Storyteller is a new system that allows players to place decorations, effects and even combat NPCs in ways that have previously only been available to the Events Team. The goal is to give players a powerful set of tools to help enhance their in-game roleplaying stories and community events.
Storytellers
So who exactly is a Storyteller? In Star Wars Galaxies, a Storyteller can be anyone. Perhaps it's an entertainer with a cantina holding weekly roleplay events, or someone trying to drum up business for their vendor by holding a grand opening event. A player that runs events for their Player Association, city or server is often finding new and unusual ways to entertain others.
Roleplayers are the most obvious examples of Storytellers, but this isn't always the case. A Storyteller could make a video or comic using the game engine, or members of a combat-oriented Player Association running training missions for its new recruits. A city may even set up an event to attract new citizens. There are all sorts of reasons to have an event or to try to tell a story.
With this new assortment of tools, Storytellers can build their own points of interest and locations, and even populate them with attackable NPCs (non-player characters). Players are still the most important part of any event, but with the new Storyteller props and NPCs, player events will be bigger and better than ever!
Storyteller is not an expertise system, nor is it a profession. It is an item-based system that begins with the Storyteller Vendor.
The Storyteller Vendor
The first stop in creating your own Storyteller event is the Storyteller Vendor. Vendors can be found at each of the NPC theaters of the galaxy.
To find a theater near you, open your planetary map (the V key by default) then from the right-hand menu choose Guild Halls and then Theater. Right-click the theater nearest you and make a new waypoint to guide you to your destination.
When you find the vendor, left click to speak with him and he will bring up a menu of the available Storyteller tokens.
Simply purchase the tokens you want. There are five types of tokens: Props, Persisted Effects, Immediate Effects, Combat NPCs and Flavor NPCs. You can buy as many tokens as you want, provided you have the credits and inventory space.
Placing Tokens
Once you purchase a token, it will remain in your inventory until you place it in the game world.
Tokens are not usable indoors, on multi-player ships, in space or instances, in NPC cities, or on the adventure planets. If you are within a player city you will need zoning rights to use your tokens. The mayor of a city, or member of a city's militia, can grant zoning rights by targeting a player and using the /grantzoningrights command.
Once placed, all Storyteller objects and NPCs will last 16 hours. The only exceptions are the purchased Storyteller Vendor, which only lasts an hour, and the Immediate Effects, which disappear immediately after use (hence the name). Of course, if a combat NPC gets killed, it will disappear normally.
There are three ways to place a prop, effect or NPC.
Double-left-click the token in your inventory.
Open the radial menu of the token in your inventory and choose "Place" (it will be the first option).
Place the token in your hotkey bar and press the corresponding key.
Once a prop or NPC has been placed, you can use the "Examine" command from the radial menu to see how much time that object has remaining before it disappears.
Props
Props are individual decorative objects that can be moved in much the same way decorations are positioned indoors. By mixing and matching props you can create a wide variety of personal points of interest and event venues to help provide a backdrop for your event, or a destination for your player-created mission. Props are literally the set dressing for Storytellers.
Three Jawas being questioned by Imperial officers about their landing procedures. The Jawas, officers and both halves of the broken transport are individual tokens available for purchase.
Available props include: an X-wing, destroyed pod racer, TIE fighter, a stage, flowers, streetlights, a crashed transport (in two parts no less!), a YT 1300 and 2300, torches, tables and chairs, a Sith altar, gravestones, and more! See your local Storyteller Vendor for a complete list of what is available.
After placing a prop, you can target it and use the following commands to place everything exactly where you want it. /moveStoryTellerObject up <1-500> /moveStoryTellerObject down <1-500> /moveStoryTellerObject forward <1-500> /moveStoryTellerObject back <1-500> /rotateStoryTellerObject right <1-360> /rotateStoryTellerObject left <1-360>
Ten tokens were purchased to make this scene: a stage, four chairs, two banners, the table, skull and Lambda shuttle.
Persisted Special Effects
Persisted Special Effects are visual and audio effects that remain active until the token timer runs out.
Immediate Special Effects
Immediate Special Effects are visual effects that occur quickly then are gone. Tokens for Immediate Special Effects have six charges.
