A huge update to Nekarcos's QoL add-ons (and more)

[nsrr]

Slightly sad that Ritch's new trees won't be out with the base update, but still looking forward to diving back into OoTS I'll be honest, I skipped the Hydra and Drake change logs, but the Natural Combat update looks nice, as do the various tweaks and buffs to Ritch's current arsenal.

[nekarcos]

Time for the next lesson!

A small pre-release tutorial-lization* on the mechanics and systems of "Odyssey of The Summoner"
Today's topic: The "Natural Attack" combat system

Originally, attacking multiple times was a quality ONLY "Hydra" possessed-- But now, it has been adapted and expanded so that ANY nature-taught class can utilize this unique ability.


Think of "Natural Attacks" as "the number of weapons you are carrying", and "Natural Attack Count" as "how many weapons you can swing at one time". When performing a melee attack, you will randomly pick out <Natural Attack Count> weapons from your list of Natural Attacks-- Shuffle them-- Then perform each of them, one after another. Like dual-wielded weapons, each attack after the first incurs multiplicative "Offhand" penalties-- So, presuming your Offhand penalty is currently 50%, the damage of each natural attack will diminish as follows: 100%, 50%, 25%, 12%, 6%, ...
Note, however, that various natural attacks can ignore multi-attack penalties, have "on-hit effects", or have "on-hit damage" (which is NOT affected by these diminishing returns!)
(SIDE NOTE: When DarkGod buffed the "Blinding Strikes" ego on rings, they became VERY overpowered on Avatars... So we will just have to see how this goes.)


You can increase your "Natural Attack Count" by increasing your Dexterity. Every 10 points of Dexterity will increase your Nat-Atk-Count by 1.

Hydra's merit, however, is that it can also use *Willpower* to increase its Nat-Atk-Count, allowing it to perform an UNRIVALED amount of Natural Attacks.

The most important thing to note about "Natural Attacks" is that they are NEVER reused during a melee attack! As such, it is POINTLESS to have a Natural Attack Count of 20... If you only know 3 Natural Attacks! "Natural Attack Count" only defines *HOW MANY* of your natural attacks will be used.


*** Hydra
Each head is considered as a "natural attack", so to perform 5 attacks, it will require at least 5 heads. Beware-- Hydra cannot use ANY natural attacks EXCEPT its heads, so if you are completely beheaded, you will have NO natural attacks left and will be forced to perform an awkward, pitiful "punch" instead!


*** Fire Drake
This class BEGINS with 4 natural attacks: A "high priority" bite, two claws, and a *stunning* tail bash! "High Priority" means it will ALWAYS be selected before any other attack, so to gain access to the others, you must have a Natural Attack Count of 2 or more!


*** Drakelings
They can now LEARN new Natural Attacks from the "Savaging Claws" talent tree. Unlike their parent, however, they must ACQUIRE their 4 Natural Attacks by inheriting these talents. Furthermore, until they learn at least one, they will only perform a pathetic "gnawing" attack that hardly does any damage!


*** Ritch
Each Hookclaw is an individual Natural Attack (so 2 attacks). Also note that it has a "Weapon" parameter which represents your equipped weapons. As such, you can customize the qualities of your melee attacks however you like. It can also gain 1 more particularly NASTY Natural Attack by learning "Stinger" talents!


... Oh yes, and one more important note:

Various talents will now GRANT additional Natural Attacks upon being learned or sustained. Particularly, each of the "<so-and-so> Beast" talent trees contain a unique Natural Attack. This said, no character is limited to the natural attacks they're born with-- Go learn ones that match your character's fighting style!

*: Not a real word; do not use

[nekarcos]

This one ran a bit late, but it's a good one!

A small pre-release tutorial-lization* on the mechanics and systems of "Odyssey of The Summoner"
Today's topic: The new "Wildness" attribute


Much like any other attribute, "Wildness" represents a certain quality about your character, and can be developed through experience gain and leveling up. This stat, in particular, represents your character's "attachment" to nature. It is gained mostly for its benefits and is only necessary for a handful of talents.


