and other sorcery-loving folks to make a less obvious choice, and somethig to focus on another aspect of their character rather than just saying "Sorcery but to 11". To say nothing of the majority of characters being unable to join because most classes don't have access to sorcery.

- Some Druidy Society: Similar to the above issue with Rook Parlour. I wouldn't want a no-brainer Society for Primalists, and to a lesser extent Rangers and Berserkers. And I wouldn't want a group that only certain classes could join (druidry being a requirement).

Some Kind Of Engineering Society: I don't know that the tech level/prominence is at a point where I could see an entire Society based around it. I think people would want to be making bombs and repeating autocrossbows and steam-powered armor and stuff, and that's just not going to happen. But hey, a group like this still might happen someday. Maybe.

- Snowpine Lodge: I love it too, but there's just not enough to it to merit an exclusive Society. It'll probably show up in-game somewhere as its own thing.

- Mummers: We already have Bards! There is still, lore-wise, a troupe of Mummers led by Mayhew out there. And who knows? It could end up a joinable Society someday if I can think of enough actual substance to offer beyond pure RP (that's what Companies are for) and make it worth building and supporting.

- Knights Templar/Monastic order: Nope. Thaumaturgy was just way too messy for everyone in The Other Game, players and GMs alike. It remains in the lore and some NPCs may potentially be seen wielding it. See also the "Knights Templar" helpfile/wiki article.
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Re: Planned Societies

Post by Navi »

- Tasks to do various shady things (stealing, spying, picking locks, delivering threats, smuggling goods, sabotage, etc.)


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Re: Planned Societies

Post by Rias »

I said shady, not creepy!
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Re: Planned Societies

Post by Rias »

In response to @Haltover's post: There are some good ideas in there that I think would make a cool Guild class specialization, and might even work well with one that I've got in the planning stages. That mental sanctuary idea is particularly intriguing.
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Re: Planned Societies

Post by Firerose »

Haltover, I love your ideas! That could some super cool RP potential right there.

And Rias, I love these societies and what you've written/updated here about them. Awesome stuff all around.
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Re: Planned Societies

Post by Rias »

P.S. This is not necessarily a complete list of possible societies. I do think it's the lineup I want to start with though, as too many Societies could quickly become overwhelming to maintain.

P.P.S. The main thing a concept needs to qualify as Society material is to have enough of an applicable purpose to it to merit being coded in with facilities, enough tasks to apply to a wide variety of character types, mechanics to support said purpose, and just generally have things to be done by members beyond straight RP. Concepts that are specifically about providing skills/abilities would be Guild/Class material - Societies provide a purpose to which characters can apply their skills and abilities, rather than the skills and abilities themselves. All this isn't to say that other concepts that are more about RP can't exist for players to get involved in as an exclusive faction to be RPed into, or a Company.
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Re: Planned Societies

Post by Jaster »

Rias wrote: Fri Aug 13, 2021 7:51 pm I said shady, not creepy!
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Re: Planned Societies

Post by Marcuson »

I've been thinking about the Artisan Guild a lot recently. When I originally joined up for COGG, I held off on choosing a guild for my PC because I wanted to join the Artisans. But recently I realized that we have pretty much the perfect balance of guilds right now (even if some of them want a little bit more meat on their bones).

And that's when it hit me: why not just make the Artisans a society instead of an entirely new guild of its own? That way, as a society, being an Artisan can be layered on top of our existing class choice, and we would have to make difficult choices about which society we choose to join. This also would cut down on the number of new abilities that need to be thought up as well as solve all sorts of balancing issues regarding classes in a fourth guild.

I believe having Artisans as a society instead of a guild would save a lot of labor and headache on the development side of things.
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Re: Planned Societies

Post by Frisbee »

I think this idea has a lot of merit. Apart from the aforementioned reasons re: balance issues, I also think -- I might be wrong here, but I think a lot of the societies, if not all of them, have to do with going out there and engaging in conflict. Which, I suppose, is part of the reason why societies are planned to be introduced in the first place. However, not all characters are ambitious or driven enough to make it one of their primary goals to help quell whichever threat, or brandish a weapon in the name of an immortal or whatnot. It would be nice, and add a bit of variety to our choices, if one of the societies was about becoming a good craftsman. I can personally see a few characters I've met, including one of my own, perhaps, joining the artisans as a society, if that idea ever comes to pass.
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Re: Planned Societies

Post by Rias »

This idea is definitely one to consider, and we've talked about it a bit as a GM team. My primary concern is that it would break the standard of Guilds being where you go to learn how to do things (skills/abilities/etc.), and Societies being where you go to apply whatever skills and abilities you already have in order to work toward a specific cause (tasks, quests, etc.). One might say this potential Artisan Society's cause is "being the best crafters", but that's essentially a guild, like the Warrior Guild has the "cause" of being the best fighters.

If it's about learning skills and abilities and recipes and whatnot, that seems to me like it should pretty clearly be a Guild. And if it were just meant to be a supplemental thing on top of whatever crafting skills people can pick in general training spots, I don't know that it would warrant building a whole Society around it. I'm hesitant to implement Societies unless I can think of a good, clear, non-learning-how-to-do-something-related cause for them, and one I and the rest of the staff could enjoy running quests and events and whatnot for.

I decided against Rook Parlour as a Society, because it was pretty much going to be "you'll only really join if you're already a sorcerer, and all sorcerers are going to feel pressured to join this to be the best at what they do rather than feel they're free to join a cause to which they can apply their sorcerous skills beyond 'being even better at sorcery.'" It seems like it'd be similar for the Artisan Society - you'd only join if you were already a crafter, and anyone interested in crafting would be pressured to join this to make sure they can reach their full crafting potential rather than feeling free to join an actual cause they're interested in with one of the other Societies.

With a Society like, say, the Wyrvardn - we've got fighters who would join to take up arms in the defense of their fellow man, we've got the adventurer types who would join to search for relics of ancient Aetgard or spy on or steal from or sabotage or scout out the Bad Men the Wyrvardn fight against, we've go the more scholarly types who would join to focus on the Aetgardian history side, heal soldiers and other field operatives injured in their duties, apply any occult powers they might have to the cause, we've got crafty types who can join to provide and maintain gear for the cause that they want to be a part of.

With the Artisan Society, it's hard to think up much reason for people to join other than to craft things better than other people already can and unlock some exclusive recipes. So, pretty niche - you're only really going to join if you're specifically a crafter of some type already, and only so you can be a bit better at what you do.
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