Hi all,

I'd like to submit an idea that recently came to me: a trap creation skill.

Main Principle

You'd use a specific tool to create devices or contraptions designed to trap/inflict damage to target. I think it would be best if it was a job only skill, based on focus (job could be "trapper", for example. All suggestions welcome here ^^).

Detailed Content

The skill is devided in 2, "laid traps" and "thrown traps"

First branch - Laid traps

-Pretty self-forward: those are laid on the floor, and activate when someone/thing walks on it. Someone said in Universe chat that homins would keep falling in it. Easy remedy: make them visible like mat sources, or make it so no homin can be trapped, except if pvp is active.

-Laid traps are composed of 2 plans you'd have to buy: the ammo trap, and the magic trap.

Ammo trap

-When you craft traps, there is a slot where you add what it will be filled with. Here, it's ammo, just like for guns. Damage is based on what type of stuff you put in there. Lvl of trap increases quantity of ammo + explosion strength, hence damage.

Magic trap

-When you craft traps, there is a slot where you add what it will be filled with. Here, it's a magic crystal, so you can cristallize any magic and use it as a trap effect. Now, it might be hard to implement for linked magic, because ideally, you should be able to move after using your traps, otherwise it's no different from the magic itself. So you could either use a magic crystal imbued with "acid" or "cold" or "root", "fear", etc.

-Here, please help with suggestions: should the effect/damage output be less effective then the spell itself, considering several traps can be laid at the same time (total number depends on level in skill) ? Should traps have a limited time effect once laid (it disappears after a while - i think it should, how long is to be discussed).

Second branch - Thrown traps

-Pretty self-forward: those are thrown, the idea is to have a skill that allows to create consumable, ready to use items.

I thought of 2 sorts at first, but throwing something that deals ammo damage or magic damage would be redondant with guns and crystallized magic. If you think not, please say so.
In any case for, now, only one type: "sticky ball"

Sticky ball

-Imagine a ball you create with mats, then fill with anything sticky, oily, sappy...could even be goo, though making one with goo would affect you too (lose health, kami hostiles as long as you carry the object, or such).

-You throw it on target, it immediately becomes poisoned/slowed, or has one of its skills sealed (temporary), etc. Anything you can imagine/the devs can implement. Please make suggestions here too :)


There, those ideas have been in my mind for quite sometime, tell me what you think, don't spare criticisms :)

I could see "specialized" traps for kitins only, or similar. Maybe they are specifically triggered by a level and/or creature.

It would require cool down period post laying or throwing.

I could see it abused.

spawn -
make concentric circles of traps at agro respawn area,
kill off all agros in respawn area,
walk outside of trap circles,
wait for respawn,
taunt each agro,
agro gets blasted as walks through minefield of traps,
kill off agro significantly higher than normally would be able to.

PvP enabled -
mine hostile TP (ex. kami v kara) in circles in similar fashion as before. No one who is PvP can come and go on that TP.

Farming -
There are certain sections, isles, terrain where there is only one entrance for agros. Mine entrance heavily, and start blasting them from behind the safety of traps.

Cool idea :)

I know traps of this kind from other games. The name of the occupation should be hunter.

I can imagine a lot of different trap types:
- glue traps, stick the enemy to the ground or slow them down
- poison, damage over time
- bombs in various sizes, casual area damage

They should be easy to see in the landscape, automatically vanish after some time and they should have a cool down on use.
And be harmless for homins who are not PvP tagged (outside PvP areas).

That would be fun, but i think that the thrown traps should also be usable in PVP too because unlike stun the traps should allow the player to still attack if within a certain radius. Also, that could lead into domestication... but i wont go there. One question is will it remain there until triggered or will it be timed before it goes away. Another when triggered is there a way that it could be disengaged like if you move?

Thank you all for participating in the thread !

=>Nudge: i think your points are well made. Goes to question if traps shouldn't be completely ineffective for homins, except those pvp tagged (like Yubina suggested). Or marauders (just kidding).

=>Yubina: glue, poison, bombs, that's precisely what i had in mind (and tried to describe through the skill tree). You could even add race traits (poison traps for matis only; burn/explosion for fyros, quagmire for Rudeus, er, i mean, Trykers, and so on.

=>Dracoalt: i don't know what would be best.
Timed would counterbalance one of the points Nudge raised: you wouldn't be able to spam an area and wait for targets to fall in multiple traps if they are timed. But it might also be frustrating and make the skill too impractical to use. It's true when i thought about it at first, i pictured it as a mat source: you'd be able so see it somehow on the ground (so you or someone else won't activate it by mistake, or too bad if you're blind and still do ^^), and it would indeed disappear after a while (how long, that's the question...)
Disengaged on moving, no, that would make it useless in solo, just like linked magic.
Remained until triggered, that might be extreme, and i don't know if its doable: how would the game fare if it has to record hundreds of untriggered player traps ? Anyway, in my mind, traps could either be triggered or destroyed as someone/thing walks on it. And they could be resisted (just like magic can be resisted or a blow can be parried): beasts that slash (typically, kitins) would be resistant to glue traps, beasts with shells unaffected by ammo traps, etc.

As a mat source... Perhaps some level of traplaying skill would make you able to ..prospect the traps? Good trap is a hidden one anyway and I'd imagine some of this could be copypasted from Forage skill; ideas and perhaps functions in code or something.... =)

I'm liking how this ideas is developing, definitely could be fun to use.

I think some kind of balance over how long a trap exists for would be best; also definitely should be 'one shot', they trigger, they're gone.

=> Jahuu, i love your idea of prospecting the traps. You have captured my thoughts exactly. Only, i thought it would be too complicated to mix several skills in one (crafting, foraging, etc.). But if it's feasible, then yes, "trap creation" would be a crafting skill, while "trap detection" would be a foraging skill. But then again, you'd only need to detect them if homins could trigger them....and i think the point has been made that, although this possibility has some pros, the cons win.

=>Neela, i'm not experienced enough to know what a good balance would be, so i'd let older players decide. But of course, once triggered, a trap would disappear (and the throwable ones are consumables per se).

Hmmm...

Here is how I can see it using existing code to do it:

Have trap making/planting tool.

Traps are crafted with tool, requiring mats.

Resulting trap depends on mats.

Crafted trap is then imbued on tool, like crystalized spells.

To plant, the imbued tool is used to plant it.

The imbuing is removed from the tool, the trap appears as popped mat, but different color and the mat information pane hovering over it contains remaining life, type, possibly planter/owner.

Just a thought.