Abyss Ambulator
Posts: 1189
Joined: Friday, 28th January 2011, 21:45
Thursday, 1st November 2012, 02:42
Vaults Monster Set Revamp
The Vaults is that branch with a whole lot of potential, but much of it wasted. There's a lot of general proposals to adjusting Vaults in manners such as layouts and what not, but this one will specifically target the current monster set.
At present, the Vaults monster set is basically "Main Dungeon Monsters continued". There's very little that is normally encountered in the Vaults that isn't encountered in the main dungeon or one of Vault's sub-branches. Personally, all I can think of are Vault Guards and Quicksliver Dragons, which is pretty darn abysmal in terms of introducing new monsters and mechanics. As such, in a flood of inspiration, I came up with an entirely new set of monsters.
First, all the stuff that normally spawns in the main dungeon, such as ugly things, slime creatures, yaktaurs, orc packs, ogre packs, giants, and all that other junk is removed from Vaults. Vault Guards and Quicksliver Dragons stay, as does the trademark V:8 welcoming committee.
Second, the Vaults' new monster theme is oriented around the artificial monsters and treasures that protect themselves from robbers. As such, most foes encountered in Vaults will be lifeless artificial opponents, something not seen in any other branch except Hall of Blades.
And third, speaking of Blade, it'd, consequently, would probably need to be removed if this revamp went through. Why? Redundancy, as you'll see why.
The monster set would include a old friends, such as various golems and statues and, of course, animated weapons. Stats could be readjusted so that they're all appropriate for being a branch-specific monster, kind of like how most spider-type enemies got rebalanced for the Spider Nest. But, of course, there's a slew of new friends as well, including lots of other animated items bent on killing you…
These include…
Animated launchers (bows, crossbows, and slings): These have the ability to shoot through other animated items without harming them, which is a very important trait. Why? Every shot they fire is also animated and, after hitting (or missing) the player, will arise from wherever it landed to attack the player on its own. Should the launcher run out of ammo, it will use Apportation to acquire more ammo, animated or not. Unanimated ammo it apports and subsequently fires becomes animated. When killed, any ammo it is "carrying" will still be animated and proceed to attack the player.
Animated ammo: Some of its tricks are already listed, but if they're without a launcher (or are a throwing weapon like a large rock) they'll travel in packs and will "rush" the player similar to the Boulder Beetle's rolling attack.
Animated potions: Come in all flavors and behave like Giant Spores in that they'll rush the player and attempt to explode. Should they explode, they release clouds as if they had been used in the Evaporate spell, so depending on the potion the effect could be anywhere from steam to miasma. Killing them makes them drop as a usable potion, but not if they explode. So, it could force interesting tactical decisions if, say, a Potion of Cure Mutation was hellbent on murdering you while you're trying to flee on low HP from some animated swords.
Animated scrolls: Once they sight the player, they will attempt to use themselves to attack the player. The scroll will unfurl and a disembodied voice will begin to slowly read it. It takes a few turns, say 3-5, for the scroll to finish, at which point it will be consumed and hit the player with an affect related to the scroll. If defeated, can be used as normal.
-Torment, Holy Word, Noise, Silence, Vulnerability, Unholy Creation, Fog, Fear, and Immolation do as they always do, though Immolation will attempt to get in range and Silence will center on the player regardless.
-Curse Weapon/Armor/Jewel will curse the player's equipment as appropriate. Not animated if the player worships Ashenzari.
-Remove Curse only animates if the player worships Ash and will uncurse a random piece of gear.
-Teleportation and Blinking will teleport/blink the player randomly.
-Enchant Weapon/Armor will attempt to enchant nearby hostile animated weapons or armor.
-Recharging will attempt to recharge nearby hostile animated wands and rods and/or could attempt to drain a player's wands/rods.
-Magic Mapping will alert all awake monsters on the level to your current location. Alternatively, causes temporary map rot. After a short time, what the player explored will be remembered. I think Ash could protect from this.
-Identify will reveal you if you're invisible. Alternatively, causes the player to temporarily forget the identity of some of their items, which are properly recalled when the effect ends. I think Ash could protect from this.
-Uselessness summons Butterflies.
-Acquirement will acquire a weapon, which will be hostile and animated.
-Amnesia will cause the player to temporarily forget a spell. The spell slots will still be used and the spell can still be properly forgotten, but the spell itself will be unusable for a short time. I think Sif Muna and/or Ash could protect from this.
Animated Wands/Rods: Will use offensive effects/spells on the player, defensive effects on anything hostile to the player. If a wand runs out of charges, it will cease being animated unless an animated Scroll of Recharge is nearby.
Animated Staves: Behave like animated weapons.
Animated Decks: Will draw cards and use them against the player. Probably only have Destruction, Summoning, and War be eligible for simplicity sake… and the fact a hostile Deck of Wonders spamming Shuffle at you would be incredibly frustrating.
