8.5.9 Crafting Standards
When creating new designs for the Cuisine, Fashion, Jewelry, Mixology, and Furnishing tradeskills, there are a few standards and rules to keep in mind.
Writing Rules, Standards and Tips
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- All descriptions in Starmourn use American English. Color, not colour. Donut, not doughnut.
- All references to measurements in Starmourn will be in the metric system. Centimeters, not inches. Meters, not feet. Kilometers, not miles.
- Maintain subjectivity in your descriptions. Do not impose an action, ability, or emotion on the reader in your tradeskill designs. For example, if you make a hooded cloak of dark fabric, do not end the examined field with, "This cloak conceals its wearer so well, he can glide through the crowds without drawing notice." or "You feel afraid as you look at the cloak."
- While flavorful text about holographic features or other "cosmetic" details are fine, don't give your items a specific functionality they can't codedly perform. Examples of this might include things like: Handcuffs/restraints, jewelry with an embedded camera or microphone, items with hidden weapons inside them, or containers describing built-in laser-powered electrostatic security systems.
- World integrity. This is an area that can quickly get blurry and confusing. Common things like mushrooms, cheese, and wildflowers may have conceivably evolved on many worlds, or refer to conceptual, nearly identical analogues. Less common, named items like 'portobello mushrooms', 'parmesan cheese', or 'buttercups' are a bit too specifically earthlike. Instead, the player should try to reference Starmourn's materials. If elements in a design description rely too heavily on 'earthlike' materials or concepts, without any attempt to frame the piece within the reality of Starmourn, your design may be rejected.
Design Fields
Your design will have fields which you must populate with words and phrases describing your item. Below is a breakdown of the fields you'll encounter and Starmourn's standards for them, categorized by skill.
Materials
A lot of materials are listed on https://wiki.starmourn.com/Category:Materials but if you're unsure, please contact a storyteller or producer who can clarify or fill a gap in lore if appropriate!
SmartCore
You will no doubt see SmartCore referenced in designs and may well reference it yourself, but there are two things to bear in mind when including this technology in your designs:
- SmartCore is a technology; a type of third-generation E-textile where the garment IS the tech, rather than an embedded device. It is interwoven with the fabric itself and therefore should not be referencaed as 'a SmartCore'. E.g. "The socks tighten around your ankles as their SmartCore lining adjusts to your body."
- Nine out of ten times you probably don't need to mention SmartCore at all. It's very sci-fi, yes, and can definitely be a nice little immersive detail for your worn or removed descriptions, but in the world of Starmourn it's a humdrum, commonplace thing that most clothing is made with to enable mass-production and distribution - so it really wouldn't/shouldn't be the main feature of your garment unless it happens to do something extra cool.
- Oh, and three... Please remember the capitalization!
Character Limits:
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Appearance 60
Dropped 120
Examined 1500
Plural 70
1P Actions 350
3P Actions 350
1P Act_2 350
3P Act_2 350
smell 350
taste 350
All types (except Mixology)
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Appearance A brief phrase describing the item.
MUST start in lowercase unless starting with a proper noun.
MUST use the noun of your base pattern type in the item's
appearance field.
CANNOT contain commas or cumulative adjectives.
In general, if the noun in your appearance field is
preceded by a list of three or more adjectives, your design
may be rejected. The following examples should be used as a
guideline for a properly formatted appearance field:
Incorrect: "a pristine blue duracloth spacer's jumpsuit"
Correct: "a pristine spacer's jumpsuit"
Correct: "a blue spacer's jumpsuit"
Correct: "a pristine spacer's jumpsuit of blue duracloth"
Correct: "a spacer's jumpsuit of pristine blue duracloth"
NOTE: When designing a new item, you must use the noun of
your base pattern in the item's appearance field. If your
pattern is a "pendant" it must have the word "pendant" in
the appearance field.
Dropped One sentence describing how the item appears in the room.
Commas are allowed in the dropped field, but it should only
have one period at the end.
E.g. "A pristine spacer's jumpsuit is neatly folded here."
