Pipe Dreams Redux: Tantalus Theater Troupe

This is a tweaked version of my suggestion from this thread. Since it was posted on the old forums, I couldn't really bump that thread here for further discussion. The suggestion assumes that it would be implemented after the Ishgard expansion hits.

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The Tantalus Theater Troupe

Main Concept

The troupe visits one the four main cities in Eorzea (Limsa, Gridania, Ul'dah, Ishgard) during the last week of the (real life) month, the rotation starting with Limsa, Grid, then Uld. At the end of that week, the troupe will leave for parts unknown as they continue their tour of Hydaelin. Ideally, they would arrive in their own airship (think theater-ship from FF9), though I don't know if they can be place anywhere in the open world or whether a separate zoneline would have to be created for the theatership while the troupe is in town.

Players can attend plays put on by the troupe, participate in mini-games depending on their chosen disciplines or help upkeep of the theater troupe's equipment.

The crew: These are character concepts by me. I know they're not like how the characters were in FF9, but that's kind of the point. I am also open to racial adaptations of the names, as I feel the troupe should be diverse but the name may not fit the race.

Baku - troupe leader. A former pirate that values strength over all. His imposing stature allows him to easily play the role of authority figures and villains in troupe performances. (Seawolf Roegadyn)

Marcus - A straight-forward lad with an honest disposition. Is usually cast as leading man because of his honest face. (Hyur midlander)

Blank - The troupe's resident rogue. Wittier than Marcus, but often fails to gain people's trust. Despite this, he can be cast into pretty much any role and still pull it off. (Miqo'te)

Ruby - A capricious actress. Is overly focused on the troupe's performances and always wants the troupe to be at its best. (Hellsguard Roegadyn)

Cinna - The troupe's engineer and dedicated stagehand. (Lalafell)

Angela - The troupe's cook. An older sister type woman that has a very mean streak while in the kitchen. (Elezen)

Yes, I left out the Nero Brothers, but that's because I can't think of anything to do with them.

Timetabling

Tantalus productions take place over the course of a week. Two days of preparation, three days of performances, two days of packing up.

The stock quests are available during the prep and packup phases. The three performance days are comprised of miniquests for rep, including triggered FATEs (similar to the Svala chain) where players can partake in battle scenes or help in other ways during performances. There are also play-specific FATEs that may happen on performance days.

At the end of the day...

Players that help out Tantalus during their visits get tokens that can be exchanged for merchandise like fireworks, special consumables, and special sets of gear that can be used with glamours. The amount of tokens required for some of these items would be considerably high, if only to ensure people continue to participate when the troupe comes to Eorzea.

Friendly
Smoke bomb
Portable spotlight

Respected
Prop Gauntlets
Prop Mitt Gauntlets
Prop Sollerets
Prop breastplate
Prop tower shield
Prop kite shield

Trusted
Current performance set 1
Current performance set 2
Current performance set 3
Current performance set 4

Performances

April - The Dream Oath

SAMPLE CONTENT

Battle quests
Baku - Test your might (slay 750 enemies with a level comparable to your own), Protecting our own (patrol the rafters and ensure no one tries to crash the performance)
Marcus - Staying fit (spar with Marcus)
Ruby - Background noise (use magic to enhance the balcony scene)

Crafting quests
Cinna
For want of a sword (blacksmith; repair 6 worn prop swords)
Apply hammer to kinks (armorer; repair 8 worn prop breastplates)
Polished marble (goldsmith; bring 4 pieces of polished marble)
Outfitting the cavalry (tanner; inspect and reinforce 6 prop chocobo harnesses)
A dress for Ruby (weaver; help Cinna make the gown Ruby plans to wear for the performance)
Royal upholstery (carpenter; reinforce 8 pieces of prop furniture)

Angela
East, meet West (culinarian; help Angela prepare foodstuffs to be sold during the performance)

Gathering quests
Blank
Fish in a barrel (fisher; acquire a dozen <insert fish> and place them in Angela's kitchen)
The right bouquet (botanist; bring 6 red roses and 4 white roses)
Twinkle twinkle little stone (miner; bring 4 twinkling stones)

Other
FATE - The octopod king: Part 1 (A large octopus named Ultros, who seems to have a great hatred for the play The Dream Oath, has taken it upon himself to crash the performance by dropping weights from the rafters on the actors below)

FATE - The octopod king: Part 2 (Having failed at destroying the production from the outside, Ultros and his associate Typhoon have stormed on to the stage area!)

