Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[JoshuaFH]

Continued from Future of the Fortress.

Can poisons have beneficial effects, such as attribute boosts, as they are now, such as by putting a negative value on a stat penalty? If not, will they in the future?

Would it be possible to create a poison that would induce berserk rage, melancholy, raving madness, etc?

These are the available poisoning effects: "pain, swelling, oozing wounds, bruising, blisters, numbness, paralysis, fever, bleeding, coughing/vomiting blood, nausea, vomiting, unconsciousness, necrosis, impaired vision, drowsiness and dizziness."  Direct stat penalties and mood/insanity effects aren't available, although they certainly might show up later on.  I doubt the severity parameter (which you can see being used in this SPOILER LINK as "SEV") accepts a negative value, since most of the available effects don't have obvious inversions, e.g. what does it mean to have "negative blisters"?

So I thought, along with the 'regular' poison effects, there could be poisons which damage the victim's mind. Like, say, if bitten by a magic creature, the victim could be driven to melancholy, or rage, or madness.

Someone other than me suggested poisons which alter stats, which isn't that bad either.

Although, I was thinking, and maybe it didn't need to be restricted to poisons. If there's some form of alchemy, then the dwarves could whip up something that could reproduce these effects.

Also, if that is ever possible, might it be possible to have a poison/alchemic potion that can induce fey moods? Such a thing might be overpowered, but it could be balanced out by the ingredients being extremely rare, or by the recipient of the chemical having an equal chance going mad, berserk, melancholic, or dire along with the chance of going fey.

What do you guys think? I rarely come up from GD, so I'm not sure what sort of stuff is suggested nowadays.

[Draco18s]

Don't forget hallucinations, and charm.

Hallucinations would likely be difficult, but could turn out to be amazing (never did like roguelike's insanity where every creature was visually something different every step and [l]ooking always told you what it really was, rather than providing a consistent unreality).

Charm would be anywhere from infatuation ("love potion") to Ka's stare (Jungle Book) to getting creatures to stop paying attention to their surroundings and walk off cliffs and such (wil-o-whisp).

[Neonivek]

Something that can put someone into a special mood would have to almost be equally powerful even if it would carry a risk.

As otherwise you sort of lose the impact if you can just brew up some "Do or Die" soup with the very rare "Extra moody carrots" and "Teased broccoli" tossed into the "Passionate Broth".

[Draco18s]

very rare "Extra moody carrots" and "Teased broccoli" tossed into the "Passionate Broth".

Don't forget the vampire squash.

[RedWarrior0]

I liked it in FotF, and I like it here. A poison that makes everyone who inhales it berserk would be awesome. Hopefully poisons can have multiple effects, too, so someone inhales it, goes crazy, then pauses to cough up blood halfway through beating up an elf trader with a ring. And then goes back to the important stuff.

Note to self: Mod in vermin that constantly produce this

[JoshuaFH]

Actually, I was thinking that if there were also poisons that altered stats, I could make a DF version of cave story's red flowers. Makes them go berserk and makes them super strong to facilitate it!

[BlazingDav]

Hallucinagenic results would be interesting, a poison for the more fantasy based critters really. Though plant extracts ought to have a similar effect. Though from various different films they can be good as well as bad (Batman begins, conquering fear for example). Bad to base it from films, but good ideas none the less.

Hallucinations done well would mess around with a dwarves pathfinding by scrambling how it moves for example, moves forward, but moves left instead and such, lots of falling over from disorientation. That would be one good simulation.

For ones where the landscape is changed (probably to an extremely evil biome where everything looks and feels alot harder to fight than it really is) with shifting masses of plants, trees, natural obstacles to disorient overlaid the original world so that you bump into walls, then can't will yourself to move when really you can, quite hard to simulate for potentially alot of dwarves in fort mode at the same time, though worth it, any critters seen by them would naturally be distorted randomly from friendly ones being assumed evil to benine ones seeming aggressive.

Surviving these hallucinations would naturally build up stats relevant to countering them making it a worthwhile training side, throwing them into an arena with goodness knows what is a plus.

