[ViewVC] Annotation of: cvs/deliantra/server/doc/multigod



        This document is a brief description of the MULTIGOD hack. 

        --------------
        Introduction -
        --------------

        The intention of this code is to enhance the enjoy-ability and 
        playability of clerical characters in the new skills/exp scheme.

        This is done by giving players gods to worship who in turn effect 
        clerical magic and powers. Included in this patch are several new 
        spells which (hopefully) will allow the priest characters a better 
        chance to gain xp at higher levels. Notably, the "holy orb" and 
        "holy word" spells have been revamped.

        When MULTIPLE_GODS flag is defined in include/config.h, this 
        code is enabled. This code (described below) encompasses 3 
        main parts: an array of gods that players/NPCs may worship, 
        new clerical spells which rely on the worshiped god's attrib-
        utes in Gods[] array and, altars/praying--the interface between 
        a worshiper and their god.

                                                b.t.
                                                thomas@astro.psu.edu

        ---------
        Outline -
        ---------

        1. Description of code -

        2. Properties of the gods

        3. Designing new gods

        4. TODO/Idea list

        
        --------------------- 
        Description of code -
        --------------------- 

        This code is flexible and easy to configure (just edit the god
        archetypes). Part of the reason for creating this code was to 
        allow server maintainers to develop their own "mythos". From my 
        personal point of view, I hate having the old "Christian" aligned 
        mythos, but if that's what you like, you can replicate it with 
        this code too (see below).


        -------------------------
        2. Properties of the Gods
        -------------------------

        Here is a fuller description of Gods archetype values. 
 
        name         - name of the god  (required)
        other_arch   - archetype that will be used for the summon holy
                       servant spell.
        title        - diametrically opposed god, leave blank if none exists
        attacktype   - favored attack of this god, used in spells of summon
                       avatar, holy word. Recipients of "holy possession" get 
                       this too.  
        immune       - Avatars/holy servants/recipient of "holy possession" 
                       gets this.
        protected    - all of the above AND recipient of god's blessing and the         
                       priest of this god gets this.
        vulnerable   - Avatar/servant/recipient of gods curse/priest of this god
                       get this.
        path_attuned - priest of this god and recipient of "bless" gets this
        path_repelled - priest and recipient of "curse" gets this
        path_denied  - priest and recipient of "curse" gets this
        slaying      - comma delimited list of the races of creatures that are 
                        aligned with the god. "summon cult monsters" uses. 
                        this list to find creatures. Summon avatar/call servant
                        code assigns this value to prevent them from attacking
                        aligned races.  Value is blank if no race(s) exists. 
        race         - comma delimited list of the races of creatures "holy word",
                        "holy possession" spells will effect. Value entry is 
                        blank if no such race(s) exists.
        hp,dam,ac,wc - base stats for the summoned avatar.
        

        IF MORE_PRIEST_GIFTS is defined (in gods.c) then ADDITIONAL gifts/limitations
        will be assigned to the priest:
 
         A. FLAGS

         Now, the following flags, in addition to being used by the god (if planted
         on a map) are assigned to the worshiping priest:

           can_use_weapon, can_use_armour, is_undead, is_blind, reflect_missile,
           reflect_spell, make_invisible, stealth, can_see_in_dark, xrays 

         NOTE: if can_use_armour/can_use_weapon flags are NOT present, then
         the priest will be forbidden the use of these items.

         B. STATS 

         The following stats are used: 

           luck       - how lucky the god (and the priest) are. 
           last_eat   - how fast priest digestion is 
           last_hp    - how fast priest healing is 
           last_sp    - how fast priest mana regeneration is 
           last_grace - how fast priest grace regeneration is 


        ---------------------
        3. Designing new gods
        ---------------------

        To examine the gods properties, use the '-m8' flag (ie 'crossfire -m8').
        Note some of the big differences here in terms of spell_paths, races, etc.
        Most of these entries were designed with roughly polar opposite gods.

