EmberMUD v0.9.44 Faction Documentation
7/14/2000 by Kevin Williams (zak@embermud.org)
The factions system is first being distributed in EmberMUD v0.9.44. This
documentation is being written for that release. In all likelihood, changes
will be made to the factions system post-0.9.44 and we'll forget to update
this document. You have been warned. <smile>
What IS the factions system?
----------------------------
How many times have I answered that question in the last few weeks? <grin>
The best answer seems to be that it's a very complex alignment system. Any
mobile may be a member of one or more factions. Your standing with these
factions will affect how the mobile interacts with you. If the mobile is a
shopkeeper, he may charge you more for items if you are in poor standing with
one of his factions. If the mobile is a city guard, he may not allow you to
enter his city if he doesn't like you. A particular quest mob may give you
a nicer quest item if he likes you more.
Why do I want to use the factions system?
-----------------------------------------
Well, to add more flavor to your MUD, of course! The complex situations
caused by factions can entertain (as well as frustrate) players on your MUD
perhaps more than anything else available to you. Imagine a player that
kills a high ranking official in a certain city in order to get a really
cool piece of equipment. The city now hates him and if he comes near it,
he is mobbed by cityguards seeking revenge. Maybe the city is enemies with
a nearby city. In order to set things straight with the first city, the
player must head into the second city, kill someone, and bring proof of the
kill back - thereby increasing faction with the first city (and of course,
lowering it with the second). You can see where a very complex system could
come about here...
So, how does it really work?
----------------------------
Basically, a given mob has a list of faction affects associated with it.
These faction affects are applied to any player that kills that mob.
Additionally, factions can be affected by MUDProgs (so that things like quests
to raise factions work) and can be checked by MUDProgs (so that mobs can
spit on you when you walk in the room if they dislike you).
Where do I start?
-----------------
PLANNING. As I have said, factions can get extremely complicated. It's best
to have a good plan before you begin. Try to make it very difficult (if not
impossible) for a player to be hated by every mobile in the game at the same
time. For every mobile that lowers a given faction standing, be sure you
plan a mobile that raises that same standing (even if by only a little bit).
In fact, most faction decreases should be directly coupled with a faction
increase. A good example of this:
A group of orcs are camped right outside the gates of some city. When you
kill these orcs, it will lower your faction standing with them. However,
it will also increase your faction standing with the city (which doesn't
like having them hanging out so nearby).
First thing to do is to define the various groups on your MUD. The first
and probably easiest ones are the different intelligent races. Dark Elves,
Dwarves, Humans, High Elves, Gnomes, etc are examples. Next, groups of
enemies... A clan of orcs, a group of gnolls, etc - basically any group
that would remember your deeds and would hate you for them. Next, groups of
"friendlies"... The clerics of Midgaard, the druid protectors of the forest,
the citizens of Thalos, etc - any group that might be either alarmed at or
impressed by some action the player might take. Lastly, any other stray
groups that have been missed up until now (Sorry, can't think of an example).
Note, of course, that a given mobile may be members of multiple factions
(although I wouldn't recommend stacking too many factions on a single mobile).
Now, each of these groups will define a faction. Each faction will need three
things... A name, an increase message (displayed to players when they have
done something that the faction likes), and a decrease message (displayed when
a player does something that the faction dislikes).
Next - define inter-relationships between the groups. Are the humans friends
with the dwarves? Do the high elves hate the dark elves? Do the humans hate
the orcs? These relationships will help you to decide what faction affects
to assign mobile members of each faction. For instance, if the humans are
friends with the dwarves, killing dwarves will lower dwarf faction a lot and
lower human faction some too. But, if there is a group of evil dwarves
somewhere plotting to do away with the other dwarves, your actions may increase
faction standing with their group at the same time.
Once you have defined the relationships, it is time to decide how MUCH faction
standings will be affected by certain actions. This part can be a bit touchy
and will almost certainly have to be adjusted post-implementation. Try to get
close now and it'll save you some work later. Keep in mind that by default,
EmberMUD's minimum and maximum faction standings are set to -1000 and 1000
(these parameters can be changed in config.h however). If you want something
to be a major crime against a certain faction, have it decrease the player's
faction by a large amount (say 750). If you want something to make the player
a hero to a certain faction (for instance, slaying a dragon may make the
citizens of a nearby town love you), have the faction increase by a large
amount (maybe 500 or so). Also, don't forget the little things! Killing
the rats that pollute the streets may raise your faction with the town by a
small amount (maybe just 1 or 2 points).
How is it done?
---------------
Well, OLC of course! <smile> Oh, you need to know the actual commands, don't
you. <grin>
edit faction create
This command will create a new faction and place you in the factions OLC editor.
As with any other OLC editor, just hit ENTER to view the current values for
the various variables. There are commands (type commands for the list) to
change the name, increase message, and decrease message for the faction. Also
note the faction's vnum (you cannot change this). Faction vnums are unique
across the whole MUD (like clan vnums) and are auto-assigned by the MUD. You
will be referencing your faction by number in most other commands.
Example:
> edit faction create
Faction Created.
>
VNum: [1 ]
Name: Unnamed
Increase Message: Your unnamed faction has increased
Decrease Message: Your unnamed faction has decreased
> name Midgaard's Finest
Faction name set.
> increase Midgaard's Finest are impressed by your actions!
Faction increase message set.
> decrease Midgaard's Finest will not be pleased!
Faction decrease message set.
> done
Once you've created a faction, you can edit it by typing 'edit faction #' where
# is the number of the faction you want to edit. Can't remember your faction's
number? Use the vnum command, like this:
> vnum faction all
vnum name
---------------------------
1 Midgaard's Finest
2 Clan EmberMUD
After a faction has been created, you'll want to assign it to a mobile. How?
Well, bring up the mobile in question in the OLC editor, like this:
> edit mob 1234
There is a new command in the mob editor... 'faction'. Type it to see the
syntax:
> faction
Syntax:
faction add <vnum> <change>
faction delete <vnum>
This command is used to add or remove factions to be affected when this
mobile is killed. For instance, if you want this mob's death to cause a
player's faction #1 to go down 100 points, type this:
> faction add 1 -100
If you want a player's faction #2 to also go up 10 points, type this:
> faction add 2 10
If you change your mind and decide you don't want faction 2 to go up
after all, you can do this:
> faction delete 2
What else?
----------
Okay, there are a few other commands that you and your players will want
to know about. They are:
> factions
This is a mortal command that lists their current faction standings.
> set char <name> faction <vnum> <value>
An imm command to set player <name>'s faction #<vnum> to value <value>.
What about MUDProgs?
--------------------
MUDProgs can change a player's faction with the mpchangefaction command.
mpchangefaction <name> <vnum> <amount>
This will affect player <name>'s faction #<vnum> by <amount>. Example:
mpchangefaction $n 3 -200
That would decrease the person that triggered the prog's faction #3 by
200 points.
There is also a new ifcheck for progs to check a player's faction
standing. Example:
> entry_prog 100~
if ( faction( $n, 2 ) < -500 )
spit $n
break
endif
break
That would spit on anyone entering the room that has faction #2 less
than -500.