Ironmen + Elitists! Proposed IronSnob Rules.
In the Variants section of Realms Beyond Diablo it mentions that the overlapping of two or more Variant types is possible. With some rules modifications -- as proposed below -- one could merge the Elitist variant with Ironman gameplay. Please peruse the proposed rules and comment as you see fit.

RULES REGARDING IRONSNOB GAMEPLAY (All standard rules regarding Ironman play are in effect, with the exception of the “birthday gifts” received by Snobs at intervals. Most Elitist rules are in effect, but there are several restrictions being proposed to balance gameplay.)

1.) Every “birthday gift”, including the very first one at character level 1, is considered “wrapped”; i.e., un-identified. To use the gift in identified form will require that an id scroll be burned -- either through purchase of an id scroll from Adria at game start, or by finding an id scroll in the dungeon itself. If the gift was presented in already ided form, then either you may not use the gift OR you may burn an id scroll and then use it once an id scroll has been obtained through legitimate means. (Reasoning: hey, it’s a birthday gift! It’s wrapped! You aren’t supposed to know what it is until you “unwrap”/ID it!) Note: a birthday gift does not HAVE to be ided -- if you wish to use an unidentified Gott or CC or the like, you may.

2.) All birthday gifts are awarded in town. Although you may have your next birthday gift in your character’s inventory preparatory to his leveling up (because you don’t want your warrior to have to leave his first game and lose his blocking bonus), you cannot simply “pull it out of your backpack” and ready it in the middle of a combat, even if you did in fact level up to the appropriate birthday. Rather, after a character levels and is eligible to receive a gift, he/she must in reasonable haste return to town to receive the gift. This means that the conflict he/she is in may be concluded, but at that point the character must return to town to receive the next gift. Failure to do so means forfeiture of that birthday gift. (Reasoning: increasing the challenge of gameplay. The longer you stay in the dungeon, the greater the chance of finding a “natural” unique -- thus heavily influencing your choice of birthday gift. For example, your just-turned-ten rogue might want to stay in the dungeon looking to see if a Flamedart bow will drop, that way your birthday gift could be a RoE instead, or vice-versa! Sorry; once you lup, you HAVE to return to town to IMMEDIATELY get your next gift. You cannot simply put off your birthday celebration!)

3.) The qlevel of all birthday gifts will be clevel +2 OR LESS for each birthday; qlevels of uniques can be found in Jarulf’s Guide. (Reasoning: gameplay balance. The reason the variant Elite was created was to make gameplay MORE challenging. There are too many “gifts” that could unbalance play and make it LESS challenging if given too soon. Having the Snob accept a gift that is qlevel equal to or less than their clevel +2 restores that game balance and adds to the challenge. Plus, it merely gives a Unique gift that is the same level as what that character could purchase if he visited Griswold -- not in Ironman, of course, but in a regular game!)

4.) There is no such thing as a “delayed” birthday gift. For example, if a character chooses to stay in
the dungeon from clevel 1 to 10, when they emerge in town they do NOT get to choose TWO qlevel 12 or less items, since they might claim they have TWO birthday gifts coming to them. You celebrate birthdays -- and are given the appropriate gifts -- at the times they happen. (Reasoning: again, game balance and challenge of play. If a character tries to “save up” birthday gifts, they’ll end up with too many “high end” uniques. This would decrease the challenge of play. It would also be contrary to rule #2 as started above, anyway.)

5.) No “perfect” amulet birthday gifts will be awarded before a character reaches clevel 30 -- at that point, potentially EVERY other slot in an Elitist’s wardrobe is filled with a unique item, so the clevel 30 birthday gift is a very special one. (Reasoning: again, challenge of gameplay. A “perfect” gold or Heavens ammy would really throw game balance out of whack early on. The idea is that this Variant be MORE, not LESS challenging than the normal game play.) By this rule, then, no IronSnob will ever receive an ammy as a birthday gift in either a Normal or Nightmare Ironman run as they won’t reach clevel 30 in these games. That said, HOWEVER, if an ammy dropped in the dungeon (via passive -- like chest or barrel -- or active -- via a foe) gets identified by means of a Glimmering Shrine/Cauldron or ID scroll and ends up being perfect, then the Ironsnob MAY equip it! Hey, it was a drop in the game itself, so it won’t unbalance things; plus it will be extremely rare anyway.

