The Powers Texts | Vol 2 [HTML Volume]
FTA FAQ - General | Version 3.0

Navigation

1. "Did the guild move already? Where is it?"
2. "If I go to Guild #3, can I get them all at once?"
3. "How do I do this without getting screwed?"
4. "Can I get two powers at the same time?"
5. "How do the banks work?"
6. "What is the Graveyard for?"
7. "How far is <streetname> from <streetname>?"
   [aka "There is no (street) in the (letter)s!"]
8. "What's a Clan? What clans are there? Where can I join one?"
9. "How do I take a screen shot/screen capture?"
10. "Can I use the transits when I'm getting (Power)?"

If you think there are other questions I ought to add to this list, please feel free to contact me using the information below.

[Q]: "Did the guild move already? Where is it?"

[A]: It probably is still there. You just don't know how to see it, yet. Like all the addresses given in The City, the actual location is always one square South-East (SE) of the coordinates given, or if it's easier for you, Diagonally down and right of the cross-streets.

So an address of "Steel and 58th" is meaning not in the middle of the street itself [the gray squares], but just SE of it [in the black square]. Since the guilds are secretive and roving bands of power-givers, you will never see the 'sign' like for a transit station, pub or magic shop. You must put yourself EXACTLY in the black square SE of the cross- streets. Then new options will show up.

Of course, the guilds do move every few days. Usually about every 4 days or so, but they don't really follow a timing pattern that we have been able to fix. Most the time, the Thieves Guilds move first, then all the others.

If you're absolutely certain that a guild has moved and plan to tell the FTA about it, prove it and include a screen shot of your pire in the correct square showing that there is no guild info coming up below the map view. If you don't know how to do a screen shot, see below.

[Q]: "If I go to Guild #3, can I get them all at once?"

[A]: Nope. Sorry, but you must chase down the exact one you want for the level of power you are after. For instance, to get the power Shadows 2, you can't go to TG1 or TG3. You can only get it from TG2. It is a bit of a work out, but it makes the goals of the game more interesting, I think.

[Q]: "How do I do this without getting screwed?"
also: "I always get robbed before I can get the power!"

[A]: Well, you must plan. I used to post the locations to the FTA on a fairly regular basis and usually in a very usable format, and it seems that once my absence struck, others have carried on the custom. So you can plan out, with the use of maps and information, (like that available here ), the route you plan to take, and how much AP you, personally will need to get from your current location to attaining the power.

Basically, you need to see how many moves it will take for you to get from where you are, to a bank to withdraw, (the one closest to the Guild, so you minimize the amount of time which you carry your money one you, decreasing thefts) to the Guild, and at least 5 squares away. 5 squares seems to be the minimum distance one can safely sit from a known Guild and not get over-run with thieves and biters.

NEVER sit anywhere near ANY building or Guild with the money to pay for a power ON you. You will certainly get it robbed.

The best thing is to plan out the # of AP, know where you are going exactly, go to sleep and stock up more than enough AP to do what you have to and get away, hopefully leaving you in a safe area later, never having been robbed or what have you because you never stopped moving long enough to get snagged!

[Q]: "Can I get two powers at the same time?"

[A]: Yes and no. It depends what the powers entail. If you are trying to do two quests at once, no you can't. If, on the other hand, you are going to buy a non-quest power and a questing one, or two non-quest powers, then yes.

So, for instance, if I want to get Thievery 2 and Shadows 2 at the same time [both are at the Thieve's Guild, BTW], then I would surely be able to. However, trying to get Suction and Stamina at the same time will not work.

[Q]: "How do the banks work?"

[A]: The banks are your best friends. They hold your money safely away from the prying hands of thieves, they work all over the place in cooperation, and they don't lose your money like RL banks. You save your money here to buy powers.

Yes, if you deposit money in one location, your money will be accessible from another location. It's just like a real bank in that aspect. The good thing is, it is in no other way like a real bank. It won't lose your deposits, charge you fees, or any number of bad things.

Sadly, you also get no debit card (so yes, you have to have the money on you to buy things), you can't bite the teller, you can't rob the bank and you can't throttle the manager into approving a loan. Otherwise, they're great.

[Q]: "What is the Graveyard for?"

[A]: Well it is a memorial for the controller of the vampire Pazuzu. You can see when you are in the graveyard that below the map view is the note regarding the inscription on Pazuzu's headstone. The Real Life controller of Pazuzu was Steve. A friend to many people in the RP of the game, Steve died from heart complications, which he had suffered his whole life, and those of us who knew him beseeched RavenBlack to commemorate his passing.

Actually, the vampire name of the person directly responsible for the graveyard's existence is Wander. So if you see him on the streets, maybe give him a little room and don't bite or rob him, out of respect for his kind deed.

Speaking of which, most clans and groups have a respect for this cemetery which they honor by declaring it a no-attack, no-thieving zone, or somehow describe it as an "off limits to negative acts" place. Those of us in FTA ask that you please show the respect that such a place deserves and also not bite, rob, scroll or holy water in this place. It has become a sign of respect to not do violence to each other in the Graveyard.

