Feature Request - Traits

[Conker]

Now I know suggesting any change too big always runs the risk of 'But it's not Angband', but I'm going to try this out anyway. I never think it's a bad thing to expand the scope of a game as long as it doesn't ruin what's already there.

My idea is a new part to character generation - Traits. Somewhat similar to the Fallout or Elder Scrolls games. New ways to customise your character, adding them a mix of positive and negative aspects to liven things up. They also allow for 'Challenge' games, similar to the already-implemented 'Ironman' options.

Obviously, these things have to be carefully balanced to avoid ruining the game. Some ideas are below, but they're just that - ideas. I tried not to make them overpowered or anything.

Megalomania:
Your character believes they are all-powerful, practically a God in human form. He stomps through the dungeons shouting loud defiance and taunts at anything that dares to oppose him. His arrogance can sometimes be viewed unfavourably by others, but he will be the last to back down from a fight.

Effects: -5 Stealth, +20% buy prices (hard effect, not Charisma modding) and -20% sell prices, and a 1/20 chance of surviving, at 1HP, an attack that otherwise would have killed you (or +10% hp, perhaps, if this is too 'out there'?).

(The gains seem to me to be quite small there, but honestly, I'd pick it. I always make Gnomish mages with 'Tiax' from Baldur's Gate in mind, and for Roleplaying purposes if for nothing else, such an option would be welcome.)

Claustrophobia:
Your character suffers from latent claustrophobia, and must return to the surface periodically to avoid being overwhelmed. The fear of their surroundings, when it has reached a sufficient level, gives them a significant burst of adrenaline allowing them to fight or flee to safety. The meditations undergone to control their phobia come in aid resisting magically induced terror.

Effects: Fear resistance, 10000 turns in the dungeon (I've no idea if this is too long or too short, honestly, it'd need to be tested) before becoming 'Tense', 500-1000 (random) turns from then before 'Panicking', then 100-200 (random) turns before 'Hysterical'.

Tense: +2 to hit and damage, -4ac, +3 speed
Panicking: +6 to hit and damage, -10ac, +6 speed
Hysterical: Permanently confused until death or the surface is reached.


Foreign Tongue:
You have travelled a long distance to come to Angband, and are yet to master the language of the land. You know enough to communicate, but you are easily taken advantage of by greedy shopkeepers. The fact that your land is so rich in gold makes this a slightly easier burden to bear. Much worse is your inability to distinguish between the magic scrolls of this area...

Effects: Shop keeper prices +50% buy, -50% sell, scrolls are never identified on reading them (so if you read a WoR, you'll recall, but the next time you pick one up it will be a random (different) name again), start with 10000 gold.

Sickly:
As a young child you were bitten by an extremely venomous serpent, and you nearly died. You survived, but were left frail, and your blood is slow to clot from the effects of the antivenin you were forced to take for many years. However, your experience has left you immune to toxins and resistant to draining attacks.

Effects: Resist poison, Hold Life, -2 Strength and Constitution, -1 Dex, -30% max HP, double effect of any 'Bleeding'.

(Too similar to kobolds?)

Lucky:
You've always been a lucky person - things just seem to work out your way. Whatever you need, you just seem to find it. Unfortunately, this means you've never tried to realise your full potential, and your efforts remain half-hearted.

Effects: +10% to any chance of generating an ego, +5% chance for an artifact. -1 all Stats, +50% required experience to gain a level.

[Nick]

These are interesting ideas. It reminds me of the Lazy, Combat, etc choices you get in Heng/Entro, but I haven't played those enough to know how similar this is.

[Narvius]

I'm, honestly, against "balancing" (in that case). You can never balance this kind of games for all people.
That's one of the reasons why I like ToME - there are both easy to play and hard to play classes / races.
And that's why I would suggest some kind of "Free Character Generation" - no barriers, just a "Power Rating". You can freely choose all values (with the existing classes being some standard templates for people who don't want to spend years creating their chars. Of course that would require "Start with the same character settings as previous game."). Every stat point would add 5% to the power rating, each 10% for Exp Need would decrease it by 2% or something like that, the ability to cast spells would cost 60% power rating and so on. Then the traits, costing different amounts of power rating... you get it.
Seems like big enough for an own semi-variant...

