Server Features and Systems

[Soren / Zarathustra217]

To help clear out misunderstandings and help introducing people to our custom systems on the server, I'll try to list and explain them here. If you want to help out, feel free to PM me or any other developer

[Soren / Zarathustra217]

Atmospheric and Environmental systems

When journeying through the land of mists, you will (hopefully) notice that we've done a lot to increase the immersion and add life and detail to the world. It's of highest priority to facilitate rich and vivid roleplay, and a lot of these systems are implemented mainly to provide material for roleplay. Here's an overview of the most significant of it.

General NPC behavior

We feature a great amount of systems to make NPCs come to life - to highlight a few:

- Many NPCs have their own daily routines, like going to the market at day and staying indoors at night.

- NPCs do a lot of ambient animations and interact with each other.

- Commoners become frightened by the unnatural and flee, and guards call upon reinforcements to chase down criminals.

- Some wild animals will flee upon sight while others will attack only if provoked.

- AI tactics have been tweaked to seem more sensible and alive. Creatures will call out for aid, flee or making tactical retreats if feeling overwhelmed.

Creature Spawning and Populations

To much better reflect the PCs' impact on the world, most creatures are generated by an advanced creature population system. Killing creatures in a population will weaken it, while time left on it's own on the other hand will allow it to grow in power, all affecting the number and strength of creatures spawned. An example could be the amount of rats in the Vallaki sewers, where hunting them all down would result in the sewers being nearly empty for a period, while not hunting them for long will cause them to grow greatly in numbers (and size), to the point that they start to swarm the streets of Vallaki.

In some locations, different kinds of populations may even occupy the same area over time, so that clearing an area will leave it empty for a while, until something else decides to move in there. A cave that at one point is infested with vile undead may later be the nest of a hive of spiders. The systems will even adjust the placeables and general appearance of the area to reflect this change.

Some populations are also set to be enemies, so that the peril of one will allow for easier growth of the other, and vice versa. Some populations are dependant on others for their growth, like the wolves being dependant on a strong population of deer to be prospering.

Finally, some populations vary in strength by time of month or year, leading to the next point:

Season and Weather System

We feature a sophisticated weather system, that will generate dynamic weather based on seasonal changes, day and night temperature, as well as local conditions. Beside affecting the general appearance of areas, NPCs, wildlife and fauna also change to reflect this, making the game experience dynamically change through the passing of the year. For example, at winter, many commoners decide to stay indoors more or less all the time.

Description Systems

In the transition from pen and paper to computer game, many details are easily lost. To cater for that, we have a description system that provides information of observations done when passing through areas - often depending on checks to be made or special classes. It could be noticing tracks on the ground, and inscription on an old statue, or simply the musty smell of an area you enter - adding all the detail that the graphical experience fail to convey.

[Soren / Zarathustra217]

The XP system

One of the first things you'll notice when playing on our server is that we don't use the original XP system. Most apparent is the fact that you will not be shown the amount of XP you gain directly, nor your current XP status (your character sheet will only show the XP amount needed for being your current level.)

Another thing people quickly notice is that their level progression at times seem to suddenly halt, especially after periods of intense dungeoning. This is due to the implementation of an XP cap, that will gradually reduce the XP you gain depending on the rapidness you've been gaining it.

All these elements are in place to try to to reduce the focus on gaining XP and levels, and not have the desire for XP control your play and encourage excessive grinding. I'll try to explain some of the general principles of the system here:

The Resting Message

Upon resting, you will receive a message describing your current progression in somewhat vague terms. This message will give you an idea on the different values of the XP system, without reducing it to simple charts and numbers, but a more in-character view. Bear in mind though that it an auto-generated message based on simple factors, and as such may not always fit perfectly to what you have actually experienced. Don't weigh it too heavily, but use it as a hint.

The XP Cap

The XP cap isn't a "hard"-cap, meaning it will not result in you hitting a point where you can no longer gain XP. It will however result in gradually reducing your XP gains if your accumulated XP gain over time is higher than the general playerbase average, limiting the span of how far you can get "ahead" of this average. This procedural approach is why we also call it a "soft"-cap. Conversely, it will also result in increased gains if you gain lower than average over time. The time used to measure this is both online and offline time, and is tied to the individual character rather than the player. Additionally, the cap becomes more narrow when reaching higher levels, effectively slowing high level progression.

Parts of the resting message will reflect the condition of your XP cap, sometimes suggesting you to pace up or slow down. Don't let this dismay you from pursuing the play and roleplay you feel most incited to play. Take it as a suggestion. The XP cap will never punish you, only slow down how far ahead you go compared to other characters who've existed as long as yours.

Following are a list of the different ways you can gain XP on the server. All forms of XP counts toward this cap, except the roleplay XP.

Combat XP

As in classic DnD, most XP is gained by besting foes, i.e. killing them.

XP from killing creatures in this way is rewarded to all who are able to perceive the creature and not hostile to the one killing the creature (i.e. the killer isn't "glowing red" to them). The XP rewarded to each member of a party is the same as if just an individual was killing the creature, meaning XP gains are not reduced by being in a group. On the other hand, by being able to overcome more powerful foes in a group, you likely will gain much more. We have set it up in this way to encourage partying up. The exception is if the number of members in the party pass five, where after it will gradually reduce, although not rapidly.

XP is always calculated by the highest level member of a party, although a slight bonus percentage is given to any lower level members of the party. The reward itself depends on the challenge rating of the creature.

Roleplay XP

In addition to rewarding XP for killing monsters, you will also be rewarded for simply roleplaying. This is both to encourage roleplay as well as to reflect the experience gained from all interaction rather than just killing. This type of XP gain is the only one not influenced by - or influencing - the XP cap.

Rogue XP

It is also possible to gain a smaller amount of XP by sneaking past things and using your rogue skills. The XP reward in this context depends on the difficulty of remaining undetected paired with the challenge rating of those you sneak past.

Quest XP

An alternative way of gaining XP is by completing various dynamically generated quests throughout the world. This can be things such as collecting bounties for wanting criminals, recovering sought after relics or delivering supplies. As with combat XP, this form of XP is shared among those who take part in the quest. To be counted as having taken part in a quest, you have to be present both when the quest item(s) are recovered and also when they are delivered.

DM Quest XP

The final way of gaining XP is through DM Quest XP rewards. This XP is given to reflect the progress your character has made through the challenges the DM event has presented her with. Note that DM Quest XP is also counted into the XP cap, meaning that people can't gain a lot of levels fast just by attending all DM events. They are just not penalized XP wise for doing so rather than dungeoning.

[Soren / Zarathustra217]

Special commands

To view the list of special commands in-game, type @help in the chat bar, which will list them all. You can then get more information on a specific command by typing @commandname help (ie: @emote help)