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.

That was probably related to the devs also wanting different damage and armour types to play against each other. Now, I'm down for more varied play styles but this is a tricky one, because there's way too many factors involved. That means there's just as many ways to try and balance it and make it work, but also just as many ways to break the game play.

r_k has some good ideas, but what that won't fix is the fact that the shields that currently spawn aren't worth it. Wooden shields are too flimsy and metal ones are too heavy and inaccurate. You can find decent weapons but if you want a decent shield you have to make one, and most would probably prefer to use scrolls on weapons and armour instead. I have some ideas for improving that but I'm not sure how well it'd work.

First is a deflection mechanic. Right now, the fact that weapons can both block and attack weighs the scale heavily in the weapon's favour. Give shields a deflection mechanic which weapons won't have, by which damage is negated entirely without putting the shield at risk of breaking. This would tie in to a shield's accuracy and gives wooden shields a much needed edge.

Second sort of ties in with r_k's idea for heavy shields; letting you tank longer fights. Shields could have a weak armour value that applies across the whole body like cloaks do. Most wooden ones would end up with 0 AV but the metal ones would have a few points that would defend your whole body. This would make heavy metal shields worth more, especially right at the start in UT when you're still scrambling for armour.

I'm also down for the shield bash. Even if it doesn't do any damage, that extra breathing space would give shields a functionality that weapons don't. That one's been in discussion for a long time, and I don't think it'd mess with the balance too much.

Unarmed is a whole other ball game, also with way too many factors. Probably worth its own thread. I won't touch on it here.

There was this thread on blocking and this discussion on shields.

That gives me an idea for an optional dungeon actually.

Very short, little loot. Full of invisible ghosts who won't immediately attack you, but if you happen to run into one it immediately turns hostile. At the end is an item that lets you see ghosts (perhaps just an amulet of ESP), or maybe a way to turn ghosts off for the rest of the game. Why? There's ghost versions of half the monsters in the game, gives other things a change to spawn.

According to google definitions moratorium means a temporary prohibition of an activity? Were we making changes to the original story to begin with?

Anyway, I'm with you on the chatting r_k. See if you can include engraving in it, like goblins occasionally scratching tribal markings here and there or something. That'd also add flavour.