Make regeneration tap MP

[bel]

Currently, low power regeneration is awful: you have to keep casting it again and again till you're full. Casting it while exploring is even worse.

There have been various solutions proposed in the past, some of them fundamentally changing Charms. Here is a proposal to keep the mechanism basically as it is now, but only improving the interface. I don't know if it has been proposed in the past (I don't remember seeing it, but it's possible).

Make Regeneration a permanent status effect (toggleable). While it is active, it has a chance to reduce your MP by 1 in exchange for higher HP regeneration. The chance of MP reduction is inversely dependent on spellpower. If your MP is zero, or your HP equals maxHP, you don't get higher regen and your MP isn't reduced. Alternatively, regeneration ends if one of the latter conditions are met.

This is functionally identical to casting regen again and again, except for the lost turns. The latter issue can either simply be ignored (it rarely matters); or if one wants to compensate for it, just make the chance of MP reduction high enough.

One should probably make an exception for Trog regen (it would simply work like it does now), because this mechanism will interact weirdly with anti-magic weapons, and Trog worshippers don't really "cast" regen in the first place.

[watertreatmentRL]

"Fundamentally changing Charms" is what has to happen to move the game forward. It looks to me like dcss is headed toward the half-measure of just removing a lot of charms. Some charms that have been removed were genuinely bad, so that's fair enough, but in the long run a huge number of crawl spells have a charm-like or duration-based mechanic and removing all of them is A.) never going to happen and B.) would leave the game with a very generic direct damage-only magic system. Proposals for toggle mechanics for all duration spells, rather than just some, according to uniform mechanics are many and at some point such a proposal has to be adopted.

[Siegurt]

I suggest this for regen: when cast, regen gets a power-dependent number of HP it will heal, it will increase your regen by a zpellpower dependant amount to heal those hps when you are injured. The spell doesn't expire until you have used your spellpower dependent amount of total hps.

This puts it more in line with dmsl, where it is something you cast after combat if it runs out, but don't have to continually recast while exploring.

[bel]

I suggest this for regen: when cast, regen gets a power-dependent number of HP it will heal, it will increase your regen by a zpellpower dependant amount to heal those hps when you are injured. The spell doesn't expire until you have used your spellpower dependent amount of total hps.

This puts it more in line with dmsl, where it is something you cast after combat if it runs out, but don't have to continually recast while exploring.

I don't understand how this will help. If I understand correctly, your proposal would do the following:

Suppose Regen adds a spellpower dependent HP restoration of 25 HP. Then, you get into a fight, and end it with 50/100 HP (ignore the regen during the fight to make the discussion simpler). Then you get increased regen till you get to 75 HP, then the regen status expires. So you have to cast regen again. This situation is the same (or nearly as bad) as the current situation.

The proposal outlined above is meant to counteract this very situation.

[Siegurt]

I suggest this for regen: when cast, regen gets a power-dependent number of HP it will heal, it will increase your regen by a zpellpower dependant amount to heal those hps when you are injured. The spell doesn't expire until you have used your spellpower dependent amount of total hps.

This puts it more in line with dmsl, where it is something you cast after combat if it runs out, but don't have to continually recast while exploring.

I don't understand how this will help. If I understand correctly, your proposal would do the following:

Suppose Regen adds a spellpower dependent HP restoration of 25 HP. Then, you get into a fight, and end it with 50/100 HP (ignore the regen during the fight to make the discussion simpler). Then you get increased regen till you get to 75 HP, then the regen status expires. So you have to cast regen again. This situation is the same (or nearly as bad) as the current situation.

The proposal outlined above is meant to counteract this very situation.

This is intended to address the recasting while exploring part of the problem

[Lavandula]

Infusion and death channel would benefit from this mechanic as well.
And "Stop singing" ability should be back. It's not like song of slaying needed extra nerf.