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monks being zealots

PostPosted: Monday, 23rd September 2019, 07:42
by Khashishi
Simple question: Why aren't monks categorized as zealots?

Re: monks being zealots

PostPosted: Monday, 23rd September 2019, 07:47
by Siegurt
Khashishi wrote:Simple question: Why aren't monks categorized as zealots?

Because in DCSS "Zealot" means "Starts the game while worshipping a god"

Re: monks being zealots

PostPosted: Wednesday, 25th September 2019, 22:11
by Khashishi
Well, they should be categorized as such.

Re: monks being zealots

PostPosted: Wednesday, 25th September 2019, 23:17
by Siegurt
Khashishi wrote:Well, they should be categorized as such.

Well, Zealot, at least, is a pretty clear cut category, Monks don't start the game worshipping a god, so they aren't zealots.

What argument do you have that Monks do belong in the "Zealot" Category?

Re: monks being zealots

PostPosted: Saturday, 28th September 2019, 14:29
by runewalsh
Siegurt wrote:What argument do you have that Monks do belong in the "Zealot" Category?

They have class-specific, non-prohibiting relationship to religion. Take an early altar and instantly get ** is functionally close to starting with this god.

Re: monks being zealots

PostPosted: Saturday, 28th September 2019, 16:59
by Hellmonk
It isn't though

Re: monks being zealots

PostPosted: Tuesday, 1st October 2019, 19:42
by TheMeInTeam
You could make a case either way. They do have some relationship to religion, but not as much as the backgrounds that start with actual gods. I don't think it's a big enough deal to merit moving them, but also don't think it would matter/be particularly out of place if they were moved to that category.

Re: monks being zealots

PostPosted: Wednesday, 2nd October 2019, 05:44
by Shard1697
"Zealot" in crawl is not a flavor category, it's a gameplay category. It means "You will have a god from the start", which is a big deal. Not because you accumulate a bit more piety before finding altars, but because you can use god abilities to save yourself from dangerous things before finding altars.

Re: monks being zealots

PostPosted: Wednesday, 2nd October 2019, 16:29
by TheMeInTeam
Shard1697 wrote:"Zealot" in crawl is not a flavor category, it's a gameplay category. It means "You will have a god from the start", which is a big deal. Not because you accumulate a bit more piety before finding altars, but because you can use god abilities to save yourself from dangerous things before finding altars.


That's only true for 2/3 of the zealot backgrounds right now. For the 3rd, a strong argument could be made that the monk piety boost is more consistently relevant to early survival than starting with the god in question.

Unless you consider the occasional D:1 guardian serpent or instant death explosion to improve your survival odds. Also not sure what "god abilities" one might use in this scenario.

And let's not pretend backgrounds are something they aren't. They are a starting set of tools, and the scope of categorization + some specific placements are arbitrary by necessity. That's not really a problem, but it also suggests no actual need to move monk.