Here's Karek's script for how it could look when a player joins the
Musicians' Guil.
This is the front room of the Ankh-Morpork Musicians guild. It is not as
grandiose as the Assassins guild, nor as intimidating as the building of
the Thieves guild. It noticeably lacks the towers and arches of Unseen
University. In fact, it consists only of a couple of pokey rooms, painted
an institutional shade of brown. There is a desk and a couple of chairs
here. On the desk is a sign.
A jukebox stands beside the door.
There are two obvious exists: west, and south.
Satchelmouth is here.
(players can have the usual conversation with satchemouth here)
> l walls
That's a really offensive shade of brown.
> l sign
It appears to have something written on it.
> Read sign
"For Your Comfote and Convenience YOU WILL NOT SMOKE"
You are suddenly overcome with an irresistible desire to light a cigarette
right here.
> West
You open the west door.
You close the east door.
This is the back room of the musicians guild. The walls are mostly bare.
One of the under-secretaries (or whoever you please) is sitting at a desk.
There is a sign on the desk.
There are two obvious exists: west and east.
There is a Musicians guild enforcer here.
> East
The enforcer blocks your way, and grunts "If you're not wiff a band, you
can't get in"
> l desk
It is a desk, much like any other.
> l secretary
One of the under-secretaries of the musician's guild. Years of working with
musicians and Mr. Clete has wiped any trace of humanity from her face.
> l sign
It appears to have something written on it.
> read sign
"Please direct enquiries to the secretary if you wish to join the Musicians
Guild. Remember, without guild membership, you cannot play in Ankh-Morpork.
Or anyway, not for long..."
> say I want to join the guild
The secretary looks at you for a moment and then sighs. She hands you a
thick wad of paper. She says, "Read these, please, and then return them to
me to become a licensed member of the Musicians guild in Ankh Morpork. This
will also entitle you all the privileges thereof."
> read form
The form would have all the relevant information a player might need to
know to join the guild.
You struggle your way through the forms in front of you. In amongst all the
mumbo-jumbo you discover some facts about the guild.
1) Upon joining the guild, you will receive a slightly different set
of stats than the usual player.
2) Unlicensed playing of an instrument in Ankh-Morpork is punishable
by having said instrument shoved... well let's just say that it isn't much
fun for the piccolo player. And the trongbone player wouldn't be keen on
the idea either.
3) There is a fee of A$50 to join the guild. This can be paid in full
now, or payed in ten easy instalments of $5 after you have joined the
guild.
4) The Musicians Guild is a non-fighting guild. Musicians do not join
in the cut and thrust of everyday living. Instead they play (or try to
play) music.
5) They really seem to mean it about the unlicensed playing bit.
> join
To join the guild, please return the form to the secretary.
> Give form to secretary
You give the form to the secretary.
The secretary says "Do you wish to pay up front?"
> say no
The secretary says "OK, you have been placed in the payment plan"
The secretary rummages in her desk, and then hands you a Musicians guild
membership card... try not to lose it.
The Musicians guild enforcer looks at you as if remembering your face.
You are now a proud member of the Ankh-Morpork Musicians Guild, the newest
guild in town.
MAGICAL INSTRUMENTS
We talked about instruments with magic abilities before, which I think
is a good solution... (There are a couple named in Soul Music for
example). These could be instruments that requires high skills, perhaps
music in general, and would have abilities such as stop someone from
fighting, another could make one go berzerk, one could have healing
magic, etc. How common would those be then ? Perhaps they could
be like a quest weapon, like the wyrm sword.
Why not have a shop similar to the one in _Soul Music_ that will
exchange a standard quest weapon (like a wyrm sword) for an instrument
that has certain properties... a flute of healing (heals and drains gp),
or a guitar of sanctuary (with a similar effect to the sanctuary ritual on
the rods). This would allow
(with, I hope, minimal coding) the opportunity for musicians to do most of
the quests that already exist, despite the fact that they don't have
fighting skills etc.
One of the problems I see is that musicians, to be a viable character
choice, must have a function on the disc beyond pure entertainment. In the
same way that
priests and Wizards/witches are populare amongst oher player because they
can heal, or enchant etc, musicians need to have something to offer to the
other players. I think that quest instruments would be a way of providing
this service... after all, if a musician can heal (or whatever)
effectively with their instrument, they will be asked to help other
players. And because musicians don't fight themselves, their healing etc
will be available to other players the majority of the time. As I said,
its just an idea.
INSTRUMENTS
Why not have a random variable attached to every instrument so that each
instrument may suit a certain musician more than another. Obviously more
expensive (and better crafted) instruments would have a nicer sound, and
therefor would be more likely to be suited to every musician than cheaper
ones.
The effect I'm trying to get is that some musicians play better on a
certain type of instrument, and, in fact, on certain individual
instruments... one particular violin suits one particular violinist more
than any others. This would lead to a try before you buy type situation,
where a musician would have to try all three violins in a shop to find out
which suits them the most.
