I’m back from Easter!
I should have put up an “away for Easter” post, huh. NEVER MIND. I’m back, and I’m trying to figure out potions. I don’t like how they work, but I haven’t settled on how to update the system yet.
First possible solution was to cut the potion types down to two: health potions and mana potions. You’d only have two slots, and only ever find those two kinds.
They look so lonely!
That’s one solution, but it feels really basic. What I think I’m going to try next is a system where you can find different potions, scrolls, possibly wands and so on… but they don’t stack. So there’ll be less of a focus on health potions, and you might find some really weird single use stuff.
The game’s skills largely fall into one of three categories; either they’re things you do to prepare for battle (buffs like Berserk or debuffs like Freeze), things you do routinely in battle (like Fireball or Uppercut) or ways to handle emergencies (Heal, Teleport, Charm Monster). Most of the old potions had effects which fell into the first category – temporary boosts to stats which would be good to apply before a tough fight. I’m going to try to switch over almost entirely to consumable items which fall into the last category: stuff that saves your skin when you’re in trouble and all your skills are depleted, but in excitingly different ways. Here goes!