Tales of Aberration, the Warlock
Chris
pact with Aberrations. Lucky Kutar is the munchkin play for this
class, I think, what with a whopping +9 Chr. At CL1, my Basic Blast
was just 1d10, though. No matter, I'll take it the Thieves Quest so I
can scum for early stat boosts.
Mistake #1: I've made a pact with humans! Damn, I thought I had a
horrible bug when I blasted the Bandit and got the message "The Bandit
is unharmed." What? Oh, I scrolled past the warning about pact
monsters. Sigh. That guy died in there, so I restarted.
Mistake #2: No need to farm random boosts in Chengband. Yay! Take #2
took it straight to the Yeeks Cave and farmed white worms instead.
I worked my way up to CL7 that way, dipped down all the way to DL5. I
could one shot Farmer's dogs, so I was strong, having a 4d11 blast.
Level up to CL8, pick Chr again (already picked Chr at 4) and my blast
goes to 5d11. That was strong enough for the Bandits!
Early thoughts: Waiting until CL20 for Detect Traps is long.
Character is very powerful so far.
[Chengband 0.0.7 Character Dump]
Name : Lucky Aberration
Sex : Male Age 17 STR : 12
Race : Kutar Height 51 INT : 7
Class : Warlock Weight 169 WIS : 7
Pact : Aberrations Social Class 17 DEX : 14
Align Neutral Evil CON : 15
CHR : 18/108
Right hand (+0,+0) Hit point 102/ 102 Fighting : Fair
SP (Mana) 0/ 0 Bows/Throw : Fair
Blows/Round 1+0+1 SavingThrow:
Excellent
AverageDmg/Rnd 4+0 Level 8 Stealth :
Superb
Experience 468
Shooting (-20,+0) Max Exp 468 Perception : Good
Multiplier x0.00 Exp to Adv 504 Searching : Fair
Shots/Round 0.00 Gold 77 Disarming : Fair
MagicDevice:
Superb
AC [4,+0] Time Day 1 14:22
Speed (+0) Play time 00:08:51 Infra-Vision: 0
feet
Dave Zhang
Let's see for (1 + clvl / 5 + clvl * clvl * 3 / 500)dY
clvl 1 = 1dY ~ 5.5 (was 1dY)
clvl 10 = 3dY ~ 18 (was 6dY)
clvl 20 = 7dY ~ 45.5 (was 11dY)
clvl 30 = 12dY ~ 102 (was 16dY)
clvl 40 = 18dY ~ 153 (was 21dY)
clvl 45 = 22dY ~ 231 (was 23dY)
clvl 50 = 26dY ~ 273 (was 26dY)
---
David Yu Zhang, Ph.D.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation
Wyss Institute, Harvard University
Chris Kousky
Side comment: Having pact monsters occasionally be friendly seems
like a good idea.
Chris Kousky
biffed! 7d12 down to 3d12. Good thing the Thieve's Q is already done
:)
David Zhang
Also, dragon needs more melee boost. Wraithform and Invulnerability are currently 7 actions at 0 speed and 23 actions at +30 speed. This is way too powerful, even at 100 HP cost.
Double blast needs to be removed, as discussed previously.
An angel pact warlock got to magic device skill legendary(5), making the skill boost less meaningful for demon. Let's nerf the base device ability a bit.
Why do dragon warlocks show self as cursed on the stat screen? No others do...
Cheers,
Dave
Sent from my iPhone
Chris Kousky
Sorry ... you see why I want to fix up quests! I put that stub quest
in my private Hengband build to prevent me from farming quartz veins.
It will be replaced with a real quest in Chengband. In fact, today is
going to be quest day. I already have an idea for a starting quest
before the Thieves, and I have a candidate Tower replacement in mind.
So the Duelist will have to wait a bit, I fear :)
>
> Also, dragon needs more melee boost. Wraithform and Invulnerability are currently 7 actions at 0 speed and 23 actions at +30 speed. This is way too powerful, even at 100 HP cost.
>
Melee was 50 skill, prorated by level. It is now 100. (Warriors get
150 as a benchmark).
Wraith was 5 + 1d5 turns, which is 1/5th what the spell does. I made
it 2 + 1d2.
Invuln was 3 + 1d3 (Mutation gave 8 + 1d8). I'll make this 2 + 1d2 as
well. Invulnerability has a nasty side effect when it wears off, so
the duration better have a random aspect. Also, if it is too short,
it will be deadly!
