Wax Seals and Parcels

[barra]

Two new crafting items:

Parcel
This is an inventory container, similar to the keyring, that can hold any item(s) within its array. It's made using linen cloth and string and can be crafted as 2x2, 3x3 and 4x4 versions. It contains the same number of slots as it takes up, so a parcel with 4 slots would be a 2x2 object in the hearthling's inventory.
What's the point of a container that takes up the same space as its contents?

Wax Seal
This is a useable item, similar to a lock, made using beeswax. It is used on a Parcel. When doing so, you must select a kin from your kin list as a recipient. At this point the Wax Seal is consumed and the Parcel is "sealed", with the tooltip displaying the name of recipient.

Once sealed, a Parcel can no longer be opened and when rightclicked displays two options - Receive Parcel and Break Seal. Both options restore the Parcel to its unsealed state and allow it to be opened again.
- Receive Parcel can only be performed by the recipient.
- Break Seal can be performed by anyone, but requires the Theft skill.
Breaking the seal creates a Theft Scent and debuffs the player with Red Handed, just like other crimes. If the seal is broken the Theft scent is created at the original location where the package was sealed rather than where the crime happened, quickly alerting the original sealer of the Parcel.

Purpose and reasoning:
Low level player have little of value to trade to higher level players. One thing they can do with almost parity is explore and travel. A spucecap with a handful of clovers is just as quick at getting from A to B. Using the idea of Parcels and Seals, low level players could perform courier services for larger villages. In addition, Linen Parcels are cheap enough that empty ones could be sent to test an unknown courier's trustworthiness, letting honest players build reputation with a village and limiting alt abuse. At the same time, risk isn't absent and there's still potential reward for a highway bandit who wants to try to intercept a village's deliveries.

[fierce]

+1 I'm okay with everything about this idea. Leaving theft scents after breaking a parcel seems almost pointless however, as you would only ever do so within the confines of your walls. It might be better to have it just used a trust system, or even to have a scent dropped off to the recipient or sealer of the parcel.

[barra]

Leaving theft scents after breaking a parcel seems almost pointless however, as you would only ever do so within the confines of your walls. It might be better to have it just used a trust system, or even to have a scent dropped off to the recipient or sealer of the parcel.

Yeah, that's what I meant in the OP. The scent can't be dropped at the parcel or thieves will carry it inside their walls before breaking. I'm proposing the scent appear where the parcel was original sealed, so the sender knows if someone breaks it.

[Granger]

I like this.

[Zeler]

Cool idea, but idk if anyone will actually care to use it. Worth implementing tho.

[Robben_DuMarsch]

I could def see this being used by Brodgarii.

[jorb]

I don't hate this.

[LadyV]

I like it. I love more options where we can set a world of our own creation.