August - I want to be your canary

December - A Starlight Ballad

Achievements

Oh my hero... - Attend or assist in Tantalus' performance of The Dream Oath
The sweet sorrow of parting - Attend or assist in Tantalus' performance of I want to be your canary
Miracle on Sapphire Avenue - Attend or assist in Tantalus' performance of A Starlight Ballad
Season tickets - Obtain the following achievements: Oh my hero..., The sweet sorrow of parting, Miracle on Sapphire Avenue
Joining the cast - Achieve Trusted status with Tantalus
Unfailing understudy - Befriend Marcus, Baku and Ruby
Staunch stagehand - Befriend Cinna, Angela and Blank
I got friends backstage - Befriend all six Tantalus members

Notes

- Completing quests for Tantalus during their visits nets you three rewards. You get tokens to redeem for items when you complete a quest. It also gives you reputation with Tantalus (Neutral=>Friendly=>Respected=>Trusted).
- The third reward is character-specific reputation when you complete a quest for a one of the members (Neutral => Associate => Acquaintance => Friend). For example, completing enough quests for Marcus will let you befriend him.
- Character-specific story quests are available but rely on overall rep level as well as friendship level. Ideally each character should have three specific quests, corresponding to Friendly/Associate, Respected/Acquaintance and Trusted/Friend status.
- Baku's quest "Test your might" is designed to be long term, to last you the time between Tantalus visits.
- I was thinking of mixing it up a bit by having some quests not be available in every visit. For example, during I want to be your canary you may get a blacksmith quest from Cinna to repair the sword Baku is going to use during the show, or he may assign the "For want of a sword" quest instead.
- While I didn't go into detail, one idea I had was having two sets of quests per visit, one being during prep/packup and one during performances. Problem with that though is that players may progress too quickly in rep with Tantalus. I think that splitting the quests so that some are during prep/packup and some are available during performances would work out better while maintaining a decent pace.
- Prop armor under the Respected status is basically plate armor that can be worn by all classes but has 0 defense and magic defense. This should give DoM an extra option for glamours (specially seeing that characters like the Scions all pretty much ignore the rules for gear).
- "Current performance" sets are connected to whichever performance Tantalus is doing during the time of purchase. While Tantalus is doing The Dream Oath, you can purchase Draco's armor or Maria's gown and so on. During I want to be your canary you can purchase a replica of King Leo's sword and so on.
- I suggest only three plays for now as a way to test the sustainability of the design. Ideally plays should be bimonthly if not monthly, but it seems safe to start with three times per year. Another option would be having four montly visits where Tantalus performs the same play but in each different city, then changing to a new play (Example: I want to be your canary's "season" would be from August through November, then Tantalus performing A Starlight Ballad in December and continuing that until April when they would start The Dream Oath).
- While I used the original Tantalus characters as a base, we don't really have to use their names and could instead be changed to something that fits the members' respective races.
- As far as Angela...she's more a nod to the scrapped character from FF6 that went by the same name (an older sister type girl that was apparently set to make Cyan's life interesting). I also felt the group needed a second female character.
- I got the idea of making Ruby a female Hellsguard Roegadyn after seeing how popular Yellow Moon is in Ul'dah.
- Yes, the Ultros fight in the Octopod King (Part 2) must absolutely have Soken's take on the Ultros fight theme from FF6...