Imnoben the immortal

[HardboiledGargoyle]

new god proposal
altar would not exist in the game
only available through new exclusive background
possibly replacing berserker
does not have a piety system

start with CK/AK-like stat and skill distribution
start with weak +0 vampiric weapon of your choice and a single-spell book with Vampiric Draining

Passives:
wielding a vampiric weapon does not incur hunger
you do not regenerate HP - the restrictions of slow healing 3 apply
you do not regenerate MP, and you also can't channel/sublimate
DD damage shaving
spirit shield
your max MP is added to your max HP
your max HP is added to your max MP
e.g. a char with HP:60, MP:10 becomes HP:70, MP:70
MP on kills of undead/demonic/nonliving monsters

Actives:
maybe? - batform or other vampire gimmicks
you can brand any non-artefact melee weapon with vampirism at no cost

Death:
If you abandon Imnoben voluntarily, you die a Felid death instantly (i.e. you teleport fully healed and restored.) If you die while worshiping Imnoben, Imnoben is abandoned automatically and you die a Felid death. This side-steps the DD death spiral issue - you can die, but it's not game over for you. But you can still win and even 15-rune with Imnoben.

Wrath:
you lose all your passive and active abilities
vampiric weapons will never heal you
you can never cast vampiric draining again
you can't worship Imnoben again (since altars don't exist)

Summary:
The idea is so that many species can have something like the DD experience. Imnoben tends to funnel you into a simple and particular build, hence the similarity to Trog. The huge MP pool and MP on kills of most monsters that are not natural provides incentive to kill those enemies, lets you tackle the extended game with Slow Healing 3, and provides an indirect but effective way of resisting torment.

Felids can't worship Imnoben, to keep things simple. Stashing monsters for harvesting when needed remains unsolved, but I see that as an independent problem, seeing how it afflicts current DD and this proposal alike.

[Midn8]

Why not just play a deep dwarf?

[tasonir]

Turning other races into DD's is not an impossible idea and has been floated before, but DD's + automatic vampiric draining and vampiric weapon with free switching is a longshot.

Also having the whole HP and MP equal to HP+MP each, and giving them spirit shield? You realize you basically just multiplied everyone's hitpoint pools by about 3 times, and gave them damage shaving? I'd say it wouldn't be too bad since healing it would be tough, but again with the automatic vampiric weapon/spell, you can farm anything living for hp and anything non-living for mana, which again, is your hit points...

I'd have a hard time seeing anyone die with Imnoben, and even if they did, there's a completely free reset attached to death. This really won't be required.

[Siegurt]

I like DD's damage shaving + noregen (i would make it an overall unhealable, actually) as a temporary consumable, rather than a god, personally.

[HardboiledGargoyle]

damage shaving used to be a temporary consumable, via the Fortitude card, and I think damage shaving could easily replace berserk's +50% HP bonus

Why not just play a deep dwarf?

because I think this background would allow an easy DD-like or Be-like experience that is more unique and more diverse. No regen changes the game in a more fundamental way than no casting. Easy access to vamp stuff encourages you to be adjacent and dirty, which is more fun than avoiding damage from trivial enemies, which is what DD^healing_god encourages.

DD's + automatic vampiric draining and vampiric weapon with free switching is a longshot

you know, someone that starts out with damage shaving and vampiric draining is just DDNe, and they even get to pick a god!
DD have damage shaving and +20% HP and lots of heal wounds, right? I don't think that a godless DD that found a so-so vampiric weapon would be less powerful than this background.

there's a completely free reset attached to death. This really won't be required.

i suppose you're right. You could say that it's the player's responsibility to abandon god and regen their HP, if they think they won't be able to out-vamp the damage they're taking.

[duvessa]

I don't think that a godless DD that found a so-so vampiric weapon would be less powerful than this background.

"Not more overpowered than DD" is a pretty generous standard of balance

[Elitist]

I think part of the reason Trog is a starter god is because of how simplistic and streamlined the experience is. I do not think this would be very simple, buuuuuut, what do I know? You've offered both spell and weapon to fix the healing issue, and you've probably thought of a fair few races while making this AND it's an extra life, so new players can have "just one more chance". I'd really love to play it.

When you say a Felid death, do you mean you lose a level upon dying?

[HardboiledGargoyle]

a level doesn't matter much since you die only once. But you'd start worshiping your second god without piety, which is more concerning.

Trog gives you 4 abilities that need skill to use well and at the right time, whereas Imnoben doesn't give you any tactical abilities at all. Imnoben also has no piety system, and still heavily restricts your spellcasting due to no MP regen, like Pakellas. You'd probably go melee with big vampiric weapons, and you wouldn't rely on loot much since every non-artefact is a potential vampiric weapon. So, I think Imnoben would actually be more streamlined than Trog, especially seeing how you don't need to retreat/regen/reset with Slow Healing 3.