That being said, many many people don't know about the RP of this game, or care that we had a cemetery put in. So don't be at all surprised if someone does bite or rob you here. Simply let them know via an in game message using [Say It] from the "More Commands" options, that the Graveyard isn't just a place on the streets, but a real memorial to a well respected player who died in real life, and that we ask them to respect it's true meaning as a memorial. You could even add a link to the FAQ Raven Black provides on the matter, and maybe even the FTA itself, if you would be so kind.

The act of not retaliating, but explaining the situation, will usually be more impressive than a HW in the fangs. It will leave a more reverent mark upon the player than any item.

[Q]: "How far is <streetname> from <streetname>?"
[aka "There is no (street) in the (letter)s!"]

[A]: First, you should get a map. The most recent one I have will HOPEFULLY always be available HERE for you to save.

Second, you should read the FAQ the RavenBlack wrote for the game. Lots of good info is there and the street layout is very well addressed in there.

Now, to really understand the street layout, you should know a few details. Obviously they run in numeric order from top to bottom, so it's 1st street and in order to 100th street. Then there is the tricky bit. The named ones.

The 100 named streets run in alphabetical order of sorts. First divide the city in half. Then figure two streets for each letter of the alphabet, except the letter "X". The first half of the city is animals and trees. The second half is stones and moods.

So in the first half, the west side, it starts "Aardvark" (a type of animal) "Alder" (a tree) "Buzzard" (animal) "Beech" (tree) and so on through "Zebra" and "Zelkova". So in order of animal, tree, animal, tree, all through the first alphabet side, skipping "X".

The second half of the city, the east side, is stones and a variety of negative emotional states. Like the west side, they always follow the pattern of stone, mood, stone, mood. So after "Zelkova" from the west side is "Amethyst" (stone), "Anguish" (mood), "Beryl" (stone), "Bleak" (mood) and so forth until "Zinc" and "Zestless", skipping "X".

[Q]: "What's a clan/What clans are there/Where can I join one?"

[A]: Ugh... I hate these questions. There's always so much more to it than I, or I dare say anyone, can fully explain. Let's start easy, though: What is a clan?

A clan is a group of players who band together into groups where they share information, maybe Role Play (RP), help each other out with learning and getting powers, and more. You do not need to be in a clan in order to Role Play, nor do you actually need a clan for any real reason.

Some clans are based on blood lines. IE: A master vampire and their childer, and their childer's childer, and so on. Others are based on simply desire to unlive by a certain standard or set of ideals.

Also, clan related, but not clans, are places like the FTA, or other info-based, open-to-all areas, where new and old vampires can learn about the game and make themselves strong with power and knowledge.

As for 'What clans are there?', that's a bit harder. See, there are new clans forming all the time, some clans have disbanded over time, some exist but never become known to those of us here in the Yahoo groups or related boards... There are all kinds of groups. In fact, many clans have become so game-dedicated that they set up massive sites and spend a great deal of time maintaining clan-related places that they can easily overwhelm a new person.

Your best bet is to look around for a non-clan based group where you can learn about the Role Play facet of the game a while before committing to a given clan. Aside from the FTA there is the Phoenix Clan news board, the New and Improved RBB (actually not the RBB, but much better, I hear), the Live Journal community "Lost In Shadows," and I'm sure a whole host of others I have no time or inclination to find a link for. The in-game FAQ pages have an entry about meeting other players and there are links to not only the FTA but many other groups. Check there for some good links.

From there you will figure out how to go about joining one, if that's the course you decide upon, but I can't offer much more specific info. Well... Except this: Don't join the Empire. It was once my own group, but after several poor sportsmen screwed the game up for me, I left it and all the RP stuff. Since I left, the Empire has become a sick husk of what it was meant to be and an insult to the character of Andronicus (that is, my vampire).

Most players were sired by someone, and you might be able to get your sire to help you get stronger, too. I have helped a few of my childer attain their initial Thievery levels because it can be extremely hard to get rolling and I wanted to see them get stronger and more powerful. Look at your options before you go and decide on a certain course of action.

[Q]: "How do I take a screen shot/screen capture?"

[A]: This is only a brief explanation, and I hope it makes sense.

[Q]: "Can I use the transits when I'm getting (Power)?"

[A]: So long as it isn't Celerity, yes. In other words, ONLY Celerity questing is effected by your use of a transit. You CAN use transits on ANY OTHER quest. Let me clarify still further. Getting Locate? You CAN use transits. Getting Stamina? You CAN use transits. Getting Suction? You CAN use transits. Getting Neutrality? You CAN use transits. Getting CELERITY? You CAN'T use transits. Is that clear enough?

WHY can you not use transits when Celerity? Because it cancels your quest and you lose the money you paid to attempt getting the power. What is the logic in this? The barman told you to 'run', for one. Also, the idea of the power, to increase the 'speed' of your pire, reduce the number of minutes it takes for you to gain an Action Point, logically should be considered when you have to do a quest for it.

You use far fewer APs when you use transits to cross a large portion of the city, so, as if you are training or paying a cost of sorts, you simply MUST use your own power to get you to the next place. One should note that Scrolls of Teleportation are thought of as your own power, in the game construct. That is, you ARE able to use teleport scrolls to go from one bar to the next if you wish. One player has done this on a Celerity 3 quest and used a SoTele for every trip to the needed pub. All 12. Bloody expensive.

Contact Info

If you feel any information was neglected or needs correction, please 
contact me personally.
- jmoc714@email.com

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