"Please Help Me, Young Master" or a short guide to some of the quests. This is the latest in a series of articles for RPG Vault, all of which have discussed aspects of the new MMO game 9Dragons. It is the first authentic martial arts MMO, and is a mixture of Hero, House of the Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - all rolled into one exciting, authentic martial arts MMO.
a friend of mine had to retrieve secret documents stolen from his clan leader. In doing so, he learned a great lesson in the morality of the clan, and was promoted from an apprentice to a full disciple. Ah, the moves he learned...
The world of 9Dragons is complex and deep. Not only are there thousands of other players in it, plus a vast array of monsters and monster clans to battle, but there are also hundreds of other characters who need your help, or who can help you. The heart of the game is the quest system. It is part of the universal power of the yin and the yang that you must both help others and be helped by them.
When you are just a new, weak peasant, desperately struggling to survive in this hostile world, you may find that certain people will help you if you help them. Allow us to give you an example. In return for buying a poor old blind storyteller a libation or two, he may tell you stories about the clans and their masters. You can learn which clans are where, and what their fighting styles are like... very helpful if you have not decided yet which style you wish to master.
Even if you have already decided what clan you wish to join, you will find it is not so easy to approach them. This being ancient China, they don't exactly advertise. You have to be brought to them by someone they trust. And this involves you gaining the trust of such a person.
The yin and the yang again - you help someone, and they may help you. As a fairly defenseless peasant, you may choose to help an old man find his lost ring. He may surprise you by showing you some kung fu moves that he learned in his youth. You can take this learning and put it into practice until you have perfected the moves. Another person you help may set you on the way to learning basic meditation, a vital skill as it allows you to recover your health and chi after combat. Yet another may open the pathway for you to develop your inner chi, the magical strength within you that allows you to perform wondrous feats of strength... all in return for some innocent or simple looking task. Of course, it may turn out that the task is neither that simple nor that easy!
More importantly, once you have gained the trust of many people, you will find out that some of them are not what they seem. Some are front men (or women) for the clans. Prove your worth to them, and they may put you forward for admission to the temple or a meeting with a clan elder. This can clear your way to joining the clan as an apprentice. It is only as an apprentice that you will learn the higher level, clan specific kung fu fighting styles. Prove your worth to the clan through completing quests for it, and you may be rewarded with special weapons and, even more importantly, training on how to use them.
You may be sent off on missions of great importance to the clan. I know of one instance where a friend of mine had to retrieve secret documents stolen from his clan leader. In doing so, he learned a great lesson in the morality of the clan, and was promoted from an apprentice to a full disciple. Ah, the moves he learned...
Other clan quests can involve you in great battles for it, or in special training assignments. One master I know, for example, trains his disciples to move faster by attaching lead weights to their feet and having them perform tasks for him. By the time they finish, they are like tortoises. But remove the lead weights, and their movements are now faster than hares' - permanently.
For example, in the making of potions, there are some ingredients that deteriorate rapidly. There are great rewards for those who can get them to their destination before they are worthless.
Other quests, for both members of the clan and others, can teach you the secret weaknesses of monsters and monster clans. They can teach you where the monsters appear most often and, very importantly to higher level masters, where the secret entrances to the monster dungeons are. It is worth noting that there are special crafting quests. You may have to search for special ingredients used in the manufacture of some item of great interest to you. It may be that some characters are willing to swap items of great value for things you have made. I know of one character that loves necklaces, and may be interested in offering you something magical in return for a new one. Finally, in this short run through quests, there are special ones that need to be completed within a time limit. For example, in the making of potions, there are some ingredients that deteriorate rapidly. There are great rewards for those who can get them to their destination before they are worthless. The yin and the yang... there is always balance, and whatever you do for others, they will do to you. Be wise young grasshopper!
