Syntax: improv - Play without any piece; more difficult. play on - Begin a composed performance. compose with - Write a new pre-composed piece and memorize it. forget from - Completely forget a pre-composed piece. playlist - Recall all pre-composed pieces for this instrument.
Instrument Syntax: = - Improvises a performance section, still proc-ing instrument bonuses. =stop - Stops an ongoing performance, same as walking away. =next - Plays the next section in an ongoing performance.
PERFORMANCES
Performances are the meat and potatoes of any entertainment character. Much like bards in other games, performers and entertainers grant mechanical boons to audiences as they are moved, relaxed, and entertained by a performance.
The strength of this bonus, how long the bonus will last, and how long a listener has to remain in an area to receive the bonus are all dependent on the performer's skill and ability. The type of bonus is based on the performer's instrument.
All instruments and performances reduce listener fatigue (assuming the performer is good), energizing and amplifying audiences.
CROWD REACTIONS
In addition to mechanical effects, bars and stages have ambient crowd reacts that respond to the skill of the performer, to give some hint of the quality of their performance. Special prompts, messages, and ambience will happen in an on-going performance that should be reacted to in character and played to as they come. Additionally, you may receive prompts now and then that let you know how you think you're doing, and it's recommended to use this to prompt for your roleplay. Your character's internal view of how they are doing and the crowd reactions MAY NOT ALIGN. That could be because your character is not as good as they think they are. Roleplay accordingly.
COMPOSITION
All performers benefit from composing their pieces before a show. An artist may only have a certain number of performances memorized, which is dependent on their stats. Composing a piece will also enable the player to save written performances and make them easier to replay in the future.
When asked to enter input into a composition, you should use the pose format to write each pose like you would be if you were planning the performance beforehand. You will have a chance to validate your input before saving.
PLAYING IN A BAND
When playing in a band, nothing different has to happen. It is recommend to use different compositions for each player so they all have a different part to play, and poses can be staggered as desired using the =next command.
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
The crowd is not specific to a 'performance'. If you perform and stink up the joint, and someone jumps on stage right after you, the crowd is still pissed. This is pretty realistic IMO. Don't have a bad opener.
If you get bad performance messages, you should not stop and switch just posing. That's evading the system as it was built. If you are a decent musician, your performance should slowly improve the crowds opinion over time. You just started in a hole with the crowd and need to dig yourself out.
The crowd only remembers for a limited amount of time (~20 minutes). If all else fails, and you just saw someone REALLY not do well, and you are following them, find an IC reason to not get on stage for 20 minutes, and maybe do some ambient RP of trying to get the crowd into a better mood. Perhaps by buying a round of drinks (just give the bartender 1000c) or something themely.
Think about it like this, if you've ever seen a comedy show IRL, there is always a veteran comedian who is funny (or at least OK) who goes on in between each comic, ostensibly to introduce them, but also to warm the crowd back up in case someone bombed, so that the crowd is fresh when the next comic comes on.
Consider planning your events with these things in mind!
CREATIVE WORKS
Copying / lightly editing real life works is not acceptable. Don't take the lyrics from a T-Swift song and pretend your character made them up. Do not create covers of songs that were made after 1997. Those do not exist. It's acceptable to use existing songs as inspiration, and heavily change the lyrics and such but you need to use your best judgement.
Anything pre-1997 would exist in the world, and possibly be public domain ICly.
Not everyone playing a creative character, is comfortable writing song lyrics, etc ICly. Thus, ssing ChatGPT or something of that nature to help you write songs, is acceptable, and not against the rules as long as the end result is themely and original.
SEE ALSO: help fatigue *Last Updated: 11/17/23 by Fengshui*
