Profession Ranking System







The general idea behind a Profession ranking system is to allow players to have a sense of progression and accomplishment through their chosen profession. To achieve a sense of progression and accomplishment, it is proposed that some sort of tier system be introduced where players must then do something to reach the next tier or rank level. For Immersion purposes, the initial discussion within ANH focused on developing a sort of profession specific 'guild' system that a player could join in addition to any guild they already belong to. This profession guild system would be profession specific. Example, Only pistoleers could join a pistoleer profession guild. The guild could be considered content in that it would represent the diverse elements in the star wars universe as mimicing real world organizations that present higher learning/standards/training such as educational institutes, professional organizations and military academies.



The ranking system would be used to show who is the 'best' of the best for a particular profession. Each tier would reflect those individuals who have done acts that benifit their profession or perhaps show that they are the most skilled at it. The system lends itself well to other forms of content such as quest based progression which could be themed towards the particulars of each profession. Example: Teras kasi's students could be sent out on quests given from npcs within a "martial arts Dojo" which involve the use of their skills to resolve conflicts or perhaps solve puzzles etc. The player would recieve some sort of reward or perhaps credit towards ranking from doing these quests/missions. These npcs naturally would only be accessible to members of a particular profession or particular rank in designated areas/buildings much like theme park progression was in the original precu.



Rewards for ranking could be anything imagined, such as getting bonuses to skills, better items, credits, titles, etc.





The beauty of this system from ANH point of view is that it is very flexible in that it can cater to various play styles. Those who like pure 'content' could possibly do quests themed to their chosen profession/playstyle as well as participate in dueling or pvp for ranking status. Those who are hardcore pvpers could participate soley in a dueling environment. For example using Teras kasi again. To achieve ranking in the teras kasi order or a particular dojo, a player may have to overcome challenges presented by npc questing and then as a final challenge, they must defeat someone of higher ranking in a time honored tradition of martial arts match/tournament. If successful they get that person's spot in the order. This demonstrates that the person is indeed worthy and qualified to be a higher ranked member. These duels would take place in teras kasi themed fashion (perhaps within the dojo or in an public arena type setting) which would be viewable by anyone of that profession.





Some may think some aspects of a ranking system may cater towards combatant professions. This is not necessarily true and is another wonderful aspect about this type of system. Crafters as well as non combatant types can potentially make use of this (depending on the creativity of the community) For example, doctors and medic types may be able to have a ranking system based on the number of patients they have healed/cured or performed certain quests and actions or participated in quest events that involved helping others.



Ranking system for crafters could be things such as performing crafting tasks like making a particular rare item from rare mined/collected resources. Ranking rewards for them could be differentiations in their abilities.



Upon completion of a task, A weaponsmith for example may choose to progress in a particular specialization:

- Carbinesmith / Riflesmith / Pistolsmith / Heavy Weaponsmith / Meleesmith / Munitionsmith. OR perhaps just Firearms/Melee/Munitions to match the current skill tree breakout. These specializations would get new schematics for subcomponents or final weapons of that particular category. Perhaps they could customize those weapon types more; like change the dmg type on certain weapons (e.g. make a scout pistol that uses cold dmg), or change the look of those weapons, or get fixed bonuses (e.g. +5 max dmg to any weapon created).







Ranking systems for rangers could be "big game hunts' that show who is the best hunter based on personally tracking and killing particualr beasts. These beasts could be something setup by the server to spawn when the ranger initiates a task from a quest npc. The ranger will have to find out where the creature is located and then proceed to kill it on his own or perhaps in a group. The ranger would naturally get more of a reward or ranking for soloing a mob if they are skilled enough to do so. There are other possibilities for ranger ranking systems as well as anything else to I would suppose so ideas are welcome!







For smugglers, a concept of The Crime Lord was presented which briefly describes smugglers being able to setup or participate in their own crime syndicates. These syndicates may engage in turf wars such as in controlling starports and other bases for their criminal activities. Players may rise in rankings for hteir syndicate through actions such as 'offing' their bosses or perhaps rise through the ranks by peformming smuggling activities such as blocade running, transporting contraband, etc. Players who achieve higher ranking in their syndicats may get access to special npcs or items that reflect a 'greater share of the booty' or rewards from the organization by doing more for it. Player syndicates may gain or recieve better rewards to give their members by having control of starports/bases. To maintain this control they must successfully arbitrate with other organizations or perhaps go all out and do 'guild/gang' wars against rivals and take control by force. There are lots of possibilities with this system.









Ranking systems for entertainers seem to already be in game a bit in so far as themed questing from the theaters but perhaps there are other suggestions that can be made for these professions?









The following are recommendations for keeping on track with the discussion for a ranking system. These are just general tidbits to keep in mind when proposing and designing ideas. These are taken from an external source on our repository and modified here for better readibility.





A Ranked System for each of these professions might be accessed once reaching mastery of the profession and provide a variety of means for them to achieve ranked privileges similar to the “concept” of the Jedi Force Ranking System. Each “extension” in this conceptual system would need to consider the following:



• Are there entry/exit trials for each ranking system and/or Rank Status?

• What Skill Points are needed for each extension to allow proper pre-requisite skill templates to fit yet not unbalance it?

• How do you gain rank XP?

• How do you lose rank XP?

• How do you advance in rank?

• How many ranks are there?

• How many members in each rank?

• Are there competitive methods for gaining/losing ranks (challenges, contests, banishment, etc)?

• What are the benefits gained at each rank?

• Are there any penalties and risks associated with any rank?

• What level of skills (template) alterations are allowed after entering the Ranking System for these professions?

• Should there be, For achievement purposes, a title to be maintained displaying the ranking status, and a badge showing highest rank achieved. Should there be Provided a symbol or "glowing" title effect for currently ranked players in any ranking system as a status of being active or current in a particular RS.



Obviously there should only be one Ranked System (RS) allowed per character. If you want to change Ranking systems, that is not an issue, but you should not be in more than one at a time for obvious reasons



My Ranking System proposal

Legendary Professions and SonGoku's ranking proposal

Teras Kasi Ranking

Crafter Rankings

Ranger Rankings

Smuggler Rankings/CrimeLord Proposal







This is only a conceptual design of a ranking system I proposed.



Ready's Idea for Internal Ranking Systems

{partially based on ideas from the community)



Ranking system

General Overview



Profession guilds can be joined/created by individuals who have attained and maintain a certain skill point usage or skill branch(s) in a particular profession. In order to form a guild, the person starting must obtain x number of individuals who are willing to join. This minimum number should reflect the total number of ranks availible to the profession. Profession guilds of the same type may compete with one another in the sense that each organization is seeking to have more influence in a general area (city or planet or galaxy?) than others. Profession guilds can be joined by anyone who meets the qualifications (even if they are already in a normal guild) The profession guilds should generally function like a normal guild with the exception that there is a ranking system in place. Ranking in the guilds provide benifits with each level of rank earned. The ultimate goal of each guild is to have the most influence over its area/planet/galaxy with the culmination of a grand master whom embodies the peek excellence or best of the best at the profession. When they become a master and complete a series of quests, each person may sign up to register a guild. This guild will use a guild hall and that will be the basis of their organization.

Guilds should be Limited to a maximum number that is 2x the total number of player cities allowed per planet.This allows for multiple guilds to compete within the same city.

Removing Members



(perhaps all guilds could have a voting system to demote a member, even the grandmaster, if a vote of no confidence can be acquired unanimously or perhaps simple majority)

Guild masters and anyone they give rights to, should possibly have the ability to remove lower ranking members.

Note: this could potentially be exploitive if proper safeguards are not placed in such as if people on th same ranking levels decide to bar access to lower ranking members. The hope is that the no confidence voting process will allow for guild members to remove trouble making individuals and exploitive ranked members. The restrictions on the voting either being unanimous or perhaps 80% or more in favor of removal would detter the possibility of grief demotions and also indicate disgust/rage of the guild towards particular ranked members that are percieved to abuse their power or be incompetant.



Ranking System



Ranking system is internal for each profession.

The ranking system will begin internally, with member rankings that culminate with the guild master. The guildmaster will be the representative of that guild in a tournament or in competition with other guilds/organizations. The winner of these tournaments will then be the final grand master. The guild that the grandmaster belongs to obtains significant rewards and prizes, along with the grandmaster themself recieving nice bonuses.



Internal Ranking



Internally the guild members may earn guild faction points by performing tasks/quests for the guild as well as competing against other guilds through competitions based on rankings (sort of like the gcw planetary control game). Ranking occurs automatically if the person achieves the required number of guild faction points for advancement and if there are no other members currently in the next rank. If the ranking slot has at least one member in it then the person must seek promotion or duel the individual for a position.



Rank advancement internally could come from three sources, one being challenging a higher ranking member to a duel after first finishing a series of quests(simulating practical training and passing exams). Second, the person could be promoted to an empty position vacated by someone quitting or being demoted or removed all together by the guild master or designated person. Third, the person could be voted or elected into their position. Faction points earned for the guild count towards a limit that the member must meet to be eligible to qualify for the next ranking. If someone makes a challenge for a position, then the person being challenged has a certain amount of time to respond to the challenge either through an acceptance or denial of the challenge (perhaps 1 week??) . If a person denies a challenge or does not respond more than 2 times from the same person then they will automatically be demoted. The challenger may make 1 challenge per person in a 24 hour period up to the total amount of players on the ranking level that they are seeking to gain a position on. So if the next rank has 12 members on it, then the challenger may make 12 challenges per day (1 per each person)



A challenger may even challenge and fight up to the guild master or grandmaster and become the new guild/grand master.



The Voting Process



Alternatively, when a new ranking position becomes availible, players may choose to vote in individuals to certain positions. A simple majority should be required for this to work. If however individuals are not satisfied with the results, they may contest the vote by putting forth duel challenges to the winner or to another member on the ranking slots in question.



Once the faction costs have been met, the player is eligible for advancement into the next higher Rank. Whenever an open slot becomes available for a Rank in which that player meets the requirements, he may petition for it. After 1day of open petitioning, every existing member within the Tier that is granting the advancement (with the exception of those petitioning) have 1 day to vote on their selection. Open petitioning is the phase of voting during which players interested in advancing, "put their names into the hat". After the petitioning phase, voting starts. Voting simply consists of indicating which player you think should get the spot. There are no "against" votes, only "for" votes. Think "tick marks". Votes within the rank of advancement count double. The player with the most votes is given 1 day to accept the promotion via the voting terminal. If he does not accept within the one day, his win is nullified and a new round of petitioning begins. In the advent of ties, the winner is randomly selected. If there is more than one seat open at the close of voting, the top vote getters each receive a chance to accept the promotion. In the advent that no seats are available at the voting close (someone was demoted into that slot), the highest vote getter is recorded. Once a slot is freed, he may immediately accept the promotion without further voting provided that he still meets eligibility for the new rank.



External Ranking

(losing ranks from external dueling is debatable. Its probably enough to just lose faction points for this but i went ahead and listed some ways of handling the loss of rank)

Externally, Individuals may challenge members of rival guilds individually or perhaps setting up matches through terminals in their respective guild hqs. These duels however are not for ranking but for obtaining guild faction credit. The duels will need to take place within these buildings or in a designated area perhaps if its a ranged competition. Challenges probably should be handled with the same timers and general requirements as internal duels. Losses in duels should reflect a loss of faction points with your guild and possible demotion if it reaches below a certain threshold or perhaps link the number of losses to the demotion level. The general exception to this process is when guild masters duel or when the grand master duels. When guild masters duel each other, it is for the grand master ranking position and not guild credit. Likewise when the grand master is challenged, they are dueling to retain their position.

When guild masters lose a challenge or a set number of challenges then they automatically are demoted to the next lowest level or perhaps all the way to the bottom (representing disgrace? )

When a grandmaster loses a challenge they are automatically demoted back to guild master status (or below to the next lowest rank if its an internal challenge)

To encourage people to not all join the same guild (that has a grandmaster) the guild whose Guild master defeats the grand master and becomes the new grandmaster may have a one time item given to members of the guild. (in addition to the nice items that the Grand Master obtains for the guild anyway) Perhaps a mind healing stim with a certain amount of uses that is tradable or something of that nature? These would not be obtainable again for a period of say 2 weeks or so to keep down 'guild hopping' to recieve prizes.



Guild wars



Guilds leaders may declare war upon each other which would force all members to be open combatants against one another. Guilds may opt out of accepting a guild war challenge however, thus this aspect perhaps should be a totally voluntary procedure since it has many harsh consequences. A way to curb this from being exploitable is to make it so that no gcw faction points are earned or lost if this occurs. Players would not be able to use gcw factional equipment to fight against opposing guild(s) or damage/destroy opposing guild gcw factional bases while in a 'guild war.' If opposing sides declare gcw factional alignment then the normal rules should apply. Guild faction however can be acquired through guild wars and normal ranking loss rules apply as well. For instance if a guild master or the grand master is defeated by an opposing guild's members then the guild master/grandmaster will lose their ranking or faction pts and the opposing guild's master will take the place. Perhaps it can be made so that if the guild master dies during a guild war then the guild suffers a loss of reward items from the reward vendor/terminal. Thus it is vital for guild members to defend their guild master/grandmaster from attack during a guild war.

