Skill and Item: Soul-Stealing Soul Shard (Dark Oppressor)

[LoganRuns]

Child skill of Life or Soul Vampire. 3AP Touch attack that drains the victim of 10MP, and gives attacker an item "Soul Shard" with inventory weight of 3. Soul Shards are a part of the victim, and when they are dropped from inventory, the victim takes 15 Impact damage. The damage type can be altered by dropping the Shard on certain tiles, such as power station tile makes it Electrical, graveyard makes it Death, river makes it Cold, etc.

Shards can not be traded, so only the original DO can mess with it. If you do try to trade it, it gets dropped. When the victim dies, it degrades into a normal blood ice. When the DO dies, it has a 50% chance of breaking. Only 5 shards can be removed from a victim, any further attempts will fail.


Yeah, a pretty complicated idea. I read an article about witchcraft where some cultures claim witches steal souls and torment their victims by plunging the soul in cold water or in a fire. That sounds like the sort of nasty thing that Dark Oppressors would do, having a wee trinket to tease a victim with. The 5 shard limit would be to stop it getting out of hand, and also so that people could negotiate protection with a "friendly" DO.

edit: added weight, AP cost, MP drain cost and cut damage down.
editedit:Added base damage type as Impact.
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Current:


Retired: Det. David Caruso, Oprah, X1-Alpha, your hands, Ambassador Kosh

[Liche]

Is there any range or duration (other than the two conditions you mentioned) involved with this? How much AP or MP do you think it should cost to use this ability? I think the Shards absolutely need to have weight to them, but how much?

I'm concerned about the amazingly high amount of damage this does and the fact there is no defense against it. Grab five Shards from the target and off you go. Spend zero AP dropping them on the ground and *poof* the target takes 90 points of damage and dies instantly. Sure that's at the top end of the damage spectrum, but we're looking at at least 60 points for 5 Shards, I'd say.

You don't mention it, but is it safe to assume that a Shard that breaks upon a DO's death causes no damage?

[LoganRuns]

Yes, there should be a weight to them, maybe 3. The AP required would be the same or more than Soul Vampire, so 3AP 0MP. No duration or range limit though. It would be something that would hang over the victim, ready to strike at any time, until they die or the DO breaks it.

I think I may have gone overboard with the 18 damage. Maybe 13 or 15 would be appropriate? Normal armor and other soaks would apply. The number of shards you could collect from a victim at one time would also depend on the victims available MP. I should probably put that number in the OP too


To be honest, I never got around to playing a DO, so I'm not sure what would be efficient and attractive for them. But I think this skill would make them scary.
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Current:


Retired: Det. David Caruso, Oprah, X1-Alpha, your hands, Ambassador Kosh

[Ezekiel]

It seems awfully griefy.. Catch a T3 out and about, make a bunch of shards from them, the a couple days later insta-blatt them prior to raiding their faction.

It might be workable if you *have* to be in the same location as the target, but that's sort of contrary to the whole point of the suggestion.
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Sihoiba said, "Unfortunately he resisted arrest by lighting himself on fire"

[Ongewitter]

If you're going to kill your target anyhow, why not do it then and there? Seeing as when the target dies, the Shards would 'degrade' into Blood Ice, I don't see a reason not to instantly drop the Shard the second you get one.

I'd keep the Shards around even after the target dies, if Damocles' Sword is what you're going for, a mere death shouldn't stop it. Not sure about the loss when the DO dies, though.

[SkullFace]

Guaranteed 100% hit rate for 15 damage regardless of distance between attacker and target? Damage variable at time of inflicting? No MP cost to the attacker? Also drains MP from the victim at time of original attack? No counter?

Is there any comparable ability for any class? Seems overpowered to me and open to griefing.
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Cheers,

Skull Face

[Yamaxanadu]

This wouldf have been an *awesome* Tholagru cult reward :V

[corky]

I really like this idea but I think that it should be toned down so it isn't abused (reduce the limit to 3 soul shards per victim?) more of a fun way of causing damage at a later time like the AC poison combo (it would also be cool if you could get an AC type notification of the damage inflicted especially if it kills them).

[ChuckTheRighteous]

I can see this getting griefed like crazy. Don't make it "Drop" but instead a form of use, that cost ap/mp. Also 15 damage is a lot for not having to be anywhere near someone so make it 10. I can see one raid, making a ton of these for everyone in the faction. Then the next raid, attacking everyone without ever leaving your sh. For that reason I'd make them have a weight of 5 so that even with strength you can only feasibly carry 12 of these at once. Beyond that, I still think its a bit overpowered but at least with these changes it would be workable.

[LoganRuns]

[Ongewitter]

[BobGeneric]

I have other ideas for the DO.