Race: Lava Serpent/Salamander

[bcadren]

This is a redraft and I know where the old topics are; but they aren't relevant. Salamanders have two disadvantages; no scrolls and Naga speed. They make up for these disadvantages with unique boosts and abilities. "They are as similar to Nagas are High Elves are Humans."

Weirdness/Mutations:

• You are made of molten lava.
  • rTorm
  • rF(Immune)
  • rC--
  • rPois+
  • Cold Blooded (slowed by cold attacks)
  • You walk on lava and are boosted by it. (Lava boosts your EV and movement speed.)
  • Yredelemnul considers you non-living [Statue Form] and doesn't accept your worship.
  • Standing in shallow water produces steam and slows you.
• You may melt stone around you.
  • You may walk through rock and stone walls like ground tiles; but you cannot attack while inside a wall (but you can be attacked if you are on the surface).
• Your hands are superheated.
  • You cannot use scrolls. You start to read the scroll, but it bursts in flames before you can finish!
  • Your UC has added fire damage. [d(XL/3) extra damage on every hit; which checks AC/2; extra hit like Electrocution.]
  • You heat all weapons. (Non-artifacts are forced to flaming brand.)
• Your heat can destroy anything.
  • You have the (a)bility to melt/burn any item to get rid of it. Mostly useful for removing cursed things (replaces ?RC).
• Your molten stone flesh is tough
  • +2 + (XL/3) AC.
• Slow III.
  • Base movement speed 13.
• Misshapen
  • Half AC from body armour, can wear naga bardings.

Aptitudes:

  Code:

LS: Fighting: 2!, Short: -2, Long: -1, Axes: 0, Maces: 1, Polearms: 0, Staves: -1, Slings: -2, Bows: -1, Xbows: 0, Throw: -2, Armour: -3*, Dodge: -2, Stealth: 3, Shields: -1, UC: -1, Splcast: 0, Conj: 1, Hexes: 0, Charms: 0, Summ: 1, Nec: -3*, Tloc: -2, Tmut: 0, Fire: 3!, Ice: -4*, Air: -1, Earth: 2, Poison: -2*, Inv: 1, Evo: -1, Exp: -1, HP: -2, MP: 1

Stats:
Strength: 10
Intelligence: 12
Dexterity: 4
Gains one random every 5 levels.

[BugHunter]

If you're hot enough that weapons act like a flaming brand, then you're hot enough to burn wooden stuff. Pole arms, clubs, bows and crossbows, greatslings. Most shields. Maybe also leather stuff, like leather armour, whips, hunting slings, boots. Cloth too, no robes or hats. Hmmm, according to Ray Bradbury, paper ignites at 421 degrees Fahrenheit, so if you ignite scrolls, that should be enough to boil potions, too.

Being able to walk through walls is huge. If you're next to a wall and a fight is going poorly, just walk two spaces and you've escaped. Given the speed, the monster will probably only get one shot, maybe none. Yeah, maybe there is a monster on the other side of the wall, but maybe not. Sometimes you'll be going into cleared areas, sometimes you can pick a thick enough section of rock so there is no other side and just sit and rest, safe inside the wall. Compared to a teleport, this is quicker, and you get to choose where you're going, so with care you can pick pretty safe destinations.

[CanOfWorms]

Salamanders aren't non-living though? I don't really see the point of tacking on rTorm, rPois and wall walking to be honest.

[tasonir]

Agreed about adding rTorm/rPois/wall walking, it isn't really required. I'm not sure if fire immunity is the best mechanically, it trivializes a lot of monsters. rF+++ or even rF++ should be plenty imho, and then you can just give them rC- instead of two ranks. Slow 3 doesn't translate to "speed 13" - just say their movement speed is 16 auts (1.6 turns).

If we're going the full "made of molten lava" route then I probably wouldn't call them salamanders, which exist as a living monster which leaves edible corpses. Molten golem, cherufe, anything else, really.

I'd say the differences I suggest here are fairly minor, overall I like the race. Giving them bonus UC damage and UC -1 seems a bit odd, but that might be important for balance, or UC would be very easy. Do they keep flaming damage when using blade hands? Statue/hydra/dragon form?

While probably mechanically unnecessary, it'd be awesome if generating the steam/slowing them in water also removed the water tile. Being able to wade through water and generate land would be cool without really being too abusable, as you could just fly over it anyways. If anything the slow in shoals would probably be more deadly than normal.

[byrel]

This does sound more like molten gargoyle or molten construct/golem than salamander

[WingedEspeon]

HP -2 apt combined with slow is a bad idea. The apts you listed leave a better fighting apt as the only reason that these guys are more robust than deep elves. You also give them worse apt for armour than nagas and worse dex than nagas to go with thier naga level dodging apt. No scrolls means no scrolls of enchant weapon or armour, meaning you are hoping to find pre enchanted armour of weapon and/or getting them from a god. Because you are using under enchanted gear these guys will probably be squishier than deep elves. because of the no scrolls limates and their terrible apts for melee you and almost force to play a caster. However, you have a much more difficult time running away to regain mp than a standard race, and you only have +1 mp apt to compensate for all this. +0 or even +1 UC apt would be better IMO, you are already bad enough in melee and formless clawless UC is currently kinda bad even at +0 apt.

However, walking though walls would be very overpowered. It would probably compensate for the extreem disadvantages you would otherwise suffer. This means that this is basicaly a pure caster race that kites everything to death because it isn't strong enough to survive in melee despite the fact that it has slower than normal movement speed.

another couple things: if you burn scrolls shouldn't you also burn spellbooks (currently spellbooks are burnable whereas scrolls are not)? Do you still burn scrolls when you use a transmutation like spider form?

You cannot worship Dithmenos when you play this species.