Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit


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Vestibule Violator

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Post Tuesday, 8th March 2016, 20:12

Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

I just had kind of a funny thought while I was playing earlier today when I killed prince ribbit and saw he turned into a human. What if using wand of polymorph on him turned him into a human and made him allied to you? It could make way for some hilarious flavorful dialogue too.

Just a silly idea I had, not sure if anything will come of it but I figured I might as well share. :D
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runewalsh, Sar

Tomb Titivator

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Post Tuesday, 8th March 2016, 20:58

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

If this isn't esoteric enough for you, allow his frogform to be dispelled by purple draconian breath.

Dungeon Master

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Post Tuesday, 8th March 2016, 21:02

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

No need for spoilery gimmicks. The joke is already implemented with the corpse transformation.

Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Tuesday, 8th March 2016, 21:19

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

dpeg wrote:No need for spoilery gimmicks. The joke is already implemented with the corpse transformation.
Prince Ribbit already has a spoilery gimmick when you polymorph him, for what it's worth.

Shoals Surfer

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Post Tuesday, 8th March 2016, 22:10

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

He's fine as is, but I guess it'd also be okay if his no-poly-to-human gimmick was removed and he/Kirke hogs became neutral if they happened to polymorph into one.

"Spoilery" things actually aren't when knowing them would never influence your decisions, or else things like the Trog book burning and Yred miasma flood altars should be removed for being spoilery. Even renamed vault monsters have a case going against them, because non-spoiled players may mistake them for new things and act differently, but I don't think polymorphing Ribbit with the explicit intention of turning him into a neutral human will ever be optimal play (and honestly if he becomes human he's speed 10 melee and therefore effectively dead anyway).

This still probably won't happen because it needs someone to code harmless flavor into equally harmless flavor.
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Vestibule Violator

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Post Tuesday, 8th March 2016, 23:24

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

dpeg wrote:No need for spoilery gimmicks. The joke is already implemented with the corpse transformation.


Croases wrote:He's fine as is, but I guess it'd also be okay if his no-poly-to-human gimmick was removed and he/Kirke hogs became neutral if they happened to polymorph into one.

"Spoilery" things actually aren't when knowing them would never influence your decisions, or else things like the Trog book burning and Yred miasma flood altars should be removed for being spoilery. Even renamed vault monsters have a case going against them, because non-spoiled players may mistake them for new things and act differently, but I don't think polymorphing Ribbit with the explicit intention of turning him into a neutral human will ever be optimal play (and honestly if he becomes human he's speed 10 melee and therefore effectively dead anyway).

This still probably won't happen because it needs someone to code harmless flavor into equally harmless flavor.


Couldn't have said it better myself.

Also, the joke is not that he is a human, the joke would come from giving him something silly to say when he is transformed into a human. "Thanks for lifting the curse and everything, but your really not my type. Sorry!"
To all new players: Ignore all strategy guides posted on the wiki, ask questions in the Advice forum, players with lots of posts normally have the best advice.

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Spider Stomper

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Post Wednesday, 9th March 2016, 01:27

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

Don't be silly, spoilery gimmicks are only allowed on some uniques, like Maurice.
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Dungeon Master

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Post Wednesday, 9th March 2016, 05:21

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

There's already weird spoilery behaviour here (edit: as duvessa cryptically points out), but exactly the opposite of OP's request: Price Ribbit explicitly cannot be polymorphed into a human.

In _valid_morph() (mon-poly.cc):
  Code:
        // The spell on Prince Ribbit can't be broken so easily.
        || (new_mclass == MONS_HUMAN
            && (mons->type == MONS_PRINCE_RIBBIT
                || mons->mname == "Prince Ribbit")))
    {
        return false;
    }
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Barkeep

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Post Wednesday, 9th March 2016, 14:51

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

... that *is* weird.
I am not a very good player. My mouth is a foul pit of LIES. KNOW THIS.

Tomb Titivator

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Post Wednesday, 9th March 2016, 15:36

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

RBrandon wrote:Don't be silly, spoilery gimmicks are only allowed on some uniques, like Maurice.

FR get rid of Maurice. He's annoying but not dangerous, and Crawl doesn't have any other thieving monsters for a reason.

Cocytus Succeeder

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Post Wednesday, 9th March 2016, 15:42

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

But now we enjoy item destruction again!
screw it I hate this character I'm gonna go melee Gastronok

Tomb Titivator

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Post Wednesday, 9th March 2016, 15:59

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

It's not itemdestr if you can hunt down the monster and get the items back.

Cocytus Succeeder

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Post Wednesday, 9th March 2016, 16:11

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

Well the monster may use that item against you, so it's still a kind of destruction. A more painful one.
screw it I hate this character I'm gonna go melee Gastronok

Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Wednesday, 9th March 2016, 21:52

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

He destroys scrolls, wand charges, and especially potions, which happen to be the exact things that fire/cold/zot traps used to destroy. Unlike old item destruction, you can reduce the risk by carrying around piles of useless items.

The same thing happens with all other item-using monsters though. While Maurice is certainly a problem, the problem nago points out is monster consumable usage in general (removing Maurice doesn't fix it).

Blades Runner

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Post Thursday, 10th March 2016, 05:08

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

Tiktacy wrote: the joke is not that he is a human


tbh i thought the joke was that he is human

Crypt Cleanser

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Post Friday, 11th March 2016, 07:21

Re: Proposal: Using wand of polymorph on Prince Ribbit

Tiktacy wrote: giving him something silly to say when he is transformed into a human. "Thanks for lifting the curse and everything, but your really not my type. Sorry!"


This does seem like the ideal solution if someone feels like putting any effort into revising his polymorph behavior. Keeps the humorous Easter Egg, removes its gameplay effect (however unconsequential that gameplay effect is).

That said, I also agree that making him become neutral if polymorphed into a human wouldn't actually make polymorphing him until he became neutral optimal, so realistically it wouldn't really matter anyway. Outside of maybe the occasional new player ending up under the mistaken impression that polymorphing is the most effective way to deal with him.

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