ok i find the lack of siege weaponry in icesus disturbing so here goes...
first off ballistas, they are kinda like huge crossbows you'd have to assemble in the room pick your targets and fire! after first strike you can continue firing but unless you have a tank in front of you the ballista is going to be torn to shreds....
second battering rams, i dont like the prying system it dont work fer me so if i had the ability to chop down an oak tree reinforce it with metal rings and a metal cap then whack the door repeatedly that would be better. you would have very little use for them besides this so it would be minor but useful skill for partying
thirdly catupults, i know we have them but u cant own em and they arent mobile i dont know how to make this one work maybe u have some ideas
edit: balistas are more accurate at multiple targets and vice versa
also this could be its own guild maybe a main guild
siege weaponry
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solar
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So, if Icesus were to have any sort of siege engines in it, this is how I'd make them work:
Catapults/ballistae: They work like carts - you need a mount to drag them around. They use ammunition. You can shoot with them to nearby outworld rooms (use catapult at shoot 3n,1e), possibly hitting something. If it hits, the monster becomes hostile and starts to approach. Catapult could be loaded with either huge rocks or lots of smaller ones: many smaller rocks hit more often but deal inferior damage, but they work better against monster groups. The physical size of the monsters being targeted affects heavily the chance to hit them. While huge boulder could deal AWESOME damage, you can't really hope to hit single foes with them (unless they're like tarrasques or something).
The ammunition has weight and bulk, so you can't really carry many of those with you, even in carts. Loading a catapult/ballistae would require more than one person, (well, can't see why a giant couldn't load a small catapult by himself), and would be a very slow process (to make abusing harder).
Ballistae ammunition could be poisoned, both catapult and ballistae ammunition could be coated with oil and set aflame to deal partial fire damage if it hits, or make an entire outworld room burst in flames dealing continuous area damage for a very short while (like a fissure).
Battering rams: They could be used to break down castle gates in some specified areas, or player castles (should we ever get any). Being inside a 'tortoise' style ram would make the player resistant to arrows/quarrels/spells and such.
Catapults/ballistae: They work like carts - you need a mount to drag them around. They use ammunition. You can shoot with them to nearby outworld rooms (use catapult at shoot 3n,1e), possibly hitting something. If it hits, the monster becomes hostile and starts to approach. Catapult could be loaded with either huge rocks or lots of smaller ones: many smaller rocks hit more often but deal inferior damage, but they work better against monster groups. The physical size of the monsters being targeted affects heavily the chance to hit them. While huge boulder could deal AWESOME damage, you can't really hope to hit single foes with them (unless they're like tarrasques or something).
The ammunition has weight and bulk, so you can't really carry many of those with you, even in carts. Loading a catapult/ballistae would require more than one person, (well, can't see why a giant couldn't load a small catapult by himself), and would be a very slow process (to make abusing harder).
Ballistae ammunition could be poisoned, both catapult and ballistae ammunition could be coated with oil and set aflame to deal partial fire damage if it hits, or make an entire outworld room burst in flames dealing continuous area damage for a very short while (like a fissure).
Battering rams: They could be used to break down castle gates in some specified areas, or player castles (should we ever get any). Being inside a 'tortoise' style ram would make the player resistant to arrows/quarrels/spells and such.
Internet tough guy
Icesus is not just my life - it's the lack of it.
Icesus is not just my life - it's the lack of it.
Re: siege weaponry
Siege weapons are a nice idea, but they would be more fun if they could be used in actual sieges or wars.
also if u were to shoot a monster 4 north from you he'd go straight south so if u laid traps in those spots... that might be abuse but whateversolar wrote:So, if Icesus were to have any sort of siege engines in it, this is how I'd make them work:
Catapults/ballistae: They work like carts - you need a mount to drag them around. They use ammunition. You can shoot with them to nearby outworld rooms (use catapult at shoot 3n,1e), possibly hitting something. If it hits, the monster becomes hostile and starts to approach. Catapult could be loaded with either huge rocks or lots of smaller ones: many smaller rocks hit more often but deal inferior damage, but they work better against monster groups. The physical size of the monsters being targeted affects heavily the chance to hit them. While huge boulder could deal AWESOME damage, you can't really hope to hit single foes with them (unless they're like tarrasques or something).
etc.
if u had special rocks that could go through rifts then u could have it travel to a certain rift created by a chronomancer so u could shoot inside of areas with the catapult staying in one spot the entire time
those ideas of solar sound really good does anyone else have some good ideas as well?
