Assassins' Loft Building

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Roundworld Lofting Start Dates
May 31st 2010
January 26th 2011
September 23rd 2011
May 20th 2012
January 15th 2013
September 12th 2013
May 10th 2014
January 5th 2015
September 2nd 2015
April 29th 2016
December 25th 2016
August 22nd 2017
April 19th 2018
December 15th 2018
August 12th 2019
April 8th 2020
December 4th 2020
August 1st 2021
March 28th 2022
November 22th 2022
July 19th 2023

Once every year the lofts atop the infamous Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild are taken apart and each house must scramble to rebuild them before any of the others, and build the best loft. How good your loft is depends on what materials you use in building it, however, and how good the materials are depends on how much each item is worth. Construction of lofts starts on Crueltideday and continues for the entire month of Offle[1].

Categories

Loft building materials fall under these categories:

Value 0.16 0.32 0.47 0.61 0.74 0.88 0.99 1.12 1.23
Supports Rusted Iron Pole Warped Wooden Post Worn Wooden Handrail Weathered Wooden Post Thin Steel Chimney Old Sign Post Broken Mast Old Lamp Post Scratched Cedar Post
Walls Rotten Oak Plank
Rotten Pine Plank
Rusted Iron Sheet Gnarled Wooden Plank Broken Pine Tabletop Warped Pine Plank Weathered Pine Plank Yellow Plank Old Gangplank Blue Plank
Struts Rotten Pine Beam Split Roof Beam Warped Pine Beam Crooked Beam Weathered Roof Beam Pine Beam Thin Black Beam Scratched Pine Beam Sturdy Cedar Beam
Roofing Peeling Tile Cracked Tile Wooden Shingle Faded Tile Sooty Tile Mossy Tile Terracotta Tile Red Glazed Tile Black Glazed Tile
Doors Gnarled Pine Door Privy Door Peeling Painted Door Whitewashed Pine Door Weathered Pine Door Old Carriage Door Red Door Warped Walnut Door Shiny Black Door

A complete loft requires a minimum of: 4 supports, 8 walls, 4 struts and 10 tiles.

The condition of a would-be loft component can be seen by appraising it, though, having been found on the streets of Ankh-Morpork, don't expect them to be in even passably poor condition.

How To Build a Loft

Getting Started

So, by now you will be wondering 'How do I get some of these wonderful items?' The answer? Hit the streets!

You can possibly buy items in some shops, if you look hard enough. This is frowned upon by the Guild, however, as being unsporting. The correct way to get supplies is to search along the streets. You will probably find more junk and useless items than A class building material, but never fear! This is why you have a full month to make a loft.

Painting

For added decoration you can paint your gathered weathered lofting materials using tins of paint available in various shops throughout the Disc, listed in the Paint article.

The long description of the item will show whether it is paintable.

It's Hammer Time!

You've been patiently gathering materials, and you're about to add them? Take a moment to go fetch a hammer and a handy box of nails. If you are holding a hammer, carrying some nails, and have a bit of carpentry skill when you start to put together your loft, it's much better constructed, and generally more presentable. Of course you can build and finish an entire loft without ever laying eyes on a hammer, but why settle for second best?

From The Bottom Up

You say you have all the planks in Ankh-Morpork, but are unable to add them to make the walls? This is either because Sandelfon frowns upon your endeavors, or because you don't have any supports up yet.

You have to build a loft from the bottom up. This means putting on supports, then making walls, then adding beams, and finally adding roofing tiles and such. The door may be added at the same time as roofing tiles. This may seem inconvenient, but have you ever tried putting a ceiling on a house that doesn't have walls yet?

Keeping Your Feet on the Ground

You know you must build you loft from the bottom up. This does have advantages, however. So long as there is a single roofing tile on the loft, opposing houses can't nick your beams. So long as there is a beam, your walls are safe. Your walls act as an impenetrable shield for your supports. The door doesn't have to be nicked before the tiles can be taken.

Guarding

Yes, that's right! You can guard your loft from mischievous assassins who would have the tiles off your roof given the chance. If you are guarding the loft, there is a skill check against anyone trying to nick your stuff. If you win, the opposing assassin is booted from the building area.

Guarding uses fighting.unarmed.grappling and maybe adventuring.perception research If this has been marked on a page, it's because there was something that probably isn't known, that the person who edited the page thinks could be found out. Perhaps you could figure this thing out, and be famous evermore. 

That Finishing Touch

You're finally done with your loft? Good for you! Now, you need your house's Head Master or Mistress to add that last tile before your loft is officially Completed. This means no one can nick stuff from the loft, but it also means you can't work on it anymore.

I've been told that near the end of the month, should your House Master or Mistress fail to appear and complete your loft, anyone can add the last tile.

Going on the Offense

Nicking

Of course there are always those who would drag down the other houses in order to push themselves that little bit ahead. This is perfectly acceptable by the Guild. Any assassin may try to nick, or steal, building materials already added to an opposing house's loft without fear of retribution. Of course the success of an attempt can vary depending on your skill, the weight of the item, whether anyone is guarding that item, etc.  research If this has been marked on a page, it's because there was something that probably isn't known, that the person who edited the page thinks could be found out. Perhaps you could figure this thing out, and be famous evermore. 

Knowing Your Luck

Due to some uncouth assassins who would steal everything from an opposing house's loft in one go, a theft limit has been put on each loft. Any given player can only steal three items from each loft within a set amount of time. Of course, if you nick stuff from all the lofts, three items per loft can add up...

There is also a limit of ten unsuccessful attempts that results in a wait period. It is currently unknown whether the wait periods are equal.

From The Top Down

Yes, it's true! You can't steal walls from a loft with struts, in the same way that you can't pick yourself up by taking hold of your boots and pulling. This means you have to begin stealing from the top down, starting with the roofing tiles and door and working your way down to the supports.

Prizes

The Loft

So What's In This for Me?

House Benefits

See also

Notes

  1. "help here" in the loft spaces on the roof of the guild.