Draft:Snowball stick
| / | |
| Type | Wand |
|---|---|
| Base value (Au) | 100 |
| Item level | 2 |
| Weight | 80 |
| Unidentified appearance | Random wand appearance |
| Cursed name | Snowball stick |
A snowball stick launches a cold explosion over its endpoint and the eight surrounding squares. Its name does not mean that it is harmless: the same blast can damage the user.[1]
Generation
It is an item-level-2 random wand, normally with 1–20 charges, random blessing and +0 enchantment. Random loot, pawn-shop stock and acquirement can supply it.[2]
Ambrosias transforms a lesser frost demon's heart into a blessed +3 snowball stick with 20 charges for normally 100 Au. The demon does not therefore carry the stick as fixed loot, and the +3 does not increase its damage.[3]
Description
| Property | Rule |
|---|---|
| Area | Endpoint and eight adjacent squares |
| Damage | Independent random 0–19 cold damage per affected creature or player |
| Defense | No hit roll; cold immunity applies, but bolt deflection does not |
| Positive blessing or enchantment | No increase in area or damage |
| Curse | Centers the blast on the player |
The projectile can be stopped early by a creature or other obstruction. The explosion then affects its nine-square area without a separate path test to each surrounding square. Unlike fire explosions, it does not vaporize water; unlike fire and electricity, it does not destroy ordinary hedges. This effect also has no freezing-water transformation.[4]
One charge is spent and the type revealed before targeting. A cursed copy forces self-targeting afterward, including after Escape at the aiming prompt. Use the earlier item-selection cancellation when abandoning an activation.[5]
Strategy
The lesser-frost-demon recipe gives a comparatively inexpensive supply of area attacks. Use cold against susceptible enemies while keeping the endpoint and likely interceptors more than one square away from yourself. Its damage is modest, so a group of weak enemies is usually a better use than a single healthy, high-HP target.
The ingredient's original creature is cold-immune: a snowball stick is not an answer to more frost demons. Consider fire or electricity where their immunity lists permit it. Raising enchantment adds recharge opportunities and explosion risk, not a stronger snowball.[6]
References
- ↑ iinit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 374; itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 684–696; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 364–368.
- ↑ item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 7–41; item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 254–262; site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 1043–1052; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 699–705.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 101; site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 845–869; itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 684–696.
- ↑ effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 378–453; util.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 73–85; util.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 206–268.
- ↑ itemf3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 684–696; command2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 459–488; aux1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 532–558.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 101; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 171; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 257; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 84–104.