Employment within an NPC Faction

[PnzrNorm]

So I remember that it is planned to allow player-controlled characters to hire themselves out to the service of NPC factions, but what particular jobs do players want to perform for NPCs? What sorts of bonuses would players want for remaining loyal/dutiful to a single faction for a long period of time?

Its apparent that many players will want to work in the military branch of an NPC faction, running out to meetup with platoons of troops fighting in skirmishes at random destinations around the world, participating in siege battles, and what have you.
For performing these duties, there should be monetary compensation, amenities, and other bonuses on top of the sheer thrill of fighting in 200v200 battles (even though that's all anyone really wants.. ye barbaric yokels).
In the past, it was once possible to hire yourself out to trade caravans as a bodyguard, and upon reaching the intended destination safely, the player would receive a flat sum of money. The same system could be applied to military work performed such as:

• Receive 100 c. and 20 "<faction> military xp" for arriving at designated location of friendly troops on-time
  Receive additional pay and "military xp" for each killing blow landed (or simply damage dealt) during course of the fight
  Receive additional pay and "military xp" for each point of health (2 c. per point?) provided to friendly troops by medic'ing
  Flat bonus for surviving
  Severe penalties, or loss of employment, for abandoning friendly troops
  ...

When I say "military xp", this could represent the prestige earned while performing duties during employment. Achieving a certain amount of "military xp" could result in a promotion, either by turning a certain amount in to the commander or occurring automatically upon the end of the currently active employment task.

This can also be applied to literally any form of employment within any NPC faction such as:

• Hired as a town guard by the town governor, earning a steady paycheck daily for standing watch over the town, protecting against incursions, and keeping the peace
  The aforementioned caravan guard, once its been rectified and re-added
  Selling a pre-defined stockpile of goods as a town merchant (possibly allowing for adjustable prices to make a personal profit)
  Stealing goods as a thief
  Causing chaos as a bandit
  Capturing slaves as a hired mercenary

Another point I'd like to throw out there is the ability to "set your own price" when hiring yourself out on mercenary contracts such as temporary guard duty and jobs requiring the acquisition of goods or people.
These mercenary prices could be negotiated at "job boards" located throughout towns and outposts, giving the player the freedom to pick their price for the job they want to perform.
The chance for the player to receive said job could be determined by a ratio between the skills/attributes required to perform the job and the price set by the player (high price and low stats being the worst chances).

For non-merc jobs, the payrate could be determined initially by the character's stats upon starting the job and steadily increase over time as the player remains duriful/loyal to the town/position.

[PnzrNorm]

In addition to the payrate earned at each job, it would be cool to see additional amenities become available as your character progresses in prestige up their chosen career track.

I use that phrase loosely since it should be easy to swap from one career path to another, and it would be rather difficult to keep track of prestige for thievery/enslavement/chaotic jobs since they have the potential for a multitude of conclusions.

[djfabiokk]

1+. Would really love to see this implemented, but it seems a bit complicated

[argonautis22]

No it doesn't sound so complicated!! It's a very nice idea I believe it adds depth to the RPG element of the game!! Also makes us micromanagement types hoping!! I would love to see that in game!!

[BloodyNex]

Adding work to be done would be great, I'd love to see merchants offering jobs to craft things. Perhaps they could reward the player with blueprints for successful (on-time) completion of such jobs. This would be particularly cool if some shops had relevant crafting stations installed, and if the goods the player gave the NPC actually showed up in their shop stock. Also, I'd love it if doing jobs for members of the Trader's Guild actually improved prices when trading with them.

[PnzrNorm]

Also, I'd love it if doing jobs for members of the Trader's Guild actually improved prices when trading with them.

Would also like to see prices fluctuate depending on faction relations.

[Redknob]

Very great idea, I thought of this aswell before coming onto the forums, Aside from military jobs(Which would be very cool) Civil jobs would be great aswell for when your starting a new game, or want a low risk job, like working as a scientist in a research lab?(Whether or not it really makes a difference)Blacksmith creating weapons and armor to supply the town armory? the employer may have to supply the materials required? maybe getting payed more depending on your skills?
As for remaining loyal/dutiful to a single faction for a long period of time as military, receiving faction armor could be a good bonus? Discounts on property in their towns? maybe you receive it when you join their military? or after you receive a certain rank, Really like your ideas for the mercenary jobs

[Badger0]

The military career certainly sounds cool. While I'm initially inclined to say that pay should be given based on your damage dealt, doing it by kills may make more sense from in in-character perspective, as it's easier to keep track of by the people around you and your superiors. That's naturally on top of the other suggestions, such as providing medical assistance and possibly providing supplies when/if hunger and thirst become issues.

