==== Spells ==== * for each spell, define a base spell, and how parameters like damage, radius, duration are adjusted by level * for each parameter type, define modifier words, like ''small'', ''large'', ''quick'', ''long'', ''strong'', ''weak'' * let the player specify modifiers when casting * parameters have a weight, modified by the previous words, those weight define the level repartition between parameters Example with fireball, level 1 spell: * base damage 1, base radius 1, base duration 1 (arbitrary units) * damage: 3 per level * duration: 1 per 3 levels * radius: 1 per level Thus fireball has 3 adjustement variables. At level 10 (9 levels over base level), the fireball can be: ^ modifier ^ damage weight ^ duration weight ^ radius weight ^ damage ^ duration ^ radius ^ | (none) | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 + (9 * (5/15)) * 3 = 10 | 1 + (9 * (5/15)) * 1/3 = 2 | 1 + (9 * (5/15)) * 1 = 4 | | small | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 + (9 * (5/10)) * 3 = 14 | 1 + (9 * (5/10)) * 1/3 = 2 | 1 + (9 * (0/15)) * 1 = 1 | | long | 5 | 9 | 5 | 1 + (9 * (5/19)) * 3 = 8 | 1 + (9 * (9/19)) * 1/3 = 2 | 1 + (9 * (5/19)) * 1 = 3 | | longest | 5 | 100 | 5 | 1 + (9 * (5/110)) * 3 = 3 | 1 + (9 * (100/110)) * 1/3 = 4 | 1 + (9 * (5/110)) * 1 = 1 | | strong | 9 | 5 | 5 | 1 + (9 * (9/19)) * 3 = 14 | 1 + (9 * (5/19)) * 1/3 = 2 | 1 + (9 * (5/19)) * 1 = 3 | | strongest | 100 | 5 | 5 | 1 + (9 * (100/110)) * 3 = 26 | 1 + (9 * (5/110)) * 1/3 = 1 | 1 + (9 * (5/110)) * 1 = 1 | | quick strong | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 + (9 * (9/14)) * 3 = 18 | 1 + (9 * (0/14)) * 1/3 = 1 | 1 + (9 * (5/14)) * 1 = 4 | and so on. Modifiers can be combined (''quick strong'' for instance). List of modified should be correctly defined (suggestion: 4 modifiers per parameter, weakest / weak / strong / strongest) ==== Resistances and attacks ==== * define exactly what effects the attacktypes have: * chaos? * magic? * cold: slow a monster? make ground slippery? * fire: melt armors? * define what effect the associated resistance, if it exists, has: reduce effect? reduce damage? cancel effect? * decide which attacks apply to arrows: draining? what about spells like transference on arrows? ==== Monsters and players ==== * define player evolution when leveling: how does hp go up? what is the constitution bonus's impact? * for dragon players, how do ac go up? wc? * what is the expected resistances of a level 5 player? level 10? level 50? level 110? * from all that, balance armors and weapons, including item power * scale up item power, what about values at 30? * define wc for bows and missile weapons * define monster leveling up rules: how many hps to gain? what about hp regeneration? * define some level 1 monsters, apply the leveling rules to create higher level monsters ; assume eg an archangel is a levelled up cherub, see what happens, adjust * specify rules for special attacks: poisoning, confusion or paralysis at low level are more dangerous than mere fire attacks, but at high level they are less dangerous * decide maximum reachable resistances: can a player have resistances in all attacks? * extract enough code to be able to simulate player vs monster fights ; this should take into account items the monster can have through treasures (if the monster has an ac of 1 but always an armor ac 3 in treasure, then that should count) ; check existing monsters ==== Maps, items, skills ==== * check special items and monsters on maps against the previous rules * balance alchemy-like things: what level should one be to make an item? take into account ingredients' difficulty * create quests to gain skills, instead of skill scrolls * create "big" quests lines, like the royalty in Scorn * use quests to introduce the game, the rules, the background story ==== Random ideas ==== * make artifacts on-the-fly archetypes during server load, save them as "real objects" ; this enables changing them and impact the existing ones in-game ; balance artifacts with previous rules