Of course, you see that player speed plays a role in the number of
actions you can take ... I'd rather not play around with the existing
wraithform and invulnerability timers since they would effect the
spells as well. Also, I'd rather not add new timers since it is a
PITA. And finally, I like the turn mechanism since it leaves players
guessing as to how long it will last in terms of actions. Especially
with the random speed system.
Thoughts?
> Double blast needs to be removed, as discussed previously.
Agreed. What did we decide to replace? I'm getting lost with all the
discussion, but you are correct. Why use Empowerment when you can use
Double (Although the fail rate is high enough to make a difference)?
Are we doing the summoning? Well, that is my vote: Summoning! What
do you guys think?
>
> An angel pact warlock got to magic device skill legendary(5), making the skill boost less meaningful for demon. Let's nerf the base device ability a bit.
>
They were 33 + 13 * clvl/10, same as a bard. How does 24 + 10 *
clvl/10 grab you? This is the same as a Paladin.
> Why do dragon warlocks show self as cursed on the stat screen? No others do...
Weird bug, or some stupid hack I don't understand. I'm reporting that
you have a strength boost (TR_STR) but the game queries flag 0 to see
if you are cursed. TR_STR is flag 0, so you are reported as cursed :)
I'm not sure when the player is ever cursed, and reporting you as
having the TR_STR flag doesn't effect anything, so I just removed it.
A weird bug, though, and I'll look into it more when I get time for
less important stuff.
Dave Zhang
in my private Hengband build to prevent me from farming quartz veins.
It will be replaced with a real quest in Chengband. In fact, today is
going to be quest day. I already have an idea for a starting quest
before the Thieves, and I have a candidate Tower replacement in mind.
So the Duelist will have to wait a bit, I fear :)
No, I'm with you on quests. One other thing you might want to fix up is the Archliches quest. I recommend 2 things:
(1) prevent recall and earthquake. The Eye Druj rooms are supposed to be deathtraps!! No easy escape!
(2) give an actual reward. Given how bad this quest is, I'm tempted to make this a strong reward. Maybe a pair of Ego dragon gloves?
Actually, I like your zany "kidnap the princess" idea. Maybe we should make this just one special quest. "My wife/daughter has run off to join a sect of cultists. Bring her back to me!"
Maybe we could also do a combination of my quest ideas as a separate individual quest. "There's a rare herb guarded by monsters that I *have* to have for my research. What!? No, no, it only blooms once every 200 years, so I can't risk you damaging the plant. I'm going with you!" You have to escort the alchemist to a plant. The plant gets destroyed by monsters within ____ game turns of entering the quest level. You fail if your alchemist patron (who's with you) dies. Your alchemist patron is considered a pet, so you can give him commands. He has a decent chunk of HP.
***
BTW, here are some descriptions for Warlock pacts for the Intro screen.
Dragon: Dragons are powerful melee combatants, having tough hides and resistances to many common elemental types. Warlocks who make a pact with Dragons will find themselves with significantly strong melee abilities (both offensive and defensive), one extra maximum blow in combat, and eventually a powerful breath weapon. Making a pact with Dragons will reduce damage done to all dragons by half.
Undead: Undead are tough creatures, each having survived death at least once. Warlocks who make a pact with Undead will find themselves with a slew of additional resistances, along with significantly higher hit points and constitution. Eventually, Undead Warlocks attain the ability to become partially incorporeal for brief periods at will. Making a pact with Undead will reduce damage done to all undead by half.
Demon: Demons are crafty creatures of the netherworld, using whatever means at their disposal to bring down their enemies. Warlocks who make pacts with Demons will find their abilities to use all magical devices improved, and gains the ability to Recharge these devices at will. Eventually, Demon Warlocks attain the ability to crush walls beneath their footsteps. Making a pact with Demons will reduce damage done to all demons by half.
Angel: Angels are heavenly beings who use a variety of techniques to smite those they view as evil. Warlocks who make pacts with Angels will find their saving throws significantly improved, and their body immune to bolt-like effects. Eventually Angel Warlocks attain the ability to become invulnerable for brief periods at will. Making a pact with Angels will reduce damage done to all angels by half.
