The most development-intensive idea that always invariable comes up any time one of these bard threads is started, but is far and away the most awesome concept: custom tablature/musical notation system for creating and playing custom songs.
Here is one of my posts from 2006 I had in Ideas Den before stratics was reworked. I saved a thread in pdf, but it is too big to attach. Have fun...
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Hail Bards,
I need feedback on this to see if I’m going the right direction on something others are interested in. Maybe this is too far left field.
v.2 Addition of compassion virtue increase to playing instrument to lead npcs from Paws to Britain. Add sheet music and composition skill. Break music types into symphonies. Multiple bards using different types of instruments add improved spell channeling
v.1 Instruments crafted from wood types adds wood properties. Runic crafted adds typical runic attributes. Bard can hold instruments. Added special songs for the bard.
Things that stay the same:
Instruments are allowed in the backpack and can be auto-played for peacemaking, provocation, and discord. Barding does not have to change, but would be enhanced.
New Instruments:
(my plan is to add more about the instruments)
Bagpipe – two handed
Dulcian (curtal) – two handed
Gemshorn – one handed. Crafted from a Gaman horn. Calming area affect on animals. +10 Peacemaking skill.
Pipe and tabor – each one handed and played together.
Dulcimer – two handed trapezoidal string instrument struck with hammers
Instruments held:
Instruments are worn as though for marching and may be used while walking, running, or animal husbandry. Exemption - Standing harps stop playing when a person moves and cannot be held.
Tambourine – one handed played on the hip
Lute – two handed
Drum – two handed
Flute – two handed
Lap Harp – two handed
Standing Harp – two handed
Bamboo flute – two handed
Crafted from woods:
This would allow attributes of Luck and HPR work for the bard. I know there are better things to hold like spell books, but seems consistent with other items in the game to hold them.
Runic crafted:
Assuming an instrument would be held, crafted runic attributes would help the bard so they would not have to hold spell books. Normal runic attributes could be added to the weapon like spell books.
Virtue:
Lord British changes his compassion for all the sick sent away to Paws and builds a Drum tower in their honor. Drummers can come to the tower and drum giving all the bards and people that enter an infusion of energy and are healed. They also gain some amount of hit point regeneration based on a timer dependant on the number of drummers and their musicianship skill. This is the drummer ensemble.
The drummer’s compassion virtue increases by one step and capped exactly to the limits of leading npc’s.
Music Composition:
I play with sound and music turned off in UO, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Music composition could add another layer to the game for role-playing a musician in a tavern, trio, quartet, or playing the bard as pvm/pvp(?). I would turn my music ON if I could actually hear real people playing.
A new composer gump provides a clear method of playing instruments. Drums may be played in the center or edge. Notes may be played on the strings. Air rate in the bag pipe is maintained and fingered notes are played.
Music is drafted and then once complete sheet music is written onto a scroll. I’m still trying to decide if a composer should just drop notes onto a staff (music staff) to make a measure or part.
(I need to add a bunch of documentation of my thoughts here, but is this interesting?)
How to learn the composition skill:
No musical affect is known until played and then composed. Therefore, to learn what affect an instrument will have it must be played and nicely I should add. Composition of one healing melody may sound completely different when played by any bard and no two melodies will have all the same sound qualities, but share a common affect. The melody happens to hit a chord and the affect is truly amazing, energizing, or therapeutic.
(more thoughts to be added)
Gaining in composition:
To learn what affect an instrument or song will have it must be played around people and creatures. Create the song in a composition gump and then play this. Add multiple song affects into a single composition and get a new affect.
(more thoughts to be added)
0-10 provides writing a single measure
10-25
25-45
45-75
75-85 Write complete part for one musician
85-95 Write two musicians’ parts
95-100 Write first score showing all musicians
100-110
110-115
115-120
Remember the affect you see and name your composition.
Damage:
What damage shall an instrument carry? In my thinking it should mostly be an area affect, but not damage to the physical, fire, cold, poison, energy types. No armor should receive damage to durability either.
