Regarding hold & stun effects I do remember me and Arda discussing about it and trying to understand how to handle them. Right now stun generally have a shorter duration but they are pretty much the same thing. Is it possible to clearly differentiate them? And if it is, would it be beneficial or detrimental?
I tried to write down a standardized concept behind them (e.g. one of them is a physical effect and the other is a mind affecting one?) but both of them are widely used in too many instances with different concepts. Hold is used for all kinds of things, from physical paralysis caused by different sources (ghoul's touch, envenomed blade, web etc.) to enchantment spells.
Also note that both effects are hardcoded, and changing how they behave is out of question imo.
Short story: if anyone has a clear idea in mind to "standardize" the two concepts and/or thinks he can suggest a cool way to handle both effects better than how we currently do, I'm always open to suggestions, but personally I gave up.
I'm not sure how you are handling immobilizing effects, right now, but this is how I would do it:
There are three types of immobilization: Paralyze, Hold and Stun. Paralyze: The victim's body or mind is impaired in such a way that they are unable to move on their own. Hold: The victim, fully conscious, is held in place by an outside force. Stun: The victim suffers a blow from which they must first recover. Always short duration.
Paralyze effects can be countered either by dedicated spells, such as "Remove paralysis" or by dispelling the magical influence responsible for impairing their body or mind. Hold effects can be countered either by dedicated spells that allow the victim to escape the holding force, such as "Freedom", or by dispelling that force to begin with. Stun effects cannot be countered and must be endured.
But first, the technical stuff:
Opcodes 45, 109, 175 and 185 all immobilize. The imortant difference is in how they can be cancelled. Opcode 58 (dispel magic) can potentially remove any of them. Opcode 46 can only cancel opcode 45. And opcode 162 can cancel both 109 and 175. Only opcode 58 can cancel 185.
Because opcodes 109 and 175 behave identically, the number of different cases is only six:
It's a bit difficult to apply this system consistenly to all the existing spells and attacks, but it shouldn't be impossible. A few examples:
Spider webs --> Type A. The webs are natural, meaning they cannot be dispelled, but the victim can still be freed magically.
Web (Spell) --> Type B. The webs are magical, meaning they can be dispelled, at least to a degree. The victim can also be freed with a dedicated spell.
Carrion Crawler attack: Type C. The victim is paralyzed by a venomous attack, which must be countered specifically.
Ghoul touch (spell or attack): Type C or D. The victim is affected with negative energy, making them unable to move on their own.
Hold (Spell) --> Type B: The victim is held in place by a magical force. Either the force is dispelled or the victim is freed with a dedicated spell. OR (depending on interpretation) Hold (Spell) --> Type D: The victim is magically made to believe that they are held in place. That influence can be dispelled or removed with a dedicated spell.
Bigby's Crushing Hand (Spell) --> Type E: The victim is knocked around violently, from which they must recover. No magic will help.
I can't really think of any cases for type F, right now.
...
Of course, all of this would have to be implemented some-how. There's also the problem that this requires using Hold (185) instead of Stun(45) for stun effects, so the strings displayed in-game would be somewhat confusing.
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Posted · Edited by Klatu
Sorry for barging in like this.
I'm not sure how you are handling immobilizing effects, right now, but this is how I would do it:
There are three types of immobilization: Paralyze, Hold and Stun.
Paralyze: The victim's body or mind is impaired in such a way that they are unable to move on their own.
Hold: The victim, fully conscious, is held in place by an outside force.
Stun: The victim suffers a blow from which they must first recover. Always short duration.
Paralyze effects can be countered either by dedicated spells, such as "Remove paralysis" or by dispelling the magical influence responsible for impairing their body or mind.
Hold effects can be countered either by dedicated spells that allow the victim to escape the holding force, such as "Freedom", or by dispelling that force to begin with.
Stun effects cannot be countered and must be endured.
But first, the technical stuff:
Opcodes 45, 109, 175 and 185 all immobilize. The imortant difference is in how they can be cancelled.
Opcode 58 (dispel magic) can potentially remove any of them. Opcode 46 can only cancel opcode 45. And opcode 162 can cancel both 109 and 175. Only opcode 58 can cancel 185.
Because opcodes 109 and 175 behave identically, the number of different cases is only six:
It's a bit difficult to apply this system consistenly to all the existing spells and attacks, but it shouldn't be impossible.
A few examples:
Spider webs --> Type A. The webs are natural, meaning they cannot be dispelled, but the victim can still be freed magically.
Web (Spell) --> Type B. The webs are magical, meaning they can be dispelled, at least to a degree. The victim can also be freed with a dedicated spell.
Carrion Crawler attack: Type C. The victim is paralyzed by a venomous attack, which must be countered specifically.
Ghoul touch (spell or attack): Type C or D. The victim is affected with negative energy, making them unable to move on their own.
Hold (Spell) --> Type B: The victim is held in place by a magical force. Either the force is dispelled or the victim is freed with a dedicated spell.
OR (depending on interpretation)
Hold (Spell) --> Type D: The victim is magically made to believe that they are held in place. That influence can be dispelled or removed with a dedicated spell.
Bigby's Crushing Hand (Spell) --> Type E: The victim is knocked around violently, from which they must recover. No magic will help.
I can't really think of any cases for type F, right now.
...
Of course, all of this would have to be implemented some-how. There's also the problem that this requires using Hold (185) instead of Stun(45) for stun effects, so the strings displayed in-game would be somewhat confusing.
Just my two cents on all this.
Edit: Table is borked. How do I fix this?