Ahoy all,
I recently saw a suggestion to be able to brig hostile players while in a pvp fight. While I personally think (no offense to the OP) that the way it was suggested would break pvp fights, it got me thinking; why isn't the brig used for more?
(for those who are confused, I'm referring to the cage in your ship that you can place rude crewmates in, not the mid sized ship for 2-3 players.)
Having it just be for time outs seemed underwhelming. I rarely find the need to use it, unless in an open crew. It takes up a good bit of space below deck, so why not make it a more useful part of your experience, for both PVE and PVP?
THE NEW TOOLS:
SHACKLES
The shackles would be a new tool added along your shovel, spyglass, and compass. Shackles are simply two metal cuffs linked by a chain (literally old fashioned handcuffs) and could have cosmetics made after the different sets, like hunter, bilge rat, & admiral. They would be used for capturing enemy players & skeleton captains (see more below), but would have no effect on crewmates. To use, a player would have to equip the shackles, move within a certain range of the enemy player or SK (Skelly Captain) and hold right trigger, so shackles would work in the same manner as trapping animals in cages. The difference here, is that the time it would take to imprison a player or SK would depend on the amount of health. A more damaged target would be faster to shackle, while at full health could take upwards of 3-5 seconds. Move too far away, the shackling action cancels, as well as if you take any form of damage. This would be to prevent players insta-shackling targets.
Some examples of how this would function:
-
Two players initiate a PVP fight. One pulls out the shackles and immediately tries to imprison his opponent. Because of the long time requirement to shackle a target with most of his health, the other player has plenty of reaction time to either put distance between them, or get a good strike, both actions being able to cancel the shackle attempt and allow the fight to stay fair.
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A player has either engaged with another player in PVP, or with a skeleton captain, and deduces that he has lowered their health significantly. He equips his shackles and moves in (a target with less than a third health would be an easy imprison, only taking 0.5-1 seconds) and is able to imprison his target in the brig successfully.
THE BRIG
A player or SK that has been successfully imprisoned would be sent to your ship's brig, along with a notification at the bottom of your screen that reads "[gamertag] was successfully captured!" or "Skeleton Captain was successfully captured!" A sloop or brigantine's brig could only have the capacity for one player OR skeleton captain (not both) while the galleon's brig can keep a mix of 2 (1 SK & 1 Player, 2 players, etc). While imprisoned in an enemy's brig, all weapons, tools & consumables (except for lockpicks, more on them in a second) are unselectable. SKs will remain stationary in the brig, while players can move in the limited space inside. Players and SKs that are imprisoned in the brig have their health immediately brought back to full, and when imprisoning a Skeleton Captain, it counts as defeating it for the sake of Order of Soul's bounties (IE, the brigged SK counts as being defeated and is crossed out on the quest, or the quest completes if he is the only or last skelly on the quest) As for imprisoned players, fear not! Escape is possible if you are clever enough...
LOCKPICKS
Lockpicks would be a new consumable. Unlike the planks and bananas however, there is no storage for them on your ship, a player can only carry three, and they are solely used to pick the doors of brigs and escape. This can be done on both the inside of a brig and the outside, allowing crewmates to rescue you if you don't have any lockpicks on you. To pick a brig's door, you must move up to it and hold X (on xbox) for 5-10 seconds. lockpicking will be canceled if an enemy player comes within a certain radius of you, and while picking a brig lock, a subtle noise will be played, allowing vigilant crews who pay attention know if their prisoner is getting any ideas.
But, what if you don't have any lockpicks? are you straight out of luck? Not at all! when a ship takes any form of damage (cannonballs, ramming, gunpowder explosions, or even running into rocks or land) the brig door has a small chance to pop open on its own! should have paid for the good hinges, 'arrr... when a brig door is opened, both players and any SKs that are imprisoned are set loose onto the ship, regaining their combat capabilities and once again becoming a threat. AKA, nobody should leave gunpowder barrels below deck when a prisoner is unguarded... In additon, when a ship sinks, any players are freed from the brig, left to swim, and any SKs go down to the drink... their skulls bobbing to the surface moments later, a bitter trophy of failure.
THE PAYOFF
So, you may ask, what's the point? This is a lot of steps and requires perfect vigilance, what is the reason for even doing this?
Gold, to put it sweet. Beautiful, shimmering gold.
Once you have acquired a prisoner, you can sail to your nearest outpost for payday. The Order of Souls are always eager to be brought whole skeleton captains over just their skulls, and the bounty on pirates has never been higher...
To turn in a SK, simply approach an agent of the Order of Souls while one is imprisoned and you will be given a prompt "Y to turn in Skeleton." the Skeleton Captain will be removed from your brig, and you will be compensated greatly for your efforts, as turning in an SK prisoner is worth 2 times as much as their skull quality would have been, making ashen SKs a very timely profit. As for pirate prisoners, a new NPC would be found on the docks, the Pirate Hunter/Lawmen, depending on the outpost. You would turn in players with a similar prompt, the imprisoned player would be sent to the Ferry of the Damned, and you would receive around 10-12 thousand gold. Turn in enough pirates, and you would even receive a special commendation.
Any thoughts on this? I personally think this would make some fun encounters and allow for some good money while still presenting plenty of challenge.
