History VideoGame / CavesOfQud

* PaintTheTownRed: Fighting causes characters bleed, and the blood from creatures remains on the floor and paints nearby objects and creatures. If you kill many enemies with lengthy melee combat, you will see the environment becomes red with blood from you and the slain enemies.

** Like in most rougelikes, dying means you [[{{Permadeath}} lose your character]] and have to restart the game... unless you pick the option in character creation to disable permadeath. In that case you get unlimited retries using settlements as checkpoints.

* TheCaligula: The procedurally generated Sultans tend to be... ''eccentric''. They all have themes, obsessions that run through their lives, and often slaughter cities and devastate faction settlements for reasons related to that obsession.
** Even [[MessianicArchetype Resheph]] wasn't immune to this: he always kept some stardust on his person after finding some in the rust wells, and he was crowned sultan of Qud after invading Omonporch... acting upon a ban against ''the worship of the stars''. Though, considering that it was evidently "star beings" who cursed Qud by reason of the acts of the elder sultans, he may have had a point...
** Though, considering the {{Future Imperfect}} nature of [[spoiler: the engravings made based upon ''your'' memories]], the actual extremity of the sultans may not be as clear as it seems.

* EldritchAbomination: Many, but notable among them is Ptoh, the Spacefolder, who originates from a "darkling star," can fold space with his mind and did something so awful that the Coven decided to imprison him on Qud.

* EnergyBow: The Electrobow. Highly useful early on due to its high penetration, especially if you have solar or fidget cells. Other energy weapons will supplant it later, however.

* EverythingBreaks: You can destroy the walls, furniture, trees, and most everything else in Qud if you have a weapon that can penetrate their toughness. In fact, one of the best uses of the burrowing claws mutation is ''not'' combat, but simply to dig around locked doors that you don't have a keycard for. Mutants who overuse the Pyrokinesis mutation in combination with Temporal Fugue (cloning yourself) or high-level Mass Mind (rapidly resetting its cooldown) can take this a step further by discovering that the game's temperature system means that repeated applications of searing fire can eventually ''burn stone'', melting it with such heat that it can rapidly spread and destroy the entire level.

* AntiMagic: Referred to as being "astrally burdened"; the most common source of it is normality gas, though others exist. Notably, it also works against [[ClarkesThirdLaw particularly spacetime-defying technologies]].
* AnyoneCanDie: Most of the named townspeople are much tougher than a starter character... but still mortal.

* BonusBoss:
** The lairs of legendary beasts can pop up randomly on the world map, and taking them on is optional.
** [[spoiler:In Bethesda Susa, you can meet Saad Amus The Sky-Bear, a HumanPopsicle. If you wake him (or he gets woken up by, say, the insane rocket-wielding enemy in the same room), he's an outrageously tough boss fight, but successfully beating him will let you claim his sword and jetpack, two of the best items in the game.]]
** Oboroqoru, the Ape God of Kyakukya, can be found in a lair somewhere near that village; he's outrageously powerful, but if you beat him, you can claim the Fist of the Ape God, an InfinityPlusOneSword for anyone who uses clubs and is strong enough to carry it.
** While not unique, Leering Stalkers and especially Chrome Pyramids are stronger than almost any enemy in the game, never need to be fought as part of any quest, and will only be encountered by players exploring far, far deeper into the caves than they ever (currently) need to go or wandering around the [[ShmuckBait Deathlands]].

* RandomEncounter: The world map throws this trope at you on steroids. You won't encounter random monsters when traveling overland -- no, you'll ''get lost'', forcing you to explore one monster-infested zone after another until you finally regain your bearings and are allowed to return to the world map. To be fair, world map random encounters can also be ''good'' things, like [[IntrepidMerchant wandering merchants]], [[BonusDungeon ruins with loot]], or [[BonusBoss legendary monster]] lairs.

* ApocalypseCult: The Glow-Wights are adorers of the Girsh, the most destructive creatures to come from the plagues of the Gyre. They congregate around sources of Qud's horrific diseases, believing that their body-destroying effects are the work of the gods, and the highest-ranking among them roam the Moon Stair in search of the (currently-unimplemented) Girsh Nephilim.

* ForceField: Two mutations involve force fields - one generates a protective bubble around you, while the other simply allows you to make a force field wall anywhere in view. Force field bracelets also exist.

* StarScraper: The Spindle, so large it takes up multiple grid spaces on the world map. Naturally, the end game is based around opening and climbing it.

* BeastFolk:
** Many residents of Qud. Dromads and snapjaws are the ones players will encounter most frequently, but albino apes and (also albino) mutant quilled bears are also prominent.
** Players who invest heavily in physical mutations can end with a character like this.

* FamousFamousFictional: The in-game book ''On the Origins and Nature of the Dark Calculus'' lists advancements made by mathematicians such as "Russel, Godel, Eisencruft, Atufu, Wheatgrass, and System Star", who gave us advancements like "undecidability, pointed regularism, and abyssalism."

* LordBritishPostulate: A few of the Barathrumites are invulnerable due to their status as irreplaceable quest figures (coupled with the fact that [[spoiler:a major boss fight takes place in their headquarters, meaning they could easily die by accident otherwise.]]) Naturally, players have found ways to kill them anyway.

** The description for the hologram bracelet ("You think this is the real =name=? It is.") is a shout-out to ''[[Film/TotalRecall1990 Total Recall]]''.

* AIIsACrapshoot: Surprisingly averted... [[BossInMooksClothing mostly]]. The robots in this game just do what their programming tells them to do, and the majority of them (the [[SentryGun turrets]]) will shut down without complaint if shown the proper security card. You can even [[TheTurretMaster create your own turrets]], and they won't backstab you. In fact, the AI's you chat with in the main quest are rather affable, though one's a LiteralGenie.
** With all that being said, you're an unknown quantity to most pre-existing robots, so most of them won't like you. Your best chance at changing that is getting in the good graces of the [[TheFairFolk Naphtaali tribe]], and then sharing oil with their [[MachineWorship chrome idols]].

* ChameleonCamouflage: Giant chameleons, naturally. They change their color scheme to match adjacent tiles.

* ContractualBossImmunity: Averted; every boss in the game is vulnerable to the Decapitation skill which provides a very low chance of instant death on hit (and a higher chance when using the Dismember skill). Of course, it doesn't matter for creatures with multiple heads (though they'll still bleed a lot) or that don't need a head to survive.

* WalletOfHolding: Averted. The common currency of Qud is fresh water, and every dram counts against your weight limit. Liquid water is really heavy, so players are encouraged to trade for valuable gems and artifacts to reduce how much they have to carry. Even if you find a spring of fresh water, you need enough empty waterskins to hold it all.

* BazaarOfTheBizarre: The Six Day Stilt, being a holy site for Qud's most prominent religion, is surrounded by tents and merchants of all shapes and sizes. It's the largest collection of shops in the game, and the only place guaranteed to sell a Spray Bottle, an artifact essential for curing fungal infections. The inhabitants are varied as well, including things like [[RockMonster Bouldermensch]] and Mimics as pilgrims looking to pray and trade.
* BanditMook: The second floor of the Tomb of the Eaters has strip flies, robots who will steal items from you [[ForTheEvulz just to drop them down chutes to the first floor]]. The setting and their name suggest that they're meant to strip bodies slated for cremation; their behavior suggests that they're just [[AIIsACrapshoot jerks]].

* AnIcePerson: Mutations like the Cryokinesis or Freezing Hands allow characters to attack with ice.

* GenderNeutralWriting: Like most roguelikes, no references of any kind are ever made to your character's gender.