Voice Chat Questions March 11, 2023

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Questions and answers for today's voice chat.
Jerc asks, "How 'unique' are voice IDs? Can we assume that a single voice ID will always belong to a single character?"
Rias says, "Voices may potentially overlap in sound. It shouldn't be assumed that every character can innately identify and separate every individual based on their voice, or that would remove some of the mysteriousness of hearing voices without a visual identification."
Rias says, "I also hope to update that system to something less jarringly meta. I believe there's a BBS thread on it with some suggestions to that effect."
Chariot says, "How "Advance" is Khaldian advance compared to something like shadgard technology? Khaldian outside lost lands, I mean."
Rias says, "I don't exactly have specifics on that, other than "they have more than steam radiators and a steam-powered millstone." Shadgard's technological stuff should be considered more crude in general though, there are both limited resources and limited knowledge available. Sadly, Fahima can't just look up what she needs on a wiki."
You say, "Right, so recently I read something about the mummers camp. I haven't seen anything else about them, but I've been inactive for a few months now. Is this something not generally known right now, or is there more information out there that can be obtained."
Speaking to you, Rias says, "There was a post about it when they were near Shadgard, and they're currently elsewhere on the map. They're a group well-enough known that it can be assumed they've been in the general consciousness."
Rias says, "An IC post on the town board, I mean."
You say, "That's great news. I'm curious what, if any, more information you've come to cement regarding societies and guilds? Particularly when it comes to the mummers and Rook's Parlor."
Rias says, "Do you mean lore-wise or mechanics-wise? There was a recent post about them not counting as a Society choice. More like when aspiring druids go to get their initiation and teaching for that specific occult knowledge and ability."
You say, "I had inquired if you would be able to join them as a society if the player wished. Your response was that they would. However, would that only be in spirit, or would there be a formal method of doing this with additional benefits as a full fledged member."
Rias says, "Ah. On that note I don't really know. On the one hand it'd be nice, on the other it'd be a bummer to make others feel like lesser members. Something to ponder over."
Lexx asks, "Is there anything you can tell us about the concept of the "Deodhain Classification" system mentioned on the Vandin wiki page right now? Is Deodhain the name of a scholar that came up with it, or referencing something we don't know about yet?"
Rias says, "It's the former. Brother Deodhain actually made a few appearances in CLOK as part of an organization seeking information on many Immortals and trying to help classify things and share general knowledge. As well as come up with their own theories as to the connections between them all and their various interpretations, of course."
Rias says, "I plan to add that info to more Immortals pages, now that I've started getting an actual system set up for it regarding terminology and classification."
Rias says, "So it can be considered an IC classificaiton that PCs are aware of, as well as a classification made by an imperfect-knowledge group. It could be accurate, it could be completely wrong."
Verel says, "Any ideas concerning new types of armor and the crafting process? I'm aware I'm asking this while the leather is shredded on most of my current set."
Rias says, "Maybe I'll poke a little more at plate, splint, and chain. I got pretty far with plate before getting distracted, but it'd make a great check-off-the-list dopamine hit to get it finished among the other larger-scope stuff in the works."
Nobody asks, "What is the weather like on the Parr isles? I've always assumed tropical or subtropical, but that's just a guess. Is it like Iceland? Or even colder like Greenland?"
Rias says, "Pretty mildly temperate to subtropical, still gets fairly cold in the winter but not like the cold we've got in the playable areas. When it comes to Tatlhuecatn and its tropical climate, I think most scholars of that kind of thing speculate there's some kind of occult effect making that happen, considering it's decidedly not-tropical everywhere around it. Then again, there's speculation the cold areas might be the occult-affected ones."
Rias says, "Snow in the mountains."
Rias says, "(The higher mountains of the larger Parren islands)."
Speaking to Rias, Belladana says, "Next so will we be able to grow and harvest plants to make our own poisons."
Rias says, "That's definitely a potential use for farmable crops."
Speaking to Rias, Belladana says, "Also I ment to ask about another way to store things like cloth in a case like dye because even being able to bundle it doesnt change the amount of cloth that a tailor can end up with."
Rias says, "It'd be neat to have spools for thread and uh... whatever those things are that you wrap lengths of cloth around."
Rias exclaims, "On the other hand: If you don't want to be drowning in stuff, don't hoard it!"
Speaking to Rias, Jerc asks, "Are you familiar with the Parlor Mob, or is the shared association between corvids and parlours just a coincidence?"
Speaking to Jerc, Rias says, "I'm not. Should I look it up? I believe it was another GM who came up with "Parlour" for the sorcerous group back in CLOK, and I associated it with Rooks specifically for reasons(tm)."
Jerc says, "If you like bluesy rock, yeah! Not super popular, but I liked them back in college."
