Abyss Ambulator
Posts: 1189
Joined: Friday, 28th January 2011, 21:45
Wednesday, 23rd February 2011, 23:53
Yet Another God Proposal: God of the Wilds
Edit: Since posting gods seems to be popular again, I'm bumping this. I'm starting to seriously consider removing the ideas behind forming a pack of animals. While it's cool, it's also complicated and too many gods already grant allies. Also, Bestial Fury is much cooler than allies.
Ok, spent quite a bit of time working this guy out. I basically had two god ideas that were very similar. Both nature and animal focused, with one on the more animalistic aspects and the other on druidic aspects. I ended up combining the two, though this has strong leanings to the former concept. While just about any play style can take advantage of this god, it favors unarmed combat a bit and, coincidentally, favors Felids as well. However, there's nothing stopping from players from using weapons and armor, they just get fewer abilities and slower piety gain.
Wiki page here: https://crawl.develz.org/wiki/doku.php? ... asts_god&s[]=wild&s[]=beasts
Below is a copy of said page with the comments removed.
===== Rrragathor, god of the Wilds (Overview) =====
A god of the Wilds, Predators, and the Hunt. Rrragathor is a god who is primarily themed around animalistic aspects and druidic aspects, with a bit of a stronger leaning towards the former, the result of me combining two separate ideas that never saw the light of day for an animal god and a druid god. While just about any playstyle can take advantage of this god, it favors unarmed combat and, coincidentally, Felids. However, there is nothing to stop a player from using weapons and armor if they so choose. They'll just have a few less abilities and slower piety gain.
I'd like to give thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the forums, as that helped refined this idea quite a bit.
===== Basic Information =====
Rrragathor is the god of the Wilds. It is a nature god, like Fedhas, though goes in a much different direction. Rrragathor watches over the wild, untamed, and savage predators of the world and is interested in keeping the lands pure for them. Everyone else is either prey or a defiler. Followers are encouraged to fight with their own bodies and form a pack to hunt down their prey, stripping themselves of their civilized tools.
Temple god. High chance for an altar in the Lair with the greatest chance on Lair 8. Or Lair 7 if it'd possibly interfere with with the Lair 8 vaults. Also more likely to appear in Swamp, Snake, and possibly Hive, though not as likely as in Lair. Can also appear anywhere that other Temple god's altars appear. Mini-vaults would likely contain wild, predatory animals around it appropriate for depth.
The general idea for a player following this god is they will become more animalistic, gaining some perks for shunning equipment, and possibly will also have their own pack of allies. This god will favor players pursuing unarmed combat or playing Felids, but most of the benefits can be utilized even if you're using a weapon. Alternatively, players can keep their equipment on and, while piety will be slower, can follow Rrragathor and focus on the pack aspects for a more druidic character. This won't be optimal, but it's possible.
====Alternative names ====
* Ragathor (the extra "r"s are supposed to be like growling, but some may see it as purring instead)
* Drapthorr
* Yautja
* Ragthor
* Grakkoth
* Grarrr
====Alternative ideas for title====
* Predators
* Predation
* the Pack
* the Hunt
* the Wild
====Altar ideas====
* A roaring altar
* a savage altar
* a skin covered altar
* a wild altar
* an animalistic altar
====Rank names (not entirely satisfied here)====
* No Stars - Omega <species>
* One Star - Hunting <species>
* Two Stars - Stalking <species>
* Three Stars - Animalistic <species>
* Four Stars - Savage <species>
* Five Stars - Beta <species>
* Six Stars - Alpha <species>
Alternatively...
* No Stars - Predatory <species>
* One Star - Hunting <species>
* Two Stars - Stalking <species>
* Three Stars - Animalistic <species>
* Four Stars - Bestial <species>
* Five Stars - Savage <species>
* Six Stars - Top of the Food Chain
====Species restrictions====
Rrragathor will not accept undead, Demonspawn (maybe), Spriggans (can't eat meat), and Demigods. Possible special messages for rejecting undead and, if also banned, Demonspawn: "Rrragathor does not tolerate defilers of nature!". For Spriggans: "Rrragathor does not accept prey."
=====Piety=====
====Appreciates====
* When you and your pack kill prey (rats, yaks, humanoids, etc.) ("Rrragathor accepts your hunt.")
* When you and your pack kill demons, undead, and angelic beings ("Rrragathor appreciates your killing of a defiler of nature." or something to that effect) (1)
* Rrragathor prefers you do not use equipment(2) ("Rrragathor prefers you don't wear this.")
* When you consume chunks(3)
(1)Undead as defilers are self-explanatory. Demons and angelic beings less so. But basically, they're removed from the wilds and the food chain, so they interfere with it when they interact with nature. Also, so piety isn't very difficult/impossible to gain in Hell and Pan.