My proposal for the loss of faction points for all ranks except for guild master/grand master is that each rank should have an upwardly scaling cost of faction points upon being defeated by a rival guild, thus a higher rank will result in higher loss of faction upon death. This will give incentive for ranking members to be involved within their governing process and to hold their leader accountable for entering into guild wars.

My proposal for faction points gained for all ranks except guild master during a guild war is that all ranks gain a scaling bonus to their faction points earned that is the same as the points lost scaling. Points gained in this manner would be reflective of the amount of damage that they had done to the opponent before his/her death as well as the number of attackers. More attackers = less xp. Hopefully this system does not punish a guild war outright but has acceptable consequences/rewards for doing it. It is also hopeful that this does not promote 'gank squads' since the xp is limited based on damage done to the opponent and number of attackers.



My proposal if a guild master is defeated in a guild war then they lose a heavy faction toll (representing loss of influence). This faction loss naturally means that they will have to regain this faction to be eligible to compete for grandmaster with other guild masters.



My proposal for if a grand master is defeated in this manner that the grandmaster reverts back to guild master status or below and will then have to regain rank. The Grand master rank at this point will be open for grabs again between competing guild masters through the normal duel/challenging procedure. If there are no competing guild masters then the upon defeat of the curent grandmaster the opposing guild master will be defaulted to the rank.



Guild Faction Points



Guild faction points are acquired by being involved in contests, and activities within the guild, or defending the guild's honor and status against external threats.



Methods for acquiring faction points.



1. Guild missions/quest



These can be profession specific quests given out by npcs or mission terminals. Perhaps make them repeatable if the individuals choose to do a non confrontational approach to achieving ranking. These quests are also supposed to add to SW immersion factor and count as 'content.' Some quests should be required to be completed before a member can be eligible to attain the next ranking. (I think that perhaps they should not be forced to do the quests again if they lose their ranking but this is definitely negotiable as losing the rank 'should' mean something to the player)

Missions and quests should give much lower faction points than duels but their benifit is that they offer a consistant source of points and they should probably not have any timers associated with them.



2. Dueling



Faction points may also come from dueling. These duels can be internal duels (same rank vs same rank opponent) or external duels (guild rank member vs same rank opposing guild's member.



Internal Duels



These duels face off two members in the guild that are equal in ranking.

Any guild member on the same ranking level may challenge another guild member on the same ranking level. (they may also challenge a member of the next higher rank to but that is only for the purpose of obtaining the higher ranking member's postion. Faction point duels, however, are seperate from that) This process may be done by either making the proposition through a guild terminal (which sends an email for the duel request, along with a prompt to accept or reject the duel request) or by direct face to face /duel challenging. If the duel is accepted then both combatants will be flagged hostile to one another wherever they are and may attack upon in range.

Note: it is my suggestion that these duels be restricted to certain areas to simulate a properly supervised environment, and allow for spectators but without annoying/interfering with other players. Some professions seem to cater to having dueling 'arenas' inside their own guild structure, (think martial arts dojo fights) or perhaps make use of many of the SWG's static structures, points of interest, and theaters in the game world already.

An intrarank duel may be denied without any penalty. (if this is too lenient, then perhaps this could be put on a fixed number of duel rejections someone can have before being removed of their rank or removed from the guild.)

The player may not challenge and defeat the same person more than once per day to avoid exploiting.

More points should be awarded for successfully winning duels against opposing guilds. An idea to prevent exploitation within same guild duels is to add a threshold for losses that results in a reduction in rank, and / or perhaps deduct faction rank points for a loss to prevent people from only doing same guild duels. This loss perhaps should count twice sas much as opposed to the faction lost from dueling an member from another guild.



If at any time a player recieves a negative score that would take them below the ranking requirement of their current rank, then a random person of the next lowest rank will be automatically promoted to fill the person's spot. The player who lost their spot will be moved to the spot vacated by the newly promoted player. The promoted player will still have to obtain the required experience for their current rank and also the experience required for the next rank if they wish to proceed. The demoted player however, may challenge the new promoted player for their position once the necessary Faction has been reacquired (providing that someone else hasnt challenged already by the time this occurs that is.



Proposed system for awarding Internal dueling faction



Players who kill the same player again should not recieve faction again until after a specified time. Individuals may defeat their same ranking opponents again to aquire more points but it will have to be based on a one person per day 24 hour timer. (this system is negotiablet)



External Duels

These duels take place between opposing guild members who are of the same rank. The purpose of these duels is to facilitate competition between guilds as well as being a bit less socially disruptive than initiating Guild Wars. These duels should be looked upon as status symbols rather than "I pwned u all in our guild war hahaha." Guild wars do serve their purpose however if done properly but the real meat and potatoes of the system should be focused on the guild vs guild and intrarank dueling.



Duels between guilds should have their own terminal to register for a duel at a particular rank. This should perhaps work similar to the jedi bounty mission system where players can view a list of members who are on the same ranking level as they are and take a mission on another player. This would not however give a wp to the player's location necessarily (although perhaps this could work) but it would allow the players to get in contact with one another to be able to challenge an opponent to a duel. The guild terminal should perhaps also list the name of the guild being targeted (there may be griefing issues with this but it can be discussed).



Once the challenge has been made the players must duel in the appropriate area (special area designated for all duels or perhaps specifically for guild vs guild duels).



If defeated, a player will suffer a faction point loss and possibly a ranking loss also if they pass the set threshold for that rank. (I believe that the threshold for guild vs guild should be higher than internal guild duels as well as the player recieving more points for a duel than if they dueled internally. This hopefully will encourage people to due guild vs guild duels because it has less penalties and more benifits)

The player may not challenge and defeat the same person more than once per day to avoid exploiting.



Proposed Ranking structure



The following is an example of what the structure of the ranking system could be for each profession.



RankFpReq = Faction Points Requirement for that rank



ExtLoss = Number of times that a player can be defeated by a non guild

member before they lose a rank



IntLoss = Number of times that a player can be defeated by a guild

member before they lose a rank



IntFpLoss = Faction points lost when defeated by a guild member



ExtFpLoss = Faction points lost when defeated by a non guild member

Ranking

RankFpReq

ExtLoss

IntLoss

IntFpLoss

ExtFpLoss

Initiate

0

0

Infinite

Infinite

0

0

Title1

1

10000

10

5

-50

-25

Title2

2

20000

9

5

-100

-50

Title3

3

30000

8

4

-200

-100

Title4

4

40000

7

4

-400

-200

Title5

5

60000

6

3

-800

-400

Title6

6

80000

5

3

-1600

-800

Title7

7

100000

4

2

-3200

-1600

Title8

8

150000

3

2

-6400

-3200

Title9

9

200000

2

1

-12800

-6400

GuildLeader

10

300000

Iinfinite

0

-25600

-12800

GrandMaster

11

500000

n/a

0

-51200

-25600
















Cap = Number of members allowed at that rank



ExtFP = Faction gained by defeating members of other guilds



IntFp = Faction gained by defeating members of the same guild

Ranking

Cap

ExtFP

IntFp

QuestXp


Initiate

0

Infinite

50

25

5

Title1

1

10

50

25

5

Title2

2

10

50

25

5

Title3

3

10

50

25

5

Title4

4

10

50

25

5

Title5

5

9

75

50

10

Title6

6

9

75

50

10

Title7

7

9

75

50

10

Title8

8

8

100

75

15

Title9

9

8

100

75

15

GuildLeader

10

1

200

100

25

GrandMaster

11

1

N/A

N/A

N/A







Other Ranking System Ideas



Legendary Professions Part2




Darn wireless keyboard....that title should say "compiled" but I can't edit that!

Rather than attempt to bake all the details for every possible path and profession, I took the combined input from the last pass on this concept and simplified this document a bit. I left the preliminary examples of BH and Smuggler just for the vision potential this type of enahncement to the game could provide. I just didn't think it would be appropriate or well received if we tried to ram too much into these other professions without their contribution, even though many of us ALSO focus on those professions when not on our Jedi.

I think this is in pretty good shape overall to get the dialog going. It provides a reasonable argument to keep Jedi from being nerfed. It gives legs to the ground game, etc. I also totally agree with a comment Ren made that the devs need to pack more content into the game, which this is certainly NOT a substitute for. I would ask that this be more of a visionary roadmap and that the core professions and game wide content be included in a final effort to be published.

SG, feel free to edit further. I would like to offer you the chance to supply this to the correspondents and/or devs for consideration. I could drop this into the SOE forums, but I feel the correspondents and devs should chew on it and provide some feedback on it first...


The Legends of Star Wars Galaxies (Expansion Pack II Concept):

You've lived the greatest story ever told....yours. You found the profession you love the most, but someone in the game for only two weeks to a month can have essentially the same abilities as you who have spent 6 to 19 months with the same profession. You have been in the game longer than some who have Jedi and you demand the same "power band" they have.

Now you have that path in the new Legends of Star Wars Galaxies, where significantly increased skills, quests and factions deliver an enriched experience worthy of your dedication to a profession that at it's peak can even keep you toe to toe with Jedi Knights.

Executive Summary:

SOE desires longevity in its products and services, and SWG players seek new content and new achievement constantly. Jedi is currently the only “hero” class in SWG, and with increasing numbers come more calls to reduce the overall power of Jedi to equalize them with the other player professions. The philosophy of “build up” vs “tear down” is a healthier one to show respect to those who have already achieved, but also to provide a path worthy of others to achieve as well. In a social environment such as MMPORPG, there are several things that need to be maintained:

Risk = Reward
Time Investment = Benefit (Power Band)
Power = Balance

If there is to be a risk, there should be an appropriate reward. If there is time invested to an Nth degree, then the power and benefits need to be commensurate in relation to that investment, particularly when compared to other investments of less or greater to said Nth degree. For any level of power, should come an equalizing power in the same band to counterbalance it. Currently Jedi only balance Jedi (light vs dark), and yet other players desire the ability to have equal access to that power band without pursuing the Jedi path to obtain it. This is either because they are not interested in the actual profession style or they don’t wish to put forth the effort in hopes that the “tear down” approach is provided instead.

This document provides a starting point for discussion to bring that extended path of achievement to all SWG players in a variety of “flavors” to meet the interests of the population as a whole. This document starts the framework that the community can contribute toward to provide new advancement and longevity to the game while rewarding them for their efforts and dedication to a particular profession.


New Profession Extensions (conceptual):

1. Legendary Bounty Hunter

2. Notorious Smuggler

3. Battlefield Commander (Squad Leader, Commando)

4. Extraordinary Warrior (Sword, Pikeman, TKA, Fencer)

5. Distinguished Soldier (Rifle, Carbine, Pistol)

6. Illustrious Performer (Musician, Dancer, ID)

7. Renowned Inventor (Shipwright, Tailor, Architect, AS, WS, DE, Chef)

8. Wasteland Guardian (Ranger)

9. Honored Professor (Doctor, CM, Bio-Engineer)

10. Nightsister Adept or Singing Mountain Clan Adept (FS + CH + Melee Elite)


First, A few core SWG updates:

1. Player bounties are now extended to other players in the game who engage in voluntary new quests involving assaults on the Empire's facilities, or for failing to perform as contracted for several organizations including the Empire, Nym and Jabba.

2. Player bounty hunting is moved to MBH (from Investigation III). MBH now receives a logbook to present a list of confirmed kills on other players with a counter (score keeper) to show wins and losses to that player, viewable to others in new TAB based profile/bio using the /examine command.

3. A new TAB based profile screen for all SWG players to separate the following information:

- Profession badges mastered
- POI badges earned
- Themepark and Quest badges earned
- Auto-biography
- Unique badges awarded (live events, unique bio, etc)

Additional for LBH:
- Legendary Bounty Hunter: player kills list with (wins / losses scorekeeper)

4. With the addition of Legendary professions comes advancement to increased HAM pools for these professions as well as Jedi to provide increased ability against higher end NPC content as well as weighted measurement against non-Legendary/non-Jedi players in PvP.

Framework/Outline:

Legendary Profession extensions are very rewarding paths for players to invest time and focus toward to reach new levels of ability and gaming experience and provide a more enriching path to extend beyond Elite or Hybrid professions. The increase in skills and overall power are rewarded through a lengthy investment very similar to that of a Jedi Knight. A player can expect to reach mastery of a legendary profession (from novice entry of that legendary skill tree) after approximately 150 hours of advancement effort focused on that profession. So for instance a player who applies 3 hours per day of focused gaming in the legendary profession skills would probably complete mastery in 50 to 60 days.

The goal is to provide a fun and constantly advancing path for players, not necessarily a requirement to "grind" to the top. Also, characters at all levels should have value and benefit in the gaming experience, not JUST the ones in an extended "legendary" status. Balancing that aspect of this while providing reasonable advancement opportunity and reward is a key goal to this concept. To make this appealing to a "casual gamer", what if instead of a massive XP grind, it was time gated to reward veterans, whether they are casual players or power grinders? There could be a series of trials that require some level of xp work, but nothing as massive as FS or Jedi. Have these trials time based like the village phases to ensure that it is truly power granted to veterans who stay with their profession, but it isn't just handed over without effort and investment.

Example of a few possible “Legendary” Extension Concepts:

1. Legendary BH

Once a player reaches MBH they can begin the journey of attaining advanced BH skills in the Legendary skills tree. A combination of combat, weapon and BH experience will be required to progress and earn these supreme skills. Legendary skill points are earned by trading in (converting) combat, weapon and BH experience (similar to the FS design). Mastery of this tree earns the title "Legendary Bounty Hunter" and entry into the LBH Ranked System which is a ladder based system to compete with other LBH's for prestige, perks and enhancements to skills as well as to level the playing field with those FRS ranked Jedi.

