Cantr II Wiki - User contributions [en]

How to play a town leader

2010-02-04T05:46:43Z

RKIB: /* Material assets */

=== Knowing your community ===

There are different kinds of towns. Some are based on individualism and everybody does what they want - this kind of towns don't care much for having a leader. The leader or leaders come to power in various ways, there is no one defined way as how to climb (if there is) a ladder to become the leader of a town. They have various duties as the leader, here are some examples given by the people: to help the newspawns get adjusted, issue building permits or take care of selling abandoned houses, decide what to do with the items of the dead people and take care of things that affect the community as a whole.

Then there are close-knit communities that work like a single family or a company. The town leader may be responsible for starting projects, keeping a stock of resources and sending resource runners on their way.

When a new town leader rises to power, they might have some revolutionary ideas as to how things are to be run which usually don't turn out well, in general, people like the things the way they are so it's better to make slow transitions.

==== Human resources ====

A good town leader knows their people and is aware of their personal goals and needs. Cantrians tend to prefer doing everything on their own, so you might have trouble shifting people to work for the community instead of themselves even with equal or better pay.

==== Material assets ====

You naturally need to be aware of the resources and machinery a town possesses, so that you know what you have and what you need. With the various towns comes the various ranges of assets that can be found in them; You can come across a town with few buildings, one devoted to public machines or find a town with many buildings that contain machines but you ultimately end up finding that there are various buildings with the same machines that really don't get used. Likewise, people tend to gather resources and tools in private stashes and might be ready to hand or lend them out, if someone just asked.

Keep in mind you dont need to be a town leader forever. If you have all the keys to the town it's simple enough to load everyting you want or everything and anything and drive or sail away and rich person no longer tied down to any town.http://wiki.cantr.net/index.php/Special:Confirmemail/0ea0f0ee53ef48eabf2a06e6c2ec389f

==== Location ====

If your town borders a sea, it's likely to get a lot more visitors and will be more lively than inland communities. But this involves the risk of getting hit by pirates and it's good to think ahead for these situations.

Non-coastal towns tend to be more peaceful, but that is not to say they are without danger. You have to take the good with the bad.

==== Keeping control ====

The amount of control that a leader exerts on his or her citizens depends entirely on their leadership philosophy, but it is impossible to govern a town without having some kind of power. The leader of a town will presumably have access to all the resources, tools, weapons and machinery owned by the town. This is what gives them the power to govern their town.

To leverage this power and use it to run your community effectively, you must be aware of the loyalties and ambitions of all members of the community. If it is likely that somebody has aspirations to usurp your leadership, kidnap people or steal from the town, it would be best to take steps to insure minimal damage done by taking steps you see fit to restrict their actual fighting power. Similarly, if any of your people have proven their loyalty to you and gained your trust, trust should be reciprocated in any manner you see fit, being great access around the town, resources, etc. Trust, as you'll learn, is best earned and not given away.

=== Relations with neighboring towns ===

==== Resources and trade ====

A town may be self-sufficient when it comes to food, but they generally need to import at least something to be able to carry out various projects. Towns have their own resources and some can have certain resources that can be in demand which will make trades much easier for the town. Like most things, there is a wide range of resources which not only vary in rarity but also in value and it is up to you to figure out in the game what is the best local resource, if any, to exploit. Cantr is constantly growing and a resource that was once worthless can become the most prized around the world.

You generally try to export things to towns that don't have the resource in question or don't have the machinery to gather it as effectively as your town does, and you import from places that offer the best trade rates. Trading can be good for a town, but sometimes it can back fire such as a town you thought friendly can use your own resources against you, so make sure to forge strong relationships.

==== Reputation ====

If your town is known as a friendly place with fair trade rates, people are more likely to visit. Also if you maintain good relations with your neigbours, they're likely to assist you in stopping [[How to play a thief|thieves]] or offer support if you get attacked by [[How to play a pirate|pirates]].

Then there are communities that prefer to look tough and not have anyone dare to mess with them. Towns like this may be hated by their neighbours but if you let them know that you're fair with people who obey your laws, good people have no reason to feel threatened. Helping neighbouring towns to take down criminals will earn you more respect and people will turn to you in their hour of need.

[[Category:How to play a role]]

How to play a thief

2010-02-04T05:45:02Z

RKIB: /* Be subtle */

There are all kinds of thieves. Those that sneakily enter buildings when you're not watching, those that steal everything you have and possibly even kill you after they gained your trust and those that steal your only vehicle making you stare after them helplessly, unable to give chase. Though there are certain kinds that are frowned upon, those being the characters that their whole life don't act a certain way and then with no in-game reason change and steal everything, please keep everything in game and make sure the role playing makes sense and not change just because you're bored. This article will help you understand thieves, and how to play them a bit better.

Note that you shouldn't make your thief exactly like explained in this article. Be creative!

