My own variant (sort of)

[PowerDiver]

P.S. Seeing as all of the above changes make the game a bit easier, I'm especially open to suggestions for increasing the difficulty.

I'd suggest changing CLW in the mage spellbook to curing a fixed 8 hp and removing all enchant scrolls from the game.

[Therem Harth]

I'd suggest changing CLW in the mage spellbook to curing a fixed 8 hp and removing all enchant scrolls from the game.

Hmm. Can enchant scrolls work on artifacts? If so I'll definitely be removing them.

Re CLW, healing does seem odd for mages... I do think I'd like to keep the enhanced CCW potion behavior though, "cure critical wounds" shouldn't be a misnomer.

Also, I need some more help... With gameplay. I just started a mage, and although everything is going fine, she can't run - shift + arrow keys worked for all my other characters, but not for the mage. Known V bug here? What's going on?

Edit: and the period key doesn't work either. Help?

[Derakon]

Enchant scrolls can work on artifacts, but there's a flat 50% chance to fail in addition to the normal failure rates.

As for the inability to run, sounds like you ran into the "100% searching causes disturbance every turn" bug. There was some discussion on it and a possible fix somewhere around here...

[PowerDiver]

Re CLW, healing does seem odd for mages... I do think I'd like to keep the enhanced CCW potion behavior though, "cure critical wounds" shouldn't be a misnomer.

Also, I need some more help... With gameplay. I just started a mage, and although everything is going fine, she can't run - shift + arrow keys worked for all my other characters, but not for the mage. Known V bug here? What's going on?

Well, if you are willing to take CLW out of the mage book entirely, that would be even better IMO. In the past, people say that the weaker version, shall we call it cure insignificant wounds, was put in because it was necessary.

I wonder if your changes have invoked a bug that was found in a comp recently. If you get your searching to 100% you cannot run. It was fixed recently, but the bug is surely still in 3.1.2v2 http://trac.rephial.org/changeset/1972 Do your high-int mages search much better than they used to?

If you remove enchant scrolls because of artifacts, you might also want to remove the spells from the dungeon books. The scrolls are typically used on your starting longbow, although some use them on Calris e.g. The book spells are primarily for artifacts and branded ammo. Ammo branding spell might also be worth a look.

[Therem Harth]

Well, if you are willing to take CLW out of the mage book entirely, that would be even better IMO. In the past, people say that the weaker version, shall we call it cure insignificant wounds, was put in because it was necessary.

Might be a good idea. For the next release (probably tomorrow ) I figure I'll try removing less useful spells and maybe combining some of the books... Or maybe not. Don't want to stray too far from V I guess.

I wonder if your changes have invoked a bug that was found in a comp recently. If you get your searching to 100% you cannot run. It was fixed recently, but the bug is surely still in 3.1.2v2 http://trac.rephial.org/changeset/1972 Do your high-int mages search much better than they used to?

Yes, after leveling a bit they usually have 100% searching and perception. (I figure that's not a big deal, since unlike warriors they have ready access to detection spells.) So that could be the bug.

If you remove enchant scrolls because of artifacts, you might also want to remove the spells from the dungeon books. The scrolls are typically used on your starting longbow, although some use them on Calris e.g. The book spells are primarily for artifacts and branded ammo. Ammo branding spell might also be worth a look.

Branding I think I'll keep. Enchantment not so much if it works on artifacts. Trimming down the spell selection is starting to look like a good idea, no?

[Therem Harth]

Version 0.03 is up: http://users/norwoodlight.com/danlev...ry-0.03.tar.gz

This version (hopefully!) fixes the above bug with perception induced disturbance.

[Derakon]

Instead of removing enchantment altogether (which can make finding a decent early-game melee weapon difficult if the RNG is toying with you), why not cap the max enchantment? For melee weapons and missiles, make the enchantment max be equal to the max damage roll -- so a Dagger can only be enchanted to (+4, +4). For launchers, cap it at, say, the multiplier, so an ordinary longbow can only be enchanted to +3.

[buzzkill]

Yes, after leveling a bit they usually have 100% searching and perception. (I figure that's not a big deal, since unlike warriors they have ready access to detection spells.) So that could be the bug.

If you capped searching at 95% (or even lower) smart characters would still be able find almost all hidden traps/doors, and the spells would still serve a purpose for those that are extremely paranoid.

Optionally, make traps harder to find the deeper you get. A level 20 mage should have no trouble finding traps on dungeon level 5 or 10, but may have a real hard time finding traps on DL70. (having reviewed both options, I like this one better).

[Derakon]

Or he could just let perception and searching continue to serve an actual function in-game even later on. I actually like the idea of not having to rely on detection to find traps. Detecting traps adds nothing interesting to the game.

[Therem Harth]

Hmm, I see what you're getting at.

My thoughts on this...

- I could reduce the bonus multiplier... And then remove trap detection and disarming spells from the game. Entirely.

(I kind of like this, I think it would add a little more realism without making things too too easy.)

- I could give different classes different bonuses to perception and searching with each level. Warriors and rogues would come first, followed by rangers and paladins, and finally mages and priests.

For now I think I would prefer the first strategy.

Also something to keep in mind - I'm coming mostly from ToME, and traps in ToME tend to get very nasty as the levels go up, doing stuff like destroying artifact gear, draining mana to zero, or even changing your character's gender. So my opinions on traps in V may not reflect their actual nature.

[Therem Harth]

... And so the spell cleansing begins.

For starters I'm removing trap detection and disarming spells, because I prefer to rely on perception for that stuff, and put mages, priests, and warriors on (almost) equal footing.

Other stuff to go:

- Create Doors spell. Not useful enough to justify its existence IMO.
- Resist Fire/Cold/Poison - sorry we've already got Resistance, these just take up space.
- Enchant weapon/armor - gone for now, maybe I'll fix it later so it doesn't work on artifacts.
- Alter reality - why does this spell even exist? Just use teleport level. :P

Of course this leaves some volumes paper thin, so I should be combining some at some point...

(Also removed all trap detection and destruction items.)

[Psi]

- Create Doors spell. Not useful enough to justify its existence IMO.

Not useful...? Instantly blocks LoS in all directions. Especially useful as the first spell to cast on a new level to prevent instakill in unlit rooms.

[Derakon]

Create Doors is indeed very useful. Perhaps too useful. It's the only LOS manipulation spell in the game.

Alter Reality is mostly a convenience, but it can be game-changing for ironman games where you can "run out" of new levels to play. That said, I wouldn't worry about ironman when designing your new spell list, especially since the spell is only available to two classes.

Other spells I'd look at:
* Holy Word (provides a big heal, but Purifications and Healings does it better)
* Bless/Chant/Prayer
* Cure Minor/Moderate/Serious/Critical/Mortal Wounds
* The entire Holy Infusions book
* Annihilation
* Word of Destruction (yeah, I love it to bits, but putting it in a spellbook is broken IMO)

[fizzix]

Create doors becomes my most commonly cast spell when I get it.

[Matthias]

- Resist Fire/Cold/Poison - sorry we've already got Resistance, these just take up space.

The reason these exist is that you usually need only one res doubled at a time (the one used by the monster you are fighting). The resistance spell is not only available a lot later, it is also a lot more expensive. Nothing wrong with removing the others to make the game harder, but they are far from useless.