|
Items (brainstorming)
I want to avoid proposing any artifacts that don't duplicate an existing *game mechanic*.
Amulet of Raw Steel: 4E3B Misc, Artifact +5 Precision Black Egg: 6D5E Misc, Artifact Casts an item spell *blow up province*. Blow up province hits half the units in the current province with a strength 30 physical attack and then kills the caster. Black Torq: 3D3N Misc, Artifact +1 death and nature resistance (50%) to all four elements quickness is cursed Crown of Chaos: 6B Helmet, Artifact Big leadership bonuses You cause fear. +1 on all sorcery Horrormarks you pretty bad Crown of Science: 3F4S Helmet, Artifact +1 on all magic skills cursed curses you Crystal Cone: 3E2S Helmet, Artifact Large boost to magic resistance, dispels illusions. Looks silly. Crystal Orb: 2E3S Misc, Artifact Large boost to spell penetration. Crystal Pearl: 1E1S Misc, Artifact Gives combat spell - *warp*. Warp causes people to be lost in time and space (which is the same effect # as Banish to Cocytos with a different damage, I believe.) Dodecahedron: 3A Increases random event frequency wherever it is. Flat Device, 4N1E Misc, Artifact At start of combat, everyone on your side gains animal awe. Restores fatigue, boosts protection and defense (bonus armor.) Medal of Chaos, 6B Misc, Artifact Gives you awe. Automatically casts Summon Hellpower at the start of battle. Horrormarks you badly. Moon Sickle, 4B4D 2H Weapon, Artifact Does a lot of damage along with a full-strength life drain. Red Cylinder, 5F2E Misc, Artifact Casts *find elemental sites*, which finds all elemental sites in target province. +1 Fire and Earth magic. Ring Device, 3A1E Misc, Artifact Casts *find sorcery sites*, which finds all sorcery sites in target province. Rod Device, 3A1E Weapon, Artifact Gives thunder ward to the entire army at start of battle. Sapphire Amulet, 4W3S Misc, Artifact Luck. Regeneration. Poison Immunity. Boost to magic resistance Sword of Nonnak: 3D3A Weapon, Artifact Boosts spell penetration and gives recuperation. Otherwise is an "enchanted sword". Trident of the Red Rooster: 6W5A 2H Weapon, Artifact Is really large weapon. Does holy damage. Gives immunity to all four elemental damage types. Whining Orb: 2S2W Misc, Artifact Casts an item spell *call spemin*. Spemin are extremely cowardly void monsters. |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Those are all unique items, I think? Nice ideas. How would the Black Egg work with immortal commanders, do they keep the item? Or Twiceborn etc.
What are "sorcery sites", exactly? I think the Ring device may be too cheap, unless you confused the magics with the Rod Device. |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Quote:
|
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Is the amulet of raw steel supposed to give +5 precision? Sounds like it would give protection. PS: The sapphire amulet would be INSANE on SCs. Really overpowered.
|
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Is this just for artifacts or other items too?
Camouflage Cloak: 1N Armor, Lesser Gives Stealth +0 Scimitar of the Tireless: 6S4E Weapon, 1hand, Artifact Damage: 16+str # of attacks: 2 Attack: 6 Defense: 8 Len: 2 Auto-berserk +6 at start of battle, Automatic bless (even if not sacred), Quickness, +6 Reinvigoration |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Nice scimitar there starshine, is it your own idea?
|
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Yup, as far as I know it's 100% original.
