Xom Chaos Knights

[danr]

I see in trunk that CKs are now Xom-only, and have been given +2 leather armour.

Building off another thread, I'd like to ask if consideration was given, or could be given to, providing CKs with chaos-branded weapons. This could either be equipment, or perhaps it could be a god ability to give a temporary chaos brand, if such could be implemented with Xom, or Xom could with great frequency simulate the chaos brand on the player's weapon. Or it could be a common early gift from Xom.

Now, on the whole, I think chaos can actually be a good brand, provided you have means of escape, but most people consider it too dangerous to use - perfect for Xom!

No other class gets a branded weapon, but on the other hand, no other class has a god who is hoping for them to die in an amusing way and actively trying to make that happen. Also, it is regarded as a very mixed blessing as a brand, and probably more dangerous than good.

I assume the +2 leather armour was given to attempt to balance Xom's capriciousness, but to me something that makes the player safer is out of flavour for Xom.

So I suggest trading the +2 leather armour for a chaos brand in some form.

Credit to MrMonkey for brainstorming the idea.

[mageykun]

Or it could be a common early gift from Xom.

Um... isn't this already the case? If Xommie decides to grace his precious with a weapon gift, there's a good chance it's chaos. Failing that, there's always Crazy Yiuf (pretty common) or that Xom overflow vault (rarer).

[danr]

Well, I haven't played Xom at all really. How common is this as a gift? I'm thinking, like, 90% chance of getting it by D:3. Ideally though I'd see it as starting equipment.

[mageykun]

Well... uh, time for some data! I made a Xomtest character and mashed &X for a while forcing Xom acts.

Took 42 Xom acts for the first chaos brand, which was the 5th gift. 19 Xom acts, 5 gifts, till the 2nd one. 77 Xom acts, 18 gifts to number 3.

So... based off that very limited data, say you get a chaos branded anything every 46 Xom acts. To get one by d:10 then you'd need to get 4 or 5 Xom acts a level. You might be able increase your odds by by doing zany things that make Xom more likely to act, and or by wielding a cursed weapon (so Xom thinks it's funny to gift a weapon you can't currently equip).

[danr]

Thanks for the number crunching!

So that's not really what I'm talking about, I'm talking about starting equipment or very high chance of getting it very early.

[jackalKnight]

Crazy Yiuf seems to spawn in 75% of the games I've played--chaos is actually one of the more common early brands.

[Strongpoint]

Chaos brand is useful only for Xom's amusement, attack dangerous enemies and you'll get killed sooner or later. I use Yuif staff on pop corn monsters to please Xom and switch to normal weapon against real opponents. I would do the same with the starting chaos brand weapon

[szanth]

I'm kinda surprised Xom doesn't chaos-brand your weapon at any point.

[danr]

Is chaos brand really that dangerous? It makes many fights a lot easier - you get enemies paralyzed, confused, in addition to the regular brand effects of flame, freeze etc.

Occasionally it heals or hastes an enemy - you just have to remember to be prepared for that. And perhaps that's when Xom will intervene - after all, it's pretty amusing if you haste a troll that you're fighting.

[danr]

Crazy Yiuf seems to spawn in 75% of the games I've played--chaos is actually one of the more common early brands.

Psyche also has a dagger of chaos.

It would help if CKs / DKs / AKs also had quarterstaves as options, as they don't have shields.

[danr]

I have used it for a spell when I find it, but then I've found better things. The two or three times I did this it didn't kill me.

[Grimm]

If I go even one day reading the Tavern without seeing a mention of quarterstaves, I'll throw a party.