galehar wrote:Caster backgrounds start with no weapon, and if you can't use the spells in your starting book until XL3 or XL6, your going to have to rely on your fists for the first few floors. I like the idea of golems crushing skulls with their big heavy hands. +2 UC and +2 or +3 to base damage sounds good to me (Gh have +2 and Tr +6).
Ok. I will change UC aptitude some time later.
Roderic wrote:Treat it as a machine. A "low battery" or "low essence" message or something similar works. Instead of eating, the golem consumes or assimilates the magic essence or recharge itself.
I am strongly against using modern/technological terms when describing golems. They are magically created constructs and "battery" or "recharging" is bad flawor, while I very much like "essence" and "consuming" terms.
From all energy terms I like "aether" the most. So if we need to describe inner power source of a golem - aether would be perfect for this IMO.
Roderic wrote:Also instead of using the pronoun "you", to use "your golem" looks better for me because we're using a device, are we ?
Now you are racist against golems
Anyway, this rule does not applies to any other species not because they are devices, but because game treats all game characters like player personifications. Excluding golems from this seems to me like breaking a fourth wall.
galehar wrote:But the Lair is much sooner. You don't have many alternatives when you reach it. I think it's good to make the Lair a foodless branch for golems while it's the opposite for other species. It's just that with no regen and healing mostly from items, it might be too much, that's why I'm suggesting Vp-like regen. Vampires have slow regen when hungry, and don't regen at all when starving. Their nutrition system is more complicated than that, but that's the only features we would need to borrow from them.
So at satiated and hungry golems will have slow regen? It drastically diminishes one of drawbacks that golem have. What abou regen only when satiated? Because changing whole drawback because of 1 branch is quite radical. Flavor-wise it also fits. When hungry or below - energy spends only on upkeep of the golem life(moving, casting,fighting) but when there is excess energy (satiated) it goes into healing.
Alright, here is my crazy idea that, probably, will not only make Lair doable without tedious running back and forth, but will reduce this presumable item hoarding and tedious stashing altogether.
Golems will have innate ability to Crush items into scrap. Doing so, destroys item, creating a pressed pile of scrap, which will weight exactly like the item but will lose 20-50%(not sure which amount is better) of nutrition in the process.
All consecutive crushed items will add it's weight and nutrition(lowered by 20-50%) to already existent scrap-ball. So it will be always wiser to compress nutrient items or you might end up with big pile of useless scrap that barely heals and feeds you.
You can divide scrap ball in two losing 20-50% of overall nutrition in the process.
Also, you can meld them together without penalty later by crushing one of them, with another in inventory.
When you need to heal/feed just eat it and it will be slowly consumed giving nutrition proportionally reducing it's weight.
Eating it will take some time and HP gained per turn makes it impossible/suicide to use in combat.
Crushing non-enchanted items should be prohibited to avoid unnecessary watering down of a scrap-ball by just increasing it's weight (and reducing HP/nutrition gained per turn from eating it)
This is how I imaging it working in game interface-wise:
Golem dispatches a band of orcs and stands over a pile of junk gear and three enchanted items.
pressed "e"
Are you sure you want to devour glowing orcish dagger? <---- Prompts always ask most viable choices first.
pressed "Y"
You devour glowing dagger and feel as your essence replenishes a bit.
pressed "c" <---- since golems don't need to butcher "c" can be used to (C)rush items.
Are you sure you want to crush runed orcish mace?
pressed "Y/a" <-------- after pressing "yes, all of them" golem will automatically crush mace first, then second enchanted item(say glowing robe) after that, leaving grey junk untouched. Crushing time and butchering time should be in par.
In result golem recieved a small scrap-ball with 18 aum in weight and, let's say, 700 nutrition.
When you get hurt or hungry - you find a safe spot for rest and press "e" for eating.
Shows up screen that shows only viable items for consumption excluding equipped ones and with scrap-ball on top of the list.
You choose button corresponding for scrap-ball and golem starts to eat.
Each turn 3 aum of scrapball is eaten until golem is satiated or healthy.
So, for example, golem ate 6 aum some time later and right now have scrap size of a 12 aum with nutrition of about 460.
Crazy, I know, but it will simplify interface by a notch - instead of having lots of junk in many slots - you will have neat scrap pile in one slot. And instead of hoarding items around or come back later you could scrap it immediately and stash (it's inevitable) only scrapball.