|
9 tomes of darkest power
The Necro Noculous
Artifact. Paths: Death 5, Blood 1 cost: 75 blood slaves, 75 death gems User is cursed, is made insane (5), and is horror-marked, Death increased by 2 research increased by 9 summons in battle the Maker of Ruins and then the book disappears Maker of Ruins attacks everyone The Morphaeus Codex Artifact. Paths: Astral 5 cost: 150 astral gems User is made insane (50) but also becomes etherial and gains astral shield (5) astral increased by 1 research increased by 12 Summons in battle the Eater of Dreams and then the book disappears Eater of Dreams attacks everyone The Tome Ouroboris Artifact. Paths: Blood 3, Nature 3 cost: 75 blood slaves, 75 astral gems user is made insane (15) and becomes gluttonous (12) but gains regeneration (10%) and heals afflictions all elemental magic increased by 1 research increased by 6 summons in battle Hunter of Heroes and then the book disappears Hunter of Heroes attacks everyone The Black Scroll of Cheng Leng Cost 125 blood slaves, 125 death gems Artifact. Paths Blood 3, Death 3 The user becomes both Sacred, and a Demon, MR increased by 4 and user stops aging while the book is held. Blood increased by 1, death increased by 1 Research increased by 3 summons in battle a random Demon Lord and then the book disappears Demon Lord attacks everyone The Denebian Chronicle Artifact. Paths Nature 3 Death 3 Cost 75 nature gems, 75 death gems nature increased by 1, death increased by 1 Research increased by 6 The book is a weapon in battle. It attacks enemies, independent of the user, with 6 (standard) sleep tentacles. User becomes Sacred and Undead. Summons in battle Ancient Presence and then the book disappears Ancient Presence attacks everyone The Emerald Tablet artifact Paths Blood 1, Nature 5 Cost: 150 blood slaves, 150 nature gems User becomes 300% resistant to poison, and is surrounded by a poison cloud Nature increased by 2 Research increased by 3 Summons in battle 3 sacred hydras (standard hydras with sacred tag and Awe (0)) who are loyal to the user and then the tablet disappears. Sacred hydras remain after battle. The Amethyst Manuscript Cost: 125 earth gems, 25 blood slaves artifact Paths: 3 blood, 3 earth User gains the ability of Petrification (0) and Stoneskin, but also becomes Lifeless Astral increased by 1 Research increased by 6 Summons in battle Anthrax, King of Banefires, who attacks everyone. The Waters Navids Artifact. Paths: Blood 3, Water 3 Cost 75 blood slaves, 75 water gems User gains Awe (5) and Fear (5) but also becomes immobile (Map movement speed 0) Astral increased by 1 Research increased by 3 Summons in battle the Slave to Unreason and then the book disappears Slave to Unreason attacks everyone. The Illnomicon artifact Paths: Blood 6 cost 300 blood slaves Blood increased by 3 research increased by 15 User is made insane (1) but also immortal summons in battle Umor, the Eater of Gods and then the book disappears Eater of Gods attacks everyone Edited continuously since 2007! |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Quote:
Clearly there are only two ways, or you go commercial or you go open (not that Nethack is updated much more often ...). |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Quote:
Any way, back to the items: HoneyBadger: only two paths/item. No Blood/Death/Astral items. Gemcost depends from path requirement. Could you use the path requirements, because that's what the modders would use. Cold Iron Helmet: Constr 6 E2 Half Helmet with +4 mag res, like Starshine Skullcap without the Astral bonus. Blade of Cold Iron Constr 6 E2S1 1-handed sword, 3x damage to magic creatures like Moon Blade Sword of Might: Constr 6 E1 Like Sword of Sharpness (1-handed/2-handed versions), but reinvig 3/str+6 instead of armor-piercing. The Great Sling: Artifact (Constr 8) E1S1 Str +10, increases precision by 5 weapon stats: dam str+20, range 25, prec 2, ammo 12 shots look like boulders Giant Slayer: Constr 2 N1 A sling with (x2 damage to larger creatures) as the Short Sword of the hoburg Oberführer. |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Very nice endo, very nice in deed. Were those first 2 items made with ulm in mind?
|
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Yes: Ulm, and Earth as the source of good equipment. I mentioned the helmet, at least, when I released my Ulm upgrade mod. Blade of Cold Iron would be more interesting as pure Earth (E3) or Earth/Water instead of Earth/Astral, but I used Elf Bane as a guideline.
I've had lots of time to think these through. Sword of Might is basically Girdle of Might in a weapon, like Faithful/Pendant of Luck. I also happen to like slings. These would all be pretty basic items as well. #copyitem or #copyweapon, slot change for the item, and the ability to create/describe/add picture to a new magic item. |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Amulet of Monumental Martyrdom
Construction 6 E4N2 At beginning of battle, casts the following on the wearer: Protection +25 MR +3 Standard (15) Resistance to All +100% Paralyzed (50) and in case he survives: Feeblemind, Insanity Amulet of Horrific Martyrdom Protection +25 MR +3 Fear (15) Resistance to All +100% Paralyzed (50) and in case he survives: Feeblemind, Insanity |
I\'m just a little confused.
I don't have any blood/death/astral items, or do you mean gem cost? That'd be easy to fix. Path requirements would be the same as for any other artifact, Construction 8.
