Items (brainstorming)

[DrPraetorious]

I want to avoid proposing any artifacts that don't duplicate an existing *game mechanic*.

Amulet of Raw Steel: 4E3B
Misc, Artifact
+5 Precision

Black Egg: 6D5E
Misc, Artifact
Casts an item spell *blow up province*.
Blow up province hits half the units in the current province with a strength 30 physical attack and then kills the caster.

Black Torq: 3D3N
Misc, Artifact
+1 death and nature
resistance (50%) to all four elements
quickness
is cursed

Crown of Chaos: 6B
Helmet, Artifact
Big leadership bonuses
You cause fear.
+1 on all sorcery
Horrormarks you pretty bad

Crown of Science: 3F4S
Helmet, Artifact
+1 on all magic skills
cursed
curses you

Crystal Cone: 3E2S
Helmet, Artifact
Large boost to magic resistance, dispels illusions. Looks silly.

Crystal Orb: 2E3S
Misc, Artifact
Large boost to spell penetration.

Crystal Pearl: 1E1S
Misc, Artifact
Gives combat spell - *warp*.
Warp causes people to be lost in time and space (which is the same effect # as Banish to Cocytos with a different damage, I believe.)

Dodecahedron: 3A
Increases random event frequency wherever it is.

Flat Device, 4N1E
Misc, Artifact
At start of combat, everyone on your side gains animal awe.
Restores fatigue, boosts protection and defense (bonus armor.)

Medal of Chaos, 6B
Misc, Artifact
Gives you awe.
Automatically casts Summon Hellpower at the start of battle.
Horrormarks you badly.

Moon Sickle, 4B4D
2H Weapon, Artifact
Does a lot of damage along with a full-strength life drain.

Red Cylinder, 5F2E
Misc, Artifact
Casts *find elemental sites*, which finds all elemental sites in target province.
+1 Fire and Earth magic.

Ring Device, 3A1E
Misc, Artifact
Casts *find sorcery sites*, which finds all sorcery sites in target province.

Rod Device, 3A1E
Weapon, Artifact
Gives thunder ward to the entire army at start of battle.

Sapphire Amulet, 4W3S
Misc, Artifact
Luck.
Regeneration.
Poison Immunity.
Boost to magic resistance

Sword of Nonnak: 3D3A
Weapon, Artifact
Boosts spell penetration and gives recuperation. Otherwise is an "enchanted sword".

Trident of the Red Rooster: 6W5A
2H Weapon, Artifact
Is really large weapon. Does holy damage.
Gives immunity to all four elemental damage types.

Whining Orb: 2S2W
Misc, Artifact
Casts an item spell *call spemin*.
Spemin are extremely cowardly void monsters.

[lch]

Those are all unique items, I think? Nice ideas. How would the Black Egg work with immortal commanders, do they keep the item? Or Twiceborn etc.

What are "sorcery sites", exactly? I think the Ring device may be too cheap, unless you confused the magics with the Rod Device.

[quantum_mechani]

DrPraetorious said:

Black Torq: 3D3N
Misc, Artifact
+1 death and nature
resistance (50%) to all four elements
quickness
is cursed

Trident of the Red Rooster: 6W5A
2H Weapon, Artifact
Is really large weapon. Does holy damage.
Gives immunity to all four elemental damage types.



Another ADOM fan I see. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Shovah32]

Is the amulet of raw steel supposed to give +5 precision? Sounds like it would give protection. PS: The sapphire amulet would be INSANE on SCs. Really overpowered.

[Starshine_Monarch]

Is this just for artifacts or other items too?

Camouflage Cloak: 1N
Armor, Lesser
Gives Stealth +0

Scimitar of the Tireless: 6S4E
Weapon, 1hand, Artifact
Damage: 16+str
# of attacks: 2
Attack: 6
Defense: 8
Len: 2
Auto-berserk +6 at start of battle, Automatic bless (even if not sacred), Quickness, +6 Reinvigoration

[Shovah32]

Nice scimitar there starshine, is it your own idea?

[Starshine_Monarch]

Yup, as far as I know it's 100% original.

