For those who may not have realized, there was an oversight with the durscwood gladius. It was never intended to be faster than a tin gladius. It was also never intended to only be one-handed. The weapon has been adjusted appropriately.

Re-Release of the Herbalism Skillset

HISTORY
 The infrastructure for TEC's flora and the origional Herbalism skill were initially created by GMs Chris and Charles at the very beginnings of the game in 1996. The Herbalism skill was rebooted by Bruce in 2001, and again by Kritios in 2011. However, these iterations relied upon layered systems of recalling recipes, emulating the life cycles of plants numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and utilizing an array of subskills to transform harvested plant parts into intermediates. This multiplied the complexity and effort required to make it all work. Although these efforts did not result in a Herbalism skillset that we could enjoy continuously over the years, I can't understate the creativity and ingenuity of these great GMs of old. When I decided to bring back the Herbalism skillset, my greatest challenge and most enjoyable part of the process was making a feasible and sustainable system compatible with the existing foundation.

REALISM
 The key methods I have used to make the new Herbalism skill functional are simplification and dialing back the level of realism. A good example of this is the exilis mushroom. In Midlight, one use of the exilis mushroom is as a catalyst for fermentation, turning sugars to alcohol in a few moments instead of the more realistic several weeks. TEC is a computer game and I would rather have skillsets that are functional and easy to maintain than a 100% accurate model of RL. Please keep this in mind as your character discovers new plants and recipes.

RECIPES
 Ranks in Herbalism basics and the various subskills represent your character's knowledge of plant properties, their uses, and methods of processing. With this in mind, Herbalism's recipes work similarly to Outdoor Survival's Whittling and Survival Weaving. There aren't any lists of recipes on your character, like Tailoring. Each Herbalism crafting product has a required rank, and when your character achieves that rank, she will automatically know how to craft it. Further ranks in Herbalism basics and the associated crafting skill will reduce the success to make that product. A herbalism recipe is the IC knowledge of the ingredients, tools, and training needed to make a specific product. The intent is for these recipes to be discovered and shared among herbalist characters or purchased as scrolls from herbalist stores.

FORAGING FOR HERBS
 Herbalism has three subskills related to foraging - Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced herb foraging. These skills function similarly to Hunting's skinning skills. Ranks in Basic Herb Foraging increase your character's ability to find usable herbs and ranks in the Intermediate and Advanced skills increase your character's liklihood of finding herbs of increasing rarity. Areas should never "run out" of herbs, and areas can provide new herbs when your character revisits them after ranking up.

BREWING
 The cornerstone of the new Herbalism skillset is the ability to make useful products from ingredients, either foraged or purchased. Characters use the brew command. The size of the container determines how much product will be made and the quantity of ingredients needed. If you don't have enough ingredients to make a bucket of beer, try to make just a mug.

 When a character uses the brew command, a menu is presented from which to select the product to make. The contents of the menu are based on the type of ingredients available in the character's inventory, or present in the area, plus the character's ranks in the various brewing skills. Recipes for products which your character does not have the minimum ranks to craft will not show. If your character's menu is too small, try gathering all your ingredients in an open worn sack, or on the ground. If your character's menu is too long, put ingredients you are not using right now in a closed container.

Brewing Fundamentals - Allows crafting of drinks like apple juice or posca.
Brew Paint - Allows crafting of paints of various colors and writing ink.
Brew Flask - Allows crafting of products that are not meant to be ingested, such as fuel oil and smoking tobacco.
Brew Salve - Allows crafting of salves applied with the Healing skill, such as burn or painkilling salve.
Brew Potion - The most advanced brewing skill, this allows crafting of products with special effects like rock candy drugs.

HERBALISM TOOLS
 Each Herbalism recipe includes a unique list of tools a character must have access to in order to craft a product. When using the brew command, a character will be told which tools are missing, if any. Beginner recipes might only require a mortar and pestle, while advanced ones may require a mortar and pestle, boiling pot, mixing stick, filter paper, water, fire, and a still. Herbalism tools are available for purchase in herbalist shops, and some can be crafted with Hunting or Outdoor Survival skills. These tools do not have to be in the character's hands when brewing. As long as they are in your inventory or in the area with you, they are available for use. For recipes that require water, the easiest way to make it available is to hold an open container of water in one hand. You shouldn't hold fire, however. A lit campfire, stove, hearth, or furnace in the area will do. Herbalism tools, including water, are not consumed upon use the way ingredients are.

CONTAINERS
 A herbalist can craft their own containers with the Craft Vessel skill. This skill requires clay, which can be purchased from locksmithing shops, or foraged for with Outdoor's Survival Foraging skill at river banks. Any liquid container can be used for brewing, from vials to barrels, as long as the herbalist has an appropriate amount of ingredients to fill it. The volume of a container can be determined with the Volume Estimation skill and a scroll outlining Iridine's system of measurement can be purchased IG.

