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| Thread: ICTC: The Asylum |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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Cheshire_Cat
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 08, 2006 10:16 PM |
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ICTC: The Asylum
An introduction.: I have been a lurker here for about a month, reading posts, and seeing what people have to say about the upcoming game. My interest in the contest was piqued when I saw the possibility of submitting on here (I do not speak russian), and so I am jumping at the chance. A question though, is there a place we can upload images to? I have sketches for the units since I go to art school, and wanted to include them. Without further ado, here is the Asylum.
Asylum
Motto:
“Falling lets you see life from a different perspective, the right one.”
Facts and Traits:
Also Known As: Witches and Warlocks
Associated colors: Reptile Green, Mud Brown
Worship: Malassa, the Dragon of Darkness, keeper of deadly secrets.
Core philosophy: “We made our fall from grace at an earlier time”
Country/Kingdom: Skyggerike
Home terrain: Dungeon
Capital city:Mørkesjakler
Key symbols: medusa mask, manticore symbol
Description: During the experimentation years (early 500 YSD), their was a group of witches and warlocks who, while they did not delve into the realm of necromancy, had a taste for power that drove them deep underground. Focusing on some of the more grotesque creatures already found in the darkness, as well as using their new found Frankensteinien skills to alter creatures and themselves, these powerful sorceresses and their thralls were cast out, and have since created a society deep under the surface.
They have a non-aggression pact with the Dark Elves, and while it is known they worship the same dragon, they do not share in their religious practices. Being a group of extreme intelligence, and worshipping knowledge in general, they go about their worship more as a type of study, in which they try and learn everything possible. It is said that you can find at least 20 of their men in every village of reasonable size or greater,, and more in the cities.
Being on peace terms with the dungeon and believed to be at peace with the necropolis, whose similar search for knowledge and power binds their interests, the asylum is wary of all other above ground dwellings, especially the Haven and the Academy. The Academy is outright hated, they believe that they are too scared to go down all paths to knowledge, and are thus weeaklings. The Asylum views themselves to be similar to the Sylvan, but they just diverged in a different path.
While the people sent down to the towns rarely come back, it is uncertain whether that is because they join up with the sisters, or whether they meet their end.
A Summary: A group of exiled witches and warlocks, they delved deeper into the animating magics, creating the shambling mucks of their forces, siding with the denizens already living in the underground, they strengthened their ranks with the blind troglodytes and the beholders, a dull, but sentient race. Continuing with their experiments, they eventually changed even themselves into beings of power such as the medusae and spider queens. The Asylum has opnened its gates to all who wish to escape the above ground oppressors, and welcome ideas more than anything else.
Following more along the lines of the HoMMIII dungeon town, the looks and abilities have changed sufficiently to ensure it a new place in the factions, as well as enough change to keep it from being a repeat.
Quick Timeline
530 YSD.
A group of Witches and Warlocks move their experimentations further, creating the first medusa, who, before the process was the leader of a small faction of sorceress, Changing her Name to Gorgon, some of the realm started floating to her banner, with the hopes of being turned into something more than what they were.
533 YSD.
The High King's COurt and King Arniel of the Elves decide that Gorgon and her followers are a menace to the world. A Quick Witchtrials crusade ensues, but the followers of Gorgon, having felt the building tension, escape unharmed for the most part, into the catacombs of the underground.
570 YSD.
A Disfigured, blind minion enters the aboveground world, and sneaks into the kings chambers unnoticed, grasping the king and placing a hand over his mouth, it slides a piece of parchment onto his lap. As the gaurds burst in, the minion escapes. THe parchment declares the new Realm of Skyggerike, and demands recognition from the above ground world. An uneasy truce is set in place.
Units:
Level 1
Name:Troglodyte
Upgrade:Infernal Troglodyte
Role: Shock Troop
SA: Immune to Blind
SAU: 20% chance to pierce armor (lower defense by 3)
Similar to the HommIII version, stats will remain comparable, with the immunity to blindness still there. The infernal Troglodytes will also have a 20%chance to lower the defense of their target by 3. This is permanent for the battle, and can occur more than once to a single stack.
Level 2
Name: Harpy
Upgrade: Harpy Hag
Role: Quick Flyer
SA: Flight, No retaliation
SAU: Strike and return
Again, a throwback to the dungeon, these harpies will be almost the same, but they start with no retaliation, and gain the strike and return, making their abilities more cohesive and more usable without the upgrade. Stats again, will remain comparable.