Though some could be really subtle, like all your friends seeming really nasty (or too friendly) and messing up all your relationships. Or inducing a tantrum by messing with happiness and such.

[Draco18s]

Roguelike confusion (walking in a random direction) has also always bugged me.  Even when you're disoriented you don't walk backwards.  You might be facing the wrong way, buy you still stumble forwards and you'll keep going in that direction, you don't suddenly make a right (into a wall) turn around, walk down a different hallway and then backwards out of it.

[Neonivek]

Roguelike confusion (walking in a random direction) has also always bugged me.  Even when you're disoriented you don't walk backwards.  You might be facing the wrong way, buy you still stumble forwards and you'll keep going in that direction, you don't suddenly make a right (into a wall) turn around, walk down a different hallway and then backwards out of it.

You can go backwards but that is closer to falling over backwards or backing up so you don't fall over.

But Roguelikes make it entirely random which always made me picture confusion as your character twirling in circles out of pure confusion.

[Amalgam]

What different kinds of madness like delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, and dementia? If it could be broken down a little so you have different kinds of mental illnesses that could be cool.

[Neonivek]

What different kinds of madness like delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, and dementia? If it could be broken down a little so you have different kinds of mental illnesses that could be cool.

HOLY COW! If you want to go into the many kinds of delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, and dementias there are then it is going to take a while.

Though Paranoia is easy to pull off in an amazing way!

For example "Lying" is a skill in this game, so obviously there must be a skill to see if someone is lying or has alterior motives. Someone who is suffering Paranoia has the game occasionally or randomly make up information as if they had detected something.

Light Paranoia could make you treat almost everything a theif or bandit says as a lie.

Severe forms of Paranoia could cause someone to detect traps where there are none, see people steal things from them without there being so, and sense enemies in the room where there are none. (though not all the time unless your character is downright insane... at which point the game should tell you that your character has fallen into deep insanity and you might as well end the game)

Though not all forms of paranoia are the same. One type of Paranoia is the feeling that people don't really like you. That they are either pretending to like you or that they sort of like you but are burdened by your presence (As in they don't really want to be around you).

[Grek]

Poisons that alter personality traits would be fun. We could have lotus blossoms, truth serum, drunkeness, and have drinking pixie blood turn you into a serial killer.

Hallucinations could be fun. We would have to be able to specify what sort of hallucinations, though. Good or bad, what senses it effects, how strong and possibly sphere related effects, such as a death-sphered poison make you see your dead relatives as ghosts around you. It should also be able to mimic conditions, such as being dead, being on fire, being covered in various contaminates (Hallucinate that you are covered in blood?) being paralyzed, and so forth. Also, hallucinating that you are somewhere else.

[ungulateman]

How about poisons that result in positive effects, i.e. an elixir of strength? You could brew it up in an alchemist's lab, then get your soldiers or workers to drink them and gain temporary stat benefits. Like, use the workshop to "brew" iron ore and sun berries (or whatever exotic materials) in order to make a Potion of Toughness. The boosts would last for, say, a season, then dissapear harmlessly or have a mild backlash if it was low-quality or the potion did so. Here's a short list:

Potion of Strength - boosts strength
Potion of Agility - boosts agility
Potion of Toughness - boosts toughness
Potion of Courage - if psychological effects get added to the game, makes the dwarf immune to negative psych. factors.
Potion of Joy - makes the dwarf happier
Potion of Skill - makes the dwarf more skilled at a chosen job

On the subjects of actual poisons, I'd like to see some raw plants poison the eater, and spiders and scorpions get poisonous attacks. Also, making a military class which uses poisons as a weapon (like a catapult which shoots glass vials of poison at the enemy, or coats weapons in poison) would be ridiculously awesome.

ungulateman

[JohnLukeG]

I'd hate to run into one of those randomized demon things if it had berserk breath.  I can only imagine all of my Fortress's greatest warriors going berserk at once and hunting down every last inhabitant of the map.

[Xombie]

No to "Mind Altering Poisons"
Yes to Narcotics (still can be used to "poison" someone, why not)