Leveling Attacks/Spells - Revision history

Admin at 19:44, 4 August 2026

2026-08-04T19:44:42Z

Admin at 19:34, 4 August 2026

2026-08-04T19:34:18Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:34, 5 August 2026
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	===Basic Skill==		===Basic Skill===

	For the 'hide' skill:		For the 'hide' skill:

Admin at 19:34, 4 August 2026

2026-08-04T19:34:02Z

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 ==Example For Nerds==
 ===Skill Attack==
 Here's the super old code for thieve's 'circle' from the public release of SMAUG 1.8.

Admin: /* Example For Nerds */

2026-08-04T19:21:49Z

Example For Nerds

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 ==Example For Nerds==
 ===Spell Attack===
-Here's a really old example from the public relase of SMAUG 1.8 for the 'burning hands' spell. This uses a pre-determined table of damage values, does some rolls on them, applies saving throws, to determine damage. Bear in mind that [[Resistances]] are then applied AFTER, and are a different chunk of code/logic.
+Here's a really old example from the public relase of SMAUG 1.8 for mage's 'burning hands' spell. This uses a pre-determined table of damage values, does some rolls on them, applies saving throws, to determine damage. Bear in mind that [[Resistances]] are then applied AFTER, and are a different chunk of code/logic.
 <pre>
 ch_ret spell_burning_hands( int sn, int level, CHAR_DATA *ch, void *vo )

Admin: /* Spell Attack */

2026-08-04T19:01:36Z

Spell Attack

Admin: /* Spell Attack */

2026-08-04T19:00:18Z

Spell Attack

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:00, 5 August 2026
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	*Saving throw		*Saving throw
	**if ( saves_spell_staff( level, victim ) ) dam /= 2; — if the victim successfully makes a saving throw, damage is halved.		**if ( saves_spell_staff( level, victim ) ) dam /= 2; — if the victim successfully makes a saving throw (save vs. spells/staves), damage is halved.
	**The _staff variant means it uses the caster's level as the save difficulty rather than some other value.

	*Applying it		*Applying it

Admin at 18:57, 4 August 2026

2026-08-04T18:57:34Z

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 Otherwise, each type of magic attack will output a different type of magical damage - for example energy, cold, holy, etc. Mobs may be resistant or susceptible to those. See [[Resistances]] for a full list and more info. Only SOMETIMES will this actually matter, in the vast majority of cases it doesn't matter and you should just hit with your highest level attack spell.
-=Spelldowns/Buffs=
+=Spelldowns=
 For spelldowns, you'll quickly notice that they won't work on every mob. Many are immune entirely, many are resistant.
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 =Mechanics=

Admin: /* Spelldowns/Buffs */

2026-08-04T18:41:46Z

Spelldowns/Buffs

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:41, 5 August 2026
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	=Spelldowns/Buffs=		=Spelldowns/Buffs=

			For spelldowns, you'll quickly notice that they won't work on every mob. Many are immune entirely, many are resistant.

			It can be tricky when you first learn a new spelldown to determine if the problem is you are just not adept enough at it yet, or if the mob you are trying it upon is immune/resistant. Best suggestion there is to try it on different mobs, find one where it works, and use that mob to become more adept at it. Once you've adepted it to a high percentage, then if you try it like twice on a mob and it doesn't land you can be pretty sure the mob is immune/resistant.

			There are also spelldowns that make the mob more susceptible to other spelldowns.... For example, the Nephandi class is entirely based upon this and if you cast all the 'neph downs' on a mob you can then land a bunch of shit that wouldn't normally land. Basic example, Neph's get 'petrification' which makes mobs susceptible to paralysis, and then you can land things like a Mages 'immobilize' when you normally could not.

	=Mechanics=		=Mechanics=

Admin: /* Combat & Experience */

2026-08-04T18:32:33Z

Combat & Experience

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:32, 5 August 2026
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	Overall there is very minimal 'strategy' built into the skill/spell attacks, they don't really 'do' anything different they just hit and you should just use whichever thing hits the hardest. You can determine the strength of the damage you are doing by the descriptor used, see [[Damage Descriptors]]		Overall there is very minimal 'strategy' built into the skill/spell attacks, they don't really 'do' anything different they just hit and you should just use whichever thing hits the hardest. You can determine the strength of the damage you are doing by the descriptor used, see [[Damage Descriptors]]


			Several years ago the immortal Edmond changed how experience points work, he provided the info on this rodpedia page which I really don't understand whatsoever: [https://rodpedia.realmsofdespair.info/wiki/Experience_Ratings Experience Ratings]

			For a better discussion on leveling quickly, I'll make another page, because its pretty dumb and you shouldn't put much thought into it.