*** What does it do?
Again, much like any other attribute, gaining points increases some parameters for your character. The parameters, in particular, are your Maximum Life, Life Regeneration, Equilibrium Drain, and your Maximum Ferocity. Think of it like a "secondary" Constitution attribute that fortifies your character's vitality, but DOES NOT provide protections (or access to such) like Saves, Resistances, Armor, or Immunity. That is to say, alone, it is NOT enough to protect your character and, without good judgment, will usually only *prolong* a hopeless situation.

(Keep in mind that it increases your maximum Ferocity-- Which is necessary for a few important survivability talents!)


*** It CANNOT be increased via Stat Points!
This stat can ONLY be increased exclusively through learning talents. Particularly, every talent in "Natural Combat", "Inner Animal", "Noble Animal", racial "Egos", and "Dragon Scales" will increase Wildness by 1 per point. If you are familiar with the old system, "Wildness" has simply replaced "Wild Power", which should make its benefits MUCH more clear now.


*** What talents require it?
The "Inner Animal" and "Noble Animal" trees both have talents that require a certain amount of Wildness to be learned. However, there is now also a NEW branch of uber talents that require "Wildness" (and, of course, extra wacky conditions) to be learned! Much to the nature of the "Wildness" stat, Wildness ubers tend to fortify your character to further provide them with sturdiness in chaotic situations.
(Note: I never originally intended to include these for the base update-- But we might as well have a bit of fun!)


*** Do Natural Attacks still scale on Wild Power?
Each Natural Attack now has a "Wildness" modifier-- And this represents how much ADDITIONAL scaling the Natural Attack will receive from your other attributes.
... Errr, the "simple" answer is that "Wildness makes your Natural Attacks stronger"-- But here's the "complicated" answer (if you want that):
* We check your "Wild Power", which is 100% of your Wildness, 50% of your current Ferocity, and 20% of your BONUS Luck. (let's say your total is "50")
* Your Natural Attack has "50% STR, 30% DEX, 100% WLD" as its modifiers.
- We take your Wild Power, add 100, then divide it by 100. (in this case, we end up with "1.50", or "150%")
- We multiply your OTHER modifiers by THAT value. As such, the final modifier is now "75% STR, 45% DEX"

As you can see, having A LOT of Wildness, alone, will not make your Natural Attacks very powerful as it only "amplifies" the gains you receive from other stats. As such, you will still require stat building to *truly* optimize your melee damage output.


*: Not a real word; do not use

[nekarcos]

Here's another one!

A small pre-release tutorial-lization* on the mechanics and systems of "Odyssey of The Summoner"
Today's topic: "Transformations" (Nature, Blight, and Antimagic)


Before, receiving blight damage was like a quiet reaper, looming over your head. At some point, after receiving too much (a perceptibly "arbitrary" number), your character became "blighted", condemned to either eventual death or a permanent loss of various stats and being sold into a rather expensive talent tree.

... Ahem-- This has NOT changed! However, to "ease" the punishing factor of this mechanic, I have clarified the threshold, reduced the rate of gain, and introduced various features to make you consider differently the "plot" behind this mechanic: The eternal struggle Nature and Blight wages against one another on a daily basis.



*** Being "Natural"
Blight is a corruption upon Nature, while Antimagic is a cure against Blight. As long as one chooses to remain Natural, they will be at the mercy of Blight and its corruption, for better or for worse...

* Nature's Bane
Originally, an Avatar's "Blight" resistance was reduced by 30% as soon as they touched blight. This has been replaced with "Nature's Bane"-- A new status effect Avatars receive when incurring Blight damage beyond 5% of their maximum life in the span of a single turn. For 3 turns, the character will lose 0.5% of their maximum life (adds up to 30% of the blight damage dealt), as well as slightly reducing their movement speed and damage dealt. This life loss is tabulated as "Corruption", and if the character's corruption goes beyond 100% of their maximum life, "blighting" will begin. This change makes it SIGNIFICANTLY harder to succumb to "blighting", but now, the repercussions are immediately visible. Beware of places with a great deal of blight (*COUGH-DARK-CRYPT-COUGH*), and protect yourself appropriately!