NOTE: Player designed liquid containers show what's in them
when dropped, and only show their designed 'dropped' field
when empty. So the dropped field on designed cups/glasses
etc should always presume that they are empty. When filled
they will always show:
"<Appearance> filled with <liquid> is here."
Examined Several sentences describing the item when you probe it.
Please use correct grammar in your examined field, and
always remember to use a spell checker. Commas and multiple
sentences are allowed in your examined field.
In your examined field, please ONLY describe the item you
are designing - do not include details about peripheral
items - if you design a jumpsuit, we do not need to know
about the dresser in which the jumpsuit is typically kept.
If it is not something that would realistically be visible
every time the item is used, it shouldn't be included in
the item's description. You can feel free to create
separate items using the appropriate tradeskill.
E.g. "This full body jumpsuit is made from sturdy, sand-
hued duracloth. Multiple magnetically sealed pockets line
the legs and arms, useful for holding all number of
objects. The jumpsuit seals up the front of the body with
a zipper and, on the inside of the neckband, bears a
SmartCore tag that can be activated to adjust the fit."
Plural You may either leave the default plural desc or set your
own here. You do not need to add the start or end of the
sentence - JUST the descriptor. It will always start with a
number and end with 'are here'.
E.g. "bags of grishki flavored popkern" or "sizzling
zhubeast steaks" or "comfortable beds, piled up with layers
of soft blankets"
Clothing
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Wear_first What you see when you put on this item.
E.g. "You step into a pristine jumpsuit and zip it up to
your neck."
Wear_third What everyone else sees when you put it on.
E.g. "$+(caster$) steps into a pristine jumpsuit and zips
it up to $(his$) neck."
Remove_first What you see when you remove this item.
E.g. "You unzip a pristine jumpsuit and step carefully out
of it."
Remove_third What everyone else sees when you remove it.
E.g. "$+(caster$) unzips a pristine jumpsuit and steps
carefully out of it."
Cuisine
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Eat_first What you see when you eat this item.
E.g. "You dig into a stack of syrup-drenched pancakes."
Eat_third What everyone else sees when you eat it.
E.g. "$+(caster$) digs into a stack of syrup-drenched
pancakes."
Smell A phrase describing what it smells like.
E.g. "smells of synthetic butter and algae syrup"
Taste A phrase describing what it tastes like.
E.g. "tastes sickly sweet, with a hint of butter"
Jewelry
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Most jewelry types will have the wear and remove fields, like fashion. But one or two like bags and boxes obviously do not and will have appropriate fields. You can DESIGN SHOW <#> to check.
Wear_first What you see when you put on this item.
E.g. "You step into a pristine jumpsuit and zip it up to
your neck."
Wear_third What everyone else sees when you put it on.
E.g. "$+(caster$) steps into a pristine jumpsuit and zips
it up to $(his$) neck."
Remove_first What you see when you remove this item.
E.g. "You unzip a pristine jumpsuit and step carefully out
of it."
Remove_third What everyone else sees when you remove it.
E.g. "$+(caster$) unzips a pristine jumpsuit and steps
carefully out of it."
Mixology
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Appearance What the liquid displays as in its container.
E.g. 'berry-flavored slush'
drink_first What you see when you drink the liquid.
E.g. "You take a slurping drink of berry-flavored slush."
drink_third What everyone else sees when you drink the liquid.
E.g. "$+(caster$) slurps red slush through a straw."
smell What the drink smells like. Preceded by appearance.
E.g. "has a chemically sweet fragrance."
taste What the drink tastes like. Preceded by appearance.
E.g. "tastes of synthetic berries and ice."
Furnishing
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open_first What you see when you open the container.
E.g. You open a nanoplastic case.
open_third What everyone else sees when you open the container.
E.g. $+(caster$) opens a nanoplastic case.
put_inside_first What you see when you put something inside. Uses $(thing$).
E.g. You put $(thing$) into a rusty metal cabinet.
put_inside_third What everyone else sees when you put something inside. Uses $(thing$).
