We don't happen to have a pixel artist, perchance? The thing above, about Xinroch's banner, is giving me ideas about emblems and uniforms.

It's not just roguelikes, almost any game with equipment and stats will have ascension gear. There's no avoiding that. Having different obstacles and enemies just means a wider pool of ascension gear.

That'd be a thing, wouldn't it. Hmm, rather than having a single item take up multiple slots, perhaps that "item" actually represents a set of items in code? That way you don't lose the whole thing if you lose a body part.

Suggested name changes:

Cape of Flying to Cape of Superpower
A nod to all those caped heroes & villains.

Cape of Quick to Cape of Flash
Not as confident with this one.

Also you should add:

Cape of Darkness
You think it does something but it doesn't. Same as a normal cape.

Pfffft now that's an idea!

Do teeth even exist in code though?

Halberds are literally spears with axe-heads mounted on the end. However, the handling is definitely closer to a polearm than an axe.

Paintings of Dulcis (idea thanks to Izzy's Saal'thul story)

Extremely rare spawn? Through prayer only?

Various artworks created by the divine, these are shrouded from mortal eyes. Upon revealing, they can bestow various revelations upon the seer.

The idea is that there are several different types, and you won't know what you've got until you "open" it, so to speak. Upon doing so, one of several different things can happen, or even nothing at all.

Chance of disappearing after effect or 100% chance? Either way, they're pretty to look at and they sell for a pretty penny (especially the ones that do nothing).

Actually as far as that goes, does anyone know if a shield's material has any bearing on how much damage is reduced on partial blocks? That's another possible way of making heavier shields worth it.

Stances would be cool, but the first step would be to make basic unarmed worth it, otherwise nobody would go looking around for these stances. It's easily overlooked but a major factor in combat is skill, and what you happen to find (or don't find) in UT when you start out plays a big role in determining your play style for the rest of the game simply because of the skill you accumulate through UT.

I do think gauntlets should add to unarmed even when equipped as armour because wielding two sets of them is just silly.

As far as kicking goes, a kick only stance would be pretty cool. It'd give you double kicks and an increased chance of knockback, the idea being that you use this stance to force an enemy back without really giving them a chance to hit back. Maybe even a minor speed boost.

Except that you're forgetting, Izzy, that simply making shields block better still won't make wood/iron material shields worth it. That's why I suggested what I did.