[crossfire] combat notes

[Mark Wedel]

Anton Oussik wrote:
> On 28/11/2007, Mark Wedel <mwedel at sonic.net> wrote:
>>   I did use a bow a little bit - quite effective.  It does shoot really fast, so
>> can easily burn through a large number of arrows.  I think it may be more
>> appropriate to lower fire rate of bows and increase their damage, just so
>> characters don't need to carry around 1000 arrows (which at low level can be
>> hard to find or actually fairly expensive to by).  Maybe a quiver of infinite
>> arrows is needed.
> 
> Consider adding many different (more powerful) arrows and bows, and
> adding them as alchemy targets. Try to balance them so that no one
> above level 10 or so would want to use the stock low level arrows
> (i.e. a level 10 bowyer should be able to reliably produce an arrow
> that is better than the default one, without expending much
> resources/effort).

  That sounds correct, but as a first pass (right now), I'm more focused on 
balancing out the combat stuff.  Certainly better arrows, and in larger numbers, 
are needed.  A difference from melee weapons is that arrows tend to get 
destroyed, so if you had 15 really good arrows, at the end of the battle, you 
may only have 5, but your nice artifact weapon is just as good as when you start.

  One that I do have on all of this is that once/if the amount of time it takes 
to gain a level is sorted out (say that 30 minute time), it gives a starting 
point for all the other skills.

  For example, for mages, it may seem slow progress, going in, killing some 
monsters, coming out, resting, etc.  But if that character can also gain levels 
at the same pace, then that is balanced.

  And same then applies for bowyer - maybe being a bowyer isn't dangerous, but 
if the act of collecting goods, going through the refining process and then 
making an object also takes about 30 minutes to get enough exp to gain a level, 
that is also in balance.  Likewise, a character with a pile of blank scrolls and 
sp to inscribe a ton of scrolls - if it takes that character 30 minutes, that 
should also be considered fine.