Oh dear lord, we're so back Hello, I'm new to this forum! But that doesn't mean I'm new to the game, no sir. In fact, I'm basically addicted to warrior characters and their ability to just stay in the fight indefinitely with good management. So I wondered and thought about some ideas for warrior-themed mods that could make the game more challenging and add interesting mechanics or simply add possibilities for roleplay characters... Because everyone needs a pinch of flavor. These ideas boil down to me wanting to try modding DoD and spread the intoxicating joy of going berserk while cleaving your way through Dredmor's dry-cleaned carpets. There's a reason why Brax charges you so heavily for equipment, ya know? Without further ado, let's get down to business: DemoKnightism: Ever wanted to use a sword and a shield but found it sorely lackluster or had to rely on orb pondering and... brr... reading?! Do you have a huge stack of beverages that your warrior will never be able to enjoy for themselves? Well, look no further, for the Demoknights have an answer! By holding to your shield for dear life and running at superhuman speeds, you, too, can perform Charges and use that momentum for heavily improved attacks while effectively defending yourself and proccing beneficial buffs. Maybe also add shield stances, a la Essence's Core Skills Rebalance? Two-Handyman: Imagine, for a second, that you're a warrior cursed with extremely manly hands. Big and strong, but also clumsy and with poor coordination. You usually can't manage to use both hands for different things, but there's a saving grace... grabbing your weapon with TWO hands! As long as you have a single weapon or shield (orb or tome, also), your brute strength will carry you through the fight. It might be good to also sprinkle and across some skills, given that two-handing a weapon is surprisingly effective for blocking. I can see you thinking about things like "How will you two-hand a dagger?"... Well, we can already Dual Wield Polearms. Siege Engineer: Siege Engineers are specialized soldiers versed in the design of engines of destruction and means of protection. As such, you are trained in engineering (Tinkering, but without the ) and the more techincal aspects of war, like logistics and using huge weapons to add special effects to thrown weaponry, like homemade pies. Except they really aren't homemade, but from a factory. A bomb factory... They're bombs. I'm excited to be able to show these ideas to you, and even more when faced with the prospect of feedback and, Krong bless, new ideas from experienced members! This is my personal way to celebrate that Gaslamp Games has made it clear that they're kind of alive, which brings me immense joy. EDIT #1: The Siege Engineer idea was changed from a Warrior skilltree to a Rogue one. DemoKnightism no longer features Trimping or getting drunk until your liver explodes due to these being featured on the RaustBlackDragon's Swiftstriker mod and Essence's Drunken Boxing skilltree from his Compleat Essentials Pack. The idea behind Siege Engineer has been completely revamped to feature a more tactical aspet of war.
Today I bring you a draft of the three aforementioned skills, plus some new ideas that I'll likely ponder upon before actually coding them. While this site regains traction, I'll steel my patience and await for some ideas from the community. I am unexperienced on the affair of modding and balancing, so numbers and effects are very much sunject to change. I'd be very thankful if you gave me your feedback and opinions on the matter. Let's begin! DemoKnightism: Shields are weapons, too! A reference to a great experience on a favorite game of mine, Team Fortress 2. Usually, you fight with guns, explosives and turrets, but this one madlad of a scotsman brought a sword, a shield and spit-shined boots to a bulletstorm... And somehow survives?! This is the Demoknight, a one-man army that zooms across the battlefield to bludgeon and slice his foes for glory! I think our eyebrowed menaces can learn a thing or two from him. This skilltree is designed with the intent to make Sword'n'Board builds, such as ones featuring shields, tomes and orbs, able to compete against Dual Wield + weapon specialty and Shield Bearer + Unarmed builds in melee combat. As such, I want to give options to both increase defense and open windows for attack on a build that usually features a halved capability on those fronts when compared to the others. Skilltree description and selection effects: If you were to pick up that cowering plate, you'd have to put down your second sword. And surely, that is madness. Luckily, you've solved this with an empty bottle, your old running shoes and a terrible plan to kill the Loch Dred Eelie. When you load into the game with this skilltree, you're given a Sword of Glass, a Rusty Metal Buckler and Leather Boots. In advance, this skilltree will only work if you have both a weapon and a shield (or non-weapon) equipped. Dual Wielders cannot use this, and neither can Unarmed users. Level 0: Ba'llistic Menace - Ba' games and bar frays have made you quicker and tougher than the rest. Your liver doesn't agree, though... Grants 3 and 3. This is mostly to offset the Nimbleness penalty of shields and to give both Rogues and Gishy chars a dose of opportunity. Level 1: Shielding Culture - Holding your shield correctly is more than cowering behind