[Feature Request] Themed descriptive terms

[JamesDoyle]

I don't particularly like the descriptive terms for magical items, either because they don't make logical sense (granite rings?), don't fit the flavour of the item (silver staves? staves should be wood!) or seem to be weakly humorous (gloopy green potions?). Also, there was a lot of overlap between categories, such as mushrooms and potions both using 'colour' words.

I manually changed my flavour, using the following categories:

• rings: precious and semi-precious stones
• amulets: non-precious stones and manufactured materials
• staves: wood
• wands - body parts from magical beasts
• rods - metal
• mushrooms - 'textures'
• potions - colours

If people feel this is a sensible or desirable change, my lists are as follows:
##### Rings #####

Agate
Amber
Amethyst
Aquamarine
Beryl
Black Diamond
Bloodstone
Blue Diamond
Carbuncle
Carnelian
Chrysoberyl
Chrysoprase
Citrine
Diamond
Emerald
Flawed Diamond
Garnet
Iolite
Jacinth
Jade
Jargoon
Jasper
Jet
Lapis Lazuli
Moonstone
Moss Agate
Onyx
Opal
Pearl
Peridot
Pink Diamond
Rose Quartz
Ruby
Sapphire
Sard
Spinel
Star Ruby
Star Sapphire
Tiger Eye
Topaz
Tourmaline
Turquoise

##### Amulets #####

Adamant
Alabaster
Blue John
Bone
Coral
Crystal
Enamel
Faience
Flint
Glass
Granite
Haematite
Ivory
Malachite
Marble
Meerschaum
Mother-of-Pearl
Obsidian
Porcelain
Serpentine
Shell
Soapstone
Terracotta
Tortoiseshell

##### Staves #####

Alder
Applewood
Ash
Beech
Birch
Blackthorn
Boxwood
Camphorwood
Cedar
Chestnut
Cypress
Ebony
Elm
Fir
Hawthorn
Hazel
Holly
Hornbeam
Larch
Limewood
Maple
Marquetry
Mistletoe
Oak
Pearwood
Pine
Poplar
Rowan
Spruce
Sycamore
Vinewood
Walnut
Willow
Wych Elm
Yew

##### Wands #####

Amphisbaena Tail
Basilisk Tooth
Chimera Hide
Cockatrice Beak
Dragon Claw
Drake Scale
Ettin Hair
Gargoyle Wing
Golem Clay
Gorgon Hair
Griffin Claw
Harpy Feather
Hippocampus Tail
Hippogriff Feather
Hydra Tongue
Kelpie Mane
Kraken Fin
Mandrake Root
Manticore Quill
Minotaur Horn
Mummy Wrap
Ogre Skin
Panther Fur
Pegasus Tail
Phoenix Feather
Roc Feather
Salamander Skin
Siren Tongue
Sphinx Feather
Troll Bone
Unicorn Horn
Wyrm Fang
Wyvern Talon
Yale Horn
Yeti Fur
N:137:65

##### Rods #####

Brass
Brass-Bound
Bronze
Cast Iron
Copper
Damascened Steel
Electrum
Engraved Gold
Gilt Bronze
Gold
Gold-Chased
Iron
Iron-Bound
Lead
Meteoric Iron
Mithril
Orichalcum
Palladium
Patinated Bronze
Pewter
Pinchbeck
Platinum
Polished Steel
Rhodium
Rose Gold
Rusted Steel
Rusty Iron
Silver
Silver-Chased
Silver-Gilt
Steel
Tarnished Silver
Tin
Verdigris Copper
White Gold

##### Mushrooms #####

Crumbly
Downy
Fetid
Fleshy
Fragrant
Furry
Gelatinous
Glowing
Marbled
Moist
Mottled
Rubbery
Sere
Speckled
Spotted
Striped
Waxy
Withered
Woody
Wrinkled

