Several chars on a tile

[ghostbuster]

Presently, on a tile there is only one char or npc on a tile (probably one square meter). Why not consider that tiles are slightly larger and can contain several chars/npcs. This would open new mechanisms and possibilities in the game.

The basic idea is that in term of combat, when the tile is attacked, the most powerful defender protects it. This is true for blows and bolts (of mages and archers). Balls, breath, clouds, etc, deal damage to all the occupants of the tile.

Assume that you have a tile with an archmage and a bullwark. The most dangerous character (probably the archmage), will be efficiently protected as he is weaker than the bull. And to deal with this situations, there is a need for new strategies/talents.
As a protection, for instance, a summoner can rush on the tile of a defensive minions.
But getting rid of heavily protected npcs can be a real challenge, and I already imagine vaults with some point heavily protected by a terrible stack of monsters...

Some ideas:
* add some talents/items to deal x% of the main damage as collateral damage to all the occupants of the tile. (for zerkers, of course)
* add some talents to be able to choose the targeted foe (or to target the weakest occupant of the tile) (for rogues, archers, maybe mages, psy)
* add some ability to decrease the probability that you will defend when in a tile with others chars (useful if you can have minions)
* add some abilities to increase the probability that you will defend the tile (only useful for minions!)
* add some defense synergy (you gain x defense per occupant of the tile for all the occupants of the tile)
* add some means to share damage among the ocuppants of a tile (x% of the received damage is shared with other chars on a tile)
* add some blows/spells that can disperse a tile (useful for everybody)
* etc...

Probably interesting and worth testing, maybe in an addon, but I am not sure the engine supports it presently.
But the main problem IMHO will be in the UI. It should be clear for the player that a tile contains several opponents to avoid any bad surprise.
And there should be a convenient mean to explore the differents chars on a tile...

[Sradac]

why cant I just aim my arrow at the mage? or my manathrust at the mage? why does it have to automagically hit the "stronger" character?

If positioning was a factor, then yeah that would make sense but right now there is no facing or positioning in ToME. Sounds like it'd fit better in a module than the base game

[Parcae2]

Anything that reduces tactical options should be avoided. I'd rather see big creatures (dragons, giants) take up multiple tiles.

[ghostbuster]

why cant I just aim my arrow at the mage? or my manathrust at the mage? why does it have to automagically hit the "stronger"

You can think of them as bodyguards. You want to hit the mage that bombs you and the guard intervenes. And you have to kill the guard just to reach the mage. Except if you are skilled enough to bypass him.

After that, I do not know which would be the actual mechanisms that determines which monster is targeted. The largest (in size), the one with the highest life, the one with the highest defence or armor? Experiments are obviousy required. And there is an obvious difficulty to iimplement this in terms of gameplay as the player must absolutely be aware of which monster he/she will be targetting. But I do not think it reduces tactical options. Defeating a pile of defenders can be a real puzzle and challenge. Besides that, most of the time the opponents would be one per tile.

[HousePet]

Doesn't really add anything that the existing setup doesn't have.
You can already have tough enemies standing in front of spellcasters and stuff like that.

[Theyleon]

What exactly does this add over just having the mage stand behind the beserker?

Seems to be a whole lot of complexity for no perceivable advantage.

[ghostbuster]

It is slightly different. A mage behind a berzerker cannot attack you (except with balls, but bolts will reach the zerker and breaths will deal damage to both).

It is also different from being surrounded by foes. Slightly easier as you can escape. But depending on the mechanism that determines which one is the "strongest", it can add an extra difficulty. For instance, assume that the "strongest" is determined by selecting the one with the maximum life. As you deal damage to one opponent, his life is reduced and another one becomes the "strongest". The time that you try to slain this second opponent, the first one can heal (and you can have more than two foes on the tile). This way, it is much more difficult to concentrate on a foe to get rid of him. You may have to use at the good time a special blow to complete the weakest opponent of a tile (but talents have CD).

So I think it can be interesting to face the player with new mechanisms and challenges. But I am completely aware of the complexity in terms of implementation and UI.

[parcel]

Then 'slightly different' is probably not 'fundamentally different' enough to justify added complexity for the player, reduced transparency in the UI, and a whole new round of rebalancing combat situations if this new mechanic is really going to have a broad impact on gameplay.