Temple Termagant
Posts: 9
Joined: Monday, 30th June 2014, 14:20
Rethinking Torment
Pros:
Let's be positive. Torment adds a challenging mechanic to extended that is not seen anywhere else in the game. It encourages players to be careful and avoid blindly charging into certain monsters.
Cons:
Torment is tedious, and disproportionately so for melee characters. Melee characters tend to have more hp than casters and far fewer ranged options to deal with tormenting mobs. As a result, melee characters eat more torments, for more hp loss, resulting in far more time spent healing.
Torment breaks game mechanics so there is no real way to prepare for it. As a result, torment invalidates a lot of character development because defensive stats, skills, and resistances are meaningless. (I know necromut and to a lesser extent rn+++ can prevent/mitigate torment effects, but necromut is not possible on all characters, often melee, and rn+++ only slightly reduces the damage of torment.)
Torment is repetitive. The solution to dealing with torment varies little during extended. If you're a caster, destroy the tormenting enemy from range. If you're a melee, somehow break los to drag the tormenter to you and melee it. If you're in tomb, just stair dance all branch. Once finished, heal the damage, and move on. This doesn't really add any challenge or gameplay mechanic that isn't seen elsewhere in the game. Instead, it adds the tedium of healing loads of torment damage.
Solution:
Torment should add complexity and challenge that may be overcome in a wide variety of ways. Thus, instead of dealing percentage based damage torment should inflict one of a random set of "debuffs." I put debuffs in quotes because each "debuff" would actually be a collection of many that fit a theme. Only one torment debuff could be active on a player at a time, be unresistable, and last for a significant duration. Here are some suggested debuffs, which combine a caster penalty, fighter penalty, mitigatable damage component, and global effect:
Antaeus's Frozen Wrath:
Player may not cast spells from the fire magic school.
Enemies are protected by Ozocubu's Armor with an additional damage shield (player takes damage with each melee strike.)
Player is engulfed in a freezing cloud which follows the player and deals resistable ice damage. (Also prevented by Qazlal piety effect.)
Potions are frozen and unusable.
Asmodeus's Fire:
Player may not cast spells from the ice magic school.
Enemies the player melees may perform a retaliatory attack (similar to minotaur passive.)
The player is covered in sticky flame.
Sentinel's mark.
Ereshkigal's Malaise:
Player may not cast spells from the charm school.
Enemies the player kills via melee or ranged weaponry have a significant chance to return to life/unlife. (Similar to death elf lost soul mechanic.)
The player ceases to regenerate naturally. (Counterable by wearing a regen item, potions/wands still work, god healing still works.)
Player LoS halved.
Dispater's Malice:
Player may not cast spells from the air school.
Enemies are protected by Stoneskin, have Statue Form's melee bonus, and are immune to ranged weaponry (arrows, etc.)
Dungeon walls deal damage mitigated by ac.
Scrolls may not be read.
Thank you for reading and your time. I hope that this post generates helpful discussion regarding torment and extended replayability.