Mechadragon
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 61
Registered: 10-30-2004
IP: Logged

It moves by taking the direction a roach would have moved in and going one tile clockwise instead (or counter-clockwise for an anti-twister.)

The resulting movement pattern is that it kind of spirals in towards you:

X = twister
O = hero

X.....
......
...O..
......

......
X.....
...O..
......

......
......
X..O..
......

......
......
...O..
.X....

......
......
...O..
..X...

......
......
...O..
...X..

......
......
...OX.
......

......
...X..
...O..
......

......
......
..XO..
......

If you want it to have the potential to be lethal, make it move like a roach if doing so would kill you. Or leave it as it is and make it a nuisance; give it invulnerability and make it an even bigger nuisance! Or some other property? As it is it's just a movement pattern suggestion.

I haven't played through the whole game so I don't know if this is a new suggestion, but I thought it was pretty nifty.

Also, would this be a bug? I observed a butterfly move geometrically away from me, from a distance of root(8) (2 down 2 left of me) to a distance of 3 (3 left of me).

Oh, a couple more suggestions for monsters: (these are just rough brainstorming outlines, use them as you wish) (and especially don't have that many kinds of roaches )

-A monster that moves like a roach and burns you up if it ends its turn next to you. (that means moving to stab it before it gets close is a-ok)
-A monster that moves either like a butterfly or roach.
-A monster that moves like a butterfly or 2 squares horizontally/vertically/diagonally. The resulting movement shape would be a square donut.
-A monster that, by itself, cannot move, but can pivot around other monsters, or certain types of objects or whatever is most convenient. ( http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/windmill.html )
-A 'Soucie': When it moves in a certain direction it leaps by as many monsters/heroes are also in that row/column/diagonal. http://www.chessvariants.org/piececlopedia.dir/soucie.html
-A roach that moves twice every turn or once every two turns.
-A roach that kills you if it touches your weapon but dies if you step on it. Also known as the Rust Roach.
-A roach that immobilizes monsters adjacent to it. A traitor amongst its own kind?

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[Last edited by Mechadragon at 02-25-2007 12:26 PM]

Mechadragon
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 61
Registered: 10-30-2004
IP: Logged

Aha, and one more idea:

Upright Barrel.

Apon it's first push it acts like a crate. After it's pushed it topples onto its side, becoming a vertical or horizontal barrel as appropriate. (If I pushed it upwards, it would go one square up and become a horizontal barrel that I can roll from left to right)

googa
Level: Moderator

Rank Points: 282
Registered: 09-20-2004
IP: Logged

Would´t it be too unpredictable?

amb
Level: Goblin
Rank Points: 19
Registered: 11-22-2006
IP: Logged

What about a monster that as he walks, he leaves an arrow on the ground facing the square he just walked to. YOu need to steer him into a circle so he traps himself with arrows, and then archer him.

Mechadragon
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 61
Registered: 10-30-2004
IP: Logged

googa wrote:
Would´t it be too unpredictable?

Couldn't be any less intuitive then butterflies are currently. (No offense or anything, it's just really weird combatting against them)

PS: How about any of the other ideas?

And a few more, while I'm here...

• Barrels and crates full of gunpowder/TNT/explosive of choice. Feel free to push them around, but don't whack them or you're in for a surprise!
• Proximity mines! A step within a radius of 1 will trigger them for a similarly radius 1 explosion. And that's by both you or enemies, so it'd be the kind of thing you lure your foes into.
• Steel crates. You can't move them, but rolling balls sure as heck can.
• Ice crates and barrels. Give them a push and they won't stop until they collide.
• Receptive force arrows. When you or a monster walks off of them they shift to that direction. Forgiving force arrows are the same but they point in the opposite direction.
•Trampolines. Step, jump or fall onto one and you're catapulted a further two squares in the same direction. (And sucks to be you if that happens to put you in a wall/into water/onto a roach.)
•Bouncy Ball. (this an idea I posted ages ago in the drod suggestions forum, btw) Monster with roach AI until you hit it, apon which it switches to roach queen AI and makes a single move off of your sword, fleeing until it can't move apon a given turn, which will change it back to roach AI. To slay it once and for all you have to make a second stab while it's bouncing away from you. (Or possibly a total of 2-3 stabs while it's in roach AI, whatever makes for better gameplay.)

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[Last edited by Mechadragon at 02-28-2007 05:31 AM]

googa
Level: Moderator

Rank Points: 282
Registered: 09-20-2004
IP: Logged

Mechadragon wrote:

• Proximity mines! A step within a radius of 1 will trigger them for a similarly radius 1 explosion. And that's by both you or enemies, so it'd be the kind of thing you lure your foes into.

I liked this one. But I think it can be done with the objects already available.

You can use the orange PP's around an inactive bomb (Bomb counter == 1). So if you or a monster step over it, the Orange Door opens, and releases a ball to strike the orb that will activate the bomb.