E.g. $+(caster$) puts $(thing$) into a rusty metal cabinet.
taken_out_first What you see when you take something out. Uses $(thing$).
E.g. You take $(thing$) from a rusty metal cabinet.
taken_out_third What everyone else sees when you take something out. Uses $(thing$).
E.g. $+(caster$) takes $(thing$) from a rusty metal cabinet.
lie_first What you see when you lie down on it.
E.g. You flop down on a ratty mattress.
lie_third What everyone else sees when you lie down on it.
E.g. $+(caster$) flops down on a ratty mattress.
sit_first What you see when you sit on it.
E.g. You sit down in a rocking chair.
sit_third What everyone else sees when you sit on it.
E.g. $+(caster$) sits down in a rocking chair.
stand_first What you see when you stand up off of it.
E.g. You get up from an overstuffed purple couch.
stand_third What everyone else sees when you stand up off of it.
E.g. $+(caster$) gets up from an overstuffed purple couch.
push_first What you see when you push it. Turns the light on.
E.g. You turn on the lamp. Click.
push_third What everyone else sees when you push it. Turns the light on.
E.g. $+(caster$) turns the lamp on. Click.
pull_first What you see when you pull it. Turns the light off.
E.g. You turn off the lamp. Click.
pull_third What everyone else sees when you pull it. Turns the light off.
E.g. $+(caster$) turns the lamp off. Click.
Modding
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slotted_first What you see when you slot the mod into a weapon or armor.
E.g. You slot $(me$) into $(thing$) with grace.
slotted_third What others see when you slot the mod into a weapon or armor.
E.g. $+(caster$) slots $(me$) into $(thing$) with grace.
unslotted_first What you see when you unslot the mod from a weapon or armor.
E.g. You unslot $(me$) from $(thing$) with grace.
unslotted_third What others see when you unslot the mod.
E.g. $+(caster$) unslots $(me$) from $(thing$) with grace.
ArmorModding has two additional fields: armor_class and armor_slot. WeaponModding additionally has the weapon field. These are OPTIONAL fields. If you wish to be very specific in describing how an armor or weapon mod attaches itself to the piece of equipment, such as a scope on a P.I.E.C.E., a special hilt attachment on a Kithblade, or some very dense bootstraps that should only be attached to heavy feet armor, use these fields to do so. Mod designs with generic messaging that is universally applicable to all weapon or armor types do not require these fields.
Messaging Tokens
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The formatting of variables (substitutes for names and pronouns) within the action messages should use the following tokens:
$(caster$), $(his$), $(he$), $(him$) All refer to the person interacting
and should only be used in third-
person events.
$(thing$) The item you are putting into an
item of furniture, not the item
itself, or the item you are slotting a
mod into or unslotting from.
$(me$) Refers to the designed item itself.
Please check your designs with nonbinary pronouns in mind.
The messaging tokens $(he_has$) and $(he_is$) should be used straight after $(he$) if necessary to replace the verb accordingly, for example:
$+(caster$) peers at a candied vurbok egg like $(he$) $(he_is$) weighing
up whether $(he$) $(he_has$) the stomach for it.
Would appear as:
Damiel peers at a candied vurbok egg like he is weighing up whether he has
the stomach for it.
or
Soren peers at a candied vurbok egg like they are weighing up whether they
have the stomach for it.
To capitalize a variable, add + after the first $ -- $+(caster$), $+(his$), and so on. This is only needed at the beginning of sentences.
Body Part Tokens
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Rather than directly referencing certain body parts in messages, you can use their corresponding tokens to substitute the appropriate analogue for non-humanoid races.
$(hair$), $(nose$), $(arms$), $(hands$), $(fingers$), $(body$), $(legs$), $(feet$), $(toes$),
Example Messages:
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$+(caster$) slips $(his$) $(legs$) into a pair of tight black leather pants, admiring $(his$) own posterior.
$+(caster$) peers at a candied vurbok egg like $(he$) $(he_is$) weighing up whether $(he$) $(he_has$) the stomach for it before popping it into $(his$) mouth anyway.