LBH Skills Highlights
These are four staged, vertically earned, separated skills in the four column skill tree with increased ability and earned title for each column skill type. Details on if Skill Points would be needed can be assessed after framework is completed and compared to other profesions:

- Humanoid Enslaver

Provides the trapping/entanglement ability for a LBH to slow an opponent and keep them from using burst run or force run for a brief period of time. This skill cannot be "spammed", but provides a periodic edge to engaging other players who may seek escape over combat.

- Investigation Master

Allows a BH to establish a trace mapping on a players movement for historic data retained from droid track usage. Instead of just updates, the trace skill will show travel patterns and date/times along the trace path, including exit/entry symbology and destination info for off-planet travel points as an overlay to planetary maps for as much time as the BH uses the droids to collect the data. The tool to view this is a new map system that has each planet as TABS, and up to five player traces can be retained at any time for historic information. The player info is selected by checkboxes with the player name, with each player assigned a different colored visual trace allowing one or up to all five to be displayed at the same time to look for correlations.

Tracing can begin once the LBH has a player bounty as a mission and this tool is selected to trace that player's incoming data from tracking droids. The LBH must choose to delete one of the five traces before any new tracing can be stored on another player. Player traces are limited to 60 hours of trace time, and each repeat path is offset slightly to show any repetitive paths used. The trace data is stored separate for each player, and can be transferred to other LBHs or Notorious Smugglers as a means of "selling" information. The Notorious Smugglers are not able to view the actual data, but can see how many hours are recorded, number of planets and total distances measured and how recent the information is on a trace package to determine if it is of value for resale to other LBHs on the market.

- Lethal Assassin

This skill set improves the overall ranged weapon ability of a LBH to improve speed, accuracy and range of BH weapons against other players. Mastery of the entire LBH skill tree will provide improvement to the Lethal Assassin line to even bring balance to the 85% block ability of Master Light Saber Jedi just as an example.

- Reflex Master

Through vigorous training and the long path of capturing the scum of the galaxy, the LBH learns improved reflexes to aid in manipulation of vehicles, mounts, burst run efficiency and defenses (dodge and blocking) against incoming attacks. Masters of this skill set can expect to stay in a fight much longer and to run down opponents more efficiently. It is expected that they can burst run twice as long as other players, and Legendary BHs (master of the entire skill tree) are rumored to keep up with some Jedi for brief periods.

- Legendary Bounty Hunter: Upon reaching this mastery level of the Legendary BH path, additional benefits are awarded with regard to speed, accuracy, and overall skills. Most noteworthy is the new ability to duel wield pistols (more aesthetic than anything as the damage per second is the same as using a single weapon for the sake of a balanced offering to those who want to duel wield vs those who prefer single weapon attacks).


2. Notorious Smuggler:

- Underworld Dominator

Anything and anyone has a price, and this is the pinnacle of procurement for the darkest trading in the galaxy. These smugglers can actually SMUGGLE things in specialized smuggler containers (similar to factories for quantity), to help people move a lot of items fast and without any threat of inspection by the Empire. They can also trade “trace” data on player bounties for any LBH’s looking for vital behavioral information on a particular mark. They can slice BH terminals and even remove a bounty on someone at the risk of getting caught and having themselves added instead (so you know this will be pricey). They have the advantage to choose which attribute to focus a slice improvement on, although the results are still random.

- Putrid Pugilist

The dirty fighting adept! These include cheap shots that can leave an opponent swooning and confused for enough time to allow the smuggler to escape. Many of these are melee oriented for close range unarmed attacks, but a few are also pistol related for close to mid-range distance. This smuggler also has a disorienting, distractive special attack that can allow his group the ability to escape while the enemy is focused on the distraction.

- Espionagalist

Selling faction is nothing compared to being able to turn the tide of an entire faction base or POI (only affects players grouped with the smuggler). Smugglers can basically camouflage their group to appear of the necessary faction to complete NPC oriented factional experiences. Through specialized training, this smuggler can flip the faction restrictions of various themeparks and POIs to allow normally opposing faction members grouped with the smuggler to enter and complete the experiences. Note: the grouped players will be viewed in game as temporary coverts of the faction they “switching to” with the smuggler with each player in the group getting a verification window. If the grouped player does not verify this temporary faction change, they will be kicked from the group and not temporarily flipped. These smugglers can also completely stop Imperial “crackdown” scans for their group (similar to the old Jedi trick) or reverse the affects of someone who has been affected by a crackdown scan and turned overt (they can reduce the covert timer from one hour to 15 minutes).

- ?Fourth Notorious Smuggler Column?

The Smuggler community has many fantastic ideas they are working with “Green Marine” on for their revamp of the core smuggler profession. This document is really just to set up the concept for further framework efforts to provide extensions and longevity to the game experience as well as some path of “power band equalization” with the current only “hero” based class of Jedi.

NOTES:

1. The Nightsister concept is constantly mentioned in game by many female players. They have been unsuccessful at trying to create a template design using the current skill trees of Jedi combined with anything else, and would sincerely appreciate this type of option in the game. Some possible benefits to a Nightsister Adept could be: Rancor Taming (mount?), the Powers tree from Jedi, and a “balanced” access to one choice of Elite melee skills.

2. Ranger has become so limited in functionality due to many of the changes since SWG launched that overhauling that core profession alone would bring great improvement. Adding any extension to Ranger would obviously need to come after that, but there could be some very interesting designs to make Ranger more appealing to many players who seek out the “Fantasy" content from other competitive products to SWG.

3. Squad Leader improvements combined with high ranked faction achievement are also heavily sought by many players. The ability for a Battlefield Commander to call in air strikes, faction NPC squads, (even if limited per event/day etc) would be a fantastic addition.

4. Duel wielding is highly sought by many combat players, and should be included for them in their respective extensions.

5. A Ranked System for each of these extensions might be accessed once reaching mastery of the extension and provide a variety of means for them to achieve ranked privileges similar to the “concept” of the Jedi FRS. Each “extension” in this conceptual expansion would need to consider the following:

• Are there entry/exit trials for each extension and/or RS?
• What Skill Points are needed for each extension to allow proper pre-requisite skill templates to fit yet not unbalance it?
• Is there an RS for each of these, or do some share an RS (Melee/Ranged)
• How do you gain rank XP?
• How do you lose rank XP?
• How do you advance in rank?
• How many ranks are there?
• How many members in each rank?
• Are there competitive methods for gaining/losing ranks (challenges, contests, banishment, etc)?
• What are the benefits gained at each rank?
• Are there any penalties and risks associated with any rank?
• What level of skills (template) alterations are allowed after entering the RS for these extensions?
• For achievement purposes, allow the title to be maintained for showing mastery of the extension, and a badge showing highest rank achieved. Provide a symbol or "glowing" title effect for currently ranked players in any RS as a status of being active or current in a particular RS.

6. Obviously there should only be one Ranked System (RS) allowed per character. If you want to change RS, that is not an issue, but you should not be in more than one at a time for obvious reasons.

7. Other extension concepts include taking existing roles and factions currently NPC only in the game and making them accessible to players:

• Deathwatch BH
• Nightsister/Singing Mountain Clan
• Black Sun Mercenary
• Stormtrooper (commando, medic, SL, Swamp, Sniper, etc)
• Emperor's Hand
• Dessert Demons
• Corsairs/Corsecs


Conclusion:

Not everyone wants to be a Jedi. Many players want similar a competitive power level to Jedi in PvP and do not want an unbalanced GCW. Many people want NEW content, NEW ways to achieve, and ALL players desire (and deserve) some form of recognition of their commitment to particular professions beyond a badge in their profile that another person can gain in just a few days or weeks. Providing these “Legendary” extensions would bring a fantastic focus to the ground game now that JTL is live, and it will infuse new energy into some professions that have gone for so long without attention.

With respect to the BH vs Jedi, this would provide a means of allowing a single BH to effectively take on any level of Jedi in a one vs one scenario with mutual respect on both sides due to their status in the game for their achievement to reach that level. This also brings the potential for all other professions to achieve a similar power band in regards to PvP and the GCW so that Jedi are not dominating the landscape.

Finally, it also brings the recognition path for non-combatants to pursue as well.



SonGoku's Response


Okay, got a chance to read it over...

First off, very nice work and well thought out. However, I think what I originally had in mind and what you're presenting here are two different things.

To me (and please correct me if I'm wrong) it appears that the core of what you're proposing are elite-elite professions with ranking systems potentially tacked on. I don't know if I agree with that so much. Providing a method for every character in the game (no limits to the number of players) that can have access to reach increased power/abilities would severly throw off the game balance (even if time-gated), especially seeing as there's no risk involved. Everyone would eventually level through the "extensions" and the power band would be raised across the board, essentially meaning PvE would need to be balanced appropriately and PvP would remain the property of template "elitists" (except the path would just be a little longer now). Not to mention how much we (Jedi) would complain that we are no more powerful than "regular" professions...

The system I was thinking of was just several separate ranking systems that would provide depth beyond profession mastery. The prerequisites are simple: Master the elite profession, spend all remaining skill points, and pass a small set of trials. After that a player would be allowed to join their profession's ranking system (and only one at a time). The amount of players (members) that could enter the ranking system would be unlimited, but like our FRS, the number that could populate each rank would be increasingly limited as they progressed to the top (with only 1 member being able to reside in the very top rank). Progression through the ranks would be facilitated by doing the actions representative of the profession and their ranking system. As they climbed through their ranks they would gain increasing 'power' and abilities (in relation to their profession and theme of their ranking system), along with other bonuses and new titles. There would also have to be means in which members could lose rank, presenting risk and challenges for progressing through the ranks. Addtionally, controls would have to be implemented to ensure that members could not infinitely hold a position without substantial effort, not to mention other members should have methods to 'attempt' to affect other ranks in order to better their own position to promote competition and chances for advancement once the ranks become "bloated".

For example, lets take the Bounty Hunter Rank System (BHRS). First off, player bounty missions would need to be implemented (based on 'illegal' actions) and they would only be available at Master BH (same with Jedi bounty missions). GTEF would have to go to, hunting a mark would become a solo affair, unless you grouped with other Bounty Hunters doing the same mission, then the payout would be shared among them (lowering the XP earned as a result). Bounty missions will still be limited to 5 BH's being allowed to take the same mission at a time.

The way I envisioned it, once a player had mastered the Bounty Hunter profession and spent all their skill points they could go to Jabba's palace and express their interest in joining his organization (or alternatively they would have to wait for one of Jabba's henchmen to approach them in the 'wilds', similar to the Old Man visit). At this point they would have to prove their worthiness by completing a set of trials (such as tracking down an elusive npc, completing a few player bounty missions, and ultimately completing a Jedi bounty mission). Once they completed the trials they could enter the BHRS by paying a heavy fee (it is a criminal organization after all).

Progression through the ranks would be from experience gained by completing player or jedi bounty missions (not against npc's). As they rose through the rank they would gain abilities and mods that would allow them to be more proficient at bounty hunting, such as trapping, tracking droid effectiveness/abilities, and attacks to bypass Lightsaber blocking. Another possible ability could be allowing the functionality to hire player "thugs" (non-BH's) to help them on their missions (a limited grouping mechanic), as they rose through the ranks they would be able to hire more thugs (5 max at the top rank). The caveat to hiring thugs is that they would be commisioned directly from the payout on a mission, meaning that you would receive less payout yourself and therefore less BH ranking XP.

As for bonuses through the ranks, I would see beginning BH's (rank 0) getting full suits of BH Armor (with low LS resists), low tier (rank 4-ish) getting Jet Packs, middle tier (rank 7-ish) would get a Firespray, and the top rank (11) would get a full suit of top-end Mandalorian Armor (same color pieces with medium LS resists). Also, there could be a couple of new weapon certs in there (cold carbine, Jango's dual pistols), the 'warhead' BH backpack, and possibly dual wielding.

As for penalties, well, death to a mark could mean a loss of BH rank XP. Continued failures could also mean that eventually you would appear on the BH terminals (for failure of contracts). Death in this situation would mean the loss of all BH rank XP and falling back down to the bottom rank.

While the penalties would potentially offer a good control of the ranks, other methods would have to be implented to ensure that members could still progress if the ranks were full. Challenges may be appropriate to facilitate this, where any rank (except 0) could challenge a member in the rank above them to a duel, the loser being stripped of all BH rank XP and going back to rank 0. Advancement to a rank would be determined by open positions and eligibility, priority to a position being given to those with the most BH rank XP. Rank 10 (second highest) would also have the option to label any member (besides the other rank 10's and the rank 11) as a "narc" (or snitch, or traitor, or whatever...) in which that person would be openly attackable by the other members for a period of time, if they die they lose all rank XP and go to rank 0, if they live then they can openly challenge the rank 10 (regardless of their rank) with the usual consequences. I also think that the rank 11 (only one member remember) could be able to place a bounty on any online player as a perk (with limits, say one per day and lasts one day or until completion)...