(2)Sort of like Ashenzari in that you can still gain piety by using equipment as you can for him with uncursed gear, but using a full set of gear will result in extremely slow piety gain. Additionally, you'll be abilities and mutations for not wearing weapons and/or armor. Jewelry can be worn with the only penalty that your piety gain will be lower.
(3)This is potentially problematic and scummy. I'd personally recommend against it, but leaving the idea here because it is thematic with the god and someone might figure out a way to avoid piety scumming with it.
====Deprecates====
* Necromancy
* Summoning (Suggested on the forums, but I'm only partly sold on this)
* Harming and killing your allies (does not care if your allies die, however)
* Eating fruits, vegetables, and bread (Rrragathor does not approve of a prey's diet!)
* Wearing equipment over god given mutations(1)
* Abandoning it(2)
(1)Rrragathor grants several mutations based on having open equipment slots, such as fur for no body armor. Wearing something in a slot with a god given mutation will eventually cause it to disappear and incur piety loss. This ONLY happens if you wear the piece long enough for him to take away the mutation. If you never took off your robe to begin with, then you won't have to worry.
(2)Rrragathor does not mind if the player switches to Fedhas. However, if they switch to any other god or remain aetheist for so many turns (enough to safely switch to Fedhas, but not long enough to accomplish much godless), Rrragathor will start penance. A player can switch to Fedhas during Rrragathor's penance and he will pause it, but will resume if the player abandons Fedhas or goes under Fedhas' penance for any reason.
The reasoning for this is that both gods are nature gods and are interested in preserving nature. Both of them consider undead to be defilers and harmful to the eco-system. Both watch over a particular part of the natural world as well. This alliance isn't absolutely mandatory for this god and this aspect can be simply tossed out if it is not wanted.
=====Given Abilities=====
In a couple of instances, I have proposals for versions that support "the pack", aka allies, or without it. Lots of gods give allies already and, while thematic, Rrragathor giving some may be too redundant. I'll clearly mark these as "Pack Support" or "No Pack Support". The god will not have both of these sets of abilities as it depends on whether Rrragathor gets designed with allies in mind or for no allies.
====Piety: No stars====
* Gives you Carnivorous 1.
* Prevents the Herbivore mutation and, if the player has it when they join, it gets replace with Carnivore. Note, again, Spriggans cannot join and no other species are naturally Herbivores.
-Pack Support
* Gives you the Fangs mutation, starting at 1 and eventually improves to 3 as your piety grows
* Gives you Claws 1 if you don't wear gloves, Talons 1 if you don't wear boots, and Horns 1 if you don't wear a hat or helmet.. Like Fangs, these eventually grow to 3 as piety increases as long as the slot stays open. Filling the slot will eventually cause the mutation to vanish and also reduce your piety. Maybe an exception for animal skins.
-No Pack Support
* Totemize (None, one time use, No Pack Support): Always has a perfect chance of working and vanished after a successful use. The player targets a monster in LOS and gets a sort of "Are you sure?" type of confirmation if it's a valid target. The player can totemize mammals (Hounds, Jackals), reptiles (Giant Geckos, Snakes), insects (Giant Mites, Giant Cockroaches), and birds (probably need a monster or two created here). What they totemize will affect some of their abilities. This totem cannot be changed, even by leaving and coming back to Rrragathor. The player needs this totem to gain the various mutations and some other benefits.
* Gives Beak 1 (for birds), Fangs 1 (mammals and reptiles), or Antennas 1 (Insects) if the helmet slot is unfilled. These eventually grow to 3 as piety increases.
* Gives you Claws 1 if your gloves slot is unfilled, which eventually grows to 3.
* Gives you either foot claws (mammals and reptiles), talons (birds), or... something for insects if the boots slot remains unfilled (poisoned stinger?). These eventually grow to 3 as piety increases.
====Piety: One Star====
* (Passive) Protection from sickness and nausea, becoming more effective as piety rises.
-Pack Support
* Tame Pack (Food, MP): This is a one-time success ability. After you use it successfully, it disappears. It tames the chosen predator animal (canines, snakes, etc.) and that type of animal becomes the player's pack. This basically lets the player choose what kind of animal they want as an ally throughout the game. Prey animals are not valid targets. Possible categories include canines (Jackals, Hounds, Wolves, Hellhounds), lizards (Geckos, Gila Monsters, Iguanas, Drakes), snakes (Snakes, Anacondas, Vipers), cats (if stuff like wild cats and big cats are ever added), insects (Ants, Bees, Wasps, Moths of Wrath, Spiders), and birds (this area is lacking right now and would need more added, but Griffons, Hippogrifs, etc.). Could also be simplified to "Mammals", "Reptiles", "Insects", and "Birds".
