Weapon Modding System

As an alternative to the weapon crafting system, another possibility is that all the picked up items are modifications to a base weapon. The player can pick up up to 3 modifications that grant different stacking properties to the base attack. The player may pick up 3 different modifications to give 3 different properties to the attack, or multiples of the same modification for an amplified effect.

Mods will add properties such as:
-rate of fire
-explosion radius
-multiple parallel projectiles
-damage over time (multiple mods extend duration)(damage stacks from multiple hits)
-projectile speed
-slow target (multiple mods raise the magnitude of slow)(slow refreshes on consecutive hits, but magnitude does not stack)
-knock back
-homing (multiple mods improve homing ability)
-priority over enemy projectiles

The player picks up a mod by standing on it and pressing a button. Once picked up, the mod's icon is added to the end of the player's list of mods (shown on the HUD). If the mod list is full when the player picks up a new mod (all 3 slots are filled) then the 1st mod on the list is dropped on the ground, the remaining mods are moved up on the list, and the new mod is added to the last (3rd) slot. The dropped mod is placed in the exact same location as the mod that was just picked up. The player can remain standing on the spot and tapping the pick up button until the undesired mod is the one left on the ground.

Mods spawn periodically on the map and can also be dropped there by players who swap mods. Any mod on the map will remain there for a duration, but will disappear if not picked up for a time. When a player drops a mod, the mod exists for a duration similar to as if it had just been spawned on the map. Mods will not spawn on the map in the same location where another mod currently exists (to prevent confusion about what the player can pick up).

Upon death, the player's mods are all destroyed. Players do not drop any mods on the map when they die.

This modification system allows players the freedom to customize their own weapon (as best they can, given what mods are available on the map). Rather than collect abstract crafting resources that are spent to create weapons, players can see how each mod type directly alters their weapon. This becomes similar to Bomberman's power up system, but with a maximum number of power ups that can be held at one time to prevent any one player from becoming too dominant. While the player is unable to amass a large collection of resources, the mods they collect are more meaningful and obviously functional. Since the mods a player wants may not always appear when desired, and because the player loses the mods upon death, players will often be looking for all the mods to create the final weapon they want (or whatever the next most preferred mods are, given what's available).