=== Be subtle ===
Thieves are usually smooth talkers that are able to talk themselves out of any situation. A character planning a crime should try to blend in with one's surroundings, act like a normal, hard-working villager and when they realized you're not that nice, it's too late. Role-playing suspicious behavior such as sneaking into buildings and casting shifty glances at people is only likely to lead a character in trouble before he has even had time to steal anything.

It's importent to remember that jails are around,most every town has either by name or a building or back room used as one. As a thief and if your character is a life long one you will see the inside of them every one and awhile. And this can be bad if you RP it wrong. Be nice, be charming and be helpful will keep you alive most times. Yelling at them and threatning well hope you have a lot of healing food or regular food. If you have no way out then give up the things you stole right away. If you do have supplies from a crowbar and anvil maybe wait and see if they forget about you then break out if your lucky, but your chances are still raither low. but fear not!! You can talk your way out with ease. Get to know your jailers who knows maybe you can sleep your way out of jail or buy your freedom.

So always remember jail will happen and try to get a job while your locked up to kill the bordom and ask for notes to read in the older towns you can find some interesting history.

=== Stealing ===
There are a lot of ways to steal, and a lot of things to steal. Varying from vehicles, keys, resources and tools.

* '''Stealing vehicles'''
** Simply trying to enter vehicles to see if they're open can sometimes give interesting results. Note that no one can see you tried to enter the vehicle when it's locked.
** Gaining a vehicle's owner's trust can be very useful. Once gained, it will be only a matter of time before the the right opportunity comes around, but keeping the vehicle can be as hard as stealing it, so be ready to make modifications to your new ride and expect people coming after it sooner or later.
** Boats tend to be easier to steal than land vehicles because it is usual to have a crew, but the bigger the crew, the less the opportunity to steal, so pick your targets. One last note of advice is to be aware of other boats around because once it is found out you stole, you are bound to be chased down.

As a last resort, you can always wait until everyone is on it and then lock it and kill them. (This won't be as easy to do when they have crowbars or the tools to make one)

* '''Stealing resources and tools'''
** There are various ways to steal in the game, specially if no one is paying attention. With all things, you have to know your targets and that you will probably be more successful with one kind of group, like sleepers, than another. It also depends on how you steal, be it walking into a room with no one in it or claiming resources on the ground, just have to develop your own way of doing things.
** Sometimes you might be able to steal tools by finishing an abandoned repair project and picking up the tool when it's finished, but this usually works only when no one's watching.
** Also you might borrow a tool from someone, then keep it for so long that they forget they ever gave it to you. Or just wait that they go inside, then leave town. By the time someone tells them which direction you took, you'll be long gone.

=== Seizing the moment vs. planning ahead ===

Perfect timing often separates a good thief from the dead one. If you've spent a while in a town, you might notice that some hours tend to be less busy than others. If you're going to be stealing openly, it's best to do it when most people are asleep to give you a head start. It's also good to see if many people have access to vehicles, since if you're traveling slower than your chasers, you're pretty much doomed to fail.

But there are also moments in which a perfect chance for robbery will present itself and you need to make a fast decision before the chance is lost. If you're the only person awake when someone dies and drops a bunch of keys, there's a good chance one of them is for a vehicle or at least a building. There is considerable risk involved in such an act, such as none of the keys being useful to that town or having someone wake up doing the same thing. It is best to quickly prepare a reason why you picked them up if you are backing off but if you're not, discovering quickly what you've laid your hands on should dictate how you proceed. Depending on the town, it might be best to be prepared with healing food and a fight because no one likes a thief, specially if they can do something about it.

The more crowbars there are, the smaller the chances of surviving by hiding in buildings. People might also change the lock on one of the buildings you have access to and use it as a trap. Likewise you can trick people into running after you into unlocked buildings, then lock the door after they come inside to trap them in there. However people are likely to learn fast not to follow you into buildings if you do this.

People are also likely to taunt you to make you stop and reply to them. It's better not to fall into this trap. If you have something to say, either drag a note under the door or write what you're going to say in Notepad, wait a while to let everyone think you've stopped running around, then pop out quickly to copypaste your message to the talk to all box and run back to safety.

=== Trust ===

When planning to steal important vehicles that have lots of important resources in them, or trying to get access to an important building, you'll need to very lucky or somehow gain the people that have the keys their trust.

It's unlikely that you'll get a chance to just steal a boat in the developed islands of Cantr. But if you are paying a visit to one of the barely developed islands, then you will have a good chance to steal boats and other vehicles.

This combined with being trusted will be definitely worth it. It might take some time for the people to trust you, but once they do your chances will increase. Simply work hard for little pay and be nice and active. You could even lower yourself to nothing but a mere slave of someone, and once your boss isn't looking, use that chance and start sailing away!

You could also seduce the captain of a ship. Once he's stuck in your web, he'll gladly give you the key of his boat. (If roleplayed well, of course. No one likes boring women.)

There are all kinds of possibilities! Be creative and think up your own. Make good use of the chances you'll encounter and never give up! If they don't trust you, show them that you can be trusted! They say you don't work hard enough? Work twice as hard!

[[Category:How to play a role]]