[CF-Devel] Gods, again

Wed Nov 15 08:24:39 CST 2000

On Wed, Nov 15, 2000 at 11:25:10PM +1100, 

     dnh at hawthorn.csse.monash.edu.au

      wrote:
>

      Okay, I have completed a table of all changes to the current gods. The

     >

      table shows all the old, unchanged and new features of each god. 

     >

     >

      http://mids.student.utwente.nl/~dnh/crossfire_pantheon.html

The following message is about the old table, but the new table isn't
all that different.

On Sun, Nov 12, 2000 at 09:25:35PM +1100, 

     dnh at hawthorn.csse.monash.edu.au

      wrote:
>

      some ideas which will either help or hinder some gods. I invite everyone 

     >

      to view it at 

      http://mids.student.utwente.nl/~dnh/crossfire_gods.html

       and

     >

      send any opinions to the list. Please don't hold back, tell me any

The list doesn't mention all special prayers that are given by the
gods.  For example, many gods currently teach the cause critical/many
wounds spells, but these spells are not mentioned anywhere in this
list.  Does this mean that they should still teach these spells?

Is 'max weapon modifications' equivalent to 'Weapons +10'?  If so, too
many gods give maximum item enchantments.  'Offensive' gods should give
medium weapon/bow enchantments, 'defensive' gods medium armour
enchantments.  Medium weapon enchantment is currently weapon +7.  High
enchantments (currently +11) should be reserved for one or at most two
gods.

I'm not going into detail which armour types might be improved by a god.
"Armour medium" could mean that Mostrai enchants all armour types a bit,
that Lythander gives speed bonus to boots and enchants body armour,
or that Valriel highly enchants all shields.

>

      Some people may not like seeing their favorite God, mostrai in

     >

      particullar, getting the short end of the stick, but that is quite simply

     >

      because mostrai has been overpowered. I too used to play mostrai, but

Mostrai was a simple god with no disadvantages and few advantages.  I
think it should stay a simple god.  If the goblins are no longer
Mostrai's enemies, followers of Mostrai will have a hard time getting
to medium wisdom levels.

(Beware, an incomplete list follows, it doesn't contain all advantages
and disadvantages of the gods.)

Gnarg:

Simple offensive god.  Even though it has an enemy race, its attack
power isn't focused on this race.

Weapons medium, bows low, armour low.
The poison spell is already very powerful (cause critical wounds easily
kills dragons).  Don't make it even more powerful.
I like the idea of a poisonous fog.
No hp regen +2.  Gnarg hurts and doesn't heal.
I'd prefer Goblin boots (Prot: draining, ac +1, armour 8, sp regen -1)
over a helmet.
Vuln. fire would be a great disadvantage and fear just suits better.
Goblins aren't very smart and are easily frightened.

Lythander:

Defensive god, but master of bows.

Weapons low, bows high, armour medium.
I think Lythander could teach the 'defense' spell.
New prayer to enchant arrows.  You put some arrows and some body parts
of goblins or trolls on an altar of Lythander and invoke this prayer.
Lythander will take the sacrifice and add attacktype: paralyze, protected:
fire, cold, electricity to the arrows.
No "conflict" spell.  This seems to be impossible to balance.
Immunity: confusion, paralyze.
Boots (speed +2).  Bolts of adamantite (with 100% chance of breaking).

Mostrai:

Simplest god, neither offensive or defensive, no disadvantages, and
only small advantages except the enemy race which is Mostrai's most
interesting property.

Weapons high, bows low, armour medium.
No interesting spells, only wall of thorns.
No holy possession, at least no holy possession with immunities.
No vulnerabilities.
The avatar of Mostrai should make less damage, but still have the
same number of hit points.
Removing goblins from Mostrai's enemies will make it more difficult
for followers of Mostrai to advance in wisdom levels.
Maybe helmet of Mostrai (ac +2, magic +2, high armour value) to help
low level followers because dwarfs are always hit on the head...

Gaea:

Defensive god.

