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PlayerEventGuide

The Official Player Run Event Guide! The Changes & Basic Concepts

There have been some subtle changes in the way in which players can interact with NPCs on TSOS. In the past players have been allowed to control basic NPCs such as barkeeps and serving girls mostly just for convience. However with player events the range of the choices now avaible to players has opened up. which brings up out first significant change.

	*Player Controlled NPCs
	Now I know players can already puppet some NPCs. However the Player NPCs used in Player Events are a
 	bit more versatile in their uses. Instead of using a barkeep or serving girl for 1 or 2 posts players 
	can now take direct control of NPCs much like Immortals do during events. (I know awesome) 

So players can control NPCs directly instead of meager replies to food or drink orders. That's great it really is since it now allows players to essentially run NON-Combat Events. Now I'd really like to stress this in the guide. I am not joking when I say that players can't essentially run NON-Combat events. The new Player Event policy is basically making every single one of you psuedo Event Imms. It is a great privilige and something that normally only Guild Leaders can really experience due to Guild NPC Control. That being said it's also alot of fun.

The second change is the Imm rumor board. At its core this change represents a step toward realism on the MUD. Some MUDs will have players play for years without ever truly making a mark that can be seen after they've left. At TSOS that is has changed. Player Events [Which must be logged] and any logged and submitted RPs (Even some that Imms merely happen to watch while invisible) will be

assessed for possible rumors.

	*Imm Rumor Board
	Controlled by the staff and generated by players. This board will consist of actions that NPCs have 
	observed. For example if you assault someone PC or NPC and there are witnesses then the next time your
	in that area NPCs may be nervous or even outright displeased with your presence. This helps to add a
	realistic cause and effect to the RP atmosphere of every city in the MUD. Another example is if you and
	another player are talking about something of particular importance especially in a city such as
	Cairhien which is known for its eavesdropping it may become a rumor, or even the fact you where
 	somewhere at a certain time could become rumor.

Rumors can be handled in several ways and in the past have mostly been managed by the Imms through the noteboard in Cairhien or Guild boards when more specific in their purpose. The term rumor can also be misleading. The simplest way to think of the rumor board (which Mortals cannot see) is that the rumor board exists as a collective NPC knowledge. If it is on the board and there is an NPC that would realistically have heard the rumor, then the NPC will have knowledge of RPs or events that it was not present at.

Player Controlled NPCs

This section will include NPC Creation, Usage, and a few other nifty features of Player events. Lets first have a look into NPC Creation specifically what kind of NPCs Mortals are allowed to tap for a player event. To easily answer this question I have created these following lists. These are by no means the end all be all of what is allowed and what isn't. However it is a good indicator of what you can expect if you ask an Imm about specific instances.

	Approved NPCs: citizens, street sweepers, travelers, sea folk, merchants, merchant guards, gamblers, innkeepers, 
        barkeeps, serving girls, and some (typically working) members of a noble household.
 	(((Note: can not be a major noble house pick ones of no importance, and no house seats of minor households))) Use your
        imagination, common sense, or ask an Imm if you're not sure. 


	Restricted NPCs: warders, aes sedai, city guards, seanchan, aiel, dragonsworn, channelers, etc. 	
        Basically if they are tied to a guild, or is someone of political or military importance, you 
	shouldn't be messing with them. 

• NPC Creation

Step 1. Why are you creating it? What purpose will it serve or need will it fulfill for your story arc or the MUD as a whole?

Step 2. Does an NPC similar to the one your planning on creating already exist? If so, why are you making a new one?

Step 3. What is their personality, nationality, and 'profession'? (e.g.: dock worker, unemployed, traveler, etc.)

Step 4. What is their age, physical appearance, and normal apparel?

Step 5. Where are they most likely to be found (or if they travel what is their current location)?

Step 6. Will this NPC most likely exist after your event or story arc is complete, and if so do you think others would use it?