        For designing new gods. You should make sure that worshiping a god will 
        be "unique" in some way. But playbalance first! You must consider the balance 
        between the following: 
          1) spellpaths 2) priest gifts 3) priest limitations 4) special spells 
          5) attacktypes 6) summoned monster lists 7) properties of the avatar
          and holy servant. 

        Here are some hard and fast rules for designing gods:
         - Decide how the cleric will get experience. The god should be either
           a 'summoning', 'turning' *or* a 'wounding' god. If summoning/turning, 
           make sure the aligned_race/enemy_race list(s) has enough creatures
           to summon/slay at low, medium and high levels. DONT give a god attuned
           to wounding AND turning||summoning (in fact, at minimum, one of these 
           3 paths should be repelled/denied). 
         - make sure the summoned avatar is stronger than the servant (!)
         - examine the avatar/servant stats. If set inproperly, you will give 
           wimpy/super values. For example, Avatars/servants with less than 50 hp 
           (and a high ac/no armour) will vanish quickly. Shoot for stats like:

            type      |    A V E R A G E  S T A T S
                      |  hp | ac | wc | arm | dam | speed  
            ----------|----------------------------------- 
            servant   |  50 |  5 |  5 |  20 |   5 |  0.15
            avatar    | 350 | -5 | -1 |  50 |  50 |  0.25 

            Its difficult to give measurements on how to trade these off. To help 
            guide your choices try to conserve the value of speed*dam and 
            (armour+1)*hp. 
         - avoid giving the potent attacktypes of death, weaponmagic and paralysis.  
         - gods have a vulnerability for every immunity. Not all attacktypes 
           are the same. Immunity to physical, magic and common attacktypes
           (like fire/cold/electric) are very potent. Similarly, vuln to these
           is a big negative.
         - SPELL paths. Carefull treatment is needed here. Give a path_denied/
           or a couple path_repelled for every path_attuned. BUT note: not all 
           paths are of equal use. (ex path_abjuration has a very large list of 
           spells). The main clerical paths are restoration, abjuration, 
           protection, turning, wounding and summoning. For balance, make 3-4
           of these repelled/denied and 1 or 2 attuned. Be sure to check out the 
           special spells list (below). Attuned paths like DEATH, WOUNDING and 
           (especially) PROTECTION are very potent. Allow for some balance else
           where if you assign (one!) of these as a path_attuned.
         - If using the MORE_PRIEST_GIFTS define: priest limitations of no weapons 
           and no armour are very negative, be sure to compensate with more than 
           an attunded path.
          
        Of course, you may break these 'rules' to create your god. When you do that, 
        you had better make up for the bonus elsewhere! Otherwise, you will create a 
        'mega-god' whose worship (by the player priests) will unbalance the game. 
        Designing a good god takes a bit of work. 


        ----------------------
        App A. Special spells- 
        ----------------------

        Here is a possibly *incomplete* list of the special spells that a god may
        grant use to a worshiper. Check the file spellist.h for the 0 bookchance
        clerical spells to find all of these. (This list was complete on 10/96).

        God has attuned path            spells
        --------------------            -------------
          INFO                          perceive self
          PROTECTION                    defense; immuntity to cold, fire, electricity, 
                                        poison, slow, paralysis, draining, attack, 
                                        and magic
          RESTORE                       remove damnation; reincarnation; raise dead;
                                        resurrection; regeneration  
          WOUNDING                      cause critical wounds; retributive strike
          LIGHT                         daylight; nightfall
          DEATH                         face of death; finger of death 
          SUMMONING                     insect plague 
          CREATE                        wall of thorns


        ----------------
        App B. Ideas- 
        ----------------

        -- Allow sacrifices. This is an excellent way to give a cleric xp.
        Need to create enemy_race creatures w/ bodyparts we can sacrifice,
        and designate a pointer in Gods{} to the appropriate array of stuff
        we can sacrifice for xp.


