Merchants and Bandits

Alvirin · Post by **Alvirin** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 7:42 pm

Madness in the Trade way without area spells.

(the fight didn't finish with a pc death by close)

A bandit is here.
A harper scout is scouting the outskirts of Silverymoon.
Adabelle rides in upon Rowdy, a fell pony from the south.
A bandit's lands a heavy punch in Adabelle's abdomen.
Adabelle weaves out of the way of a bandit's punch.
A bandit dodges Adabelle's piercing attack.
A harper scout joins the battle!
A harper scout's punch pummels Adabelle's head.
A harper scout's punch brutally pulverizes Adabelle's abdomen.

Emrys · Post by **Emrys** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:27 am

Log below. Attacked by bandit on the road, guard for the merchant caravan assists the bandit. I hope this is a bug.

The sky is sultry and a warm southerly breeze blows.
Some bat droppings lie on the ground here. (perfect)
A merchant caravan is travelling along the road here.
A merchant caravan guard is travelling along the road here.
A bandit wizard is here.
A bandit wizard begins to chant.
You guess a bandit wizard is casting armor.
You weave out of the way of a bandit wizard's punch.

<100%hp 84m 32%mv>
You weave out of the way of a bandit wizard's punch.

<100%hp 84m 32%mv>
A bandit wizard utters the words, 'abrazak'.
a bandit wizard's armor begins to glow softly as it is enhanced by a cantrip.

<100%hp 84m 32%mv>
You weave out of the way of a bandit wizard's punch.
A merchant caravan guard joins the battle!
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash violently shreds your right leg.

<97%hp 84m 32%mv>
You weave out of the way of a bandit wizard's punch.

<97%hp 84m 32%mv>
A bandit wizard's heart is torn from his chest.
Your slash nearly bisects a bandit wizard's chest.
A bandit wizard is DEAD!
Taking the bandit by the hair you scalp him!
As a bandit wizard falls, his purse spills on the ground.
A bandit wizard drops 3 silver coins.
A bandit wizard drops 4 copper coins.
You get a feather from the corpse of a bandit wizard.
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash shreds your abdomen.

<94%hp 84m 32%mv>
A merchant caravan guard's slash tears open your right leg.

<92%hp 84m 32%mv>
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash deftly shreds your right arm.

<90%hp 84m 32%mv>
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash violently shreds your right leg.

<88%hp 84m 32%mv>
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash violently shreds your abdomen.

<84%hp 84m 32%mv>
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash shreds your chest.

<81%hp 84m 32%mv>
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash shreds your abdomen.
A merchant caravan guard stops using a plain longsword.
A merchant caravan guard dual wields a plain longsword in his right hand.

<79%hp 84m 32%mv>
A merchant caravan guard parries your attack.

<79%hp 84m 32%mv>
A merchant caravan guard's slash lays open your chest.

<77%hp 84m 32%mv>
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash violently shreds your head.

<75%hp 84m 32%mv>
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash violently shreds your left leg.
A merchant caravan guard stops using a plain longsword.
A merchant caravan guard dual wields a plain longsword in his right hand.

<72%hp 84m 32%mv>
A merchant caravan guard parries your attack.

<72%hp 84m 31%mv> Trade Way
N-Plains E-Plains S-Plains W-Plains
NE-The High Moor NW-Trade Way SE-Trade Way SW-Plains
The road is clear of grass and heavily rutted from the passage of
many wagons bearing their heavy loads. There are several potholes
that you must take care to avoid tripping in.
The sky is sultry and a warm southerly breeze blows.
You flee from combat!

Emrys · Post by **Emrys** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:31 am

Dear Lord. They remember attacking you (the guards) and will attack again when next they see you.

Nysan · Post by **Nysan** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:09 am

My poor Reece still sits in the land of the dead due to this problem. Quite aggrivating.

