Flavour text.

[Drael]

Little desciptions, that pop up in game, but make no difference to rules. That is, you could add to say, a necklace "with a circle shape", or to a cloak "red with a gold dragon emblem". These have really little to do with materials, or IMO shudnt have much to do with them, if the drive is to have this a roleplaying game.

Character descriptions are all the same, making it very hard to tell people apart at a glance. Theres no reason that a character couldnt say, choose a signature clothing item or possession that is automatically visible, and have that mentioned - woman in her twenties carrying a stick. Or a short personally written description such as "tall, thin and dark skinned". Again, this is flavour text and requires nearly nothing in mechanics or code. It would also make life easier IMO.

These simple additions would add to RP, and potentially to cultural developments (such as say a uniform look to certain groups, or a symbol for a goverment or military etc).

I think this is a good idea personally.

Didnt see anything on flavour text in the sticky, so hopefully thats relatively unrepetitive. Flavour text could also make vehicles and buildings more individual maybez..

[SekoETC]

Cantr can be played in several languages, that makes any sort of freeform descriptions problematic. If everyone wrote them in their character's own language, on some regions it would lead into foreigners attacking these characters before they have time to say a word just because they could see based on the language of the text that these people are foreigners. It would be a CRB but by the time it was detected (if it was even detected) the victims would be dead and couldn't be brought back.

The suggestion has been brought up before, it was just called something other than "flavour text".

Cantr is not a freeform RPG, what characters can make is restricted by their tools and resources. Thus if there was a freeform description system, it still wouldn't be allowed to write having details that couldn't be produced with the tools and materials the character has.

[Piscator]

Cantr is not a freeform RPG, what characters can make is restricted by their tools and resources. Thus if there was a freeform description system, it still wouldn't be allowed to write having details that couldn't be produced with the tools and materials the character has.

Why don't we just trust players not to abuse it? I think the possible gain for the game could easily outweigh the problems. Would it really hurt if someone'd put a fur collar on his jacket witout having access to fur? In case of a serious abuse PD could still intervene.
Notes are allowed too after all, although they are frequently abused and although they may contain pictures you may not have the equipment to paint them with. And I've never seen a pen to write a note with, now that I think about it.

As for the problem with different languages, I think the most elegant way to work around the problem would be to just block the text for foreigners. You could still guess that a person without any custom clothes would be from a different language group, but you couldn't be sure.

[SekoETC]

Hmm... I think I would rather allow characters to come up with custom designs that use reasonable production time/resources and people could vote if they think they follow the guidelines or not, and when something gets enough plus votes, it would automatically get implemented and if it gets enough negative votes it will get rejected (and if it was clearly abusive then the creator could have his or her privileges removed). It would be handy if the specific designs were only known by the inventor and they could teach others how to make them. This way descriptions of existing items couldn't be changed afterwards (unless it uses an old item as a component, in which case the description should take the old item's details into account).

[Piscator]

Don't you think it would clutter the database if you made every custom item an official design? I think it would be unnecessary complicated, too.

A nice explanatory text in the customization menu, stating that you shouldn't use materials and tools you have no access to and asking to keep the changes subtle should be enough. The game is relying on the good will of it's players in many areas already and another one shouldn't be too problematic. I think it's worth a try if ProgD and PD can handle it.

[Drael]

Agreed, could be done on player faith/official rules. Just say no mention of materials in any description would do fine. It would just be a tweak of an existing product, no additional manufacture or materials. The game already relies alot on player co-operation, and this would be very easy to monitor/judge/report. I doubt it would be an issue at all.

Making inidividual items for everything just doesnt translate to anything useful, and its very cumbersome. If someone wants to make a mercenary group, for example, its made easier/better by having a tunic with an emblem. Or a religion would make use of a symbol on a necklace. It could add SOO much.

Also, I think instead of "woman in her twenties", it would add alot just to have one personal adjective say "tall", and perhaps a signature item. So it could read "tall woman in her twenties with a bone spear" or "blond man in his thirties wearing a fur jacket". That way itd be easier to tell strangers apart, could add to the importance of clothing and items and would add RP flair.

I mean, its kinda weird, that all people look exactly the same (part from sex and age), let alot buildings and items. I mean, my characters cant tell one twenty year old woman from another unless i tag them with names!

For a very small amount of code, the game could be more RPG-like. You know, the talk of playing a character, the talk of RPing, and stories in the magazine etc could be more justified if this were added. The game has huge potential as a rule based RPG. Some individuation in people, items, buildings would make the game more fun and also easier to figure out.

Personally, id enjoy this alot.

The foreigner thing i hadnt thought of, but one cud easily have the descriptions only show in native langauge.