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- Newsgroups: rec.games.hack
- Path: sparky!uunet!wupost!cs.uiuc.edu!cs.uiuc.edu!piccolo.cs.uiuc.edu!schwartz
- From: schwartz@piccolo.cs.uiuc.edu (Bradley W. Schwartz)
- Subject: Expanding the Game
- Message-ID: <C1E10E.Lut@cs.uiuc.edu>
- Followup-To: rec.games.hack
- Sender: news@cs.uiuc.edu
- Organization: The Island of Misfit Toys
- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 02:17:01 GMT
- Lines: 80
-
-
- A characteristic of 'nethack' I really like is how diverse elements
- from D&D, medieval history and folklore are intermixed with the
- modern things like kitchen sinks, magic markers and credit cards.
- I agree with people who say that, when it comes to expanding the
- class of monsters, weapons, scrolls, etc., care should be taken to
- balance the modern elements with the traditional ones.
-
- I also think it would be great if the modern elements that are added
- are really significant parts of our modern culture (the kinds of
- things we would want to put in the "time capsules" that used to be
- popular).
-
-
- That said, I'd like to throw out my two choices for new elements to
- add to 'nethack': the condom and the Post-It note.
-
- The condom would be a piece of armor. There would be two kinds:
- latex and sheepskin. The latex ones would be -1, whereas the
- sheepskin would be -2. However, it would be possible to wear
- two latex condoms simulateneously for -2. Condoms would be worn
- under armor like the Hawaiian shirt. Wearing a condom would give
- you a 95% chance of having "favorable relations" with an incubus/
- succubus, whereas without one your chances would be much lower
- (like 20%).
-
- The Post-It note would be a tool rather than a type of scroll.
- They would be found in the dungeon next to walls or on top of
- chests. The Post-It would be read like a scroll, but the
- possibilities for what is written on it would be more varied. There
- would be a weighted probability of getting each of the following:
-
- (1) a message from the fortunes file
-
- (2) an "identify" message. This is different from the
- identify scroll in that the number of IDs is always one.
- Also, the ID made may be on an item not in the character's
- possession. For example, such a message might be
-
- " tiger-eye ring = conflict "
-
- (3) a quote from the Bible. Reading these would give you
- a chance of changing alignment from Chaotic to Neutral
- or Neutral to Lawful. Lawful characters would improve
- relations with their god as if they had sacrificed.
-
- (4) an "insight" message: a random one of your intrinsics
- would be described.
-
- (5) a sentence describing where the Wizard is ( "The Wizard
- is on Level xx").
-
- (6) same as (5), for the Medusa.
-
-
- The tool aspect of Post-It notes would come into play when they
- are written on with a magic marker. Writing Elbereth on a Post-It
- by itself would do nothing, but when the Post-It is stuck to the
- floor or on the side of a door, monsters would be incapable of
- stepping on that square or opening the door (from that side only!)
- until the character picks it up. Post-Its would have "charges"
- like wands, which would represent how many successful "sticks" are
- left in it. Of course, Post-Its would be unable to stick to the
- walls and floors in Hell and the Endlevel.
-
-
-
- Naturally, I don't expect these suggestions to ever be acted on, but
- hopefully some of you will find it entertaining to consider them.
-
-
-
- bradley
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