Animated Misc Summoning Items (Air Elemental Fan, Box of Beasts, etc): Summons stuff to attack the player. The Box of Beasts will cease being animated if it empties and the Efreet Bottle will be consumed if it is used. The Lamp of Shadows also falls under here and will spam shadows at the player, but not reduce LOS (the player could purposely let a Lantern of Shadows follow them to abuse the LOS reduction).
Crystal Ball of Energy: Drains MP from the player.
Spellbooks and the Tome of Destruction: Casts spells at the player. Trog followers can one-shot the spellbooks with Book Burning.
Shields and non-body armor: Will attempt to position itself between the player and the ranged animated items, such as launchers and scrolls.
Body Armor: Acts like a haunted/possessed suit of armor, with heavier armors being stronger and more durable, but slower (robes are fast, CPM are slow). Other animated items are attracted to it, which it will "equip" and use. It will take armor for each auxiliary slot, either a two-handed weapon or weapon and shield, throwing weapons or a launcher with ammo (can apport spent ammo and shot ammo is animated), and a wand, rod, or spellbook. All attacks against it are directed against the armor itself. When the armor is killed, it will drop all of its "gear", which is, of course, still animated and will proceed to attack the player as it would normally. Animated Body Armor always spawns "awake" and will gladly look for gear before the player has even met it.
Animated Mimics: What? They wanted to get in on the fun too! Disguised as an animated item, but when it gets into melee it'll do its normal, mimic attacks such as poison and constriction.
Jewels, corpses, food, and gold will never be animated.
Yes, that's a lot of animated stuff. Most, if not all, eligible loot should be animated when the player enters the level and should rarely, or never, spawn after the level is generated.
All the various golems, except possibly Electric golems, can spawn in Vaults. Some new ones will also probably need to exist, such as ones that can reflect spells and projectiles, golems that are charged with attack magic, golems that shatter on death, golems that can combine themselves into massive golems, and more. It'd also be neat if, rather than always wandering, golems could hide in walls or disguise themselves as harmless statues and burst out from hiding when the player passes nearby, perhaps causing a LRD effect when doing so.
Statues should probably not be used too frequently outside of pre-made mini-vaults since a statue in the middle of nowhere is harmless and pointless. Also, more statue variety would be good, such as magma counterparts to Ice Statues, melody statues (sings to cause mesmerization, could always spawn with other statues), statues that shoot/throw animated ammo, alarm statues that alert nearby monsters to the player's location, and others.
I think, all combined, this should make for a much more interesting and unique monster set that poses some varied, and new challenges not seen in other branches. I mean, after all, how often do you have to try to stop a Scroll of Acquirement from trying to kill you?
At present, the Vaults monster set is basically "Main Dungeon Monsters continued". There's very little that is normally encountered in the Vaults that isn't encountered in the main dungeon or one of Vault's sub-branches. Personally, all I can think of are Vault Guards and Quicksliver Dragons, which is pretty darn abysmal in terms of introducing new monsters and mechanics. As such, in a flood of inspiration, I came up with an entirely new set of monsters.
First, all the stuff that normally spawns in the main dungeon, such as ugly things, slime creatures, yaktaurs, orc packs, ogre packs, giants, and all that other junk is removed from Vaults. Vault Guards and Quicksliver Dragons stay, as does the trademark V:8 welcoming committee.
Second, the Vaults' new monster theme is oriented around the artificial monsters and treasures that protect themselves from robbers. As such, most foes encountered in Vaults will be lifeless artificial opponents, something not seen in any other branch except Hall of Blades.
And third, speaking of Blade, it'd, consequently, would probably need to be removed if this revamp went through. Why? Redundancy, as you'll see why.
The monster set would include a old friends, such as various golems and statues and, of course, animated weapons. Stats could be readjusted so that they're all appropriate for being a branch-specific monster, kind of like how most spider-type enemies got rebalanced for the Spider Nest. But, of course, there's a slew of new friends as well, including lots of other animated items bent on killing you…
These include…
Animated launchers (bows, crossbows, and slings): These have the ability to shoot through other animated items without harming them, which is a very important trait. Why? Every shot they fire is also animated and, after hitting (or missing) the player, will arise from wherever it landed to attack the player on its own. Should the launcher run out of ammo, it will use Apportation to acquire more ammo, animated or not. Unanimated ammo it apports and subsequently fires becomes animated. When killed, any ammo it is "carrying" will still be animated and proceed to attack the player.
Animated ammo: Some of its tricks are already listed, but if they're without a launcher (or are a throwing weapon like a large rock) they'll travel in packs and will "rush" the player similar to the Boulder Beetle's rolling attack.
Animated potions: Come in all flavors and behave like Giant Spores in that they'll rush the player and attempt to explode. Should they explode, they release clouds as if they had been used in the Evaporate spell, so depending on the potion the effect could be anywhere from steam to miasma. Killing them makes them drop as a usable potion, but not if they explode. So, it could force interesting tactical decisions if, say, a Potion of Cure Mutation was hellbent on murdering you while you're trying to flee on low HP from some animated swords.