##### Potions #####

Alizarin (red)
Amaranth (purple)
Aquamarine (blue-green)
Argentine (silver)
Azure (blue)
Bice (pale blue or green)
Black
Blue
Brown
Burgundy (dark red)
Canescent (white)
Carmine (red)
Celadon (pale green)
Cerise (light red)
Cerulean (sky blue)
Chartreuse (green, or yellowish-green)
Clear (=water)
Clear Brown (=apple juice)
Clear Green (note - this replaces Icky Green for slime mold juice)
Crimson (red)
Cyan (blue)
Ebon (black)
Gamboge (yellow)
Green
Grey
Heliotrope (light purple)
Indigo (dark purple)
Iridescent (rainbow)
Iridian (rainbow)
Lavender (light purple)
Lime (light green)
Madder (dark red)
Magenta (reddish-purple)
Maroon (brown-red)
Mauve (purple)
Mazarine (dark blue)
Murrey (dark purple-red)
Nacreous (pearly)
Ochre (yellow-brown)
Orange
Oxblood (red-brown)
Puce (brown-purple)
Purple
Roan (brown)
Rose (pink)
Russet (brown)
Sable (black)
Sanguine (red)
Scarlet (red)
Sepia (brown)
Tawny (brown)
Tenne (orange, orange-brown)
Ultramarine (dark blue)
Vermilion (red)
Vespertine (grey)
Violet (purple)
Viridian (green)
White
Xanthic (yellow)

[awldune]

A couple of the current flavors are not great to me (granite ring, engagement ring, ivory staff, zirconium wand/rod) but IMO it is better to replace these individually than redo the whole list.

What does a "Yeti fur wand" look like?

A nice thing about Angband is that you can easily modify some of this stuff for your own use. These are located in /lib/edit/flavor.txt.

[will_asher]

I like James' ideas except for the potions. The potions are good how they are now.

And BTW, the yeti-fur is not what the wand is made of- it's inside the wand. On that note, the monster part inside of a wand is supposed to be what gives it it's magic, so they should really all be taken from magical monsters (not a yeti).

[JamesDoyle]

Yes, as I note, I have modified these for my own use, I was offering them up for consideration for wider adoption. And I'd forgotten engagement ring, that really was one of my last favourite!

And will-asher is right about the wands, the concept is stolen from books about a certain boy wizard I know what you mean about yeti, but I was running a bit short of creatures that were fantastical but also familiar; I mean, I had to put Yale in, I know what a Yale is but I bet a lot pf people don't! (I'm interested in heraldry too, you see - I even considered melusine but thought that was a bit way out).

Actually, that makes me realise I could have had mermaid... tsk.

I also realised, once I was committed to this, that there are a limited number of possible 'body parts' you can conceive as being in a wand; if anyone can offer any other ideas, I'd be grateful for my list, even if no one else takes this up.

Pity you don't like the potions, I find those very evocative. And who can resist being able to tell someone what tenne or vespertine is?

[will_asher]

Yes, as I note, I have modified these for my own use, I was offering them up for consideration for wider adoption.

I implemented quite a lot of your suggestions for the next DaJAngband release. (I even used a couple of the potion flavours to make there be less types of 'speckled' potions.)

I also realised, once I was committed to this, that there are a limited number of possible 'body parts' you can conceive as being in a wand; if anyone can offer any other ideas, I'd be grateful for my list, even if no one else takes this up.

Here's a couple other wand flavours I used:
Catoblepas Hair
Cyclops Eye
Phoenix Spices (based on the alternate phoenix myth about it rising from a bed of spices.) (that makes two things from the Phoenix, but that's okay)
Zhelung Scale (magical lizard I made up which is in DaJAngband)
Druj Bone
Fairy Dust
Xan Stinger (from Mayan mythology)

and changed:
hippogriff feather to hippogriff hoof
roc feather to roc talon (you had five kinds of feathers so I changed a couple for veriety)
siren tongue to siren lip
wyvern talon to wyvern scale (because I tend to think of wyverns as worm-shaped and not having appendages.)


PS what is an Amphisbaena?

[JamesDoyle]

Those are good, I'll have those too. And the hoof is a good idea too.

An amphisbaena is a snake with a head at each end, and sometimes shown with feet as well.

[takkaria]

I don't particularly like the descriptive terms for magical items, either because they don't make logical sense (granite rings?), don't fit the flavour of the item (silver staves? staves should be wood!) or seem to be weakly humorous (gloopy green potions?). Also, there was a lot of overlap between categories, such as mushrooms and potions both using 'colour' words.

I manually changed my flavour, using the following categories:

• rings: precious and semi-precious stones
• amulets: non-precious stones and manufactured materials
• staves: wood
• wands - body parts from magical beasts
• rods - metal
• mushrooms - 'textures'
• potions - colours

I think I'll be stealing a bunch of these. Thanks!

[EricDerKonig]

I like these, though I think the wand parts should probably draw more from the creatures in the game or from Tolkien.
Some ideas: Icky Thing Goo, Nazgul Cloak, Zephyr Hound Tooth, Angel Hair, etc.