Mackey wrote:
Is there something about the samurai that makes them particularly vulnerable to being stoned as compared to the other classes? Once again mine got dropped like a sack of hammers, when none of my other characters have ever been hit -- much less killed -- by gorgons and the like.
No, except for the fact that they generally have pretty high AC (until the get to high levels) since they can only wear cloaks. Note that I NEVER allow my Samurai to go head to head with stoners or drainers. It is just to risky.
Mackey wrote:Also curious about levelling in general. Are there outside factors that affects the level-up probability other than character level, dungeon level and monster level? Does the size of the party have an effect? Average level of the party? Age of the character? Are there items that increase the probability?
No, the probability of leveling is based solely on the difference in your and the monster's levels and the level of the dungeon.
Mackey wrote:And last question, is there a bias that improves your level-up chances if you haven't played for awhile? It definitely seems like it. I can meander around D4/D5 for hours trying to get a couple levels on certain characters, and then on the other hand, things like this happen: Last night I begain playing after a day's absence, entered the dungeon and get two levels on a Level 30 Ranger by killing a single group of Dwarfs in D1. I do understand that "random" is subject to all manner of unlikely happenings, but that basic scenario just seems soooo improbable, and it's happened more than once, so it definitely makes me go "hmmmmm".
No, I believe that you are just experiencing what they call 'observer error'. Of course, I am not really sure how good the random number generator is. It sometimes seems to me that you get strings that are not random, but that is probably 'observer error' on my part as well.