Animated scrolls: Once they sight the player, they will attempt to use themselves to attack the player. The scroll will unfurl and a disembodied voice will begin to slowly read it. It takes a few turns, say 3-5, for the scroll to finish, at which point it will be consumed and hit the player with an affect related to the scroll. If defeated, can be used as normal.
-Torment, Holy Word, Noise, Silence, Vulnerability, Unholy Creation, Fog, Fear, and Immolation do as they always do, though Immolation will attempt to get in range and Silence will center on the player regardless.
-Curse Weapon/Armor/Jewel will curse the player's equipment as appropriate. Not animated if the player worships Ashenzari.
-Remove Curse only animates if the player worships Ash and will uncurse a random piece of gear.
-Teleportation and Blinking will teleport/blink the player randomly.
-Enchant Weapon/Armor will attempt to enchant nearby hostile animated weapons or armor.
-Recharging will attempt to recharge nearby hostile animated wands and rods and/or could attempt to drain a player's wands/rods.
-Magic Mapping will alert all awake monsters on the level to your current location. Alternatively, causes temporary map rot. After a short time, what the player explored will be remembered. I think Ash could protect from this.
-Identify will reveal you if you're invisible. Alternatively, causes the player to temporarily forget the identity of some of their items, which are properly recalled when the effect ends. I think Ash could protect from this.
-Uselessness summons Butterflies.
-Acquirement will acquire a weapon, which will be hostile and animated.
-Amnesia will cause the player to temporarily forget a spell. The spell slots will still be used and the spell can still be properly forgotten, but the spell itself will be unusable for a short time. I think Sif Muna and/or Ash could protect from this.
Animated Wands/Rods: Will use offensive effects/spells on the player, defensive effects on anything hostile to the player. If a wand runs out of charges, it will cease being animated unless an animated Scroll of Recharge is nearby.
Animated Staves: Behave like animated weapons.
Animated Decks: Will draw cards and use them against the player. Probably only have Destruction, Summoning, and War be eligible for simplicity sake… and the fact a hostile Deck of Wonders spamming Shuffle at you would be incredibly frustrating.
Animated Misc Summoning Items (Air Elemental Fan, Box of Beasts, etc): Summons stuff to attack the player. The Box of Beasts will cease being animated if it empties and the Efreet Bottle will be consumed if it is used. The Lamp of Shadows also falls under here and will spam shadows at the player, but not reduce LOS (the player could purposely let a Lantern of Shadows follow them to abuse the LOS reduction).
Crystal Ball of Energy: Drains MP from the player.
Spellbooks and the Tome of Destruction: Casts spells at the player. Trog followers can one-shot the spellbooks with Book Burning.
Shields and non-body armor: Will attempt to position itself between the player and the ranged animated items, such as launchers and scrolls.
Body Armor: Acts like a haunted/possessed suit of armor, with heavier armors being stronger and more durable, but slower (robes are fast, CPM are slow). Other animated items are attracted to it, which it will "equip" and use. It will take armor for each auxiliary slot, either a two-handed weapon or weapon and shield, throwing weapons or a launcher with ammo (can apport spent ammo and shot ammo is animated), and a wand, rod, or spellbook. All attacks against it are directed against the armor itself. When the armor is killed, it will drop all of its "gear", which is, of course, still animated and will proceed to attack the player as it would normally. Animated Body Armor always spawns "awake" and will gladly look for gear before the player has even met it.
Animated Mimics: What? They wanted to get in on the fun too! Disguised as an animated item, but when it gets into melee it'll do its normal, mimic attacks such as poison and constriction.
Jewels, corpses, food, and gold will never be animated.
Yes, that's a lot of animated stuff. Most, if not all, eligible loot should be animated when the player enters the level and should rarely, or never, spawn after the level is generated.
All the various golems, except possibly Electric golems, can spawn in Vaults. Some new ones will also probably need to exist, such as ones that can reflect spells and projectiles, golems that are charged with attack magic, golems that shatter on death, golems that can combine themselves into massive golems, and more. It'd also be neat if, rather than always wandering, golems could hide in walls or disguise themselves as harmless statues and burst out from hiding when the player passes nearby, perhaps causing a LRD effect when doing so.
Statues should probably not be used too frequently outside of pre-made mini-vaults since a statue in the middle of nowhere is harmless and pointless. Also, more statue variety would be good, such as magma counterparts to Ice Statues, melody statues (sings to cause mesmerization, could always spawn with other statues), statues that shoot/throw animated ammo, alarm statues that alert nearby monsters to the player's location, and others.
I think, all combined, this should make for a much more interesting and unique monster set that poses some varied, and new challenges not seen in other branches. I mean, after all, how often do you have to try to stop a Scroll of Acquirement from trying to kill you?
The best strategy most frequently overlooked by new players for surviving: not starting a fight to begin with.