* Tame X (Food, MP): Replaces Tame Pack after the player has chosen a pack animal. Tames animals that fall into that category, which will then follow the player, even through different floors. Higher invocations increases odds of success and lets the player tame stronger species.
* Gives you "Body Slot 1" mutation if you do not wear armor. The exact type depends on your pack. Canine/Cat/Mammal users get fur, Snakes/Lizards/Reptiles get scales, Insects get Chitin, and Birds get feathers. These are not the same as the normal mutations of their type. Since the player has to sacrifice armor to use them, they should have a bit more AC than normal (2, 4, and 6 or 3, 6, and 9 perhaps). All have the same AC, but at rank 3 (reached as your piety goes up), each has a different resist. Possibly do rCold for fur, rFire for scales, rPois or rAcid for Chitin, r...something for feathers. Not entirely sure since I'd rather avoid overlap. Could also do different bonuses instead of or in addition to the resists, such as Control Flight for feathers.
No Pack Support
* Gives you the Body Slot 1 mutation if you do not wear armor. Mammals get Fur 1, Reptiles get Scales 1, Insects get Chitin, and Birds get Feathers. Other than being totem based instead of pack, it's the same as the "Pack Support" version.
====Piety: Two Stars====
* Pounce (Food, MP): Player targets a monster and blinks next to it via shortest distance. The player also gets a free attack on the monster, including a stab if applicable. This is partly for flavor and partly to prevent the player from pouncing pack members and summons to escape a situation (they'd get piety loss), as this is supposed to be an offensive ability. The player cannot leap over monsters and other obstacles that cannot be walked through, excluding deep water and lava. If it's too strong to do at LOS range, shorten the range to only a few squares. Maybe increase it as piety grows? Another suggested alternative is for a "Pounce" timeout to prevent repeated pouncings. A minimal range (can't pounce something next to you or one square away) could also be implemented.
-Pack Support
* Howl: (Food, MP): Calls to your pack members on the floor you are on as well as the one immediately above and below. Sort of like recall, but different. Instead of all of your pack members poofing over to you, they instead instantly know where you are located and will make an effort to move to where the player most recently howled (this includes animals you haven't tamed yet!). Even if already enroute, pack members will stop and go towards the new Howl location if the player Howls again. There's a chance, increasing with invocations, pack members on the adjacent floors may hear the howl, which will cause them to instantly appear on the floor you are on around one of the sets of stairs. I'm not sure if DCSS keeps track of monster movements on floors the player is not on, otherwise they can actually make their way to the stairs properly. Note that this is noisy and, while it won't alert other types of monsters to your location, it may wake them up and put them on patrol mode!
Alternatively, just let your pack members know where you're at for so many turns, even if you don't howl again for a bit. That way the player doesn't have to rest while waiting for members to arrive. Also may or may not be a good idea to grant pack members Swiftness until they reach the player's LOS for so many turns.
====Piety: Three Stars====
* (Passive) Chance for the player to increase their satiation level with biting attacks, similar to vampires. Only works on living monsters. ...although it could be amusing to pop a flavor message for attacks against undead on occasion, such as "The Orc Zombie tastes terrible!"
* (Passive) Player attacks can trample, but only if they do not have weapons equipped. This includes pounces! May or may not allow for knocking monsters into deep water or lava?
* Roar (Food, MP, Piety): Sort of like a Scroll of Fear. Most effective on prey animals, least effective on predator animals, neutral effectiveness on everything else. Does not affect your pack, but may affect other allies.
====Piety: Four Stars====
* (Passive) Rrragathor protects the player from the elements. rFire and rCold for sure, maybe a few others with rAcid coming to mind to help make up for the lack of damage reduction provided by armor. Granted only if the player wears no armor.
====Piety: Five Stars====
* High Pounce (Food, MP, Piety): Maybe include this, not not entirely sold on it yet. Basically pounce, but let's the player target any monster they can see, including leaping over statues, plants, monsters, etc. Has all the other restrictions Pounce has.
-Pack Support
* Hunting Call (Food, MP, Piety): The ability has all the effects of Howl, but in additional can call in new pack members from the depths of the dungeon. These new pack members will slowly file in from the staircases and make their way to where the player used Hunting Call at most recently (or Howl if the player does that while they are on the floor). The number increases with invocations and, if they're not guaranteed to be allied, then the chance of them being friendly increases too. Maybe can be used in portal vaults (except Lab), Abyss, and Pan to get fresh allies. In portal vaults, they appear near the entrance the player used. In the Abyss, they'll be generated from somewhere out of LOS, but will get lost of the player teleports. In Pan, they appear near portals to the next level or the exit to the main dungeon.
