Chaining Prisoners Outside

[Marian]

I don't know how difficult this would be to actually program in, (it would basically require furniture that a person could be locked into) but this is something I've always thought would be a good addition from both a roleplay/fun and realism perspective.

A town would be able to take a medium log and some steel, and make a post with shackles attached to it. A person could be dragged and then locked into it, allowing them to work on any outside projects but not enter any buildings or leave town. The shackles could be unlocked either with a day long project with a file or with a key. Simple.

This would improve roleplay, since prisoners wouldn't always be shoved in a room with zero interaction because the guard doesn't have time to hang around all day waiting for them to wake up. They could be made to work as a kind of middle ground between keeping them locked completely away or letting them roam around free, or maybe even publically tried or executed.

The tether (or whatever you want to call it) should only be allowed to be built outside, since prisoners in a building are already have little enough chance to ever escape without adding more difficulty. Maybe it could be built on the deck of a ship too.

Using a file on a chain should give a general notice to everyone just like when someone messes with a lock.

If the furniture thing is not possible or too hard, maybe as a compromise it could be a vehicle that simple doesn't move? With a lock broken in the usual way. Gathering projects couldn't be worked on but it would still allow a lot more interaction than a building.

[randognsac]

I like it. Then we can throw tomatoes and stuff at the prisoner to shame them! But someone will probably have a good counterpoint for this idea. Something like the prisoner will be very annoying and someone will just kill the person out of spite or something. But it would be fun I think.

[returner]

I also like it but it needs to be difficult to get a prisoner into the shackles. And what happens when one breaks the lock? Is it replaced with 200 grams of iron?

[Marian]

Something like the prisoner will be very annoying and someone will just kill the person out of spite or something. But it would be fun I think.

If the prisoner was just being offensive on purpose to get killed the way they sometimes do they could be locked into a building instead, some would consider being chained up outside where they could talk to people a priviledge, but if not it's solitary confinement for them. And if someone did just kill them out of hand it's not necessarily a bad thing RP-wise (well except for the prisoner I guess...) because then the town's got a murderer to deal with.

I also like it but it needs to be difficult to get a prisoner into the shackles. And what happens when one breaks the lock? Is it replaced with 200 grams of iron?

I don't see why it should be anymore difficult than dragging them into a building would be. Also, yeah, just replace them like you would with a lock. 200 grams of iron or steel is really not that big of a deal for a developed town. Of course replacing the log might be more difficult...hmm, I'm thinking more and more the 'immobile vehicle' might be the way to go, than you'd just have to worry about a regular lock.

[returner]

I don't see why it should be anymore difficult than dragging them into a building would be. Also, yeah, just replace them like you would with a lock. 200 grams of iron or steel is really not that big of a deal for a developed town. Of course replacing the log might be more difficult...hmm, I'm thinking more and more the 'immobile vehicle' might be the way to go, than you'd just have to worry about a regular lock.

How many people can 'enter' this vehicle? Can you store things in it? Can the prisoner drop things inside it? Hypothetically, if you drag prisoner A into there, and he dumps everything on the ground, you kill him.. you drag prisoner B into there, and you can't get in to free him later because it's full.

Can a prisoner use his/her crowbar to get out? Can the prisoner attack while shackled? (from a vehicle, they can).

In theory it sounds okay to use the code of a vehicle as a template but it requires a lot more tweaking and testing than you'd first think.

[Snake_byte]

How about a patty wagon, Unless we can't have something pulled by a car...

[SekoETC]

It's going to require programming in any case so I think it's better to stop thinking about it as a location and instead think of it as something completely new. A chained person would remain in the same location, they would just have a locked chain object in their inventory that cannot be dropped while it's locked. It shows up as a visible item being carried and can be unlocked or broken through links on the character description page. When the chain is applied, it moves into the inventory of the target, and likewise when it's removed, it moves to the inventory of the person who removed it, or drops on the ground. Applying a chain on a person is similar to dragging, so it requires enough force to complete. However since they're not dragging the target, the target can still be dragged by others into safety if the act is considered unjust. The initiator of the chaining project must have the chain in one's inventory and at least one of the participants must have a key to it in order to complete the "project".

Since Cantr locations are one-dimensional, with the current mechanics it doesn't seem logical that being chained to the ground would prevent a person from attacking. Otherwise we should also prevent people in vehicles from attacking people on the ground unless using a long-ranged weapon. You might argue that someone on a bike could drive around the town hitting people, but what about someone on a ship? You can't drive a ship around a town and surely people would run away from the shore if there was some crazy guy in a boat swinging a sword around. So until that is changed, I would only have the chain prevent movement and nothing more.

[Piscator]

I'd like to see a restraining project first. Basically it would use the dragging mechanics, with the difference that instead of being moved, the target (and the attackers for the duration of the action) would be rendered immobile (unable to do anything but talk). The targeted char would then be able to be tied up permanently or possibly even be searched.

Temporarily restraining (and searching) a prisoner has been requested before and this way we would be able to implement shackles using the same basic mechanics.

[Snake_byte]

People have already devised useful ways of searching persons IG.
As for the restraining project, how long would that last untill someone can "break free" if there weren't any shackles?
I DO NOT think that it should be indefinite as long as someone is working on it... There would need to be a time limit.
And as for the shackles, that should also be a project like Seko said, but not only, with a chance to be dragged to safety but also once again, a chance to break free.

[Marian]

Well now you guys are just making it all complicated, it'll never get implemented now.

You have a reasonably cooperative prisoner, or a suspicious person you want to question - you want some middle ground between letting them wander free and locking them up alone for an indefinite period of time, so you shackle them to a post or throw them in the paddy wagon. (that's not a bad name btw.) A large cage could work too.

It doesn't have to do anything fancier than that, that alone would open up a lot of RP opportunities and is better than the whole thing getting derailed and never added because it's suddenly adds a bunch of huge untested gameplay changes and is hard to program.

How many people can 'enter' this vehicle? Can you store things in it? Can the prisoner drop things inside it? Hypothetically, if you drag prisoner A into there, and he dumps everything on the ground, you kill him.. you drag prisoner B into there, and you can't get in to free him later because it's full.

Can a prisoner use his/her crowbar to get out? Can the prisoner attack while shackled? (from a vehicle, they can).

I'd say something that could hold two people plus everything they carry sounds good, though of course like any vehicle you could have a problem if someone died in there, it's the town's responsibility to drag any bodies out before trying to use it again.

If we're going with a vehicle, which I'm liking more and more just because it would be easier to implement, than yes the prisoner could attack or use a crowbar. But if the town locked him up while he was holding those things than either they trusted him somewhat or they had no other choice, but either way any consequences are an IC problem.

[trojo]

A town would be able to take a medium log and some steel, and make a post with shackles attached to it. A person could be dragged and then locked into it, allowing them to work on any outside projects but not enter any buildings or leave town. The shackles could be unlocked either with a day long project with a file or with a key. Simple.

That would be so awesome. He stole the laws note! Put him in the stocks with a sign describing his nefarious crime!

Well, the stocks isn't quite what you are describing. For one thing, someone in the stocks can't work. I guess if the code for this is implemented, there could be several different types of this basic object: a cheap stocks made of wood that would just keep a prisoner immobile, a fixed stake with a long chain like you describe, and perhaps a draggable (but very heavy) ball-and-chain type thing made of iron and steel that would greatly facilitate forced labor (as a prison sentence or just outright slavery).

Maybe it could be built on the deck of a ship too.

Slave galleys!