Hey, pretty much this is a topic in hope to get some advice from those who may have done such roleplay before or to awnser the question if it is even really possible on amia outside of DM events designed for that. I personally do not want to be in constant pvp because of it, but is Bandit or Thief rp possible in a way it is more roleplay heavy and less action?

let's see. I tried to do some Bandit RP, trapped a whole area...

Then "Some" Dm decided to send out "Fatal" Spiders from the shecat valley and crush me and the Traps...

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I am actually more looking for players who have experience playing bandits or thieves, not as much a dm incident where you got your arse handed to you.

Well Duh.

From an experienced point of view then. It's hard... Many PC's believe on an OCC level that you're out to mess with you. So you need to give them Clear Outs, And clear directions of what you are doing, and what you will do if they do not comply.
Best is to have some kind of goal...

Like, Rob three people then move to a new spot. etc

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I've had experiance with it phear, its something that needs to be handled delicately.

The problem is, amia's cities are connected with hunting areas, which are bypassable by the carts. Meaning the only people you will meet at first are low levels who will get the impression your being an OOC arse.

You cant stop them from passing you, nor can actually take something from them. You need to give an out for the pvp as well.

It is possible but very unrewarding as amia does not have a place where players -have- to pass through. Nor does it have an area which is open pvp. And incorporating such is another debate entirely.

You would also expect the useual of, players showing lack of respect/fear to bandits. Even if after a while you do become rather successfull.

Ideally its more a novelty idea, perhaps for a DM to take up much like the alternative begginings, but with an evil twist. And a chance of perma death for those who partake.

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Ray's song! Thanks to Amarice, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujzp9ffPwPM

I actually play a highwayman type.

Spare yourself the grief.

You could take a three year old baby hostage, tell everyone not to make a move..and drop their money on the floor.

Chances are all of them will drink potions, attack you cause they could raise the victim, and cry when they lose.


The above means playing a character WITHOUT PvP is almot impossible.

Hrm, I might go more in a thief direction then. Anyone with experience in that field?

When I first joined the server I was confronted by highwayman quite a few times... I always played along with it even though I figured I had the worst luck ever. With gold being so easy to get on this server I didn't care about losing 500 gold here or there just to go along with someone elses RP. With Cities being as they are it is a shame that you literally can walk through a dark alley in the worst neighborhood and not have any fear at all.

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"It is by the holy beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning, it is by Java alone that I set my mind in motion."

I think its the sad side effect of people not being able to handle certain freedoms like guard free parts in a city properly. But good to know some people have that mentality concerning highwaymen!

The old con artist plot works wonders on Amia still. Thats about it. The pickpocket thief would be viable if the pickpocket system wasn't so bad. Gangs can't be run anywhere anymore since South Cordor got taken over by the guard thanks to a view people who ruined it for everyone. I struggeled for a few years with any form of roguish/thief RP on Amia when I first started as Xal. I gave up and took a new direction.

I think a big issue is peoples attachment to stuff. Even the smallest gold coin removed from them without their permission, or by fooling them, can bring about a torrent of OOC tells. Its a bit of a problem. Potentially pickpocket could be an answer to the economy issue however, allowing large sums of gold to be hi-jacked, but perhaps some lost in the transfer due to the nature of handling that much gold.

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I keels u with my axe!

"Do ye know where the Holy-Flamin' Frost-brand Gronk-slayin' Vorpal Hammer o' woundin' an' returnin' an' Shootin'-Lightnin'-out-yer-bum is?"

I love Highwaymen and robbery RP. I've been robbed well before and it's rewarding and fun. Unfortunatly, many people just pick a spot in the Frontier and use the threat of PvP to perform thier crime. I've also seen pickpocketing work too, but you need to be specific and clever, I'm not giving up much if you just emote "Picks Pocket*. By the same token, finding some unfortunate traveller and taking the time to RP very specifically riffling through thier possesions, will net some goodies from me. Especially if the RP is entertaining. Something you just can't get through the pickpocket skill.

I've been robbed by some clever types who took me in and then robbed me at knife point. I had the same reaction, like the rush you get from PvP, it was great and I was actually frightened for a moment. Even though it was my fresh low level PC, I gave up about 50% of his wealth as an RP reward. So, if you decide to be a criminal, there are players who will play along to interesting RP. So don't let those who won't deter you from thinking and RP'ing outside the box.

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Thine taste in horrid footwear not withstanding, I did not say that thou were in fact an idiot, I merely implied that such things were self evident.

-Krrja

Best robbery ever: Couple of pirates getting a "stick shooter" (crossbow) tax. They asked IC for 100 gold, OOC for 1. They got what they asked for IC because the RP was wonderful.