To put the powerband through the progression into perspective:
Master BH = Elite Profession / beginning Padawan
Rank 0-3 BH = Elite Profession Stacker / low-level Padawan
Rank 4-6 BH = mid-level Padawan
Rank 7-9 BH = high-level Padawan
Rank 10 BH = low-rank Knight
Rank 11 BH = mid-rank Knight (Guardian)

Why isn't a rank 11 BH equal to a Jedi Master? Well, I feel that nothing should be equal to a Jedi Master, as no other in-game system will possibly represent the challenges of getting it (risk vs. reward, time vs. benefits). Not to mention the movie canon precedence. No other character should be able to best a Jedi Master based on pure power alone (besides other Jedi Masters of course), it should come down to a matter of (player) skills and a lot of luck. Another factor to consider is that a rank 11 BH will also be able to bring 5 hired "thugs" with him, which could tip the balance of power.

Anyway, that was my thoughts on it... envisioning that the other profession ranking systems would be implemented somewhat similar to that.


PS.
Wanted to mention that the elite "profession roles" idea is cool, but I don't think it's really necessary. For example, if you wanted to have a Nightsister profession why not just grab some Pikeman, Force Wielder, and CH? If you wanted Singing Mountain Clan then (ideally) grab Fencer, Force Healer, and CH. Stormtrooper are just Carbineers in ST armor. Additionally, I don't know if you would actually want to incorporate different playable factions for all that, the TEF situation would get very messy imo (moreso than it is now).









Teras Kasi Ranking system

Profession and Content proposals

http://soe.lithium.com/board/message?board.id=teras_kasi_artist&message.id=94248

Quote:

Combat Changes

INTENTIONALLY BLANK
I feel these will be addressed in the Combat Upgrade, and so removed them from my original version.


Additions

1. Teräs Käsi Dojo
* Crafted by Architects
* Equal in size and storage to a Medium House
* Usable by any combatant as a dueling arena. The Owner of the building (and anyone labeled Admin) is able to set the rules for dueling (i.e. No buffs, No Food, No Armor, etc, and any combination thereof. When a Duel starts any rules in effect will remove any items disallowed by the rules, as well as prevent the equipping or use of disallowed items for the duration of the duel).

2. Teräs Käsi Robes
* Crafted by Tailors
* Equippable only by a Teräs Käsi Artist
* Provides minor bonuses to defenses without the use of skill tapes (only provides bonuses to specific defenses such as Toughness, Melee and/or Ranged Defense, Defensive Acuity)

3. The Teräs Käsi Order
* A new themepark, geared strictly toward the Teräs Käsi
* Completion required to gain the Master Box
* Completion enables the Teräs Käsi Artist to attain profession specific clothing


Notice that all in depth details have been left out. Instead of swaying any opinions I wanted to use this base structure for discussion, and utilize suggestions and feedback to further define the ideas presented. When I first created this document it was nearly eight pages long, as most of my ideas were strictly Combat related (the Teräs Käsi Order section was quite long as well, but many aspects of what I had either would not work now for various reasons, or just do not seem to fit well at this time).

For now lets focus on the Additions Section, as I think the Skill Tree and the Combat portions are taken care of (Skill Tree is written, so no real reason to change it except for adding modifiers or certs for ideas presented, and Combat is the focus of the Combat Upgrade).



Also posted below.

*DISCLAIMER*
These are strictly ideas that I present as a Player, and have absolutely nothing to do with my role as Correspondent, nor with any hints of possible Developement time from the SOE Developers at this time.




The Teräs Käsi Order: Background For Purposes of SWG

The Teräs Käsi Order, formed from the remnant civilians of a long-ago battle which devastated their home world of Palawa, a war which involved the awesome powers of the Jedi Council, is a mysterious group whose purpose in the Galaxy has been debated heavily. What is known, however, is that Teräs Käsi Artists master the abilities of the Mind, focusing their internal energy in ways that seem mystical to others. The Teräs Käsi are sensitive to changes in the Force, though they do not use the Force through their teachings. Some say the Teräs Käsi are the strongest fighters in the Galaxy, rivaling even the Jedi. Others say that they watch over the Jedi, ready to intervene if necessary.

The Teräs Käsi Order: Themepark

A silent, robed figure has been seen roaming around Yavin. Many travelers report that he seems to spend a lot of time at the Blueleaf Temple, though many wonder how an unarmed, and apparently unarmored, man could survive in such a harsh area.

Curiosity has caused many travelers to seek him out. Many have returned with questions still unanswered, citing various reasons as to why they could not obtain that which they were searching for. Some, however, have returned stoic... silent... changed forever.

The beginning of the themepark would start, much as described above, by searching out an NPC who is in the general vicinity of the Blueleaf Temple on Yavin IV. Requirements for being able to find a speak with the NPC are Unarmed 4 from Brawler and the experience for Teräs Käsi Novice, or to have already trained Teräs Käsi Novice.

Upon speaking with the NPC you will receive a sash, yellow in color (generally symbolic of ones beginning of a journey into any martial art, a true beginner would be white, which I look at as Brawler). Without this sash entry into the themepark itself is prohibited.

I would love to see a very intricate themepark that provides content throughout the entire tree, but for the sake of trying to implement a basic structure and build upon that foundation I chose to instead limit it to two main quests, one for Meditation and one for Master. Other quests can be added easily, and a set of mission terminals would allow Teräs Käsi Artists to perfect their skills while staying at the themepark.

* Teräs Käsi Master
o Awarded a Black Sash
o Requires a Quest to "Unlock" (would be fairly simple, something more to obtain the feeling of mastery than to prove mastery)

* Achieving 0-4-4-4
o Awards a Red Sash

* Meditation Line
o Awards a Blue Sash
o Requires a Quest to "Unlock" (would also be relatively simple, mostly adds to the aspect of discovering one's "mystical" abilities)


There are many ways to expand on this idea, but the basis for a themepark is not to make mastery more difficult (that should be done through balancing of the Professions and NPCs I hope), but to make the profession have substance... a history in the game if you will.


I hope this sparks further ideas and refinement, but this provides a rough outline of what I would love to see (and yes, for all professions, though I feel each profession should come up with their own naturally )

Message Edited by Ryutek on 02-01-2005 10:27 AM






http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=teras_kasi_artist&message.id=79919&view=by_date_ascending&page=2

Quote:


Im sure Im not the first one to come up with this idea, but wouldn't it be cool to have a Tera Kasi Dojo? I was thinking of making a guild hall into a dojo, but I would rather see a specific structure made for dueling.

I think there could be 3 levels of these dueling structures.

Level 1 could be the dojo, and would be one of the smaller buildings. This would be designed for melee fights and would have special features to keep track of who wins each fight. Through a special terminal you could even arrange tournaments.

Level 2 structures could allow for small groups of players to duel. This would be a medium sized building and would have more room than the level 1 dojo for spectators.

Level 3 structures could be the size of the arena in episode II. These buildings would work almost like a battle field, but there would be lots of different battle mods while in the arena. This would be great for Role Playing. I could just see Imperials holding a Rebel execution in the arena, or a few prisoners being fed to a arena owned rancor.


Now Im not saying that this should take priority over combat and JTL work. I just feel that when the devs have time this would be some great new content for player events.

/meditate


Galactic Martial Arts Tournament (held on Ahazi monthly).
Rules ( as you suggested.. ) based on DBZ
No deathblows
Disqualified on ringout
Fight to the incapp..

Oh yeah for that rules are no buffs. dots, or armour as well...

These tournaments (which I've done a few times now) are difficult to run. Basically you have to Organize the event.

* First off, where will it be held? A PA Hall, City hall, Theatre.. etc...
* Second, advertise it well. I made sure it was on the Events Page about 2 weeks before the event then I posted it on the Galaxy forum, and every profession that it applies too.
* Coming up with and enforcing the tournie rules. Thats the hardpart. I suggest using a player structure that you have admin rights to. If someone breaks the rule, ban them from the entry list until the tournie is over. You have to be strict but choose your fights well. Is it worth enforcing if it causes people to not show up next time? Keep the rules simple.
* To require roleplay or not? That is up to you, I found that the tournie for Roleplaying w/no buffs/armour was not as popular as the non-rp tournie which allowed everything except armour and ranged weapons.

These are just a few suggestions. Also realize... no one is ever on time when running these events. If you said be there at 5pm edt most will show up an hour later. Try to have a couple of entertainers handy for Mind Buffing, maybe even a Doctor as well. I have a mailing list of about 50 people on Ahazi interested in or participating in my RP Dojo. It's hard to keep organized but it can be done.

Just some advice from someone who has tried this. I have had the Galactic Martial Arts Tournament twice, each time I had about 20-25 folks particiapate. Fight Club! has been done about three times and that had 40-50 at most show up. RPing a Dojo can be fun too as long as you can give people a reason to keep showing up.





Proposal to add onto the Dojo Concept a TK ranking system, culminating with grandmaster rank.



http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=teras_kasi_artist&message.id=94555&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

Quote:


I for one have been expecting some sort of patch that would grant skills beyond (Master). Its is more than past the hour that the TK has reached a level of expectation due to our involved history with self-progression. I have a few ideas for Grandmaster skills including how to achieve them within the spectrum of the propsed TK themepark.

First thing is that you have to have fully completed the TK themepark and received the appropriate sash/cord/belt. Faction is not neccessary because the art of Teras Kasi is neither good nor evil. From there your current grandmaster allows you to open a Dojo. (Which is completely within the parameters of the game)

Second issue is going to have to be with the Dojo itself. As you train and train others, you gain unlocks to certain abilities in the particular area you are working to increase. While most people will be trying to increase their damage output, the game engine will only allow so much and so once you cap you have to move on. As well you should not cap one area solely to keep your body and spirit in balance. There can be several different aspects of training that refelct maybe the secondary traits or traits that delve deeper onto the Teras Kasi tags like Mystic,Monk,etc...This training is contingent upon what the master sets his dojo to accomodate.

Lastly there needs to be no phases, but simply a challenge to your grandmaster. You can challenge him whenever you want, but only when you are his equal will take he his place by your side as an equl and not a teacher. To duel him you cannot be enhanced in anyway (No buffs and no weapons). If you choose to change the spectrum of combat by switching weapons, he will kill you instantly and scould you by refusing further lessons for said period of time. You must use TK skills only and to win you must use what he has taught you. If you prove yourself worthy of his title he will end the duel before you kill him and kowtow. Your reward is his final lesson to you that grants all the abilities of a grandmaster. In addition you receive the grandmasters robe which can give the benefits of a good suit of armor with no encumberance.


And to top off this idea of mine here is a small list of some grandmasters skills.


When meditating as a mere master you can acheive incredible levels of power within your being. Only a true grandmaster is able to actually use this extra power in defense of himself. When an unwitting attacker strikes out at a meditating Grandmaster TK, he would instantly notice a powerboost effect with no wait. As well he would not notice the boost is a full100% to primary and secondaries making him more than formidable. (this stae does disallow buffs and any other enhancements)While the grandmaster's fury disallows him to equip a knuckler or any other weapon, it is no matter because his hands now do blast damage to his foe.

A grandmaster of the TK art is able to channel energies as we all know. Throw meditation and self-discipline he has kept his body as pure as the temple he serves.(No spices/no buffs) With this purity comes immunity, grandmasters have been known to face the great Krayt dragons and Kimogilas without taking a single drop if poison into their bodies. For a grandmaster of Teras Kasi can focus his energies inward to reduce the effects of poison and disease to a minimum.


The power of the Grandmaster is known even to the jedi, and respected greatly in all circles of sporting combat. As a grandmaster you are required to defend your dojo from all challenges, and it is your right to challenge a dojo you feel teaches improper implementation of your legendary art. Grandmasters are allowed to duel one other grandmaster at a time under the provisional rules of that dojo.(to be manipulated in the same instance a say a group leader controls loot options and who comes and goes)
Though it is important to remember that a loss to your challenger directly results in the loss of ownership of your dojo. Your patrons and students will be lost to you until you can re-open your dojo by completing the corresponding quest from the TK themepark. If you are to win the challenge, be it by being the challenger or the defender, your dojo should gain a small bonus in size/effects/privilege(this one is off the cuff, need an idea maybe) and add the fallen's name to your wall.



As I am a teacher of Capoeira I understand the implications of being able to fight at a certain level. TK is becoming a lost art, and something to this nature would deeply benefit all parties involved as well as give brawlers a release from the rigorous running in open combat.


If anyone has ideas to add, I would only ask that they be produced with consideration that TK is not supposed to be invincible and that jedi are a seperate and not equal faction of the game. This thread is more about adding content for the original brawling class (TK) rather than bash it anymore or ask for the inconceivable.





Skills associated with a grandmaster


http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=teras_kasi_artist&message.id=85710&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

Quote:


There has been much talk throughout the life of this game about elite-elites or any other idea that adds to the master boxes. I thought that each elite profession should get either 2 or 4 extra professions that add to these skills. For a TKM for example, you would have an elite meditation, elite offense, elite defense, elite techniques (names can change hehe). Now since Im a TKM, I will concentrate on what I think the TKM elites should look like. I will put out a rough draft of the elite meditation tree now.

