Crypt Cleanser
Posts: 746
Joined: Thursday, 5th December 2013, 04:01
Species Design Considerations
bcadren wrote:Big part of why "fire dude" doesn't work as a race is...well two things. (1) there are a lot of races; so small changes compared to every other race doesn't really exist. and (2) since almost every fire spell is Fire/Conj, 3! Fire is unlikely to outclass 3! Conjurations (Tengu) or 3! Spellcasting, 1 Conj, 1 Fire (Deep Elf)without a lot of Int...
Yeah, I think in general, there seem to be two opinions that are pretty widely held among many of the regulars and devs on this forum:
1. Aptitudes alone are not enough to justify the creation of a new race. It needs a more interesting and novel concept than having high aptitudes specialized in something other races don't (such as high fire aptitude).
2. Versatile aptitudes are more interesting than special aptitudes. They allow the race to be used in more different ways, and encourage you to think about how to use a race. They also allow the race to adapt better to whatever you find when playing the game, and adapting is a huge part of DCSS's strategy. This is why many recent races like Vine Stalkers and Formicids have relatively flat aptitudes. If a race is created specifically for the purpose of having good aptitudes for a Fire Elementalist, then that just means 90% of people who play them will make a Fire Elementalist (or maybe Wizard of Conjurer), and that's boring.
This is the problem with most of the "fire" or "ice" race proposals that pop up in this forum. Point 1 is why "fire" or "ice" isn't interesting enough, and point 2 is why "fire" or "ice" may actually be a bad thing that makes the race less interesting even if it does having some other novel feature. That's not to say a fire or ice race will never exist, but I'm not sure how likely one is to be created starting from the premise of wanting to create a fire or ice race.