-No Pack Support
* Bestial Fury (Food, MP, Piety): With the wild power of Rrragathor flowing through the player's veins, they tap into their animalistic side fully and unchain the beast within, literally becoming a supreme predator of the dungeons. The form taken, and what that form does, depends on the totem chosen. Roar is boosted regardless of form. If a balancing factor is needed, Bestial Fury can trigger the exhausted state when it ends.
-Mammal: The player turns into a massive, sabre-toothed tiger. This form has high damage biting and scratching attacks, Fast Movement 1 (or 2 if Fast Movement 1 suggested below is granted somewhere), boosted damage for Pouncing, can See Invisible (again, if not granted elsewhere), increased attack speed, and greatly increased EV. The sabre-toothed tiger also gains the "Leap" ability, similar to Jumping Spiders.
-Reptile: The player turns into a massive, hydra-dragon with multiple heads. Although this form does not get extra damage per attack, it can make many more per turn and the player will gain heads if cut off with a non-flamming weapon, though cannot go below at least one head (maybe two or three). The hydra-dragon also gains a powerful breath attack that causes each head to shoot a projectile, though with a longer than normal breath timer. The hydra-dragon can also wade through shallow water without slowing down and can enter deep water and also gets a significant boost to AC.
-Bird: The player turns into a powerful phoenix. The player gains rFire+++, flight, leaves trails of flame (that do not harm the player), flame-branded attacks, radiates flame clouds into nearby squares, and, mostly for flavor, can start forest fires by being near trees. The phoenix can throw bursts of phoenix flame (basically reflavored Hellfire). The phoenix does not get a significant boost to EV or AC, but can revive on death similar to Felids (either once per use or high chance). When it dies, it leaves behind an explosion of flame where it dies and where it is reborn. The reborn phoenix will be severely weakened with only 25% health and mana remaining.
-Insect: The player turns into a monstrous insect (not familiar with any good real life or mythological examples here). The player gains the cling ability, fast movement 1 (or 2 for the same reason as the mammal form), boosted melee damage and powerful, poison branded attacks that pierce poison resistance similar to Poison Arrow. Additionally, the insect form can rapidly spit resistance piercing bolts of poison (no or a short breath timer) as well as a moderate boost to both EV and AC. This form may need something else, but nothing immediately comes to mind.
====Other possible abilities====
Not sure what piety level these should be granted or if they should even be used at all.
* Fast Movement 1
* See Invisible
* Carnivore 2 and 3
* Mass Tame (Attempt to tame all eligible enemies in LOS)
* Gift Pack Members (I personally say no, but everyone else may disagree)
* Supports the wearing of hides (and maybe hide armors too)
* Gifts skins and hides. Perhaps a one time, guaranteed randart gift on the altar at high piety?
* For "No Pack Support* versions, perhaps a unique mutations or two for each totem?
=====Punishments=====
I know god wrath's are changing, so this may or may not fit with the new direction since I don't entirely know what that direction is.
* Instant: All god given mutations are lost and all pack members abandon you. Also, any other predator allies you have, even summons, turn against you.
* Summons wild predators to fight you, up to and including Dragons and possibly "super beasts", aka the four Bestial Fury forms.
* Rots your vegetables.
* Gives you the "Armor fits poorly" mutation, or makes it worse.
* Takes away mutations Rrragathor normally grants.
* Howls at your location (attracts all predators instead of just former pack members and wakes up other monsters).
=====Notes=====
* Mutations are used as that system is already in place and working for giving the player claws, talons, etc. Workable alternatives would, of course, be welcome, but I'm not sure making up a new system to achieve the exact same effects is worthwhile.
* I know many gods already have allies, but Rrragathor uses the different method by picking a certain type to be your pack and then you have to tame them as you come across them. Free allies only come from the final ability. However, I do have a few suggestions for a version of Rrragathor without allies.
* Late-game allies is a bit of an issue due to the lack of natural beasts towards the end-game. This problem is beyond the scope of this suggestion as the best way to fix it would be to create more.
* The same issue also applies to the lack of predatory diversity. Some cats would be nice, but that, again, is beyond the scope of this suggestion.
* For terms of piety game and tamability, predators are carnivore and some omnivore animals and insects (Wolves, Jackals, Trapdoor Spiders, etc). Prey are herbivores, all the other omnivores, and humanoids (Rats, Sheep, Yaks, Orcs, etc.) On humanoids, possible exception to carnivore species, such as Kobolds and Trolls.
* Hydras may be a bit too strong to be allowed to be tamed. It'd be possible for someone to scum making a 27-headed Hydra and then tame it.
