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[LMeire]

How's this for the cost of a wish from a demon?

22 units of blood
22 totems
22 souls

10% of success

[shadowclasper]

Putting 66 of each gives a 100% chance perhaps


Is it possible to upgrade skeletons? Improve their bones with metal and stuff? Make a skeleton out of iron bone and such?

[CaptainArchmage]

Good to see that you have a way to summon up units that will be considered proper units, capable of serving in the military.

How much control can we get over the warlock spells? Is this just through building reactions and "when they feel like doing necromancy"? Would it be possible to get warlocks to cast a specific spell in a specific location? i.e. "call down a firestorm to incinerate this area in particular".

[Meph]

I have specific spells for specific areas only with workshops, like the Necromantic Circle. The rest is by hints, like attack, greeting, flee... thats about it.

66 items is way too much. The worker would cancel the reaction because he gets hungry/thirsty.

upgrading skeletons is possible.

Fort-wide effects on items are impossible. These things can only affect creatures.

[shadowclasper]

well upgrading skeletons should totally be a thing.

Can you set specific skill levels on castes and such? EG: Everyone in this caste will have expert skill in X?

I ask because once you're done with the skeletons with the way you plan it currently, I want to see about modding them further in as special castes that have predefined, unchanging skill levels. Warriors and all.

[Ruan]

aRegarding the 'Wish' reaction... my thoughts is that it should be a calculated risk, but it should be a big risk.  As in, more likely to go awry than well.

Some thoughts:

Receive correct item
Receive wrong item
Receive correct item, but wrong material
Receive wrong item, but correct material
Receive enchanted version of item (various beneficial buffs possible)
Receive cursed version of item. (is there a way to, say, make wielding an item cause a mood?  Like picking up a cursed axe and going Berserk?  Otherwise, syndromes/diseases might also be a possibility)
Warlock is killed
Warlock is transformed into some horrible monstrosity
Warlock is transformed into a random vermin
!FUN! occurs, like accidentally summoning a random HFS
Spawns a font of everflowing water/magma (as in, potentially floods the fortress, dunno if that would be possible from a reaction)
Chance to slay all living creatures
Absolutely nothing occurs
A random race sieges you

... there's really just a lot of things that could go wrong with it.  Furthermore, another option is to have it be successful AND have something bad happen as well.  I like the concept of the wish being a monkey's paw/evil genie style wish.  Something where, no matter what happens, you're likely going to regret making the Wish.

The way I see it, using the Wish reaction is either something you a) do after making extensive preparations if it goes horribly wrong or b) do as an act of desperation.  Furthermore, I don't think it should cost anything more than, at most, a soul/phylactery.  The option should always be there... tempting you. Trying to lure you into using it.  It fits into that concept of dark power that warlocks have going for them - potential for huge power, but at high risk.

Also... with regards to enchantments, Warlocks are always sieging and have those talismans on them - those could be another option.  Something like the standard infantry boosts, but also things like immunity to fire (if that would even be possible) could be cool.  Have them cost reagents, but the better enchantments take something hard to find/valuable.

[Meph]

aRegarding the 'Wish' reaction... my thoughts is that it should be a calculated risk, but it should be a big risk.  As in, more likely to go awry than well.

Some thoughts:

Receive correct item
Receive wrong item
Receive correct item, but wrong material
Receive wrong item, but correct material
Receive enchanted version of item (various beneficial buffs possible)
Receive cursed version of item. (is there a way to, say, make wielding an item cause a mood?  Like picking up a cursed axe and going Berserk?  Otherwise, syndromes/diseases might also be a possibility)
Warlock is killed
Warlock is transformed into some horrible monstrosity
Warlock is transformed into a random vermin
!FUN! occurs, like accidentally summoning a random HFS
Spawns a font of everflowing water/magma (as in, potentially floods the fortress, dunno if that would be possible from a reaction)
Chance to slay all living creatures
Absolutely nothing occurs
A random race sieges you

... there's really just a lot of things that could go wrong with it.  Furthermore, another option is to have it be successful AND have something bad happen as well.  I like the concept of the wish being a monkey's paw/evil genie style wish.  Something where, no matter what happens, you're likely going to regret making the Wish.

