31 replies to this topic

[Kharybdis]

This is an area idea that I've been messing around. I haven't written much yet, but I'm curious to see what the overall reaction to the concept is before I continue working on it.

The story:

Exiled from every city throughout the realm for various crimes ranging from murder to thievery to prostitution, a small group of fugitives found the sewers to be their last haven. For years they preyed upon incautious travelers in the rank depths, and they gradually accumulated the gold with which they would finance the construction of their dream: a city of shadows, outside the reach of all laws.

Initially their "city" was little more than a few shacks located at the far edge of the sewer. However, as they gained both funds and connections to the outside world, they gradually began expanding deeper into the sewers with the aid of some of the realm's more, shall we say, unscrupulous builders. The city later expanded into the subterranean metropolis that it is today after a party of builders stumbled upon a tremendous underground cavern while surveying sites for potential excavation.

The founders of the city now run the city with a gentle touch from within depths of their granite citadel in the rear of the cavern. They ignore most minor crimes, such as murder and petty thievery, for they favor the most ancient of laws: eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. The burden of dispensing justice is left to the citizens of their city. If one is found to be too disruptive to the social order of their town, however, the nuisance is swiftly, but inconspicuously eliminated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sewer Gateway:

Enter: As you approach the gateway to the infamous city of shadows you step out of the sewage and onto a roughly hewn stone path.

Look: Illuminated by the dim orange glow of two guttering torches set in rusted scones on both sides of the damp sewer corridor, you see a thick iron gate that obstructs the entire passageway. The miasma of the sewer's decay seems to weaken as you approach the imposing portcullis, and the stench of rotting filth is gradually overpowered by the scent of exotic spices, roasting meat, and other, more unusual aromas.

NPCs: Two Orcish Bouncers

Orcish Bouncer: The bouncer is the progeny of an unwilling human female and an amorous orc, and due to his disreputable heritage he has been shunned from normal society. He has found his place in the underworld, serving as hired muscle for various criminals.

Description: As he sees you approach, the bouncer beats his chest with a leather blackjack and grunts loudly. The hulking half-orc stands before the gateway to Penumbra, blinking slowly in the dim torchlight. He is well over two meters tall and is wearing a decrepit patchwork of rags and scavenged armor.

Stats: 1 stamina, attacks with a blackjack for 20-30 damage, 400 hp, has around a 1 in 10 chance of dropping a blackjack.

The bouncers won't attack unless you attack them first.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Squalid Shantytown:

Enter: You are standing ankle-deep in sewage amidst a cluster of crude wooden shacks.

Look: The rough wooden shacks are constructed from rotting wood scavenged from elsewhere in the sewer. Through skin covered windows you can see candles burning dimly in a few of the shacks, but those are in the minority. Most of the illumination is provided by odd, glowing fungi that have somehow managed to strive amongst the rank sewage.

/examine: You reach down and pull off a dripping chunk of the eerily glowing fungus.

Sewage Fungus: Amidst the putrescent sewage this entirely unwholesome fungus has flourished. Though it is readily available in the depths of the sewers, few have ever been desperate enough to try a piece.

NPCs: Beggars, Pickpockets, Vagrants.

Beggar: In the major cities throughout the realm, ever-vigilant guards strive to drive the downtrodden beggars from the city streets where they attempt to make a living off to earnings of others. Some responded to their exile by taking to nature and learning the way of the druid or ranger. Others decided to continue moving from city to city, regardless of what the guards have to say. Still others heard whisperings of a lawless city beneath the ground. Upon finding the city, however, they found that beggars were as unwelcome among outlaws as they were among merchants.

Description: The beggar is clad in filthy leather garb that is a dark grayish-green from years of exposure to sewage and other filth. His eyes light up as you approach him and he extends a shaky hand, hoping for a few spare gold pieces.

Stats: 180 hp, -1000 hit xp, -10000 kill xp, 1 gp.

Says: “P-p-please good sir... d'ye 'ave a spare gold piece?”

