This article is currently only a proposal

The features or design guidelines described in this article are only a proposal made by one or some persons. It has not been evaluated or accepted by the core development team yet. Feel free to add your personal opinion about them or make counter proposals.

SPOILER WARNING!

When you are a player and not interesting in taking part in the content development you should not read on. This article contains concepts for future game content. Knowing all details about these elements beforehand might ruin your gaming experience.

This article contains proposals for the new woodland village and its quests.

NPCs

Jack Lumber

A lumberjack. Part of the "Hunter Bow" quest.

Archer Shop Salesman

Sells all bows except forest bow and arrows.

Teboma

The bow building master in the archer shop. Part of the "Hunter Bow" quest.

Geomancer

A geomancer. Part of the "Geomancer" quest.

[...]

Quests

Hunter Bow Quest

Involved NPCs

• Teboma (starts quest)
• Jack Lumber: Hi, i'm Jack Lumber, the enemy of all trees. When you need some firewood just tell me.

Script

This quest is about optaining the often requested hunter bow.

1. The quest is started in the archer shop with talking to Teboma.
   • Teboma: I am the greatest bow maker in town. Noone can create bows like my forest bows.
   • Player: I have seen bows of the same quality in Tulimshar. Yours are nothing extraordinary.
   • Teboma: Yes, you are right. The bows we are selling at the moment are junk. I would like to build more of my legendary forest bows, but the problem is the wood.
   • Player: The wood? Aren't there enough trees around here?
   • Tebome: Yes, sure, but my forest bows are made of a special kind of wood, the "living wood". Unfortunately our lumberjack doesn't deliver that anymore. Maybe you should ask him why.
2. The player visits Jack, the lumberjack of the town.
   • Jack: Hi, i'm Jack Lumber, the enemy of all trees.
   • Player: I heard you don't deliver "living wood" anymore. What's the problem?
   • Jack: The Problem? What the problem is? I'm not weary of life.
   • Player: Weary of life?
   • Jack: A week ago i was going to chop down one of those twigleaf trees in the forest to the southwest. The "living wood" comes from them. I was just hitting it with my axe for the first time and what happened? One of its branches hit me! I thought it felt down or the wind blew it. That happens from time to time. But after the 2nd blow with my axe another branch hit me. I got angry and started to chop off all the branches near the ground so this couldn't happen anymore. But i still can't believe what happened then.
   • Player: What happened?
   • Jack: You'll think i am insane when i tell you.
   • Player: I won't. I promise.
   • Jack: OK. After i chopped off a few branches the whole tree started to move. Its roots came out of the earth, all the branches started to wave around and a face appeared on the trunk. The whole tree CAME TO LIFE! And it seemed to be really angry because i hurted it.
   • Player: What did you do? Did you run?
   • Jack: Of course not! I took my axe and fought the beast! It hit me here *points at a bruise at his shoulder*, here *lifts his trouser leg to show another bruise* and here *lifts his shirt and reveals some even worse bruises*. But i didn't gave up. I chopped away branch after branch and in the end i chopped off its roots and it felt and stopped moving.
   • Player: And then?
   • Jack: Well, after the hard fight i took a break for a few minutes. I just wanted to cut the tree in pieces when i looked up and suddenly i was surrounded by a dozend of these living trees. And they seemed very angry.
   • Player: Did you defeat them, too?
   • Jack: Are you crazy? I barely destroyed one of those beasts. And now i was exhausted and wounded. I had no chance against a dozend of them. I ran away as fast as i could. Lucky me that these monsters aren't that fast on their tiny root legs.
   • Player: So you aren't chopping trees anymore?
   • Jack: Of course i do. But no more in the southwest and no twigleaf trees anymore. I know the bow shop wants some wood of them, but i don't care. I won't risk my life for a few gold pieces. If you want to, just go to the southeast. But i won't go there ever again.
3. (Optional) The player can now go to Teboma and tell him what happened.
   • Player: Jack won't go into the twigleaf forest anymore. He says the twig leaf trees came to life and assaulted him.
   • Teboma: Damn! How should i get my living wood now? You look like someone who knows how to fight. Maybe you could go and bring me some living wood logs. Not every log is good enough to make a forest bow out of it. So bring me a few of them.
4. The player has to go to the southeast and hunt twig leaves to obtain "living wood logs" from them (or he can just buy them). When he thinks he got enough he can go back to Teboma.
   1. Teboma: Aaah, you brought some living wood. Let me test if it is good enough for a desert bow.
   2. Player: A:Sure, go on (continue from 3) B:Sorry, i need it for something else (breaks dialog, can later be started again from 1)
   3. The player loses one living wood log. There is a one in twenty chance that the dialog continues from 6, else it continues from 4.
   4. Teboma: *bends the log over his knee* *the log cracks* Sorry, it wasn't strong enough. Now it is junk. Give me another one.
      • Player option A (only available when the player still got logs):Sure, here! (continue from 3)
      • Player option B:HEY! Stop breaking my stuff!(breaks dialog, can later be started again from 1)
   5. Teboma: *tries to bend the log over his knee but he can't* This log is pretty strong. I will create a really awesome bow from it. Everything i need is 20.000 GP for material.
      • Player Option A:20.000GP? What a ripoff! (breaks dialog, can later be continued from 1)
      • Player Option B (only available when player got >=20.000GP):OK, here you go (loses 20.000GP, optains a forest bow)
   6. Teboma: Here you go. Have fun with it and suggest me to others.