If it's just gem cost, then 75 death gems and 75 blood slaves for the Necro Noculous, 75 astral gems and 75 blood slaves for the Morphaeus Codex, 75 nature gems and 75 blood slaves for the Tome Ouroboris, and 300 blood slaves for the Illnomicon. |
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
Quote:
Path requirement is also the way the game calculates gem cost: 1 -> 5 gems, 2 -> 10, 3 -> 15, 4 -> 25, 5 -> 40 etc, the next value being calculated by adding two earlier ones together. Because of this, writing the requirements as, say, Blood 5 Death 5 (40 and 40 gems/slaves) for Necro Noculous, Blood 5 Astral 5 for Morpheus Codex, Blood 5 Nature 5 for Tome Ouroboris and and Blood 8 (170 slaves) for the Illnomicon. Increasing the path requirements by one (to 6 and 6 for the three first, and 9 for the last) would give values closer to the ones you had (75 gems/75 slaves, and 275 slaves), but it'd make the items even harder to use in a real game. The books are great ideas, but Illnomicon's +3 Blood isn't that good if you need Blood 7, 8 or 9 to make it... Sorcery +1 and Blood +2 would be a bit better. Perhaps all the books should give the wielder the ability to send horrors, as Gift of Kurgi? |
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
Some of these I've suggested before:
Trickster's Cap: fire-1, air-1. Halves the fatigue cost of all spells with a path requirement of one. Mid level. The Stone of Destiny: earth-4, astral-4. Grants a 10-gem bonus when casting globals or dispel, but doesn't decrease the initial gem cost. Unique. Trinket Hammer: fire-2, earth-2. Allows a mage to forge two level-0 items for the price of one. High level. Scavenger's ring: fire-2. Greatly increases the chances of finding enemy items after a battle. Mid-level. Loki's Crown: nature-5. The wearer can cast Transformation at no cost and no risk. |
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
Loki's Crown could probably be done - I'm not sure about the "no risk" part.
The others would require engine rewrites (i.e. they don't exploit an existing game mechanic.) I believe that penetration bonuses make your spells harder to dispel, so the stone of destiny could just provide a big penetration bonus. I'm not sure about this. |
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
The Black Egg made me laugh. I can't remember enough about Starflight to get the joke with the Flat Device, Rod Device, and Crystal Cone.
-Max |
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
I didn't have time earlier to comment on the books. I edited them a bit, not sure if they're overpowered or not. I don't think they're underpowered, but I also don't think I'd build a "grand strategy" around most of them. I hope someone likes them enough to put them in whatever mod this is leading up to.
They're meant more to be interesting than to be useful, since you really can't enter combat without losing them and possibly getting yourself killed by whatever horrible creature you've just awoken. It's kind of an "instant horror, just add water" dealie, except ofcourse for the Emerald Tablet. I just threw that one in for fun, to be the exception to the rule-and it has it's own problems. If anyone seriously wants to use these, I'd be happy to provide detailed descriptions for them-some of them are based-atleast a little bit-on real (or atleast fictional) books, while others I have interesting backstories for. Thanks for all the input, Endoperez. I very much appreciate it. If there's anything else you think could make them better, please let me know. |
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
I'd really like a set of boots to forge that absolutely, positively, prevented a unit from fleeing a battle.
|
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
That's easy. Give it boots that makes the unit immobile. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif
|
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
A cursed armor that gives +30 berserk, however the unit that uses it dissapears after battle.
|
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
+30 berserk? Im hoping thats an artifact http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
|
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
How about items that temporarily allow (or force) transformation into a different unit?
|
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
I'm not sure. I don't think any of the current items give shapechange - and I'm not sure if there's any way to have an item turn you into anything other than a werewolf.
It depends on how the internal code is set up. |
Re: I\'m just a little confused.
I think it would have to be deved.
|
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Pan Pipes
Misc very powerful magic item req: Nature 3, Earth 3, Const 6 Unit heals afflictions The Caduceus 2-handed artifact weapon req: Nature 7, Water 7, Const 8 Does no damage, units struck in combat with the Caduceus are healed as per the spell-even undead, demons, and unliving/constructs Cursed (cannot be unequipped), allows wielder to heal living troops (as per Fairy Queen, etc) in the same province Wielder does not age, heals afflictions, and regenerates (25%) |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
I'm not sure if items can enable orders (no existing item gives the ability to heal battle afflictions.)
I assume that while weapons can be given the ability to inflict healing damage (which is just another damage type), I don't think that the AI is presently set up to use them on friends, so the cadeuceus would probably have to give a healing-type item spell. |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Well, if it can't be done, it can't be done. Regardless, I think it would make a good, "Dominionesque" artifact, if it can be done.
|
Re: Items (brainstorming)
I'd hope to flesh out trinkets/lesser magic items, so thats what I'm aiming for, the no-option paths. Not worrying too much about balance, if someone uses it, they can tweak it however they want. I'm just brainstorming, not planning to mod it. I'll have particular trouble coming up blood ideas.