it. With some courses, you learned some techniques you can use at will. Grants 1 and 5. You're also given the active ability "Gear Change", which allows you to freely rotate between 3 shield stances: Active Shielding - With adequate footing, you manage to control your enemy's weapon with your shield, making them lose balance when you block. Defense oriented, it grants -2 +10 while active and has a 33% chance to lower your enemy's stats (-3 -5 -10) when you block, which can stack. Buckled Brawling - Like the vikings, you've learned to hide a smaller weapon behind your shield as you fight. You might find a chance to use it when you block. Offense oriented, it grants +3 +5 +2 and has a 50% chance to deal 5 + 1 * 0.1 whenever you block. Combat Dance - One, two, three, block! An unorthodox way to fight which uses your momentum to make you more nimble in combat. Killer moves! Utility oriented, grants +5 +2. When you block, there's a 25% chance to proc a stackable (up to 4) 5 turn buff of +1 +3 +3. Level 2: Shield Chop - Getting bored of just holding your shield? A swift karate shop will knock you out of it! And your enemy. Ouch, concussion. Grants active ability "Shield Chop", which works similarly to Shield Bearer's Defensive Bash. When used, it can proc Broken Bones and stun your enemy for a turn. It deals damage scaling to Melee Power and Block: 4 + 1 * 0.3 + 1 * 0.2. It has a 4 turn cooldown. Level 3: Shield Charge - Become a train. Run over your foes. Eat burning coals. Ram their kneecaps. CHOO CHOO-- Grants another active ability "Shield Charge", which lets you charge for 5 squares cardinally in missile-like fashion, inspired by Ruigi's Rocket Jump modifications (found here). When you crash against an enemy, it deals heay damage: 10 + 1 * 0.75 + 1 * 0.75, because F = ma. Level 4: Advanced Shielding - Shields are weapons, too! You learn to adequately angle your shield at all times and can fully utilize your whole strength for both offense and defense. Grants 10, 5, 10 and allows you to perform a Warrior-flavored Aikido for Adventurers. Every block turns into a counterstrike. Have fun attacking basically every turn. Two-Handyman: 2 Hands, 1 Weapon! This is my honest attempt to give something that will change the flavor of melee gameplay entirely. I have read some forum threads that consider the inclusion of two-handed weapons and/or skills to be contrary to this game's design, due to the sheer amount of items and the quantity of weapon slots adding up to-- you guessed it! Two hands. Still, I will take the liberty to scratch my itch to be able to wield a single weapon with 100% more hands per handle, which is to say, two of them. Right off the bat, I want this to compete with Dual Wielding in terms of offensive power. This will be done through increases in Melee Power and Enemy Dodge Reduction, since handling a weapon with two hands gives you more control on the output. Managing buffs while you hold a single weapon might require a bit more effort than slapping two weapons and calling it a day, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. In the tree, both holding a non-weapon or a second weapon will be allowed, but only on near-capstone conditions. Otherwise, bonuses will be voided. Skilltree description and selection effects: Like cats and dogs, oil and water or scots and other scots, Two-Handers and Dual Wielders have always been in conflict. Join the stronger, burlier side! When selected, it does nothing. Yeah... Like most other skills. Level 0: Strongman's Blade - The Handy Sword... THE HANDY SWORD IS REAAAAAL! Grants 3, 3 and 5. Whenever you hold a single weapon or non-weapon, your bonus is multiplied by 2x. Crits also duplicate this bonus, making it 4x damage. Level 1: Hull Breaker - The sheer strength of your blows bypasses your enemy's defenses. Whenever you attack, some of your damage pierces their armor, even if they block or counter. Grants 5 and 5. When you attack an enemy and they either block or counter, an additional 1x of your Melee Power is dealt as damage. Level 2: Great Weapon Mastery - Your control over your weapon allows you to use your sheer strength to cleave and pierce through opponents in an area. You can do basic area attacks as if you were proficient with a weapon. Grants 3, 3 and 8. Grants active ability "Giant Attack", similar to Puissant Touch, which checks for your weapon to cast an anchored AoE with damage scaling to your . While those attacks are similar in fashion to other weapon specialty skills, this skill allows continuous casting as long as you have . Also gives you something to do with all that booze, nice. Level 3: Shield Straps - Belts and buckles, targes and taping, they were meant to be together. By adding straps to a non-weapon, you can equip it and keep your strength bonus, at a cost. Grants 3, 3 and 2. Allows you to equip a shield, tome or orb while retaining your damage bonuses, but also reduces stats: -5 -10 -10. Think about it as strapping a shield to your shoulder, forearm or back, it allows you to passively defend, but it is kind of encumbering. Level 4: Powerstance - Your unnatural burl allows you to perform feats of strength that other warriors dream of. Things like wielding enormous chunks of metal with relative ease. Grants 3, 8 and 5. Gives active ability "Powerstance", which increases your melee power enormously at the cost of accuracy and defense. EDIT #1: Grammar.