Pickpocket: In any city you can expect to find pickpockets, but only in Penumbra do you see (if you're fortunate enough to catch one before he makes off with your gold...) pickpockets in such great numbers. They live in the shadows, preying on the pockets of the unwary.

Description: The pickpocket glances around shiftily in search of potential marks. He wraps his black cloak around him as he disappears into the shadows with practiced ease.

Stats: 250 hp, 15 hit xp, 500 kill xp, 25 gp, attacks with a stiletto for around 25 damage when attacked, steals around 50 gp, invisible until he attacks (covert, basically).

Says: “Gimme yer gold 'n ye just might live.”

Vagrant: I haven't written anything for them yet, unfortunately.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's about it so far. Once school ends I'll have more free time, so hopefully I'll be able to update this fairly regularly until something that resembles a completed area emerges on this thread.

Comments, suggestions, criticism, and outright flaming are all welcomed...

[Squee]

I liked reading this. ^__^

I look forward to the rest.

[Crane]

This is good work. I loved every bit of the descriptions and the storyline behind the area. The beggars are quite an interesting NPC... what happens if you actually give them gold?

Any bosses in the Granite Citadel with a potentially good drop?

[Squee]

Just as a thought, if you ate the "Sewage Fungus", would you get poisoned? Maybe even direct damage?

[Crane]

Just as a thought, if you ate the "Sewage Fungus", would you get poisoned? Maybe even direct damage?

Considering where they've been, you will probably will be very ill indeed if you ate one!

[Kharybdis]

I don't have any definite answers behind the rest of the storyline yet, but I'll post more as soon as I have it.

Squee: Yup... if such a stat exists for food, the fungus would be poisonous.

Crane: I really don't know about the beggars. Or maybe I do, but I'd prefer to leave you in suspense.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

[Hatrix]

Sounds awesome.

[Kharybdis]

A few random notes that I forgot to include earlier...

1) Class limitations: "Holy" classes can't enter the city. So, no clerics, pacifists, paladins, and possibly no druids.

2) PK'able area: As the back story mentioned, the area is generally lawless. So, aside from whatever mercenaries some of the wealthier merchants may have hired to protect them and their wares, the city is completely devoid of guards. The banks are protected by heavily armed mercenaries under the hire of the founders, however, to ensure that commerce as a whole is protected.

[Deval]

I sighed and rolled my eyes at the sight of a new thread suggesting another area, however, after reading it I quickly changed my mind. It's an exciting area with a strong dash of flavour. I especially like that fact that you haven't made it a quest/boss hunt area.

All the descriptions and ideas are excellent for creating a great mood and theme for the area. Nice work, but please, please please, no "boss".

[Kharybdis]

Thanks, Deval.

I actually have been working on a rough outline of a quest idea, but if it's any consolation to you, it's not the standard walk in, stomp the boss, walk out sort of quest. I'm trying to make it slightly nonlinear, and it's a fairly long one.

As for the area in general, I have roughly 6 pages of notes on different parts of the city, the quest, etc. None of that's been worked out into actual area/NPC descriptions yet, but I'm slowly working on it. For those of you who are following this, you can expect an update with some descriptions by next Friday.

[Thunderja]

Very very nice

Edited by Thunderja, 21 May 2004 - 11:26 AM.

[Kharybdis]

Heh. Two weeks after my own deadline, here's a little progress.

Bazaar Outskirts:

Enter: You are standing on a worn stone path leading to the bazaar.

Look: At the end of the path you see a riot of brilliant colors and tightly-packed stalls that could only be the city's bazaar. Even at this distance you can hear the avaricious merchants hawking their exotic wares to every passersby, and the aroma of roasting meat and foreign spices grows more enticing as you draw closer to the marketplace.

NPC(s): Possibly merchant caravans entering and leaving the city.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bazaar:

Enter: You are standing in the middle of a bustling marketplace.