THE SOFT RELEASE
 The idea here was to release Herbalism in sections, to give plenty of time to chase down elusive bugs and make any necessary tweaks as we go.

PHASE 2
 Now that many of the initial bugs have been addressed, we've moved into Phase 2. There are now 30 different items an herbalist can craft. New items will become available to characters as they progress in rank; no current brewing product requires higher than rank 50 in a brewing skill.

PHASE 3
 After players have had additional time to rank up, test more recipes, and unearth any additional potential bugs, I intend to add more crafting recipes (products), some of which will require herbalists to take your brewing ranks higher to discover. During this phase there will be additional new herbalism trainers and vendors released, as well as a few additional surprises available through upcoming storylines.

Happy harvesting, everyone!

Herbalism Phase 3 is upon us! I have made a lot of additions to help round out the set and make it a useful profession as a secondary, or stand-alone skill set.

- Over 20 new recipes for herbalists of varying skill levels including high-level potions with unique effects.

- Several new herb types can now be found.

- Certain herbs can now be sold in the Steps herbalism shop.

- All herbs can now be sold in the new swamps herbalism shop.

- The swamps shop is equipped with a reputation store with new stock and a trainer that teaches herbalism to higher levels.

- I have added herbalism to the veteran character lobby noncom trainer.

Happy harvesting, everyone!

@gmsenses Any plans to add herbalism to chargen or VC lobby? 

Posted by: @herdias

@gmsenses Any plans to add herbalism to chargen or VC lobby? 

Be sure to check out Senses' update post above - herbalism has been added to the VC lobby. Enjoy!

Posted by: @gmsenses

FORAGING FOR HERBS
 Herbalism has three subskills related to foraging - Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced herb foraging. These skills function similarly to Hunting's skinning skills. Ranks in Basic Herb Foraging increase your character's ability to find usable herbs and ranks in the Intermediate and Advanced skills increase your character's liklihood of finding herbs of increasing rarity. Areas should never "run out" of herbs, and areas can provide new herbs when your character revisits them after ranking up.

 Thanks for the new updates! Love all the new additions.

Are you able to confirm if there are benefits to taking the foraging's above 100?

The Kelestian combat skills are ready for release! I will be rolling them out one at a time over the next few months to allow an opportunity for feedback and bugfixes, but I need your help deciding the order. There is a poll active in the Welcome Area so that each player can vote! This command is available from any Welcome Area room. I look forward to your choices!

A couple of questions about the new skills:

1. Are falcata, chain blade, or falx affected by blade mastery? A follow-up to that, are bladed staves affected by blade mastery?
2. Do the falx's AoE moves count as multi-hitters or single-hitters for the trait cunning opportunist?
3. Do the falx's AoE moves hit friendly targets? If so, is there some counter to that similar to shot timing for bows? That could affect someone's decision to use the skillset if they play in a group or like to fight solo.
4. Is falcata considered a fourth sword style or separate from OHS skillsets entirely?
5. Are there intentions to bring older skill sets in line with the new mechanics these weapons get? Chainblade specifically vastly overshadows 2hax, clubs, 1hax, & tridents' current auto-disarm & catch mechanics. 
6. Will there be a defensive skill to counter slings similar to missile defense? Doesn't seem to apply to the menaces on the battlefields.

There have not been any new combat skillsets released to players since Pankration and Two-Handed Axes back in 2005. Today that changes!

First, I would like to thank everyone who participated in the Welcome Area Poll. The votes are in and the first Kelestian combat skill is now available to learn in game! The runners up will be released roughly monthly until they are all available.

Due to the evolving storyline involved, there will not be a posted high-ranking trainer right from the start although there may be in the future depending on player choices moving forward. For now, players will need to search out an unlikely ally (hint) and work with one another over time to complete the set.

Happy hunting!

Heads up, @herdias!

Q: Are falcata, chain blade, or falx affected by blade mastery? A follow-up to that, are bladed staves affected by blade mastery?
A: No. Blade Mastery only affects what it says it affects in its description.

Q: Do the falx's AoE moves count as multi-hitters or single-hitters for the trait cunning opportunist?
A: Falx's AOE moves do not benefit from Cunning Opportunist.

Q: Do the falx's AoE moves hit friendly targets? If so, is there some counter to that similar to shot timing for bows? That could A: affect someone's decision to use the skillset if they play in a group or like to fight solo.
A: Falx AOE moves only hit other characters who are approached to you. If you don't want to hit your friends, ask them to kindly stand back.

Q: Is falcata considered a fourth sword style or separate from OHS skillsets entirely?
A: Falcata is its own skillset separate from One Handed Swords and its styles.

