I think we can all agree for the most part that Minotaurs are one trick ponies. Especially the mino zerks. The lag on charge is unreal for casters considering a zerk is dual wielding two, two-handed axes. If you flee it opens yourself up for another charge, and if you stay he’s either going to rage, or try to charge again.
My suggestion is four parted:
Give them a normal charge like every other combo that can charge.
Remove the axe buff, and go with favoured weapons (When you choose your starting weapon)
Give them a skill called “Gore” Which would be a combat opener like charge, same amount of lag with a much longer cool down. Gore will act like impale, pushing people out of the room OR lift them in the air and slash/smash with your selected weapons 50/50 chance.
Open then up to Evil alignment, Allow then to then be rangers/druids Clerics/Shaman... and monks.
There is like a gazillion far worse balance race/class issues, to even bother to look into something, that has already been gimped actually and is easily counterable.
I do agree that many other things do need attention. I've always loved minotaurs and would like to see them a bit more versatile in what they can do, than just the charge gimmick.
Also, it's not as easy as just "attack first". In theory that's a great idea! However if any of my minos wanted to charge you, it would happen.
With Gunkus I was able to charge a mage and remove 3-4 of their turns before they could even cast a spell. 3-4 turns vs a zerk dual wielding axes against a mage is nearly death before you can even get a spell off. I'm not saying zerks are unkillable, all I'm saying is I'd like to see them branch out from what they currently are.
Same goes for any other skill in the game. If someone wants to do something to you, hes gonna sit and spam the shit out of it waiting for you. I could agree that i would love to see them open up to more classes, but not sure any other class actually fits a mino stereotype.
Minotaur are fine where they are, in my honest opinion. Not every combo in the game needs to be flashy or complex.
Losing benefits to charge would sacrifice their identities. A bull-man without an enhanced charge? May as well tie a bell around its neck and bring it to a grazing field.
Not fond of the weapon based proposal either. Making it only axes further gives them some identity. It also gives them a specific edge that encourages the use of a single weapon type. Letting them choose the weapon is a substantial buff that they really do not need.
Giving them the gore skill would just magnify the problem you mentioned before. Impale and charge are different skills, so they could charge/flee, return, gore, and have 4 rounds of lag and a room movement. So let's say it gets coded so that you cannot gore against anyone with a charge timer, and can't charge against anyone with a gore timer. You end up having to pick one or the other. Not ideal. Makes one useless. So let's say we just put the impale effect on their charge. Substantial buff on a race that really doesn't need to be any stronger, as a giant size, any-weapon charger with no vulns.
Their race are stonecutters. Having problems with the trolls that go to stone in the day. That is why dwarves hate trolls and opposite.
Don't look at the movies that dwarves saying "Give me my axe". Mace is their common weapon.
"... carrying a dwarfish axe. It was a mining axe, with a pick point on one side, in order to go prospecting, and a real axe blade on the other, in case anyone tried to stop you."
In Germanic mythology, a dwarf is a human-shaped entity that dwells in mountains and in the earth, and is variously associated with wisdom, smithing, mining, and crafting. Dwarfs are sometimes described as short and ugly, although some scholars have questioned whether this is a later development stemming from comical portrayals of the beings.[1] Dwarfs continue to be depicted in modern popular culture in a variety of media. Dwarfs are commonly depicted with beards.
There are a lot of movies showing them as axe dwellers, which is not exactly true.
As I've said dwarves are miners, crafters and smithers. Yes, they use pick axe for mining, and hammers for crafting. Usually according to all information they are using both axes and hammers.
However I've read before time that trolls and dwarves hates each other very much, because when they turn into stone during the day dwarves go and destroy the stones with their hammers. So, I was thinking it is more common weapon, however there are a lot of movies and stories that actually trying to change that.
In Germanic mythology, a dwarf is a human-shaped entity that dwells in mountains and in the earth, and is variously associated with wisdom, smithing, mining, and crafting. Dwarfs are sometimes described as short and ugly, although some scholars have questioned whether this is a later development stemming from comical portrayals of the beings.[1] Dwarfs continue to be depicted in modern popular culture in a variety of media. Dwarfs are commonly depicted with beards.
There are a lot of movies showing them as axe dwellers, which is not exactly true.
As I've said dwarves are miners, crafters and smithers. Yes, they use pick axe for mining, and hammers for crafting. Usually according to all information they are using both axes and hammers.
However I've read before time that trolls and dwarves hates each other very much, because when they turn into stone during the day dwarves go and destroy the stones with their hammers. So, I was thinking it is more common weapon, however there are a lot of movies and stories that actually trying to change that.
Oh yes, in almost every setting, they're also viewed as smiths and masons. The tool of the craftsman would be hammers. Absolutely. I don't think anyone will disagree there.