These skills should not cost skill points, but be limited to 2 per account. You can even set it up to say after 3 months of playing the game, you get one elite elite, then after 6 months unlock the second (or 6-12 months?). Also, I believe this should play as a counter to jedi, not in the strength of these professions, but in a different way. When you choose to take novice in your first elite-elite, you give up your chance to become a padawan. When you take the novice in your second elite-elite, you surrender the chance to take FS trees(but if you surrender the novice boxes for the elite-elite's, you are then able to do jedi once again. To make it easier, you cannot hold padawan and an elite-elite at the same time, nor 2 elite-elites and FS skills). This will counter the jedis and keep the population somewhat low. People who actually love their professions dont have to change them to be a Jedi. Now with that out of the way, heres a sample of the Elite meditation skill tree

Novice Elite-Meditation
= -5 minutes off force of will usage (can now be used every 55min)
= Power Boost can now boost stats 55% (instead of 50% as it is now, I believe. Say you have 1000 mind, u get a 500 boost, now you will get a 550 boost)
= Kata move 1, +15, just for show at this level.
Force of Will 1= -5 minutes off force of will usage (can now be used every 50min)
Force of Will 2= -5 minutes off force of will usage (can now be used every 45min)
Force of Will 3= -5 minutes off force of will usage (can now be used every 40min)
Force of Will 4= -10 minutes off force of will usage (can now be used every 30min)

Power Boost 1= Power Boost can now boost stats 65%
Power Boost 2= Power Boost can now boost stats 70%, can also buff strength, quickness
Power Boost 3= Power Boost can now boost stats 75%
Power Boost 4= Power Boost can now boost stats 85% can also buff constitution, stamina

Kata 1= +15 Kata move 2 (another routine)
Kata 2= +15 Kata move 3 (another routine)
Kata 3= +15 Kata can now slightly reduce battle fatigue, but nowhere near the speed of an entertainer
Kata 4= +15 Can now set up own macro combining special moves to make your own unique routine.

Locations 1= +20 meditation effectiveness when at selected POI's
Locations 2= +20 meditation effectiveness when at selected POI's
Locations 3= +20 meditation effectiveness when at selected POI's
Locations 4= +20 meditation effectiveness when at selected POI's

Master Elite-Meditation
= -15min off force of will usage (can now be used every 15min)
= Power Boost can now boost stats 100%, can also buff focus and willpower (now if you have 1000 mind, it will then become 2000, lasts 90min)
= Kata can reduce battle fatigue a little quicker, but still nowhere near an entertainers abilities
= +20 meditation effectiveness when at selected POI's.

To explain this profession quickly now. The force of will tree just decreases the timer on the use of Force of will. The power boost makes the boosts more effective. Since this can become a little overpowered, the use of muon/brandy/other stuff that increases your mind, will not affect this at all. The practicing is something that can add a little content to the game. It will heal the Battle Fatigue of a player, but it will not do this quickly. (this skill will be added to all melee professions in one of their elite-elite's). The macro your own practice can encourage creativity. You can link up different special moves you have to create your own routine. Now for the location tree, their are 1-3 locations on each planet that are POI's that will increase your effectiveness. Say you are master elite meditation and are at one of those POI's and you power boost, since you have the 100% power boost and also have the +100 location bonus, you can then increase your skills by 200% (soo 1000 mind in the beginning can now boost up to 3000). This all might seem unbalanced, but remember each profession would be given something unique to balance all out. The boosts last half as long as doctors and are never as good so that balances out a little.




Proposal to give TK's an additional damage type other than kinetic.


http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=teras_kasi_artist&message.id=84628

Quote:


TKM Choke Ability (Kun Kasi or Choking Hands)

After reading through the boards concerning the issue of TKM limited damage ability I decided to post. I for one, even being a TKM/MBrawler, am against an added damage type to tka skills. Who ever heard of a martial arts unarmed master hitting someone with a Cold or Heat related strike? I am able to fight all medium mobs solo and only need a couple friends to take out higher level mobs (night sister elders) and I can make decent money. I love being a pure TKM. But it PvP what can be added to TKA to make it once again a force to be reckoned with and a force against Jedi?

My idea is the TKM level choke hold (Kun Kasi or Choking Hands)

One of the strongest forces in Unarmed Combat today in the world is Ju-jitsu and the leading weapon in Ju-Jitsu is the choke. It doesnt make sense to me that at the master level we have not chokes. Hmmmmm nice idea but how would it work?

Easy, there is already code relating to Night Sisters using a force choke. With the addition of some simple code and and added cool animation the TKM choke, if applied sucessfully, would act as a constricter of Ham for a number of secounds and add a Dizzy to the opponet. This would place even a super buffed super armoured opponenet within range of a TKM's strikes. All of a sudden those 90 point hits to Health are lethal.

Now before Nerf is cried out in a loud voice, as I said before this would be a MASTER TERAS KASI ability . It would have a low precentage of actually landing and for those with combat equilibrium there is a chance it can be stopped with little more than a dizzy to contend with. Once again this is just an idea that, to me is more practical of an Unarmed Master than some cold strike or heat strike.





Master-apprentice relationship for TK

http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=ngesmuggler&message.id=35323


Mysterious warriors of a forgotten Age. The Teräs Käsi were the undisputed masters of melee combat, their skill and prowess rivaling even that of the Jedi Knights themselves. Using ancient meditative techniques, the Teräs Käsi were able to push their bodies to supernatural limits, and accomplish the seemingly impossible. Viewed as a serious threat to the Empire, the Order was officialy disbanded. But the ancient secrets of the Teräs Käsi still exist, for those willing to seek them out..



Unlocking the Secrets
A Guide to Role-Playing a
Teräs Käsi Artist

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


"To master your enemy, you must first master yourself"



So, you've reached CL 90 and mastered your profession. "What do I do now?", you ask. If you think you have learned all there is to know about the art of combat, then you are sadly mistaken; you have only taken your first steps. If you want to become a true master of both your enemy and yourself, then you must study the secrets of the past. Only the ancient Order of the Teräs Käsi holds the key...

<<<An>>>

Both a martial art and an Order, the Teräs Käsi were formed from the remnant civilians of a long-ago battle which devastated their home world of Palawa; a war which involved the awesome powers of the Jedi Council. The few survivors of Palawa migrated to a nearby world called Bunduki, where they decided to master mind over body so that they could keep the Jedi use of power in check. The Teräs Käsi are thought to be sensitive to changes in the Force, and Teräs Käsi Masters are feared by the Jedi. But Teräs Käsi are not generally Force users as Jedi are: Teräs Käsi draw internal, personal power, while Jedi draw from everything around them.

Teräs Käsi utilizes extremely quick, devastating strikes to end the fight quickly. It also focuses on using hand weapons, such as vibroknuckles. Many of the moves are so fast that the artist almost appears to blur, but at the same time, they are so precise that they almost never miss. One of many martial arts, but one of the few which appears to integrate well with the Force. Mastery of Teräs Käsi is seen as uncommon in galactic terms, but not rare in the Pacanth Reach of the Outer Rim Territories where Teräs Käsi originated. Sith, Jedi and neutral Force-users seem to be attracted to Teräs Käsi: The martial art itself is neither good nor evil. Along with Echani, the martial art of the Emperors Royal Guards, and Jedi combat training, it is one of the most powerful martial arts in the known universe.

<Known>

*
Steel Hands
*
Screaming Squill
*
Aryx Slash
*
Leaping Veermok
*
Riding Bantha
*
Gorax Smash
*
Sleeping Krayt
*
Gundark Slap
*
Rancor Rising
*
Shenbit Bonecrusher
*
Gronda Stomp
*
Dancing Dragonsnake
*
Charging Wampa
*
Forraderi Death Weave
*
Nexu Grin
*
Spitting Rawl



<<<Creating>>>


Even though the Teräs Käsi profession has been removed from the game, this does *not* mean that it cannot be played. Below is an example of how to create a Teräs Käsi artist using the Smuggler profession:

<Expertise>

Below are the skills I used to create a Teräs Käsi template(Your welcome to create your own, this was just my choice):

*
http://www.golegend.com/swg/expertise/index.php?l=33b5b2b40300

This template gives you a plethora of melee attacks, the valuable snare breaking buff "Narrow Escape", as well as several buffs and debuffs. The exact abilities this template will give you are:

Melee attacks:

* Bad Odds 5 - A level 84 poisonous attack that causes your opponent to take damage over time
* Brawler Swipe 6 - A wild level 90 swipe that does damage to nearby enemies
* Crush 4 - A crushing level 88 melee attack that causes internal bleeding
* Dizzy 7 - A dizzying level 68 attack that slows your enemy
* Pin Down 5 - A level 66 melee attack that strikes multiple targets and slows their advance
* Precision Strike 8 - A precise level 82 strike that causes bonus damage

Heal:

* Vitality - Use your smuggler instincts to cure battle wounds for a level 82 heal

Trap:

* Dirty Trick 6 - A level 90 trap that can be used to slow down an enemy

Buffs:

* End of the Line - Buffs you with the ability to deal double damage once, when you critical hit
* Off the Cuff - Buffs you with the ability to strike a critical hit with your next attack

Debuff:

* Spot a Sucker - A powerful debuff that lowers precision on the target

Other:

* Narrow Escape - A level 82 buff that cures you of snares and roots and temporarily makes you immune to being snared or rooted
* Call a Favor 1 - Smuggler calls in a favor for aid in combat
* Call a Favor 2 - Medic calls in a favor for aid in combat



<Weapon>

One of the best "unarmed" weapons out there is the

Malevolent Razonknuckler

Damage type: Kenetic(which is better than a lightsaber)

Speed: 1(same as lightsaber)

Damage: 700-1400(better than many lightsabers)

DPS: 1050

Range: 5m(same as lightsaber)

Again though, use whichever weapon you prefer; this is just one suggestion.

<Armor>

On TC I'm currently using a set of bone armor just for appearance:

"A master of the ancient art of Teräs Käsi, Arohi has dedicated his life to the pursuit of knowledge. Through meditation and training, he one days hopes to achieve true enlightenment"

* http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k69/Everitt_Cage/tkartist.jpg

<Stats>

The four main Stats which would be most important to a Teräs Käsi artist are:

* Strength(increases melee damage)
* Agility(decreases damage taken)
* Constitution(increases mainly health, minor action)
* Stamina(increase mainly action, minor health)

However, which stat or stats you choose to enhance would depend on whether you wanted to be an offensive(strength) or defensive(agility) fighter, and then whether you think you need more health or action depending on how you play.

Note: You will most likely find that you will run out of Action quickly if you are not careful. That being the case, you might want to load up on Stamina mods if you find yourself having this problem.

<<<Honing>>>

The art of Teräs Käsi is equaly physical and mental. Therefore, in honing their skills a Teräs Käsi must focus on both their combat prowess as well as their meditative techniques...

<The>

The Teräs Käsi Pilgrimage is a quest series that must be embarked upon to prove yourself a Teräs Käsi, and it includes three types of "missions":

1) Combat Tests, which involve defeating creatures or persons in melee combat.

2) Meditation Exercises, which involve traveling to a location to practice Teräs Käsi meditation.

3) Endurance Training, which means you must travel on *foot* rather than using a vehicle to the locations in the previous two types of trials(with the exception of Mustafar).
Combat Test 1: Travel to the Krayt Draon Graveyard of Tatooine and defeat a Krayt Dragon Ancient.
Meditation Exercise 1: Travel to the Oasis(-5533, -3835) to practice your Teräs Käsi meditation.

Combat Test 2: Travel to the Nightspider Cult Cave of Dathomir and defeat the Kiin'Dray.
Meditation Exercise 2: Travel to the location know as Misty Falls to practice your Teräs Käsi meditation.

Combat Test 3: Travel to the moon of Endor and defeat a Gorax giant.
Meditation Exercise 3: Travel to the southernmost Ewok Lake Village to practice your Teräs Käsi meditation.

Combat Test 4: Travel to the Geonosian Caverns of Yavin IV and defeat the Acklay
Meditation Exercise 4: Travel to the ancient Blue Leaf Temple to practice your Teräs Käsi meditation(within the structure).

Combat Test 5: Travel to the planet of Dantooine and defeat a Dark Jedi Knight.
Meditation Exercise 5: Travel to the Kunga Stronghold to practice your Teräs Käsi meditation.

Combat Test 6: Travel to the Ryyat Trail of Kashyyyk and defeat the Katarn on the forrest floor.
Meditation Exercise 6: Travel to Dead Forrest to practice your Teräs Käsi meditation beside the Great Tree(Mysess Glade)

Combat Test 7: Travel to the Cave of Sher Kar on Mustafar and defeat Sher Kar.
Meditation Exercise 7: Travel to the location (428, -415) to practice your Teräs Käsi meditation.

Once you have completed the Teräs Käsi Pilgrimage, you have proven yourself a Teräs Käsi Artist.

<<<The>>>

After being brought to the brink of extinction, the Teräs Käsi have begun to rise again. As a Teräs Käsi artist, it is your responsibility to ensure the new Teräs Käsi Order is strong enough that it can never be challenged again. To do this, you must train a student in the Teräs Käsi arts...

Taking an Apprentice: A CL 90 Teräs Käsi should select someone of a lesser CL to be their apprentice. Even though the apprentice may be a low CL, they should still have proven themselves an able warrior, and deserving of Teräs Käsi training. The master may assign their apprentice tests to determine if they are worthy of training.