I thought a bit about indirect fire when making the catapult and decided to leave it out. (Well, for players, the NPCs can still shoot at you in other rooms.)
In general, things that let you do a lot of damage without a lot of risk open the door for abuse. Some player will figure out how to exploit them. Just ask Ereldon about his scar.
More specifically though, seige weapons are not terribly accurate. Hitting a moose at any kind of range is going to be nearly impossible. They were meant for hitting an army or a castle and we don't attack things that large in Icesus.
(Ok, yes, some of the bolt throwing weapons were quite repeatable but I still think hitting a moose a couple hundred meters out is going to be tricky.)
As a newbie I thought an 'engineer' guild would be good. You could spend hours building a large weapon, then join a party and they could operate it to do huge damage to poor defenseless creatures. As I wizard I now realize I was insane.
In general, things that let you do a lot of damage without a lot of risk open the door for abuse. Some player will figure out how to exploit them. Just ask Ereldon about his scar.
More specifically though, seige weapons are not terribly accurate. Hitting a moose at any kind of range is going to be nearly impossible. They were meant for hitting an army or a castle and we don't attack things that large in Icesus.
(Ok, yes, some of the bolt throwing weapons were quite repeatable but I still think hitting a moose a couple hundred meters out is going to be tricky.)
As a newbie I thought an 'engineer' guild would be good. You could spend hours building a large weapon, then join a party and they could operate it to do huge damage to poor defenseless creatures. As I wizard I now realize I was insane.
I like the battering ram idea and I think Jarrun should code a new castle area for testing purposes 
and along the siege lines then how about digging trenches and filling with spikes - or is that just a type of trap ?
and along the siege lines then how about digging trenches and filling with spikes - or is that just a type of trap ?
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solar
- Supporting Member 2020
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well, yeah, and no.
Well, of course hitting a moose several hundred metres away is tricky, at least if you have but a single boulder - loading your mangonel or whatever with several smaller rocks would be more likely to score a hit, but with lesser damage.
And stacks of arrows/javelins would perhaps function better than small pebbles, since they could be poisoned and score wounds.
I don't think this would be abusable that easily. Sure, one could plant traps the approaching monster would go through, and shooting an immobile monster stuck in a pit trap would be 'abusable'. We could make the 'monster approaching the siege weapon' -flag include immunity to traps, and monster being in a trap make them immune to siege weapons?
Siege weapons could only function to any useful degree against large-sized targets who are not engaged in melee, and only to start the fight - the amount of time it takes to reload the siege weapon would be too long to be of any real use - the approaching monsters would be all over you by then - and in melee range.
And stacks of arrows/javelins would perhaps function better than small pebbles, since they could be poisoned and score wounds.
I don't think this would be abusable that easily. Sure, one could plant traps the approaching monster would go through, and shooting an immobile monster stuck in a pit trap would be 'abusable'. We could make the 'monster approaching the siege weapon' -flag include immunity to traps, and monster being in a trap make them immune to siege weapons?
Siege weapons could only function to any useful degree against large-sized targets who are not engaged in melee, and only to start the fight - the amount of time it takes to reload the siege weapon would be too long to be of any real use - the approaching monsters would be all over you by then - and in melee range.
Internet tough guy
Icesus is not just my life - it's the lack of it.
Icesus is not just my life - it's the lack of it.
Ok... my thoughts:
Siege weapons are fun, but as stated before, the idea behind siege weaponry was to lay siege to something- a town, a castle, a fortification... In Icesus, there isn't really the opportunity to do such. For Siege weapons to be effective, it's important to have a plethora of targets, as most siege weapons are terribly inaccurate- You shoot at 100 mobs, and kill 2. Afaik, there are no rooms in icesus with 100 mobs to date...
You would never use a siege weapon against one enemy. Ever. The modern military doesn't deploy a nuclear weapon to kill one footsoldier, does it?
If for some reason this was implemented, perhaps it could be a branch of master craftsmen- give them a way to be offensive.
Siege weapons are fun, but as stated before, the idea behind siege weaponry was to lay siege to something- a town, a castle, a fortification... In Icesus, there isn't really the opportunity to do such. For Siege weapons to be effective, it's important to have a plethora of targets, as most siege weapons are terribly inaccurate- You shoot at 100 mobs, and kill 2. Afaik, there are no rooms in icesus with 100 mobs to date...
You would never use a siege weapon against one enemy. Ever. The modern military doesn't deploy a nuclear weapon to kill one footsoldier, does it?
If for some reason this was implemented, perhaps it could be a branch of master craftsmen- give them a way to be offensive.
