lfgr and I have been working on a few proposals to include more content in BarbsPlus. We are looking for feedback about them, and we have decided that this thread is the best place for discussion in order to stay on topic and to allow discussion of other matters to continue normally in the ExtraModMod thread. Please check them out and let us know your opinions, possible corrections and so on. The idea is to include this new content gradually in ExtraModMod. Some of the equipment and perhaps some animals will be included in 0.5.0, while the rest would be some of the main features of 0.6.0.
Equipment
New equipment types are going to be introduced, in order to make lair exploration more eventful and interesting. The current proposal can be found in the following link:
https://bitbucket.org/Terkhen/barbsplus-contributions/wiki/Equipment
With regard to rarity, items tagged with UniqueItem have half of the chance of normal items to appear in lairs. With regard to wilderness values, numbers close to 0 are only used in tiles close to starting points, while in most cases tiles with 75+ will only be present on unsettled continents or islands.
You can check our discussion about the proposal in the following issue in the tracker:
https://bitbucket.org/lfgr/barbsplus/issue/17/rewards-equipment
Animals
The biggest reason to include new animal types is that currently some terrain/feature combinations do not have nearly any variety. The other reason is improving replayability and adding some variety to the rewards that can be obtained from animals. This means that our intention isn't to flood the world with animals, or to make the game more difficult. Their numbers would still be the same, but travelling to different parts of the world would allow to find different species and would yield different rewards.
In order to understand how animals would spawn, you can check the following page to find details on the tier system implemented on BarbsPlus. As mentioned earlier in the Equipment section, high wilderness values are meant to be very rare.
https://bitbucket.org/lfgr/barbsplus/wiki/Dev_-_SpawnPrereqInfos
The actual proposal is detailed in the following wiki page:
https://bitbucket.org/Terkhen/barbsplus-contributions/wiki/Animals
This page contains a lot of information about both the current situation and the proposed one. The terrain/tier/animal table shows very clearly the current situation in ExtraModMod, and how things will be with the new proposal.
https://bitbucket.org/lfgr/barbsplus/wiki/Animals
This is the issue in the BarbsPlus tracker in which you can check the original discussion:
https://bitbucket.org/lfgr/barbsplus/issue/102/missing-spawninfos-on-certain-terrains
Barbarian spawns
The goal of this proposal is adding more variety to both random barbarian spawns, and to spawns that appear as a lair result. The new creatures and spawns do not intend to shadow existing ones, but to provide some change. Ideally, the new random barbarian spawns should not appear more than 20% of the time. What I said for animals holds true for most of this proposal; the intention is not to make the game more difficult. Having said that, there are some new and very rare spawns meant to appear in the late game and that would present some difficulty. The idea is to just give the player some very rare challenges coming from the wilderness, but they shouldn't be extremely difficult to deal with. These spawns also carry some kind of reward in some cases.
The proposal also indicates the plan for Illians, their rituals and Winter barbarians. That part won't be implemented until the content in BarbsPlus is more stabilized and the multiple barbarian factions modcomp (MultiBarb) is included.
The proposal can be found here:
https://bitbucket.org/Terkhen/barbsplus-contributions/wiki/Units
You can check the original discussion here:
https://bitbucket.org/lfgr/barbsplus/issue/15/new-barbarian-units
Lair exploration texts
Last but not least, we are trying to have an unique description text for all lair exploration results and I've been writing a lot of new text strings both for the existing results and for new ones. I'm not a native speaker, so I would like to have them reviewed so my mistakes can be pointed out, and I'm also interested on any possible improvements (literature isn't exactly my forte). There are also some missing texts for which suggestions are welcome, marked with ???
Azer boss (Spawn): You stumble upon a powerful and aggressive fire spirit.
Balor boss (Spawn): You trigger an ancient summoning circle by mistake, unleashing a powerful demon upon Erebus.
Banshee boss (Spawn): Your reckless ramblings awaken a malevolent elven ghost.
Basilisk (Spawn): Your explorations lead you to a chamber that promises big treasures. Sadly, you stumble upon the chamber's ancient guardian first.
Chort swarm (Spawn): As you go deeper in the lair, what you thought to be a dark ceiling seems to come into life as a swarm of infernal vermin thirsty for blood.
Cornugon boss (Spawn): A demonic creature has been using the lair as its hunting grounds. Your presence provides it with a more challenging prey.
Cornugon Champion boss (Spawn): Same as cornugon boss.
Death Knight boss (Spawn): You have the misfortune of crossing your path with a death knight.
Eidolon boss (Spawn): The lair was being used as a camping site by a cohort of demonic warriors.
Flesh golem (Spawn): While exploring you find a huge obsidian door with engraved incriptions on it. Upon closer inspection, these scribblings appear to be arcane warnings written in ancient Patrian. Soon after realizing this you notice that the seal on the door has been torn apart and that an ancient eldritch horror is starting to wake up in the room behind it.
Gargoyle boss (Spawn): You find a room with a statue and several chairs, desks and cupboards. Suddenly the eyes of the statue flash in a red shine, and the furniture begins to move.
Kraken boss (Spawn): A mass of huge, tangled tentacles emerges from the water, seeking to destroy everything in their path.
Lich boss (Spawn): An undead creature wielding great arcane power intends to prevent you from intruding into its lair.
Manticore boss (Spawn): Your trail has been tracked by a hungry Manticore.
Minotaur boss (Spawn): You manage to escape from a maze-like section of the lair, but a minotaur and its servants come from inside it to pursue you.
