Draft:Elemental Master

Omega 0.90.4

M Elemental Master
Form	Ordinary Astral guardian
Attacks	4 attempted attacks without working damage effects; 4 defenses; assigned ranged attack also inactive
Special abilities	Drops possessions when low-health retreat begins; assigned nearby special inactive
Base level	10
HP	1000
Hit	200
Defense	200
Action interval	2 ticks; lower is faster
Kill experience	10000, on normal death in sight
Generation	Fixed encounter and unrestricted summoning
Carried items	Orb of Mastery while available, neutral +0; 0–9 extra random possessions
Immunities	Physical, cold, electricity, poison, acid, fear, sleep, negative energy, other magic, gaze, infection; theft flag does not block player pickpocketing
Remains	A burning mound of bubbling mud; guaranteed on normal death
Remains use	Inedible; no alchemy
Traits Initially peaceful flies swims opens doors does not pass through walls
Reference	minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 305

The Elemental Master is the initially peaceful guardian of the fifth Astral level and the special carrier of the Orb of Mastery. It resists physical and most elemental damage, but is vulnerable to fire. In 0.90.4 its assigned melee, ranged and nearby special attacks have no implemented damage effect.

Generation

The Master is placed when the fifth Astral maze is generated while the Astral completion state is unset. The same floor contains the stairs to the Circle of Sorcerors. The Master starts peaceful; the generation procedure does not add hostility.

It is excluded from ordinary random monster pools, but an unrestricted summoning scroll can select it and make it hostile. Ordinary construction gives it 0–9 additional random possessions and a neutral +0 Orb of Mastery while that fixed possession remains available. Once a normal Mastery copy has been obtained, newly created Masters stop receiving another; existing copies are not removed.

Description

The Master flies, swims and can open doors, but is not intangible and cannot ordinarily walk through walls. It has four attack actions and four defensive actions. In this version, however, successful melee hits have no matching damage effect, and its assigned ranged and nearby special actions do nothing. Its damage rating of 200 therefore does not describe four working physical or elemental attacks. Misses and ordinary monster fumbles can still occur.

Below 250 HP, an attempted ordinary movement makes the Master drop possessions and retreat. The drop is conditional on that movement opportunity; it is not an immediate effect of every hit that crosses the threshold. Its ordinary conversation supplies threatening flavor text rather than an Orb service or spell.

Attack against the Master	Result
Ordinary physical damage, including disruption	Blocked by physical immunity
Cold, electricity, poison, acid, negative energy or other-magic damage	Blocked by the corresponding immunity
Fire damage	Effective
Disintegration	Deals 100 unavoidable damage; does not instantly kill a full-health Master

The Master also resists fear, sleep, gaze and infection. Its listed theft immunity does not protect it from the player's pickpocket command.

Orb, remains and progression

Successful pickpocketing takes the first possession and checks Dexterity, Thieves' Guild rank and monster level. The extra random possessions can be in front of the Orb, so one success need not obtain Mastery. Each success grants 100 XP and shifts alignment one point toward Chaos. A failed check against a stocked inventory does not itself set hostility, but attempting to steal from an empty inventory does.

Normal death drops all carried possessions and always leaves a burning mound of bubbling mud. This weighs 10,000 and has base value 1; it gives no food or special consumption benefit and has no alchemical transformation. The remains cannot substitute for the Orb of Mastery.

Killing the Master produces a message about returning through the Circle, unless the player has attacked the Oracle. It does not set the Astral completion state. Successful Star Gem use sets that state and returns the player to Star Peak, preventing guardian placement on later newly generated Astral floors.

Obtaining the Orb, presenting it for the Duke's quest and activating it are separate steps. Presenting it at the appropriate nobility rank lets the player keep it; combining it with four unused elemental Orbs consumes the set for Mastery's reward. The artifact article explains the full sequence.

Strategy

Fire or disintegration avoids wasting attacks against immunity. In particular, the Orb of Water's disruption is not a solution to the Master's physical resistance. Its current attack omissions reduce the danger from the guardian itself, but say nothing about the other high-Astral inhabitants or the surrounding Abyss terrain.

Pickpocketing offers a nonlethal route and may require several successes to reach the Orb. Alternatively, a wounded hostile Master can drop it while moving away. Check the actual loot before assuming a newly summoned Master carries a replacement Orb, and finish the Duke's request before consuming Mastery.