Best Pick Pocket ever: My party lay dead in the Yuan ti, knowing that that's a frequented area, we waited. Along comes a lone character who laughs, makes fun and searches looking for "gems and loose gold". I laughed so hard I about...well you get the idea. My entire party was able to emote even though we were all dead. And he got more than worthless gems and "loose gold" from me.

So, yeah there are players who don't want to be bothered. And they really miss out. I'd say give the target a way out and OOC let them know expectations. Have fun and hopefully one of my characters gets nabbed by one of yours.

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Ari'aerath Dlues'athsha ~ Silver Singer with the Bow of the Sun
Clarette Feohn ~ Magic is Art.
Victoria Marrs ~ "I have an herb for that."

I got confronted by a highwayman, and I managed to drag him talking out long enough for his faded balls to run out of uses (about 10 minutes) then drank an invis pot and walked away.

He was -not- happy, but I found it hilarious.

The trick is to hide in areas where people hunt. Wait for a lull in the fighting then pounce on them, that's what happened in the afformentioned incident.

Godo goes out to rob people all the time. One suggestion I have is to look at it as numbers. If you’re alone then attempting to rob two or more would be silly. Also remember that as a highwayman you may come across mages or one of those adventurer types that have killed a dragon before, its a very dangerous job. After the hold up RP where you ask for all their gold do a tell and let them know just 10 or 20 gold will do, your just there for the RP. Sending tells as this relaxes the other player and they know then its not just some arse trying to start PvP.

+1 more RP less PVP

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"It is by the holy beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shakes, the shakes become a warning, it is by Java alone that I set my mind in motion."

Location, location, location.

The main reason I've seen that makes banditry difficult, is that when you accost people in hunting areas or heavy traffic areas, is that most of the time the PC's focus is on going from point A to poing B. You either have to be in a location that draws people looking for something to happen, or provide something interesting enough to allow them to drop what they're doing and RP with you. Most people on the server are just not flexible enough to stop what they're doing and run off on a tangent. This isn't because they don't want RP, but because of simple human nature.

Most peole have difficulty making changes once their expectations are set. I know I get really irritated when I'm on the way to get something done and get waylaid on the way. I have to make an active effort to re-evaluate the situation and work it into the world that I see my character involved in. If I'm too focused, it's likely to result in PvP because of inflexibility and not seeing an RP opportunity for what it could be.

Another difficulty is the abnormally high population of heroes, criminal masterminds, fiends, and others of courageous and heroic stature on the island. Virtually every character created in Amia has the same status as the main character in a novel. As such, the bar for being able to intimidate the average PC is increadibly high. This is also why groups such as the Baneites have such a hard time being taken seriously. Imagine the view of a warrior who can face down a dragon or horde of yuan-ti, and then have to cower from a Blackguard, just beacause he wears some symbol.

Getting around these difficulties is the key. Set up the option for others to interact with the RP you provide. If they don't bite, chalk it up to being busy or not interested at the moment. If they do bite, Roll with it and have fun. I don't know how many times I've passed up opportunities and kicked myself afterwards for not jumping at it.

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Thine taste in horrid footwear not withstanding, I did not say that thou were in fact an idiot, I merely implied that such things were self evident.

-Krrja

Easiest thing for me was to simply ask for "Road taxes to keep the streets in a good condition and in for carts and merchants so that trade may flourish while also allowing the streets to expand."

The fee was one hundred gold and people actually paid it, when you reasoned with them. And now that there are more streets right outside of Cordor can I even point out that the gold has been put to good use.

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"Most assume that all the followers of Lathander are great morning people. They're very wrong."
"I think we are the only group where AD&D stands for Attention Deficit Disorder."

I'd say: Think of today's mafia. Cunning bastards. Once law got them under its boot, they had to start with more clever ideas. You go round the rule, you don't -actually- break it, even though it makes you an utter bastard.

A good example of this was one of Italy's mafias: a city had two rubbish dumps and the mob bought one of them. One rubbish dump was left for the city; everyone's free use. Now, when the city's rubbish dump had filled in and the mafia owned the other one, they could ask a gargantuan price for using it.

It's really all about making as much money as you can, without getting into trouble with the law, because then you're screwed.

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UCE THIS, YOU COW.

Myself and a few others were at one point making highway men/thief characters and the way we generally went about it is we would group together and then try to gather another member of the group to rob and then we'd actually go around with them for a while, we'd chat them up, watch their fighting techniques all the while talking to each other in code planning how we'd rob the poor guy then after we finished what we were doing in a group we'd up and rob him without pvp, we'd inform them oocly what we were about to do so they wouldn't mistake our actions then when we "robbed" them we gave them the option of actually paying as little or as much as they wished, meaning when we went through their pockets they could emote us taking all their gold and not have to pay a cent but more often than not we got paid a fairly large sum for our low levels to split. And we did this all without ever having to resort to pvp.

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