Myconid boss (Spawn): While exploring the depths of the lair, you notice that one of its corridors intersects with a recently dug passage in the stone that leads deeper into earth. From the darkness, a weird fungal creature and a cohort of seemingly insane dwarves emerge.
Ogre boss (Spawn): A mighty ogre is using the lair as its hideout. It does not seem to have intruders in high regard.
Ogre Warchief boss (Spawn): Same as ogre boss.
Orc axeman boss (Spawn): A group of marauding orcs attack you.
Revenant (Spawn): Your explorations unearth a revenant that seeks eternal vengeance against the living.
Satyr boss (Spawn): The lair is guarded by a group of defenders of the forest, prepared to repel your intrusion.
Stygian Guard boss (Spawn): A silent horror rises from the dark depths.
Troll Chief boss (Spawn): While you are preparing to explore the lair, a troll chief and its underlings ambush you.
Vampire boss (Spawn): Your presence attracts the attention of a vampire who has been hiding in the lair for a long time. The creature intends to unleash the frustration of centuries of anger and famine upon you.
Werewolf boss (Spawn): Your expedition is halted by the attack of a pack of frenzied werewolves.
Wraith boss (Spawn): A hateful wraith emerges from the lair.
Zombie group (Spawn): Mindless zombies emerge from the lair in great numbers.
Council of Esus (Religion): Deep in the lair you enter in an ancient shrine which seems to be dedicated to the god of Deceit. What you believe to find inside it changes your way of viewing reality forever.
Bless (Promotion): The forces of Good bless you.
Burning Blood (Promotion): A dark power influences you, granting you unholy strength and unquenchable bloodthirst.
Courage (Promotion): The dangers faced in the lair have strengthened your resolve.
Prophecy Mark (Promotion): You find nothing more than a single room with a weird sign daubed on the wall, but after you left you can't banish the uncomfortable feeling of a burden forced upon you.
Remove Crazed (Promotion): Suddenly, the veil is raised. Your thoughts swirl in their violent dance a last time, then calm. You look around, puzzled, but enjoying the unfamiliar feeling of tranquillity.
Valor (Promotion): Your courage is rewarded with an indomitable will.
Shade (Prisoner): You find a prisoner trapped within the lair, a Shade who agrees to join you if you release him.
Amulet of Life (Equipment): You discover an amulet which can keep its wearer's body and soul in the world of the living.
Amulet of the Seas (Equipment): In the middle of a pool of dark waters, you find an amulet floating miraculously on the surface.
Ancient Bow (Equipment): You uncover a weapon from ages past, the Ancient Bow.
Book of Strategy (Equipment): The book from ages past that you find in the lair contains lost techniques and knowledge.
Compelling Jewel (Equipment): In the depths of the lair lie a group of corpses kneeling in front of a throne. Sitting on the throne, another long-dead body is holding a magic jewel.
Conjurer's Wand (Equipment): This featureless wand allows it wielder to strengthen the link with any creatures he summons.
Crystal rod (Equipment): You discover a Crystal Rod, which can be used to unleash the power of the sun upon your enemies.
Flaming Sword (Equipment): A sudden increase in temperature makes you follow a corridor that would have been otherwise overlooked. At the end of it you find an everburning sword.
Frost Spear (Equipment): There is a lone icicle hanging from above in one of the lair rooms. After breaking up the ice you find a spear pinned against the ceiling.
Gloves of Stone (Equipment): You find a pair of magical gloves.
Haste Potion (Equipment): You find a potion that will temporarily grant great speed to those who imbibe it.
Hauberk of Abjuration (Equipment): You find a suit of armor with many protective enchantments placed upon it, the Hauberk of Abjuration.
Healing Potion (Equipment): This potion, created mostly from troll blood, allows to recover from nearly any illness.
Heart Amulet (Equipment): Hidden under a pile of rubble, you find a Heart Amulet.
Holy Water (Equipment): Next to the remains of a monk, you find some vials of holy water.
Krakenfang (Equipment): ???
Menacing Helm (Equipment): Overcoming a powerful desire to flee, you manage to retrieve a Menacing Helm from the lair.
Obsidian Spear (Equipment): You adquire an extremely heavy and durable spear found in one of the darkest corridors of the lair.
Patrian Artifact (Equipment): You find an arcane relic from the times of ancient Patria.
Poison Bow (Equipment): Following a dark passage you find a bow which makes its ammunition dangerously poisonous after firing it.
Portal Scroll (Equipment): You find a magic scroll which promises to set you free if you say the right words.
Radiant Amulet (Equipment): After nearly becoming lost forever in the dark shadows of the lair, you find a magic amulet that allows you to discern the true path to follow.
Ring of Striking (Equipment): You find a magical item that empowers any blows made by its wielder.
Staff of Elements (Equipment): Inside what appears to be the tomb of a mage, you find an arcane staff. Besides that, the tomb is empty.
Strength Potion (Equipment): This potion is supposed to grant physical might to whoever chooses to drink it.
Swift Boots (Equipment): ???
Traveller's Cloak (Equipment): The inscription in this cloak promises its wearer the ability to move fast across the wild lands.
Wand of Foams (Equipment): ???
Wand of Life (Equipment): ???
Wyrmscale Armor (Equipment): A single intact item lies in a cache of equipment rotten and corroded ages ago. This suit of armor appears to be made of authentic dragon scales.
Wyrmslayer (Equipment): You find an ancient weapon from the Age of Dragons, a Wyrmslayer.