The Master: The master's role is to help their apprentice advance. This advancement comes in several ways:

*
Helping them hone their physical and mental abilities(by increasing CL)
*
Giving advice on creating their Teräs Käsi template as they gain expertise points
*
Helping them acquire superior weapons and armor as they become certified

The Apprentice: The aprentice's role is two-fold:

* Always be respectful of their master
* Meet any advancement goals their master sets

Purpose: The purpose of Apprenticeship is for the mutual enjoyment and benefit of both the master and the apprentice. The apprentice benefits from the system by having a more experienced player helping them as they need it. The master benefits from the system in that by training students in the Teräs Käsi arts, they are able to advance within the Teräs Käsi Order.

Completion: An Apprentice's training is complete once they have reached CL 90 and completed the Teräs Käsi Pilgrimage.

<<<Ter>>>

Completing the Teräs Käsi Pilgrimage does not signal the end of a Teräs Käsi's advancement. As they train students in the Teräs Käsi arts, they continue to advance within the Teräs Käsi Order.

*
Teräs Käsi Artist - A CL 90 Teräs Käsi who has completed the (Teräs Käsi Pilgrimage)

*
Teräs Käsi Expert - A CL 90 Teräs Käsi who has trained (5) Apprentices

*
Teräs Käsi Warrior - A CL 90 Teräs Käsi who trained (10) Apprentices

*
Teräs Käsi Monk - A CL 90 Teräs Käsi who trained (15) Apprentices

*
Teräs Käsi Master - A CL 90 Teräs Käsi who trained (20) Apprentices

<<<Finding>>>

To find a Teräs Käsi Master or Apprentice of your own, try the following methods:

1) Your Server Forums: One good way to find another player interested in the Teräs Käsi RP System is by posting a thread on your server's forums. Make sure your thread includes a link to this thread(so people will know what your talking about), and specifies whether your looking for a Master or an Apprentice.

2) Your Guild: Another good way to find a Master or Apprentice is by asking members of your guild. If you are a lower CL seeking a Master, ask a CL 90 if they would be interested. If you are a CL 90 looking for an apprentice, ask a lower CL if they would be interested. Make sure to direct them to this post so they know what is involved.

3) The Teräs Käsi Forums: There is a board on the Teräs Käsi Forums(link below) just for finding other players interested in the Teräs Käsi RP System.

<<<Ter>>>

Since the old Teräs Käsi forums were closed with the introduction of the NGE, I have created a new Teräs Käsi forum for those that want to discuss anything Teräs Käsi related; from templates to lore:

http://teraskasiorder.proboards83.com/

You will have to register/login to view the forum, but registration is quick, easy, and free

Good luck to any who decide to give the Teräs Käsi RP System a whirl; hope you enjoy

<<<Guilds>>>

Below is a description of how to incorporate the Teräs Käsi RP System into guild form for any that are interested:
<Guild>

* Teräs Käsi Novice
* Teräs Käsi Student
* Teräs Käsi Artist
* Teräs Käsi Expert
* Teräs Käsi Warrior
* Teräs Käsi Monk
* Teräs Käsi Master
* Teräs Käsi Elder

<How>

To join the guild you will need to submit an application to one of the Teräs Käsi Elders. If the application is approved, then you will be invited to join the guild, and upon joining you will be granted the rank of Teräs Käsi Novice.

After 1 month of membership in the guild, you will be eligable to become a Teräs Käsi Student. To do so, you must approach the Council and announce your desire to become a Student. The Council will then assign you several trials you must complete. After doing so, you are granted the rank of Teräs Käsi Student. You will then be assigned to a Master, who will mentor you until you have reached CL 90. If you are already CL 90, you will still accompany the Master until you are eligable to become a Teräs Käsi Artist.

1 month after becomming a Student, you will be eligable to become a Teräs Käsi Artist if you are CL 90(If not you must first reach CL 90). To do so, you must again approach the Council and announce your desire to become an Artist. The Council will then assign you several trials you must complete. After doing so, you are granted the rank of Teräs Käsi Artist. From this point forward, your ranks are gained by training apprentices of your own:

*
Teräs Käsi Expert - A CL 90 Teräs Käsi who has trained (5) Apprentices

*
Teräs Käsi Warrior - A CL 90 Teräs Käsi who trained (10) Apprentices

*
Teräs Käsi Monk - A CL 90 Teräs Käsi who trained (15) Apprentices

*
Teräs Käsi Master - A CL 90 Teräs Käsi who trained (20) Apprentices

After becomming a Master, you will be eligable to become a Teräs Käsi Elder(member of the Council). To do so, you must approach the Council and announce your desire to become an Elder. However, whether or not you become a member will be based on a guild-wide election.

<How>

* The council will be made up of 12 members.
* 6 members will be permanant, and 6 members will be elected every month.
* To be eligable to become an elected member of the council you must be a Teräs Käsi Master.
* Elected terms on the council will last 1 month, and then a new election will be held.
* A person cannot serve two consecutive terms on the council unless there are no other runners in the election to replace them.
* A list of all eligable Masters(who want to join the council) will be mailed to everyone in the guild, and everyone will be expected to mail their vote to one of the designated permanant council members.
* The Masters with the top 6 highest number of votes will win the election.

<Regarding>

On the Council there will be 6 permanant Elders. They do not have set terms, and their spots do not become availible again every month like the 6 temporary spots do. The reason for the permanant members is to impartialy govern the process of selecting the 6 temporary members, by overseeing the election and making sure the votes are tallied correctly.

However, these permanant members can be voted out of their position by a majority vote from the other permanant members, and replaced by one of the 6 temporary members(which one will also be determined by a majority vote from the 5 remaining permanant members).







Teras Kasi

http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=teras_kasi_artist&message.id=85779&query.id=30955#M85779

There has been much talk throughout the life of this game about elite-elites or any other idea that adds to the master boxes. I thought that each elite profession should get either 2 or 4 extra professions that add to these skills. For a TKM for example, you would have an elite meditation, elite offense, elite defense, elite techniques (names can change hehe). Now since Im a TKM, I will concentrate on what I think the TKM elites should look like. I will put out a rough draft of the elite meditation tree now.

These skills should not cost skill points, but be limited to 2 per account. You can even set it up to say after 3 months of playing the game, you get one elite elite, then after 6 months unlock the second (or 6-12 months?). Also, I believe this should play as a counter to jedi, not in the strength of these professions, but in a different way. When you choose to take novice in your first elite-elite, you give up your chance to become a padawan. When you take the novice in your second elite-elite, you surrender the chance to take FS trees(but if you surrender the novice boxes for the elite-elite's, you are then able to do jedi once again. To make it easier, you cannot hold padawan and an elite-elite at the same time, nor 2 elite-elites and FS skills). This will counter the jedis and keep the population somewhat low. People who actually love their professions dont have to change them to be a Jedi. Now with that out of the way, heres a sample of the Elite meditation skill tree

Novice Elite-Meditation
= -5 minutes off force of will usage (can now be used every 55min)
= Power Boost can now boost stats 55% (instead of 50% as it is now, I believe. Say you have 1000 mind, u get a 500 boost, now you will get a 550 boost)
= Kata move 1, +15, just for show at this level.
Force of Will 1= -5 minutes off force of will usage (can now be used every 50min)
Force of Will 2= -5 minutes off force of will usage (can now be used every 45min)
Force of Will 3= -5 minutes off force of will usage (can now be used every 40min)
Force of Will 4= -10 minutes off force of will usage (can now be used every 30min)

Power Boost 1= Power Boost can now boost stats 65%
Power Boost 2= Power Boost can now boost stats 70%, can also buff strength, quickness
Power Boost 3= Power Boost can now boost stats 75%
Power Boost 4= Power Boost can now boost stats 85% can also buff constitution, stamina

Kata 1= +15 Kata move 2 (another routine)
Kata 2= +15 Kata move 3 (another routine)
Kata 3= +15 Kata can now slightly reduce battle fatigue, but nowhere near the speed of an entertainer
Kata 4= +15 Can now set up own macro combining special moves to make your own unique routine.

Locations 1= +20 meditation effectiveness when at selected POI's
Locations 2= +20 meditation effectiveness when at selected POI's
Locations 3= +20 meditation effectiveness when at selected POI's
Locations 4= +20 meditation effectiveness when at selected POI's

Master Elite-Meditation
= -15min off force of will usage (can now be used every 15min)
= Power Boost can now boost stats 100%, can also buff focus and willpower (now if you have 1000 mind, it will then become 2000, lasts 90min)
= Kata can reduce battle fatigue a little quicker, but still nowhere near an entertainers abilities
= +20 meditation effectiveness when at selected POI's.

To explain this profession quickly now. The force of will tree just decreases the timer on the use of Force of will. The power boost makes the boosts more effective. Since this can become a little overpowered, the use of muon/brandy/other stuff that increases your mind, will not affect this at all. The practicing is something that can add a little content to the game. It will heal the Battle Fatigue of a player, but it will not do this quickly. (this skill will be added to all melee professions in one of their elite-elite's). The macro your own practice can encourage creativity. You can link up different special moves you have to create your own routine. Now for the location tree, their are 1-3 locations on each planet that are POI's that will increase your effectiveness. Say you are master elite meditation and are at one of those POI's and you power boost, since you have the 100% power boost and also have the +100 location bonus, you can then increase your skills by 200% (soo 1000 mind in the beginning can now boost up to 3000). This all might seem unbalanced, but remember each profession would be given something unique to balance all out. The boosts last half as long as doctors and are never as good so that balances out a little







Crafter Rankings





Crafting Professions



Artisan based Rankings

    * Theme: Craft the highest quality items and get people to use them. Also contribute to static city development. (GCW spin?)
    * Bonuses: Create better items (higher experimentation points and higher assembly rolls), better repair abilities, special tools, surveying improvements, better mining abilities, unique schemas, special factory abilities, more vendors and customization options, more selling options, sell items in static cities, percentage of bazaar sales (and vendor sales?)...
    * Penalties: Critical/experimental/repair failures, people destroying your items, structure/vendor/sale losses from neglect, decays naturally as well (to keep you actively crafting)...
    * Advancement: Crafting Rank XP, crafter challenges, city contributions, quality of items, amount of sales, ruin reputation...
    * Goal: Become the most renowned crafter in the galaxy. Create the finest items and run the most efficient business. Taxes/commission on sales?







Weaponsmith


http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=weaponsmith&message.id=11305&query.id=30416#M11305

SOE has talked a bit about "elite elite" professions that will eventually open up to masters of an elite profession. The example they have provided details on (and probably the first to see implementation) will be City Planner, an elite elite profession available to master architects.

I would like to get people's thoughts on what elite elite professions would make sense for us WSs.

Some ideas to get the juices flowing:

- Carbinesmith / Riflesmith / Pistolsmith / Heavy Weaponsmith / Meleesmith / Munitionsmith. OR perhaps just Firearms/Melee/Munitions to match the current skill tree breakout. These specializations would get new schematics for subcomponents or final weapons of that particular category. Perhaps they could customize those weapon types more; like change the dmg type on certain weapons (e.g. make a scout pistol that uses cold dmg), or change the look of those weapons, or get fixed bonuses (e.g. +5 max dmg to any weapon created).

- Vehicle Weaponsmith: Making very heavy fixed placement weapons for vehicles, turrets, and/or starships.

- Master Repair: Somebody who finally has a real advantage when repairing weapons (although better than this would be just adding an increasing weapon repair bonus to an existing skill branch).







Ranger Rankings



Outdoorsman Proposal

http://forums.swganh.org/viewtopic.php?t=201

Big Game Hunter

http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=ranger&message.id=19623&query.id=31160#M19623

Requires: Master Ranger, Rifle line from Marksman profession.

The Big Game Hunter is an expert at stalking and killing large and dangerous animals. Big Game Hunters have their own mission terminals that spawn dangerous animals much as a Bounty Hunters terminals. Big Game Hunters use their superior tracking skills to track, stalk, trap and finally kill their quarry. Big Animals routinely run when they are badly damaged, sometimes causing cross-country chases where the creature may heal before doubling back to try to kill the Big Game Hunter.

Hunter Skill: Improvements to the Big Game Hunter's rifle abilities, but all focused on attacking creatures.

Tracking Skill: The Big Game Hunter can type in the name of an animal type and he can begin to track it anywhere on the planet. At higher levels the Big Game Hunter can determine ferocity, HAM values, creature health, etc. from its tracks.

Stalking Skill: Must be concealed or have scent masked to "stalk." The Big Game Hunter must be within 40 meters to Stalk his prey. A failed attempt to Stalk will break Mask Scent. If the Stalk attempt succeeds the Big Game Hunter receives a to-hit bonus for several minutes against his target.

Creature Harvesting: The Big Game Hunter can find rare and unusual resources inside animals that others simply don't know how to harvest. This might include special tissues, bones, hides and other resources that would be of value to the various crafting professions.

Anyway. Just an idea. Maybe this is what Ranger/Rifleman is supposed to be.











Smuggler - Crime Lord





http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=csystems&message.id=49093&query.id=30416#M49093

Crimelord – War is good for business and the Crimelord is happy to play both sides against each other for the profit and the opportunities disorder plays in their various criminal enterprises. Their skills are centered on Smuggling, Mercenary Operations and Illicit Business (Such as running Casino or having a Criminal Lair)


http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=smuggler&message.id=88102&query.id=32928#M88102

Here are some ideas i had about the smuggler revamp and crime lord poffession regarding spices:

First of all spices are one of the most valuable things in the books and movies so they need to be worthwhile to buy and smuggle.

