Make Syssin RP more robust

Xenia

There's nothing stopping the spy from failing and building a scene around loss just as there's nothing stopping the targets from allowing themselves to be vulnerable to a degree. The more I think about this the more I see it as a request for mechanics to support or implement RP that is achievable without coded support. It may be hard to get to these point when players don't agree in the direction things are going and can easily dodge a scene by initiating combat or just walking away. At the end of the day, only we as players can decide how deep the RP goes, no amount of code is going to change that.

Seurimas

Toz said:

So, to make spying more appealing, you have to make *failing* as a spy more dangerous. How would that look? If you get caught at their newsroom, do you drop some Syssin guild newsposts? If you eavesdrop on a political conversation, can they catch you and find out a list of your guildmates? The victim is expected to be willing to lose, but the spy *can't* lose anything.

I like this line of thinking. I'd actually prefer if spying phase (I conflate the two, and this thread does a little too) had different failure modes. Right now, you usually just get pulled from phase, then stand there awkwardly like "well, that was rude". That can lead to some fun RP, but I think we can do better, mechanically. Maybe replace some phase pulls with phase reveals, that tell you the names of the person(s) in phase and/or expels them from the room (perhaps to Purgatory some other Not Good Place).

It could be fun if there was an aura effect that just suspends phase. You walk into a room in phase with this aura up? You look like a normal person, walking around with your body all corporeal like a shmuck! It'll be fun every time to see the look on the Syssin's face when someone in the room glares at them or asks them to leave. (For balance, being Eye'd in this state wouldn't cost you balance. Soo, it's easier to catch you spying but also easier for you to run)

Ayastia

Lenoriel said:

Well, we need admin support to do the 'guard against Shadow' RP. 100% of the Syssin guild would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to lean into that, but it just doesn't happen outside of events, and until very recently, plots and events were an absolute wasteland. What was left was espionage RP. You can only RP being on high alert for Ohlsana or a Shadowplague that mechanically isn't happening or going to happen due to no event for it for so long before you find other things to be interesting.

Late to the party but I disagree with this whole heartedly. Just recently Kalena and Sryaen ran an event for for Templars using illusions. It was a lot of fun. And at some point an admin saw it and joined in on the fun, even if minimally. There is no reason you all cannot have self contained stories like that, so long as you keep it to effecting the guild and do not try and make it a game wide event. 

Ayastia

As for the API argument, I can see the use of city. Anyone of note in a city (and by this I mean the powerful adventurers who go out and make a name for themselves rather than random farmer number 2) would be known to their enemy. Who they are and where they live. Guild and current class I can agree with being removed. Just because I know John lives two cities down doesn't mean I know what highschool he went to. 

Iazamat

Counterpoint: some of you may know me pretty well RL, but you may not be aware of the state I live in, and there's an even better chance you don't know what city I live in. IC, Iazamat's been mistaken for Spirean, despite being a prominent Bloodlochian for roughly 3 years. It's one thing if a clan or something else in honours gives it away (or if they offer the information voluntarily), but there's still no need to have it in the API. Do that work IC.

Ayastia

I know the state! But only cos Mjoll...