[HoneyBadger]

The Necro Noculous
Artifact. Paths: Death 5, Blood 1
cost: 75 blood slaves, 75 death gems
User is cursed, is made insane (5), and is horror-marked,
Death increased by 2
research increased by 9
summons in battle the Maker of Ruins and then the book disappears
Maker of Ruins attacks everyone

The Morphaeus Codex
Artifact. Paths: Astral 5
cost: 150 astral gems
User is made insane (50) but also becomes etherial and gains astral shield (5)
astral increased by 1
research increased by 12
Summons in battle the Eater of Dreams and then the book disappears
Eater of Dreams attacks everyone

The Tome Ouroboris
Artifact. Paths: Blood 3, Nature 3
cost: 75 blood slaves, 75 astral gems
user is made insane (15) and becomes gluttonous (12) but gains regeneration (10%) and heals afflictions
all elemental magic increased by 1
research increased by 6
summons in battle Hunter of Heroes and then the book disappears
Hunter of Heroes attacks everyone

The Black Scroll of Cheng Leng
Cost 125 blood slaves, 125 death gems
Artifact. Paths Blood 3, Death 3
The user becomes both Sacred, and a Demon, MR increased by 4 and user stops aging while the book is held.
Blood increased by 1, death increased by 1
Research increased by 3
summons in battle a random Demon Lord and then the book disappears
Demon Lord attacks everyone

The Denebian Chronicle
Artifact. Paths Nature 3 Death 3
Cost 75 nature gems, 75 death gems
nature increased by 1, death increased by 1
Research increased by 6
The book is a weapon in battle. It attacks enemies, independent of the user, with 6 (standard) sleep tentacles. User becomes Sacred and Undead.
Summons in battle Ancient Presence and then the book disappears
Ancient Presence attacks everyone

The Emerald Tablet
artifact Paths Blood 1, Nature 5
Cost: 150 blood slaves, 150 nature gems
User becomes 300% resistant to poison, and is surrounded by a poison cloud
Nature increased by 2
Research increased by 3
Summons in battle 3 sacred hydras (standard hydras with sacred tag and Awe (0)) who are loyal to the user and then the tablet disappears. Sacred hydras remain after battle.

The Amethyst Manuscript
Cost: 125 earth gems, 25 blood slaves
artifact Paths: 3 blood, 3 earth
User gains the ability of Petrification (0) and Stoneskin,
but also becomes Lifeless
Astral increased by 1
Research increased by 6
Summons in battle Anthrax, King of Banefires, who attacks everyone.

The Waters Navids
Artifact. Paths: Blood 3, Water 3
Cost 75 blood slaves, 75 water gems
User gains Awe (5) and Fear (5) but also becomes immobile (Map movement speed 0)
Astral increased by 1
Research increased by 3
Summons in battle the Slave to Unreason and then the book disappears
Slave to Unreason attacks everyone.

The Illnomicon
artifact Paths: Blood 6
cost 300 blood slaves
Blood increased by 3
research increased by 15
User is made insane (1) but also immortal
summons in battle Umor, the Eater of Gods and then the book disappears
Eater of Gods attacks everyone

Edited continuously since 2007!

[Beorne]

quantum_mechani said:
Another ADOM fan I see. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



I'm just gone to www.adom.de (http://www.adom.de) to see if there are some game updates I'm waiting for almost 4 years ... I't's a pity to see merry christmas messages queuing one after another.
Clearly there are only two ways, or you go commercial or you go open (not that Nethack is updated much more often ...).

[Endoperez]

Beorne said:

I'm just gone to www.adom.de (http://www.adom.de) to see if there are some game updates I'm waiting for almost 4 years ... I't's a pity to see merry christmas messages queuing one after another.
Clearly there are only two ways, or you go commercial or you go open (not that Nethack is updated much more often ...).



He got Adom working (1.00 and bugfixes out), and I wouldn't call that a failure... but there would be a lot more games similar to ADOM if Mr Biskup had released the source.

Any way, back to the items:

HoneyBadger: only two paths/item. No Blood/Death/Astral items.
Gemcost depends from path requirement. Could you use the path requirements, because that's what the modders would use.


Cold Iron Helmet:
Constr 6
E2
Half Helmet with +4 mag res, like Starshine Skullcap without the Astral bonus.