Level 3
Name: Beholder
Upgrade: Evil Eye Role: Ranged Afflictor
SA: 10% chance to curse target, 10% chance to lower their defense by 3 (these % are separate, and multiple can occur in one strike, similar to the HoMMIII death knights abilities) All afflictions last three rounds.
SAU: gains a 10% chance to blind, and a 10% chance to cast weakness. (all these abilities can change, I just took afflictions from HoMMIII, i want them to just have a vast number of dehabilitating afflictions that occur randomly)
With the same name, and still filling the role of ranged attacker, the beholders are now given a stronger support role from the back. Having similar stats, with a high hp, they fear units now because of their lower damage and loss of abilities in close combat. But their massive afflictions can easily change the effectiveness of multiple stacks, giving a decisive advantage.
Level 4
Name: Animated Mud
Upgrade: Shambling Muck
Role: Tank/ranged defense
SA: Insubstantial(takes half damage from units), takes 140% damage from spells.
SAU:25% chance to use advanced slow on attack, lowers damage from spells to 130%.
A new unit to the faction, it represents the witches powers with life, as well as their new surroundings. While very very slow, they have high HP, and take low damage from units. Spells on the other hand, serve as a great problem. Good defense, while attack and damage are moderate. Very good at tying up stacks that threaten beholders and the medusa.
Level 5
Name: Medusa
Upgrade: Medusa Sorceress
Role: Ranged Spellcaster
SA: ranged beam has 10% chance to petrify, and a 20% chance in close combat.
SAU: no melee penalty, gains spellcasting with the spells hurl stones (im thinking a single target earth spell that deals damage, nothing special, could easily be changed to magic fist or something), Curse, and Petrify (has a % chance to work dependant on number of medusa and the numbering targeted stack, or just works outright but can only be used once a battle. Im thinking that sincec blind is auto, it won't be unfair, since dispel and cure can easily remedy the problem)
Another old dungeon favorite to be changed. With greatly changed appearances, as well as a slightly different role. They will be low on health, and average in speed, very offensive units. The spells give them variety, and another way of incapacitating stacks. While fragile, enemies will think twice about attacking them, the petrification is stronger at close range.
Level 6
Name: Manticore
Upgerade: Scorpicore
Role: Assault Flyer
SA: Flight
SAU: 20% chance to paralyze target on attack
They did a decent job in HoMMIII, so why make something totally new. My only change will be a slight increase in health and defense, seeing that the faction will have few units like them for sieges and so on, as well as the speed reduction of a couple of the levels, i felt it would be necessary to make them a slight bit tougher.
Level 7
Name: Spider Mother
Upgrade: Spider Queen
Role: Overwhelming Creature
SA: climb walls, 25%chance to web target on attack (web targets will retaliate for 75% damage, cannot move, but they do not lose their turns web dissipates after three rounds.
SAU: immunity to enemy spells level 1-2.
The final line of the witches, they have bred themselves with spiders, one of creatures they seem to relate with the most. With their spider bodies, they are able to climb walls and tie up units, while they did give up much of their magical power, some of their defenses are still in place, giving them slight immunity, while letting them still benefit from things such as haste and bless.
Overall Unit strategy:
The core of the Asylums force lies in their ability to incapacitate stacks. They have 3 fast stacks and four that are medium to slow, so they cannot rely on an all out offense. Two ranged units boost their ability to hang back, and the harpy hags will also be able to weaken the enemy slowly. Being good spellcasters, it would make a lot of sense for the Asylum to try and draw out the battle dealing with as few units at a time as possible, through the use of slow, blind,and the other units abilities. With the only truly offensive unit being the medusas and the manticores, and no unit with a very high damage, it is very important to take control of the field, and rely on abilities and not so much on brute strength.
Closing Words: I'm pretty happy with the team that I have created, partly because I loved the Du ngeon of old, and was sad to see it lose itself in V (even though I love the new one, or it looks sweet at least), and also because I feel that the design of the team is one that differs greatly from the other teams that have been included in the game. Most of my designs relate to HoMMIII, and not IV because I never played four and from what I hear, I did not miss out on alot.