[Bandobras]

I'm, honestly, against "balancing" (in that case). You can never balance this kind of games for all people.
That's one of the reasons why I like ToME - there are both easy to play and hard to play classes / races.

This is one of the reasons I don't like TOME too much (that is, after I learned it'll stay that way).

And that's why I would suggest some kind of "Free Character Generation" - no barriers, just a "Power Rating". You can freely choose all values (with the existing classes being some standard templates for people who don't want to spend years creating their chars.

Brilliant! Me wantss it!

Of course that would require "Start with the same character settings as previous game."). Every stat point would add 5% to the power rating, each 10% for Exp Need would decrease it by 2% or something like that, the ability to cast spells would cost 60% power rating and so on. Then the traits, costing different amounts of power rating... you get it.
Seems like big enough for an own semi-variant...

Wait, that's Sangband! But the power level computation in Sangband is not 'balanced' enough for my taste. Huh, which goes back to being balanced... Now instead of balancing the game you have to balance the power level computation, to make it reasonably accurate --- otherwise it'd be useless. Still, I love the idea of classes being just flavoured templates.

[Narvius]

Wait, that's Sangband!

Never played Sangband...

But the power level computation in Sangband is not 'balanced' enough for my taste. Huh, which goes back to being balanced... Now instead of balancing the game you have to balance the power level computation, to make it reasonably accurate --- otherwise it'd be useless. Still, I love the idea of classes being just flavoured templates.

...I know ^.^ I just avoided that thought.
Well, then just ignore power level part and keep the free values one?
The game would just save how much stat points you spent, how much money you started with and so on. That would be enough to rate the "averageness" of a character.

[will_asher]

I'm, honestly, against "balancing" (in that case). You can never balance this kind of games for all people.
That's one of the reasons why I like ToME - there are both easy to play and hard to play classes / races.

This is one of the reasons I don't like TOME too much (that is, after I learned it'll stay that way).

What is wrong with having some classes which are easy to play and some which are hard to play?

[Djabanete]

What is wrong with having some classes which are easy to play and some which are hard to play?

I'll just chime in and say that somehow it goes against my notion of a perfectly balanced game.

[Bandobras]

What is wrong with having some classes which are easy to play and some which are hard to play?

Nothing, if they are carefully balanced to be easy or hard, respectively, according to their flavour. If, however, you start playing a seemingly hard race/class, only to discover an exploit viable after CL30 that makes it laughably easy, only to discover at CL50 that, after all, it's unwinnable --- that is wrong. The same with other aspects of the game. e.g. deadly starting dungeon with a totally easy dungeon opened only after beating that one, etc., etc. I don't say these examples are straight from TOME, but I can say, even if they were, TOME developers don't care and that's their official stance...

[Conker]

I'm, honestly, against "balancing" (in that case). You can never balance this kind of games for all people.
That's one of the reasons why I like ToME - there are both easy to play and hard to play classes / races.
And that's why I would suggest some kind of "Free Character Generation" - no barriers, just a "Power Rating". You can freely choose all values (with the existing classes being some standard templates for people who don't want to spend years creating their chars. Of course that would require "Start with the same character settings as previous game."). Every stat point would add 5% to the power rating, each 10% for Exp Need would decrease it by 2% or something like that, the ability to cast spells would cost 60% power rating and so on. Then the traits, costing different amounts of power rating... you get it.
Seems like big enough for an own semi-variant...

Personally, I think this would be horrible unless implemented with incredible care (beyond the scope of a free game, really). It'd devolve into min/maxing.

Anyone got any other ideas for possible Traits?

[Jude]

Take a page of out of Elder Scrolls book and have activatable powers with drawbacks, like paralyze an enemy but it hurts you or whatever.