Nightingale Legacy Portal
The Bound Part #7: Quest 1: “A Shot In The Dark”
Greetings Devpeoples,
This post is part of the Community Theorycraft Project. Something where multiple members of the community gather together to discuss existing and potential new additions to the different elements of this wonderful game. Things we would like to see, we would like to change, and ways to go about doing so.
This topic of focus is The Bound, the gruesome creatures unleashed by the Pale. We dive into the wonderful theme and flavour presented by them. In fact, so captivated were we by this particular topic, we may have overdone it slightly, exceeding even our own estimates of total content. This has resulted in this submission being the largest one from the CTP to date.
As such, we have decided to split this into multiple separate topics, and link each one within the forewords so those interested can travel from post to post with ease.
As always, we would like to thank you for your time and continued development of this wonderful game.
Bound Posts:
Bound Part #1 - Materials of the Bound
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-416
Bound Part #2 - Corrupt Enchantments
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-417
Bound Part #3 - Existing Bound Changes
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-418
Bound Part #4 - New Melee Bound
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-419
Bound Part #5 - New Ranged Bound
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-420
Bound Part #6 - The Accursed
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-421
Bound Part #7 - Quest 1: “A Shot In The Dark”
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-422
Bound Part #8 - Quest 2: “The Binds That Break Us”
Link: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-423
Bass Reeves: “A Shot In The Dark”
This particular post supplies a new questline, focusing upon Bass Reeves, and is the driving factor to alerting the Player toward encountering the new Bound creatures supplied in Part #6, The Accursed.
Bas Reeves has information of numerous strange encounters within Realmic Vaults, with strange and terrifying creatures. One of the Bound, obviously, but of kinds unseen, within Realmic Vaults of strange appearances, only enterable when certain conditions seem to be met. Each accounting is but one from a survivor, managing to escape, who knows how many might be lost, never to be seen again?
What strikes Reeves the most, is that certain elements stand out from the norm, bearing an almost striking resemblance to accountings of criminal activities on Earth before the Pale.
One such accounting from a terrified escapee has given Reeves enough information to warrant investigation on his part. If the Player is willing, Reeves will share the details, and provide the method to hopefully encounter one of these. Reeves directs the Player to a Gloom realm, where they are asked to stalk a strange type of Bound, which apparently appears when enticed by some kind of offering.
Bass Reeves gives the Player a Ghost Minor Realm Card to enable them to better stalk their quarry unseen, along with a single quantity of the supposed Offering, and bids the Player onward.
Players arriving in a Gloom realm are given a map marker toward a Bound Offering Site (a new Point of Interest, described above). Upon placing the Offering upon the Offering Site, the Player must stay some distance away from the Spectre, which paths toward the Fae Portal of the Realm. Players should be incentivised to use the Ghost Card here, in order to stalk the Spectre.
Being seen by the Spectre causes it to summon its mirror images, whilst the main Spectre flees toward the portal. Players that lose the Spectre must start again by placing a new offering, or guess that the Fae Portal was the destination and make their way there.
Activating the Fae Portal, whilst the Ghost Card is active, will send the Player to the Accursed Vault of The Ripper (which we describe in Part #6 – The Accursed).
When the Player defeats The Ripper, and retrieves the Bound Token from him, they are directed to return to Bass Reeves, to give him the details of the encounter, and show him the strange Token it left behind.
Reeves then directs the Player to visit a weird scientist he heard of within the Realms, named Victor Frankenstein, who apparently is studying the Bound, as they may find more answers there. (This leads the Player to the next quest listed below)
Reward:
Bass Reeves gives the Player a reward for their efforts in uncovering the substance behind the rumours, the recipe for a Deputies Duster.
Deputies Duster
Tier 3 Clothing - Gear
Material Components:
Slot 1: Reinforced Leather (Dusters main colour)
Slot 2: Ornament (Deputy Badge)
Slot 3: Depends on Material
Slot 4: Depends on Material
Attributes:
Durability: 180
Maximum Health: 40
Critical Damage: 2.5%
Weight: 2 lbs
Environmental Resistance: 10%
Injury Resistance: 5%
Note 1:
The recipe rewards we’ve described here we decided to provide the details of their components in a manner which aligns with a previous submission we made regarding Clothing Customisation, which we shall link here for reference: https://playnightingale.ideas.aha.io/ideas/FEEDBACK-I-226
Note 2:
The Spectre in this quest is unique in that it guides the player toward the Fae Portal. However, we understand that this differs from most interactions in the Realms. It is possible instead to simply direct the Player to the Fae Portal using references in game, such as notes etc left behind by Poe, to guide them surreptitiously to the Accursed Vault, and encounter these creatures.
Even using the normal quest markers to direct the Player to playing the Ghost Card, approach the Fae Portal, etc. Whatever method is felt will achieve the desired effect of getting the Player to the goal.
New Point of Interest:
Bound Offering Site
Location: Gloom, Gloom Ascended
This Point of Interest allows the Player to place an offering upon it. After a short while, a Bound Spectre will appear, do a short magick ritual which consumes the offering, and leaves behind a Bound Token. The Spectre will then idly move around the map, as a normal creature does. Subsequently killing the Spectre will not return the offering, it is forever gone to the Pale.
Once an offering has been made, the Site cannot be used again.
At higher Realm Power, the Spectre will drop more than one Bound Token at a time, provided the “value” of the offering is increased appropriately. This incentivises people progressing to higher difficulties, rather than farming in the easiest mode possible.
Once Players have completed the second Bound Quest we have supplied as part of this submission (“The Binds That Break Us”), the item left behind by the Spectre changes from a Bound Token to a random rare Bound material. Since the Bound Token is required to progress that quest toward completion, once it has finished, changing the resources left behind by the Spectre gives the more peaceful Players a means to acquire Bound Materials going forward.
Contributors:
Apothete, Double Space Su, Kahz, Katari, Phylon, Shrike