* Dragons, at present, should also not be capable of being tamed. If stronger monsters are added to the other categories later, this can change.
Ok, spent quite a bit of time working this guy out. I basically had two god ideas that were very similar. Both nature and animal focused, with one on the more animalistic aspects and the other on druidic aspects. I ended up combining the two, though this has strong leanings to the former concept. While just about any play style can take advantage of this god, it favors unarmed combat a bit and, coincidentally, favors Felids as well. However, there's nothing stopping from players from using weapons and armor, they just get fewer abilities and slower piety gain.
Wiki page here: https://crawl.develz.org/wiki/doku.php? ... asts_god&s[]=wild&s[]=beasts
Below is a copy of said page with the comments removed.
===== Rrragathor, god of the Wilds (Overview) =====
A god of the Wilds, Predators, and the Hunt. Rrragathor is a god who is primarily themed around animalistic aspects and druidic aspects, with a bit of a stronger leaning towards the former, the result of me combining two separate ideas that never saw the light of day for an animal god and a druid god. While just about any playstyle can take advantage of this god, it favors unarmed combat and, coincidentally, Felids. However, there is nothing to stop a player from using weapons and armor if they so choose. They'll just have a few less abilities and slower piety gain.
I'd like to give thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the forums, as that helped refined this idea quite a bit.
===== Basic Information =====
Rrragathor is the god of the Wilds. It is a nature god, like Fedhas, though goes in a much different direction. Rrragathor watches over the wild, untamed, and savage predators of the world and is interested in keeping the lands pure for them. Everyone else is either prey or a defiler. Followers are encouraged to fight with their own bodies and form a pack to hunt down their prey, stripping themselves of their civilized tools.
Temple god. High chance for an altar in the Lair with the greatest chance on Lair 8. Or Lair 7 if it'd possibly interfere with with the Lair 8 vaults. Also more likely to appear in Swamp, Snake, and possibly Hive, though not as likely as in Lair. Can also appear anywhere that other Temple god's altars appear. Mini-vaults would likely contain wild, predatory animals around it appropriate for depth.
The general idea for a player following this god is they will become more animalistic, gaining some perks for shunning equipment, and possibly will also have their own pack of allies. This god will favor players pursuing unarmed combat or playing Felids, but most of the benefits can be utilized even if you're using a weapon. Alternatively, players can keep their equipment on and, while piety will be slower, can follow Rrragathor and focus on the pack aspects for a more druidic character. This won't be optimal, but it's possible.
====Alternative names ====
* Ragathor (the extra "r"s are supposed to be like growling, but some may see it as purring instead)
* Drapthorr
* Yautja
* Ragthor
* Grakkoth
* Grarrr
====Alternative ideas for title====
* Predators
* Predation
* the Pack
* the Hunt
* the Wild
====Altar ideas====
* A roaring altar
* a savage altar
* a skin covered altar
* a wild altar
* an animalistic altar
====Rank names (not entirely satisfied here)====
* No Stars - Omega <species>
* One Star - Hunting <species>
* Two Stars - Stalking <species>
* Three Stars - Animalistic <species>
* Four Stars - Savage <species>
* Five Stars - Beta <species>
* Six Stars - Alpha <species>
Alternatively...
* No Stars - Predatory <species>
* One Star - Hunting <species>
* Two Stars - Stalking <species>
* Three Stars - Animalistic <species>
* Four Stars - Bestial <species>
* Five Stars - Savage <species>
* Six Stars - Top of the Food Chain
====Species restrictions====
Rrragathor will not accept undead, Demonspawn (maybe), Spriggans (can't eat meat), and Demigods. Possible special messages for rejecting undead and, if also banned, Demonspawn: "Rrragathor does not tolerate defilers of nature!". For Spriggans: "Rrragathor does not accept prey."
=====Piety=====
====Appreciates====
* When you and your pack kill prey (rats, yaks, humanoids, etc.) ("Rrragathor accepts your hunt.")
* When you and your pack kill demons, undead, and angelic beings ("Rrragathor appreciates your killing of a defiler of nature." or something to that effect) (1)
* Rrragathor prefers you do not use equipment(2) ("Rrragathor prefers you don't wear this.")
* When you consume chunks(3)
(1)Undead as defilers are self-explanatory. Demons and angelic beings less so. But basically, they're removed from the wilds and the food chain, so they interfere with it when they interact with nature. Also, so piety isn't very difficult/impossible to gain in Hell and Pan.
(2)Sort of like Ashenzari in that you can still gain piety by using equipment as you can for him with uncursed gear, but using a full set of gear will result in extremely slow piety gain. Additionally, you'll be abilities and mutations for not wearing weapons and/or armor. Jewelry can be worn with the only penalty that your piety gain will be lower.
