The Tavern

YAOS = Yet Another Ogre Suggestion

Somebody suggested the ability to toss dwarves; which for some reason made me think that Ogres could have the species ability to go berserk. If they do so via spell or god ability, the state lasts longer and the recovery period is shorter.

I know, I know, Ogres are perfect as they are. It's just a thought. It would toughen them up a bit and fits (IMO) thematically.

The biggest problem with this is you then need some excuse as to why only player Ogres get innate 'zerk, or worse, you give the ability to all of 'em.

Which is just terrifying.

The ability to berserk is very powerful, it would be a huge boost to ogre. That would probably shift them from challenging to grossly overpowered. Also, I think we already have too many source of berserk, which makes Trog's ability less unique. Maybe we should remove the spell.

Wouldn't this go counter to their magey flavour? Also, I agree that any such ability should be mirrored in monster ogres.

To weaken the ability, make it kick in at CharLev 5 (or higher). Berserk loses its shine as the game goes on. To reflect the player ability, add Ogre berserkers as a new monster type-- possibly equipped with helmets, spiked flails, and shields... or butt naked. Add Rage to the Ogre Mage spells.

Removing the Berzerker Rage spell would be a hard blow to Crusaders, although they still would have some nice starting spells without it. Could lose the amulet and the potion instead.

I've never seen sources of berserk to be a problem. Trog is a popular god and is fine as is. Having many sources of berserk doesn't change anything.

If we were to remove a source of 'zerking, the spell seems the best candidate. Trog's flavor establishes a conflict between spellcasting and raging; it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say spellcasting and rage are in fact fundamentally opposed. It would also foster more interesting choices: rarer 'zerk might mean certain players would be less willing to abandon Trog once they used Him to survive the early game and generate an awesome weapon, and it would make the amulet more attractive.

I like the idea of removing the spell, actually. I might wikify it.

I'd agree with galehar that Ogre 'zerking is probably overpowered and flavor diluting.

...and I'd just like to reiterate this would effectively transform every roving ogre band into Trog's wrath. 0_0

I would like it more if the spell gets weakened instead of removed.