One of the main concepts in TGGW is that you improvise your character build through the equipment you find in the dungeon. I have tried to incorporate all the classical types of gameplay classes in the equipment (mage, thief, warrior/barbarian, archer, priest). However, there’s one (well, at least) class that haven’t been quite represented: the monk class (typically an unarmed fighter). In TGGW there has not been any benefit to being unarmed. The next release features a complete redesign of unarmed combat.
Since you start the game unarmed, these changes will fundamentally alter how the early game plays. However, I have made big changes before, and I see TGGW as a living game which may change drastically at any time (hey, the game is free..).
Non-lethal Damage
Did you always think that the first few levels are too easy (I hope not!)? Well, not anymore… In the beginning you are unarmed and fight with your fists. Fists (and some new weapons) will from next release deal non-lethal damage. This means that monsters fall unconscious instead of dying when they run out of HP. An unconscious monster is knocked out and will not act, move or attack. In other words, it is harmless. However, it will wake up again when you rest, and you’d have to knock it out again. This leads to a number of difficulties and challenges before you have found means of dealing lethal damage. Some of the interesting consequences of this are:
- Returning to a place after resting will mean all monsters you knocked out are back.
- You won’t get access to monster drops until you can kill them.
- Back-tracking will be more difficult since monsters you didn’t kill earlier will be waiting for you.
- Retreating or advancing to new areas will be more of a tactical decision.
- The early game becomes more scary and interesting. You have a first milestone to be able to kill monsters.
- Where and when you decide to rest will require more thought.
Benefits of Unarmed Fighting
Dealing non-lethal damage can be a problem, but being unarmed also have its benefits.
Dual Wielding
As long as both of your hands are unequipped, you can fight with both of your fists, effectively making you dual wielding. This gives you two attacks per turn of non-lethal damage, which makes it a bit easier to knock your enemies out. This also makes the decision whether to equip something in your hands more of an interesting choice.
Free hands
When you have at least one free hand (i.e., at least one of your hand slots are unequipped), it is easier for you to make magical gestures. This means, in game terms, a small boost to your mana. This makes going unarmed an interesting choice for mage-like characters.
Gloves
Some gloves will give extra effects when hitting monsters, but only if you are unarmed. This means that staying unarmed may be a good choice if you find some interesting gloves. You will be able to see the attack effects of gloves when you examine them.
And more…
I don’t want to reveal all the mechanics regarding unarmed combat. Some of it you will have to discover yourself!
Mechanics
So.. are all these new rules making the mechanics obscured? Fortunately, I have found a very nice way of making the mechanics very transparent and easy to understand, although the implementation might be a bit unusual.
From the next release your fists work like normal equipment. That means you can see and examine your fists like if they were weapons. This also makes it consistent with the rules for dual wielding in general. I think the mechanics are best explained by the following screenshots (these are rather preliminary and may change):
This is how your inventory will look like when you start. You can examine your fists as any other weapon. They give a small boost to your mana.
This is how your starting character will look like: dual wield from your fists and +2 to mana from your free hands. Your attack will deal non-lethal damage.
Equipping the knife will cause you to lose your dual wield status, but instead you will deal real damage.
One word: Genius.
More words: Just like dual wielding, sounds like a great new mechanic, and I fully support it! It’s nice how many more strategic considerations it adds to the game.
Great that you like it! It’s always a little nervous to see reactions to big changes 🙂 And your support means a lot! I am very satisfied with this solution myself, it opens up for more strategic choices for sure.
Nice idea.
Can I coat my fists with poison/disease/ice to kill foes with effects? It sounds silly, when I try to imagine it though.
Undead monsters, oozes and other mindless creatures can be knocked out too?
You won’t be able to coat your bare fists, but if you wear gloves you will be able to coat them for the same result (if you are unarmed).
Yes, you can knock out non-living monsters too (otherwise it would be way too difficult), only they are called “incapacitated” instead of “unconscious”.
Sounds really innovative! Bit worried about not getting drops though – will this make it harder to find an actual weapon?
Hello Dave, and thanks for commenting! No, it won’t really make it harder to find weapons, very few monsters drop weapons anyway. Besides, you can always return for drops later.