Blade of Cold Iron
Constr 6
E2S1
1-handed sword, 3x damage to magic creatures like Moon Blade

Sword of Might:
Constr 6
E1
Like Sword of Sharpness (1-handed/2-handed versions), but reinvig 3/str+6 instead of armor-piercing.

The Great Sling:
Artifact (Constr 8)
E1S1
Str +10, increases precision by 5
weapon stats: dam str+20, range 25, prec 2, ammo 12
shots look like boulders

Giant Slayer:
Constr 2
N1
A sling with (x2 damage to larger creatures) as the Short Sword of the hoburg Oberführer.

[Shovah32]

Very nice endo, very nice in deed. Were those first 2 items made with ulm in mind?

[Endoperez]

Yes: Ulm, and Earth as the source of good equipment. I mentioned the helmet, at least, when I released my Ulm upgrade mod. Blade of Cold Iron would be more interesting as pure Earth (E3) or Earth/Water instead of Earth/Astral, but I used Elf Bane as a guideline.

I've had lots of time to think these through. Sword of Might is basically Girdle of Might in a weapon, like Faithful/Pendant of Luck.

I also happen to like slings.

These would all be pretty basic items as well. #copyitem or #copyweapon, slot change for the item, and the ability to create/describe/add picture to a new magic item.

[LoloMo]

Amulet of Monumental Martyrdom
Construction 6
E4N2
At beginning of battle, casts the following on the wearer:
Protection +25
MR +3
Standard (15)
Resistance to All +100%
Paralyzed (50)
and in case he survives: Feeblemind, Insanity

Amulet of Horrific Martyrdom
Protection +25
MR +3
Fear (15)
Resistance to All +100%
Paralyzed (50)
and in case he survives: Feeblemind, Insanity

[HoneyBadger]

I don't have any blood/death/astral items, or do you mean gem cost? That'd be easy to fix. Path requirements would be the same as for any other artifact, Construction 8.

If it's just gem cost, then 75 death gems and 75 blood slaves for the Necro Noculous, 75 astral gems and 75 blood slaves for the Morphaeus Codex, 75 nature gems and 75 blood slaves for the Tome Ouroboris, and 300 blood slaves for the Illnomicon.

[Endoperez]

HoneyBadger said:
I don't have any blood/death/astral items, or do you mean gem cost? That'd be easy to fix. Path requirements would be the same as for any other artifact, Construction 8.

If it's just gem cost, then 75 death gems and 75 blood slaves for the Necro Noculous, 75 astral gems and 75 blood slaves for the Morphaeus Codex, 75 nature gems and 75 blood slaves for the Tome Ouroboris, and 300 blood slaves for the Illnomicon.



With path requirements, I meant the paths a mage needs to be able to forge that item. E2 for Earth Boots, W1 for Water Bracelet, etc.
Path requirement is also the way the game calculates gem cost: 1 -> 5 gems, 2 -> 10, 3 -> 15, 4 -> 25, 5 -> 40 etc, the next value being calculated by adding two earlier ones together. Because of this, writing the requirements as, say, Blood 5 Death 5 (40 and 40 gems/slaves) for Necro Noculous, Blood 5 Astral 5 for Morpheus Codex, Blood 5 Nature 5 for Tome Ouroboris and and Blood 8 (170 slaves) for the Illnomicon. Increasing the path requirements by one (to 6 and 6 for the three first, and 9 for the last) would give values closer to the ones you had (75 gems/75 slaves, and 275 slaves), but it'd make the items even harder to use in a real game.

The books are great ideas, but Illnomicon's +3 Blood isn't that good if you need Blood 7, 8 or 9 to make it... Sorcery +1 and Blood +2 would be a bit better. Perhaps all the books should give the wielder the ability to send horrors, as Gift of Kurgi?

[Sandman]

Some of these I've suggested before:

Trickster's Cap: fire-1, air-1. Halves the fatigue cost of all spells with a path requirement of one. Mid level.

The Stone of Destiny: earth-4, astral-4. Grants a 10-gem bonus when casting globals or dispel, but doesn't decrease the initial gem cost. Unique.