Geomancer Quest

This quest is an introduction into the geomancer organisation and the leyline concept. it could be an introduction to a greater quest line that is continued in later updates.

Involved NPCs

• Geomancer (starts quest)
• 2 Large stones: That's strange. The big rock feels warm...
• 5 Small stones with runes: Someone engraved a rune in this stone. You have no idea what it means.

Script

1. The player meets the geomancer on the town square.
   • Geomancer: I am a geomancer. We geomancers are researching the leylines. They are streams of mana that flow over the land.
     • Player Option A:*yawn* I would really like to pretend i am interested in your pseudoscience, but i got more important stuff to do. (breaks dialog, can later be continued from 1)
     • Player Option B:Sounds interesting. (continues dialog)
   • Geomancer: Yes, indeed. And did you know that you can feel them when you concentrate enough? You should try it out yourself. There is a very strong leyline leading from a stone circle to the southeast to one in the west. The flow of the leyline is marked by five stones with runes engraved on them. You should follow the leyline from one circle to the other by following the stones and then come back to me.
2. The player has to "speak to" the two big stones in the circles on the map to the southeast and southwest and the 5 stones that form a line between them. The small stones now "say": This has to be one of the stones the geomancer talked about.
3. Now the player has to talk to the geomancer again:
   1. Geomancer: So you did follow the leyline? Could you feel it?
      • Player Option A: No, i felt nothing. (continue from 2)
      • Player Option B: Yes, i felt like i was swimming down a river of energy. (continue from 3)
   2. Geomancer: That's strange. You should go back to the leyline and meditate a bit. When you can feel it come back (breaks dialog, can later be continued from 1)
   3. Geomancer: The river you felt was a stream of mana energy. Streams like that flow all over the land to supply the world with mana. And we geomancer are catographing them and mark them with rune stones. Lately we found some interesting things about the leylines. Can you keep a secret?
   4. Player: Sure, tell me!
   5. Geomancer: The big stone circles you saw are called "Gateways". They can be used to enter a leyline and travel to another gateway on the same leyline in seconds. Maybe you want to try it out.
      • Player Option A: Sure, i'll give it a try! (continues from 8)
      • Player Option B: Isn't that dangerous? (continues from 6)
   6. Geomancer: Maybe. We don't know much about this yet. When something bad happens while using the leyline please let us know.
   7. Player:*gulp* Well, i'll think about it. What do i have to do?
   8. Geomancer: Just go to one of the gateways, touch the big stone and concentrate. It is really easy.
4. The player can now use the two large stones in the circles as teleport npc's to get from one to the other.

---

Comments

I was thinking, as requested many times, to add an arrow maker. Monsters should drop wooden logs and you can bring them, maybe together with other stuff, to the arrow-crafter and get cheaper arrows. --ElvenProgrammer 16:16, 31 August 2006 (CEST)

Crush, I read the talk page for Xartune and I liked both quest. My only problem are the dialogues, which are very "robotic" i think; they should be more natural and less lineal. I don't want to change the number of dialogues, but some are cheesy, like: Can you keep a secret?

He is talking to a complete strange. I would like them to be more realistic, like this: Now that you are an initiated I can show one of the secret wonders of the Mana! --Pajarico 20:10, 31 August 2006 (CEST)

You are right. I changed the line a bit. --Crush 20:34, 31 August 2006 (CEST)

There is also another thing I don't like in game dialogues, and unfortunately many games faqll in same pit. The characters are too plain and straightforward. Here is an example: I am a geomancer. We geomancers are researching the leylines. They are streams of mana that flow over the land.

I know, I know that the player wants to take a quest and NPCs are mere dummies to help you get started, but at least we should conceal it. Here is a proposal: Who are you? I'm busy... wait... Oh boy! I perceive a special force in your inside! let me introduce: I'm X, a geomancer! I'm studying and mapping the mana "rivers". I would like to iniatiate you in this art. Want to?

This "straight forward npc" concept is a useful mechanism not to bore the player with useless blabbering but get straight to the point. But i agree with you that it is maybe a little bit overused in RPGs. Although i don't like the line you proposed because i don't like the "you are special and the chosen one (like everyone else who playes this game)" attitude. That's overused, too. We should find a reason for the geomancer to share his knowledge with anyone. --Crush 20:34, 31 August 2006 (CEST)

I know the dialogues in the talk page are placeholders, read this as an advice. --Pajarico 20:10, 31 August 2006 (CEST)

I don't intend the texts as placeholders but as a direct instruction for the scripters. --Crush 20:34, 31 August 2006 (CEST)