Spices should have names mentioned in the books, like glitterstim, which is probably the most valuable spice in the galaxy.

Smugglers do not make or sell spice, thats the crime lords job so have them make it and have smugglers carry it.

The crime lord could make spice and put it in a mission terminal and have a smuggler run the mission. when its over the crime lord recieves a message like:
You're contraband has been succesfully transported, and sold for (money). (less money) has been sent to (smuggler) for his services.

Smuggler:
You have recieved (money) from (lord) for youre services.

Crime lords should also be able to sell the new more usefull spice to players.

If a smuggler fails a spice mission, the crime lord can put him on his bounty hunter mission terminal. that way only smugglers who fail smuggling missions (like Han) or steal cargowill be on bh terminals. when the BH kills the smuggler he recieves his pay. If he fails it is too bad for the crime lord and the smuggler can keep the cargo or sell it. The money for the BH missions will come out of the crime lords pocket so if he does not wish to spend it he can leave the smuggler be. The crime lord can instead ban the smuggler from his terminals.









http://soe.lithium.com/swg/board/message?board.id=smuggler&message.id=69341&view=by_date_ascending&page=1





You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"

-George Bernard Shaw



The CrimeLord

V 1.03 - 10/18/04

(Cue dramatic music)



A space expansion extension of the Smuggler profession, crime lords are capable of surrounding themselves with thugs, running seemingly legitimate businesses, providing people with exciting new jobs/missions and getting interesting and powerful items from their abilities.



While smuggler would provide high end content in my ideas for allowing them to get to some locations and accept certain types of missions, Crime Lords would be capable of getting players to incredibly difficult and epic encounters, akin to fighting Gods in EverQuest. Large planetary and Spacial combat battles through their information of where they are going to take place.



Instead of the optional third Hutt faction, this Profession would fill in at that capacity. It would make the player who takes up Crime Lord a faction unto themselves, yet not exclude members of the GCW. It would be in addition to it, kind of like a sub faction.



Member recruitment would be akin to joining a GCW faction now. A set minimum amount of faction to join, and then they could promote themselves through the ranks to get better privileges and options through the syndicate.



The Crime Lord Prerequisites:



Unlike Smugglers, Crime Lords are more into the business management end of criminal activity, instead of the more violent nature of it. Do not mistake them for being unprotected however through their use of hired hands.



The Crime Lord would require Underworld 4 and Profiteer 4 from the Smuggler Skill tree that I have proposed (Underworld and Spices if you want to think of it normally), and Business 4 from the Artisan skill tree. This also Naturally includes Pistol and Unarmed 4 as they are the Smuggler prerequisites as well.



That's a total of 121 skill points used in the prerequisite. The same amount used by players who are Master Smugglers. This leaves 129 skill points for progression into mastering crime lord and other professions. You could potentially even be a master smuggler/Master Crime lord and still have 37 skill points remaining. For those who would want to be both. They could also obtain Master Crime Lord and Master Merchant with 3 skill points remaining.



The Crime Lord Skill Tree



1-A

Novice Crime Lord

Title Given: Novice Crime Lord

Required XP: Merchant XP. After all, you are a business man now!

Skill Points: 6



Place: Casino (See: 2-A)

Crime Lord: Create Criminal Syndicate (See: 2-B)

Crime Lord: Place Mission Terminal

Crime Lord: Peace Offering

Spy Network: Summon Spy (See: 2-C)

Bodyguard: Hire Bodyguard (Brawler) (See: 2-D)

Syndicate Missions: Delivery

Syndicate Perk: Clothing (See: 2-E)

Syndicate Landing Clearance: ? (See: 2-F)



+1 Active Bodyguard

+1 Stored Bodyguard

+1 Corrupted Vendor (See: 2-G)

+5 Resilience (See: 2-H)

+10 Bodyguard Maximum Level.

+20 Influence. (See: 2-I)



Schematic:



Syndicate Kit



1-B

Hired Help

Required XP: Smuggling (See: 2-J)



Level 1:

Skill Points: 5



Bodyguard: Marksman



+1 Bodyguard Maximum Level.

+5 Resilience



Level 2:

Skill Points: 4



Bodyguard: Basic Combat Conditioning



+2 Bodyguard Maximum Level.

+5 Resilience



Level 3:

Skill Points: 3



Bodyguard: Weapon Specialization



+3 Bodyguard Maximum Level.

+10 Resilience



Level 4:

Title Given: Mobster

Skill Points: 2



Bodyguard: Improved Combat Conditioning



+1 Stored Bodyguard

+4 Bodyguard Maximum Level.

+10 Resilience



1-C

Spy Network

Required XP: Syndicate (See: 2-K)



Level 1:

Skill Points: 5



Syndicate Missions: Destroy

Spy Network: Infiltrator



+1 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



Level 2:

Skill Points: 4



Syndicate Missions: Smuggler

Spy Network: Detailed Information



+2 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



Level 3:

Skill Points: 3



Syndicate Missions: Bounty Hunter

Spy Network: Off world Connections



+3 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



Level 4:

Title Given: Information Broker

Skill Points: 2



Syndicate Missions: Increased Mission Difficulty

Spy Network: Cost Reduction



+4 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



1-D

Criminal Genius

Required XP: Syndicate



Level 1:

Skill Points: 5



Crime Lord: Syndicate War

Syndicate Perk: Vehicle



+1 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



Level 2:

Skill Points: 4



Syndicate Perk: Domestic Items

Syndicate Perk: Spices



+2 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



Level 3:

Skill Points: 3



Syndicate Perk: Defensive Structures

Syndicate Perk: Droids



+3 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



Level 4:

Title Given: Conspirator

Skill Points: 2



Crime Lord: Place Bounty

Syndicate Perk: Weapons



+4 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



1-E

Business Opportunities

Required XP: Syndicate



Level 1:

Skill Points: 5



Hired Protection: Medical Center. (See: 2-L)

Syndicate Landing Clearance: ?



+1 Bodyguard Maximum Level.

+1 Corrupted Vendor



Level 2:

Skill Points: 4



Hired Protection: Cantina.

Syndicate Landing Clearance: ?



+1 Corrupted Vendor

+2 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



Level 3:

Skill Points: 3



Hired Protection: Home.

Syndicate Landing Clearance: ?



+1 Corrupted Vendor

+3 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



Level 4:

Title Given: Racketeer

Skill Points: 2



Hired Protection: Cloning Center.

Syndicate Landing Clearance: ?



+1 Corrupted Vendor

+4 Bodyguard Maximum Level.



1-F

Master Crime Lord

Title Given: Criminal Mastermind

Skill Points: 1



Place: Criminal Stronghold

Bodyguard: Elite Combat Training

Syndicate Missions: Increased Returns

Spy Network: Saboteur

Syndicate Perk: Armor

Hired Protection: City

Syndicate Landing Clearance: ?



+1 Stored Bodyguard

+1 Corrupted Vendor

+10 Resilience

+20 Bodyguard Maximum Level.

+20 Influence.



2-0

Important Information and Explanations:



2-A

Crime Lord Establishments:



The Casino.

Casinos would be new architect craftable buildings that act as gambling joints for player cities. There you would find games of chance and hopefully a way to play Sabacc inside Star Wars Galaxies. These are the buildings that will enable the crime lord owner to create a criminal syndicate of his own.



Players could gamble there and win more money, but in the spirit of making this more of a business, I would hope that a % of the money players lost there to the games, would be given to the owner of the establishment. In essence, a Casino helps pay for itself.



Criminal Stronghold

At Master Crime lord, the player gains the ability to place a Criminal Stronghold. A larger establishment, hopefully rich in design and large in size, with all the amenities of the Casino as well. Players should hopefully be able hold both a Cantina and a Stronghold if need be, this way, in the creation of Syndicates, there would be no issues in transferring the headquarters of the Crime Lords operation from the Casino to the Stronghold.



2-B

The Criminal Syndicate:



What is a Criminal Syndicate:



Criminal Syndicates are player created factions, that while participants in PvP combat, are not necessarily tied to the Galactic Civil War. In the past there were talks of a third faction to compete with Rebel or Imperial, known as Hutt faction. However, it is my idea that we should disregard an NPC run faction, and instead, take the matter into the players hands. They are the unknown quantity, working for their own agenda.



There is a problem of virtually thousands of individual syndicates would probably bog down the servers. Just as player cities are limited on planets it would be preferable to find a way to limit Criminal Syndicates.



Just as Prince Xizor worked under the Empire, so could syndicate members still claim loyalty to a GCW faction. The criminal Syndicate factions created by crime lords are just means for setting up a new form of guild, that could potentially sell information to either sides, and assist either side in their conflict at the drop of a hat...or a jingle of a bunch of credits. They are militaristic, and thus have a ranking system akin to a GCW faction. They are a faction in and of themselves, but are a sub-faction if you will so as not to directly conflict with the GCW loyalties of the players.



Through progression of the Crime Lord, syndicate members would gain access to possibly illegalfaction perks, that would be purchased through faction points from NPC members of their syndicate, and take part in their own little battles and such to further enhance the environment of Star Wars Galaxies.



When a player joins a syndicate, they are considered PvP able and ready at *all* times. There is no covert option for them to employ. If your syndicate is at war with another one, you should be ready for a fight at any time. There is no mercy of any kind in the criminal underworld.



Setting up a Syndicate



If a Crime Lord wishes to progress in his skill tree, he will probably want to form his own Criminal Syndicate in his Casino. Through terminal options on the building, he should be able to select an option that would create a syndicate. He could personalize the name of the organization, and an NPC that could be placed in his inventory that can only be placed in that building at this time, this NPC will act as the Syndicate Major Domo, and creating him will be akin to creating a vendor. This NPC is the being the Crime Lord interacts with in order to give commands to his organization.



When a syndicate is created, there is a new maintenance fee. After all, running a syndicate takes money, so the Crime Lord will have to make a significant investment into the organization.



Upon placing the Major Domo, spawn points will be activated within the Casino or Stronghold. These will be NPC's who are common thugs and are proud members of your little criminal underworld, that were hired by the Major Domo to work under you. In essence, the major domo does your real dirty work after you tell him what you need done.



If at master crime lord, you wish to transfer your headquarters to your Stronghold, you should have an option to relocate your headquarters to that location through the radial menu on the building. Essentially moving the Major Domo from the previous location, to that location.



The thugs that are part of your operation will continue to spawn so long as you are up to date on your syndicate maintenance, and their strength and re spawn rate are affected by the Influence modifier explained later. They will also aide and protect anyone who is a member of your operation. There should be a setting with the Casino or Stronghold, the helps alter the behavior of the NPC thugs that work under you. You should be able to give them preferred enemies. If your syndicate is at war with another syndicate, they will automatically attack their rivals, but special commands such as attacking overt rebels, or overt imperials or even both should be an additional option. This helps the owner of the establishment choose who is welcomed in their business, home or even city.



Gaining Syndicate XP without creating one:



Already existing criminal organizations that are run by NPCs could be used to facilitate the experience gain of an ambitious crime lord. There is certainly a chance in advancement in organizations run by Crime Lords such as Jabba or Lady Valerian. Additional members of their factions with management skills should prove invaluable.



By talking with the Major Domos of those respective criminal factions that a Crime Lord can join, they will be given missions to complete to gain experience in running a Syndicate. It should not be an easy journey but it will allow progression of Crime Lords who are not able to set up their own player syndicate.



Running a Syndicate:



When all is said and done, your new syndicate is created, there are abilities you can now take advantage of. The first thing a crime lord will want to probably do is place a syndicate mission terminal inside his Casino.



Missions

Syndicate mission terminals operate like many other mission terminals in the game, the skill of the crime lord allows for different missions to become available, yet for every mission that is successfully completed the Crime lord gets a bit of a kick back, which would be a % of the reward of the mission. This shows that the Crime lord benefits from having people take missions, and it helps bring in the most important thing for many Crime lords...credits.



* Delivery: (Novice)

Standard delivery missions, take an item from one NPC and deliver it to another. Open to any player. Completion yields the faction points for that Syndicate, as well as a cash reward.



* Destroy (Spy Network I)

Destroy missions that are available to everyone. These center on destroying NPC criminal installations. Getting rid of the competition so to speak. Credits and Syndicate faction upon completion.



* Smuggler (Spy Network II)

This allows for a new tab to display that is able to be seen by Smugglers only. Criminal delivery missions that result in smuggling xp, credits and syndicate faction for the player who completes them.



* Bounty Hunter (Spy Network III)

This opens up an option for Bounty Hunters and only Bounty Hunters to do what they do best, hunt people down. Just like they get from their own terminals, yet depending on circumstances, special bounties may appear for those players who have wronged or made personal enemies of the Crime Lord in charge. Investigation and Syndicate faction and cash being among the rewards upon completion.



At Spy Network IV there is an ability called 'Increase Difficulty'. What this does is essentially raise the possible mission difficulty that these missions could be. For instance, in the beginning of your syndicate and it is rather weak, taking on larger jobs shouldn't be risked, yet as your organization grows more powerful, larger risks could be taken and greater rewards could be obtained. For instance having missions capped at a Mission Difficulty of 15... then once this ability is achieved they could possibly go up to 32 or greater, depending on the skill of the individual looking at the missions, and the targets in mind.



