Peerage Script Infrastructure

[Stranger]

A conversation broke out in #efu-main about the Peerage's relative poverty of advantages compared to Ticker Square. While no one is particularly worried about it (because we've been a strong, self-sustaining community since the dawn of the chapter), it did bring up the interesting idea of creating new opportunities to acquire "prestige favor."

Please add to this thread with your ideas for systems, contests, or challenges to provide new sources of winning prestige.

I'd like to begin with suggesting that full Peers be tagged with a metafaction similar to the Merchant Guild members. I'd then want for them receive some kind of tool that allows them to grant prestige rewards to deserving retainers, akin to the ability of guild members to boost association wages. This suggestion is directly inspired by the system used for the Watchers & Warders of EFU:R. Obviously, Peers should not be assigning these rewards to themselves or other Peers. It's just a way to encourage the rank-and-file to scrape before their betters.

[Stranger]

In particular, House Nephezar's Thaumaturges could engage in rituals similar to the druidic grove system of EFU:R for a menu of benefits that could include prestige, a small reward, or a blood guardian of some kind. They could use sites of power in the Mongrelwoods, Scraggleways, and deepest Drips. A small server message similar to merchant rumors could be sent notifying interested parties of this diabolical ritual in progress. Arbiters and Tickerfolk would likely try to disrupt the goings on. And there could be a theft of the divine sorceries at play.

Druids could also use these ritual sites for similar purposes if they desire, just operating off the original script. The system has versatile uses.

[Stranger]

Wagering prestige instead of gold at the Spinning Groat.

Possibly between players?

[Stranger]

Sunpurse catacomb patrol beats and unique interactions within certain explorables.

[Random_White_Guy]

For the issue of giving out favor points I'd say make it part of the Veteran's Badge like the old sergeants books. Veterancy is something that ICly is described as an important facet and this would give PCs in middle position (Below full peer since those are relatively sparse) a chance to dole out favor and reward deeds well done by your House's PC. Then it's at the veteran's discretion who has been doing good work, who did well in a duel, who ran an event at the spinning groat, etc.

[Stranger]

There are numerous Peer PCs at the moment, attending a diverse array of families in Velstra, Nephezar, and Glitt each. Depending on your point of view, there might be one in Orza too. I am unsure the Peerage community is large enough to benefit from an additional tier in middle management. Besides, the faction officers of old were also relatively sparse; like Peers are now, their standing was application-locked.

...Now, as for more ideas...

Bring back the Orza trainee as a minor prestige duel for low level characters. Possibly once a reset or as a quest? And possibly put a tackle with a Knife for higher level Orzas.

Drinking contest with a Glitt captain that uses a poison save check. It'd be similar to the strength check used for the Stonebuilder arm wrestle in Ticker Square, but use a wager of prestige instead of a wager of gold.

[Loops]

I do like the idea that the highest rank peers get to give out small amounts of prestige. They could use it to reward behaviour befitting peers and for doing impromptu quests. It would be a neat way to do it.

Other sorts of repeatable little quests might be nice too, though that might make prestige too easy to grind.

[Loops]

Just a crazy idea that might be too in depth to implement: a way for peers to see what house eachother gets the most prestige from, if the b above is something the team would consider. This would encourage more servile behaviour from retainers, and also more backstabbing and punishments for getting too close to rival houses.

[Nidaresil]

Personalised prestige items that give more favour to certain houses than other would be cool, like a fine Velstran vintage or Nephezar artifact.

Make quests/dungeons reward more items of prestige, rather than just solely the dispensary.

If Prestige could be some sort of exchangeable currency, players could honour duel each other for prestige (or maybe even NPCs like mentioned before). Also lose prestige if they get their ass beat. This could also be a way for houses to interact with one another for items specific to their house, making bargains and what not.

Also if you're going to push Prestige hard, I would recommend adding more in the way of supplies to faction vendors. The faction specific things like armour/weapons/helmets etc are lovely but I think even exchanging a small amount of prestige for some potions would be good (then again, if you can exchange points, this could be a way that alchemist/brewers gain points themselves).

I don't really want this system to replace money completely but it would be somewhat fitting that prestige means nothing in Ticker Square, for instance.

I do also like the idea of being able to see how much prestige someone has acquired in total, maybe as an examine function, i.e. "this person seems to be a veteran retainer of House Velstra."

[Stranger]

Feast Rumors, paralleling a certain association's access to Market Rumors, for House Velstra. Maybe a script f
to give a tiny amount of prestige (less than five) to a retainer fully named in the Rumor. Abuse would be very obvious because of how they'd be publicly telegraphed and logged. But guidelines stipulating the need to only send out "interesting or scandalous" rumors would be useful.

Natasha could be the NPC passing the rumors along. It would greatly increase her relevance in the House and be appropriate to the character.

[Stranger]

rituals similar to the druidic grove system of EFU:R for a menu of benefits that could include prestige, a small reward, or a blood guardian of some kind

Or to acquire some of the rumored, druidically sacred "witchstones," which Ruul Velstra, Guiseppe Orza, Steward Skudge, and maybe even the Reeve could want too.

Not to mention, well, actual druids.

[Pandip]

It's very hard to get your foot into Peerage without joining the current big house or relying on an OOC group. This also makes it relatively easy for said OOC group to sledgehammer their way into prominence through violence. This isn't necessarily bad - the ebb and flow of power in Peerage is probably best when it's constant. However, I think the issue with Peerage is less about the prestige system (which certainly could use a look at) and more about how difficult it is to find and retain new characters for the less fortunate houses. I would caution against grindy solutions that favor people in houses with established groups that have the time, power, and desire to churn through content and beat everyone to it -- whether that means they get there first or subdue anyone who stands in their way.

Currently, the only way to get any substantial prestige is through the dispensary. The dispensary is ultimately a situation of the rich getting richer. Which is, frankly, fine. But there need to be more ways to get prestige, ideally giving larger benefits to characters in smaller, less powerful houses. After all, it's easier to gain recognition when you don't have anybody to compete with.

Some thoughts:

-- Veteran feels kind of lackluster for something that has to be handed out by a DM and has only been given to a handful of characters (almost as few as we've had knights). The previous suggestions about them being able to give out prestige would be great.

-- Costs across the board for prestige items are incredibly high and the rewards as mentioned are quite low. Over three weeks, I don't think I breached 200 prestige in spite of actually trying. There just aren't enough opportunities out there to gain it. A dynamic reduction to the cost of items or an increase to the reward for turning in prestige based on faction membership would be very helpful, but I dont know how diffiult this sort of thing is to implement.

-- That said, an extension of the services offered by the quartermasters would be nice. Adding ash, supplies, and potions would be great.

-- Reduce the cost for joining a house based on the number of active players in that house.

The tl;dr is that I'm apprehensive of systems that conflate the current power structure instead of helping to shake things up and making Peerage, where you can get killed just for being a member of another house, a little more welcoming to concepts outside of the current frontrunners.