Rias says, "I'm a fan of Blues Traveler, if that counts."
Lexx asks, "The wiki file for Soul mentions that Nether Souls, Vael Sous, and Daemon souls are not of this world, and the Human Soul entry mentions that some people believe they're still associated somehow with the Vael/Vael souls. Is it commonly believed that Human souls are native to the world that Arad is on? Are Primal Souls native to this world (as far as we know)? Are there any myths or legends regarding the origins of Primal Souls?"
Rias says, "The general thinking is Primal Souls are definitely native, part of what makes this world this world. Human souls are often considered to be separate, whether due to relation to Vael Souls or just because humans tend to have that "We're Special And Unique" complex. Others think human souls are native, but ended up cut off in a way from primal souls, perhaps by evolving differently or meddling by the Vael or other occult forces. The Faewyr and Fasa are two groups that like to debate that, both amongst themselves and with the other culture. More details on that to come when there's additions to race pages."
Rias says, "(Or in the case of the Fasa, a racial page at all. Sorry, Fasa.)."
Jerc asks, "The Soul and Yru pages talk about the soul, body, and spirit as distinct entities. Are all combinations of one or more of the three valid? Like can there be a body without spirit? Spirit, soul, and no body? What do these look like exactly?"
Rias exclaims, "When you find out, let the rest of the world's scholars know!"
Jerc says, "I seem to have a knack for asking questions without answers."
Rias says, "I think the general thinking is that a body without spirit wouldn't really be able to hold together for very long. It'd need that will to keep on as that form or identity, or it wouldn't last long against naturally being broken down or eroded away or somesuch."
Speaking to Rias, Lexx says, "I finally have a mechanics question! Bella mentioning digitized ingots put me down a "historical storage" rabbit hole, and I was wondering: would it be possible to have something like a skid (kind of an early proto-pallet, basically bits of wood making a small platform on the ground) that could be used to digitally store specific items of the same type? I was thinking for things like Ingots and Timbers mostly, where you may need to store large-ish quantities of items in one spot to work off of them."
Rias says, "That could potentially work, as long as it doesn't end up bypassing limitations. I don't think we'll see anything else like dye cases that handwave away weight and believable storage limitations like that."
Lexx adds, "Ideally something that takes up farm plot space, but can be heaved into and out of a handcart with help (and probably fills the whole handcart). And maybe have it take up a decent amount of vault space."
Speaking to Rias, Lexx says, "In an ideal world, the "skid" would tick up in weight in response to how many things are on there, with a hard upper limit. 10 ingots adds 10 lbs of weight to the base weight of the skid (which would probably reasonably be in the 15 to 30 pound weight range)."
Verel says, "Will unarmed combat ever be a viable option? I figure there would be a group of people out there who know how to use unarmed combat relatively effectively for practical/idealistic/philosophical reasons. I'd certainly like to see unarmed combat be an effective thing for some people even if it was a society or something because punching and kicking stuff in the face is badass."
Rias says, "I've never really been a big fan of "guy with no gear is just as viable as guy with all the gear", so probably not beyond niche situations."
Fellborn says, "You may see abilities or items that allow certain functionality, and more usage than others but don't expect for it to be useful in all situations."
Verel says, "I suppose that makes sense. I just particularly loved the idea of being able to use it at a moment's notice enough for you to be perhaps able to pull out a weapon. Well that, and I thought it was done particularly well in CLOK. There was great rp based off the idea that the body is the weapon and strengthening the body is the best way to help ensure you can be as effective as someone with a metal piece."
Rias says, "It's kind of up there with the "magic user that can do everything everyone else can do, but with magic instead of gear." It's never felt very fair to me."
Fellborn says, "Certain guilds were purposefully left out of the societal roster when the initial ideas were drawn up. That one especially."
You say, "What are your thoughts on systems that penalize characters for wearing armor and holding weapons for long periods of time? There are some characters that basically sleep in the stuff. Some systems I feel could be utilized in this way are the morale systems, the durability systems, and the judicial systems. If you have on armor it could increase the rate at which your morale drops. This same mechanic could be applied to areas that aren't particularly pleasant like the bog."
Rias says, "I think more mechanics to increase awareness to one's apparel in general would be a good thing. One should probably not be doing literally everything decked out in full armor (heavy or otherwise), but one also probably shouldn't be walking leagues across the wilderness barefoot, or through a swamp without any pants."
Rias says, "(Exception for Hillfolk. They can walk as far as they want barefoot.)."
You say, "I'd love to see changes to reflect that. I think it would present more opportunities for certain types of characters. That patient assassin waiting for their mark to drop their guard, etc."

[Frisbee]

Thanks very much for logging that. Some interesting stuff in there for sure.