Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)
Okay, this probably isn't a new idea; I have trouble imagining that no
one has ever suggested this on RGRN before. But when you rub a flint
stone with a metal weapon, why does it not give off sparks?
I can understand that it wouldn't spark if you didn't "rub" hard
enough, but reasonably speaking, it should be possible to ID a flint
stone in this way. Otherwise why is it a flint stone at all? I'm no
geologist, but it could just as easily be called "granite stone"
instead.
Thinking about this as a YANI, you could have granite stones that are
exactly as flint stones are in the current version. Then flint stones
would be the same except slightly more expensive, and rubbing them with
a metal, edged weapon would produce sparks. This would be used to
light potions of oil, oil lamps, and magic lamps (or maybe magic lamps
would light on their own), while brass lanterns are assumed to have a
built-in mechanism that lights them. Tourists could have a 50% chance
of a matchbook ((0:12), cannot be charged) in their initial inventory.
This would have other uses, too. I KNOW I'm not the only person who
has fought through the Quest level or the Castle without a bag of
holding, and been forced to burden myself with a thousand scrolls of
create monster. After all, if I drop them, some enemy will read them,
and they'll turn out to be cursed and I'll be surrounded by dragons or
something. Oh look, I have a flint stone and an edged weapon. I'll
just burn the scrolls! The sparks wouldn't be able to make potions
explode or burn wooden objects, but perhaps a scroll or spellbook would
burn over the course of a couple turns, and those could be used to
explode potions or burn wooden objects (not that that would really be a
useful thing to do)
Cavemen would exercise wisdom by rubbing a flint stone with a weapon
for the first time: "You discovered fire!" (Hey, maybe they should be
able to kick or throw a dwarvish roundshield across the room and
discover the wheel as well...). All non-chaotic characters would take
an alignment hit and abuse wisdom for burning a book (similar to the
Archaelogist penalty for destroying historic statues).
Finally, it should be possible to #dip a quarterstaff or club in a
potion of oil, light it on fire, and beat enemies with it. Because
that's just plain cool. For consistency with Tolkien, this could scare
Nazgul; unfortunately I can't think of any places in the game where it
would really be useful. I'd still do it though; every time I killed a
wood golem and picked up six quarterstaffs, it would be show time.
Okay, this probably isn't a new idea; I have trouble imagining that no
one has ever suggested this on RGRN before. But when you rub a flint
stone with a metal weapon, why does it not give off sparks?
I can understand that it wouldn't spark if you didn't "rub" hard
enough, but reasonably speaking, it should be possible to ID a flint
stone in this way. Otherwise why is it a flint stone at all? I'm no
geologist, but it could just as easily be called "granite stone"
instead.
Thinking about this as a YANI, you could have granite stones that are
exactly as flint stones are in the current version. Then flint stones
would be the same except slightly more expensive, and rubbing them with
a metal, edged weapon would produce sparks. This would be used to
light potions of oil, oil lamps, and magic lamps (or maybe magic lamps
would light on their own), while brass lanterns are assumed to have a
built-in mechanism that lights them. Tourists could have a 50% chance
of a matchbook ((0:12), cannot be charged) in their initial inventory.
This would have other uses, too. I KNOW I'm not the only person who
has fought through the Quest level or the Castle without a bag of
holding, and been forced to burden myself with a thousand scrolls of
create monster. After all, if I drop them, some enemy will read them,
and they'll turn out to be cursed and I'll be surrounded by dragons or
something. Oh look, I have a flint stone and an edged weapon. I'll
just burn the scrolls! The sparks wouldn't be able to make potions
explode or burn wooden objects, but perhaps a scroll or spellbook would
burn over the course of a couple turns, and those could be used to
explode potions or burn wooden objects (not that that would really be a
useful thing to do)
Cavemen would exercise wisdom by rubbing a flint stone with a weapon
for the first time: "You discovered fire!" (Hey, maybe they should be
able to kick or throw a dwarvish roundshield across the room and
discover the wheel as well...). All non-chaotic characters would take
an alignment hit and abuse wisdom for burning a book (similar to the
Archaelogist penalty for destroying historic statues).
Finally, it should be possible to #dip a quarterstaff or club in a
potion of oil, light it on fire, and beat enemies with it. Because
that's just plain cool. For consistency with Tolkien, this could scare
Nazgul; unfortunately I can't think of any places in the game where it
would really be useful. I'd still do it though; every time I killed a
wood golem and picked up six quarterstaffs, it would be show time.
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