No weapon improvements, bows low, armour medium.
Daylight, insect plague, wall of thorns.
New prayer "earth shield" which improves both armour value and
armour class.
New prayer "elemental shield" which gives protections against
fire, cold and electricity.
I like the "sanctuary" spell, but I wouldn't implement this face of
death like spell.
Normal potions of healing would be ok.

Ruggilli:

Offensive god, even if followers can't use weapons.  This should be
the perfect god for Quetzalcoatls and Fireborns.  This god combines
extreme advantages with extreme disadvantages.

Weapons low, bows medium or high, no armour enchantments.
Holy rage is a nice spell.
Immolation looks interesting but I don't know how difficult it is
to get it balanced.
Should get the simple wounding spells (no disease spells).
Retributive strike as the most powerful attack.
I wouldn't change the attacktypes and weapons are only of minor
importance.  The followers of Ruggilli wreck havoc using prayers.
Bolts with attacktype: weaponmagic to compensate the disadvantage of
Fireborns that they can't use weapons.  Sometimes the only way to damage
an enemy is using bows.

Sorig:

Rather offensive god, but with some defensive capabilities, master
of electricity.

Weapons medium, bows medium, armour low.
There aren't that many electricity prayers right now.  I wouldn't like
forked lightning if it's another cone spell.  I'd prefer this "holy
lightning" (finger of death like spell), and a "thunderstorm" spell
that casts various non-magical electricity spells in the vicinity of
the caster for an extended period of time.
Simple wounding spells.
New "headwind" prayer.  Reflects spells and missiles.
A new prayer to start flying, and another one to stop flying.
Powerful avatar.

Devourers:

Offensive god, enemy of all living things.

Weapons medium, bows low, armour low or no armour enchantments.
All disease and death spells, simple wounding spells.
I don't like weapon attacks that heal the attacker in any way, because
differing weapon speed, class and damage will make it almost impossible
to balance this.
I would prefer a prayer that drains the victim's life and heals the
caster, either once or for an extended period of time like poison.
Nightfall spell.
I can't say much about Creeping Frost because I don't know this spell,
but Devourers already gives many powerful spells.
Attacktype cold would fit.
I wouldn't add fear attacktype because Devourers already gives many
attacktypes.  Leave fear for other gods.
BTW, I don't like weapons with drain attacktype because I got much less
experience when fighting with these weapons.

Gorokh:

Offensive god, focused a bit on its enemy race.

Weapons medium, bows medium, armour low.
Simple wounding spells.
New "gates of hell" spell.  You point at an enemy, and the gates of
hell open behind him for a moment.  Effect is a large fireball, like
retributive strike, but with fire attack.
New spells that summon a daemon which enters the caster's body and makes
him a ferocious fighter for quite a while.  It could be two spells:
One for a daemon with high offensive capabilities, another spell for a
daemon with medium offensive and medium defensive capabilities.
Substituting attacktype slow for attacktype fear.
I hate attacktype confusion because it makes your opponent much stronger
in hand-to-hand combats:  He makes a step aside, you miss him, you pass
by, and he cast some spells at you (or in any direction, firebullets
can damage you indirectly even if they hit a wall, and cone spells
cover a large angel).  Thus, confused monsters are often more dangerous
than monsters with any regular movement type.
Immunities (holy possession): Slow, paralyze, confusion, fear.  That's a
lot, but there are also many items with these immunities, and Gorokh likes
hand-to-hand combats, where these effects are rather nasty compared to
casting spells at the enemy from a safe distance.

Valriel:

Defensive god, except for the enemy race.

Weapons low, bows low, armour medium.
Defense spell.
All resurrection spells.
Some kind of regeneration spell that doesn't consume food.
New "holy shield" spell that decreases ac a lot and also reflects
missiles.
Attacktype fear is one of the more powerful attacktypes because a
frightened enemy will run away and has little time to strike back.
I wouldn't add other attacktypes, but blinding is reasonable.  It
fits the picture of a god that prevents the monsters from attacking.
Permanent glow is often nasty, but a prayer that makes you glow
would be ok.
Immunity confusion, fear, blinding.

-- 
Jan