Society Guide

This guide covers working with the three societies (Order of Voln, Council of Light, Guardians of Sunfist) in Lich scripts for GemStone IV.

Overview

The Society class and its subclasses provide access to your character's society membership, rank, tasks, and abilities.

Basic Society Information

# Get your society membership
Society.membership    # "Order of Voln", "Council of Light", "Guardians of Sunfist", or nil
Society.status        # Alias for membership

# Get your rank
Society.rank          # 0-26 for Voln, 0-20 for others

# Get current society task
Society.task          # Task description or status message

Checking Membership

# Check if member of specific society
def voln_member?
  Society.membership == "Order of Voln"
end

def col_member?
  Society.membership == "Council of Light"
end

def sunfist_member?
  Society.membership == "Guardians of Sunfist"
end

# Check if in any society
def in_society?
  !Society.membership.nil? && Society.membership != "None"
end

Order of Voln

The Order of Voln is dedicated to releasing undead from their suffering.

Accessing Voln Data

# Quick access
Societies.voln              # Returns OrderOfVoln class

# Or full path
Lich::Gemstone::Societies::OrderOfVoln

Voln Favor

# Get current favor
Societies::OrderOfVoln.favor

# Check favor level
favor = Societies::OrderOfVoln.favor
if favor > 1000
  echo "Plenty of favor"
elsif favor < 100
  echo "Low on favor!"
end

Voln Symbols (Abilities)

Voln members gain Symbols as they progress through ranks:

Rank	Symbol
1	Symbol of Recognition
2	Symbol of Blessing
3	Symbol of Thought
4	Symbol of Diminishment
5	Symbol of Courage
6	Symbol of Protection
7	Symbol of Submission
8	Kai's Strike
9	Symbol of Holiness
10	Symbol of Recall
11	Symbol of Sleep
12	Symbol of Transcendence
13	Symbol of Mana
14	Symbol of Sight
15	Symbol of Retribution
16	Symbol of Supremacy
17	Symbol of Restoration
18	Symbol of Need
19	Symbol of Renewal
20	Symbol of Disruption
21	Kai's Smite
22	Symbol of Turning
23	Symbol of Preservation
24	Symbol of Dreams
25	Symbol of Return
26	Symbol of Seeking

Using Voln Symbols

# Check if you know a symbol
if Society.rank >= 22
  echo "You know Symbol of Turning"
end

# Symbol costs vary - check favor before using
if Societies::OrderOfVoln.favor >= 50
  fput "symbol of turning"
end

Council of Light

The Council of Light is a secretive society whose members employ Signs - short-duration magical abilities that cost small amounts of spirit (or nothing).

Accessing CoL Data

# Quick access
Societies.col               # Returns CouncilOfLight class

# Or full path
Lich::Gemstone::Societies::CouncilOfLight

CoL Signs

Council of Light members gain Signs as they progress through ranks:

Rank	Sign
1	Sign of Recognition
2	Sign of Signal
3	Sign of Warding
4	Sign of Striking
5	Sign of Clotting
6	Sign of Thought
7	Sign of Defending
8	Sign of Smiting
9	Sign of Staunching
10	Sign of Deflection
11	Sign of Hypnosis
12	Sign of Swords
13	Sign of Shields
14	Sign of Dissipation
15	Sign of Healing
16	Sign of Madness
17	Sign of Possession
18	Sign of Wracking
19	Sign of Darkness
20	Sign of Hopelessness

Guardians of Sunfist

The Guardians of Sunfist are a militant society; members employ Sigils - combat-oriented abilities fueled primarily by stamina.

Accessing Sunfist Data

# Quick access
Societies.sunfist           # Returns GuardiansOfSunfist class

# Or full path
Lich::Gemstone::Societies::GuardiansOfSunfist

Sunfist Sigils

Sunfist members gain Sigils as they progress through ranks:

Rank	Sigil
1	Sigil of Recognition
2	Sigil of Location
3	Sigil of Contact
4	Sigil of Resolve
5	Sigil of Minor Bane
6	Sigil of Bandages
7	Sigil of Defense
8	Sigil of Offense
9	Sigil of Distraction
10	Sigil of Minor Protection
11	Sigil of Focus
12	Sigil of Intimidation
13	Sigil of Mending
14	Sigil of Concentration
15	Sigil of Major Bane
16	Sigil of Determination
17	Sigil of Health
18	Sigil of Power
19	Sigil of Major Protection
20	Sigil of Escape

Common Patterns

Society-Based Script Behavior

def use_society_ability
  case Society.membership
  when "Order of Voln"
    if Societies::OrderOfVoln.favor >= 100
      fput "symbol of courage"
    end
  when "Council of Light"
    fput "sign of striking"  # Example
  when "Guardians of Sunfist"
    fput "sigil of defense"  # Example
  else
    echo "Not in a society"
  end
end

Checking for Undead (Voln)

def should_use_symbol?
  return false unless voln_member?
  return false if Societies::OrderOfVoln.favor < 50

  # Check for undead targets
  GameObj.npcs.any? { |npc| npc.type?("undead") }
end

Society Task Handling

def check_society_task
  task = Society.task

  if task =~ /release.*undead/i
    echo "Voln eternal duty - release undead"
  elsif task =~ /not currently in a society/i
    echo "Not in a society"
  else
    echo "Current task: #{task}"
  end
end

Rank-Based Features

def available_abilities
  rank = Society.rank
  abilities = []

  case Society.membership
  when "Order of Voln"
    abilities << "Recognition" if rank >= 1
    abilities << "Blessing" if rank >= 2
    abilities << "Supremacy" if rank >= 16
    abilities << "Turning" if rank >= 22
  end

  abilities
end

# Check if specific ability is available
def has_voln_turning?
  voln_member? && Society.rank >= 22
end

Resource Management

# Voln favor management
def conserve_favor?
  return false unless voln_member?
  Societies::OrderOfVoln.favor < 200
end

def use_expensive_symbol?
  return false unless voln_member?
  Societies::OrderOfVoln.favor >= 500
end

Society Serialization

# Get society status as array
Society.serialize
# Returns: [membership, rank]
# Example: ["Order of Voln", 15]

Deprecated Methods

These methods still work but are deprecated:

# Old                    # New
Society.member           # Use Society.membership
Society.step             # Use Society.rank
Society.favor            # Use Societies::OrderOfVoln.favor