6.) There will be no “trading” of birthday gifts between players. For example, if both characters
started with a CC, and only the rogue identified hers, then the warrior’s un-ided CC would act just like a regular mace in the game while the rogue’s higher natural Dex would offset the -5 Dex inherent in the identified CC. At the time the Butcher is to be dispatched, the rogue and warrior CANNOT decide to “trade” gifts, even though these two CC’s are technically the “same” -- because the identified CC in the warrior’s hands NOW would do +200% damage versus the Butcher since he is a demon. Even if the warrior IDs his CC the gifts still cannot be exchanged -- probably the warrior’s CC has much less durability than that of the rogue due to extra use. Also, there will be no “borrowing” of birthday gifts -- if the rogue receives an RoE for her tenth birthday, she cannot “loan” it the warrior to use, nor simply “give” it to him. Birthday gifts have too much sentimental value to be lending them out to every passerby! (Reasoning: again, challenging gameplay. For example, if the rogue sits in the background shooting arrows, then technically she could give every other birthday gift she receives to the warrior, buffing his character and unbalancing the game.)

7.) There will be no “borrowing” of birthday gifts, either in the dungeon or while in town! This means that even if one character received a Wizardspike as a birthday gift, he/she could NOT loan it to another team member so that he/she could read a book or ready an item. Again, the birthday gifts have too much sentimental value to loan out! (Reasoning: again, maintaining challenging gameplay. By having one player select birthday gifts with the intention of letting the OTHER player use/ borrow the gift leads to an imbalance in that character and in the game.) Exception: a warrior can “borrow” a teammate’s item in order to exercise his talent of “repair weapons”; he just may not also use/ ready the item. Note: this rule does not apply to Unique items found in the actual game, which
are not owned by a single player per se and are not birthday gifts, just dungeon finds.

8.) Although standard Ironman teams will often avoid the Butcher and Leo and go deeper into the dungeon and return to tackle these foes when party members are beefier, no Snob would even consider such a thing! All IronSnob teams will face the Butcher and Leo before venturing further into the dungeon. All chests and barrels and corpses must be activated also; it’s just the Snobbish thing to do! Finally, even if an ambush shows on a level, the Snob team will NOT “skip a level” and go deeper into the dungeon and “backtrack” to the prior level. What’s the point in being a Snob (and an IronSnob, at that!) if you do all the things everyone else does? And don’t all these unique gifts make you “better” than your peers, thus worthy of your Snobhood? Well, here’s one sure way to prove it! (Reasoning: challenging gameplay and Elitist role-playing.) Although barrels, chests, racks, and corpses must be dealt with as each level is completed, Shrine use may be delayed until the team feels the need to use it (read: Eldritch, Glimmering, Cryptic, etc.).

9.) Birthday gifts to an IronSnob mage may include book(s) rather than unique items as long as the “qlevel = clevel +2 or less” rule is followed. This way a mage can eventually be assured of that Elemental or Mana Shield or Stone Curse book, whether one is found in the dungeon or not! Again, consult Jarulf’s Guide to find book qlevels.

10.) When an IronSnob dies, the surviving partner WILL NOT ready any of the dead Snob’s birthday gifts, violating their integrity. No Snob would ever stoop that low! Of course, they may pick up the items and take them to town preparatory to a “TP-res” of the dead Snob -- they just will not ready/ use the items. (Extention of rules 6 & 7.)

Anyone else see any problems that may arise and weren’t addressed here? Anyone have a beef with any particular rule expressed here? Presently they are only guidelines; your input is needed!

Nits/ Comments/ Feedback/ Questions/ Observations/ Notes welcome.

Taoni_the_Fell

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