New race: Dragon

Issues, news, and discussion specific to the PWMangband variant.
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PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

New race: Dragon

Post by PowerWyrm » Fri 03.10.2008, 20:47

A very powerful race... but with a very slow learning curve (they require more than 4x the experience of humans to advance in levels).

- Dragons evolve physically as they advance in levels: at level 1, they start as newborn dragons; at level 5, the color of their scales is revealed and they polymorph into a baby dragon of that color; at level 15, they polymorph into a young dragon; at level 25, they polymorph into a fully grown dragon; at level 35, they become an ancient dragon; at level 45, they polymorph into a mighty wyrm; finally, at level 50, they become an ancient wyrm
- Dragons never turn into a ghost when they die (death is final - a small price to pay for such powerful race)
- Dragons cannot choose the Necromancer or the Shapechanger class
- Dragons cannot wield any weapons
- Dragons get special melee attacks (biting and clawing) that increase in power as they gain levels
- Dragon monks get special tail attacks replacing the Monk's usual fighting techniques

Ardor
Giant Gnat
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat 15.08.2009, 18:13

Please read this

Post by Ardor » Wed 27.10.2010, 17:59

I have been playing your variant and I think dragons should get a ghost. It is hard to play a dragon character in the beginning at least because they get no stat bonuses for some reason (I think dragons should at least be stronger than humans, come on). Also, ghosts were implemented in MAngband because it didn't seem fair to let you lose your character just because there was a lag spike or other tech problem, and your variant still has some bugs that get me killed, hence you need to have ghosts turned on.

For example, when a character gets afraid the screen freezes for like 20 turns and I can't read a scroll or quaff a potion, I just have to wait and see if I made it. I have lost like 3 dragons characters just to that. If you want to take off ghosts, Thunderlords are at least twice as over-powered as dragons.

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: New race: Dragon

Post by PowerWyrm » Thu 28.10.2010, 20:06

Dragons don't get ghosts for the same reason as they can't be Necromancers or Shapechangers... and it's a simple reason. Dragons are already a "polymorphed" variant of player characters. The game engine (the Angband/Mangband code) in its current state cannot handle multiple polymorphing, so it's impossible for a Dragon to polymorph into something else and then back to a Dragon. Since ghosts are simply "humanoid" ghosts, it would require too much work to implement Dragon ghosts. And Dragons are already overpowred enough...

It's hard to play a Dragon in the beginning... but the race is so overpowered at high level that you need some balance to the race. Just play conservative at low level, and you should have no trouble leveling.

Concerning the problem you mention (character getting afraid freezing the game), it's fixed in the next update and it should be available tomorrow.

Ardor
Giant Gnat
Posts: 38
Joined: Sat 15.08.2009, 18:13

Re: New race: Dragon

Post by Ardor » Fri 29.10.2010, 10:15

Thanks for the info and all your hard work.

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: New race: Dragon

Post by PowerWyrm » Fri 02.03.2012, 13:32

A quick note about classes:
- warrior/unbeliever: not bad for Dragons, combines good melee (biting/clawing) with innate ranged attack (breath)
- mage/telepath/elementalist: not that great, play sorceror instead for spells
- priest: great class for Dragons, you can use the prayers to restore lost hps from using your breath attacks
- rogue: pointless, unless you play on a server that allows PvP
- ranger: pointless, play warrior for melee, sorceror for spells... and you cannot use ranged weapons either
- paladin: not bad for Dragons, combines melee/healing spells with breath attacks
- sorceror: spells + breath attacks when out of mana; viable, but not the best choice
- archer: no ranged weapon... pointless except for a challenge game (good breath attack + rockthrower)
- monk: the default choice; hard start, but the best melee abilities in the end
- summoner (1.1.9): could be a good choice... once you get your breath attack

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