(REQ) Defective goods shop

[Balakirev]

Defective, in the sense that the item/arms/armor in question either does something, sometimes, that you wouldn't want, or has major drawbacks to accompany major qualities. For example, a staff that does 100 points of fire damage, but also kicks back 100 points of fire damage at you. Or a ring that can conjure a powerful aid at any level--but has a 1-in-2 chance of summoning up something incredibly puny that can be squashed with a look.

 

Just a thought. I've been interested myself in doing something like this vendor for some time--I've got the writing skills for it; but I can't do any of the rest. So have at it. :)

[zprospero]

I like this idea, and a shop mod is simple enough. I'll help you make it.

 

Would you like there to be custom dialogue? If you write it, I can voice act it and make the lip synch files for it.

 

I have a Peter Lorre-like voice I've been trying to find a use for, perhaps the shopkeep should be a creepy little wood elf?

 

Where do you want the shop?

 

Also, for the name, maybe Denegor's Defective Detritus?

[alonsomartinez]

This sounds cool.Ill be sure to download this as soon as it comes out.If you need any help let me know.I can decorate

[Balakirev]

I like this idea, and a shop mod is simple enough. I'll help you make it.

 

Would you like there to be custom dialogue? If you write it, I can voice act it and make the lip synch files for it.

 

I have a Peter Lorre-like voice I've been trying to find a use for, perhaps the shopkeep should be a creepy little wood elf?

 

Where do you want the shop?

 

Also, for the name, maybe Denegor's Defective Detritus?

 

Thanks very much! It would have dialog, but I'd like to keep it unvoiced--simply because I'm a firm believer in the old saying, "The best theater is in the mind." I'm sure your Lorre is great, but some people would probably prefer hearing something else--and I have this image of a guy who isn't creepy, but more like a fast-talking, elderly, smiling conman.

 

So he wouldn't call his own stock "defective detritus," but something more along the lines of "great deals." And if some of them are used, he'd probably say, "preowned." I'm thinking (but I'm open to suggestion on these points!) of an elderly Imperial, perhaps with a name such as Denethius (to use a Latinized version of what you have, above) Alius Volturius (vulture in Latin), though as he would put it:

 

My name's Denethius. Denethius Alius Volturius, but all my friends call me Honest Al. And you, too, will be my friend!

 

As for a proper city for the shop, Imperials turn up in a lot of places. I'm thinking a house that acts as a shop added in the Westgate region of Anvil: a prestigious and showy town, but not in the best, most expensive area. Either that, or Skingrad sounds likely. Denethius would be the kind of person who always comes out on top in every deal, but loves being shady too much to make gold any other way.

 

The shop wouldn't have to be stocked with goods, but look like a house. (I'll keep your offer in mind, alonsomartinez! But I suspect it will just be the usual stuff.) Honest Al's crafty: he doesn't pay taxes as a shop, so he only sells on the sly. You speak to him, and he tells you what wares he currently has, using the menu system. You click on one, and he gives you the background through dialog boxes. If you're interested, he names his price--and sometimes will cut a deal if you get him something, in return. The prices are pretty low, but he tells you up front about each item's drawback--in his own inimitable way:

 

Ah, the Fierce Flaming Fury! A wondrous staff, crafted by another of my friends, the great ranger, Hasben the Former! Shaped lovingly with his own trembling hands over a long period of time, incanted with magical powers so formidable and arcane that when it was close to finished, the forest went up in flames for miles around!

 

That's why we call him Hasben the Former, you see.

 

You ask him to continue, politely.

 

The Fierce Flaming Fury does enormous damage to an opponent through a direct fire blast. Such a blast! I haven't tested it, but I've seen it with these eyes. These very eyes, I tell you! It's true that at the same time an unfortunate kickback effect occurred, but then, every great effort involves a little pain, wouldn't you say? Just think of the power you'll wield with the Flaming Fury! And with a good fire shield, you'll only develop a nice tan. All for an unbelievably low price!

 

That's the sort of guy Honest Al is. And the way he does business, too.

 

If you're still interested, let me know--and I'm always willing to consider other ideas.

[philcollins]

Ring with a script effect the script effect sounds like something good but the ring just gives you sun damage half the time the other half something um... Good!

[zprospero]

Okay. I was thinking less conman, just more of a madman who sells

things he knows are defective. But conman makes more sense.

 

The name was more of an attempt to make it sound grand while having a

fairly negative meaning. But since it's not really a shop, but a house, then

I guess it doesn't really need a name. Like Shady Sam, eh?

