Should brands be obvious?

[Magnate]

In r1798 I stopped the printing of "Your ring of Acid spits!" messages on every hit. Once you're at five attacks per round it quickly gets tiring. What happens now is that these messages only appear once, the first time you learn about that property on the item. This works fine for slays, but currently you get no messages at all for brands because all brands are considered obvious as soon as you wield the item.

So which do you prefer: the convenience of knowing brands instantly, or the excitement of discovering them in the middle of combat?

EDIT: Bugger, that was meant to be a poll.

[PowerDiver]

Originally Posted by Magnate

In r1798 I stopped the printing of "Your ring of Acid spits!" messages on every hit. Once you're at five attacks per round it quickly gets tiring. What happens now is that these messages only appear once, the first time you learn about that property on the item. This works fine for slays, but currently you get no messages at all for brands because all brands are considered obvious as soon as you wield the item.

So which do you prefer: the convenience of knowing brands instantly, or the excitement of discovering them in the middle of combat?

EDIT: Bugger, that was meant to be a poll.

If you wield an unaware ring of acid, you should get a message when you learn the branding flag upon wield. If you wield an aware ring of acid, do you really want the message?

Or are you talking about something else?

[Magnate]

Originally Posted by PowerDiver

If you wield an unaware ring of acid, you should get a message when you learn the branding flag upon wield. If you wield an aware ring of acid, do you really want the message?

Or are you talking about something else?

Actually you don't get a message on wield, at the moment. The brand flag is silently IDd, but the message is only printed for weapons.

I'm suggesting that brands should not be noticed on wield, i.e. removed from TR0_OBVIOUS_MASK. Then they will be discovered during combat, like all other combat-related flags. I know this isn't in the spirit of flaming sword D&D, but it strikes me as a more enjoyable way to play with ID-by-use.

[PowerDiver]

Originally Posted by Magnate

Actually you don't get a message on wield, at the moment. The brand flag is silently IDd, but the message is only printed for weapons.

I'm suggesting that brands should not be noticed on wield, i.e. removed from TR0_OBVIOUS_MASK. Then they will be discovered during combat, like all other combat-related flags. I know this isn't in the spirit of flaming sword D&D, but it strikes me as a more enjoyable way to play with ID-by-use.

The first is just a bug.

The second would really annoy me. At the moment, squelch excellent but not splendid weapons works very well. Changing brands to non-obvious would ruin that. Also, the flaming weapons in the stories I read don't wait until they pierce the foe before they start to flame.

[Magnate]

Originally Posted by PowerDiver

The first is just a bug.

Fixed in r1800.

The second would really annoy me. At the moment, squelch excellent but not splendid weapons works very well. Changing brands to non-obvious would ruin that.

I guess so. Will think about this a bit further.

Also, the flaming weapons in the stories I read don't wait until they pierce the foe before they start to flame.

Yeah, that's the bit where I said "I know this isn't in the spirit of flaming sword D&D, but it strikes me as a more enjoyable way to play with ID-by-use".

Ho hum.

[pav]

Originally Posted by Magnate

In r1798 I stopped the printing of "Your ring of Acid spits!" messages on every hit.

That's okay, as long as my sword still melts my enemies.

[ekolis]

Originally Posted by pav

That's okay, as long as my sword still melts my enemies.

Funny, whenever I see anything about acid-coated weapons being "of Melting", the pedant in me wants to scream "But acid doesn't melt things! Heat does! Acid DISSOLVES things!"

But I suppose "of Dissolution" doesn't sound all that high-fantasy... sounds more like something a chemist would come up with :P

[Whelk]

Originally Posted by ekolis

But I suppose "of Dissolution" doesn't sound all that high-fantasy... sounds more like something a chemist would come up with :P

I'd buy one.

[Marble Dice]

I'm satisfied with the way things are now. Elemental brands would be pretty easy to uncover if they weren't obvious; I would liken the excitement of discovering a fire brand on your sword the first time you bonked an enemy with it to the excitement of discovering a fire brand on your sword the first time you put it in your hand.

I don't have strong opinions on how they get divided for squelching (excellent with no high resists / everything except artifacts), but I can see why it would be more convenient to consider them splendid.