(more thoughts to be added)
The new bard:
If all the above items were added I’m thinking we could create a new bard. Right now a bard has to be a mage bard or ‘insert weapon here’ bard. Could it be possible to make a truly amazing new type of bard?
(These bardic spells still need to be placed into the format of old style auto-play and new style with playing parts or measures from learned sheet music. In addition, I want to match instruments and instrument combos with the spells)
Here are some ideas:
1. 1st Symphony
a. Music of clairvoyance – Counts the number of people and creatures inside a room or area target radius
b. Music of Sterility – removes poison
c. Sounds of Health – Greater heal
d. Screeching Sound – does physical area damage 10 to all targets within a radius of 10 tiles
e. Sound of materialization – Materializes the image of food
f. Music of Spirit Manifestation – recall spell
g. Sounds of Pain – does 18 physical damage to a target
h. Harp of Healing –Standing harp played with peacemaking provides target with 15 HP regen unless target becomes an aggressor. (Maplestone)
2. 2nd Symphony
a. Symphony of the Army – music is played for 4 seconds (has a delay cast) and does 30 damage explosion.
b. Levitation – levitates an object 5 tiles from its origin
c. Music of Forgetfulness – person or creature stops moving, fighting, etc. for 5 seconds. Kind of a paralysis of delight. Taken out of war mode.
d. Music of disenchantment – Here when played and a person or creature is targeted the music properties of their weapon and armor is temporarily lost and they become just normal armor weapon for 5 seconds.
e. Flute of haunting – all creatures in a 10 tile radius hear haunting sounds and get a intelligence decrease of 30% due to fear
f. Flute of sewers – Seven rats arrive to perform thy bidding. All rats controllable to target creature or person…Hmmm remember the old dungeons…nasty.
3. 3rd Symphony
a. Sonic Sight – Provides x-ray vision into containers or houses ()
4. 4th Symphony
a. Drum of war – When played correctly a provoked target will be enchanted with 10 swing speed increase, 10 damage increases, 10 spell damage increase. (Maplestone)
5. 5th Symphony (these require multiple bards to make a duo, trio, quartet, etc.)
a. Ideas?
Quests:
There are ancient composed symphonies long forgotten by normal human or Elvin kind, which you may find in the libraries of castle ruins (maybe a quest).
(more thoughts to be added)
References:
1.
http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/uo/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Number=6850907&page=&view=&sb=5&o=&vc=1
2.
http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/...page=3&view=collapsed&sb=3&o=&fpart=1#6828613
3.
http://boards.stratics.com/php-bin/...&o=&fpart=1&vc=1&what2=showflat&selv=&vwhich=
4. Instrument of renaissance -
http://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/instrumt.html
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Music Composition - Does anyone have a good idea about this?
The bard has two options for playing one is auto playing some music part or measure and the second method is real time play. Real time play is used for learning an affect the music will have on things around them. Once this affect is realized the music is composed. The music can then be auto-played. A bard can be a one-man band within some limit on number of instruments limit and type. So, multiple affects could be created simultaneously if the bard has the required skill.
My thought is that there is a base beat in a measure or chord progression required to make an affect. Then a person can improvise around that and still maintain the music affect. I'm thinking there would be some background check on music played to take the melody played into a check that goes to a look-up table for the affect. There could be a case melody contains tempo, notes, progression, beat then equals <affect>. So, the composer creates a measure and could add a bunch of measures together to make a part.
I'm thinking I would really like that people cannot find all the measures written out in the game. It would be cool having to play to learn the affect would cause by the music. Also, you would get more musician interaction having another musician have to teach lessons or interact with other bards in order to learn. I think there could be quests that people would get measures if it is very complicated, but would have to figure out the part by themselves from trying. Like maybe the first measure of some affect could be given in game through a quest, but the affect requires multiple measures.
It would be cool to have it this way because when over the years of people playing they would teach lessons to newbies and more depth could be added into symphonies as the developers realize their interest.
-Lorax
Especially the timers! How could it take longer to jiggle a tamborine than swing a sword?
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when archers and tamers :gun: at spawns and Im standing there like 
for the cooldown to be up and I bet theyre lookng at me like wtf is he doing?