 

So he's not marked as a merchant then, you talk to him and he

gives you a list of topics about what he's selling. If you ask about it

he avoids telling you straight out what the drawback is. If you press

him he'll tell you more directly, but not how big of a drawback it is.

 

Okay. Makes it a little harder than a normal shop, but not too problematic.

 

I can create silent MP3s to make sure the speech doesn't go by too fast then.

But I will work that Lorre impression into something one of these days. :D

 

So, in Skingrad or the West Gate part of Anvil? I'll see what I can do.

 

Oh, and we might as well just make the name Alius Volturius,

I only picked Denegor because I knew it was a Bosmer name

and it began with a 'D'.

 

Oh, and maybe an armor that makes you invulnerable but paralyzes you?

[Balakirev]

Okay. I was thinking less conman, just more of a madman who sells

things he knows are defective. But conman makes more sense.

 

The name was more of an attempt to make it sound grand while having a

fairly negative meaning. But since it's not really a shop, but a house, then

I guess it doesn't really need a name. Like Shady Sam, eh?

 

So he's not marked as a merchant then, you talk to him and he

gives you a list of topics about what he's selling. If you ask about it

he avoids telling you straight out what the drawback is. If you press

him he'll tell you more directly, but not how big of a drawback it is.

 

Okay. Makes it a little harder than a normal shop, but not too problematic.

 

I can create silent MP3s to make sure the speech doesn't go by too fast then.

But I will work that Lorre impression into something one of these days. :D

 

So, in Skingrad or the West Gate part of Anvil? I'll see what I can do.

 

Oh, and we might as well just make the name Alius Volturius,

I only picked Denegor because I knew it was a Bosmer name

and it began with a 'D'.

 

If the house doesn't strike your fancy, we could consider a wandering merchant. The only reason I opted against this was that I've yet to see one with a cart, and I consider it pretty game-breaking to watch merchants who have numerous armors and arms sell them while traveling on the road. I dearly love Tamriel Travelers, and I use it, but this part of it gets me. It doesn't bother many people, however, so that's another possibility.

 

If we do make him a wandering merchant, then he'll need a special robe to stand out from everybody else. And to make things easy, we could just teleport him into any of, say, three cities on a route every two days. Since players spend a lot of time in cities, that might be preferable to putting him on the roads, where he'd spend plenty of time. That's assuming we do things this way. He'd have to be made Essential.

 

Either way, I figure we can create approximately 15 items or more and give him 6 at any time, changing two or three of them out every month. Some items not sold to the player may pop up again after having been previously removed. I'd write a few explanations for him to say why this happened, that could be randomly shuffled upon inquiry.

 

Oh, and maybe an armor that makes you invulnerable but paralyzes you?

 

I like the armor! :D I already had Rock Candy, that raises your strength and endurance very high, but sets your speed to 5. So great minds do indeed think alike.

[grmblf]

Hey man this project sounds pretty funny. I like the idea of that man selling stuff in his home, maybe you'd like to make he's out for 2 days per week, going to seek rouge mages and adventurers to buy strange things, althought it looks to me like a place where all this people would go themselves to sell those defective things.

 

A few ideas for defective items:

- a glass longsword, just like the vanilla one but made with normal glass, but the most sharpened sword ever made. It does a lot of damage but it breaks with one use or two, and only a Master armorer can repair it.

- I like that armor you mention! It could give 200% shield and 200% resist magic and paralyze, I'd only add stunted magicka too, otherwise it could be a bit lame to just lay for a while and recover your magicka while in combat.

- an anti-magic amulet with a constant effect that dispels magic on you but also silences you, and right when you equip it it depletes your magicka pool so it can't be used as a dispel spell for free. You could even make it couldn't be unequipped until your magicka pool were full again.

 

PS: Reducing Speed to 5 doesn't slow down the player that much. Wouldn't it be much funnier if instead it'd give you burden 1000 but an amazing strenght and endurance?

[zprospero]

I think I prefer it to be in one location, less scary travel AI packages to plan that way, (Plus I think

I've found a good place in Skingrad for the house) but I do like grmblf's idea of having him go to a

'swap meet' so to speak, every now and again.

 

Also, wouldn't increasing strength counteract the burden effect?

[Vagrant0]

If I might suggest something...

 

An NPC and items like this might make a good addition to The Colored Rooms project. There are many places where such a character might be encountered, and setting him up as a traveling salesman would probably be less prone to any conflict issues.

 

You would also get my support when it came to any of the packaging/scripting details.