(3)This is potentially problematic and scummy. I'd personally recommend against it, but leaving the idea here because it is thematic with the god and someone might figure out a way to avoid piety scumming with it.
====Deprecates====
* Necromancy
* Summoning (Suggested on the forums, but I'm only partly sold on this)
* Harming and killing your allies (does not care if your allies die, however)
* Eating fruits, vegetables, and bread (Rrragathor does not approve of a prey's diet!)
* Wearing equipment over god given mutations(1)
* Abandoning it(2)
(1)Rrragathor grants several mutations based on having open equipment slots, such as fur for no body armor. Wearing something in a slot with a god given mutation will eventually cause it to disappear and incur piety loss. This ONLY happens if you wear the piece long enough for him to take away the mutation. If you never took off your robe to begin with, then you won't have to worry.
(2)Rrragathor does not mind if the player switches to Fedhas. However, if they switch to any other god or remain aetheist for so many turns (enough to safely switch to Fedhas, but not long enough to accomplish much godless), Rrragathor will start penance. A player can switch to Fedhas during Rrragathor's penance and he will pause it, but will resume if the player abandons Fedhas or goes under Fedhas' penance for any reason.
The reasoning for this is that both gods are nature gods and are interested in preserving nature. Both of them consider undead to be defilers and harmful to the eco-system. Both watch over a particular part of the natural world as well. This alliance isn't absolutely mandatory for this god and this aspect can be simply tossed out if it is not wanted.
=====Given Abilities=====
In a couple of instances, I have proposals for versions that support "the pack", aka allies, or without it. Lots of gods give allies already and, while thematic, Rrragathor giving some may be too redundant. I'll clearly mark these as "Pack Support" or "No Pack Support". The god will not have both of these sets of abilities as it depends on whether Rrragathor gets designed with allies in mind or for no allies.
====Piety: No stars====
* Gives you Carnivorous 1.
* Prevents the Herbivore mutation and, if the player has it when they join, it gets replace with Carnivore. Note, again, Spriggans cannot join and no other species are naturally Herbivores.
-Pack Support
* Gives you the Fangs mutation, starting at 1 and eventually improves to 3 as your piety grows
* Gives you Claws 1 if you don't wear gloves, Talons 1 if you don't wear boots, and Horns 1 if you don't wear a hat or helmet.. Like Fangs, these eventually grow to 3 as piety increases as long as the slot stays open. Filling the slot will eventually cause the mutation to vanish and also reduce your piety. Maybe an exception for animal skins.
-No Pack Support
* Totemize (None, one time use, No Pack Support): Always has a perfect chance of working and vanished after a successful use. The player targets a monster in LOS and gets a sort of "Are you sure?" type of confirmation if it's a valid target. The player can totemize mammals (Hounds, Jackals), reptiles (Giant Geckos, Snakes), insects (Giant Mites, Giant Cockroaches), and birds (probably need a monster or two created here). What they totemize will affect some of their abilities. This totem cannot be changed, even by leaving and coming back to Rrragathor. The player needs this totem to gain the various mutations and some other benefits.
* Gives Beak 1 (for birds), Fangs 1 (mammals and reptiles), or Antennas 1 (Insects) if the helmet slot is unfilled. These eventually grow to 3 as piety increases.
* Gives you Claws 1 if your gloves slot is unfilled, which eventually grows to 3.
* Gives you either foot claws (mammals and reptiles), talons (birds), or... something for insects if the boots slot remains unfilled (poisoned stinger?). These eventually grow to 3 as piety increases.
====Piety: One Star====
* (Passive) Protection from sickness and nausea, becoming more effective as piety rises.
-Pack Support
* Tame Pack (Food, MP): This is a one-time success ability. After you use it successfully, it disappears. It tames the chosen predator animal (canines, snakes, etc.) and that type of animal becomes the player's pack. This basically lets the player choose what kind of animal they want as an ally throughout the game. Prey animals are not valid targets. Possible categories include canines (Jackals, Hounds, Wolves, Hellhounds), lizards (Geckos, Gila Monsters, Iguanas, Drakes), snakes (Snakes, Anacondas, Vipers), cats (if stuff like wild cats and big cats are ever added), insects (Ants, Bees, Wasps, Moths of Wrath, Spiders), and birds (this area is lacking right now and would need more added, but Griffons, Hippogrifs, etc.). Could also be simplified to "Mammals", "Reptiles", "Insects", and "Birds".
* Tame X (Food, MP): Replaces Tame Pack after the player has chosen a pack animal. Tames animals that fall into that category, which will then follow the player, even through different floors. Higher invocations increases odds of success and lets the player tame stronger species.