Blade of Bone - Damage 5, Length 1. Effectively, a short sword for when nothing else is available. If the wielder also wears the skull talisman, kills will animate as skeletons. Wind Lash - Damage 0, Length 7, Attack 3 No weapons can repel the Wind Lash. Alternate A: Damage 2, strength not added, armor negating, length 7, attack 3, attacks 3 times. Occasional open-ended roll can turn out very good. Blood - Vampire's Teeth (misc) Unfortunately, these dentures don't make you a vampire, just a wannabe. No immortality, no life drain, but you do get a bite attack. Affected by strength, easily deterred by anybody with a beating stick (range 0). Will decrease credibility (leadership goes down). Shield of Wind - 0 protection (its made of air), parry 10, defense 4. It cannot stop a blow, but turn it aside. As description text, steal some Zen/Taoist phrase. There's one on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't recall. Turtle Shield - Takes on traits of turtle, including speed. Doesn't have much parry (small) but does increase natural protection by 2, or to a minimum of 5. Hot Plate of Champions - This shield also removes the coldblooded trait. Shield of Ribs - this shield stinks at catching arrows, but can deflect blows. Good defense, acceptable protection, etc. Forge it with Blood and Death, and it comes with flesh still on it. Much better parry score, good protection, unquestionably disgusting, more encumbrance. |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
There are several "historical" magic items which would make good artifact additions I think, but these can't be done based on what attributes can be modded or affected by items:
The Tarnhelm (A5 E4) Adds glamour, stealth, and flight maybe .secondshape Dragon to represent shapeshifting The Palladium (N6 S3) Large misc slot item (maybe 2 slots like the Arc) Provides gigantic Supply and Fort Defence and Valor ++ Bag of Dragon's Teeth (F5 E2) In combat, summons Heavy Infantry, or maybe Myrmidons "Caladbolg" sword (E6) Armor negating and area attack hits 3 squares (one blow chopped off the tops of 3 hills) We should have some more artifact ranged weapons, and some non-western legend items like Persian: Cup of Jamshid or Flying Throne of Kai Kavus. There's a good list for looking over at wikipedia. Sill |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Along that line, how about a "Roc's Egg shell". Give it the ability to cast Dome of Solid Air, and the wielder may be attacked by djinni/genies.
|
Re: Items (brainstorming)
I'd suggest the bag of dragon's teeth provide kappas, I think that would be both cool and thematic (kappas being reptilian and unarmed)
|
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Quote:
|
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Weevil Biscuits-
The unit who carries these is infected with disease, but provides extra food to the army on the march. Scissors of Sharpness Armor negating, length 0, attack -2, damage 2. May cause blindness in target or wielder. (If its not possibly to randomly blind yourself, than just curse wielder) "Don't run with those, you could put someone's eye out." Safety Scissors Length 0, attack +5, damage -5, stun 5, awe (0) It's hard to believe someone's attacking you with safety scissors. It's so unbelievably sad, you just wouldn't feel right fighting back. You waste quite a bit of energy trying to keep from laughing your *** off. |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
Holy Hand Grenade
10 range, 2 aoe, 20 damage (strength not added), if its possible make the wielder blessed like the shroud does "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out." |
Re: Items (brainstorming)
It's thematic in the sense that wristwatches don't grow on trees.
Yes, you've got magic going, so you can say that anything is possible, but fully armored human soldiers don't just pop up out of the ground and fight for you. You might as well expect a crop of AK-47's. Kappas, on the other hand are 1: demons, so they can have magical origins, and more than one origin, for that matter, and 2: they're reptilian, so it makes a lot more sense that they come from dragons' teeth than humans do. And yes, it's important for magic to make sense, because magic is powered by belief. Infact, Thaumaturgy is all about things making sense-you do something on a small scale, and a large scale thing happens, or you do something similar to what you want to happen, and what you want to happen, happens. Magic isn't science, it's not governed by strict laws, but it has rules, conduits, and structure. Now I know all about the legend of the dragon's teeth. I've read it many times, and yes, it says fully armored soldiers sprang up out of the ground after the teeth were planted-but kappas *are* fully armored, and we're dealing, basically, with the impressions of ignorant tribesfolk here. If they saw a kappa, with their shells and distinctive heads, yes they'd probably recognise it as a "fully armored soldier". |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:30 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©1999 - 2025, Shrapnel Games, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.