Shoals Surfer
Posts: 297
Joined: Wednesday, 9th July 2014, 08:20
Wednesday, 9th July 2014, 09:40
Spell idea: Unholy Pact (Summonings 3)
Background:
1. Permanent allies are fun, but tedious to manage. It is nice to see your wimplings develop into dungeon-shattering horrors, but coordinating them is a major hassle, to such an extent that the recall spell and the related god abilities have been revamped to reduce the tedium of handling large numbers of long-term allies.
2. The gods Beogh, Gozag, The Shining One and Yredelemnul, the spells Animate Skeleton, Animate Dead, Death Channel and Twisted Resurrection and the Mercenary card are the main sources of long-term allies in the game.
3. This limits permanent allies to the devotees of four gods, one of which is limited to one species, plus necromancers. Of these, Beogh's orcs are about the only type that substantially grows stronger during the course of the game. It is also unintuative that summoners, the token ally-play class, are left out of the fun.
4. A common complaint about Beogh's orcs is that their death has an incredibly (and perhaps unfairly) major impact on the player's capabilities, such that a resurrection ability was suggested for the god.
5. A common complaint about summoners is that their summons severely limit the experience available to the class, and that this experience is effectively 'wasted', since the summons take it with them when they vanish.
I propose a spell that summons a single ally that gains experience as the player progresses through the dungeon, making it relevant for all stages of the game.
Suggestion:
1. The spell ('Unholy Pact', Summoning, level 3) summons a single '5' demon upon casting. This demon gets a random name ('Takquawok answers your call and binds his essence unto you!') and is summoned every time you cast this spell.
2. In addition to the 3MP used for the spell itself, you 'allocate' 1 additional MP to the demon as long as it is summoned. Your maximum MP temporarily decreases to accommodate this. You gain back this point of mana once the demon's summoning duration expires ('Takquawok's essence unravels and flows back into you!), but not if it is slain (if that happens, only your maximum MP is restored).
3. If the demon is slain, you must gain a set amount of experience (think elemental evokers) before you can resummon it. You get a message when you can do so ('Takquawok has reknit its essence!').
4. All experience gained by your summons is channeled to your demon. It does not matter whether the demon itself is summoned at the time, so as not to necessitate summoning it right before tackling anything experience-rich. Essentially, it gets all the experience that is 'wasted' by your summons.
5. The demon starts at speed 10 and with one low-level spell (e.g. Sting, Searing Ray, Throw Flame, Throw Frost, Summon Imp, Slow). Alternatively, it may get no spell but a random brand (e.g. Flaming, Freezing, Venom, Draining) on its melee.
6. As it gains experience, the demon progressively becomes a '4', an '3', an '2' and eventually a '1'. It gets higher HD and stronger melee attacks with each upgrade. It may get mid-level spells (e.g. Stone Arrow, Malign Offering, Airstrike, Agony, Sticky Flame, Smiting, Force Lance, Fireball) as a '3' and a '2'. If not, it gets a speed upgrade, additional melee attacks, a repel missiles aura, a stronger brand (e.g. Electrocution, Vampiric, Speed, Pain, Antimagic) or 1-2 random pips of resistance.
7. As a '1', the weak initial spell is erased and replaced by a stronger counterpart (e.g. Bolt spells, Hellfire, Iron Shot, Poison Arrow, Summon Eyeballs, Haunt). The demon may also get another speed upgrade/brand/repel missiles aura/additional melee attacks/element resistance, or it may get spines or a jump attack.
8. As the demon advances through the infernal ranks, the temporary MP cost also increases. In the end, the summoner gets a mini-Pandemonium Lord for a substantial MP cost that cannot be recovered as long as the demon is present.
Advantages:
1. Grants the niche of a permanent ally to summoners, creates a meaningful decision for summon kills ('Do I try to get a massively powerful, low-cost summon early in the game, or is this experience better spent on my own skills?') and for mana usage ('Do I really want to invest 8MP for this summon, especially since I can't channel this MP back while it is out tanking for me?').
2. Removes the dilemma where the death of a permanent ally with heavy experience investment is a major loss that the player may never recover from, while still representing a substantial detriment (especially if you were relying heavily on the demon to make your kills).
3. Allows melee characters, who typically use low-level spells to boost their battle prowess and therefore aren't often strapped for MP, to use their spare mana for a potent ally without having to dip heavily into Summonings.
4. Is somewhat similar to draconian colors and demonspawn mutations in that you may have to adjust your playstyle depending on your luck, which I find to be very entertaining.
5. Prevents scummy behavior involving 'feeding' experience to your permanent allies, since the demon gets experience from what should be a summoner's main way of dealing damage.
6. As an 'evolving' summon, is unlike any other summoning spell in the game, except for Spellforged Servitor (which really is more of a conjurer thing). As its death creates a lasting effect beyond the wasted MP, it is also unfeasible for use as a 'summon-and-forget' monster, which is also distinctive among current summons.
Disadvantages:
1. Certain spell and stat combinations might be too strong or too weak, and extensive balancing will be needed to make the spell neither too useful nor too useless, especially since Spellforged Servitor does cover some of what is outlined here and has the ability to choose your spells.
2. As a level 3 demon-summoning spell, it clashes with Call Imp, which is a good spell and certainly has its niche. It may, however, replace the function of Call Imp by becoming level 2 and making additional castings summon non-named, random imps (so you get Takquawok and two more imps at your summon cap).
So yeah, that's the suggestion. What's your take on it?
