Upgrade Edmund

[removeelyvilon]

Let's talk about Edmund. Edmund has lived in the shadow of his brother for longer than Luigi has lived in the shadow of Mario.

He is also incredibly bland with no outstanding qualities other than he tends to have decent equipment (does this remind you of anyone? I've forgotten...)

Since the standard solution of merging him with his counterpart (Sigmund) would be weird on many levels, I suggest Edmund goes full anime mode instead.
But we don't have much to go by other than he has a knack for money and a quick wit. Well I have seen minor characters with like 2 seconds screentime be turned into fully playable characrers with a full moveset so we can work this one out, too.

I think with his "canny head for money" he should be a full-flailed Gozag worshipper. This gives us some ideas on what he could look like:

-Epithet changed from "The Younger" to "Baron Edmund the Acquistive". He finally bought a nobility title, after all.
-GUARANTEED to wield a good flail weapon, preferably dire flail. GUARANTEED good medium weight armour. GUARANTEED to be carrying an attack wand.
-Potion petition: Randomy heals, berserks, hastes, mights or turns Edmund invisible. (There needs to be some limitation on how often he can use this)
-Dazzling gold: A combination of dreams born by greed and "MY EYES!" randomly afflicts the nearby player with corona, blindness, or confusion (hard mode: sleep)
-Whistle: Hires some street thugs to merc the player, chose from lowish humanoid monsters such as orcs (and orc warriors), big kobolds, humans etc.

Edmund has suffered through the abuse of his brother Sigmund and the players long enough it's... PAYBACK time!

[PowerOfKaishin]

This is gold, no pun intended.

[Moose]

Since this is GDD, I suppose it merits a serious reply.

This sounds like an early-dungeon version of Rupert. Rupert is perhaps the most threatening unique that can be generated in Lair. Edmund typically shows up at DL:2 I think, if not, it's still pretty shallow. Players at these early dungeon levels will not have a way to deal with mobs that can haste, confuse, shoot attack wands, and summon pals all in the same package. It's simply too much for an early unique.

Though Edmund currently is not a threat (since you can simply walk away from him), but he's also a good gamble as killing him can often give you a good early-game weapon. Those who choose to fight him when they find him will often find the fight a difficult one already.

[swoonis]

It's time to remove Edmund. He's as threatening as your basic orc. He doesn't even have a silly hat.

[Shard1697]

I think considering how early he shows up, it's ok for him to be basic.

[removeelyvilon]

I think the spot of an early basic unique is already taken by Terence. Besides Edmund doesn't show up THAT early (D4-6) and depth can be adjusted easily.

Also, if we must take a balanced approach (boring) he doesn't need to have all three abilities at once and the attack wand can probably be dropped, too.
He's only speed 10 so he is no real danger anyway.

People always complain how easy this game is, I thought they'd appreciate it if Edmund kicked it up a notch.

[dynast]

He generates a shop selling his gear when he dies, the bastard.

[Haelyn]

Maybe he (and his brother, if the gods have mercy) could show up a little later and that way he could have more interesting abilities.

I think it's good that uniques are being given room to be awesome. Robin's a good example of an awesome unique who can still show up early. She THROWS GOBLINS AT YOUR FACE. ...And usually has a good helmet, too.

[dowan]

Hah, whenever I run into a big pack of goblins and/or hobgoblins early on, I turn around and look for a stairway. You don't want to get caught in a hallway with mighted hobgoblins on both sides of you...

[jwoodward48ss]

Whenever I run into a big pack of anything, anytime, I turn around and look for a stairway.