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Map Maker's Guide to Runes and Traps    (by peterm@soda.berkeley.edu)

* in this document, 'rune' and 'trap' are interchangeable terms.

A rune is a magical enscription on the dungeon floor.  Traps
are just like runes except they are not magical in nature, and
generally have a physical attack.

Runes hit any monster or person who steps on them for dam damage
in 'attacktype' attacktype.  In addition, there is a generalized
rune which can contain any spell at all, and will cast this spell
when it detonates.  

Many traps and runes are already defined in the archetypes.

  Here's a guide the the fields in a Rune:  (archetype)

level           --      Level the rune will cast the spell it contains at,
                        if applicable.   A level 99 rune casts a very,
                        very mean spell of whatever.  (Warning: level 0
                        runes won't detonate at all!)  Also effects
                        how easily a trap may be found and disarmed.

Cha             --      Determines what fraction of the time the
                        rune is visible:  randomly visible 1/Cha of the
                        time.  Also effects how easily the trap
                        may be found.

sp              --      Spell in the rune, if any (the index of the spell)

slaying         --      name of the spell in the rune, if any.
                        Optional, but if present, overrides sp.
                        recommended for use by mapmakers to ensure portability.

other_arch      --      spell archetype of the spell in the rune, if any.
                        Optional, but if present, overrides sp and slaying.

hp              --      How many times the rune detonates before disappearing

attacktype      --      If there isn't any spell, what attacktype to use 
                        when the rune detonates

face            --      face the rune has

msg             --      What the rune says to the victim when it detonates

dam             --      How much damage is done by the rune, if it does
                        not cast a spell

anim            --      face1 is the default face of the rune.
face1                   face2 is the face of a rune detonation.
face2                   A detonating rune inserts a dummy object
mina                    with face2 on the square.

direction       --      Direction to cast the spell the rune contains 

maxhp           --      Number of spells to cast


Predefined runes for your convenience:  See the Runes pickmap on the editor


IMPORTANT:  When making rune archetypes for spells, name the rune
Object rune_[spell-name].  This convention makes it possible for someone
who does 'cast magic rune <spell>' to create a rune that looks like
your archetype.  Examples:
Object rune_large_fireball
Object rune_invisibility
Object rune_improved_invisibility
  If they're not named this way, someone can write a rune of < >
what looks nothing like the one in the archetypes, even though it does
exactly the same thing.

All runes should be editable.  For example you might want to call up
a rune of fire, and set its slaying so that it casts large fireball
instead of simply burning its victim.


Ideas:  you could blanket a floor with 1pt dam runes of fire, but with
many hp.  Anyone walking across this blanket will be badly hurt if he's
slow or sits on them for a long time, but could cross more or less unhurt
if he's quick.  You could encourage a player to do something rash this
way.

  You could place Runes of Healing behind altar-controlled doors in
temples.  Dump enough money on the altar, and you get access to the
Rune of Healing.  (Or restoration.)

  Also, you could implement a magic bank with runes of transferrence
in the same way.  (Roscoe's energy emporium!)

  A rune of Polymorph with the beam directed down a long passageway
of monsters could REALLY cause chaos.  Oohhhhh, fun, fun fun!!
Runes of lightning oriented down long passageways could be lots of
fun as well!
Revision:	1.1
Committed:	Fri Feb 3 07:12:35 2006 UTC (18 years, 5 months ago) by root
Branch:	MAIN
Branch point for:	UPSTREAM
Log Message:	Initial revision
#	User	Rev	Content
1	root	1.1	Map Maker's Guide to Runes and Traps (by peterm@soda.berkeley.edu)
2
3			* in this document, 'rune' and 'trap' are interchangeable terms.
4
5			A rune is a magical enscription on the dungeon floor. Traps
6			are just like runes except they are not magical in nature, and
7			generally have a physical attack.
8
9			Runes hit any monster or person who steps on them for dam damage
10			in 'attacktype' attacktype. In addition, there is a generalized
11			rune which can contain any spell at all, and will cast this spell
12			when it detonates.
13
14			Many traps and runes are already defined in the archetypes.
15
16			Here's a guide the the fields in a Rune: (archetype)
17
18			level -- Level the rune will cast the spell it contains at,
19			if applicable. A level 99 rune casts a very,
20			very mean spell of whatever. (Warning: level 0
21			runes won't detonate at all!) Also effects
22			how easily a trap may be found and disarmed.
23
24			Cha -- Determines what fraction of the time the
25			rune is visible: randomly visible 1/Cha of the
26			time. Also effects how easily the trap
27			may be found.
28
29			sp -- Spell in the rune, if any (the index of the spell)
30
31			slaying -- name of the spell in the rune, if any.
32			Optional, but if present, overrides sp.
33			recommended for use by mapmakers to ensure portability.
34
35			other_arch -- spell archetype of the spell in the rune, if any.
36			Optional, but if present, overrides sp and slaying.
37
38			hp -- How many times the rune detonates before disappearing
39
40			attacktype -- If there isn't any spell, what attacktype to use
41			when the rune detonates
42
43			face -- face the rune has
44
45			msg -- What the rune says to the victim when it detonates
46
47			dam -- How much damage is done by the rune, if it does
48			not cast a spell
49
50			anim -- face1 is the default face of the rune.
51			face1 face2 is the face of a rune detonation.
52			face2 A detonating rune inserts a dummy object
53			mina with face2 on the square.
54
55			direction -- Direction to cast the spell the rune contains
56
57			maxhp -- Number of spells to cast
58
59
60			Predefined runes for your convenience: See the Runes pickmap on the editor
61
62
63			IMPORTANT: When making rune archetypes for spells, name the rune
64			Object rune_[spell-name]. This convention makes it possible for someone
65			who does 'cast magic rune <spell>' to create a rune that looks like
66			your archetype. Examples:
67			Object rune_large_fireball
68			Object rune_invisibility
69			Object rune_improved_invisibility
70			If they're not named this way, someone can write a rune of < >
71			what looks nothing like the one in the archetypes, even though it does
72			exactly the same thing.
73
74			All runes should be editable. For example you might want to call up
75			a rune of fire, and set its slaying so that it casts large fireball
76			instead of simply burning its victim.
77
78
79			Ideas: you could blanket a floor with 1pt dam runes of fire, but with
80			many hp. Anyone walking across this blanket will be badly hurt if he's
81			slow or sits on them for a long time, but could cross more or less unhurt
82			if he's quick. You could encourage a player to do something rash this
83			way.
84
85			You could place Runes of Healing behind altar-controlled doors in
86			temples. Dump enough money on the altar, and you get access to the
87			Rune of Healing. (Or restoration.)
88
89			Also, you could implement a magic bank with runes of transferrence
90			in the same way. (Roscoe's energy emporium!)
91
92			A rune of Polymorph with the beam directed down a long passageway
93			of monsters could REALLY cause chaos. Oohhhhh, fun, fun fun!!
94			Runes of lightning oriented down long passageways could be lots of
95			fun as well!