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Calmar
2010-09-29, 06:09 PM
Messengers could be a handy story device, be it as appointment for PCs, or as plot hook when found dead, or as target, or else.
But how can messengers be explained in a world where a simple animal messenger spell is easily acquired and possibly also more reliable than a rider? Carrier pigeons work in a similar way as the spell, but you have to carry them around, so I suppose they are altogether not as reliable. According to my (quick) research the average speed of a flying pigeon is about as nearly as fast as the maximum speed of a racehorse.
Major organizations most likely have a few low-level bards and rangers at their disposal, haven't they? :smallfrown:

How can mounted messengers be credibly used by important NPCs?

Salbazier
2010-09-29, 06:14 PM
Because animals is weaker than human and are more easily waylaid?

Siosilvar
2010-09-29, 06:20 PM
Large messages. Complex messages.

Animal Messenger allows anyone to get the message and doesn't guarantee that anyone will be there.

Sending is always accurate, but is short, high level, and requires familiarity.

Message has an incredibly short range for sending messages; the next block over at most.

A mounted messenger will (ideally) give only the intended recipient the message, which can be of any length required, and can be instructed to do more than "go here and wait".

I'd imagine some construct or undead would provide cross-country less urgent mail service.

EDIT: Quickly doing the math tells me that since a construct or undead can move at the same speed as a light horse for three times as long (all day instead of 8 hours).
The horse can go twice as fast for four hours but will drop dead after five.

Using undead and constructs brings up the instruction problems again, however.

HunterOfJello
2010-09-29, 09:34 PM
Humans are always an important part of an intelligence network. Regardless of the method of trasmission, a sentient being needs to be involved in the sending and recieving in each exchange of information.

Even if information is gathered automatically, then a sentient being is needed to watch the incoming information and sift through it to determine which information is valuable and which is not. This is why security guards are paid to stare at 30 television screens of security cameras in a dark room at night. It doesn't matter how much information you gather unless a trained person is there to scan it properly and take it all in.

Humans are used to send and recieve information and often transmit important information by word of mouth over short distances.

~

Another example of human messengers are extremely important and time sensitive messages.

Giving a message to a quick or experienced adventurer could guarantee that the message won't get cut short if theres some sort of danger in between the sender and recipient (like an inconveniently place anti-magic field.)


Personal messengers can also work as a status symbol. A king doesn't go pick up a telephone and call someone. He sends for his royal message writer person who writes down his message as he dictates it and then the royal message person hands the message to the royal envoy messenger person who carries the message to the recipient himself/herself.

yaklin
2010-09-29, 09:45 PM
Also, messengers can be used as spies, informants, or assassins.

Snake-Aes
2010-09-29, 09:52 PM
Ginger Golems, all the way. Now that my group has a wizard with a gadgeteer penchant, we have like 3 of them plus weekly replacements on top of all the other stuff he makes.

Savannah
2010-09-29, 09:56 PM
The horse can go twice as fast for four hours but will drop dead after five.

Which is why the "pony express" works well. Ride the horse to a station, jump on the next horse and keep going while the original is tended to.

Of course, that only works in a fairly civilized land with an established messenger system.

Calmar
2010-10-02, 10:01 AM
That's a lot good arguments. Thanks! You restored my trust in conventional messengers - and saved the plot I'm working on! :smallsmile: