Re: [Adonthell-general] Weapons design

[Kai Sterker]

Am Mittwoch, 10.12.03 um 07:33 Uhr schrieb Andrew Michael Phillips:

> I've been trying to work out some items, but I'm experiencing some
> difficulty when it comes to weapons. Some of weapons give bonuses to 
> the
> wielder, of course. These are no problem, just as long as the weapon
> doesn't make the character too powerful.
>
> However, I've hit a problem when trying to figure out weapons which do
> unusual kinds of damage. For example: if I had an evil cleric with a
> Nightmare Mace, it would of course do physical damage. It might even do
> fire damage. But, it also does psychological damage - horrifying,
> confusing, intimidating the target. This is where I run into problems.

Don't let the "rules" get in the way of your creativeness :). On the 
one hand, we'll have to come up with formal rules that can be cast into 
simple algorithms. But on the other hand, we should also allow 
exceptions from the basic rules.

So if your items require something that is not covered by the rules 
yet, just say so. We can then try to adapt the rules to make it fit.


> I've re-read the rules, but I'd still like to seek clarification. My
> concern with non-traditional damage is the exact nature of the damage 
> and
> how long it lasts. For example, taking the broad approach, the 
> Nightmare
> Mace might permanently nerf someone's character by reducing willpower.
> However, I'm assuming that the broad approach is incorrect.

Permanent modification of a primary attribute is possible. However, 
this will be quite a handicap for the rest of the game, so it should be 
used with care.

> Rather, it would seem that something like the nightmare mace would 
> have a
> chance to decrease the target's mental resistance for a few rounds.

Right.

> But if mental resistance reaches 0, what happens then?

Then characters would lose their protection against magical attacks. 
But it would not hurt them directly. As far as I understand, magical 
attacks occur when a spell would decrease a character's health. So 
while the willpower is reduced, spells cast on the victim will inflict 
more damage.

Kai