Aberrations: Aberrations are the mishmash of demihumanoid races in the world of Chengband. Warlocks who make pacts with Aberrations will find themselves sprouting strange body parts that can be used for various attacks. The demented mind of aberrations also eventually grants Warlocks the power of telepathy and dimension door. Making a pact with Aberrations will reduce damage done to all humanoids (h) and people (p) by half.
Melee was 50 skill, prorated by level. It is now 100. (Warriors get
150 as a benchmark).
Wraith was 5 + 1d5 turns, which is 1/5th what the spell does. I made
it 2 + 1d2.
Invuln was 3 + 1d3 (Mutation gave 8 + 1d8). I'll make this 2 + 1d2 as
well. Invulnerability has a nasty side effect when it wears off, so
the duration better have a random aspect. Also, if it is too short,
it will be deadly!
Cool. We'll see if these work better. I'm OK reducing the cost of Invulnerability and Wraithform by a bit to compensate. I also think maybe Wraith should last 1 turn longer than Invulnerability, because Undead should be stronger, and Invulnerability is actually more useful against monsters that don't dispel.
> Double blast needs to be removed, as discussed previously.Agreed. What did we decide to replace? I'm getting lost with all the
discussion, but you are correct. Why use Empowerment when you can use
Double (Although the fail rate is high enough to make a difference)?
Are we doing the summoning? Well, that is my vote: Summoning! What
do you guys think?
So, we already have 2 level 50 abilities (Wraithform and Invulnerability). I'm OK with Demons getting their lvl 50 ability a bit earlier at 45, with the steps breaking walls.
For Dragon, I was thinking of giving them a big radius breath weapon (or 5, one for each basic element). Damage = current HP / 2. Radius = 3.
For Aberration, you correctly pointed out that this pact is no joke with Oberon being a pact monster! I was thinking of giving them Dimension Door. What do you think?
Weird bug, or some stupid hack I don't understand. I'm reporting that
you have a strength boost (TR_STR) but the game queries flag 0 to see
if you are cursed. TR_STR is flag 0, so you are reported as cursed :)
I'm not sure when the player is ever cursed, and reporting you as
having the TR_STR flag doesn't effect anything, so I just removed it.
A weird bug, though, and I'll look into it more when I get time for
less important stuff.
Huh. Strange.
Cheers,
Dave
Chris Kousky
<David...@wyss.harvard.edu> wrote:
>> Sorry ... you see why I want to fix up quests! I put that stub quest
>> in my private Hengband build to prevent me from farming quartz veins.
>> It will be replaced with a real quest in Chengband. In fact, today is
>> going to be quest day. I already have an idea for a starting quest
>> before the Thieves, and I have a candidate Tower replacement in mind.
>> So the Duelist will have to wait a bit, I fear :)
>>
>
> No, I'm with you on quests. One other thing you might want to fix up is the
> Archliches quest. I recommend 2 things:
>
> (1) prevent recall and earthquake. The Eye Druj rooms are supposed to be
> deathtraps!! No easy escape!
>
Well, the first time a player does this quest, they will just die. I
don't think that is too fair. They'll probably die anyway, but at
least Earthquake gives them a way out (Forest Creation helps too).
Recall won't save 'em, and just forces players thru the druj room to
get to the exit stairs. Again, that's just not fair!
> (2) give an actual reward. Given how bad this quest is, I'm tempted to make
> this a strong reward. Maybe a pair of Ego dragon gloves?
I'm losing patience with quests. Its such a PITA ... for example, it
took me over 30 minutes to figure out the exact characters to type
into one of the town edit files to get something to allocate. Not
fun. But there now is a reward for this quest. Its not what you
asked for, but its something.
Other quest ideas are going on hold for a bit until my Patience Points
regenerate. They are at 0 now ...
BTW, designing quests is something that can be done outside of code.
Take a look at lib\edit\q0clone0.txt for example. You do need to know
a little bit on the format, but you could certainly allocate specific
monsters and items. The Old Castle is q0000027.txt which is another
one worth looking at. If you want to, feel free to design some
quests, or maybe tweak some of the existing ones.
Once the quest file is done, there is work that needs to be done on
the town side to hook them in, and to give rewards, but I don't mind
doing that too much. Actually designing a good quest takes time.
