Duels

[Anderfhstim]

Or make all skills passively grow with age, so that the guy who has led men into a thousand battle isn't on the same footing as the guy who just began his career. Pass it off as passive training, and have it cap at, say, 32. +2% per year to all skills until then, making it so that all old established characters have a flat 30% skill advantage over characters who were just created. Those who want to reach elite skills can still use the normal means to boost it quicker and further.

Or use battles instead of age for the same effect.

Really, just about anything to help experienced characters that don't visit academies a skill level that is more reflective of what it should be.

Then, you'd see more of these high ranking nobles accept duel challenges.

Actually that is an interesting idea. Make skills grow with age until they become too old. Maybe until 40, you gain skill constantly up to 50% then 40 to 60 you stay at w/e skill you have now then after 60 your skills decline except maybe a couple ones that shouldn't be affected by age until you go senile.

[Vita`]

There haven't been duels to first blood for years. Specifically because folks created a guild for dueling to first blood. Dueling isn't for sport, but for honour. There *are* duels to surrender and death. And there *are* training matches.

Many of the suggestions for duels already exist. There is a huge amount of random chance in duels. If your skill is even somewhat near another, it should make a difference, say 20% difference or so (I'm estimating after not having looked at that code in years). So unless you've got 15% vs 75% skill characters in a duel, there's a chance the less skilled character defeats the more skilled character. Again, its been quite some time since I looked at the code, but I vaguely recall there's a few 'rounds' behind-scene.

You do gain swordfighting, leadership, and jousting skill in battle, dependent upon your unit type. Perhaps it needs tweaked. That seems a reasonable suggestion if someone wishes to champion a change. Skills decrease with age, starting at age 35, I think. I think the decrease increases with your age, but again, haven't looked at that code in quite awhile.

There was a five year period where swordfighting gains were not increasing due to battles, but that was fixed two years ago now.

This topic should probably be split.

[Gabanus family]

Topic has been split. And on the subject of duels, one was just fought in Obia'Syela on BT between to feuding characters (both Marshals...hehehe). But it was simply done to surrender as it was more a matter of conflict/pride than the need to kill another noble. I think if you do it this way, duels can happen a lot more often.

[feyeleanor]

Someone didn't read what I wrote in that quote, or the subsequent post where I listed numerous justifications. My point was merely regarding considering other player characters as 'nobodies/hedge knights'. Nowhere in that quote did I suggest there is no reason to ever reject a duel.

Neither did I beyond the obvious: not wanting to be killed. No one wants to be killed. That doesn't mean that rejecting duels should be the norm. There's plenty of scope for interesting game mechanics as a reward or penalty: honour; unit morale and cohesion; region morale, control and loyalty. Only a subtle effect at first amplifying with each successive duel declined.