	=Physical Attacks=		=Physical Attacks=

Admin: /* Physical Attacks */

2026-08-04T18:30:14Z

Physical Attacks

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:30, 5 August 2026
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	In SOME cases an attack can do more than just damage.		In SOME cases an attack can do more than just damage.

	*~~gouge~~ has a chance to also blind the mob for a few rounds		*Gouge has a chance to also blind the mob for a few rounds
	*~~bash~~ will cause 4 bar lag to the mob		*Bash will cause 4 bar lag to the mob
	*~~wasp talon~~ has a chance to poison the mob		*Wasp Talon has a chance to poison the mob

	There are not a ton of these, and their help files make it pretty clear, but ask on chat channel if you have questions.		There are not a ton of these, and their help files make it pretty clear, but ask on chat channel if you have questions.

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:01, 5 August 2026
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	Here's how Claude explains that:		Here's how Claude explains that:

	*Setup		*'''Setup'''
	*victim is the target, cast from the generic void vo pointer.		*victim is the target, cast from the generic void vo pointer.
	**dam_each[] is a lookup table mapping the caster's level to a base damage value.		**dam_each[] is a lookup table mapping the caster's level to a base damage value.
	***Low levels (0–4) do 0, then it jumps to 14 at level 5 and scales up to 58 at the top.		***Low levels (0–4) do 0, then it jumps to 14 at level 5 and scales up to 58 at the top.

	*Clamping the level		*'''Clamping the level'''
	**level = UMIN(level, sizeof(dam_each)/sizeof(dam_each[0]) - 1) caps the level at the last valid table index		**level = UMIN(level, sizeof(dam_each)/sizeof(dam_each[0]) - 1) caps the damage level at the last valid table index
	***(70 here, since the array has 71 entries indexed 0–70). This prevents reading past the end of the array.		***(70 here, since the array has 71 entries indexed 0–70). This prevents reading past the end of the array.
	**level = UMAX(0, level) ensures level isn't negative. After these two lines, level is guaranteed to be a safe index.		**level = UMAX(0, level) ensures level isn't negative. After these two lines, damage level is guaranteed to be a safe index.

			*'''Rolling damage'''
	*Rolling damage
	*dam = number_range( dam_each[level] / 2, dam_each[level] 2 ) picks a random integer between half and double the base value for that level.		*dam = number_range( dam_each[level] / 2, dam_each[level] 2 ) picks a random integer between half and double the base value for that level.
	***So at level 5 (base 14), it rolls between 7 and 28. This gives a wide random spread averaging roughly the base value (slightly above it, since the midpoint of half-to-double is 1.25× base).		***So at level 5 (base 14), it rolls between 7 and 28. This gives a wide random spread averaging roughly the base value (slightly above it, since the midpoint of half-to-double is 1.25× base).

			*'''Saving throw'''
	*Saving throw
	**if ( saves_spell_staff( level, victim ) ) dam /= 2; — if the victim successfully makes a saving throw (save vs. spells/staves), damage is halved.		**if ( saves_spell_staff( level, victim ) ) dam /= 2; — if the victim successfully makes a saving throw (save vs. spells/staves), damage is halved.

	*Applying it		*'''Applying it'''
	**return damage( ch, victim, dam, sn ) deals the final damage from caster ch to victim, tagged with the spell number sn (used for messages, damage type, resistances, etc.).		**return damage( ch, victim, dam, sn ) deals the final damage from caster ch to victim, tagged with the spell number sn (used for messages, damage type, resistances, etc.).


	Here's how that maps out to actual damage values per level:		Here's how that maps out to actual damage values per level:
	*The 'Base' column is the base damage pulled from the index table of values in the spell code before randomization		*The 'Base' column is the base damage pulled from the index table of values in the spell code before randomization
	The code then operates upon that by doing "number_range(base/2, base2)" to set the random spread. So base is the center-ish of the roll — the min is half of it, the max is double it.		The code then operates upon that by doing "number_range(base/2, base2)" to set the random spread. So base is the center-ish of the roll — the min is half of it, the max is double it.

	<pre>		<pre>
	Lvl Base NoSave(min-max) Saved(min-max)		Lvl Base NoSave(min-max) Saved(min-max)