[CF-Devel] polymorph - worst exploit ever

[Mark Wedel]

Andreas Vogl wrote:
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      o Polymorph items:
     
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        In terms of gameplay - TERRIBLE! Not only that one can
     
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        get all sorts of items that might not even be available
     
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        in shops, one can even transform artifacts! I once casted
     
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        polymorph over a bonecrusher and received a kobold dagger.
     
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        I'm sure I would get a wdsm and magic cloak if I tried
     
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        hard enough. But those items are supposed to be unique!
     
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        The player should solve long quests to get them, not just
     
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        sit there and cast a spell.
     
     
 Looking at the code, there is a major bug in it.  Instead of new items having
less value than the old value, it checks to see if the new item value is greater
than the old value.  That is a one character change, and should fix that
problem.

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      o Polymorph monsters:
     
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        This is the worst one by far! How can I defeat Gothwolte
     
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        or Kasnuk (hardest monsters in the current mapset)?
     
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        Fighting them? - Nooo... Much easier: Cast polymorph once
     
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        and they end up as an orc, or maybe even as chicken! But
     
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        they will still carry their original inventory of course.
     
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        Do I have to say that this has certain negative effects
     
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        concerning playbalance?
     
     
 Currently, monsters get no saving throw - they are transformed.  That is
obviously wrong.  A monster should get a saving throw as well as bonuses for
magic resistance.  That alone may make it impossible to polymorph very powerful
monsters.

 Also, multisquare monsters are currently immune.  Not a big deal, just a note
I'm adding.

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      o Polymorph generators:
     
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        Rather harmless compared to the issues above. But still
     
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        not good. One can abuse this to create certain generators,
     
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        hence endless supply of monsters for collecting their loot:
     
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        For example: Postmen for readables, vampires for spell-
     
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        books/rings etc. Second problem: Fog is a generator.
     
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        So guess what happens when you cast Polymorph at a fog?
     
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        - Yes, you get a random monster generator. Since one
     
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        can summon fog, this is possible on any given map.
     
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        Even in scorn, or on savebed places, or in shops. One
     
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        could annoy low-levels real bad with this trick!
     
     
 Do postmen generators exist?

 It would not be hard to remove the ability to polymorph fog, but this doesn't
help with respect to other generators.  More so, this can be a problem - you
could polymorph a wyvern generator in a tight space such that you know the
wyverns created are trapped and use whatever skills in relative safely to knock
them off.

 Perhaps removing the ability to polymorph generators might be the best
balancing change for this?