For The Tower replacement, I added The Barrow Downs quest. It took a
few hours to do, and could probably use some tweaks, but it wasn't
really that hard once I got going. Monsters use r_info.txt for
indices, objects use k_info.txt, and artifacts use a_info.txt. I
can't figure out how to get egos to work, though there is a field for
it. The Barrow Downs needs some westernesse ...
Many existing quests could use improvements, but new quests are welcome, too!
Chris Kousky
>
Quest Ideas:
The Misty Mountain ... or something. Go kill Smaug. Smeagol should be lurking.
Farmer Maggot: I was going to do this. A new starter quest. Farmer
maggots mushrooms have gone bad (so lots of cursed, crappy mushrooms,
but a single restoring in the bunch) and are poisoning the townsfolk.
His dogs have been harassing the elderly, and even a few wimpy
upstarts have been killed by the out of control canines. We have
asked Farmer Maggot to leave, but he just won't go. I don't care how
you do it, but get rid of the bastard! Monsters are Farmer, his dogs,
and maybe some sparrows and crows. Reward is just a pair of good
boots or something.
I'm sure we can come up with more.
Dave Zhang
> deathtraps!! No easy escape!Well, the first time a player does this quest, they will just die. I
>
don't think that is too fair. They'll probably die anyway, but at
least Earthquake gives them a way out (Forest Creation helps too).
Recall won't save 'em, and just forces players thru the druj room to
get to the exit stairs. Again, that's just not fair!
Oh, I was thinking we could just update the quest description to tell the player that recall and teleport won't work. We can even say that "there are rumors of an undead army readying to ambush you." Make the quest hard, but let the player know that's it's hard. We can bump the quest difficulty up to 80 or so.
What do you think about the lvl 50 warlock abilities discussion from my last email?
Dave
Chris Kousky
> email?
Originally, all the Pacts had CL45 stuff:
Undead: Wraithform mutation.
Dragon: Double Resist mutation.
Angel: Invulnerability mutation.
Demon: Break Wall
Aberration: Telepathy.
We were at a loss for what to do for CL50. I did Double blast because
it is all I could think of.
So now, the CL45 abilities will be:
Undead: None
Dragon: Double Resist mutation.
Angel: None
Demon: Break Wall
Aberration: Telepathy.
The CL50 abilities will be:
Undead: Wraithform activation.
Dragon: Big 'ol breath of some sort.
Angel: Invuln activation.
Demon: None
Aberration: Dimension Door.
CL50 Double blast will be removed. There will be no summoning
ability. Is this correct? Perhaps Undead and Angel got short changed
by losing their CL45 ability? Perhaps Demon gets short changed by not
getting a CL50 ability?
Dave Zhang
So now, the CL45 abilities will be:
Undead: None
Dragon: Double Resist mutation.
Angel: None
Demon: Break Wall
Aberration: Telepathy.
The CL50 abilities will be:
Undead: Wraithform activation.
Dragon: Big 'ol breath of some sort.
Angel: Invuln activation.
Demon: None
Aberration: Dimension Door.
CL50 Double blast will be removed. There will be no summoning
ability. Is this correct? Perhaps Undead and Angel got short changed
by losing their CL45 ability? Perhaps Demon gets short changed by not
getting a CL50 ability?
Demons: Immunity to Fire (50)
Angel: Earthquake (30). Reflection (45).
Undead: Resist Darkness + Blindness (35). Resist Shards (45).
Maybe a new "Charm Pact Monster" feature for every pact to move pact monsters to "friendly" and not Pet? This could potentially be available at like clvl 30. Then you could have a "Charm all Pact Monsters" at clvl 50 for all the pacts. One thing to be careful is that if the Warlock attacks a friendly pact monster, all remaining friendly pact monsters should immediately go hostile.
Dave Zhang
Dave Zhang
That would make the Angel pact significantly more difficult (Sky Drakes, GWoST, etc.), but probably on a par with the other pacts. The only remaining thing that needs to be tweaked are their abilities.
Lvl 20 Remove Curse. Let's make it so that this has a (clvl - 20)*2/100 probability of doing *remove curse* as well.
Lvl 30 Earthquake
Lvl 35 Protection from Evil (active) and Reflection (passive).
Lvl 40 Dispelling Blast. Dispel Magic, plus do damage. If the monster is evil, it has a 20% chance of taking double damage and being slowed (slow can be avoided with save).
Lvl 45 Destruction. Like the Word of Destruction Spell
Cheers,
Dave