Trinket Hammer: fire-2, earth-2. Allows a mage to forge two level-0 items for the price of one. High level.

Scavenger's ring: fire-2. Greatly increases the chances of finding enemy items after a battle. Mid-level.

Loki's Crown: nature-5. The wearer can cast Transformation at no cost and no risk.

[DrPraetorious]

Loki's Crown could probably be done - I'm not sure about the "no risk" part.

The others would require engine rewrites (i.e. they don't exploit an existing game mechanic.)

I believe that penetration bonuses make your spells harder to dispel, so the stone of destiny could just provide a big penetration bonus. I'm not sure about this.

[MaxWilson]

The Black Egg made me laugh. I can't remember enough about Starflight to get the joke with the Flat Device, Rod Device, and Crystal Cone.

-Max

[HoneyBadger]

I didn't have time earlier to comment on the books. I edited them a bit, not sure if they're overpowered or not. I don't think they're underpowered, but I also don't think I'd build a "grand strategy" around most of them. I hope someone likes them enough to put them in whatever mod this is leading up to.

They're meant more to be interesting than to be useful, since you really can't enter combat without losing them and possibly getting yourself killed by whatever horrible creature you've just awoken. It's kind of an "instant horror, just add water" dealie, except ofcourse for the Emerald Tablet. I just threw that one in for fun, to be the exception to the rule-and it has it's own problems.

If anyone seriously wants to use these, I'd be happy to provide detailed descriptions for them-some of them are based-atleast a little bit-on real (or atleast fictional) books, while others I have interesting backstories for.

Thanks for all the input, Endoperez. I very much appreciate it. If there's anything else you think could make them better, please let me know.

[HoneyBadger]

I'd really like a set of boots to forge that absolutely, positively, prevented a unit from fleeing a battle.

[lch]

That's easy. Give it boots that makes the unit immobile. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[ologm]

A cursed armor that gives +30 berserk, however the unit that uses it dissapears after battle.

[Shovah32]

+30 berserk? Im hoping thats an artifact http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[HoneyBadger]

How about items that temporarily allow (or force) transformation into a different unit?

[DrPraetorious]

I'm not sure. I don't think any of the current items give shapechange - and I'm not sure if there's any way to have an item turn you into anything other than a werewolf.

It depends on how the internal code is set up.

[HoneyBadger]

I think it would have to be deved.

[HoneyBadger]

Pan Pipes

Misc very powerful magic item
req: Nature 3, Earth 3, Const 6
Unit heals afflictions

The Caduceus
2-handed artifact weapon
req: Nature 7, Water 7, Const 8
Does no damage, units struck in combat with the Caduceus are healed as per the spell-even undead, demons, and unliving/constructs
Cursed (cannot be unequipped), allows wielder to heal living troops (as per Fairy Queen, etc) in the same province
Wielder does not age, heals afflictions, and regenerates (25%)

[DrPraetorious]

I'm not sure if items can enable orders (no existing item gives the ability to heal battle afflictions.)

I assume that while weapons can be given the ability to inflict healing damage (which is just another damage type), I don't think that the AI is presently set up to use them on friends, so the cadeuceus would probably have to give a healing-type item spell.

[HoneyBadger]

Well, if it can't be done, it can't be done. Regardless, I think it would make a good, "Dominionesque" artifact, if it can be done.

[Lazy_Perfectionist]

I'd hope to flesh out trinkets/lesser magic items, so thats what I'm aiming for, the no-option paths. Not worrying too much about balance, if someone uses it, they can tweak it however they want. I'm just brainstorming, not planning to mod it. I'll have particular trouble coming up blood ideas.

Blade of Bone - Damage 5, Length 1. Effectively, a short sword for when nothing else is available. If the wielder also wears the skull talisman, kills will animate as skeletons.

Wind Lash - Damage 0, Length 7, Attack 3
No weapons can repel the Wind Lash.
Alternate A: Damage 2, strength not added, armor negating, length 7, attack 3, attacks 3 times. Occasional open-ended roll can turn out very good.

Blood - Vampire's Teeth (misc)
Unfortunately, these dentures don't make you a vampire, just a wannabe. No immortality, no life drain, but you do get a bite attack. Affected by strength, easily deterred by anybody with a beating stick (range 0). Will decrease credibility (leadership goes down).

