New class?

[Philip]

I thought of a class that would use devices only, pretty much(they would have a new realm of device-based spells, like recharge and other things related to devices). They could achieve 0% fail on devices, get a large boost to damage. He'd probably start with 2 rods of magic missile or a rod and a wand of the same. His advantage would be power(devices, in his hand would work better than a mage, because of diversity, as seen in staff of healing), but his problem would be inventory management.
I see him as having one or two books to learn from, one of them being available in the town. The spells would be lesser recharge(level 5 or such), extreme concentration(for a while, you get a smaller failrate on devices, but it eats mana for each activation, probably scaling with level. I'd put this wherever it seems balanced.), greater recharge(level 15 maybe?), rod recharging (same thing), some sort of recharge spell which recreates the wand in your pack(giving more charges, but a higher blow-up chance than greater recharge, level 20, maybe in the dungeon book), create magical item(level 30 or so, what you can create scales with level, i. e. at 30 you can create a staff of darkness, some things out of bounds, you have to have the item in your pack twice, if it fails, both blow up)
This is probably not viable and I am not offering to code this. I am just throwing out an idea.

[camlost]

This is probably not viable and I am not offering to code this. I am just throwing out an idea.

You could always play S. Device-focused characters are plausible.

[Derakon]

The main difficulty with devices is the stuff-blowing-up problem. Even with Greater Recharging, the deep attack wands blow up distressingly frequently; at least with a mage you can fall back on your spells.

On the flipside, if you have a perfect recharging spell that never blows stuff up, then your combat stamina is way beyond that of mages. The ability to set up all your attacks prior to the actual fight is significant.

When I play V mages I already rely pretty heavily on devices. I cast spells a bunch too, but the devices are important for helping me take out big targets where I simply don't have the mana to kill them otherwise.

[fizzix]

The main difficulty with devices is the stuff-blowing-up problem. Even with Greater Recharging, the deep attack wands blow up distressingly frequently; at least with a mage you can fall back on your spells.

On the flipside, if you have a perfect recharging spell that never blows stuff up, then your combat stamina is way beyond that of mages. The ability to set up all your attacks prior to the actual fight is significant.

When I play V mages I already rely pretty heavily on devices. I cast spells a bunch too, but the devices are important for helping me take out big targets where I simply don't have the mana to kill them otherwise.

Seems like there's a reasonable middle ground here. Some % for destruction that is lower than current Greater Recharging but still > 0.

Perhaps you would get an additional saving through on equipment being destroyed as well. I think this class idea has promise. I'd playtest it.

[Philip]

Of course, if it is to be playtested, it needs coding, which wouldn't be simple. You'd have to create a new magic realm, change the device ability for a lot of things, implement effects for some spells, and a whole lot of other stuff, only for a class which may be impossible to balance or really boring.

[Magnate]

Of course, if it is to be playtested, it needs coding, which wouldn't be simple. You'd have to create a new magic realm, change the device ability for a lot of things, implement effects for some spells, and a whole lot of other stuff, only for a class which may be impossible to balance or really boring.

I don't think it's actually that hard. You don't need an entire new realm - you just need a different set of mage books with a few new spells and effects. Probably only four or five books altogether rather than nine. Adjusting device skill is easy.

That said, I can't really see the attraction myself. I've tried device specialists in S, and they're the nearest thing a roguelike gets to Quake. Not my thing at all.

[dos350]

i take u havnt played doomRL magnate?

plz no rage~

[Magnate]

i take u havnt played doomRL magnate?

plz no rage~

I have actually, but it feels less like Doom to me than playing S with a gnome device specialist ...

[EpicMan]

Maybe call it the Merchant class. He can use devices, but can only wear store-bought gear. He spends gold instead of mana for his recharge spells, and has the best (lowest blowup chance) recharge spell in the game. His special power is to be able to sell things for double the normal price, even in No-Sell games. :-)

[Napsterbater]

Maybe call it the Merchant class. He can use devices, but can only wear store-bought gear. He spends gold instead of mana for his recharge spells, and has the best (lowest blowup chance) recharge spell in the game. His special power is to be able to sell things for double the normal price, even in No-Sell games. :-)

What would he buy with all that gold? More gold in Angband is currently useless, unless it comes early.