Forgotten Kingdoms Forums

So, I know we're fairly well set with the way things are involving worn items and descs. However, there's an idea I've seen put into play in other MU*s that's peaked my interests and I think it'd play really well here.

Instead of an all encompassing desc that sits at the top of our worn items, why not make it inline with our worn items? The idea is that we describe our character's various parts (with the PG rating in mind so we're naturally wearing basic cloth for modesty) individually without armor or colorized clothing.

Then when we wear an item, its long desc is applied to our normal one as an overlay. So when we wear a dark blue tunic with silver trim, it takes the long desc of that tunic and applies it to our desc. My muscular hairy chest is now covered by: A deep dark blue brushed wool cloth trimmed in intricately made silver embroidery.
The last part to this is... I get to write that long desc for the item. Each item's long desc is usually blank already, so it only makes sense that this should be usable by us for RP purposes. It's obvious that we might own the same code item but not obvious that we'd match to the letter. I might have bought my leather belt pouch in Shadowdale, where they stamp it with images of woodland creatures, and you bought it in Waterdeep where they burn in proof marks or stamp it with images of heroic acts.

Here's the full example of what I'm saying, using Besky as my model:

desc <location> -> desc head
His hair is blond, cut short in a warrior's standard high and tight.
His face is awesome, having this three pronged scar on one side.
His neck is bulging with muscles and almost a constant reddish tan.
His chest is huge and chiseled and hairy to no end.
His arms are defined by biceps and triceps so hard it's like rocks were shoved under his skin.
His torso is flat, washboard abs hard as diamonds and leads down to his legs.
His legs are tree trunks that move, the quads knotting under the skin like rigging on a ship.
His feet are amazingly large and somewhat hairy.

wear 'padded woolen hose'
You don padded woolen hose. OOC: Use desc legs hose <desc> to describe this item.
desc legs hose Quilted linen hose stuffed with wool batting to make them warm and to dampen some of the impact of a blow to the legs. Otherwise unadorned, the pant legs are tied at the back to keep the garment snug to the skin.

wear tunic
You don a grey tunic with nine silver stars. OOC: Use desc body tunic <desc> to describe this item.
desc body tunic A woolen tunic of natural grey that has been made on a loom so that the weave pattern is herringbone and sturdy. Nine bright silver stars have been appliqued onto the left breast in a typical style for members of the School of Combat in Waterdeep.

look Besky

His hair is blond ....
His face is ....
His neck is ....
He is wearing a woolen tunic of natural grey that has been made on a loom ....
etc.

The desc is semi-permanent in that if we drop the item to the ground, it loses the desc that was set on it. Otherwise it retains that desc even if we give it some one else. I see this as opening up some more creative options for RP where bards can now also be creative descers for clothing, and tailor merchant PCs can exist who write wonderful unique item descs for basic clothing sold at market. (They make profit by selling the unique desc with colors and such.)

Aside from this seeming like it would limit the general quality of regular character descriptions, what purpose would glory now serve to the playerbase(most of whom I would assume spend their glory on renames to pretty up equipment)?

I have to say, I do like FK's description system a lot better than other MU*s where I've seen this system in place. Something about the robotic format just puts me off.

To make it noted, I over simplified the example area descriptions for ease of reading. Those MU*s I've played where they used this system were far from robotic, simple, or lacking.

The current system is fine. That's all, just fine. You get to write a generalized likeness of your character in oh so many lines that sits atop the important information... what you're wearing/using. I've seen page long descriptions for some characters that seems out of place here because it gets too in depth into something that's supposed to be more broad. I've also seen and had some rather lacking descriptions that run the minimum needed to get out of the starting area. Either side of that coin doesn't do much for the character or fellow players in terms of explaining what their character looks like at the time of seeing them.

The point of the system I'm suggesting is that it goes inline with gameplay. If a rogue wears a heavy over coat or cloak that blocks out their facial features, their other worn items and so on, it shouldn't be possible to look at them and see what they look like from head to foot. At the behest of being told this is a fantasy game of make believe; It isn't realistic and can break that immersion I've heard players talk about requiring in order to really like playing at that moment. As a follow up to the above example of the rogue, I'm talking about not only their equipment but their description as well being visible. This goes for all classes though, mages might not want their body type known or it might naturally be hidden beneath their robes. Fighter's physiques are usually obscured by heavy metal armor, one typically just assumes they're beefy.

As for your point about glory and what to do with it: I'm not saying we're removing short descs from the item entirely, we're opening up their long descs to be player specified. The short desc is still there and would still need restringing. As well, if we truly needed a new use for glory there was a reply a long time ago on the Hard Code and Area sticky thread about it being used to gain new stat and feat points. That might have become an obsolete need after hard code changes were introduced to the glory system, but with appropriate application I could see that being a new venue for glory expenditure.

Beskytter wrote:it shouldn't be possible to look at them and see what they look like from head to foot

This is a fair point, but I want to mention something that I feel could really help players get the reactions they desire. The smote, emote, and pose commands are really underused.

There is no guarantee that a PC will even be looked at upon entering a room. As you have mentioned, there is no way for another PC to discern how garments are worn if others do look at the newly entered PC; further, in skimming the description of a PC and his equipment, one may not even notice that a cloak is being worn, or a hood, or whatever else. The description, in any form, is only so useful because it is passive information. So how does one make clear their position in the way most likely to been seen by others?

e.g. Bob enters the market with a cloak drawn tightly about his body. The cloak, dark and voluminous, conceals much of his form, but his face is visible.

You can thusly (actively) describe exactly what's in your mind's eye for the benefit of those others in the room. There is no guarantee that everyone will pay attention, but you at least you made it clear. If they do not know what you're doing with your PC then they will definitely not abide it; if you tell them then they probably will do so.