Question

        int scalar = creature is SpecialCreature ? (creature.IsAwesome ? 700 : 500) : (creature is NotSoNormalCreature ? 
            (creature.IsAwesome ? (creature is IGreatCreature ? 450 : 280) : 240) : 
            (creature.IsAwesome ? (creature is IGreatCreature ? 300 : 200) : 160));

how should I write that code to make it more readable?

I thought of just building the ifs, but then I thought how about making some kind of “ConditionFactory”? Would that make any sense, or is it just too intricate for such a simple task?

int scalar;

if (creature is SpecialCreature)
{
    scalar = creature.IsAwesome ? 700 : 500;
}
else if (creature is NotSoNormalCreature)
{
    if (creature.IsAwesome)
    {
        scalar = creature is IGreatCreature ? 450 : 280;
    }
    else
    {
        scalar = 240;
    }
}
else
{
    if (creature.IsAwesome)
    {
        scalar = creature is IGreatCreature ? 300 : 200;
    }
    else
    {
        scalar = 160;
    }
}

Answer 1

Not sure entirely what you’re going for, but since you are using a base type inheritance chain, you might elect to do something like

interface ICreature
{
    bool IsAwesome { get; set; }
    int GetScalar();
}

abstract class Creature : ICreature
{
    public bool IsAwesome { get; set; }
    public virtual int GetScalar()
    {
        return 160;
    }
}

class SpecialCreature : Creature
{
    public override int GetScalar()
    {
        return this.IsAwesome ? 700 : 500;
    }
}

class NotSoNormalCreature : Creature
{
    public override int GetScalar()
    {
        return this.IsAwesome ? 450 : 280;
    }
}

// more ICreatures...

Which would allow you to have the creature implement its own logic for determining the scalar, and your consuming code can lose the complication of caring.

ICreature creature = GetCreatureFromSomewhere();
int scalar = creature.GetScalar();