Revision:	1.1
Committed:	Fri Feb 3 07:12:02 2006 UTC (18 years, 3 months ago) by root
Branch:	MAIN
Branch point for:	UPSTREAM
Log Message:	Initial revision
#	User	Rev	Content
1	root	1.1
2
3
4			This document is a brief description of the MULTIGOD hack.
5
6			--------------
7			Introduction -
8			--------------
9
10			The intention of this code is to enhance the enjoy-ability and
11			playability of clerical characters in the new skills/exp scheme.
12
13			This is done by giving players gods to worship who in turn effect
14			clerical magic and powers. Included in this patch are several new
15			spells which (hopefully) will allow the priest characters a better
16			chance to gain xp at higher levels. Notably, the "holy orb" and
17			"holy word" spells have been revamped.
18
19			When MULTIPLE_GODS flag is defined in include/config.h, this
20			code is enabled. This code (described below) encompasses 3
21			main parts: an array of gods that players/NPCs may worship,
22			new clerical spells which rely on the worshiped god's attrib-
23			utes in Gods[] array and, altars/praying--the interface between
24			a worshiper and their god.
25
26			b.t.
27			thomas@astro.psu.edu
28
29			---------
30			Outline -
31			---------
32
33			1. Description of code -
34
35			2. Properties of the gods
36
37			3. Designing new gods
38
39			4. TODO/Idea list
40
41
42			---------------------
43			Description of code -
44			---------------------
45
46			This code is flexible and easy to configure (just edit the god
47			archetypes). Part of the reason for creating this code was to
48			allow server maintainers to develop their own "mythos". From my
49			personal point of view, I hate having the old "Christian" aligned
50			mythos, but if that's what you like, you can replicate it with
51			this code too (see below).
52
53
54			-------------------------
55			2. Properties of the Gods
56			-------------------------
57
58			Here is a fuller description of Gods archetype values.
59
60			name - name of the god (required)
61			other_arch - archetype that will be used for the summon holy
62			servant spell.
63			title - diametrically opposed god, leave blank if none exists
64			attacktype - favored attack of this god, used in spells of summon
65			avatar, holy word. Recipients of "holy possession" get
66			this too.
67			immune - Avatars/holy servants/recipient of "holy possession"
68			gets this.
69			protected - all of the above AND recipient of god's blessing and the
70			priest of this god gets this.
71			vulnerable - Avatar/servant/recipient of gods curse/priest of this god
72			get this.
73			path_attuned - priest of this god and recipient of "bless" gets this
74			path_repelled - priest and recipient of "curse" gets this
75			path_denied - priest and recipient of "curse" gets this
76			slaying - comma delimited list of the races of creatures that are
77			aligned with the god. "summon cult monsters" uses.
78			this list to find creatures. Summon avatar/call servant
79			code assigns this value to prevent them from attacking
80			aligned races. Value is blank if no race(s) exists.
81			race - comma delimited list of the races of creatures "holy word",
82			"holy possession" spells will effect. Value entry is
83			blank if no such race(s) exists.
84			hp,dam,ac,wc - base stats for the summoned avatar.
85
86
87			IF MORE_PRIEST_GIFTS is defined (in gods.c) then ADDITIONAL gifts/limitations
88			will be assigned to the priest:
89
90			A. FLAGS
91
92			Now, the following flags, in addition to being used by the god (if planted
93			on a map) are assigned to the worshiping priest:
94
95			can_use_weapon, can_use_armour, is_undead, is_blind, reflect_missile,
96			reflect_spell, make_invisible, stealth, can_see_in_dark, xrays
97
98			NOTE: if can_use_armour/can_use_weapon flags are NOT present, then
99			the priest will be forbidden the use of these items.
100
101			B. STATS
102
103			The following stats are used:
104
105			luck - how lucky the god (and the priest) are.
106			last_eat - how fast priest digestion is
107			last_hp - how fast priest healing is
108			last_sp - how fast priest mana regeneration is
109			last_grace - how fast priest grace regeneration is
110
111
112
113			---------------------
114			3. Designing new gods
115			---------------------
116
117			To examine the gods properties, use the '-m8' flag (ie 'crossfire -m8').