* Gives you "Body Slot 1" mutation if you do not wear armor. The exact type depends on your pack. Canine/Cat/Mammal users get fur, Snakes/Lizards/Reptiles get scales, Insects get Chitin, and Birds get feathers. These are not the same as the normal mutations of their type. Since the player has to sacrifice armor to use them, they should have a bit more AC than normal (2, 4, and 6 or 3, 6, and 9 perhaps). All have the same AC, but at rank 3 (reached as your piety goes up), each has a different resist. Possibly do rCold for fur, rFire for scales, rPois or rAcid for Chitin, r...something for feathers. Not entirely sure since I'd rather avoid overlap. Could also do different bonuses instead of or in addition to the resists, such as Control Flight for feathers.
No Pack Support
* Gives you the Body Slot 1 mutation if you do not wear armor. Mammals get Fur 1, Reptiles get Scales 1, Insects get Chitin, and Birds get Feathers. Other than being totem based instead of pack, it's the same as the "Pack Support" version.
====Piety: Two Stars====
* Pounce (Food, MP): Player targets a monster and blinks next to it via shortest distance. The player also gets a free attack on the monster, including a stab if applicable. This is partly for flavor and partly to prevent the player from pouncing pack members and summons to escape a situation (they'd get piety loss), as this is supposed to be an offensive ability. The player cannot leap over monsters and other obstacles that cannot be walked through, excluding deep water and lava. If it's too strong to do at LOS range, shorten the range to only a few squares. Maybe increase it as piety grows? Another suggested alternative is for a "Pounce" timeout to prevent repeated pouncings. A minimal range (can't pounce something next to you or one square away) could also be implemented.
-Pack Support
* Howl: (Food, MP): Calls to your pack members on the floor you are on as well as the one immediately above and below. Sort of like recall, but different. Instead of all of your pack members poofing over to you, they instead instantly know where you are located and will make an effort to move to where the player most recently howled (this includes animals you haven't tamed yet!). Even if already enroute, pack members will stop and go towards the new Howl location if the player Howls again. There's a chance, increasing with invocations, pack members on the adjacent floors may hear the howl, which will cause them to instantly appear on the floor you are on around one of the sets of stairs. I'm not sure if DCSS keeps track of monster movements on floors the player is not on, otherwise they can actually make their way to the stairs properly. Note that this is noisy and, while it won't alert other types of monsters to your location, it may wake them up and put them on patrol mode!
Alternatively, just let your pack members know where you're at for so many turns, even if you don't howl again for a bit. That way the player doesn't have to rest while waiting for members to arrive. Also may or may not be a good idea to grant pack members Swiftness until they reach the player's LOS for so many turns.
====Piety: Three Stars====
* (Passive) Chance for the player to increase their satiation level with biting attacks, similar to vampires. Only works on living monsters. ...although it could be amusing to pop a flavor message for attacks against undead on occasion, such as "The Orc Zombie tastes terrible!"
* (Passive) Player attacks can trample, but only if they do not have weapons equipped. This includes pounces! May or may not allow for knocking monsters into deep water or lava?
* Roar (Food, MP, Piety): Sort of like a Scroll of Fear. Most effective on prey animals, least effective on predator animals, neutral effectiveness on everything else. Does not affect your pack, but may affect other allies.
====Piety: Four Stars====
* (Passive) Rrragathor protects the player from the elements. rFire and rCold for sure, maybe a few others with rAcid coming to mind to help make up for the lack of damage reduction provided by armor. Granted only if the player wears no armor.
====Piety: Five Stars====
* High Pounce (Food, MP, Piety): Maybe include this, not not entirely sold on it yet. Basically pounce, but let's the player target any monster they can see, including leaping over statues, plants, monsters, etc. Has all the other restrictions Pounce has.
-Pack Support
* Hunting Call (Food, MP, Piety): The ability has all the effects of Howl, but in additional can call in new pack members from the depths of the dungeon. These new pack members will slowly file in from the staircases and make their way to where the player used Hunting Call at most recently (or Howl if the player does that while they are on the floor). The number increases with invocations and, if they're not guaranteed to be allied, then the chance of them being friendly increases too. Maybe can be used in portal vaults (except Lab), Abyss, and Pan to get fresh allies. In portal vaults, they appear near the entrance the player used. In the Abyss, they'll be generated from somewhere out of LOS, but will get lost of the player teleports. In Pan, they appear near portals to the next level or the exit to the main dungeon.
-No Pack Support
* Bestial Fury (Food, MP, Piety): With the wild power of Rrragathor flowing through the player's veins, they tap into their animalistic side fully and unchain the beast within, literally becoming a supreme predator of the dungeons. The form taken, and what that form does, depends on the totem chosen. Roar is boosted regardless of form. If a balancing factor is needed, Bestial Fury can trigger the exhausted state when it ends.
