I see a Music skill that allows you to play songs. Song would be made up of different parts like Rhythm, Bass, Melody, and Lyrics. Songs with more than one part would require musicians to form into a coven-like band. Instruments would have a set of weapon-like stats reflecting the suitability for playing a given part.



A skilled musican could influence denizens with music. A ballad could seduce a listener. A march could empower them. A blues song could weaken them. A parody could make them paranoid. A character writing a song would specifiy the style , number of parts, and any specific instruments required.

PERFORMING
Each time you play for a denizen, you are scored. This score is based on skill level, instrument stats, and time spent practicing that song. All your scores add into a ranking. Songs could also be ranked.

CONCERTS
Musicians could set up a tent in a village and hold a concert. You will set a ticket price. Your scores among each Denizen who has heard you play, and your overall ranking for those that have not, will help decide how many tickets are sold. If you perform well, concert-goers will toss money on stage. When its over you collect the money.

personally, I don't think this would work. All it would do is generate free gold for the people involved, with no real way of stopping. In other words, it would be the uber trade skill. Aside from gaining gold, there would be no purpose for it, seeing as it can't be used for combat, can't be used on/given to others to aid someone else with something, which all the other trade skills do.



...ever heard of influencing...?

There are already singing and dancing skillsets in Lusternia...

Rituals/Sacraments/Necromancy are all about singing.
Moon/Night are all about dancing.

Druidric foresting/infesting requires singing to the trees.
Some Wicca/Nihilism/Celestialism skills require singing.

I don't think we need more music skills

I do believe you are missing an instrument
BAGPIPES
Rythm 4 bass 6 Melody 140

Put bagpipes in and I'm sold!

As someone who just got home from playing about five hours (almost straight) off music, NO. Your stat idea is arbitrary, and the whole concept oversimplifies things WWAAYY too much.

I got to work with Gunther Schuler today . That is pretty cool, if you know who he is.

Mirk: Free gold? There would be the gold cost of the instrument and the tent, the lesson cost of learning the skill, the time cost of writing the songs and practicing them, and the effort cost of playing the songs to get a ranking that will draw a crowd. Only then could you hold a concert and perhaps make money.

Yes I have heard of Influence. We have dozens of skills to kill people, no one seems to think they are redudnant.

Shorlen: I don't know about the other skillsets. I have only been a Moondancer. I don't know that any of the skill were intended to be minstrel-like in nature. While the skills may involve song and dance, they are first and foremost magical skills used to create magical effects.

Oraki: Of course this is not even close to how music is in the real world. Things have to be dramatically oversimplified to fit into the mechanics of a game like this.

I personally would love to have music in-game, Saran's been plotting to steal the drums of the dead for a while and might have to do something about it soon

Ok, aside from buying the instruments, tent, and lessons, there is really no way to limit how much gold the person makes, unless they all decay within one year. Unlike the other tradeskills, you are practically guaranteed to make gold if you spend time working on it.

Herbs: limited to harvesting to one, maybe two areas for most herbs, provided someone hasn't harvested there already, and people aren't always buying. There is also a form of competition for the best price. Uses: Alchemy, enchanting, and healing

Forging: From what I hear, not really a good way to make gold. Uses: Weapons

Alchemy: Powerstone cost, people aren't always buying, you have to buy herbs and people aren't always selling them, and you have to compete with other people and kegs. Uses: Healing

Enchanting: Powerstones, once again competition with other enchanters. Uses: all sorts of usefull junk

Poisons: Not really sure about this skill... Uses: poisons

Artisan: Really expensive to make the stuff, so not many buyers, once again there probably is some form of competition. Uses: Odds and ends that do all sorts of stuff (boost charisma, reveal dreamweavers, etc.)

Tailoring: Don't really know about the profitability of this skill, there are is probably still competition amonst tailors. (Clothes, great robes)

Jewelry:I'd be willing to bet there's some form of competition here, and they also have to buy gem commodities to make stuff. Uses: Alchemy, Enchanting, jewelry

Bookbinding: Not very profitable from what I hear, probably some competition. Uses: Scrolls, books

Proposed music skill: Spend some money on lessons, instrument, and tent, spends hours to get 'popular', and viola instant cash. There is no competition what so ever, no way to prevent people from getting money, and practically NO RESTRICTIONS



Does anyone have all the skills to kill someone at the same time? No, they have certain groups of skills, which can be used together stragically (well, for the most part). Having both influence and music would be pointless, because I'd rather use influenceing for the experience, while still having the desired effect. That is unless your proposing that musicians get experience when they perform, which none of the tradeskills (save poisons, where you might have to kill things, which you would get experience for normally) does.

Mirk: This would be more like questing than a trade skill. I never even specified gold amounts. If a top musician charges 80 gold a ticket and sells 50 tickets, that is only 4000 gold made from the concert. That is on par with completing an honor lines village quest. Also, it would take time for villages to be receptive to attending another concert. You couldn't spam concerting any more than you could spam questing or influencing.

I was also intentionally vague about how the ranking system would function. Do songs lose popularity over time? How quickly does sheet music decay? Can a good performance make a listener less interested in other musicians? I imagine musicians would fight to sway the interests of denizens. If you not performing frequently, people would tend to forget about you.

Perhaps groups could perform together.

Songs that go well could perhaps become classics and could be counted on to be well received in certain villages and not in others

A simple no. have plenty of trade skills to get gold

While this would likely be a trade it needn't be. I would love something like this (maybe make it a skill choice between influencing and music? Musicians still being able to influence villages but it's much harder as they would need to draw a crowd and a crowd would be more easily influenced)

Whilst, I find this idea to be very nice the problem is, when it does come out, everyone will be wanting to pick the music skill. it would make influencing rather easy, as it seems to me, for some villages. I think it'd be much nicer if it was just a common skill that you could, if you wanted, to go out and play, by yourself or with a group. Like..bards! Wandering minstrils. People could be nice and give you gold for doing something that you like.


Stay away from the Drums of the Dead, Saran!! -eye-

Aww... I was so bored during the luls in the aethermanse event and was trying to think of ways to entertain myself, one was "borrowing" the drums so i could have some music.

Another was psionic spin the bottle... without psionic abilities

You can already make music. Heres the command

EMOTE

Yes, but then you lose things such as room emotes