[Announce] Poschengband 3.0.0 Released

[MarvinPA]

Mirror Masters claim in their description that their spellcasting stat is Int (and they have +3 Int) but it seems to actually be Wis.

[HugoVirtuoso]

the changes in rarity for useful consumables like *healing*, mass genocide, destruction, etc really make life easier for melee guys. neat! I'm really enjoying my current always-unusual-rooms run.

Post your PosChengband character so we know where you stand

[chem]

the changes in rarity for useful consumables like *healing*, mass genocide, destruction, etc really make life easier for melee guys. neat! I'm really enjoying my current always-unusual-rooms run.

[HugoVirtuoso]

When did Stone of Lore start auto-id'ing everything you walked over? That's awesome.

The Stone of Lore started doing this since PosCheng 1.0.21, IIRC. Don't let the auto-ID fool you. I have rushed through games, where I missed out artifacts like Iron Ball and Mjolnir because I went too fast through the level...

If you don't know Mjollnir, it's the standard-artifact War Hammer (5d3) with Lightning IMMUNITY + large STR bonus. I was kind of pissed off when I found out that I missed it in the past (with Hugo$oul 816).

[chem]

When did Stone of Lore start auto-id'ing everything you walked over? That's awesome.

[HugoVirtuoso]

Found a bug (present in v3.0.4):
The location doesn't change right away when moving in and out of towns.

Example:
You're in Outpost. Location says Outpost. Go to the swamp south on feet (not by using global map) from here...the Location still says Outpost.

I'm not sure if this bug is old....

If you using global map, Location just says 'surface' regardless(?) of where you are.

[chris]

By the way, does Arthur Pendragon *ever* drop Excalibur (the big Longsword one)? I have rolled *a lot* of characters who have killed him without ever getting Excalibur in return, even though the drop rate is supposedly 5%.

I think Dave got it the first time he played, but for the rest of us? No luck. The odds are actually 2.5% since it only tries for Excalibur (with 5% odds) 50% of the time. The other 50%, it tries for Excalibur Jr (with 25% odds) which is just insulting!

[chris]

pre-emptive feature request: more artifacts designed to make the Mauler class more fun or powerful reading changes, I haven't noticed much since they were first introduced (e.g. Vice)

I'll try to come up with something ...

I really thought they had more artifacts but a recent perusal through the list came up pretty short, with perhaps only 5 or 6 serious stand-art options. And rand-arts never get weight bonuses (but replacement arts do). That's pretty slim pickings, but there are always ego Heavy Lances and Maces of Disruption.

I might also bring back the patch that makes dice boosted weapons gain extra weight (perhaps only for The Mauler, though, as this really messes with ninjas). Or perhaps instead, we should add a new ego class just for the mauler?

BTW, I saw your comment on spectres and golems, and decided to keep them around.

[HugoVirtuoso]

I just want to confirm that Farmer Maggot and the rest of townsfolk are back in v3.0.4.

By the way, does Arthur Pendragon *ever* drop Excalibur (the big Longsword one)? I have rolled *a lot* of characters who have killed him without ever getting Excalibur in return, even though the drop rate is supposedly 5%.

[chem]

I haven't played a *band variant in over a year but I'm gonna give this new release a shot!

pre-emptive feature request: more artifacts designed to make the Mauler class more fun or powerful reading changes, I haven't noticed much since they were first introduced (e.g. Vice)

[chris]

I just uploaded a new minor release (3.0.4) in the usual place. Source code is also avavailable.

This update adds a new player monster race: The Vampire!

Vampires are powerful, undead creatures of darkness and shun the light. They are vulnerable to light based attacks and this vulnerability can never be fully overcome. They feed on the blood of the living and managing their food state is an important aspect of gameplay, so the vampire will want to enable the display_food_bar option under 'Text Display Options.'

The vampire also has limited shapeshifting abilities, and you may notice that re-equipping gear upon transformation can be a bit tedious. To help with this, you may inscribe the name of the appropriate form (vampire, bat or wolf) in lower case on your gear and the game will automatically equip that object from your pack whenever you enter the inscribed form. For example, a wolf cannot wield a weapon, but the vampire can, so inscribe 'vampire' on your weapon to have it automatically re-equipped when shifting out of the wolf form back into the vampire form.

Vampires use Charisma as their spellcasting stat. They have a powerful gaze ability can dominate their enemies and they can also create vampire servants by killing humans with their bite attack. Their bites are vampiric, of course, but the vampire only regains hitpoints with this attack if they are not full. Thus, you need to manage your food status a bit more aggressively than with other characters who might be in the habit of filling up every time their stomach rumbles in the slightest manner.

Vampires are strong and quick, but don't have a lot of hitpoints. So you will need to play somewhat cautiously. They are, of course, very stealthy as they are quite comfortable moving about in complete darkness.

Other changes for this release include the following:
* Farmer Maggot and Lionheart are back in town (Thanks for pointing that out, Hugo)
* Hydras now get fractional blows.
* Angels start life with a mace.
* The Servant of Khornes starting weapon of sharpness now actually has the sharpness attribute.
* Golems get a "two handed" punching bonus when forgoing a shield.
* Golems are stupid.
* Fixed infinite loop bug when killing a pet that drops loot.

Enjoy!

[HugoVirtuoso]

I noticed that Farmer Maggot is no longer seen in the 'regular' wilderness these days. But, he is still around in the 'lite' wilderness. The same is probably true for the Lionheart. Battle-scarred veteran, and some other town monsters. Is this intentional?

[Avenger]

Btw Chris,

The Blade of Chaos of Sharpness you get when starting as a Servant of Korne doesn't have the vorpal_flag. Is that on purpose? If it is, why not make it a weapon of Armageddon?

*starts a chaos warrior, scums for Khorne

*wonders where my blade of chaos is

[Arjen]

If we are noting bugs, a minor one: The Death Swords quest and Mimic were switched a while back, but the descriptions weren't.

[chris]

Btw Chris,

The Blade of Chaos of Sharpness you get when starting as a Servant of Korne doesn't have the vorpal_flag. Is that on purpose? If it is, why not make it a weapon of Armageddon?

That's a bug. Also, Angels should start with a mace rather than a long sword since they have priestly weapon skills.