Bounty Hunters/ Mercenaries

[Preedy1978]

An idea I had..any chance to be able to set up a sort of Mercenary Guild in West Styne or somewhere?

My idea is that a PC could walk into the place, and be given a job by an NPC to guard/investigate an area, or perhaps hunt down a criminal.

At the jobs successful (or unsuccessful) completion, the PC could go back to the guild to collect his pay.

What do you think? Good/bad?

[Cella]

I think any suggestions like this that add some depth to this server at the moment are good. In my opinion the server at the moment is in desperate need of some form of RP boost. It has become a bit of a levelling server.

[taylor]

hmm well preedy i think having is bounty hunters is a good idea, but i dont think they should be NPC's.

i know the knights don't endorse bounty hunting, but its a good idea if the knights pay someone to kill someone, and im also thinking that evil could hire people to kill people in their way.

fredian has fallen apart with out me lingering around the campfire, just hang in there for a week or two Taylor will bring roleplaying to castille or west styne, im toiling with a plot twist, ill think about it when my comp's repaired, until then im going outside to play football (soccer) then go and work a few extra hours.

when i get back id like to see players placing bounties on someone's head or anothers, i think that Pero will place a bounty or two, make things intresting.

npc placing bounties arent a good idea.

[Makzimia]

This is fine, go ahead and do it yourselves, there is NO need for ANY code for this type of thing. Imagination and involvement surfice.

Makz.

[Cella]

A Notice board addin would be the only thing that may make it good, otherwise I agree, It's an RP thing

[Preedy1978]

Well, I was just throwing an idea out there.

I'll see what i can russle up in the way of mercaenary jobs etc for players, and see what sort of response i get from them.

[Hanah]

Tangential but related (and without the issues of criminal justice dredged up):

Instead of collecting bounties on criminals real and alleged, what about collecting crafting materials? This could be a good way for lower level folks to find their way around, earn some coin and in some cases gain craftskill points. True some reagents require that you be high level to access them, but who hasn't needed just a few more aqua dyes and really not wanted to run out to pick flowers?

This is something that could be organised without any coding again barring a possible noticeboard for announcing jobs ("Wanted to buy: one bag of everlasting, price negotiable" or something like that). A similar model for organisation could be employed in a bounty system. In fact it could be the same agency, for all your flower picking/hitman needs!

Hanah

[Silentus]

Hey Hanah, the Buy Sell board here is for that already - unfortunately very few people post there. A few characters have thought to make money that way. Smart to do at low levels, cause crafters have lots of money - which is helpful at low levels. In any event good reminder.

Back to the main topic, yeah, the bounty hunting thing seems like a good idea, and frankly, it doesnt need to be state sanctioned at all. Vigilante justice may not be acceptable by the law, but should the bounty 'guild' agree deliver the offender to somewhere outside of thier jurisdiction... lots of nice RP possiblities

[Hanah]

If the board is a preferred form for communicating such things, should we try it with posting bounties as well then?

I have to admit I have not used the buy/sell board. I find it a little cumbersome for quick things because it is not incorporated into NWN, but for long term things (for example price lists) it seems a very good idea to me. Maybe I'm not the 'model crafter' though...

Amongst crafters and prospective bounty hunters, any thoughts?

Hanah

[Silentus]

I know what you mean about Buy-Sell Hanah, but Ive seen it work real well on other PWs. It is mostly a matter of the players getting used to using it.

I would agree that if the bounty hunter idea is taken up, there should probably be aforum for it. I dont expect it will see alot of action, but as it is a longer term kind of activity, it seems like a real good idea.

[taylor]

i don't use the buy sell board for two reasons

1) im not lazy (honestly :-) )

2) it doesnt seem to be much of a Roleplay Boost if i need to buy anything i wonder around fredian aimlessly

well in summary i think if we roleplay it get a few "mercenaries" to stand out advertise themselves i think the knights might have a little probelm or two, either way it brings out some roleplay :-)

[Lumix]

From my legal point of view on Bounty Hunters is that it depends on the crime....(WANTED: Dead or Alive etc.) I was watching the Japanese Anime Series "Cowboy Bebop" the other night and was thinking about Bounty Hunters on Fredian as well.

The way it works on the show is... If the 'hunted' gets killed, the bounty is forfit. 'Bounty's' must be turned into the authorities (knights) after capture. (you would have to RP handcuffs or something to bring them in)

Hitman works the same way (but for evil). Since the attack or "killing" is done in RP, its not against the rules ;D ... but make sure to say something about the hit before or after in RP so they know whats up. (as a curtisy)

Now what I recomend is a well known "meeting spot" for these people to organize there "hits" or bountys at. The Inn in the desert would be good for the hitman to congregate and the vigilanties could head over to Castille Harbors Pub.

Sound like a plan?
-Lumix

[Hanah]

Wow... those are really good ideas!

The only thing I have to ask is how to organise info on jobs... this would be a scripting thing, but what if you could hit up the bartender for some tips? Slip him his fee and he'll give you the scoop on who's wanted, that sort of thing. It would have to be something that could be updated for new jobs and completed jobs... maybe if you paid him enough he wouldn't talk to any of your competition either.

Hanah
... see you space cowboy

[addicted2rpg]

It looks like there are two ways to go with this.
1. Help Makz find a bulletin board system for NWNX that is semi-decent. Plop a few boards in the world and call it a day. Let the RP'rs post it however they want to play it.

2. I write the "wanted by the law" and "hitman" stuff for my next project Although there is a problem-- modification of death scripts to record who is the "claimant" - and the expiration of the rights on that claim if they don't go in and pick it up (which could happen, believe me). In which case the bounty would still be outstanding and so on and so forth -- but wait, what if joe kills someone (for whatever reason, maybe just brawling around) and the code records him as the bounty claimant, and then bob goes and kills that person for the bounty and bob is mad when he can't pick it up? Rewards of gold versus items (this leads us to persistent chests / blueprint resrefs).... To do a really good job, the system is pretty complex. So my conclusion is: Too many issues, too complex, not enough time, the answer is no, but you may go with option #1


I do like the idea of hiring NPCs to collect bounties though. You pay the NPC and it can serve as your henchmen for awhile or with some of my more complex AI ideas, go out and hunt a person on its own It can use up some of that gold people are always pregnant doging about ()

[taylor]

i think we're over thinking the entire hitman stuff.

i think this is the best solution in as brief as possible

a character in RP walks around talks to a renound assassin/bounty hunter pays them to do the hit they return say that they got the kill or did the attack asked though some evidence would be needed or people might abuse the system so if they said something before they attacked the victim like "by order of sir karl i am to take you out here and now!" or another idea for hit "pero wants you dead, he's payed me well to do so"

and then theirs the point of actualy carrying out the action people might claim the kill even though it may of never happend.

ok... that wasnt that brief sorry.

i think we shopuld get a post going with the ideas posted here see what everyone thinks.