Scribe Command

[Starstarfish]

Class: Command
Syntax: scribe <object>

To copy a paper object (a piece of paper or a ledger), use the scribe
command. Type 'scribe <object>' which will start a threaded process. Once
complete, the original item remains in one's inventory, while the scribed
item will be on the room floor.

Scribing can be done anywhere and does not require any raw materials,
except that the paper object to be copied must be in one's inventory. It
costs 10 silver to copy a piece of paper, and varies for books. The money
must be in one's purse, not in the bank.

The price of a book can be figured out by using 'appraise <item>' and
looking at the cost. If the price is 0 silver expect a charge of 150
silver; 150 silver is the minimum, but some books may cost as much as
10000.

(Subject area: scholars Last modified: Thu Mar 3 21:59:10 2016)

Now that usable books are available for PC creation etc, I wonder if a way to support PC Artists might be to alter slightly how Scribe works to support the PC economy for books et al.

My main use for Scribing books rather than copy and pasting them is preserving ASCII art. ICly if your character knows Artwork you could arguably redraw the drawings yourself, but OOCly ASCII art is a fine science that escapes me beyond basics.

Suggestions/Ideas:

- Make the cost of Scribing check against your Artwork skill - giving a bonus to people who invest in the skill.

- Allow the option of Scribing a single page versus the entire item.

- Change the price calculations and start requiring materials - thus opening up a market for Artwork items that currently is bypassed.

[Whateverosaur]

Full disclosure: I have an Artist character.

And I do agree that there should be some sort of discount if you 1) have the skill and/or 2) have the physical ingredients forming the item being scribed. I spent 150 silver scribing a paper-bound book that I could have easily replicated with copy and paste but for the color codes.

[The_Last_Good_Dragon]

Full disclosure: I do not have an Artist character.

I would love this. I would love this so, so much. I would love this to the point of actually employing artists; 150 silver to copy a piece of mail is absurdly expensive and entirely out of the bounds of ever being used by a GL who needs records kept and passed around. But if I was able to pay a PC player to assist with that, like I'm able to do with other crafts, then it'd suddenly become an incredibly valuable thing for me to seek people out for.

[Taunya]

Just a note, mail costs 10s to scribe, but 150s is indeed the minimum price for books/ledgers.

I agree with the suggested changes.