Voice Recognition
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Fellows players,
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less than 5'000 people now. City has been decimated.
Also, disguises don't work in Arabel, its a rule. -
You can ask a dm to help you with a disguise if it's a meaningful and fun encounter.
Otherwise, it's up to a player to recognize you. Usually players play along if you make it worthwhile and fun for them. If you're just going for a random gank or robbery they might not feel compelled to play along of course. Just take it in stride, I guess rules were made this way on purpose, so you couldn't win every time and get away with it indefinitely.
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To be fair. If you want players to "play" along, generally you need to give them something in return.
Example A: A group of Robin Hood ish Ilmatery bards and High way men, who disguise themselves in colorful garments, speak in riddles, acts in a gentleman manner, and hands the "robbed people" a clue to return with to the City Watch, that brings them one step closer to catching the bandits.Example CoA: One or two insanely well experienced PvP players decide they want to "involve others", so they beat them up with little roleplay excepts taunts of how pathetic they are, takes ALL their gold, all their best loot, and demand to be impossible to find, because they put on a pot helmet and a robe. Or, they decide they want all your loot, FD's you and your friends, and still demand they couldnt be recognised if the others respawn or get raised.
My point? If you focus more on making the event fun, and less on winning, ensure the event is balanced and not a one way Slaughter feast, and ensure you dont kick people in the balls by talking shit about them, taking away not only their IC self esteem, but their OOC as well, by throwing your superiority in their faces… You add your chances of not being recognised.
I doubt the last part is the case in your example Jagged, but I have seen such behaviour too much on CoA to not mention it here. CoA is circular in terms of OOC and IC courtesy. What you give, will eventually end up being given to you.
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Should "Disguises" be recognized by other players even though they are not supported by the rules?
Yes, I think so as a OOC Courtesy. If a player is a wanted criminal or on the flip side a player trying to infiltrate a faction, then I think the game benefits from being able to sneak into a location under the noses of other hostile PCs. Of course this opens a can of worms, where you could argue that the disguise fails due to certain characteristics of the character.
Just plopping a helm on shouldnt really be expected to be the catch all disguise that it sometimes is. Change your clothes, Change your Description, Use emotes An old man shuffles past bent and leaning on his stick All these things can convey both IC and OOC that you are in disguise. I would of thought that being able to use a good disguise would also require some ranks in performance or bluff.
On the other side, a PC that knows the disguised character well, should have a chance of seeing through it, provided they have good spotting skills. I guess you could both try rolling bluff/Perform against their Spot skill, with the higher player succeeding.
The thing is though its impossible to enforce, another player might just refuse to play along, which means you're SOL.
I agree with O'louth in so much as if you give other players a good time they are more likely to respect your actions and play along. Getting robbed by another PC is a frustrating experience, even if you just take their gold that can seriously screw up their day. The OOC time that char has put into earning (or stealing) that currency is something that should be respected regardless of how "Evil" your IG persona is.
Doing stuff like sending them a Tell "I'm only taking half your gold as OOC courtesy, pretend you had it hidden in your boot". Means that the next time that victim sees you in a pot helm, they might be more interested in playing dumb.
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CoA does not support disguses. If you want to even try, have a dm present -and- a character with skills/abilities that would make it plausible, like high cha and/or bluff/perform. Ideally both.
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The above is certainly true.
However, this doesn't mean people who want to play along, can't. But expecting it is another thing entirely.
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Yes. Its much like social rolls. If you want to use them with another player as indication for rp, then with their approval you can. But they are under no obligation to go along. Like I said, you need a dm present if you want something like this enforced, and even then we are going to be very hesitant to tell other characters how to roleplay their characters.
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I was once robbed by two half orcs, Bog and Mog were their names if memory serves. These two were goons of the underworld, but were just down right idiots. They had low charisma, low wisdom, and intelligence just high enough to make themselves understood by others. It was SO amusing, because they couldnt count, and their low wisdom made it easy to fool them. It was SO entertaining, that I actually gave them more than they asked for. I gave them less gold, but dropped stuff on the way home.
To compare, I once killed FD someone who jumped me out of nowhere, who i had never interacted with, had no idea who were.
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@O'louth:
I was once robbed by two half orcs, Bog and Mog were their names if memory serves. .
Yes, Bog and Mog were fun. I got robbed by them also once i think. Or at least sidelined on the road as if they were going to rob, but I think they started arguing and I just slowly walked away as they discussed whether they would hit me in the head or stab me in the ribs.
I think it was them..Anyway. a little consideration on BOTH sides is always good. It's not just about some leniency towards the criminal.
The criminal also should respect that if they just robbed someone 10minutes ago on the road.. the gate guards on that road might be looking for people.
Take non-gate entrances into the city. Or go all the way around. or even delay a day before running to Temon.
Send people ahead of you to see if the people you robbed are in a district and report back before you enter.
Use the cityscape to hide in. Its not just about transitions and stealth. Alleys, buildings, trash piles are useful also.
(and searchers.. dont use Tab.. it might be more fun for you…)Whats more interesting? A or B ?
A)sitting down, hiding behind some boxes in a dead-end, no-sewer-grate corner, creeping out every now and then to peek around a corner seeing if the guard who you think wants you is still standing there in the intersection.. And then once you see they are gone, waiting a bit longer and then sending them a Tell letting them know that you are about to cross a street 20' feet away from a particular faction guard, so let me know if you aleted that faction and I'll turn myself in...
or
B) slapping on a pothelm.I know for me, doing (A) sure had me sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering whether I should try and stash valuables behind the boxes.. Whether I was gonna get caught and killed, arrested, PenalLegioned, etc.. or whether I'd be able to get out of there. Whether the fact that close associates of that damned guard were now at the next intersection over.. Are they setting a trap? going to sweep the district? or just coincidence?
Sometimes doing whats not the easiest/fastest is more fun for you also.
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If you speak before attacking - and don't roll any bluff/perform checks - we should be able to assume we know your voice if we've heard you before IC, which my character has. Also, if you use the exact same strategy that you're infamous for using, people can figure out your identity from that. What other monk assassin is there IC right now that chugs true-strike potions and abuses improved knockdown?
I've been on the other end of it, and I do believe disguises should be supported on CoA - with the caveat that characters who wish to use it need to have points in social skills. When I played a thief who commonly used disguises, she wore -completely different outfits- and emoted changing the tone of her voice. She also had 10+ ranks in bluff, and made bluff checks when appropriate.
Giant half-orc barbarians, or in this case extremely strong human monks, (who stand out due to their own physical prowess) should not be able to completely disguise themselves without help. If you had help, and emoted trying to hide your voice, I might not have recognized you.
Just plopping a helm on shouldnt really be expected to be the catch all disguise that it sometimes is.
Also, I don't consider "You're coming with me." fun RP. It's "I'm stronger than you so I'm going to beat you down, take whatever I want, and maybe leave you some gold so I'm following PvP guidelines." To be fair, I don't know whether or not you'd have made it fun if you did capture me. Not IC to think about that, IC thing to do is either run or fight. I ran, but after calling guards and sticking around long enough to watch how you beat down my companions. There is no doubt in my mind that my character positively identifying the assailant was IC.
((Edited to remove names - thanks for the heads up games))
ALSO - That being said I do appreciate that no-one just dropped out of invis fully buffed and ganked anyone. Thank you.
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Wasn't really thinking of you when I wrote this post, Fireminded.