New monster ideas

[Tiburon Silverflame]

I'm not suggesting eliminating TO altogether...not even close. If we chose to implement a monster defense to TO, it would have to be on a *small* fraction of the monster base.

I wouldn't mind a side effect: a monster that can't be TO'd, also can't be summoned.

[EpicMan]

I would like to see a few dangerous monsters that resist TO. It wouldn't even have to be immunity, just give them a decent save against it.

I agree that we would need to be careful to avoid monsters that get summoned. Maybe have a NO_SUMMON flag, or maybe only let them be summoned by SUMMON_UNIQUE so the Morgoth can call in some un-dismissable help.

[Hariolor]

One idea I've had for a variant that I'll never actually make is stationary summoners. Maybe use x for this? eg:

x (red) - Hellish Portal: tons of HP (scaled to level), immune to elements, vulnerable to stone-to-mud. Never moves, always awake. Once @ moves within a certain (very large) detection radius, it has a 50% chance to summon one level-appropriate demon every turn until destroyed.

could do the same thing for Holy Portals, Draconic Portals, Nether Portals, Chaos Portals (summons a random vortex), Slime Portals, etc

These would be pretty nasty level-ruining monsters for characters playing with preserve off. But on the other hand, serve as a way to grind levels for those equipped to handle the summons. I thought about giving them teleport-away, but that'd just be meeeeeeeean.

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I also love the idea of adding centaurs as essentially a faster, beefed-up version of the role the uruk plays in the early game. I feel the mid-levels need more interesting melee challenges that have appropriate ranged attacks to discourage trading arrows all day.

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I also really like the idea of "vents" using the "." symbol. Essentially could be used to create rooms filled with firestorms/poison clouds/acid storms, etc

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another thought that I think has been done in some variants: scouts - creatures of type (p, o, O, T, h, etc) with very high speed, weak range and melee, very good AC, and low HP for their type. They are always afraid of @, and are able to call for help. Never asleep - basically a mobile shrieker.

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limpet (j) - fast, breeds explosively, very high chance to-hit for 1d1 damage. Hits to slow (-1 speed per blow, cumulative).

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and slightly off topic, but while we're at it - why has the basic moated pit not been changed to have six doors? (two on the long walls, one in each short wall) It would make pits significantly harder to handle without making them unapproachable.

[Djabanete]

I like the Unicorn, the Centaur, and the Watcher in the Water. None would break the "vanilla" feel.

[pav]

As for unique i, I always liked this one from Ey:

Squish. Larger than the normal icky things, and twice as icky.

http://angband.oook.cz/monsters.php?q=squish&t=&s=&v=

[Pete Mack]

I like the icky queen--another weak summoner unique (beyond the two yeeks) is a good idea. I am not sure about shrieking for help, however. Throw in summoned blue ickies...