Flavor Text... List of tricky ones?

rabelais · #1 June 6th, 2004, 04:45 PM

Let me begin by saying I like flavor text. I do.

But I think it would be useful to compile all the "flavor" elements that deceptively promote certain assumptions about particular units/ spells.

Going preemptive on FAQ's as it were.

I found a new one today.

Witches (100g 1e1n) are alleged to have "healing abilities" but no arco "heal" option is available in their orders. Not that I really expected them to have such abilities at their cost, but I was mildly disappointed.

Are there recruitable indies that have healing abilities? I think that having them available (quite rarely!) might be nice.

The others I know about are the Behemoth and Demilich texts that suggest you need to devote a mage to the spell, which is not functionally the case.

Feel free to add to the thread/list if you can think of others.

Also please link to resources if they already exist elsewhere.

Thanks!

Rabe the Transparency Freak

archaeolept · #2 June 6th, 2004, 06:37 PM

the vannish svartalf is said to be a master of forging, but has no forge bonus. not saying they should, but...

Taqwus · #3 June 6th, 2004, 07:49 PM

I have neither seen nor heard of a recruitable independent that has a 'heal' command. In fact, the only recruitable healer I'm aware of is the Arcosephalean Priestess; there are other healers that can be summoned (Fairy Queens) or received (Ho-Hsien-Ku the Tien Chi national hero), but you can't simply pay gold/resources for them.

HJ · #4 June 7th, 2004, 03:03 AM

In my understanding, this is misleading:
All the descriptions for banefire/decay effects point to "flesh rotting and shriveling, wounds festering" etc., which would suggest that the unit would need to be alive for it to take place. However, if you happen to hit a bane with a bane blade, he will also start to decay, so will the skeletons, and IIRC I once had a golem hit by a banefire bow who also started to decay, while he cetrainly has no flesh since he's made out of clay (and the skeletons have only bones and are already decaying constantly). To me it's very counterintuitive that undead and lifeless (maybe ethereals as well?) are affected by decay/banefire. My understanding from reading the descriptions is that it's not an acid that would eat away just any matter, it's a thing that affects the flesh/lifeforce, but it doesn;t work as such.

Graeme Dice · #5 June 7th, 2004, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by HJ:
My understanding from reading the descriptions is that it's not an acid that would eat away just any matter, it's a thing that affects the flesh/lifeforce, but it doesn;t work as such.

It causes things to decay. Bone certainly does that, as does rotting or dried flesh, even metal will rust, which covers the golems.

HJ · #6 June 7th, 2004, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Graeme Dice:

quote:
Originally posted by HJ:
My understanding from reading the descriptions is that it's not an acid that would eat away just any matter, it's a thing that affects the flesh/lifeforce, but it doesn;t work as such.

It causes things to decay. Bone certainly does that, as does rotting or dried flesh, even metal will rust, which covers the golems.

That's what acid would do, IMHO, and we already have acid spells in the game. All the descriptions specifically mention flesh and lifeforce, which skeletons and golems lack. For the decay to be in tune with its descriptions, IMO it shouldn't work on lifeless things, which have no lifeforce or flesh, or undead, which are already decaying all the time but never decay completely. A fire from the Underworld that destroys the living shouldn't affect the servants of the Underworld - in my understanding, it's not an all-consuming force like acid, but a *life*-consuming force, which are two different things.