118			Note some of the big differences here in terms of spell_paths, races, etc.
119			Most of these entries were designed with roughly polar opposite gods.
120
121			For designing new gods. You should make sure that worshiping a god will
122			be "unique" in some way. But playbalance first! You must consider the balance
123			between the following:
124			1) spellpaths 2) priest gifts 3) priest limitations 4) special spells
125			5) attacktypes 6) summoned monster lists 7) properties of the avatar
126			and holy servant.
127
128			Here are some hard and fast rules for designing gods:
129			- Decide how the cleric will get experience. The god should be either
130			a 'summoning', 'turning' or a 'wounding' god. If summoning/turning,
131			make sure the aligned_race/enemy_race list(s) has enough creatures
132			to summon/slay at low, medium and high levels. DONT give a god attuned
133			to wounding AND turning\|\|summoning (in fact, at minimum, one of these
134			3 paths should be repelled/denied).
135			- make sure the summoned avatar is stronger than the servant (!)
136			- examine the avatar/servant stats. If set inproperly, you will give
137			wimpy/super values. For example, Avatars/servants with less than 50 hp
138			(and a high ac/no armour) will vanish quickly. Shoot for stats like:
139
140			type \| A V E R A G E S T A T S
141			\| hp \| ac \| wc \| arm \| dam \| speed
142			----------\|-----------------------------------
143			servant \| 50 \| 5 \| 5 \| 20 \| 5 \| 0.15
144			avatar \| 350 \| -5 \| -1 \| 50 \| 50 \| 0.25
145
146			Its difficult to give measurements on how to trade these off. To help
147			guide your choices try to conserve the value of speed*dam and
148			(armour+1)*hp.
149			- avoid giving the potent attacktypes of death, weaponmagic and paralysis.
150			- gods have a vulnerability for every immunity. Not all attacktypes
151			are the same. Immunity to physical, magic and common attacktypes
152			(like fire/cold/electric) are very potent. Similarly, vuln to these
153			is a big negative.
154			- SPELL paths. Carefull treatment is needed here. Give a path_denied/
155			or a couple path_repelled for every path_attuned. BUT note: not all
156			paths are of equal use. (ex path_abjuration has a very large list of
157			spells). The main clerical paths are restoration, abjuration,
158			protection, turning, wounding and summoning. For balance, make 3-4
159			of these repelled/denied and 1 or 2 attuned. Be sure to check out the
160			special spells list (below). Attuned paths like DEATH, WOUNDING and
161			(especially) PROTECTION are very potent. Allow for some balance else
162			where if you assign (one!) of these as a path_attuned.
163			- If using the MORE_PRIEST_GIFTS define: priest limitations of no weapons
164			and no armour are very negative, be sure to compensate with more than
165			an attunded path.
166
167			Of course, you may break these 'rules' to create your god. When you do that,
168			you had better make up for the bonus elsewhere! Otherwise, you will create a
169			'mega-god' whose worship (by the player priests) will unbalance the game.
170			Designing a good god takes a bit of work.
171
172
173			----------------------
174			App A. Special spells-
175			----------------------
176
177			Here is a possibly incomplete list of the special spells that a god may
178			grant use to a worshiper. Check the file spellist.h for the 0 bookchance
179			clerical spells to find all of these. (This list was complete on 10/96).
180
181			God has attuned path spells
182			-------------------- -------------
183			INFO perceive self
184			PROTECTION defense; immuntity to cold, fire, electricity,
185			poison, slow, paralysis, draining, attack,
186			and magic
187			RESTORE remove damnation; reincarnation; raise dead;
188			resurrection; regeneration
189			WOUNDING cause critical wounds; retributive strike
190			LIGHT daylight; nightfall
191			DEATH face of death; finger of death
192			SUMMONING insect plague
193			CREATE wall of thorns
194
195
196
197			----------------
198			App B. Ideas-
199			----------------
200
201			-- Allow sacrifices. This is an excellent way to give a cleric xp.
202			Need to create enemy_race creatures w/ bodyparts we can sacrifice,
203			and designate a pointer in Gods{} to the appropriate array of stuff
204			we can sacrifice for xp.
205
206