Look: The narrow aisle is hemmed in on both sides by dyed canvas stalls, from within which eager merchants attempt to unload their goods upon anyone who exhibits even slight interest. The hectic scene is bathed in a yellowish glow from orbs of magical fire floating high above the crowd.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With any luck, I'll write descriptions for a few other sections of the city within a week from now. Here's a quick preview:

Drunkard's Walk: The "Drunkard's Walk" is a disreputable lane that runs alongside the western wall of the cavern. While it's called the Drunkard's Walk, drunks are more often found stumbling than walking in and out of the Walk's numerous pubs and liquor stores.

Merchant Row: Merchant Row is the most affluent district of the city, situated in the imposing shadow of the Citadel. While the gilded shops are often targeted by ambitious thieves, the merchants' guards are more than capable of dealing with petty shoplifters.

Gold Street: Gold Street is the street on which the town's most influential merchants live. The area is characterized by ostentatious displays of wealth, accompanied by conspicuous displays of force by the ubiquitous guards. All the houses are protected by measures ranging from slow-witted guards to dire traps, depending upon the extent merchant's wealth. Should a thief manage to penetrate the formidable defenses, he could obtain enough riches to last years...

Edited by Kharybdis, 07 June 2004 - 03:28 AM.

[Cule]

this sounds very good ... one of the best areas ive read here ... i hope it will get in to the game eventually.

[Zatra]

i agree with cule, its a very good area design, i'd give it at least an 8, i hope it gets put into the game

[Nocturnal]

Outstanding design!

The descriptions actually look in place for Nightmist, To me you've captured the basic feel of a Nightmist area.

Refreshing change to see a no Cleric-etc area, I really hope this is added to the game.

Nice work

[Teh_Fluff]

I'm amazed this is extremely well done and I truly hope that it gets added in the future, keep up the great work.

[Ryuku]

I love it.

[Sober]

Maybe Holy classes could enter the city but they would be KoS? Kill on sight?

[Cule]

nah ... its cool just as it is ... theres so many holy class places

[cooler]

nice

[Sneaky]

Very very nice... you say that you can kill in the area though, my only problem with that is- you leave the bank, withdraw money to buy something. Someone sits with a couple covert thieves and clicks you.

I didnt read ever single detail from other people's posts, mainly just the storyline, but I must say I am extremely impressed. Excellent area, I'd really enjoy spending some time there.

[Criminal]

The only problem with this area is the no healers part. A group of thieves could come in, camp, and completely destroy all fighters, zerkers, and anything else that decided to hold their own in here. You would want to make at least the banks/pubs nopk....

[Sneaky]

Make a whole town square nopk... like i said before i wouldnt want to be leaving the bank to go to a shop with a lot of gold on me and get killed...

[Crane]

I guess you can get away with making it nopk... the message saying that the guards are everywhere. Even down there, there are guards, and will probably hopelessly outnumber you as well!

[Sneaky]

I was kinda bored and remembered this topic; Kharybdis are you still around? I think this is a great idea for an area and it would be ashame to let it go to waste.

[Sean]

Now that its been brought back up i may aswell state my comments.

Great Area Nice Work!

Maybe it could be if you attacked someone NPC would help the person being attacked and start attacking the attacking player.

[Ryuku]

I have another comment, since the area is pk'able, items there should cost less, so make like, advanced pots and mana 125 gold instead of 200, that would make the risk of being killed good, go there and buy cheap mana, but have the chance of dying.

Edited by Ryuku, 06 November 2004 - 02:42 AM.

[Kharybdis]

Thirteen days later... no, I haven't been around lately. I've quit Nightmist, actually. If any of you want to continue development, though, go right ahead.

Edited by Kharybdis, 19 November 2004 - 02:33 AM.

[Sneaky]

Do you have AIM or MSN that I could contact you over; maybe I'll take up further development of this. I would like to be able to be in contact with you if I do so. AIM= Mikey5643
Msn= Mikey5643@comcast.net

I use aim more

[Thunderja]

I loooooove this area