Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some questions that commonly crop up on the Info channel!

How do the dice mechanics work?

Short version for people familiar with various dice mechanics: roll Stat + Skill, keep Skill + (Stat/2) + 1 (rounded down). 10s explode, 5% chance to double your final roll with a crit.

Long version!

Arx dice mechanics work on a roll and keep system. (It is similar to, but not actually inspired by, the basic dice mechanics used in the Legend of the Five Rings RPG system. Despite Arx's staff not having played it!)

When you use the @check command, or use other systems that invoke checks such as crafting, it rolls a number of D10 dice equal to your Stat + Skill. Then the system keeps X number of dice with the top results and drops the rest, where X = Skill + (Stat/2) + 1, with Stat/2 rounded down.

So in practice, say Bob is rolling a Stat + Skill combo he has maxed at 5/5. He'll roll 10 D10's (5 + 5) and then keep the highest 8 dice (5 + (5/2) +1). The 2 dice with the lowest results will get dropped, while the top 8 will have their results added together for a final result. For a check with Stat and Skill both at 3, you'd roll 6 dice (3 + 3) and keep 4 (3 + (3/2) +1).

There are two other important aspects of checks, which are exploding 10s and crits. Exploding 10s means that if one of the D10s in your roll pool rolls a 10, you get to keep that 10 and reroll the die! Which means you have a higher chance of rolling more high numbers for your final result.

A crit in Arx's system isn't based on what you actually roll, like some other systems. Instead, it's a percentage chance (probably around 5%) to simply double the end result of your check. This means that crits can range from pretty low to really high!

What can I use resources for?

Check out the Resource Guide!

What is the command to see a particular kind of shop?

AKA, how do I find a weaponsmith? Jeweler? Carpenter?

+where/shops <ability> where <ability> is (as of this writing) one of the following: apothecary, armorsmith, carpenter, jeweler, leatherworker, tailor, or weaponsmith.

What's the difference between 'idle' 'idle-' and 'idle+' on the who?

It represents the length of time a particular logged-in person is idle. These equate to approximately: idle- = less than an hour, idle = an hourish to a few hours, and idle+ = longer than a few hours.

How do I set things in my +finger information?

On the game or via the link, check out help +finger -- for things such as "Title" you will have to +request to staff to have it changed/updated.

What are the discounts for the levels of teaching?

20% base, 5% more per point in teaching.

What level of proficiency do the skill levels correlate to?

1. Conversant
2. Professional
3. Teacher/Instructor
4. High Expert
5. Master
6. Legendary

How do I give a key to someone?!

Room

In order to give someone a key to a room, you 1) need to have the key yourself, and 2) the room needs to have been set as your character's home at some point in time. It does not, however, need to be your current home! But if you have #1 and #2 fulfilled, go to the room in question and +home/key <character> to give that character a key to the room.

If you don't have #1 and #2 fulfilled, you'll need to go to set the room in question as your home. If you have control of the room -- you own it or you're high enough in the org that owns it -- head over to the room and +manageroom/addhome <your character>. It'll prompt you to then +manageroom/confirmhome <your character>. Now you have a key and can give it to others as described before! You can also reset your home back where it used to be so that home will send you back where you usually go. (You'll either use the same steps of setting your own home if you have ownership/build permissions in the room, or you may have to ask whoever controls the room to invite you to set your home there again, be that another player or staff.)

Container

The command for giving someone a key to a container is @chestkey <character>. Containers can include chests, wardrobes, belts, pouches, backpacks, etc. You need to be in the same room as the container, but you don't have to be holding it; however, if there is more than one container in the room, it will give you a disambiguation prompt that looks something like this:

More than one match for '@chestkey' (please narrow target):
 1-@chestkey (Miniature Hall of Heroes)
 2-@chestkey (a black leather swordbelt)
 3-@chestkey (Miniature Great Cathedral)

If you wanted to give someone the key to the Miniature Hall of Heroes, you'd type 1-@chestkey <player>. Just add the number prefix to the command that corresponds to whatever container it is.

If you own a container that you don't have a key for and you think you should, drop a +request to staff!

First Impression Share vs Publish

+Firstimpression/share allows the +firstimpression you have written for another character to be shared publicly. +Firstimpression/publish allows the ones written about your character by another character to be shared publicly.

What is the command that you set next to your name to display your character's mood in a room?

From help +roomtitle - (aliases: room_title):

Displays what your character is currently doing in the room.

Usage:

   +roomtitle <description>

Appends a short blurb to your character's name when they are displayed to the room in parentheses. Use +roomtitle with no argument to remove it. For example, Peanut (being a happy good boy) or Mary (eating quietly at the buffet table).

This is different from +room_mood which changes the current 'mood' of the room, which is a few lines that can be set to describe things which recently happened and shows up under look. Lasts for 24 hours. This can be used to help with setting up a scene and describing what is going on for people who enter.

What's a general outline for skill @check difficulties?

15 is "standard" and 30 is "moderate difficulty" and 40 is "fairly difficult" and 50 is "really hard" and 60 is "you really, really need to have your shit together to make this"

What resources are required to raise each dominion skill?

Economic

• Farming
• Income
• Productivity
• Upkeep

Military

• Warfare

Social

• Loyalty
• Population

What are the crafting quality levels?

Mediocre, Average, Above Average, Good, Very Good, Excellent, Exceptional, Superb, Perfect, Divine.

You may also see Transcendent on the rare occasion, which is a quality level that only staff can set.

How do you get to the plotroom for a PrP event when the event happens?

• @cal/join <#> where # is the @cal event number.

[Info] Calandra: Also, if you create it just before the PrP, you seem to have to wait until the 'PrP will happen in x minutes' message has come along to be able to join in.