1. Permanent allies are fun, but tedious to manage. It is nice to see your wimplings develop into dungeon-shattering horrors, but coordinating them is a major hassle, to such an extent that the recall spell and the related god abilities have been revamped to reduce the tedium of handling large numbers of long-term allies.
2. The gods Beogh, Gozag, The Shining One and Yredelemnul, the spells Animate Skeleton, Animate Dead, Death Channel and Twisted Resurrection and the Mercenary card are the main sources of long-term allies in the game.
3. This limits permanent allies to the devotees of four gods, one of which is limited to one species, plus necromancers. Of these, Beogh's orcs are about the only type that substantially grows stronger during the course of the game. It is also unintuative that summoners, the token ally-play class, are left out of the fun.
4. A common complaint about Beogh's orcs is that their death has an incredibly (and perhaps unfairly) major impact on the player's capabilities, such that a resurrection ability was suggested for the god.
5. A common complaint about summoners is that their summons severely limit the experience available to the class, and that this experience is effectively 'wasted', since the summons take it with them when they vanish.
I propose a spell that summons a single ally that gains experience as the player progresses through the dungeon, making it relevant for all stages of the game.
Suggestion:
1. The spell ('Unholy Pact', Summoning, level 3) summons a single '5' demon upon casting. This demon gets a random name ('Takquawok answers your call and binds his essence unto you!') and is summoned every time you cast this spell.
2. In addition to the 3MP used for the spell itself, you 'allocate' 1 additional MP to the demon as long as it is summoned. Your maximum MP temporarily decreases to accommodate this. You gain back this point of mana once the demon's summoning duration expires ('Takquawok's essence unravels and flows back into you!), but not if it is slain (if that happens, only your maximum MP is restored).
3. If the demon is slain, you must gain a set amount of experience (think elemental evokers) before you can resummon it. You get a message when you can do so ('Takquawok has reknit its essence!').
4. All experience gained by your summons is channeled to your demon. It does not matter whether the demon itself is summoned at the time, so as not to necessitate summoning it right before tackling anything experience-rich. Essentially, it gets all the experience that is 'wasted' by your summons.
5. The demon starts at speed 10 and with one low-level spell (e.g. Sting, Searing Ray, Throw Flame, Throw Frost, Summon Imp, Slow). Alternatively, it may get no spell but a random brand (e.g. Flaming, Freezing, Venom, Draining) on its melee.
6. As it gains experience, the demon progressively becomes a '4', an '3', an '2' and eventually a '1'. It gets higher HD and stronger melee attacks with each upgrade. It may get mid-level spells (e.g. Stone Arrow, Malign Offering, Airstrike, Agony, Sticky Flame, Smiting, Force Lance, Fireball) as a '3' and a '2'. If not, it gets a speed upgrade, additional melee attacks, a repel missiles aura, a stronger brand (e.g. Electrocution, Vampiric, Speed, Pain, Antimagic) or 1-2 random pips of resistance.
7. As a '1', the weak initial spell is erased and replaced by a stronger counterpart (e.g. Bolt spells, Hellfire, Iron Shot, Poison Arrow, Summon Eyeballs, Haunt). The demon may also get another speed upgrade/brand/repel missiles aura/additional melee attacks/element resistance, or it may get spines or a jump attack.
8. As the demon advances through the infernal ranks, the temporary MP cost also increases. In the end, the summoner gets a mini-Pandemonium Lord for a substantial MP cost that cannot be recovered as long as the demon is present.
Advantages:
1. Grants the niche of a permanent ally to summoners, creates a meaningful decision for summon kills ('Do I try to get a massively powerful, low-cost summon early in the game, or is this experience better spent on my own skills?') and for mana usage ('Do I really want to invest 8MP for this summon, especially since I can't channel this MP back while it is out tanking for me?').
2. Removes the dilemma where the death of a permanent ally with heavy experience investment is a major loss that the player may never recover from, while still representing a substantial detriment (especially if you were relying heavily on the demon to make your kills).
3. Allows melee characters, who typically use low-level spells to boost their battle prowess and therefore aren't often strapped for MP, to use their spare mana for a potent ally without having to dip heavily into Summonings.
4. Is somewhat similar to draconian colors and demonspawn mutations in that you may have to adjust your playstyle depending on your luck, which I find to be very entertaining.
5. Prevents scummy behavior involving 'feeding' experience to your permanent allies, since the demon gets experience from what should be a summoner's main way of dealing damage.
6. As an 'evolving' summon, is unlike any other summoning spell in the game, except for Spellforged Servitor (which really is more of a conjurer thing). As its death creates a lasting effect beyond the wasted MP, it is also unfeasible for use as a 'summon-and-forget' monster, which is also distinctive among current summons.
Disadvantages:
1. Certain spell and stat combinations might be too strong or too weak, and extensive balancing will be needed to make the spell neither too useful nor too useless, especially since Spellforged Servitor does cover some of what is outlined here and has the ability to choose your spells.
2. As a level 3 demon-summoning spell, it clashes with Call Imp, which is a good spell and certainly has its niche. It may, however, replace the function of Call Imp by becoming level 2 and making additional castings summon non-named, random imps (so you get Takquawok and two more imps at your summon cap).
So yeah, that's the suggestion. What's your take on it?
Last edited by Croases on Wednesday, 9th July 2014, 12:32, edited 1 time in total.
- For this message the author Croases has received thanks: 2
- jason0320, rockygargoyle