Shield of Wind - 0 protection (its made of air), parry 10, defense 4.
It cannot stop a blow, but turn it aside. As description text, steal some Zen/Taoist phrase. There's one on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't recall.

Turtle Shield - Takes on traits of turtle, including speed. Doesn't have much parry (small) but does increase natural protection by 2, or to a minimum of 5.

Hot Plate of Champions - This shield also removes the coldblooded trait.

Shield of Ribs - this shield stinks at catching arrows, but can deflect blows. Good defense, acceptable protection, etc.
Forge it with Blood and Death, and it comes with flesh still on it. Much better parry score, good protection, unquestionably disgusting, more encumbrance.

[silhouette]

There are several "historical" magic items which would make good artifact additions I think, but these can't be done based on what attributes can be modded or affected by items:

The Tarnhelm (A5 E4)
Adds glamour, stealth, and flight
maybe .secondshape Dragon to represent shapeshifting

The Palladium (N6 S3)
Large misc slot item (maybe 2 slots like the Arc)
Provides gigantic Supply and Fort Defence and Valor ++

Bag of Dragon's Teeth (F5 E2)
In combat, summons Heavy Infantry, or maybe Myrmidons

"Caladbolg" sword (E6)
Armor negating and area attack hits 3 squares
(one blow chopped off the tops of 3 hills)

We should have some more artifact ranged weapons, and some non-western legend items like Persian: Cup of Jamshid or Flying Throne of Kai Kavus. There's a good list for looking over at wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mythological_objects).

Sill

[Lazy_Perfectionist]

Along that line, how about a "Roc's Egg shell". Give it the ability to cast Dome of Solid Air, and the wielder may be attacked by djinni/genies.

[HoneyBadger]

I'd suggest the bag of dragon's teeth provide kappas, I think that would be both cool and thematic (kappas being reptilian and unarmed)

[lch]

HoneyBadger said:
I'd suggest the bag of dragon's teeth provide kappas, I think that would be both cool and thematic (kappas being reptilian and unarmed)


How is that thematic? It may be a while since I have read greek mythology, but I don't remember a thing about Kappas. The Heavy Infantry / Myrmidons is more thematic.

[Lazy_Perfectionist]

Weevil Biscuits-
The unit who carries these is infected with disease, but provides extra food to the army on the march.

Scissors of Sharpness
Armor negating, length 0, attack -2, damage 2. May cause blindness in target or wielder. (If its not possibly to randomly blind yourself, than just curse wielder)

"Don't run with those, you could put someone's eye out."

Safety Scissors
Length 0, attack +5, damage -5, stun 5, awe (0)
It's hard to believe someone's attacking you with safety scissors. It's so unbelievably sad, you just wouldn't feel right fighting back. You waste quite a bit of energy trying to keep from laughing your *** off.

[DigitalSin]

Holy Hand Grenade
10 range, 2 aoe, 20 damage (strength not added), if its possible make the wielder blessed like the shroud does
"First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out."

[HoneyBadger]

It's thematic in the sense that wristwatches don't grow on trees.

Yes, you've got magic going, so you can say that anything is possible, but fully armored human soldiers don't just pop up out of the ground and fight for you. You might as well expect a crop of AK-47's. Kappas, on the other hand are 1: demons, so they can have magical origins, and more than one origin, for that matter, and 2: they're reptilian, so it makes a lot more sense that they come from dragons' teeth than humans do.

And yes, it's important for magic to make sense, because magic is powered by belief. Infact, Thaumaturgy is all about things making sense-you do something on a small scale, and a large scale thing happens, or you do something similar to what you want to happen, and what you want to happen, happens.

Magic isn't science, it's not governed by strict laws, but it has rules, conduits, and structure.

Now I know all about the legend of the dragon's teeth. I've read it many times, and yes, it says fully armored soldiers sprang up out of the ground after the teeth were planted-but kappas *are* fully armored, and we're dealing, basically, with the impressions of ignorant tribesfolk here. If they saw a kappa, with their shells and distinctive heads, yes they'd probably recognise it as a "fully armored soldier".