I'm actually thinking of going the other way. Stun (and some other effects) will only happen if you can land a melee blow. But I'll drop the spell fail chance to compensate. And maybe the stun effect will be applied for *each* hit, rather than just once.

Sorry, the reference goes a bit over my head. I'm talking about Werewolf Form, which gives +1 blows, +1 move speed (generally, doubles your footspeed), gives regeneration (if you don't have it), +5 to hit and to-dam, and a one-time Howl of the Damned effect (attempts to cause fear). I'll update my outline to be more specific.

Thanks David. Sorry I wasn't clear. I'm realizing more and more that the bulk of this game gets played in my head and the computer is just a story-board aid.

I didn't realize you were referring to werewolf form and was struck by the possibility of some sort of warped Hulk-Type physical berserk-rage transformation (the reference was from Irish mythology; penultimate noble warrior half descended from the gods who transforms into an unstoppable undiscriminating ravening beast in combat trope).

Appreciate the quick answer.

Thanks for that explainer (#66) DavidMedley!
I was confused from the text in the 'S' command how the SP/HP relationship worked, but I'm really enjoying the new dynamic.

Being able to heal by casting spells during combat is pretty neat, I've gotten through a few tough fights that I otherwise would've run from (like Bolg and some Old Trees) thanks to Grim Purpose. While I had a heavy weapon, the extra blows (and healing!) from Leap & Whirlwind were great, now that I've got Forasgil, Whirlwind is still great (walking into packs of O,T,C,Z and absolutely destroying is Oh-so-satisfying), and Leap is still handy for fleeing monsters and getting the jump on breathers when I don't want to turn on Taunt. I've had plenty of close calls still, so it doesn't feel overpowered, either.

So in short, I'm a fan. The SP mechanics are definitely clearer with more SP, but without fractional display, I don't think there's really much to do about it. There's not a clear winner for "best race for starting out with" in my mind, which is interesting... gonna have to try out a half-orc next. Posting progress on the ladder at
http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=23483
for what it's worth, though I've had some luck lately, so I'll probably die soon. :)
Hopefully I'll make it to Werewolf before kicking the bucket...

Thanks for the detailed response, Eric!

Yeah, this dynamic is totally new so I thought I needed to describe it. None of the other player properties have nearly this long of an explanation. Nick suggested I could break "Combat Regeneration" into more than one property, but I feel it's all one thing. If you (or anyone else) want to try to rewrite it, that would be awesome.

For reference, here's the current description:

I'm becoming a fan too hehe.

I'm using a combination of Taunt and Whirlwind for some mobs (Venom too). Sometimes I cast Hollow of the Dammed to make some of them fly away and fight less enemies at once. Taunt is a *must* for mobs. At higher levels its better to fight just 2 or 3 monsters at the same time.

Leap is great for retreating enemies, as Eric said.

I like the spell selection very much. Again, well done!

Thanks, Diego!

So you can still shield bash as werewolf shape? Seems illogical.

This is what I was going for. Something that may not be obvious right away is that the healing side-effect is proportional to damage. So if you save your spells until you are near max SP or near zero HP you get the most out of them. I think this is fun and cool, too. But if you use your SP in this way the magnitude of the healing might be a bit too high, and I may have to cut it a bit. Or maybe it's a reasonable reward for courting death.

Again, that's what I was going for. The minimum effective weight for weapons really punishes BGs early compared to warriors, paladins, and rogues who can get a lot of blows with a light weapon. Berserk Strength is a nice early consolation prize, but once you get 2 blows with any size weapon at CL20 with Leap, the BG gets some nice payback for living with low blows for the first 19 levels. And 2 blows at CL25 with Whirl multiplied by 3 or more enemies is pretty nuts. When you start gaining strength (and therefore blows) these spells diminish again.

I'm not sure I love chain-casting Leap at melee range at CL20, from a fun and immersion perspective (and verisimilitude, if I can use a 25 cent word). But it seems to fit the bill for rewarding heavy weapons.

In my mind, Half-Orc was the ideal race, thematically, followed by Dunadan. But I think Dwarf and Half-Troll should play quite well, too. Humans fit very well thematically, and I guess BG is as good a choice for them as any. Elves would be the only combo that would make me blanch in Tolkien (meme joke). I saw Sphara playing a Kobold Blackguard yesterday, which is not a combo I would have expected!

Never thought of that!