Jamming (spiking) doors

[fizzix]

I think the heart of the problem is that BASH_DOOR is binary: either they have it (in which case spikes are useless) or they don't. If monsters had a BASH_STR from 0 to (say) 7, spikes would be much more useful. Admittedly this is a big change for a small issue, but could piggyback on something related (like the introduction of monster mana).

Of course, just reducing the number of monsters with BASH_DOOR works too.

Perhaps an approach that's easier to implement would be to base the BASH_STR off of HP. The idea being that the larger monsters have more HP and therefore more heft. Anything with over 500 HP can break through pretty much anything, while anything with under 50 HP can't break down any doors that have been jammed. It's not ideal, but it's a reasonable start, at least for testing purposes.

I agree with other people, that if changes aren't going to be made to spikes, then they should just be removed.

[Derakon]

If you make it harder to pick locks and easier to bash doors, then door bashing will become more useful. I base this off of my stupid characters in ToME, who are hopeless when it comes to lockpicking and not yet strong enough to tunnel through rock; they spend a decent amount of time bashing doors down.

Basing bashing capabilities on monster hitpoints sounds like a good idea. I'd also base door strength on dungeon depth, though; that way, you can have monsters that can break down shallow doors (e.g. an in-depth Uruk) but can't handle deeper doors.

[joelsanda]

I used to spike doors all the time - there's a real tactical advantage with this if your monsters give chase.

But the weight of the spikes and the number needed to really spike a door make it impractical.

[cofresi]

Perhaps an approach that's easier to implement would be to base the BASH_STR off of HP. The idea being that the larger monsters have more HP and therefore more heft. Anything with over 500 HP can break through pretty much anything, while anything with under 50 HP can't break down any doors that have been jammed. It's not ideal, but it's a reasonable start, at least for testing purposes.

I agree with other people, that if changes aren't going to be made to spikes, then they should just be removed.

1) Bash:
Yes. Rework Bash for monsters. On the player end allow monsters to once again be harmed & potentially stunned by bash. As it stands: it Breaks a HT's black heart to be standing next to a snaga, hit Shift-B, and get the message 'you see nothing there to bash'.

I like the above suggestion of using HP to determine monster bash strength. It might be used as a guideline for player vs monster bashing as well, though the idea of a 'massive' hobbit warrior leads me to think he's using shrooms that would banned by the athletic committee.
(OT: the automatic shield Bash that tanks have on some other variants would be nice for tanks& pallys in V. But that's another thread).

2) Locking Doors:
I'm all for it. Give the player the ability to lock doors to slow down monsters. Note: this would make a mages create door spell even more useful. Monsters can bash it down as above. novice/master thief-rogue monsters should be given the ability to instantly unlock a character's door.

3) Removing Spikes:
As it stands, they are a relic and are marginally more useful than broken sticks/broken skulls were. They essentially just add flavor to the room and the main reason to pick them up is to drag them back to town for a bit of cash early on. I would not mind removing them per se, but it would be a loss to remove a keyboard command that can be applied to an object function. Thus, the suggestion of replacing them for Caltrops.

[Zababa]

3) Removing Spikes:

I would not mind if they were removed. I really never use them.