Mage Spells

[Narvius]

NPP and Steam both are very interesting when it comes to spells. Anyone doing this might want to look into those.

[Magnate]

The general rule for this kind of thing is, if you want to see it done, try doing it yourself, and if everyone likes it then it'll go into the official version.

Mage spells have been more or less untouched since the first version of the game. The two big changes I remember are 1) removing Globe of Invulnerability (years ago), and 2) reducing the costs of damage spells (within the last year or two). Otherwise, access to some spells for different classes has been tweaked, as has the efficacy of some of the detection spells, but that's about it.

I think most people don't feel that the spell list is broken, so why change it?

I don't think I agree with this. I think most people feel that the spell list is idiosyncratic and dated, and would love to see it improved. But it's a big job, and very few people have the kind of spare time required to take it on. Those of us who do are all focused on other things which seem to us slightly more urgent.

But there have been a lot of ideas for improving both spell realms, consolidating some spells and differentiating others. The (2) referred to above was a comprehensive analysis of mana cost per point of damage, which overturned a longstanding problem of magic missile being the most mana-efficient spell for the entire game ...

I'd be happy to assist anyone who wanted to have a go at this. (EDIT: to rearrange existing spells, that is - adding new spells would make much more sense after the effects refactor is done - and would give me a nice incentive to do it!)

[Derakon]

The general rule for this kind of thing is, if you want to see it done, try doing it yourself, and if everyone likes it then it'll go into the official version.

Mage spells have been more or less untouched since the first version of the game. The two big changes I remember are 1) removing Globe of Invulnerability (years ago), and 2) reducing the costs of damage spells (within the last year or two). Otherwise, access to some spells for different classes has been tweaked, as has the efficacy of some of the detection spells, but that's about it.

I think most people don't feel that the spell list is broken, so why change it?

[Malatar]

I tried out V4, and I have to say I'm impressed. It looks very nice and the play is interesting too. But I did have one question: Is someone going to rework the mage spells? I've thought they needed to be completely redone for a long time...

I don't know how feasable it owuld be, but the spells in NPPAngband have some very interesting effects. There's a wide variety of attack spells both in shape of effect, damage type (fire/ice/etc), as well as damage dice. It's one of the things I like best about NPPAngband, and I'd recommend whomever is balacing mage spells take a look there for some ideas...

Thanks for your time. Roguelike games have been a favorite of mine since I played their predecessor Moria on a VAX/VMS system in the late 80s. Angband is still one of my favorite games...