Monster Wizard

The monster wizard is used to add a monster to the map or to define what monster is created by a generator.

It is necessary to first select a monster from the upper left list. Upon selection, all values will be set to the default for that monster type. Monsters can then be almost fully edited. To specify all aspects of a monster, select the "Custom" button and create one from scratch.

Basic statistics of the monster can be changed using the stat boxes in the upper right.

• Health is the maximum number of hit points the monster has.
• Mana is the maximum amount of mana the monster has, if any.
• Power is the attack power of the monster. A higher value means the monster's attack will do more damage. To get an idea of how powerful the values are, you should look at the defaults.
• Defense is a percentage that is removed from the base damage of physical blows to determine the number of hit points lost. For example, 50 defense means that a hit that would normally take off 20 hit points would instead take 10.
• Magic Resist is the same as defense but for spell damage.
• Dexterity determines the speed of a monster's attack and its likelihood of dodging. Equivalent in most ways to a champion's dexterity. Higher values mean the monster is harder to hit and harder to dodge.
• Fear Resist determines how hard it is to frighten the monster (using a horn of fear or other device). Values range from 0 through 10, with 0 meaning impossible to frighten and 10 meaning always frightened. A value of 5 is equivalent to a 50% chance of being frightened.
• Poison Power determines how poisonous a monster is. If poisoned, this is the amount of damage a champion will take initially until the poison starts dissipating. Note that at the default difficulty setting this value is cumulative, so if a champion has just been poisoned by a creature with poison power 4, and then is poisoned again, he will start taking 8 damage from poison. Poison will max out at 15.
• Move Speed determines how fast a monster moves in the dungeon. Typical values range from 1 (very fast -- Giggler) through 12 (fairly slow -- Stone Golem). There is no maximum, so monsters could be made rediculously slow, but 1 is the fastest allowed.
• Attack Mod determines how fast a monster attacks relative to how fast it moves (attack_speed = move_speed - attack_mod). A value of 0 means the monster attacks at the same rate it moves. Positive values mean the monster attacks more quickly than it moves, while negative values result in attacks coming more slowly than moves. See defaults for typical values. Note that the attack mod must always be less than move speed.

The monster attack style can be changed with the drop-down list.

• Aggressively Attack
  • Go right up to the party and attack
• Attack from Distance
  • Try to keep distance from party and use ranged attacks (spells and thrown items)
• Unmoving
  • Stay in one square, unmoving (but will move away from poison ven clouds if possible, unless non-material)
• Always Run
  • Avoid the party, only attacking when cornered
• Friendly
  • Invincible, never attacks, wanders around randomly
• Friendly Unmoving
  • Invincible, never attacks or moves

The Fills Square button is used to set a monster in the middle of a square. No other monsters may be in the same square at the same time. Some predefined monsters, like dragons, fill the square by default and cannot be any other way (they don't fit in a corner).

The Non-material button is used to set a monster as being a ghost. Ghosts can walk through almost any square unless that square has No Mons or No Ghosts set. They can only be injured by special spells and weapons.

The Has Magic button is used to give a monster magical powers. When selected, the spells panel becomes visible (described below).

The Poison Immunity button grants a monster 100% immunity to poison from weapons and spells. It only grants partial (50%) immunity to ven clouds.

The Throw Weapons button sets a monster to throw all unequipped missle weapons (daggers,stars,darts,arrows,etc.), along with weapons that have a throw-picture set.

Pick Up rate sets how likely a monster is to pick up an item on the ground beneath it. Non-material monsters cannot pick up or carry items.

Steal rate sets how often a monster steals from the party instead of attacking.

Spells Panel

• Has Heal Magic is used to give the monster the ability to cast a healing spell when injured. How powerful the spell is depends on mana used (casting power), and intelligence.
• Has Drain Magic is used to give the monster the use of the drain spell, which steals the health of a champion and gives it to the monster.
• Casting Power is the maximum power level the monster can use.
• Intelligence influences the amount of damage a spell of a given power does. It is equivalent to the intelligence stat of a champion. Higher means more powerful magic.

The Carrying Panel lists what items the monster is carrying. The Add/Edit Item button can be used to add new items or modify a selected item. The Remove Item button will remove a selected item. The Equip/Unequip button is used to set which items the monster is "using." This has no effect on stats, and is only used to prevent those items from being stolen from the monster by champions using the "Steal" special ability.

The Specials... button brings up a separate dialog:

• The Win Game on Death button is used to link an ending to the death of the monster. Both an animation (animated gif) and sound effect (wav) can be set. The animation must reside in the Endings directory, while the sound should be in Sounds.
• The Only Certain Item Can Damage button makes the monster invulnerable to all but a certain item (presumably a weapon).
• The Need Certain Item Before Can Damage button makes the monster invulnerable until a certain item is being worn around the neck or held in the hand of a party member.

Custom Monsters

• Name
  • The name of the monster type (Mummy, Screamer, etc.)
• Pics Name
  • Picture file name to be used. This is only the base name. Available pictures are: xxx-toward, xxx-away, xxx-attack, xxx-left, xxx-right, xxx-cast, where xxx is the supplied Pics Name. Each must be either a gif or png file (gif is looked for first), and it is not necessary to have them all, though toward at the least should exist. See the Monsters directory for examples of the file naming and views.
• Sound
  • Name of the WAV file, if any, to play when the monster attacks or casts a spell. Must be in the Sounds directory.
• Footstep
  • Name of the WAV file, if any, to play when the monster takes a step. Must be in the Sounds directory.
• Use Stairs
  • If selected, the monster can go up and down stairs.
• Flying
  • If selected, the monster is flying. Flying monsters don't trigger floor switches and can cross open pits.
• Better AI
  • If selected, the monster receives a variety of minor AI boosts, such as the ability to open button doors and a reluctance to cast spells into other monsters.
• Teleports
  • If selected, the monster can teleport at will to a new square on the same dungeon level within a 5 square radius. (This is what Chaos does when you try to Fuse him improperly.) Note that, with the exception of Chaos, if a monster is silenced it cannot teleport.

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