Tuesday, 1st November 2011, 09:21 by goo
I've been further refining the whole berserk idea for Minotaurs.
A special ability for Minotaurs called Charge that functions similarly to Draconian breath (in that it is on a timer), and acts as a mini-berserk. You target a creature in your LOS. You go berserk (getting all the regular bonuses from berserk) and lose control of your character. That character automatically makes their way to the target and hits them one time. Then the berserk wears off and they are exhausted, unable to charge again or use any other means of berserk until the timer resets. However, there is no slow penalty.
It's flavorful (bulls see red and charge), and balanced (in theory, anyway). It helps you close the distance on enemies, however you are open to attacks during this time. It can't be cancelled until you make contact with your target. If the attack misses, the berserk is still cancelled (to prevent you from flailing around like an idiot unable to do anything in case you use it on a high evasion enemy like a wisp or something). It's similar to Draconian breath, except YOU are the projectile.
EDIT: Of course, now that I think about it, there are others things that could cancel it. The enemy turns invisible (and you don't have a source of see invis), or they teleport out of the way. Hell, maybe if the enemy manages to avoid the charge via going invisible, teleporting, or any other crafty means, your character becomes confused. ("Where did he go?!") This idea isn't perfect, obviously, but I think with some tweaking it could be a good ability and make Minotaurs more interesting.
Also, if Hooves 3 is too powerful, maybe just Hooves 1 or 2? I know if you have Claws 1 or 2 and you wear gloves, it cancels out the damage bonus. Are hooves the same way with wearing boots? If so, It could provide a choice between a little extra AC or a little extra damage.
One more thing, instead of passive dungeon mapping, give them level 1 of monster sensing. This way, they don't step on the toes of deep dwarves, but still have an ability that fits with the theme of them being predators that track down their prey in a labyrinth.