The Watcher

[Inadequate]

Around here, we call those ‘cats’.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

There’s not that many ways to indirectly kill enemies in this game. If you count turrets as traps, then it’s pretty much limited to traps and friendly allies nearby, and you’ve already dismissed those out of hand. If a new player encounters one, he’s not going to know ‘this is a creature that only appears when you’re sleeping, I should use a relic to ward it off’, he’s going to imagine it’s a radiation effect or something. You’re talking from the perspective of someone already used to all the enemies in the game, but a new player won’t have the slightest clue. As of now, the only suggested methods of taking it out are disposing of the relic, which only applies to one of the three suggested methods for summoning it, or glitch the game somehow, which shouldn’t ever be a requisite for killing off an enemy.

-I didn’t dismiss traps, nor friendly allies. I said they should have a high dodge chance against traps, and that allies should completely negate their effects.
-We mentioned it interacting with dreams, and being able to spot it once in a while, (so long as you aren’t able to shoot at it/kill it). Have the game drop hints for dogs & relics in the dreams.
-Relics != artifacts. Relics are small doohickies which are only used for NPC fetch quests atm:

A small relic from a forgotten saint. As extraordinary as the world has become it may have some power yet.

-Glitch the game?

Mind you, we’re kind of still discussing him, so mileage varies between each of us and our ideas.
I’d want the guy to require a different approach than the standard: “shoot him in the face”. Traps are good, but don’t make it so that setting out a couple bear traps for a couple nights fixes the problem permanently.
Bear traps and turrets, with about a week of waiting/failing? That sounds better.
I’d imagine it as a much longer-term, not-immediately-deadly kind of problem to solve.

Mind you, like I said:
-small relics would solve the problem into perpetuity, and they’re not that hard to get (if the RNG spawns a cathedral)
-befriending a dog would solve the problem for as long as the dog stays with you
-If you’re to the point of teleporters & artifacts you’re going to have means to keep yourself happy, and your experience with the game will be at least decent.

Also, I’m more in favor of some kinda nether-creature & magic-y effects/reasons, unlike OP. I don’t see why a crazy mutant dude would decrease your morale, nor why he wouldn’t just club you in your sleep.
Also,
@Shazaar, Gotta say critters rummaging around in my stuff has always made me antsy; I don’t hoard things, (excessively), and the RNG always find a way to fuck with things you don’t want fucked with.

-Suggestions along the lines of traps:

[ul][li]Have them not trigger turrets unless they interact with something- like opening a door, or stepping on bubble wrap.[/li]
[li]Make them ‘port away’ the next possible turn following their being spotted/taking damage[/li]
[li]Give them an ability with a long cooldown which grants 1 turn of 90% dodge.
Point is, you can spot & shoot at them, but you’ll almost certainly miss & they’ll port away before you can do it again.[/li]
[li]They can’t port/dodge if they’re immobilized.[/li][/ul]

If the critter has an 85% chance to dodge traps, but it still activates them:
Trap configurations:
Shotgun traps everywhere- they may get lucky & kill the critter in one shot. Guarenteed to wake you up and send it off- expect the critter to last 1-14 nights
Crossbow traps/bubblewrap everywhere- they probably won’t be lethal, but they’ll still wake you up & send it scurrying away. Critter will last 1-66 nights
Nailboards/caltrops/spinning blades- they won’t kill him, but if he manages to fail a dodge he’ll port away and let you sleep for the rest of the night. Cheap treatment for the problem, and you get more restful nights. Critter lasts indefinately
Landmines everywhere- for when they really piss you off. It won’t last long.
Bear traps everywhere- they’ll wake you up & send it home, and you may get a lucky shot in even if it dodges the trap- expect the critter to last 1-7 nights- if it fails the dodge you have 5 turns to finish it off.
Anything else AND TURRETS everywhere- expect the critter to last a couple nights, (Pop! P-p-p-pow!x18!)

[Inadequate]

So if he wants the relic, will he follow you around, or where you put the relic? If you leave the relic unattended, will he steal it?

If he can open doors, that might actually be a bigger issue than any morale-sapping, especially if you’re out in the middle of the woods sleeping in a shelter kit. The open door gives any aggressive wildlife a clear line of sight on you, and the moment he teleports away, that’s their cue to rush in and tear your face off, and because you’re stuck in a shelter kit you’re basically cornered and forced to fight them one at a time.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

Personally I’d say he’d pay attention to you only so long as you’re near the artifact. I’m not big on stealing- I’d rather it act as a haunting kind of thing.

Hrm, true- is that a good thing or a bad thing?

[Inadequate]

Personally, I’d just go with the original suggestion of having the morale-sapping work through walls, and dodge that whole issue. Might be harder to signal that the Watcher is there, though.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

Heh, a very crude long-range port would result in fun emergent behavior: Have the port place it just outside the reality bubble, (something like 5 overmap tiles away?). If you happen to go in the right direction, you’ll spot it at the edge of said bubble before it poofs away again- it’s possible for that to happen multiple times. Say someone picks up a relic before triggering a haunting- that’s about the only way to notice it. Creepy.

[Inadequate]

Isn’t the point of the reality bubble that nothing happens outside it, by definition? I don’t know if that’s actually possible.

[infectedmochi]

More like that the game can’t possibly simulate everything at once and not hogging all the computer’s CPU. In a perfect world, where computers have unlimited processing power, a reality bubble won’t exist.
The Watcher appears briefly in your vision then disappear sound creepy, I think he should be closer though. Right now with all the critters and wildlife, a random monster might get overlooked in the list of numerous others.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

I figured you could set them to use something similar to NPC code- I’ve seen them wander around pretty far away, I assumed outside the bubble.

[Uneron]

Just came here to voice my support for that nice fellow. A bit of psychological horror is exactly what cataclysm needs.

[system]

Just came here to voice my support for that nice fellow. A bit of psychological horror is exactly what cataclysm needs.

Thank you, my fair chap. Cheers!

[GrizzlyAdamz]

The Watcher appears briefly in your vision then disappear sound creepy, I think he should be closer though. Right now with all the critters and wildlife, a random monster might get overlooked in the list of numerous others.

Oh hey, overlooked this.
Problem with that is it would involve more code, and it also puts him within range of more weapons, (I think only snipers can reach out to 60 tiles). Just make the name a very noticeable color…
…Or include his location as if he were a bona-fide NPC, albeit with a more insidious color. You’d see his evil @, (OOH! KEEP HIS NAME BLANK!), on the map, but as soon as you get within 60 tiles he poofs to outside your bubble again in a random direction.
Meanwhile he poofs close as soon as you fall asleep.
That sounds like a plan.

[Morrigi]

2spooky4me

[gingernuke]

I really like this idea as a mid to end game enemy. Also I love the thought of a non hostile Nether creature that looks through your suff as if studing you and thr items/food you have.