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gwyndolium
Known Hero
Ancient citizen
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posted January 08, 2006 10:36 PM |
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You can upload on: photobucket
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~I came down from heavens, to bestow the people under me, with hope and knowledge~
-The angel of judgement, Gwyndolium.
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Oakwarrior
Famous Hero
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posted January 09, 2006 12:56 AM |
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Good to see a Dungeon town revived 
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Foonlegacy
Hired Hero
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posted January 09, 2006 02:52 AM |
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This almost has the exact creature list like the Dungeon in Heroes 3(one which I liked alot) except for the black dragons and minotaurs. Ubi should of scrapped that dark elves idea and left the Dungeon town as it was in Heroes 3. This town would be more fitting than the Dungeon already made for Heroes 5 and I most intriqued to see what you drew up.
Warlocks with Spiders, Dark Elves with Dragons~am I the only one seeing this mix up here???
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Cheshire_Cat
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 09, 2006 03:18 AM |
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Heh, Foon, I agree that the mixup is odd. I really really liked the Dungeons town of HoMMIII which is why I made this new town, in Homage. At the same time though, I realized the limitations of what I could do, which is why I tried to put more emphasis on the witches, and not as much on the warlocks, making the medusae and spider queens make more sense. Also, the Spider queen falls in line with the strategy better, but it is quite sad to see the black dragon and the warlock part ways. Thanks for the input, I really hope other people will be able to leave helpful suggestions.
On a side note, my ideas for heroes consist of Warlock being the might, and Witch being the magic (if heroe structure is the same as HoMMIII. the difference in the two is that the warlock will focus on power and attack, while the witch focuses on defense and knowledge. So the heroes are both decent at magic, and at combat. Its a different twist, But I think it will be interesting. As for team bonuses, I have no ideas right now.
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Cheshire_Cat
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 09, 2006 09:01 PM |
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Bumping may not be the best thing to do, but I would like some opinions and feedback on this town. Does anyone have suggestions, cocerns, questions anything?
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koshde
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 10, 2006 01:21 AM |
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Seems like a pretty solid town to me, what kind of scale are the spider queens going to be on? For example in HOMMII several pheonix for 1 black dragon.
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kookastar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
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posted January 10, 2006 01:28 AM |
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Nice to see manticores back, love 'em.
Am a bit concerned about the number of ranged attackers placed in succession (L3,4&5) without any real flyers (or fast melee attackers)to block enemy rangers until L6. I know harpies fly but their real beauty is their ability to strike then retreat back. This doesn't block rangers.
Just a thought, you seem to have it under control.
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Mad_Hatter
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 10, 2006 06:16 AM |
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This is still Cheshire_Cat, for some reason It keeps telling me my password is wrong, when I don't believe I am typing the wrong one, so I made a new name for now.
In response to koshde:
I plan on having the spider queens be comparable to most level sevens, so you would get 2 each week, just like black dragons. I was Kindof thinkg of giving the upgraded ones no retaliation... but i would probably have to lower their hp, and the team needs some big meatshields.
In response to kookastar:
You are right that there are no big fliers early on, besides the harpies, and as you said, they are not good at tying up rangers. The level four unit however, is not ranged, so its only 3 and 5, not as bad as youwere saying (although they don't deal with what you mentioned, basically being shields for the ranged) My thoughts for dealing with those type of units is all the disabling moves that are in the faction, both three and five, when lucky, can lockdown ranged stacks, and I am thinkg that the teams spellcasting will be strong, and that getting blind will be something that occurs often. I'm hoping that this will be enough, but I wanted to try something different.
Thank you both for showing interest.
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kookastar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
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posted January 10, 2006 06:59 AM |
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I see what you mean, I guess I didn't read it properly saw the words mud and ranged and thought they were ranged attackers. Ranged DEFENDERS - what a great idea.
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Mad_Hatter
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 10, 2006 07:20 PM |
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Thanks.
I had toyed with the idea of making them ranged units that slowed the stacks they struck, but I had enough ranged, and I thought it might be hightime to give some hp to the town. All that range, and fragility... didn't want somthin bad to happen. Heh.
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orbvius
Adventuring Hero
Oblivious
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posted January 11, 2006 03:50 AM |
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(Below are solely my opinions, if it hurts to read them please ignore it.)
