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[hendecatope]

Has anyone ever considered socketed weapons/armor/items in DF?

Granted gems don't normally add anything to a weapon in reality so it could be the first of other "magic" items in the game.

[Reign on your Parade]

Actually, a gem at the (Armok damnit, we suddenly forgot what it was called!) not-pointy end often serves as a balence, lots of gems are denser then metal.

[irmo]

quote:Originally posted by hendecatope:
<STRONG>Has anyone ever considered socketed weapons/armor/items in DF?

Granted gems don't normally add anything to a weapon in reality so it could be the first of other "magic" items in the game.</STRONG>

I mean no offense when I say "Yuck."  Better not to have "magic" items than to implement them as a cookie-cutter process.  Magic in a crafted object should be there because some artisan poured his soul into making it, not because you push a button that says "10% more magic, please".

[Istrian]

Actually, since we already can encrust objects with gems, it could be possible to add special properties to gems. Not necessarily magical properties.

For instance, if you make a spear with a diamond as the tip, it should have more piercing power than a normal spear.

After that, we could always enchant gems, but that can wait until magic is impemented.

[mickel]

I think we've been through the idea of diamonds as weapon points already, and I think the gist of it was that a diamond at the head of a spear would get smashed to powder on impact. It's what happens to a diamond when you put it on an anvil and strike it with a mallet, which is comparable to putting it at the end of a spear and striking plate armor. There was a lot of technical discussion about tensile and ductile strengths and all to explain it, but I'm afraid it went over my head.

[mickel]

Socketed weapons sound a lot like Final Fantasy to me, and the less this game overlaps with Final Fantasy the better, in my eyes. But enough of that.

I'm not sure if sockets would be very practical in a melee weapon. It's made to strike against and be struck against by equally hard objects with a large amount of force. A feature like a socket would weaken the structure and make the weapon much more likely to break, and it would also make the weapon much more complicated to produce.

Swords with gems in the pommel seem largely a product of cheesy fantasy, but I don't doubt that they actually existed, although I'd think they were more in the category of bling-bling than weapons.

They're not as bad as those insanely ornamental "elven" and "demonic" swords that some fantasy artists like to draw, but if I were to actually use a sword to fight, it wouldn't be with a sword encrusted with gems and fitted with tentacles that stab the wielder.

I wonder if the dwarves make the same hard distinction between decorative and useful weapons as I do, but given dwarven artists' habit of ripping things apart when they're angry, I know I wouldn't risk ruining something they were proud of making...  

[hendecatope]

Another option would be "engraving" weapons. (could be done like encrusting)  Dwarfs are more for runes anyway.  Nothing like a good psychology boost as you unsheathe your sword.

Could even be just for aesthetics.

[Haedrian]

quote:Originally posted by Reign on your Parade:
<STRONG>Actually, a gem at the (Armok damnit, we suddenly forgot what it was called!) not-pointy end often serves as a balence, lots of gems are denser then metal.</STRONG>

Hilt...

*dictionary disappears in a puff of smoke*

[Grek]

I don't think adding a gem to a weapon should have any effect unless A) the gem is magical or B) it would have that effect in real life.

[PresidentEvil]

Personally, I think that magic weapons and items, even the lowliest, should be a step above artifacts. They should be an object of inspiration, made only by master or legendary craftsdwarves. They should be ridiculously valuable.

Also, you play too much Diablo 2  

[ricemastah]

When magic goes in then artifacts will be the insanely legendary things. It would be ridiculous that a legendary crafter could create something, even with only a small chance, better then an artifact. Magical items should be a step above masterpieces, and should give bonuses to the function of the item, but should never be better then artifacts.

[PresidentEvil]

I'm not saying that. I'm saying magical items should be insanely powerful and rare, and created through strange moods as well. For example, you should have one or two magical items for every, say, five artifacts.

[Grek]

quote:Originally posted by PresidentEvil:
<STRONG>I'm not saying that. I'm saying magical items should be insanely powerful and rare, and created through strange moods as well. For example, you should have one or two magical items for every, say, five artifacts.</STRONG>

I think most artifacts should be somewhat magical, but only a few are very very magical. Maybe a chance for every decoration on it to have a magical property, so that complex artifacts are more likely to be magical. Also a setting in the init file that raises or lowers the amount of magic in a new world.

[ August 26, 2007: Message edited by: Grek ]

[Tamren]

Artifacts should be magical. They represent the pinnacle of dwarf crafstmanship. Artifacts are suppost to be "perfect" so what would magic be? Perfect with a cherry on top?

Magic should just be abstracted for now, it would overcomplicate the game we have now.

[Tacit_Exit]

Making only Artifacts enchantable would be a good limiter to magic item production, and would retain the value of Artifacts.

Looking forward to my 'Floodgate of Ever-Flowing Ale'