Easing Early Game

[Ichthys]

Two ideas to make the game quite a bit easier/nicer on the player early game:

Make the Raider Lord's body drop maybe 50% or more of the time, rather than the normal, what, 5%?
Allow the player some method of resurrecting the cute dog. Perhaps 3000 coins to the druid?

[JellySlayer]

Cute dog quest isn't required for anything and the reward is nothing... though you can wish for a cute dog to complete the quest if you really want, I suppose.

[Tyrnyx]

I personally skip both those quests. To each his own. I feel like those early game quests are a trap. Dunno what it is about them but it was only after I stopped doing them that I started progressing farther. SMC -> UD -> CoC just seems like a better progression.

I think it's along the lines of what JellySlayer said. You gain nothing from doing those quests besides an increased risk of death at a lower level.

[Silfir]

They are absolutely a trap. Beginners coming in from other RPGs often solve sidequests on principle, for fear of missing crucial experience and loot. These two time-based sidequests however are optional challenges with rewards basically restricted to bragging rights. (You get a line in the after-game report.) The game is full of random, ever-replenishing content, so missing a sidequest will never create unwinnable states or anything.

Survival is your one, all-overtaking goal - and to some degree, Kranach and the little dog help drive that lesson home. That realization that nothing is worth it if it might kill you is perhaps one of the most valuable lessons for beginners to learn!

[Elcs]

I never used to visit the Puppy Cave but nowadays it's a regular staple for me early on.

After obtaining Healing from the usual Yrrigs save, I visit the Puppy Cave for experience (levels/shield skill levels) as well as herbs. There's also a half decent chance that an Altar will appear at a useful saccing spot for early piety and I also find that the experience/items/attributes/stats gained from such a venture puts me in good standing for tackling the UD, which we all know can be a right pain in the gluteus maximus.

About half the time, I'll likely die in there and don't often manage to rescue the puppy.

I'm torn. It's tough and dangerous but the rewards (if you're RNG lucky) are reasonably good. Maybe if the Ant Level was moved down to PC: 4 or something to make part of the cave usable.

[Stingray1]

I don't know, if you put it on PC:4 the PC probably won't be xp level 1,2. Reducing the chance of being killed by the ants. I also think SMC, PC, Kranach cause better player learning the way it currently is. Which is worth much more than gold or items. In fact, the whole early game difficulty is perfect. The endgame on the other hand is too easy.

P.S. - The UD is not an early game dungeon, as the SMC should have told you. I think, I only(had the courage to) ventured into it after a year of playing this game.

[Silfir]

The SMC tells one very little, and nothing about the UD at all. All the hints are about the SMC itself and the blanket you can find. The downstairs are just there.

I love starting games in the UD and I would recommend it to just about anyone, but don't mistake it as a recommendation that's supposed to help your character stay alive. The UD is a great place to practice your survival skills and your attention to detail because you will need both if you want to get through it. An UD run means you embrace the fact that you will probably die anyway and vow to learn as much as possible from it. (Which is a healthy attitude to have outside of the UD, too.)

[_Ln_]

Making Kranach leave a corpse is hardly easing, but it's a valid suggestion IMHO. The added line in the winning report only appears if you actually retrieve his body, which makes pursuing the quest rather silly if you want it for bragging reasons. Why not make his corpse appear 100% of the time, since it's only 300 gp difference (compared to 3000 for the quest itself it's nothing)?

[Stingray1]

@Sifir Sorry, what I meant is the power and spawn rate of monsters in the SMC, not the scrolls. 'Told' should maybe have been italicized.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

Making Kranach leave a corpse is hardly easing, but it's a valid suggestion IMHO. The added line in the winning report only appears if you actually retrieve his body, which makes pursuing the quest rather silly if you want it for bragging reasons. Why not make his corpse appear 100% of the time, since it's only 300 gp difference (compared to 3000 for the quest itself it's nothing)?

Wow, it's been so long since the last time I did that quest that I didn't even remember that he didn't always leave a corpse.

Yes, I think the logical thing is that he always leaves one, like the chaos bosses.