The Tavern

The Hollows is a potential branch replacement for the Crypt that I thought up recently, when I realized that going through as a necromancer was kind of boring. It would replace Crypt in some games and include an entrance to Tomb.

The Hollows are a bizarre natural cavern, with formations that resemble interlocking circles. The cavern is marred by sparse corridors, created by its inhabitants. Noise carries farther in the hollows due to echoes.

Encounters in the Hollows include undead, abyss-level demons and powerful living creatures, mostly with an earth and air theme. New monsters would be created for this branch to create interesting tactical encounters in the mostly-open space. Ideas for new monsters include an enemy that digs out a 3x3 space in the rocks as it moves and a fast-moving flying enemy that moves erratically and never sleeps. Possibly an enemy type that turns walls into rocks and throws them at you. (The rocks would break on hit, so you can't farm them for large rocks.)

A sample level would look something like this, but larger:



A second, less fleshed-out proposal I have is a potential replacement for the Hall of Blades, which I call the Hall of Enlightenment. It would have a similar layout to Hall, but contain psionic humans instead of living weapons. The psionic humans would be divided into three types, each with their own list of potential spells. Psionic adepts focus on blasting you, psionic guardians buff themselves and fight in melee, and psionic watchers afflict you with maluses and status effects. The Hall of Enlightenment would contain an altar to Ideron, the psionic concept described in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12173.

It should be known that I am currently hammered and can't tell a good idea from a bad one, which is why this is going in CYC.

don't worry I can tell.







































































(it's bad)

Oh darn.

Yeah... A somewhat cavernous branch with a good amount of open space and lots of earth- and air-themed enemies sounds similar to what the Depths feel like already, just without as many dragons and giants. You got deep troll packs with earth mages, spriggan packs with air mages, stone giants which already chuck large rocks at you, and the other enemy you describe just sounds like a harpy with insomnia.

Crazy idea: A branch chock full of nasty melee brutes, including several fast ones. Your LOS is diminished as you descend. Could experiment with deep dwarf and/or gargoyle enemies, since those are a thing now anyway. Not sure what layouts would be most interesting, though. Could serve as a randomly chosen replacement for Crypt or Elf. (Warning: This is probably a bad idea, too. Especially since some people really dislike how smaller-than-usual LOS looks and plays...)

I'd actually prefer Crypt be purged from the game entirely rather than being randomly replaced. That said, there's nothing saying you can't use your Hollows idea for a series of in-level vaults or even portal vaults. Your sample level would look right at home in Depths.

The idea of enemies that dig is a more difficult one than is immediately obvious, since if left unattended they have a tendency to swiss-cheese the level and eliminate terrain that would otherwise be interesting. Deep troll earth mages at least have the courtesy to only wreck the level where the player is currently standing, and provide compensation for the terrain damage by making their buddies more interesting.

Alright, I'll make a vault for my idea. It'll be pretty big, so be ready for it. Is it possible to reduce LoS on a per-level basis? That would be an interesting level idea for the regular dungeon.

Why is the dungeon layout a kirby ?