My Goofy ideas, loosely based on RS' Common Guild. Not
endorsed by anyone in any way, shape, or "forum" :P

Location: off of the Eastern road somewhere near the middle.
Requirements: non-empowered, non-affiliated characters, non
alignment restricted classes, and not a conjurer.
Tenets: no initiating combat with other adventurers, no theft
from other adventurers, zero involvement in Cabal wars.

Powers: only work in an a group consisting of guild members
only!
-sense guildmember's location(simple responses such as
"far far to the southwest") 
-enhanced movement 
-mass flee(all group members flee in the same direction the
group leader ends up going) 
-cower before the enemy(combat ceases, the Common guild member
is at the mercy of the attacker, no recall, no movement, no
quaff, but can remove things and give things to the one who
they are cowering before)

Main room, large at least 4*4, has guards that stay in their
locations, not all locations have guards, and guards do little
to no damage to one who attacks them or another adventurer,
only tries to render them unconscious and usher them out door
just before the Eastern Road.

Four corners of the main room have offshoots that hold:

Northwest corner:Common Guild Merchant: haggles back, and
gives advice to Common Guild members on items he may want to
purchase. Guard present.

Northeast corner: Artisans room. Has a forge, alchemists
bench, and clothiers area. (minor things can be made, things
that are in line with the guild concept; lore enhancing
pill/herb/potion, movement restoration things, and non-armor
masks, wing tip, tail things for example)

Southwest corner: Communal Chest with the ability to hold
anything like any other cabal's pit. Guard present. Anyone can
donate or retrieve but any non guild member trying to get an
item out is lagged, like request. Get all by a non guild
member would get his butt tossed. Loremaster present who will
identify things for a common guild member, for a cost, and not
a perfect identification either. Identifications are better
with the more you pay.

Southeast corner: Guild Healer, no guard, discounts for guild
members and barters better than other healers for guild
members as well. No guard.

Middle of wall opposite the entrance(south or north) a guarded
entrance to the training yards. Guild trainers who not only
train and practice their charges but also spar, for a price. A
warning of when your time is up will be given by trainer, if
you keep fighting beyond what you payed for things get real,
quick.

All outdoors, with three chambers to the west(warrior, thief,
assassin) and three chambers to the east(invoker, transumuter,
shifter). Finally there would be a larger outdoor chamber to
the south for rangers.  Trainers in each area will flee and
pursue in their small area in order to replicate a battle.
Trainers do not assist in PK. No bard trainer because their
school is the world.

All guards, throughout the Guild, remain in their assigned
places.  A newbie friendly idea that is not PK free. Add some
other stuff to make it more interesting, vendors for food or
somesuch.  Maybe make the guards all susceptible to bribing?
Just make something really interesting and engaging for new
players who may not come from a PK background. 

1) No matter how you dress it up, we're not interested in creating PK-proof or near-PK-proof places.

2) Cabals are, by definition, groups with a specific purpose. We won't be making one as a "catchall".

3) All a "newbie" cabal would do is gather inexperienced players into one group and isolate them away from experienced players. As is, most cabals routinely induct inexperienced players, and it provides a challenge for them. I'd much rather have a system that encourages that kind of progress, rather than a second-tier affiliation with worthless powers.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Just wanted to tack on a few comments of my own:

>1) No matter how you dress it up, we're not interested in
>creating PK-proof or near-PK-proof places.

This is true. The Inn is about as close to this kind of idea as we really want to get, and there the idea is "These people are somewhat safer from PK so they can gather and roleplay together." "These people are somewhat safer from PK so they can practice skills and sort minor-shinies" (I know, this puts the original cabal proposal in a somewhat cynical light. Coincidentally, I'm somewhat cynical.) is not something that especially appeals to me.

>3) All a "newbie" cabal would do is gather inexperienced
>players into one group and isolate them away from experienced
>players. As is, most cabals routinely induct inexperienced
>players, and it provides a challenge for them.

I'm not a caballed imm at the moment; conversely, I spend a decent amount of time watching all the cabals. Having done so, I can say that a lot of players underestimate just how true this is. A genuine newbie who gets inducted into a cabal can and do learn a lot from the experienced players in the cabal, especially if they seek out that advice/knowledge/help. This was true for me when I was a CF newbie, and it's as if not more true today.

Conversely, I've also seen genuine newbies get inducted into cabals and get nothing much for it besides a huge target around their neck and many, many savage beatings because they either thought they were too good for the advice of the vets in their cabal or were just such abrasive and unlikeable characters that the vets would rather go log off and watch the golf channel than spend one minute longer than necessary with them. You have to make people want to help you, and you have to be willing to take their help, but it's for you if you want it in any cabal.

A genuine newbie who gets inducted into a cabal can and do learn a lot from the experienced players in the cabal, especially if they seek out that advice/knowledge/help. This was true for me when I was a CF newbie, and it's as if not more true today.

Absolutely true. Joining a cabal for the first time was a real turning point for me as a fledgling player, even though my first two experiences (Empire and Scarab) were more sink-or-swim than mentoring. I ran into a few individuals who were willing to help me out even in those environments, however. Between that and the additional challenges (being obligated to defend and retrieve aggressively, etc.), it greatly accelerated my development.

Conversely, I've also seen genuine newbies get inducted into cabals and get nothing much for it besides a huge target around their neck and many, many savage beatings because they either thought they were too good for the advice of the vets in their cabal or were just such abrasive and unlikeable characters that the vets would rather go log off and watch the golf channel than spend one minute longer than necessary with them. You have to make people want to help you, and you have to be willing to take their help, but it's for you if you want it in any cabal.

This is self-solving within the more evil/cutthroat cabal philosophies (helpfile), but if you're talking about something like "pariah good-aligned Outlander" or "pariah Fortress guy", the experienced people get stuck in a horrible bind. Some options aren't generally open (helpfile), and sometimes it's not within their RP to even speak harshly to the clown in question. The plus side of such philosophies is that you generally get a lot more help from cabalmates. The minus is occasionally having to tote around the worse-than-dead-weight of a Chayanesque figure without strangling him.

One of the humorous 'rules' of CF is The Rule of the Third. It states that every group has a 'Third' guy (the one you brought along just to fill out the group), and if you can't spot the 'Third', it's you. This isn't all bad-- you can learn a lot off of experienced groupmates by watching and imitating. But it does mean you should recognize the you're the Third and step aside on calling the shots. Don't boss people around, fill the roles you're asked to fill, and ask before doing anything rash and potentially deadly.

A similar but unnamed rule exists for cabals.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

>One of the humorous 'rules' of CF is The Rule of the Third.
>It states that every group has a 'Third' guy (the one you
>brought along just to fill out the group), and if you can't
>spot the 'Third', it's you. This isn't all bad-- you can
>learn a lot off of experienced groupmates by watching and
>imitating.

Happens to everyone now and again, too. ####, I've been the 'Third' in a group of two.

Never drink while reading Nep posts.