Good to see the old dungeon back but its hard to tie the relations between the creatures on where they come about isn't it? Their relation between the new Dungeon could be "these wise people felt that Dungeon is too restricted for them to improve on their knowledge and skills, hence, they withdraw deeper into the bowels. However, due to their highly soughted intelligence, Dungeon kept a close relationship with Asylum."
If you like toying with the idea of Asylum more, you should try to think of what the insane experiments they did that defies the human conscience and the abomination results of it. For that, your town may not be very well-liked due to the very dark theme it brings about. As for possible creatures suggestions, Chimaera and cockatrines can be such creatures.
I think it isn't very nice to said Medusa are crafted.
How about doing it like "Venturing deeper into the underground dungeons, they found a Medusa. After petrfying a lot of the party, they managed to overcome the Medusa and capture it back to be tamed."?
Personally I do not really like the idea of animated mud.
Overall feel of your town is that it is very diverse without much of a culture other than an extension of Dungeon. You will need a strong theme to bring out the characteristic of this town.
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Mad_Hatter
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 12, 2006 01:23 AM |
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I like what you ahve to say, when I created the town originally, I made it from the unit basis of HoMMIII dungeon, and then added stuff from that. The cockatrice would be a really nice unit, and may end up replacing the mud actually.I'm thinking ability-wise it would be a cross between a dragon-fly and the basilisk. The reason that I said that about the medusae is because, the Idea that, like the minotaurs, harpies, and other creations, the medusae are actually witches who turned themselves into these abominations. It is the same basis for the Spider Queen. That is where they crossed the line, in shaping themselves, mighty witches, into part-human abominations. After being cast from the above world, they travelled into the underground, and met up with the troglodytes, whom they tamed, and the beholders, who they befriended. The rest of their units are creations of the Witchery, so they all serve the same purpose.
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orbvius
Adventuring Hero
Oblivious
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posted January 12, 2006 03:32 PM |
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Quote:
I like what you ahve to say, when I created the town originally, I made it from the unit basis of HoMMIII dungeon, and then added stuff from that etc.
Quite pointless explaining it like answering a question. Add it into your description. It helps.
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Phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 03, 2006 08:45 PM |
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-Maybe chimera could be a good adition to your castle.I dont know where it fits but a multi headed creature would really fit into the logic of your castle.
-And rather than being immune to 1st and 2nd levels(ý think its a bit weak) maybe spider queen should be immune to direct damage spells or spells like paralyzing effect or maybe some good magic resistance(%35) could be good.
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Fortress_fan
Disgraceful
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posted February 04, 2006 02:15 PM |
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I like this town a lot! But wat is an Animated Mud?
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neko
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posted February 06, 2006 05:07 PM |
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Edited by neko on 9 Feb 2006
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outlawed rating,
see below for re-rate
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http://heroescommunity.com/viewthread.php3?TID=16986
Hylozium
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Oakwarrior
Famous Hero
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posted February 06, 2006 05:19 PM |
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Race: 8 (Great! I'm feeling nostalgic)
History: 7 (Good)
Creatures: 7 (Good. Nostalgic again)
Balance: 7 (Good)
Originality: 5 (Average)
Total: 34 
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BoogieMan
Famous Hero
The John of Spades
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posted February 07, 2006 10:14 AM |
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Race: 7
Good, no problem in having another underground race, although I'm getting tired of knowledge searching factions. The background is pretty cohesive for this race.
History: 6
Too brief, it seems like they almost didn't participate at all in Ashan's 900 years worth of recorded history.
Creatures: 9
Very Good. Working on a acknowledged recipe on the principle of not repairing something that's not broken. The two new units fit well. A constant orientation regarding special abilities.
Balance: 9
Well done, with a little tweaking, the faction should be a tactical delight.
Originality: 7
Working with the H3-H4 solid foundation has its benefits, but also its price. It's good, but I can't give you more here.
Penalty: -1 for not having provided this faction's hero's unique skills
TOTAL: 37
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The BoogieMan wrote ... and saw that it was good.
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phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 07, 2006 11:15 AM |
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Race:7(good twist of old heroes series)
History:5(its too brief)
Creatures:8(Heroes 3 style of variety which ý like but perhaps some creature representing the relation with warlocks(whiplord or slaver)could be good,also the spider mother doesnt fit so well)
Balance:9(overall variety of playing styles,and good placed creatures)
Originality:8
total
37/50
check out my castle also Thundercrack
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