| Name | Less Boring Cavemen 1.0 |
| Rating | Not rated |
| Author | Derek Ray |
| For | NetHack 3.4.3 |
| Description | Many changes for the Caveman class to help add some spice/challenge |
| Recently, I published an analysis of the games played on
nethack.alt.org that focused specifically on trying to determine which role was most commonly ascended, and by whom, along with some tweaks to try to filter out things like Wizard quitscumming and the serial ascenders who post 50+ ascensions and screw up the ratios. What I found in the process was that my stats for Cavemen and Knights were almost completely worthless due to the comparatively low number of games played in both these roles, so I started talking to people and asking why. The most common response was that Cavemen and Knights were too boring and too similar to other "basher" roles, and the things that made Knights special couldn't be used effectively. So, I've sat down with both the roles to try to figure out how to add some flavor without significantly disrupting the game balance for newer players, as well as make it more interesting to play the role in the early game. This patch focuses solely on the Caveman. (Experienced players, on the other hand, may find some changes make things harder; since the ascension ratios for experienced players are typically rather high, I am not inclined to apologize for making it harder. ;) The change list is deliberately vague so that one can read about this and still remain somewhat "unspoiled" as to the technical details. These changes affect all roles: -- Rubbing any iron object on flint creates sparks, which have a chance of causing fear in some monsters and undead. -- All quest nemeses no longer respect Elbereth. These changes affect only Cavemen: -- You can a)pply flint stones to arrows to increase their damage. -- Your god has less chance of doing something nice or fixing minor troubles; major troubles will be fixed with the same frequency. -- Cannot become unrestricted in edged weaponry; some skills have changed. Axe and knife remain appropriate though (flint axe, flint knife) -- Can tame a mastodon by throwing food at it. -- Cavemen get a small HP boost for remaining illiterate; the longer you remain illiterate, the better the boost. -- Advancing a level while illiterate exercises wisdom. -- Get an automatic 20% chance of fail on reading any spellbook. -- Fire one additional rock from slings. -- Get a questionable first artifact gift: Keolewa, the artifact club. (Taken from Hawaiian myth; this club supposedly extended across an entire district and took four thousand men to carry.) -- Can now advance in escape spells. (Jumping and speed are appropriate for a primitive) -- Can no longer advance in attack spells. (Not so thematic, plus everyone seems to get attack) -- Get an an alignment bonus for cannibalism. -- The Quest levels have received many significant changes. | |
| Download | http://nethack.nineball.org/caveman_patch (33.5 Kb) |
| Added | April 14, 2007 16:39 |
| Submit an update to this patch | |