There are a ton of things that could be done with the military career, and a lot of it goes hand-in-hand with a more expanded faction system. Factions warring against each other, and if you work for one, your relation/reputation with the other will start to deteriorate. As the individual factions get fleshed out more, you could also raise in ranks as mentioned in the original, and they'll be willing to supply you with increasingly better faction gear as you grow to become more worth the investment.

A separate but similar "Mercenary" role would be nice too, where you're only hired for one "raid" or such, negating or at least minimising both the negative and positive impact on faction relations, and maybe foregoing payment based on contribution, instead receiving a flat fee. On both the regular military career and the mercenary path, friendlies and enemies alike should be able to register if you loot corpses, as that may be disallowed or encouraged. "We're looking for swords to assist us in a raid against [cannibals, opposing faction, bandits]. We'll pay you #### if you join. Interested?"

Appropriate for both the military career and mercenary, you could get an option for specific tasks. If attacking a city, you could offer to unlock the gate. Or you could focus on healing, and such wouldn't be expected to actually deal damage. Or, with the assassination skill alluded to, kill a high-priority target somewhere, such as a competing business owner or opposing faction member.

For alternative jobs, I'm definitely looking forward to the return of the trader escort option. It was a nice and fairly safe way to earn a bit of coin early on, as the other guards did most of the protection and I like to start off with just one character until (s)he is able to keep the finances flowing while new members work on their skills.

Working as a blacksmith/armourer for a town would be good, but then a new crafting system needs to be considered, as you could be a crafter without having previously researched all the different weapons and weapon-grades. This works with other tasks as well, especially those with a direct output - farmer, distiller, corpse-burner etcetera.

Being a trader/labourer at a store which tasks you with running goods back and forth between cities. That way you don't have to worry about potential fluctuating prices, but you get a set and pre-determined amount of money for the task.

Other things, while not specific jobs, would be more NPC interactions primarily through dialogue and the shifting in the state of the world, examples including:
Rumours, where you might hear of a shortage of goods somewhere thus a good price.
Selling and buying slaves/prisoners, both to slavers and police when appropriate.
Protecting travellers and towns from bandits resulting in recognition and maybe a reward.

All/most of these things are primarily for individual characters or smaller squads, but as you grow, and especially after establishing a city of your own, the roles should be reversed with people offering their services without coming directly under your control. This could require setting up a chain of command within your own faction.

[Vertias999]

This idea has to have been thought about..... am i wrong Chris?

Jobs/Quests/i.e.; content

If you make the jobs for a certain NPC factions you might also include reputation as part of the reward like healing the npc's but at the same time make the job AGAINST another NPC faction so you gain rep with one while loose rep with another.

Fighting
-Bodygaurd
-Assasinations
-Bounties
-escorts
-ect ... maybe "Please take care of these [insert enemy name here] that have been pestering our caravans!!" REWARD: 1000c or maybe items or a combination .... 3 basic med kits and 500c (w/e would be balanced for time investment)

You might also consider.... "Hello Kenshi, the [insert faction name here] has been dominating our trade routes. Intercept their caravan and bring the goods back to me. (Robbery!!!) REWARD: w/e

Trading - Delivery/crafting ect should also include some sort of travel to another city with a chance of being robbed or killed.

-fetch
-delivery
-crafting

[Zeal]

Yes yes.. would love to have.. I really like the ideas here, except one thing I'm sorta on the fence about..

These mercenary prices could be negotiated at "job boards" located throughout towns and outposts, giving the player the freedom to pick their price for the job they want to perform.
The chance for the player to receive said job could be determined by a ratio between the skills/attributes required to perform the job and the price set by the player (high price and low stats being the worst chances).

I think that price determination in terms of "effeciency" should stear clear of that fourth wall bit. It should be based on that units employment history. In the real world, If you walk into an office of people who have never seen nor heard of you, it wouldn't matter if you were the most proficient person in the world for that job, they aren't just going to instantly pay you the top wage... They don't know. They can't really tell just by looking at you. I think it would be best if there was a sort of "reputation" for each employment. Like in the military, you work for your position/ranking. In the job center, you work for your status. It's not based on just simply having stats that no one can actually see. This would mean that you could take on jobs that very well could get you killed very quickly, but that is your own fault, and you would not get paid until the job was complete. It makes sense.

I could see however that some specific jobs may have prerequisite history to take on. Such as if there's something along the lines of an assassination mission, they are obviously not going to want to send anyone in a loincloth and a pipe. Not just because it's obvious they will fail, but more so that failure in this case could seriously cause an issue for the client.. But things like wiping out a bandit group? Meh. if you think you can do it, have at it~