Subject:
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Re: When the world was young...
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.org.us.nelug
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Date:
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Mon, 7 Apr 2003 19:55:54 GMT
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Viewed:
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2024 times
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In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Joe Comeau writes:
> In lugnet.org.us.nelug, David Eaton writes:
> > In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Joe Comeau writes:
> > > Okay, here's an idea that might work for everyone. I *do* like the idea of
> > > granting certain magical powers (spell casting) through objects, *but* I
> > > also think these objects are special. So my idea is that while any unit can
> > > pick it up, no unit can remove it unless the unit is slain. So once a unit
> > > picks it up, good, bad or indifferent, that unit is stuck with it. We could
> > > put a caveat in where actual mage-type units can collect the items without
> > > being stuck with them, but I'm inclined to not allow that.
> > >
> > > This provides an element of strategy and also a fun way to hang in the game
> > > once we annihilate yo...um...in case an army should crumble right away. The
> > > rest of it about each team creating 'n' objects and scattering them about
> > > would still hold - and there's a strategy in this too. Thoughts?
> >
> > Hmm... quite interesting. Effectively, if (say) I pick up some magical plate
> > armor that ends up *forcing* me to run everywhere in straight lines at twice
> > my move rate every turn, I would have to drop any plate armor (or other
> > thing that might block armor from going on) that I already posessed, yes?
> > And at what point do we find out what an item does? Does the finding unit
> > necessarily equip/use the item? Or can it bring it back to another unit, and
> > as soon as *that* unit equips it, we find out its magical abilites, *and* it
> > gets stuck on the user? I kinda like the 2nd option better...
>
> I was thinking whoever touches it automatically gets equiped with it, so
> your only choices are to pick it up or leave it (or position another unit to
> grab it). As for when you find out what it does, I kind of like the idea of
> not knowing until someone picks it up...that's the problem with magic, you
> never know what'll happen when you start tinkering with these things. And,
> yes, items can be a liability as well as a boon, although nothing should be
> able to kill a unit outright, just by picking it up. Ideally, a magic item
> is both a liability and a boon, but that's up to whomever creates the items.
How about this? And I steal this, without apology, from the classic ASCII
graphics game "Rogue", which was the predecessor to "Moria": The function of
an item is unknown until it is used ... and items with penalties are considered
"cursed", and cannot be dropped or removed until a "remove curse" spell or
potion is found and used. To help the intrepids out, once a remove curse spell
or potion is identified (either by use or some sort of magic-user's skill
roll), all others of the same ilk are readily identified.
Example: Slingblade, Joe's hideously ugly Chakram tosser, find a suit of plate
mail. Wanting to emphasize her already godawful physique, she dons it. And
the first time she is struck by a rock, it become clear that the armor is
cursed and she can't remove it. However, she finds a pink potion in the next
treasure trove. She doesn't know what it is, but she drinks it out of
desparation .. maybe it's a remove curse potion! No such luck, it's an
"amplify armpit hair" potion, condemning her forever in the eyes of even her
blinded compatriots. In the meantime, another hero on her team discovers a
blue scroll, and reads the spell on it. It's a remove curse! Unfortunately,
as he has no cursed items in his posession, he is reduced to curing himself of
a nasty rash. However, now Joe's unbelievably vile hero knows that a blue
scroll is what she needs!
By contrast, a beneficial items can be handed off, dropped, thrown, or
whatever.
There is one catch in this context though - what is to prevent one from simply
having peons don the armor first, to verify whether or not they are cursed? IN
Rogue, you only had one character, so if you were getting the tar beaten out of
you you were willing to don anything in the hopes of it being enchanted. I
mean, I even tried on a chain mail thong in that game, when I was being creamed
by Trolls, hoping that it was a "Thong +8". In this game ... hmmm - well,
there is the time frame, I suppose. If one is going to have a peon don the
armor, get attacked to find out if it is useful or not, then transfer it to a
hero, who then must don it, the game might already be over.
Alternatively, if we *really* wanted to be cruel (DEFINITELY!), we could say
that a weapon or armor, or any item that is *continuously* useful (versus a
spell or potion, which is use-it-and-it's-gone), might have a different effect
on each individual. Even if peon tries it on and it's good, Uglification
Personified might put it on and find that it is cursed to her. This is more
like unto Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings, even. In Harry Potter, a wand
might embrace one user, but backfire hideously in the hands of someone else.
Similarly, in Middle Earth, some weapons were beneficial to humans, but might
burn to the touch or eyes of orcs and goblins (ala Sting).
Stick *that* in your catapult and launch it.
-s
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: When the world was young...
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| (...) Unless this is just randomly rolled as a particular race touches the object, it would mean that we would need to know all of the races beforehand...something I'm loath to do at this point. I also kind of like the idea that the same (...) (21 years ago, 7-Apr-03, to lugnet.org.us.nelug)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: When the world was young...
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| (...) I was thinking whoever touches it automatically gets equiped with it, so your only choices are to pick it up or leave it (or position another unit to grab it). As for when you find out what it does, I kind of like the idea of not knowing until (...) (21 years ago, 7-Apr-03, to lugnet.org.us.nelug)
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