ooh Caravan moongates

This seems more like a hireling duty than a magical ability.

It would be nice to cast a remote view spell on your caravan, tell a hireling to lead it to wherever, then you can monitor the caravan's movements. Once it arrives at the destination, you can meet it there to handle business.

Perhaps with sufficient skill the hireling can run the route for you, at a reduced income and a minimal gain in experience. It would be more like learning Trading via management than actual practice. It would require the remote viewing spell be active, and some sort of distance talking spell to command the hireling.

A 150th level trader could in theory be able to remotely monitor and control multiple caravans, all using magic.

Again, all higher level stuff.

ya, they said a long time ago that if caravans would go thru moongates, they'd have to reduce contract income.

Reduced income = bad.



<<If I can't cast thunderclap, you can't summon the dark lord of the abyss to devour the flesh of the innocent>>

Now I want to see a yak climb a moongate.

Moonyak that trails stardust!

Sorry, let my imagination run away with me.

for a LONG time, caravans have needed to be able to find thier trader for atleast a couple rooms away.

Next room over, ok, but cmon, if i'm 3 rooms over, the least my caravan can do is walk that short distance if it is in follow mode

A few more utility:

Cast a spell on messenger hireling that lets him deliver to hidden and invisible and no locate rooms.

Temp magical notes for shops and tables.

Temp alterations to items. Artistry infringement. Just something that would let you alter something for that special event that you could not find otherwise.



Abison/Rystien

>>While those are fine suggestions, those are the sorts of things that should be suggestions for the shop system - not things anyone would ever spend a spell slot on (Unless I'm gravely mistaken).

I would spend several spell slots on the illusion of yourself spell if it was expanded upon. Make it a distant gaze style spell where the illusion is stationary in the room where you cast it, but you can hear and respond to people in the room. Allow the shop closing timer to recognize it as you being in the shop so that it won't close, and you can interact with customers while you do other tasks. There are some other uses I could come up with too.

I realize a spell like this bypasses some checks that people won't like, but it would make playing my trader a bit more enjoyable.

>>Replicate Kronar...

You might joke, but illusional currency was on my original pie-in-the-sky list for the Illusion book. I have no idea how I'd make it work, but I thought about it.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas

<<illusional currency was on my original pie-in-the-sky list for the Illusion book>>

Maybe it could work to allow them to purchase items from shops without having coins on hand. Instead, the cost gets added to their debt in that province (the illusional coins eventually disappear, and the merchant's loss is traced back to the Trader). Additionally, attempts to steal from the Trader will have a chance (based on the spell's potency) to have the thief end up getting "fake" coins instead of grabbing real ones, thereby protecting the Trader's actual wealth on hand.

Thanks,
-Life Sustainer Karthor

>>I would spend several spell slots on the illusion of yourself spell if it was expanded upon.

For what it's worth, I suggested the spell almost exactly as you did (illusory presence for the shop), and Socharis sounded interested.

Raesh, I came up with a few more spell ideas last night. At this point I am throwing out less-polished ideas -- things that seem mechanically less plausible, etc. But I figure that even if they aren't useful whole-cloth, perhaps they will spark ideas.

Opacity. Negotiation, Warding or Utility. Single-target ward against clairvoyance. (I think of this as a potential Warding spell but the Bardic Sanctuary is Utility.)

Diffusion. Warding. The mage creates a barrier that diffuses incoming spells, regardless of whether they are debilitating or TM spells. Reduces all incoming spell potency, but is not able to completely negate any spells.

Glass Fortress. Illusion, Utility, Magic vs. Will. Creates an illusory crystal wall surrounding the mage. Coupled with gentle psychic pressure, foes believe that the wall is real and are reluctant to advance through it. However, since it is illusory, the mage may make pole and missile attacks through it at will.

Duplicate. Illusion/Fabrication, Cantrip/Utility. The mage creates a temporary, illusory duplicate of an item. The illusory copy is obviously an illusion, but may perform the same function for a short time. (Extra uses out of limited use items maybe? Loan out your sword of doom to a friend during an invasion? I'm guessing that this is totally unfeasible, no need to tell me it won't happen if so. Maybe just use it for getting (permanent) extra doses when crafting limited-supply items like potions?)

Mimic. Illusion, Cantrip. Allows the mage to temporarily take on the appearance of someone else.

Favorable Winds. Luck, Utility. The mage, faced with the many paths of a long journey, happens to find herself on the shortest one. Speeds transportation on ferries, boats, etc. (Again, probably mechanically impossible, but it would certainly be nice for running routes.)


-- Player of Eyuve

Was half-joking in the sense that "Trader's forbidden magic = forgery, heehee"...my humor is poor, I know.

The anti-theft mechanic Karthor suggested isn't bad, could perhaps work something off of that? Perhaps make it interfere with MARK, but then it wouldn't do anything against random grabs.

I can just see the traders standing in alleys now, selling dozens of "mirror blades" to unsuspecting dupes...

_____________________________________________________________
Caution: may scream about HUGE DRAMATIC AMAZING SIGNIFICANT loss

The Traders guild is responsible for the trapped boxes we see around the realms. Maybe a magical trap? Something like a few use reactive barrier?

>>The Traders guild is responsible for the trapped boxes we see around the realms.

I've generally chalked this up more to a self-promotional myth than an actual reality.

Not that the idea itself isn't a good one.

---

Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.

We also make towns. If not for Traders, you wouldn't have Crossing or any other big towns. Without commerce you don't have a viable community. Traders bring in rare materials etc in exchange for other goods. Round and round to the towns we go!

Regards,

Sortny/Braunwen