On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 12:38:34PM -0600, David Ramsey wrote:
> 1. The name Dwarf Hall is a bit inconsistent, given the Elven Halls.
> Should it be the Dwarven Hall instead?
I'd say, yes.
However, with blue_anna's gone, it's not that likely the branch will make
it. There are three possibilities:
* an actual branch (1 level deep right now, but someone may come up and
provide more content)
* a portal vault
* nothing but a monster set
And, after throwing away all the junk (witches x3, trollkonor, etc), the
dwarves left are damn good. I mean, they don't make a nice group
thematically and have issues with design, but they include some great ideas.
I especially like Injury Mirror on the unborn -- this is something that is
interesting even in Zigs.
I'd throw out nisses, though, and reuse the tile for some sort of gnomes or
the like.
> 2. "Deep dwarf unborn" has no pluralization routine, so its plural ends
> up being "deep dwarf unborns". Should "unborn" be effectively handled
> as a suffix there, or should we take the easy way out and rename the
> monster to "unborn deep dwarf", which is already handled by virtue of
> ending with "dwarf"?
I prefer the former, but then, I'm not a native speaker, and as due said,
dpeg shouldn't be allowed to name monsters -- this applies to me as well I
guess.
> 3. There was a commit message awhile ago mentioning a proposal to rename
> the greater wraith to the eidolon. I'd support this, as "greater
> wraith" is somewhat bland. Comments, alternatives, etc.?
At the moment I'd look rather into axing them as redundant, but then, you
have a good point in your next comment.
> 4. Are any of the Dwarf Hall monsters suitable candidates for showing up
> in the Abyss? For example, the greater wraith, currently one of the
> rare faster-than-average undead, might fit,
I like this idea.
> and some of the death-themed deep dwarf monsters (necromancer, death
> knight, unborn) also might, since human necromancers already show up
> there, and the undead-themed branches seem full enough already.
Sounds good. And, draconians which do spawn there have no connection with
death already, so even the other guys would be ok.
> The same question, to a lesser extent, also applies to Pandemonium.
I'd say no -- let's keep it pure. I already hate human wizards on Lom
Lobon's level.
> 5. The monster version of Cause Fear isn't used anywhere. Should it be,
> and, if so, for what?
It is used just by player ghosts. A pity, that.
> 6. One of the reasons that Conjure Ball Lightning is named such is
> apparently that the ball lightning created is permanent as opposed to
> being summoned.
They are not permament and go out pretty fast even if left alone (hard cap
at 5 turns, likely to poof sooner). They are considered a magical creation
like a stone arrow, crystal spear or IOOD, and thus are not abjurable, give
full exp, etc -- unlike summons whose theme says they are pulled from some
other place.
> By the same logic, since the scroll of summoning creates a permanent small
> abomination, should it be renamed to the scroll of conjuring, or is that
> too potentially confusing?
It's certainly not conjuring, per the above logic -- but indeed the word
"summoning" is inconsistent with spells as well. Not sure what to do here.
> 7. Should undead abominations be split off into their own monster type?
I wonder if it makes sense to have a demon and a pile of animated body parts
count as the same monster. One of proposed themes says it's both --
necromantic material, demonic control. If we don't use that theme, I think
it might make sense to go all the way to one side or the other.
Thus, the three options would be:
a) all abominations are demonically possessed dead flesh.
b) all are demons.
c) all are undead.
d) status quo -- inconsistent.
Option b) would lead to problems with Twisted Resurrection, option c) fails
to explain abominations in Pan. Thus, I'd suggest going with a).
--
1KB // Microsoft corollary to Hanlon's razor:
// Never attribute to stupidity what can be
// adequately explained by malice.
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