The way I see it, using the Wish reaction is either something you a) do after making extensive preparations if it goes horribly wrong or b) do as an act of desperation.  Furthermore, I don't think it should cost anything more than, at most, a soul/phylactery.  The option should always be there... tempting you. Trying to lure you into using it.  It fits into that concept of dark power that warlocks have going for them - potential for huge power, but at high risk.

Also... with regards to enchantments, Warlocks are always sieging and have those talismans on them - those could be another option.  Something like the standard infantry boosts, but also things like immunity to fire (if that would even be possible) could be cool.  Have them cost reagents, but the better enchantments take something hard to find/valuable.

That does sound awesome. Its also partly possible, but many things require rewriting the script. I cant do that. But evil sideeffects I want to do for sure.

[BlackFlyme]

Can you set specific skill levels on castes and such? EG: Everyone in this caste will have expert skill in X?

Yes you can. For example, that's how the animated weapons work; each caste has different natural skills in its own weapon and in dodging.

[Meph]

That only works on born/migrated creatures. Not spawned ones, which is an issue.

[shadowclasper]

That only works on born/migrated creatures. Not spawned ones, which is an issue.

so you can't have spawned creatures have a set skill level due to their caste? Only born/migrant ones?

[Meph]

Currently yes. I can possible give them a self-targetted interaction that raises their skill by using a script though. Same way the libraries in dwarf mode work.

[shadowclasper]

Damn. Alright, I was hoping for a way of treating skeletons more like tools than people. Where you'd send a skeleton to the forges to have his bones replaced by ironbone or bloodsteel or something and thus increase his skill level in his current profession, and have it stuck there.

edit: Also had an idea. What if there was a very low chance of producing a Lich during the process of making a skeleton? (like 1% or 0.1% or even 0.01% chance)? They'd count as a full warlock.

[SharpKris]

One does not simply create a Lich.
having skeletons upgraded sounds fun though!
i would also suggest something !!FUN!! in regards to skeleton population control similar to plump helmet men

[Meph]

I wanted to see if I can make them slowly turn OPPOSED TO LIFE, if you have no warlocks left. that way you would lose the game if all are dead.

[shadowclasper]

maybe have it so if they don't actually encounter a warlock for a full year they turn Opposed to Life and drop out of the civilization?

And is there any way to do the auto-upgrade skeletons thing?

Perhaps reactions that are caste based?

You have a normal skeleton right. All of it's skills start at novice and cannot be increased. You send it to the first upgrade, to become a special kind of skeleton. It enters the appropriate caste, then at the same building it has a reaction it can take right away to become Proficient in the right skills or skills.

Another building would let you upgrade it to the next caste level for that skeleton (say replacing it's bones with ironbone). Now you spawned a brand new skeleton. it goes back to the place where it first got it's original caste, and now takes something to bring it's skill immediately up to Expert level.
This repeats for Great Level, and Grand Master Level.

Normal Bone Skeleton: Competent/Proficient (which ever works best)
Ironbone Skeleton: Expert Level
Bloodsteel Skeleton: Great Level
Dreadnaught Skeleton: Grand Master Level.

If there was some way to automate the process so that a newly spawned skeleton would automatically preform the reaction to bring it's skill level up to the appropriate level and keep it there, that'd be for the best.

Skeletons would never be able to reach Legendary level. Possibly there shouldn't be Dreadnaught Skeletons either. I have no idea whether this would mean that skeletons couldn't produce masterful quality items, but item quality except in weaponry would rarely be an issue, and if necessary we could have enslaved demon smiths to handle that sort of thing. Skeletons would be for mass producing items.

I have no idea how much of this would be possible though if castes of spawned units doesn't effect skill level.