All right, so I was thinking (yes, very dangerous), and actually had a thought.

When I walk through the woods, I can usually hear something coming, but not necesarilly from which direction it is coming. I started thinking about how rangers and druids, beings that supposedly spend their entire lives in the wilderness (or even outlanders, but that might be a bit farfetched) can camo, set traps, etc, but are not necesarily aware of those city folk who wander in the woods.

Perhaps there is a way that each character must make a saving throw in the woods, larger races would have less of a chance, smaller races borne of the woods, or those that fly, have a better chance of making the throw. If they fail, any pc within 2 squares or so are alerted of their presence. This would only work in wooded areas, as the packed dirt roads and noise of a city, would drown out any types of noise made by stepping on a fallen leaf or tripping over a partially exposed root.

"You hear a rustling in the forest." (or some such)

The more adept the character has become with the skill, they may be able to determine the direction of the sound.

"Something rustles in the forest to the X" where X is East, West, North, South, Up or Down.

Something like this may add a touch more realism, and if this does already exist, and I just haven't played a rnager recently enough, please feel free to start with sarcasm :P

Rith

actually i think it would be nice to be allowed (when blind) to tell what kind of area your in.

I wanna smell the salt of the ocean when I cross it. I want a tree branch to smack me in the face when I run into the woods, or to hear the birds chirping. I know you can hear birds in some areas, but wouldn't it be nice to get your boots wet when you cross that river you didn't see. Might help some people get their bearings. I guess it wouldn't do to much if you don't have some idea where you are or are going, but sometimes I guess that's all it takes to do some real good.

This sort of thing is done through descriptions (places, NPCs, etc.) as well as echoes (timed or triggered messages you see while standing in areas). I'm not sure what you're asking for- we can increase the amount or frequency of these things, but there is a fine line between ambience and spam.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

I think what hes asking for is something that would only take place when you are blind. If your blinded on an ocean you still might hear water slosh against your boat when you go south. But when you hit land you might feel the grass on your feet. Something like this would be especially helpful if your summoned after being blinded. It would be nice to know when you passed from the ocean onto land, or from the forest onto a road to get your bearings. Flight would likely negate this, and wearing footwear would make it much less likely to go off. It would also be helpful for newer players who dont know the exact steps between places, without making blind suck.

<prompt> s
You cant see a thing!
You think you feel some grass at your feet.

<prompt> e
You cant see a thing!
You think you feel a paved road beneath your feet.

Just some examples, and all of this is assuming I even understood fleshofchaos' suggestion.

These $0.02 brought to you by OS43.

nt

if you are a ranger or druid you dont need it. You have the 'where' and 'where pk' commands for that.

Druid you will see everything in the woods except rangers and assassins. Assassins sneak, that means moving without a sound. Rangers can creep, you wont hear/see them coming. Again, you have the where and where pk commands. The point of being a ranger is so you can move in the woods undetected, like an assassin or thief moves in civilized areas. Assassin will step out of the shadows if he moves in the woods. Ranger will too if hes a giant and creeps for a bit.

In other words, dont really needs this.

In the sense of anti-realism and pro-game, there's a certain level of player skill involved in keeping a close watch on your surroundings, and in hunting other players by ducking in and out of areas.

It's a pretty nice idea, but I think it would nerf some of the remaining skill that a player can bring to the game. :/

People trained to move in the woods quietly can do so and put a knife to your throat before you hear a sound. Some of these people, animals wont see them coming.

So they way it is right now i think its pretty realistic except for the animals part which really doesnt need to be in there.

You are right in that it would be realistic. I think wood-elves particularly, with their more acute hearing and vision, should benefit from this skill.

But as with any great idea, it's subject to game balance. There is a risk that it will make them overpowered in the forest.

Rangers can already see hidden and camouflaged characters in their element. What you are suggesting will allow them to possibly sense duo and invis in the forest as well. This will make it especially hard for mages to have a chance in the forest or to pass through undetected.

You can't give them both camo AND the ability to detect everything that is hidden in the forest -- even if it's just dangersense. More often than not, if it's a character that the ranger cannot detect -- it's usually a mage. What this skill would really get at is improved invis and duo, which would not be fair without a huge cost to the ranger.

Just as the element of surprise is crucial for rangers, you have to give their foes some kind of chance to get in and out of forest areas undetected. Mages are one type of foe that rangers can easily pick off in the forest with a successful ambush. That in itself is just nasty. Rangers are a huge concern for any class throughout the ranking phase. Mages suffer through great risk before they can get to a point where they match up against rangers in wilderness areas (i.e. invokers with improved invis using avalanches, or trannies popping out of duo to use various disruptions). To get to that point, mages often must practice, obtain preps, or rank in wilderness areas.

If anything, you'd have to put a huge lag or cost to the skill. Perhaps it forces you to stay in one spot and "listen", which takes some time. Or, make it force you out of camouflage for a short while.

From what I know, Rangers can already snag/trap characters they do not necessarily see. I think that is vicious enough.

Lots of things rustle in the forest. Not just pc rangers.

Picture those movies where people can see because it is dark. They just hear noises and their imagination gets carried away. Not sure the same thing wouldn't happen to a pc.