-Mammal: The player turns into a massive, sabre-toothed tiger. This form has high damage biting and scratching attacks, Fast Movement 1 (or 2 if Fast Movement 1 suggested below is granted somewhere), boosted damage for Pouncing, can See Invisible (again, if not granted elsewhere), increased attack speed, and greatly increased EV. The sabre-toothed tiger also gains the "Leap" ability, similar to Jumping Spiders.
-Reptile: The player turns into a massive, hydra-dragon with multiple heads. Although this form does not get extra damage per attack, it can make many more per turn and the player will gain heads if cut off with a non-flamming weapon, though cannot go below at least one head (maybe two or three). The hydra-dragon also gains a powerful breath attack that causes each head to shoot a projectile, though with a longer than normal breath timer. The hydra-dragon can also wade through shallow water without slowing down and can enter deep water and also gets a significant boost to AC.
-Bird: The player turns into a powerful phoenix. The player gains rFire+++, flight, leaves trails of flame (that do not harm the player), flame-branded attacks, radiates flame clouds into nearby squares, and, mostly for flavor, can start forest fires by being near trees. The phoenix can throw bursts of phoenix flame (basically reflavored Hellfire). The phoenix does not get a significant boost to EV or AC, but can revive on death similar to Felids (either once per use or high chance). When it dies, it leaves behind an explosion of flame where it dies and where it is reborn. The reborn phoenix will be severely weakened with only 25% health and mana remaining.
-Insect: The player turns into a monstrous insect (not familiar with any good real life or mythological examples here). The player gains the cling ability, fast movement 1 (or 2 for the same reason as the mammal form), boosted melee damage and powerful, poison branded attacks that pierce poison resistance similar to Poison Arrow. Additionally, the insect form can rapidly spit resistance piercing bolts of poison (no or a short breath timer) as well as a moderate boost to both EV and AC. This form may need something else, but nothing immediately comes to mind.
====Other possible abilities====
Not sure what piety level these should be granted or if they should even be used at all.
* Fast Movement 1
* See Invisible
* Carnivore 2 and 3
* Mass Tame (Attempt to tame all eligible enemies in LOS)
* Gift Pack Members (I personally say no, but everyone else may disagree)
* Supports the wearing of hides (and maybe hide armors too)
* Gifts skins and hides. Perhaps a one time, guaranteed randart gift on the altar at high piety?
* For "No Pack Support* versions, perhaps a unique mutations or two for each totem?
=====Punishments=====
I know god wrath's are changing, so this may or may not fit with the new direction since I don't entirely know what that direction is.
* Instant: All god given mutations are lost and all pack members abandon you. Also, any other predator allies you have, even summons, turn against you.
* Summons wild predators to fight you, up to and including Dragons and possibly "super beasts", aka the four Bestial Fury forms.
* Rots your vegetables.
* Gives you the "Armor fits poorly" mutation, or makes it worse.
* Takes away mutations Rrragathor normally grants.
* Howls at your location (attracts all predators instead of just former pack members and wakes up other monsters).
=====Notes=====
* Mutations are used as that system is already in place and working for giving the player claws, talons, etc. Workable alternatives would, of course, be welcome, but I'm not sure making up a new system to achieve the exact same effects is worthwhile.
* I know many gods already have allies, but Rrragathor uses the different method by picking a certain type to be your pack and then you have to tame them as you come across them. Free allies only come from the final ability. However, I do have a few suggestions for a version of Rrragathor without allies.
* Late-game allies is a bit of an issue due to the lack of natural beasts towards the end-game. This problem is beyond the scope of this suggestion as the best way to fix it would be to create more.
* The same issue also applies to the lack of predatory diversity. Some cats would be nice, but that, again, is beyond the scope of this suggestion.
* For terms of piety game and tamability, predators are carnivore and some omnivore animals and insects (Wolves, Jackals, Trapdoor Spiders, etc). Prey are herbivores, all the other omnivores, and humanoids (Rats, Sheep, Yaks, Orcs, etc.) On humanoids, possible exception to carnivore species, such as Kobolds and Trolls.
* Hydras may be a bit too strong to be allowed to be tamed. It'd be possible for someone to scum making a 27-headed Hydra and then tame it.
* Dragons, at present, should also not be capable of being tamed. If stronger monsters are added to the other categories later, this can change.
Last edited by TwilightPhoenix on Sunday, 26th August 2012, 15:49, edited 6 times in total.
The best strategy most frequently overlooked by new players for surviving: not starting a fight to begin with.
I guess it's a recent change in trunk.
