POSCHENG...paralyzed with FA?

[MWGE]

So...
A cloaker paralyzed me...but i had FA (twice in fact).
Double checked on screen dump just to be sure i hadn't swapped it out.

Am I missing something?

[Derakon]

Free Action is not 100% protection in PosChengband. You got unlucky.

[wobbly]

Since 7.0 it's save based with a short duration. I think multiple FA = multiple saves? I only briefly skimmed the code, you'd need to check. So AC is a big deal against melee paralyzers but even better is magic shell which'll give you a near perfect save.

[MWGE]

Thanks both
Does rather put me off playing as it's a bit "It breathes, you die" for my taste at low to mid levels for a melee character.
Especially as cloakers are (by design) very hard to see.
In this case i went from 200Hp to dead and there I was with double FA.
I suspect another variant is for me which is a shame as there is much to recommend Poschengband i think but instadeath is a bit painful.

[PowerWyrm]

Thanks both
Does rather put me off playing as it's a bit "It breathes, you die" for my taste at low to mid levels for a melee character.
Especially as cloakers are (by design) very hard to see.
In this case i went from 200Hp to dead and there I was with double FA.
I suspect another variant is for me which is a shame as there is much to recommend Poschengband i think but instadeath is a bit painful.

Frankly Poschengband is a variant of a variant of a variant... of a variant. You can't expect stuff to be balanced. Things have been done recently to address some issues with the result being ComPosband. You should try that instead if you like the Poschengband atmosphere.

[Gwarl]

This mechanic hasn't been changed yet in compos, but in future 1 source of FA will provide 90% protection from paralysis and two sources will provide 100%.

Paralysis is much less lethal to characters with no source of FA now, and I think that's worth being occassionally paralyzed even with FA for, but a sudden death to a basilisk through 3 sources of FA convinced me it should be possible to avoid completely.

[wobbly]

Alternatively a pre 7.0 version. As a bonus you'd get the blue mage as an option

[Derakon]

My personal take on status effects is that effects that remove all options from the player aren't very interesting unless they're heavily telegraphed and there are clear actions the player can take to avoid being hit by the status effect in the first place. Angband does not do a good job of telegraphing anything, so paralysis is not very interesting in it.

As an alternative, consider replacing paralysis with temporary slowing. Make it impossible to clear with CCW/Curing if you like. Being slow is still quite dangerous, but the player still has options.

[Gwarl]

Frankly, it breathes, you die. You probably haven't played much of 7, but I survived a cloaker without even having FA recently. You can even do OMW without it. Paralysis is fine and a good way to inspire terror in the player but for most things you get two pips of resist you're in the clear, paralysis can go and sit with them.

[Sideways]

Like wobbly said, FA pips give you saving throws against the paralysis; which means the dangerousness of paralysis depends on your saving throw as well as the number of FA pips. By late game your saving throw will be better and you'll have to be very unlucky to get paralysis-killed through two pips of FA.

(Even in the late game you can still get paralyzed through two pips of FA, because the original saving throws will be in part against monster level, which is also higher in the late game; but you'll recover super-fast.)

[CyclopsSlayer]

I will admit to a bit of rage as the RNG decided to hate me, and a simple Evil Eye paralyzed me through 3 pips of FA. Only lasted an instant, but still pissed me off.

[wobbly]

My personal take on status effects is that effects that remove all options from the player aren't very interesting unless they're heavily telegraphed and there are clear actions the player can take to avoid being hit by the status effect in the first place. Angband does not do a good job of telegraphing anything, so paralysis is not very interesting in it.

As an alternative, consider replacing paralysis with temporary slowing. Make it impossible to clear with CCW/Curing if you like. Being slow is still quite dangerous, but the player still has options.

In pos a lot of these things get you until you learn to adjust to it. Probably a play style thing but I tend to have 3 pips of rfear (1 being !heroism) just because that's pretty much the pt where fear won't paralyze you. I like the new FA. The dracolisk paralyzes you flashing on the screen is a nice shock even (or because) you are still alive and unparalayzed the next turn. I don't like FA (& SI) breaking pos's (heng's?) rule of 3. 3 rfire is 100% equipment protection, same with acid etc. 3 rfear is a little different but the safe pt from personel experience. 3 FA should just work, 3 SI should just work. At least in my opinion.

Edit: cloakers are pretty dangerous for there depth. I never notice the issue, as they appear in my monster list window but I have seen how hard they can hit. They suck.

[Gwarl]

afaik rule of three is for elemental resistance but higher resistances (eg chaos) is rule of two - two pips frees you from worry. Which is what I had in mind for inertia resistance (replacing free action)

[wobbly]

afaik rule of three is for elemental resistance but higher resistances (eg chaos) is rule of two - two pips frees you from worry. Which is what I had in mind for inertia resistance (replacing free action)

Quite possibly & I never know what part of effects is rconf & what rchaos. Ideally I grab both. I'm kind of a fan of having a wall of resists, saves remembering which of a thousands critters does what & which night-foo is actually dangerous. 2 or 3 is workable, I'd say ballance it on which gives interesting gear trade offs.

[Sideways]

It's 3 pips for all resistances when it comes to item damage, not sure if status effects are different.