Please. And add in some nice emotes around the giving, suited to each organization. Could be a very nice mini-ritual.

As for the GA/Undersec experience boost - sure. I don't think it's all that abusable - high level GA/Us would wouldn't get all that much experience from things a novice can hunt anyway, and the things they would hunt could hit through grace and attack on sight, quickly removing the novices. So it would give a nice boost to the novices, or at least compensate for having the GA/U along, and the GA/U gets something in addition to the satisfaction of nurturing.

The GM artifact could also be like a bard chorale or priest rite of dawn from Achaea where it gives everyone an exp boost once per month. I want something like that here.

Clipboards would be alright as an artisan skill, not as the GA artifact.

I really like the GA artifact giving experience boost to novice hunting groups. Preventing the GA or undersecs from stealing the exp would make hunting groups actually feasible, rather than glorified guided tours of a bashing area.

I like the GM artifact. A combo GF/CF is pretty neat, plus I just want a sceptre.

I bet it would cost like 1000 wood to make one clipboard

That's a VERY big clipboard .. what do you plan to write on it?

It would be all the refining of the wood you have to do to get the perfect clipboard that uses so much.

Because clipboards, like instruments, need to be perfect or they are useless.

Carrying around a clipboard seems silly to me.

Ooh GA and GM arties!! How about add something to the rod about using discretionary powers freely as well, just like the constructs. Well whatever it is I sure do hope it would get implemented

What about... a pet that delivers your mail for you and can mutate into a desk and chair on command AND gives everyone in the room an xp booster by virtue of its cuteness. (only being half-serious that time, but think of the possibilities... )

Perhaps give GA's some means to discipline the novices too. An experience boost on the one hand, the ability to lay down the law on the other. So, something like summon, but instant.

Optionally, the ability to then set them on fire afterwards.

We really should ask present and past GA's what they want or would have wanted, but I'm willing to bet that the ability to set novices on fire at will crossed their minds on occasion.

I love the idea

Just please do not add any effects to either artifact that meddle with combat. It's just bound to get OP in some cases with someone ending up having a 90% damage reduction with all buffs for example.

Instead, having items more for RP, rituals and general utility would be great!

PS: And I love the guild pet idea. Could it be possible for guilds to buy one?

I like the GA idea, but not the GM one. Celestine's GM isn't the most active person or most involved in combat, and I don't imagine she's alone in that. Maybe something more versatile for them. I like the idea of them being able to inspire people, but that could be bad two ways: they use it constantly, or hardly at all. I don't think it's really right for players to have more dependence on other players for that kind of thing.

I hope I make sense. It's late here!

Afraid I don't have a solution for the GM one, either. Not creative.

The GA isn't a "glorified office manager" but that's certainly in line with the duties as I saw it. Generally speaking I think of a GA as an executive officer. The clipboard thing is just a mild convenience, and it wouldn't really be very useful, but it would help them with their duties.

I don't like the idea of the XP boost thing at all, to the extent that I would avoid being GA if that was what were given out. Not only doesn't it help the GA perform his duties, it actually dumps on him a new duty that will consume, if it's used, a big chunk of what little time he has left after doing the other duties of the position (which probably demands the most of the three already -- I never have been a GC but I think I can safely say GA requires more time than GM or GC already). Besides which, since most novices are also newbies, and newbies will be spending most of their time in Newton Caverns where the GA can't go, the best possible outcome for this is that it would never get used. (And just to be fair, is the GA just a "glorified Cub Scout den leader"?)

I can't say I'm very fond of the GM idea either. It's not clear to me whether this is in addition to, or instead of, the guild and commune/cityfavors the GM can already do. Don't like the political repurcussions of a GM being able and encouraged to give his guildmates preferential favours within the commune's ranks. I also note that this doesn't make much sense as an "artifact", it's just a guild priv. Finally, I don't see how this makes the GM's job easier or helps the GM do his job. People already use only a tiny portion of their ability to favor, so there's no great need for a boost to it.

I really don't mean to sound negative here. Nor do I think my original ideas are necessarily the best ever; I'm less than 100% satisfied with the clipboard one in particular, because while I think clipboards as an artisan craft are a great idea, I am not sure it really would mean much to a GA to have one, and it's certainly not on a par with what the GC gets. I just don't think these alternatives are going in the right direction.

Again, the damage reduction buff I proposed would not stack with any others. But the important part there was the "pep talk" element: the resulting buff/bonus doesn't have to be combat-related, though really, given how many buffs there are in the game, the idea that one more would break things seems a little paranoid.

For the GM artifact, I don't think it should give a preferential commune favour, just a normal one + the more powerful guild favour. It would be useful in situations where a guildmember does something for the commune which also could be rewarded by a GF. Though, if there are better ideas, I'm all for something different.

I don't think the GM artifact should provide any combat bonuses. There are other things in Lusternia besides combat, and the great majority of Harbingers (read: all of us except Kaervas and Daedalion) don't do much with combat. I don't see how that makes the GM's job easier or helps the GM with it. The GM position is a political figure and representative, not necessarily a war leader.

GA's don't need a clip board. They have desks in their office. I'm sure they don't suffer greatly from walking from the guild hall to the post office. Novices only hunting in Newton is a rather good point to think on, though.

GM boons for different guilds, maybe?

Warriors: 10% damage reduction sounds fine, but warriors are already tanky. What about 10% or 20% reduction to experience loss in case of a (Praying) death? Something that would encourage a reckless, "never surrender, never retreat" sort of mindset.

Mages/Druids: Completely pacifies a room outside a village being influenced or an aligned plane (Ethereal, Cosmic and Elemental). Can be used at any time. In the presence of another guildmaster (Or maybe just another mage guildmaster) this should be improved (I suggest allowing them to pacify a room in an aligned plane that is not their own.) Pacification lasts until the guildmaster leaves; it further allows him to expel anyone from the room, making him leave into a random exit.

Wiccans/Guardians: A bonus to influencing, making influencing attacks faster or more powerful.

Bards: An effect enhancing the duration of songs.

None of these (Except the Mage/Druid one) would affect the user.

It's called "Sustain"

I don't have any great ideas to add at the moment so I'll just comment.

Clipboard: an odd artifact but you wouldn't believe just how many times I have cursed having to get all the way from my office to the post just to send a letter. And I send a lot of letters and I make a lot of notes, which to my great displeasure I have to pen down OOC instead of IC whenever not in my office.

Exp boost: perhaps for Undersecretaries and Secretaries but taking the young ones hunting is almost the last thing I have the time for, not to mention the last I see the GA's being responsible for.

Sustain isn't quite the same as longer lasting songs. A sustained song is not active while sustained.

That said, while I agree in principle with the idea of different buffs for different guilds or classes, the fact is the only way GA/GM incentive/perks will ever happen is if (a) we have something like consensus when it's proposed, and (b) it doesn't take too much coding or development, and the varying buff idea will weaken the chances for both reasons.

The striking lack of consensus on this thread makes me think this idea needs to be put back to bed for another six months. (I just hope clipboards still get considered separately.)

You can easily refrain and such to bring a song back from sustainment. Songs can last up to three minutes as is with training in your music specialization and dramatics, and they get around 3 minutes from that alone.


Most songs aren't terribly useful, in hunting and such either, at least in my specialization. No denizens afflict extremely fast, so herb balance is worthless, sip bonus only works in Hartstone Celebrate doesn't seem to work against denizens and can't really fit in with the rest of our offense, Nintobasong's not gonna help unless you borrow a mother. I don't know about other guilds, though.