Example: Bob Step 1: I'm creating Bob to provide a key character for a story arc that will span several events, and will involve multiple players. He is going to be an informat/Guide for them on their expedition to find a possible buried treasure from the time of Artur Hawkwing.

Step 2: Jane the Thief Catcher does exist in the NPC Database, however her personality and location are not compatible with the story arc I am trying to run.

Step 3: Bob is a pragmatic character who keeps his word no matter what, since to him it is good for business. He hails from Tear, and at one time worked as an informat for several different thief catchers before getting caught peddling illicit supplies that had been stolen. After that he left Tear and went to Andor, continuing some of his less then reputable dealings.

Step 4: Bob is in his late 40's with a very skinny body with barely any muscular build. He has salt and pepper hair worn back in the traditional andoran style, and olive skin. He wears the normal Tairen fair of a short court with baggy pants tucked into dark brown leather boots. His teeth are amazingly white, and when he smiles his eyes squint in a shrew like way. Step 5: Bob is most likely to be found in the Playing Game dicing with a few associates who work at the docks.

Step 6: Bob will probably exist after the story arc is complete, and others may enjoy using him. I expect that the people who are

	going to participate in the story arc with Bob will enjoy using him in their own player events since he will be a very 	
        useful NPC. (Could be used by Imms for Rumor passing)

As you can see while creating Bob I also laid the groundwork for the NPCs he associates with. Since he seems to be of the dabbling in illegal ventures type, his associates / Other NPCs he deals with will most likely share a similar trait. Bob also has a purpose for the MUD since after the story arc if he where to survive he could be used by other players or even Imms because of his general informat 'profession'.

• NPC Usage & Reoccuring NPCs

One of the cool little features we're adding is Reocurring NPCs. Using the NPC Database on the page before this one a player can easily look over all the submitted NPCs that have every been created and meet them. ssentially allows you to add support characters to create story lines without needing an Imm every time, the possibilities grow. A short example would be if Bob and Joe were trying to get to Four Kings and didn't have any horses. Hank might be a merchant, or just a fellow traveler, and perhaps he offers to give them passage with his caravan or share his spare horse with them. So the first RP could be the meeting, and the following RPs the travel and arrival in the city. If you particularly like a reoccurring NPC or feel like they'd be fun for other people to use then you can add them into the NPC Database for public use. (Once someone RPs with an NPC they can use them again unless it is a restricted or guild related NPC.)

[Please Ask about submitting to an NPC Database Religiousbum@gmail.com]

Events

This is really simple. Player Events are really just a coined term. In reality it is a structured way to explain the type of control players now have over NPCs. It is kinda of like an event but doesn't have to be so grand and awe inspiring as some Immortal events can get. So General RP with a bit of advanced NPC usage is really a possible player event and basically is the whole idea. So when trying to figure out what exactly you can do with this just think of a few basic concepts.

On the mud there are tones of MOBs not as many as we'd like but we do have a fair amount. These are just a small fraction of the amount of people that live in these cities ICly & yet we have 2 players or small groups walking around or talking or doing whatever together without ever meeting any of the potentially interesting people in the world. One good event might be actually having a group of players interact with the NPCs that should exist in a given area. A good starter event to test the waters would be a tavern RP in which the NPCs in the Tavern are alive and interact with the players not just the serving staff.

List of Good Starter Events: Tavern RP, Travelling in a city, Looking for someone or something and using NPCs to find it, Travelling outside of cities, minor festivals or gatherings, superstitious behavior from townsfolk about XYZ and players reacting to this.

List of some more advanced idea: A storyarc involving trying to catch a thief while working with a thief catcher, helping a minor noble with XYZ task requiring extensive travel, patrolling for trollocs along the border, Searching for treasure information or other with a group, spreading political rumors in hopes of changing public opinion, anything that can be done with a mixture of non-combat RPs and Immortal run events strung together to form a story arc.