Fountains and Thrones

[Mikko Lehtinen]

I've created a list of terrain features I might some day like to have in Fay. There are two items on the list I don't know what to do with: fountains and thrones.

What do you think is the most interesting take on fountains, in any *bands or other roguelikes?

I know many *bands have fountains that replicate potion effects and allow you to fill empty potions. One of my favorite roguelikes, Larn, has an alternate take: it has fountains that increase or lower random stats. I don't know which one would be more interesting.

Has any variant magical thrones that do anything interesting? I'd like to have thrones that are risky to sit on, but if you do, you may gain lots of power. Maybe you would have to prove you are worthy of being a king somehow, like killing lots of monsters.

Larn also has thrones (text taken from the Larn blog):

"Throughout the dungeon, you will see "Jewel Encrusted Thrones" Youc an try to pry the gems off of them. There is a chance you can get one to 8 gems from a throne, depending on how much open space is around it. The most I've gotten, however, is six. If you have a vaporize rock spell (or fireball/lightning) you can try to knock the walls down from around throne before you pry the gems. Of course, there's also a chance that the gnome king (k) will appear. These guys are VERY TOUGH to kill. On higher difficulties you can't even take them out with a pulverization scroll. One trick you can try, is if you have a hold monster scroll or a stealth scroll going, you can pry and then if the gnome king appears you can get away. They will be killed by a finger of death spell, a hit from the lance of death, or three to four lightning/fireballs. either way, if you choose to play throne lottery, beware."

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Here's an idea about thrones:

You may not approach a throne unless you have killed every evil monster on the level.

If the player manages to sit on the throne, claiming the area for himself and freeing it from Morgoth's rule, he gains a random special power and/or an artifact.

When a certain amount of time has passed, an evil unique enters the level. She has a tiny chance of claiming the throne every player turn. When she does, she uses the throne's power to either curse the player or summon very powerful, evil monsters. The player still has a chance of claiming the throne, but it's much more difficult now.

[fizzix]

Here's an idea about thrones:

You may not approach a throne unless you have killed every evil monster on the level.

Assuming your version allows for spawned monsters, this may be impossible unless the levels are really small. I would suggest instead that you have to killed a specific unidentified monster that is spawned with the original level. If you want, you can make it one of the more difficult monsters.

Then you need a punishment if you sit in the throne while the monster is still alive. Now it's a gamble, if you've killed 80% of the monsters, you have a good chance of having killed them all. The punishment could be the immediate appearance of the evil unique, essentially forcing the player to leave the level and losing the powers of that throne forever.

[Mikko Lehtinen]

Assuming your version allows for spawned monsters, this may be impossible unless the levels are really small.

Actually, in FayAngband there are no new monsters generated on a level. I have a philosophy of not allowing the player to keep collecting experience on easy levels.

Also, Fay has smaller levels than other variants.

Your adjustments make perfect sense for other variants, though.