At Master Crime Lord, I placed an ability that would increase returns, this would essentially increase the kickback percentage given to the Crime Lord when missions were completed, thus getting him even more money than usual. Benefiting from the situation in every possible way.



Dealing with other Crime Lords:



Often, one of the best ways for a Crime Lord to progress in skill, is to have members of a rival syndicate eliminated. Here are some abilities that the smuggler makes use of to further his Syndicates cause.



* Peace Offering (Novice):

This Skill is used in attempt to bribe a rival syndicate from continuing aggression against your own syndicate. After all, when you first begin building your power base, you are vulnerable and in no position to attack another syndicate, but can possibly placate them for a time by offering a tribute of some sort



When this skill is used through the Major Domo, the Crime Lord sees what Syndicates have declared war against them, there they can select which syndicate they would like to negotiate with, and then offer an amount of credits and a proposed amount of time. The other crime lord, next they login, is notified that an offer has been made, they then proceed to talk to their major domos, and if they choose to accept the money and the time, peace is automatically declared between the two syndicates, and will remain that way until the time proposed is met.



* Syndicate War (Criminal Genius I):

Having progressed beyond your initial vulnerability, the Crime lord is now given the chance to pronounce a war against a rival player syndicate. Any members of your syndicate can openly attack members of the opposing one. They are also granted the same liberty. Again, there is no covert function.



* Place Bounty (Criminal Genius IV):

In the event that you are at war with another Syndicate, this ability allows the Crime Lord to choose a particular member of the opposing syndicate that they might want 'dealt with' and offer a reward. Passing Bounty Hunters who look at the Crime Lords terminals, can then accept those missions, and attempt to claim the reward on the players head. Please note, it should not be able to be done to any player who is *not* a member of the warring syndicate.



Joining a Criminal Syndicate:



Players who are interested in joining a syndicate gain another way to participate in PvP, new items as faction perks and chances at gaining access to new and interesting content. To join is similar to joining a GCW faction, a minimum of 200 points in that syndicate. You gain that by taking missions from syndicate terminals. They are then able to progress up the ranks of the Syndicate to better attain the benefits it has to offer. Smugglers should be able to offer their services to buy and sell faction here, just as they do for the GCW recruiters. A percentage of the money used in this process, should go to the Crime Lord.



Leaving a Criminal Syndicate:



If a player wishes to leave a criminal syndicate, he tells the Major Domo, however, can't have people just quitting a criminal syndicate without a punishment. Upon leaving, the player has a bounty placed on his head, that is available on all Bounty Hunter terminals. Depending on the rank of the person in the syndicate, the higher the bounty posted. Once resigned, the player can not attempt to join that syndicate again for at least 24 hours, this prevents bounty hunters from having players join and leave syndicates easily, just to get them on terminals and then kill them for investigation XP too quickly.





2-C

Spy Network:



These are skills related to the gathering of information and even allow for Crime Lords to go on missions of their own.



* Summon Spy (Novice):

Using his network, the Crime Lord can call upon one of his spies to meet with him. He is given a waypoint to meet with his spy in a random location. Spies are capable of giving missions for the Crime Lord to complete so he might grind out Syndicate XP himself, but also allow for more complex missions as the Crime Lord progresses. They essentially tip the Crime lord off to incidents that may be upcoming that the Crime Lord might want to get involved in.



* Infiltrator (Spy Network I):

This skill allows the Crime lord to tell his spy to gather information on a nearby facility. This could be used to determine Base Vulnerability times for the GCW. When these special spy abilities are used, there is a credit cost incurred on the Crime Lord if he chooses to follow through with it.



* Detailed Information (Spy Network II):

Gives more detailed information on what the Spy is asked to infiltrate.



* Off world Connections (Spy Network III):

This gives the Crime Lord more detailed missions he can undertake, that will carry him off world and to possibly restricted areas. Opening up new content for him and whoever goes with him.



* Cost Reduction (Spy Network IV):

Using your spy should be costly, this helps reduce the cost. Basically you are able to convince your spies to do the job for less.



* Saboteur (Master):

Given at Master Crime Lord, spies, properly applied, could potentially act as saboteurs to large operations. Perhaps disabling a turret on GCW bases for a certain amount of time, or causing large amounts of damage to the establishment and it's occupants that must be repaired and healed. In the case of disabling the turret or some other base defense, perhaps the saboteur could spawn inside the base, and if the found, destroyed, and base functions returned to normal.



Only one saboteur at a time can be used on an installation, from anyone.



2-D

Bodyguards:



Bodyguards are the primary method a Crime Lord protects himself and symbolize elite protection for the Crime Lord, like Boba Fett would for Jabba. They are combat oriented pets, like you would hire from the GCW factions, but tougher, much tougher. A Master Crime Lords bodyguard should be able to fight one on one with virtually any elite master combat profession. They should also be granted a unique ability to regenerate damage and wounds done to them, and depending on their strength, have that ability increased. They do however, suffer from perma-death and are otherwise unhealable save through their regeneration ability.



It is my preference, that to avoid us from controlling a mob of thugs, though it would fit the roll nicely, that multiple pets should be more applicable to Creature Handlers and remain one of their distinct advantages.



Only one Bodyguard is allowed up at one time, but up to three could be stored. The Crime Lord hires a Bodyguard from his Major Domo. The better the bodyguard, the higher the cost to hire him or her. The bodyguards increase in level and abilities through the progression of the Crime Lord. Their levels are scattered throughout the skilltree akin to how Creature Handlers have their system. That way getting the best bodyguard, would require progressing in many skillboxes. It also unlocks more spots to store a bodyguard.



The main benefits earned that benefit the bodyguard, aside from level are:



* Brawler (Novice):

A typical bodyguard that uses brawler centered skills.



* Marksman (Hired Hands I):

Allows the bodyguard to work with ranged weapons.



* Basic Combat Conditioning (Hired Hands II):

Gives a boost to the bodyguards HAM and Regeneration.



* Weapon Specialization (Hired Hands III):

This lets the Crime Lord say what type of weapon he wants his bodyguard to train with and be able to use proficiently. Rifles/2h swords, etc.



* Improved Combat Training (Hired Hands IV):

Increased resistances and armor.



* Elite Combat Training (Master):

Increased resistances, armor, HAM and regeneration rate.





2-E

Syndicate Perks:



Criminal Syndicates are known for getting their hands on technology and items that for all intensive purposes, governments and other law abiding organizations wish did not exist. So of course, the crime lord would be interested in getting these, and making them available to his syndicate.



When a Crime Lord gains the ability to provide his Syndicate with a new faction perk, he needs to talk to his major domo. He is given the option of setting what he wants to be the faction perk for whatever item in question, and has to pay the major domo for a craftable item that the Crime Lord will have to work with. Consider it a template for a schematic.



This item is used by the Syndicate Kit that Crime Lords can craft at Novice. Here they play with the perk they bought from the Major Domo which could be anything from clothing to weapons. He can choose from various designs, colors and utility for the products that are issued with his toolkit, and when finished, hand it back to the major domo, who analysis it, and then tells you how much it would cost to have the item issued as a faction perk to your syndicate. When these perks are purchased via syndicate faction, depending on the designs chosen, various levels of player crafters may be needed to make use of them.



For instance I may have the colors, design and possibly even interesting skill bonuses in some clothing I want issued as a perk to my Syndicate, but when I purchase the perk with my Syndicate faction, it is in the form of a schematic, and I need to find a compliant tailor with the skill level dictated by the schematic, in order to have it crafted for me. Different designs requiring different resources.



In many cases, using these perks requires you to be a member of that syndicate. Notable exceptions being Defensive Structures, Spices and Droids, as far as I am concerned.



The Syndicates influence should have a factor in what options are available as well. For very powerful organizations should be capable of finding hidden and forbidden technologies, that smaller ones should be incapable of gaining. For instance when I mention mandalorian armor as a perk, that would be an option to only the most powerful of syndicates.



Proposals for Perks:



* Clothing (Novice):

New clothing designs with set colors to give a uniform look. Possibly even skill bonuses to enhance. Schematics used by Tailors. When this is first done, there should be an option to have this look applied to all the NPC thugs who work for your syndicate, as a standard uniform.



* Vehicles (Criminal Genius I):

New Chassis, designs and perhaps even a bit of speed over the originals in use today. Schematics used by Artisans.



* Domestic Items (Criminal Genius II):

New furniture items, used for decorations.

Chef recipes that could require illegal ingredients.



* Spices (Criminal Genius II):

Interesting chemical combinations that provide enhancements of one type or another. Schematic used by Smugglers.



* Defensive Structures (Criminal Genius III):

New adaptable turrets and GCW base structures. Architects use this schematic.



* Droids (Criminal Genius III)

New droid chassis with new and interesting capabilities. Use your imagination, and let the DE profession grow and benefit through the use of these schematics.



* Weapons (Criminal Genius IV):

New weapons, think along the lines of that Featherweight FWG5 or Nyms Slugthrower. Interesting weapon designs and bonuses for weaponsmiths to craft.



* Armor (Master):

New and interesting armor designs. Chances for class specific armor that is very very expensive and difficult. Perhaps, a master crime lord would have the resources to have his organization make some highly experimental armor depending on their influence level. Different stats and designs regardless of that though. Obviously the schematics must be used by an armorsmith.



2-F

Syndicate Landing Clearance:



This helps any member of the Syndicate, if the Crime Lord has gained this, to reach new and exciting locations perhaps located in the Space Expansion. They have access to these new lands, and so are able to take part in a great deal of interesting encounters that should hopefully be rich in content and very high in difficulty. I currently do not know what these locations should be though.



2-G

Corrupted Vendors:



Many Smugglers have found it absurd that selling contraband on Bazaars, and normal vendors does not correctly portray that contraband items are illegal. So with the inclusion of this ability, any and all contraband items, sliced/unsliced/spices, anything that is subject to contraband scans should no longer be able to be sold on the bazaar or Player vendor.



Unless of course, that player vendor is owned by a Crime Lord!



After creation of the vendor, the crime lord, depending on his skill, can choose to corrupt the vendors circuitry or morality and enable vendors that he owns to sell contraband items. However, this is at an increased maintenance rate.



The Corrupted Vendor modifier does not symbolize the creation of new vendors, but is used in addition to them. So this skill completely compliments the Merchant skill tree, and with prereqs as they are for the crime lord, they are easily capable of getting more merchants should they wish.



2-H

Resilience:



Basically see my Smuggler Revamp thread and the details there. It's a % resist skill mod that lowers the duration of negative status effects, from dizzy to poison and disease.







2-I

Influence:



This is the measure of how powerful and successful your syndicate is. Every member adds +1 influence, there is however +20 at novice and master to help with this. The players influence decides the respawn rate and strength of the typical NPC thugs that are used in Hired Protection (Not bodyguards) and such ideas that will or have already been mentioned. This could also affect the faction perks, as the more influential, the more neat options that could be introduced for the Crime Lord to allow his syndicate to take advantage of.



This ability could potentially cap at +100, a Master Crime Lord only has +40, if he has no members. The more members, the greater the influence.



2-J

Smuggling Experience:



A quest based experience system introduced in my Smuggler Revamp document. Allows for progression up the Hired Hands skill tree.



2-K

Syndicate Experience:



Syndicate Experience is the main way to progress up the Crime Lord skill tree. I think it should be gained when a member successfully completes a mission from a syndicate terminal, when a faction perk is purchased from the Major Domo with your syndicate faction points, when rival syndicate members are killed by your own members, upon completing missions given by your spies and when completing missions given to you by an NPC Crime Lord Major Domo. It should also be granted depending on your influence modifier and time elapsed.



2-L

Hired Protection:



This is a new option that allows the Crime Lord to offer members of it's syndicate special protection for them and their establishments.



If the player is a member of the syndicate, and is so inclined, they can journey back to their place of business, home or even their city hall, and proceed to pay protection money to the syndicate they belong to. Providing the Crime Lord has the skill to allow that, that is. Money paid for this protection is given to the Crime Lord and should serve as a good money maker.



Just like with Casino thugs, the player has a choice of what is targeted, aside from rival syndicate members they are at war with. Places where protection can be hired are:



* Medical Center (Business Opportunities I):

Hired syndicate NPCs sit around and guard the medical center from unwanted beings.



* Cantina (Business Opportunities II):

Hired syndicate NPCs sit around and guard the Cantina from unwanted beings.



* Home (Business Opportunities III):

Hired syndicate NPCs sit around and guard the Home of the player from unwanted beings.



* Cloning Center (Business Opportunities IV):

Hired syndicate NPCs sit around and guard the Cloning center from unwanted beings.



* City (Master Crime Lord):

The Mayor of the city, providing he is a member of the syndicate, can offer the Crime Lord money to protect the entire CITY from unwanted players. The NPCs form patrols and attack anything that does not belong. Very large rate to maintain, yet allows more enforced player cities. All in all, to have a mayor pay for this, should be a very good cash flow for the Crime Lord.



Conclusion:



I hope people have enjoyed this as much as I have. All in all I have a lot of fun working with this, and if you disagree with some of my points or ideas, that's cool, let me know what you think if you want. This is mostly for fun and a fond wish, as there is virtually no chance of this ever receiving official recognition, let alone being used for the good of the game. One can dream though... if you have questions, feel free to PM Smuggler_Caylin. I'll try to respond as soon as I can. Thanks and have a great time.