A Rebel X-wing comes in for a bombing run while being chased by TIE fighters.
Available Immediate Special Effects include explosions, landing transports, explosions, dogfight flyovers, explosions, bat swarms, explosions and more.
An Imperial dropship Immediate Special Effect.
Combat NPCs
This is where it gets interesting. Combat NPCs are exactly what the name implies: NPCs that can fight. Each Combat NPC token holds 4 NPCs and have the same placement rules as all of the Storyteller tokens.
These NPCs are different from your normal characters because they can only be attacked by, and will only aggro, players that have accepted an invitation to your story (more on invitations below).
Available Combat NPCs include: Imperial and Rebel Soldiers, Nightsisters, Maulers, Gamorrean Guards, Super Battle Droids, Rancors, Geonosians and many, many more.
Combat NPCs all have variable combat levels which can be set before or after the NPC is placed. Simply right-click the token to bring up the radial menu and choose the "Set Combat Level option. You can choose any combat level from 1 to 90. The combat level will be visible in the "Examine" window once it is set.
You can deploy just one NPC at a time, or choose the "Deploy All NPCs" option to deploy all four at once in a line.
After a Combat NPC has been placed, you can open its radial menu for more options.
Attack - You won't be able to attack any NPC, even your own, unless you accept an invitation to a story. You will need to invite yourself to the event to be able to attack the NPCs that you have placed.
Open NPC - This opens the creature's inventory. Any item you place in the inventory will become loot when the NPC is killed.
Set Combat Level - While the default combat level is 1, you can change the level at any time between 1 and 90.
Convert to Flavor NPC - This sets your NPC to a permanent non-combat status. Players that have accepted your story invitation will not be able to attack a Flavor NPC. This cannot be reversed.
Set to Loiter / Sentinel - By default, all NPCs will stay where they are placed (sentinel mode). If you want them to wander around the area before finding a place to stand, toggle this setting.
Destroy NPC - Destroys the NPC. This does NOT return it to your inventory. It is gone.
Flavor NPCs
Flavor NPCs are permanently non-attackable. There are not many NPCs in this list, but any of the Combat NPCs can be turned into a Flavor NPC.
The Storyteller Vendor is a special purchase in this category. You can purchase a vendor to take with you, but it will only last an hour after placement and will only sell to its owner.
Flavor NPCs don't have as many options, but the available settings can be found by opening its radial menu.
Set to Loiter / Sentinel - By default, all NPCs will stay where they are placed (sentinel mode). If you want them to wander within the area before finding a place to stand, toggle this setting.
Destroy NPC - Destroys the NPC. This does NOT return it to your inventory. It is gone.
Inviting Players to your Storyteller Event
Once you have placed your tokens, you will need to invite other players into your story before they can attack NPCs or interact with certain props. Of course, simple decorations require no invitations.
The /inviteToStory command will invite others to your story, allowing them to attack Combat NPCs and access certain props. You can invite individuals, or you can invite your entire guild (but not other guilds).
The invite hierarchy is shown below. Each option takes precedence over the one below it:
/inviteToStory
/inviteToStory with a player target locked
/inviteToStory with cursor hovering over player, but nothing target locked
NOTE: "/inviteToStory self" invites you to your own story. You will not be able to attack NPCs unless you invite yourself and accept (who would turn down their own invitation?).
A Rebel wedding made from more than 30 props and NPCs
When a player has accepted your invitation you will get a confirmation that they have been added to your story. If a player is already part of a story, the Storyteller will get a message letting you know. Invitees will not get a message if they are already part of a story.
A player may only belong to one story at a time. You will leave a story by logging out (can take up to 15 minutes) or by typing the command:
/leaveStory
A Storyteller can remove a player from their story by using the following command. Targeting hierarchy is the same for this command as it is for the invite command, so be sure you have the correct person targeted before removing them from the story.
/removeFromStory
Places Everyone!
We hope you enjoy the Storyteller system and we look forward to seeing what you are able to build for you and your friends. As always, be sure to post screenshots of your event in the Events Forum!
