nicolae wrote:Minotaurs already make good Berserkers, they don't really need any nudging in that direction, and they already have a labyrinth-themed mapping ability.
I'm against the extra mapping too, but, I'm going to go ahead and say: "I'd much rather play a KoBe, HOBe, TrBe or OgBe than a minotaur". Heck, i would even play a Merfolk or Halfling instead of a Minotaur due to their unique perks. Minotaurs should be made more diverse...
This is a little personal fact of mine:
I haven't played minotaurs more than 5 times in the hundreds of games I've ran, and I've been playing Crawl for more than a year mostly with melee combos. Why is that, you may ask? Well, frankly, they seem boring as sin to me and are far from being the best berserkers - or the most convenient at least - since other than the great melee apts, they don't have anything special that sets them apart.
To me, Minotaurs are just humans with slightly modified stats, a pair of horns and great melee apts, shitty magic skill and slightly high HP/low MP growth. The package just doesn't have anything attractive to it. Not being able to wear artifact helmets is potentially annoying, too. I think what makes a race great is a unique set of fixed mutations that define it, or a special "gimmick" such as Octopodes not being able to wear armor but 8 rings instead. I don't particularly play Octopodes much, but they are a very different, interesting and refreshing way to play.
Here's what I think of Minotaurs:
I imagine Minotaurs as raging bulls. They should get angry pretty easily, which should translate into innate Berserkitis. Also, Hooves 3 is a must, since their lower body is nothing similar to a humans. They look like satyr legs, only much more muscular. I don't know how OP this unarmed mutation would be, but frankly, losing the boot slot is bad enough to counter it since it's tied to Speed/Levi/Stealth boots.
What could be done:- Code:
Start with berserkitis 1 (it has a low chance of proc, but especially cautious players could make use of the nice ranged apts of Minotaurs and raise their crossbow/slings/w/e a bit to try and avoid it triggering more than it should, if they wish to do so)
At level 13, you gain berserkitis 2 (might need to change the way it triggers if it is too often) and the ability to ignore a good part of the penalties of berserking and lower its food cost.
Attempt to explain it flavour wise: As you're getting deeper into the dungeon, your anger management issues get worse, since it's harder to keep your cool when you witness the horrors in the lower levels, but in the same time, regular use of berserking has taught you how to embrace your anger, so that you can shake off some of the negative effects and do it more efficiently.
I assumed that cutting back the costs of berserk would be OP for the early game in particular, so what If you get the reduction at lvl 13? I think, if done correctly, this CAN be balanced and lead to a very unique race that's built around pure melee fury, either with Trog or without. Minotaurs fit thematically, and are crappy at Spellcasting, so they fit even more. It will lead to a faster, more reckless early gameplay and more food needed initially, but after lvl 13, berserking would be much cheaper food-wise and occur pretty often in battle. It could lead to some ugly situations, but that's what clarity is for, If you are worried.
If this can't be done at all with the current berserkitis, I think berserkitis should be reworked and the minotaur built around it, since there's been complaints
https://crawl.develz.org/tavern/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2963 about the mutation not being crippling to casters at all (where it should matter, causing berserk on a spellcaster is a standard tactic to effectively cripple them for a fight -causing them to attack you with their weak melee skills- in most RPGs. If you've played any Final Fantasy title you should probably know this) while being potentially game-losing to melee characters if they can't have clarity.