Crypt Cleanser
Posts: 723
Joined: Monday, 9th June 2014, 13:39
New Species Proposal: Angel
The angel (An) is an holy being created from the substance of Zin, by Zin, for Zin, therefore they cannot exist without worshipping Zin. They begin at XL:1 with 0 piety, but cannot gain piety until they have reached XL:3 (see below). They can never convert to another god, and indeed if an angel even kneels before the altar of another god, it would be destroyed by Zin. This action, and any other action for which Zin would excommunicate another worshipper, invokes the "Really commit suicide? (Y,n)" prompt. This is simply because to unmake the bond between Zin is to unmake the essence of an angel's very being.
Since they are made of the light of Zin, angels do not need to eat at all.
Angels rise through the ranks of seven "tiers" as they gain experience.
Angels have seven names. All are angel (An), but in the spelled-out form (as in morgue files), the actual name of what they are called depends upon their tier.
Angels cannot train Invocations as other skills, however they do gain invocations skill, also based on their tier.
Angels cannot be mutated. They "evolve," but in a quite different sense than the evolution mutation. As they gain experience and rise through the tiers, they gain abilities and powers (including Invocations skill) unlike any natural or unnatural creature. At each tier, they are given new names, all of which are followed by "of Zin". The table below summarizes the tiers of angel evolution.
- Code:
XL Name Ability Evolution Inv
-- ------------ ---------------- --------------------- ----
1 Conscience -- Clarity 0.0
3 Advocate Piety rPois+ 2.0
6 Star Halo rF+ 5.0
10 Messenger Slow Time rC+ 9.0
15 Cherub Flight MR+, rN+ 14.0
21 Seraph Healing rElec, rCorr 20.0
27 Archangel Invulnerability rTorment, rHellfire 27.0
Explanations for the angel abilities are as follows.
Piety
Until the angel reaches this tier, no piety can be gained as Zin's worshipper. Mettle must be proven before being allowed to rise in Zin's favor. This ability is automatic and passive.
Halo
This is the same halo of other holy creatures in the game, and provides the same effects and benefits. This ability is also automatic and passive.
Slow Time
This is similar to the Bend Time ability granted to Chei worshippers, but cannot be resisted. This ability must be invoked, and costs some piety to use.
Flight
This is the same ability used by other creatures in the game. This ability must be invoked, costs a bit of piety to use, and produces light draining when the effect ends.
Healing
This ability cures all maladies (removes all status effects, including draining), and restores all HP, MP and attributes. This ability must be invoked, costs a great deal of piety to use, and immediately produces medium-to-heavy draining.
Invulnerability
This most powerful ability temporarily (2d7 turns) makes the angel invulnerable to all forms of damage. This ability must be invoked, costs one full rank of piety to use, and produces exhaustion, breathlessness and severe draining when the effect ends.
In conjunction, to counterbalance the potency of the ability, I also propose a new malus to layer onto the others, called enervation, which lowers all attributes by a scaled amount.
Restrictions
Angels are forbidden from using Necromancy, Transmutations, or Poison. As a consequence of this and their absolute allegiance to Zin, the following backgrounds are also unavailable to angels:
Assassin, Berserker, Abyssal Knight, Chaos Knight, Transmuter, Necromancer, Venom Mage
As commanded by Zin, angels must be unadorned and pure, so they cannot use body armor, cloaks, hats, gloves, boots, rings, or amulets. There is one exception to this: when the angel becomes an Archangel of Zin (XL:27), Zin will gift the angel a special holy randart amulet that can be worn, and this is the only exception to Zin's law.
Starting Attributes and Aptitudes
Str: 7
Int: 7
Dex: 7
Angels gain one attribute point every 2 levels, randomly distributed.
Their aptitudes are distributed as follows.
- Code:
Skill Apt Skill Apt
---------------- --- ---------------- ---
Fighting 0 Spellcasting 0
Short Blades 0 Conjurations 1
Long Blades 1 Hexes -4
Maces & Flails 3 Charms -3
Axes -2 Summoning -3
Polearms -1 Necromancy N/A
Staves 1 Translocations 3
Unarmed Combat -2 Transmutations N/A
Throwing -1 Fire Magic 2
Slings 0 Ice Magic 2
Bows 2 Air Magic 3
Crossbows 1 Earth Magic -4
Poison Magic N/A
Armour N/A
Shields 2 Invocations N/A
Dodging 2 Evocations -4
Stealth 4
Summary
Angels bring a new kind of play to the game, and are significantly different from either Demigod or Djinn to ever be confused with them. They are also foodless! Their native abilities at high levels seem absurdly powerful, and when combined with Zin's abilities they seem positively overpowered, but there are real deficits to overcome, with worse equipment use than Felids, and entire schools of magic and classes of items banned from their use. I tried to balance the aptitudes well, while keeping it flavorful.
I'm interested to see your responses.