b0rsuk
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Wampus moves like a roach, with one exception:
- if a monster adjacent to Wampus is killed, Wampus starts running away until end of spawn cycle (like roach queen).

One might ask - why implement a creature which is even easier to defeat than ordinary roach ? But wait - Evil Eyes certainly are, too, yet you can design some tricky puzzles with them.
When fighting against monster horde containing Wampuses, you'd have to think not just how to kill them, but how to scare them. And if it's really a good idea to scare them. In some situations you may not want to scare them all, because (for example) time is short and you have to deal with them quickly.
You could also scare Wampuses in such way that they would temporarily block narrow passages.

Optional rules:
- Wampus can climb well, that means that 1-square wide pits are just like floor for him. (Wumpus is unaffected by rooms with pits in Hunt The Wumpus game. Wumpus is corruption of Wampus)

- Additional fear condition: when a Wampus adjacent to Wampus is/becomes scared.

Wampus references:

http://ksks.essortment.com/wampuscat_rvmr.htm
ORIGINAL Wampus from indian legends

http://www.taylor.org/~patrick/wumpus/
Hunt The Wumpus - a game. As you can see - Wampus can be both aggressive, or scared. And is usually sleeping, but I have no idea how to make it playable in DROD without complicating things too much.

http://id.mind.net/~jdarel/mule/wampus.html
Wampus the way it looks in M.U.L.E., along with some information about the creature and its name. I first encountered Wampus while playing M.U.L.E. on Atari 65XE

[Edited by b0rsuk at Local Time:03-17-2005 at 05:39 PM]

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eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

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This suggestion seems to be the kind of monster that's just too difficult to build rooms around. It will be very difficult to predict what the behavior is.


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b0rsuk
Level: Smiter

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You mean "runs away when some dying is involved" is too hard to understand ? I'm flattered.

I forgot to add something. This monster could be pretty fun to use in large groups. Some kind of Wampus spawner would be a nice idea.

[Edited by b0rsuk at Local Time:03-17-2005 at 06:01 PM]

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eytanz
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No, I meant that if you put a wumpus in the room, and other monsters, it would be very difficult for a designer to figure out - A - exactly when the wumpus will be next to another monster, B - if he is next to another monster, exactly how long he will run, C - if he runs, where he will run to (this will be even harder than queens where it's not always possible to easily predict but at least you know they're always running, so they can't end up in really unexpected places).

You seem to be focusing on how players will react to these monsters which is important but not as important as how easy or difficult it is to design puzzles with them. Frankly, it seems like you have good basic ideas but are spoiling them because you really like complicated suggestions with semi-realistic AIs and adaptive behavior. But the fact is that the more adaptive a monster is the less useful it is, because there's less a player can do to manipulate it. Sure, it'd make things harder, but it would make things harder in the more or less the exact same way in every room it's used, so after a few rooms with it they'll become quickly boring.

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AlefBet
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Actually, I like this idea. I don't think it's that complicated to figure out how to interact with them (althought I think the pit thing is unnecessary complication and I'd leave it out). I think puzzles for them wouldn't be too hard either; I can think of a couple.

Also, I think they would add a bit of monster variety even if you don't design puzzles specifically around them. They're also pretty easy to implement (if you ignore the artwork requirement for sprites, which I tend to).

I think I favor the "whole herd becomes scared" variation.

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