Signalling - Smoke/Bells

[wobbleyheadedbob]

It would be handy if I could alert the nearby town to my perils using a 'town bell' or smoke signals or some other form of semaphore. This way when I see bandits approaching my homestead I can call on the nearby town's guards for help, assuming they don't want my farm to be ransacked...

On the flipside... as a band of ruthless cut-throat ninjas, we prefer to take out the town's guards without raising any alarms, seeing as when the town bells go off, everyone and their auntie is armed to the teeth.

The warning bell/fire/flag would require a character to operate/activate it so even if spotted you still have a chance to stop them. Maybe even sabotage it to keep things quiet.

[Tolwrath]

I don't think town guards should come running to your aid, that makes the strategy of luring enemies to towns to rely on the guards even more pathetically easy. Rather if its going to summon backup at all, it should be limited to conveniently nearby allies.

If anything, I think signals and bell towers should just be used to give an audible warning to the player that a town is under attack, and automatically wake up all sleeping soldiers as well as half the jobs of any soldiers.

[wobbleyheadedbob]

I suppose, I'll admit that I do abuse the nearby town's guards too much by luring bandits towards them.
But that's sorta what I'm getting at, if your farm is feeding vital supplies to the town, perhaps there is a "loyalty" factor that influences their likelihood to helping you out?

There's also the "boy who cried wolf" factor, if you ring the bell every time the big bad wolf knocks on your door, the town should see you as a liability and ignore you. Alternatively the towns guards could demand a fee after they'd chased away the bandits?

[Hatsune_Neko]

Alternatively the towns guards could demand a fee after they'd chased away the bandits?

that idea is posted someplace already. forget which topic thou. have to remember the keyword to use for it.

But bandits already demand erm well politely ask you to hand over money, and i know more options along those lines are being worked on

[Tolwrath]

Hehehe, I'll make all the factions compete to see who gets my protection money. Then I'll go to the last one standing, kill them, and demand protection money from all the losers. *wringing hands menacingly/greedily* Yes, this will bring in some much needed cats.