The Great Defense "Nerf"

[Sokotra]

I haven't seen many issues with player on player or humanoid NPC combat.

My pet issue involves non-warrior newbies fighting jozhals and small snakes and gimpka rats and what not.

I have had a merchant decked out in armor and equipped with a shield and spear almost murdered by a jozhal. It ruins my immersion!

As I've said before, these little critters are and should be vicious.  To me a jozhal is like a small raptor.  However, I do agree that if you go up against a jozhal with lots of armor, a shield, and a spear... you should not have any problem against it - no matter what class you are.  Maybe armor needs to be more useful in certain cases. 

[Sokotra]

To me parrying is a little more like a generic message that doesn't always have to mean "knocking a weapon aside".

I disagree; parrying is a very specific thing.  I don't think you can knock aside a scrab's pinch or a mekillot's bite: either you dodge (the code gives a dodge message), or the critter gets a mouthful of sword (the code penalizes it for fighting unarmed--at least I hope this is what happens).

Make parry only work vs. weapons.  If animals start owning warriors excessively, make sure that they're feeling the effects of unarmed combat to an appropriate degree.

Animals are different... their claws, teeth, and antlers ARE their weapons... so I think it is fine how it is for the most part.  A minor adjustment to even things out a little more for the other classes would be fine, if there is indeed a major issue.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

You ought to have problems hitting it. You should -not- have problems not dying to it.

[brytta.leofa]

I disagree; parrying is a very specific thing.  I don't think you can knock aside a scrab's pinch or a mekillot's bite: either you dodge (the code gives a dodge message), or the critter gets a mouthful of sword (the code penalizes it for fighting unarmed--at least I hope this is what happens).

Animals are different... their claws, teeth, and antlers ARE their weapons... so I think it is fine how it is for the most part.  A minor adjustment to even things out a little more for the other classes would be fine, if there is indeed a major issue.

The difference is that hitting a weapon with a weapon will, at worst, damage the weapons.  Hitting a body part with a weapon is something other than parry.  Would you knock aside a gorilla's arm aside with a sword?  Or a cougar's leap?

I'm not necessarily arguing for a different game balance here; just for using skills in a way that seems most realistic.  If warriors, losing parry vs. carru, need a higher dodge ability in order to be as buff as they're supposed to be, that's okay.  But I do indeed like the notion of human vs. animal combat being markedly different from human vs. human.

[Yam]

I haven't seen many issues with player on player or humanoid NPC combat.

My pet issue involves non-warrior newbies fighting jozhals and small snakes and gimpka rats and what not.

I have had a merchant decked out in armor and equipped with a shield and spear almost murdered by a jozhal. It ruins my immersion!

As I've said before, these little critters are and should be vicious.  To me a jozhal is like a small raptor.  However, I do agree that if you go up against a jozhal with lots of armor, a shield, and a spear... you should not have any problem against it - no matter what class you are.  Maybe armor needs to be more useful in certain cases. 

It is quite clear from their helpfiles, descriptions, and assessings that these things are not meant to be dangerous.

Jozhal : These small, desert-dwelling reptiles are hunted for their skin, which, supple and finely scaled, betrays a shimmering multitude of colors. Occasionally, they are kept by nobles and wealthy merchants as pets, but generally revert to their feral state if unfed. While not generally dangerous because of their small size and small mouths, they are scavengers by nature, only occasionally taking smaller live animals.

Gurth : A thick, domed shell covers these small reptiles, which is regularly used in the making of armors, often in overlapping plates. They rely solely on their shells for protection, which requires significant strength or a lot of patience to perforate, in their slow search for the various vegetation upon which they feed.

Skeet : Normally feeding on tough vegetation and occasionally digging up tubers and the like, skeet are tough-skinned reptiles with a central strip of relatively flexible, yet protective, chitin. They have been known to scavenge, as do almost all Zalanthan beasts (and even a few Zalanthan plants).

And a few other animals that appear to have no decent means of delivering solid or, god forbid, wounding attacks on an armored human often do so to merchants, magicker, pick pockets, burglars, and assassins. Sure, I can buy it if a merchant can't actually kill a jozhal and has to pack up and go home. But there's no way that something like a dog-sized turtle (without any sort of vicious mouth or claws) should be able to do any significant damage to a humanoid.

A deer-sized beast with horns should, of course, be able to tackle inexperienced to middling hunters. A chicken-sized lizard with a small mouth should not be able to kill a healthy, conscious human.