Ariala · Post by **Ariala** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 3:33 am

The same thing happened to my ranger not too long ago

Japcil · Post by **Japcil** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:42 am

It is because of the guards alignment that he is aiding the bandits. I believe I asked one of you in this bunch to email the builders about it?

If not, please email them concerning m8212 stating that his alignment is causing him to aid bandits who he should actually be protecting caravans against.

Dalvyn · Post by **Dalvyn** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 8:27 am

Japcil, his alignment is fine.

A neutral civilized mob should help PCs over evil mobs.

Japcil · Post by **Japcil** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 9:30 am

In a small test case they all aided the bandits over good aligned pcs. If TN NPCs should aid PCs then I will have to bugzilla that.

Dalvyn · Post by **Dalvyn** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:20 am

It would be nice to know more about the decision process used by mobs to determine who they are going to assist, so we can make it better.

Kelemvor · Post by **Kelemvor** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:53 pm

On past experience, the 'distance' between alignments is often the deciding factor. Unfortunately, this usually means that the neutral aligned NPC assists the equally neutral aligned agressive mob instead of the lawful good paladin. When a mob is evil aligned the chances of them being assited over the players is far less.

Dalvyn · Post by **Dalvyn** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:18 pm

Last time I inquired about it, I was told that alignment was not the only factor, but that whether or not the mob was civilized was also taken into account (e.g., an evil monster won't react/assist like an evil human for example, same with neutral).

For example, an evil human guard in ZK comes into a combat between an evil wyvern and a good human. The guard will most likely help the human in this case. But replace the evil wyvern with an evil human and the reaction changes. Similarly, replace the evil guard with an evil lamia, and things change too.

Nysan · Post by **Nysan** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:13 pm

Copying email by request:

====
Reece, my chaotic good bard, was traveling Trade Way between Berdusk and Daggerford and was engaged by a bandit wizard. A Merchant Caravan Guard entered the room and assisted the bandit wizard, killing my character. No spells were casted by my character, nor any other actions besides normal auto-attacks. After an Ask session, it was suggested I emailed this and ask that the guards are working correctly concerning good aligned characters
====

Anything else I can do to help fix this bug, let me know. I lost alot due to this and don't want it repeated on any other player.

Mariela · Post by **Mariela** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 4:02 am

I hit the same bug.

In fact, the EXACT same spot as Nysan did with Reece. What is going on?

Alvirin · Post by **Alvirin** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 11:48 am

A merchant caravan guard is travelling along the road here.
A lone traveller travelling along the road here.
A bandit wizard is here.
Kohadon is standing here.
A bandit wizard begins to chant.
A bandit wizard stops chanting.
A bandit wizard begins to chant.
You weave out of the way of a bandit wizard's punch.
You weave out of the way of a bandit wizard's punch.
A bandit wizard utters the words, 'abrazak'.
a bandit wizard's armor begins to glow softly as it is enhanced by a cantrip.
You weave out of the way of a bandit wizard's punch.
A merchant caravan guard joins the battle!
(a studded leather belt gets damaged)
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash violently shreds your abdomen.
Kohadon joins the battle!
Kohadon's pierce nearly bisects a bandit wizard's left arm.
You weave out of the way of a bandit wizard's punch.
Your crush beats a bandit wizard to a bloody pulp.
a bandit wizard has blood gushing from several grievous wounds.
(studded leather leggings gets damaged)
A merchant caravan guard's slash tears open your right leg.
A merchant caravan guard's slash tears a gaping wound into your right arm.
(some studded leather armour gets damaged)
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash deftly shreds your chest.
Kohadon's pierce nearly bisects a bandit wizard's abdomen.
A bandit wizard is stunned, but will probably recover.
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash deftly shreds your chest.
With a sickening sound a merchant caravan guard's slash violently shreds your abdomen.
Kohadon's pierce nearly bisects a bandit wizard's chest.

Rhytania · Post by **Rhytania** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 3:40 pm

Happened to me as well, about 1030-1100 friday nite. Even killed the person I was traveling with.