Bumpity bump! It's me again, I've come up with another skilltree that might help spice things up. This time, I inspired myself on Snowhusky's Dwarven Heritage skilltree, which gives an alternate hint of flavor to the mighty Smithing skilltree by replacing the bonuses by a plethora of skills and procs that will help you throughout the game while still giving you . I want to keep this theme by forgoing the and bonuses for a handful of skills that will help you do more with less and being useful all around. I understand that removing one of Tinkering's most powerful traits, that being the ability to disable traps almost for free, could be a detriment to some builds. Still, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Without further ado, we begin! Siege Engineering: Logistics, moats and ROMAN CATAPULT! On the same vein as Dwarven Heritage, this part of the mod will aim towards refurbishing the Tinkering skilltree and change it from a trap defusal party to one more oriented towards the nuances and abilities related to sieging fortifications of any sort. Because dungeons are just castles, but downwards (source: I made it up!). Skilltree description and selection effects: When those softies from the Adventurer's Guild complain about Adventurer Calluses, you can't help but to nostalgically look at your roughed up hands and your work gloves. You get a Disposable Ingot Press, a Tinkerer's Tools and Thick Leather Work Gloves. Level 0: Workshop Assistant - Your mentor at the workshop taught you the technical aspects of war. You'd use them here, but you forgot the army at home. Yikes. You get 1 , 1 and 1 . Level 1: Tactical Assesment - To solve practical problems, you must first find if there is a practical problem. An impromptu scouting routine should help, right? Grants +1 and +2 . Gives activated ability "Tactical Assessment", which provides -10 , +3 , +2 , +2 , -10 // for 15 turns. Cooldown: 25 turns. Trap detection isn't precisely lost forever, yea? Level 2: Supply Chain - When your mom brought you lunch at work or when you ran to give your friend that pencil he forgot? That's called logistics, baby. Grants +1 and spawns a random resource at the player's location. Gives activated ability "Supply Drop", which randomly spawns an edible item (food or mushroom), a drinkable item (booze or potion), a crafting item (reagent or gem) or ammunition (thrown or bolts) at the player's location, even all four choices if the player gets lucky. Cooldown: 20 turns. Level 3: Fortification - The King's castle has a moat and it works wonders. You doubt an oversized kiddie pool could have an effect here, but as it turns out, these monsters don't like to bathe. Grants +1 and 2 :resist_asphyxiative:. Gives activated ability "The Moat", which spawns an anchored 5*5 AoE around the player except on the tile they're standing, which lasts for 15 turns. Any grounded entities (including the player) which steps on it will be stunned and damaged for 5 + 1 * 1 . Cooldown: 30 turns. Level 4: Siege Engines - The bread and butter of terrorizing enemy encampments: overcompensating by creating giant versions of weapons you already have. Grants +1 and +1 . Gives activated ability "Siege Mode", which allows the player to rotate between 3 removable stances on a 10 turn delay. Take it as needing to deconstruct and deploy a different machine each time it's done. This delay also takes place whenever any of the buffs involved are removed. Trebuchet Stance: All thrown weapons now trigger a powerful 3*3 explosion on hit, its power scaling with and . Yes, even bombs and flasks. Springald Stance: All fired bolts trigger a powerful increase (scaling with and ), along with the capacity to push enemies away. Siege Ram Stance: Melee Attacks now trigger a 1*3 AoE of cardinally on the direction you're attacking, scaling with and . It can also push enemies away. Level 5: Artillery Strike - Remember that army you forgot at home? Turns out they can still help. How they don't make the dungeon collapse on top of you is Krong's guess. Grants +1 and +1 . Gives a powerful ability "Signal Artillery", which casts sets of 3 powerful explosions for 4 rounds (totalling 12 explosions), with , and scaling on . Just... don't stay too close or you'll be blasted to smithereens. Cooldown: 50 turns. Apart from this skilltree, I've been talking to Bengrue and unerringCaprition on the Discord of Dredmor about some ideas I'll post right below this paragraph. As always, please leave some feedback, constructive criticism and tips on how to improve these ideas and to place some numbers where they belong. Also, I think I'll baptise my mod as "Manny's Many Manoeuvres", I think it's pretty neat. Two-handed weapons and off-handed equipment: Such as actual polearms and quarterstaves, greatswords and judicial duel shields. Yes, you should be able to use them in Dual Wield builds, but you'd require a minimum Burliness stat to actually carry them. A Wizard Skilltree that revolves around weaponizing all things liquid in the dungeon: water, lava, slime and ice slush. A Skilltree or feature that allows to use components for spells (such as raw reagents or similar). A pinball machine that launches Epic Pinball in an UI window. A Machine that FINALLY lets you play "Call of Dredmor" in an UI window. Vending machine shenanigans -- monsters that refill machines, a way to cast machines into existence... A way to aim melee attacks beyond your usual attack bubble, for example, polearms letting you attack at up to 3 tiles from your position in ANY direction.
