Hardest Part mitigated by Anticipation

[debo]

For example, you'd be perfectly safe in tunneling through a wall to a horrible unique and then teleporting it away, assuming you matched speed with it and had a 0% failure rate on Teleport Other.

I think this bated-breath mechanic would actually be neat when there are multiple dudes in one room who could do it to you. However, it's been a while since I played Vanilla much -- I guess it's pretty easy to make sure you only fight one thing at a time?

Of course, with multiple things who can do this, you would probably need their glyphs to change color or some other signal ("A Great Crystal Drake [huffing and puffing]) so that you can figure out which of the most recent messages apply to which dudes

[Nick]

Of course, with multiple things who can do this, you would probably need their glyphs to change color or some other signal ("A Great Crystal Drake [huffing and puffing]) so that you can figure out which of the most recent messages apply to which dudes

I really want to see a debo variant just for the messages

[Derakon]

I think this bated-breath mechanic would actually be neat when there are multiple dudes in one room who could do it to you. However, it's been a while since I played Vanilla much -- I guess it's pretty easy to make sure you only fight one thing at a time?

It really depends on the setup, but the big offender that springs to mind is the Great Checkerboard Vault (which largely consists of one-tile cells separated by diggable walls). Then again, that vault hardly ever shows up...

[Chud]

This would have the side effect that no monster could cast a spell on the same turn that the player first enters LOS, though, which would make the game a bit easier. For example, you'd be perfectly safe in tunneling through a wall to a horrible unique and then teleporting it away, assuming you matched speed with it and had a 0% failure rate on Teleport Other.

It would also solve the problem (for better or worse depending on your point of view) of the annoying nexus thingies that regularly teleport you away before you get a glimpse of them in order to shoot something.

[bio_hazard]

So would player activations (artifacts, dsm, and maybe rods and staffs) also have a delayed onset? And would monsters be able to use this information tactically?

[buzzkill]

So would player activations (artifacts, dsm, and maybe rods and staffs) also have a delayed onset? And would monsters be able to use this information tactically?

... and of course, no respectable enemy is going to waste a whole turn telegraphing a massive attack and doing nothing else, so it's imperative that they be loaded up with supplementary spells of slightly lesser devastation to use in the interim. Of course I jest.

A better way to handle the hardest part of Angband, would simply be a issue a get out of jail free card, 1 per game. If you encounter a monster whom you

1. have no knowledge of
2. is not a unique
3. and it one shots you (full health to dead)

then instead of dying you receive a sternly worded warning and remain alive at 0 HP. Better hope it's not faster than you.

In this way, newbs will quickly learn what situations to avoid and Angband will remain largely unchanged for the rest of us.

[Derakon]

In this way, newbs will quickly learn what situations to avoid and Angband will remain largely unchanged for the rest of us.

It sounds more like this will simply teach newbies which monsters can instakill you slightly less than twice as quickly, since they only have to start over from scratch a bit over 50% of the time.

Not to mention that it's trivially gamed by resetting your monster memory while retaining spoilers outside of the game.

[buzzkill]

It sounds more like this will simply teach newbies which monsters can instakill you slightly less than twice as quickly, since they only have to start over from scratch a bit over 50% of the time.

Hopefully they'll develop some critical thinking skills after the first time or two, and thus won't have to be killed by every individual monster in the game in order to learn basic survival.

Not to mention that it's trivially gamed by resetting your monster memory while retaining spoilers outside of the game.

If you find gaming it necessary, then you're not learning. Angband may not be the game for you. If it's trivial to maintain spoilers outside the game, then it must be even more trivial to access complete spoiler info outside the game if one chooses to do so. The Hardest part, solved.