* "Blighting"
After receiving a certain amount of corruption, the character will begin "blighting". Over time, the character's maximum life will decrease until they eventually cannot give up any more and die. Your situation is not hopeless, however-- It is not uncommon to "draw" blight out from a source of corruption...



*** Being "Corrupted"
Once one has embraced their corruption, their body will no longer fight against blight. Instead, blight will soothe and restore them, loosening the coagulation of their now-dead body. However, now they are at the mercy of Antimagic...

* Blight's Boon
The complete opposite of Nature's Bane, Blight's Boon will cause you to regenerate for 30% of blight damage you receive, as well as granting increased damage and movement speed. This effect does not incur "Corruption" as "Nature's Bane" does (though, there WILL be something that will utilize this in the future...)

* Dark, new powers...
Corrupted Avatars will always gain access to a new talent tree that utilizes the "Magic" stat, as well as a set of talents that see ENORMOUS scaling from Spellpower. It is ALWAYS worthwhile to invest in your newfound magical gifts-- But at what cost does this great power come at...?

* Now, "Antimagic" is your new fear...
Being made of magic, you cannot safely touch Antimagic objects! Simply making contact with them throws you into a state of comatose torpor-- And let's not even mention what happens to you if you are manaburned!

* To "cure" the corruption...?
It is not always that a natural being becomes corrupted of its own volition. Perhaps, by complete misfortune, this became their fate, and now, they wish to reverse it. Somewhere out there, you might find a way to "fix" your corruption-- Or, at least, find some momentary respite from it...



*** Being "Evolved"
Deep down within Eyal oozes a substance known as "Antimatter". This substance, when consumed by a being of great natural power (such as an "Avatar"), grants the creature complete immunity to the corruptions of magic, as well as unlocking the hidden potential within them that was previously sealed away by the clogging effects of magic...
(Notice: This feature will NOT be available right away! I'm still ironing out a few minor wrinkles, so it will probably be the first bit of deluxe content to come!)

* The "Superior Form" talent-- Aka: Becoming "Antimagic"
With evolution comes newfound immunity. The character becomes immune to any further effects of blighting or Nature's Bane. They will also gain access to a powerful new talent tree that revolves around protecting yourself from magic, blight, and the elements. However, this option does not come without a cost: To be "Antimagic" means to shirk all further use of magic and that which is magical-- And therefore, you can no longer become "Blighted", nor can you cast spells or utilize any objects with "Arcane" properties. Choose carefully (though, the choice should be clear if you are one that despises magic and blight!)
(... And no: Zigur will STILL hate you, as their beef is not quite with you, but, in fact, your summoner...)

* No magic allowed. No, really: Don't even TOUCH it!
While regular Antimagics would simply have nothing to do with arcane objects, being an Antimagic creature means you literally CANNOT touch anything magical! Upon doing so, the object will burn up and be destroyed, leaving no trace of its prior presence (with exception to "Artifacts", which will simply repulse you and remain where they are). The weight here is heavier than an oath: You cannot and WILL NOT make contact with anything magical any longer!

* The Natural world is unforgiving...
Though magic is generally considered a pox on Eyal, the adventurous sort find it to be a dependable ally and a reliable savior-- Especially when a now-surrounded-by-dragons-and-mages individual needs immediate extrication from their situation! Do not lightly shirk the importance of magic, for-- To YOU, an adventurer and a hero-- It is a tool at YOUR disposal, just as much as it is anyone else's.


*: Not a real word; do not use

[nekarcos]

Here's one more for you!

