Art and Adventuring

Have a new general feature to suggest, or think one should be tweaked? Share your ideas here.
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Irylia
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Art and Adventuring

Post by Irylia »

I'd like to propose it be possible for people to copy things for others to study. For example, if someone were to discover runes, glyphs, or large and immovable objects in a hard to get place (dangerous or requiring certain skills), it would be neat if they could do a rubbing or draw a depiction and bring it back to a scholar who may not be as adventurous or able to get to that area to study it in person.

This could work even if the person doesn't know what they're looking at or if the writing is not in a language they understand as they would just be copying what it looks like, not necessarily worrying about interpreting it themselves. This could also work for if someone comes across arcana circles that they need identified or studied before potentially setting them off.

Along with this it might be good to implement a sort of artistry skill to aid those pursuits. Scholars could use the skill to keep depictions of things they study in their journals, artists could sell their pieces or display them in a gallery, adventurers could pick it up to be able to properly share what people can't always see in person.

If there's a concern that then people would never have to go out and explore or that all things would then just be at everyone's fingertips, they could require other skills to study properly or get the full effect. For example - someone with low artistry might not capture as many details or may mis-draw something to give it a different meaning. Someone with low lore, linguistics, or arcana might misinterpret what they see. But I think that proper roleplaying will mitigate this as well. People will always have a desire to see a thing in person and explore for themselves.
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Rias
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Re: Art and Adventuring

Post by Rias »

I do have plans for things like scrolls and books and whatnot that can be moved around and given to others for translation, learning glyphs, and stuff like that.

When it comes to the "big stuff" however, the intent is to force people to go out to it and take whatever extra measures might be necessary. I like the idea that to study the famous glyph-covered obelisk from the High Ruins of Spooky Forboding, a bookish scholar might need to get a team together. A warrior to protect from hostile creatures, an adventurer to climb up ahead and lower ropes, stuff like that. I feel like allowing people to just make a copy or rubbing and bring it back would really cheapen that experience overall.

Also recall that most (if not all) occult symbols resist understanding by those who don't have a good grasp on arcana. One could stare at an occult glyph for hours and still not be able to memorize or recall the symbol's exact form, because occult symbols are just weird that way - they mess with the mind.
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Irylia
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Re: Art and Adventuring

Post by Irylia »

Also recall that most (if not all) occult symbols resist understanding by those who don't have a good grasp on arcana. One could stare at an occult glyph for hours and still not be able to memorize or recall the symbol's exact form, because occult symbols are just weird that way - they mess with the mind.
Right, that's why I was saying it wouldn't be about them being able to understand it and they're not trying to memorize it or recall it, but rather just sketch things as they see them. And that they might still get it wrong which could add a whole new level of fun when things get completely misinterpreted. If you're saying the glyphs move or shift or are otherwise somehow magically unable to be copied unless you have scholarly skills, that's another thing entirely and I would be all for that. Perhaps this could be limited to mundane things.
I feel like allowing people to just make a copy or rubbing and bring it back would really cheapen that experience overall.
I personally don't feel like the experience would be cheapened as players would still need to go out and find those things in the first place, but I definitely understand your concern there and your interest in having some way to prod players into experiencing more of the world. It's not my intention to propose something that entirely bypasses mechanics or teamwork, but rather to offer an alternative for those with a different play-style or interest. Everyone experiences things in different ways and I wouldn't want to limit players by not presenting options - both for those who find things, and for those who want to study them.

My worry is also that, with a low population game, it might be more challenging to get the proper party combinations together all at the same times. I'm trying to suggest a way to allow people to still get at least some of the information (albeit without the some of the potential risk or challenges, sure) but maybe not all of the information they would be able to get by going in person. Even just getting enough of a tidbit might be the push a scholar needs to actually leave the library and risk life and limb.
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Irylia
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Re: Art and Adventuring

Post by Irylia »

Also - art is cool. And it would be fun to see it implemented in a creative way in a text-based game.
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Rias
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Re: Art and Adventuring

Post by Rias »

Irylia wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:45 pm If you're saying the glyphs move or shift or are otherwise somehow magically unable to be copied unless you have scholarly skills, that's another thing entirely and I would be all for that.
Right. Occult glyphs essentially resist being observed and studied by the human mind, and scholars must use their arcana training to overcome that.
Everyone experiences things in different ways and I wouldn't want to limit players by not presenting options
I'm with you, but I don't think we need to completely avoid people (both players and their characters) occasionally going out of their comfort zone. Some finds can be transferred or possibly have copies made and brought to less-adventurous types, sure. But there will also be some things out there where the bookworm will have to just bite the bullet and go out on an uncofmortable adventure, because there's simply no alternative. Do it for science!
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Re: Art and Adventuring

Post by Rias »

Irylia wrote: Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:45 pm My worry is also that, with a low population game, it might be more challenging to get the proper party combinations together all at the same times.
There's always the option of GM assistance if a long period of time passes where effort has been made but without any success. I expect these types of experiences (going out on a journey to study some far-off unique relic) won't exactly be everyday, but rather an exceptional occasional thing people do.
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Irylia
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Re: Art and Adventuring

Post by Irylia »

Thanks for clarifying!
Some finds can be transferred or possibly have copies made and brought to less-adventurous types

This is pretty much all I'm looking for rather than just the fact that some things may already be in a movable object like a scroll or book.

Any thoughts on a general "art" type skill implementation or would something like that just be rolled into another scholar skill... or are you thinking of implementing this kind of thing another way and not really having a separate art/drawing skill at all - similar to the copy command. I realize it's likely very low priority regardless of how it goes.
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