Kregor · Post by **Kregor** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 3:20 pm

For now, perhaps we just need to clear out the bandits out of the wandering strip of road for the merchant caravan, til we can get a better grip from Mask of how the AI for the mob assistance works and how we could possibly fix it?

Perhaps setting the bandits to CE would help the bandits not being assisted by the caravans?

Nysan · Post by **Nysan** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 8:21 pm

Any more the players can do? Don't want any more sitting with Reece in the land of the dead over this bug if I can help it.

Cret · Post by **Cret** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 5:34 am

a ghast is here, fighting Learaso.
Learaso is here, fighting a ghast.
...
A dwarven priest joins the battle!
A dwarven priest's punch viciously hammers a ghast's right leg.
A ghast weaves out of the way of Learaso's punch.
...
dwarven priest utters the words, 'ghafw ay nofoozaiqz'.
a dwarven priest creates clouds of acid that envelop a ghast!
a dwarven priest's lightning bolts fry a ghast to death!
A ghast is DEAD!
You hear a ghast's death cry.
a dwarven priest creates clouds of acid that envelop Learaso!
a dwarven priest conjures lightning bolts that strike Learaso!
a dwarven priest creates hailstones of ice that pelt Learaso!
A dwarven priest's punch viciously pulverizes Learaso's left leg.
With a sickening sound Learaso's pierce perforates a dwarven priest's abdomen.

Skye · Post by **Skye** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 4:40 pm

Trade Way
N-Trade Way E-Plains S-Plains W-Plains
NE-Plains NW-Plains SE-Trade Way SW-Plains
This is one of the many roads that winds its way across the kingdoms.
It is mostly in good repair though you occasionally come across soft
spots in the road that could use some work.
The sky is rainy and a cool northern breeze blows.
One miserable electrum coin. (superb)
A small pile of silver coins. (superb)
A small pile of copper coins. (superb)
The corpse of a bandit is here. (superb)
A pool of spilled blood lies here. (superb)
A harper scout walks in from the east.
You get a electrum coin.
You get 2 silver coins.
You cannot carry any more.
You put a bandit scalp in a cloth pack.
You put a electrum coin in a cloth pack.
You put 2 silver coins in a cloth pack.
A bandit walks in from the north.
A bandit's punch pulverizes your left arm.
A bandit's punch violently beats your chest.
Your crush beats a bandit to a bloody pulp.
a bandit is covered in cuts and bruises.
A harper scout joins the battle!
A harper scout's punch brutally pulverizes your abdomen.
A bandit's punch viciously pulverizes your left arm.
(a brown leather belt gets damaged)
A harper scout's punch brutally pulverizes your abdomen.
You weave out of the way of a bandit's punch.
You weave out of the way of a harper scout's punch.
A harper scout's punch brutally pulverizes your abdomen.
A bandit evades your crushing attack.
You weave out of the way of a harper scout's punch.
You weave out of the way of a bandit's punch.
You weave out of the way of a bandit's punch.
You weave out of the way of a bandit's punch.
A harper scout's punch brutally pulverizes your abdomen.
You weave out of the way of a harper scout's punch.
You weave out of the way of a bandit's punch.
Your crush beats a bandit to a bloody pulp.
a bandit has several traumatic wounds.
A harper scout's punch pummels your head.

And so forth...

Dude nearly killed me!

Once the bandit was dead, I of course auto-defended/responded to the Harper's attack... want to make sure this isn't going to affect my alignment and my chances with my deity of choice (Lathander, I'm a 'Hopeful')...

Anyone got any advice on making sure that all's ok?

Thanks!

Skye

Dalanna · Post by **Dalanna** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 6:12 am

Just had it happen to me as well. We got attacked by an Orcish Raider in Irondeep and a Dwarven Priest joined in, cast a flamestrike and hit everyone, then turned on us casting confusion and lightningbolt.

Merchants and Bandits

Merchants and Bandits

Gee, thanks Mr. Harper Scout! >.<