A small pre-release tutorial-lization* on the mechanics and systems of "Odyssey of The Summoner"
Today's topic: "Consumables"
("Consumable" is a misnomer as it actually refers to objects that have been given action verbs OTHER than "Wear" or "Use"! The name mostly stuck because "Consume" was the very first action verb I gave them... )

Though Tales of Maj'Eyal is a roguelike that operates on a "no expendables" system, Odyssey of The Summoner introduces SEVERAL mechanics that cause objects to become permanently lost. As terrifying as that might sound, these mechanics exist on an "easy come, easy go" basis, in that NOTHING you lose is something you can't replace, nor is it something you would have missed anyways. Most importantly, since Therianthropics don't use (most) equipment slots or inscriptions, these mechanics skirt around the idea that you will discard most of what you find anyways, so we should, instead, give these "useless" objects unique, untraditional purposes...



*** Animals don't wear clothing!
To play a Therianthropic character means to lose out on one of the more "thrilling" experience in ToME: Equipment! So, to combat this, you have "Consumables" and the various talents that utilize them. These talents require a certain type of object in order to be utilized, and will only confer their benefits if you can provide said objects. This is how the appeal of hoarding equipment and treasure is preserved.



*** Oh! Speak of the devil: The "Hoarding Beast" talent tree!
* "Consume"
"Runes" and "Infusions" are highly valuable to Therianthropic characters as, normally, they can't use "Inscriptions" (Runes, Infusions, Taints, Injectors, Generators, etc...) of any kind whatsoever. However, this talent allows you to *destroy* an Inscription for a one-time activation of its effects. As not to make this feel like "Potions" or "Scrolls", they also (very mildly) increase your maximum life permanently (as to encourage devouring "useless" ones and keeping "valuable" ones).

* "Clasp"
You can WEAR Rings, Gems, and Mindstars-- Well, "Wear" is a very *loose* description of what you are actually doing. You are *holding* the object in your mouth, such that you can utilize its effects immediately, as well as gain its benefits. UNLIKE actually *wearing* it, this requires a certain level of skill, discipline, and focus to maintain-- Cunning, Constitution, and Willpower, to be precise! If you should lose focus, these objects can be dropped, misplaced-- Or even swallowed! Should that happen...

* "Relief"
... This talent (now finally completed and improved) can be used to "regurgitate" a single object you have swallowed, scouring it and providing you with the effects that got scraped off. In other words, you can temporarily "wear" the object-- Albeit temporarily. Now it's just a matter of getting the right one out...

* "Treasure Hoarder's Will"
Finally, with this talent, you can gain VARIOUS diverse benefits based on what kinds of treasures you have CONSUMED and how many of each kind you have done so with. Depending on the build of a character, you may feel inclined to collect Staves to improve your Spell Power-- Or perhaps, Mindstars to improve your Mind Power. Maybe you just don't care and you'll collect anything you find whatsoever-- Which will improve your Armor. It's up to you!



*** Ritch's Consumable mechanic: "Impermanent" weapons
As the name suggests, Ritch can convert certain weapons into USABLE ones that are anything BUT permanent. These blades break after a certain amount of usage-- But the trade-off is access to the VERY powerful "Extravagancy" talent tree, as well as the enhancement and customization of Ritch's melee attacks.
This is a very special type of consumable, in that it is the ONLY kind that can TRULY be depleted and used up to no benefit whatsoever-- Something that propels most of Ritch's gameplay: The careful preservation and conservation of fresh blades!



There are QUITE a few other ones, but I would be giving away too much! Hydra, Fire Drake, and the three new-classes-to-come CERTAINLY have Consumable mechanics-- But, it is something you will see yourself.


*: Not a real word; do not use

PS: If there are any other topics people are curious to hear about, let me know. I have tried my best not to describe the things that might "spoil" the fun you will encounter.

[nekarcos]

Alright, I am here to say: I am officially "concluding" this thread.


From this point on, any further updates are going to be posted HERE in the proper "Odyssey of The Summoner" thread.

As for all my other Quality of Life add-ons, please locate their threads and post on those. (posting links for all of them would be a bit tedious...)


Thanks for tuning in, hope you all enjoy... This'll be good!