Racial Properties

This page aims to make an inventory of the current gameplay effects of racial properties of weapons and armour. These are then reviewed and new ideas are put forward so that they can be better differentiated.

Idea for quiet (elven) and noisy (orcish) attributes are from Weapon prefix, so thanks to qui and thndrshk2k for those!

Here is a general comment on how racial items should work for members of that species (by dpeg):

• It is okay that dwarves are better with dwarven gear etc.
• But it's not good to make this one point of damage etc. — too minor a benefit, while players are lured into thinking there's something substantial.
• Instead, we should ideally have qualitative perks. If that't too hard to come with, we could use that dwarves are more proficient with dwarven stuff, so get a skill boost (of +3 say) when using dwarven weapons. In short, I think that a skill boost is more transparent and meaningful than a damage bonus. That doesn't help with dwarven gloves etc., of course.

Currently:

• Elven armour is unobtrusive, making it easier to be stealthy and to cast in it. Body armour only appears up to chain mail.
• Elven cloaks and boots give a stealth boost.

Idea:

• Elven weapons (including launchers) make less combat noise than other weapons. This assumes that combat makes actual noises, other than shouting. (qui)

Dwarven gear is “well-crafted and durable”.

Currently:

• Resistant to acid.
• Gives more AC, especially for dwarves.
• Spellcasting penalty, less so for dwarves.

Ideas:

• If my proposal to make dwarves (both MD and DD) small meets support, then dwarven body armours should work well for all small species and less well for normal sized species. (dpeg)
• I suggest to keep resistance to acid, but to remove AC boni. (dpeg)

Currently:

• Resistant to acid
• Often comes with damage pluses (?)

Overall idea: orcish gear is noisy.

Idea: movement in orcish armour often makes noises. Maybe just a stealth malus.

Idea: Assuming that Orcish armor is like that from Lord of the Rings (as in covered by spikes and sharp edges), each piece of Orcish armor worn adds a chance (say 2%-5%) to Reflect Damage (a small amount, say 20%-25%) onto attackers. Otherwise Orcish armor has nothing going for it unless you're playing as a Hill Orc: Orcish armor is already vastly inferior to normal, Dwarven, and Elvish versions, has no bonuses, and now people apparently want to wake every enemy in the Dungeon. — Andy 2011-12-09 18:43

I've always assumed Orcish equipment was junk, and I think it's supposed to be – I often find orcish versions of all sorts of equipment before I find non-racial stuff (war axes, long swords, chain mail, et cetera). If we looked at it like, “well, Orcs will reflect damage now as monsters to compensate for the player bonus of damage reflection” then they'd be too much like Deep Dwarf monsters. I don't think the noise thing is altogether necessary, while I'm at it. — roctavian 2011-12-10 00:11

For the record, the orcish attribute by itself is better than no racial tag (it's strictly better for hill orcs and the same for other species), although orcish items on the floor and in shops are less likely to generate with brands than non-racial items are. — minmay 2011-12-10 01:13

“Orcs are more deadly with it”.

Currently:

• Often comes with accuracy minuses and damage pluses (?)

Ideas:

• Orcish weapons (including launchers) make more noise than average weapons. Mirrors elven weapons. Again, assumes that combat hits (and misses) make individual noises. (thndrshk2k)
• I think we can keep the enchantment skewing. (dpeg)

• Armour maximum enchantment level exceeds the normal limit of that armour type by 1 or 2 (eg. +4 leather). Good for magic-y precocious races.
• Armour GDR is increased slightly. Makes more sense on something like a dwarf than an orc.
• Weapons are more likely to be successfully enchanted. More magickyness.
• Weapons are more likely to perform the new special attacks (cleave, etc). This seems like an orcy thing to do.

— Pedjt 2012-12-12 08:45