Q: Are there intentions to bring older skill sets in line with the new mechanics these weapons get? Chainblade specifically vastly overshadows 2hax, clubs, 1hax, & tridents' current auto-disarm & catch mechanics.
A: Yes.

Q: Will there be a defensive skill to counter slings similar to missile defense? Doesn't seem to apply to the menaces on the battlefields.
A: There was a recently-fixed bug that allowed sling attacks to bypass certain defenses. You should notice the change in game, especially if you count on a shield for a significant portion of your defense.

These releases are planned to start rolling out on or around 1 October.

1. The skill set Falx will be released.
2. First wave of combat changes will start to roll out, and there will be continual changes after that until completed.
3. To help bridge the gap between new and long-time players, we are making changes to the min-gain cap. Newer characters (those with fewer total skill points earned) will see an increased boost to min-gains to help them progress. Older characters (with more total skill points earned) will see a greater drop-off as they near the 1000 skill point mark. Skill point rollover and Skill Point Cycle Reset will be unaffected by this change.
4. The skill point (SP) cap in the Ludus Valerius has already been increased from 200 to 500.
5. The amount of skill points (SP) that you can earn before getting to minimum gains will be increased for all players. Those who have earned the least total skill points will see the most benefit, but all players will see an increase.

NEW MISSION SYSTEM

Hello my friends!

TEC's original mission system that Scott, Charles, and the old school crew put into place back in '96 has served us well for many years, but it is time for an upgrade. I have replaced it with a new mission system that is more robust and much easier to maintain and expand. Those of you familiar with the re-implementation of the healing and locksmithing jobs are already using it! I have designed a dozen different mission types for characters new and old to add vibrance to the gameworld and give players the opportunity to enhance your character's role and play style from merchant to theif to bounty hunter. If feedback for the system is overwhelmingly positive, I can add more missions that cater to different niches of the gameworld.

How does it work?
- Mission NPCs spawn similarly to the current locksmithing jobs. Say something to the NPC and they will start laying their troubles on you. Tell them "yes" to accept a mission. You can tell them anything else or just leave the area to decline a mission.

I'm on a mission, now what?
- Mission NPCs will tell you sufficient information to complete a mission. Some of the locations you may be sent to might not be familiar to you, but If you're having problems figuring something out, ask your friends! When you meet the requirements to complete the mission, you will receive an echo stating such. Sometimes, you won't be able to complete a mission for a variety of reasons and that is OK. In those situations you can wait for the mission to time out or manually abandon the mission with the "abandon mission" command.

How do I get the mission type I want?
- The types of missions that spawn are based on a number of factors based mainly on the location and the presence or absence of players with certain skills or qualities. The design here is to reflect what the locals of the area need more than spitting out the particular high-value mission that a player might be trying to farm. If the area doesn't have a mission your character is interested in, leave and return later or make your way to another place that spawns mission NPCs.

Where can I find mission NPCs?
- Right now, you can find mission NPCs in bars all around the gameworld. Pego's and Lefty's in Iridine, Unath's in the Steps, Wyvric's in Quartz Heights, Elima's in Vetallun, The bar with the seedy-looking proprietor in Blackvine, Cirias' in Rock Valley, and Mnelos' in Seld.

What about my Altene Oath Lore?
- Players with this lore will have the opportunity to call on their oath when accepting some but not all missions, and will receive a significant boost to rewards if the mission is completed with the drawback of not being able to willingly abandon the mission.

I will be keeping an eye on how things are working and may change things about the existing missions before making new ones, including rewards. Feel free to throw in a bug report if something is wonky, and have fun!

- The @attributes command is now available to all players regardless of subscription status.

- Players may now use the @attributes command to reroll their character's attributes at any time, limited to one roll per character every 24 hours.

Rerolling your character's attributes will provide a new set of attributes as if the character was fresh from the character generator. It will not take any attribute increases obtained since creation in to account, such as those from Veteran Character attribute points, Role Point expenditures, or Story Point expenditures. Any such increases will be permanently lost if you chose to use the reroll option. The menu will allow you to take on the newly rolled list of attributes, or keep your existing attributes each time it is used. When a new list of attributes is accepted, a new set of attribute potential will be assigned as well.

This new option is designed to allow truly new players to roll up a character and start making friends, getting Skill Points, and other in-game resources right away, without the burden of having to delete the character just to reroll stats. It also provides an alternative to @retiring for players of older characters that have a hard time staying interested in a character because they find that the stats they originally rolled can't meet their needs, and will take an overwhelming amount of time to improve. I want players to have the ability to try out different attribute combinations to suit their play style and to have more agency to decide when to start investing Role Points and Story Points into their characters. If this option were in place since the 90's, I am certain we would have a lot fewer throw-away characters/accounts bloating the system and many more unique names available in the list.

Enjoy!