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| Thread: ICTC: The Wild - Swamp is Back | |
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darkss
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 17, 2006 02:03 PM |
bonus applied. |
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ICTC: The Wild - Swamp is Back
Updated:
Part of history involving Demons & Haven + links to images of some of the creatures
Still coming:
history involving contacts with Sylvian & Dark Elves
description of Savages society & culture
The Wild
Country/Kingdom: The Impassible Swamps
Capital City: Sharakhr - City of the Serpent
Patriarch: Order and Chaos Dragon
Core Philosophy: We are who we are, We take what we want, We bow to no one
Kingdom Colors: brown, other swamp like
Kingdom Symbols: some animal face from front, a two headed snake
Also known as: The Beasts, Savages, Beastman
History
Mythical Ages:
After creation of the Demons and Elder races, Order and Chaos Dragon watched their children. They saw that they were too alike to them and could not live in harmony. They both agreed to make another race, one which they will do together basing on what they already had done. Order dragon chosed some of the Elemental Dragon favorites, not gifted with intelligence yet, and gave them to the Chaos Dragon to change, who gave them blood of the Demons. Such were the first Beastman created. Lizardman, Gnolls, Ratman and more.
Form Order Dragon they inherited courage, tribal nature organization and creativity. The chaos in them left them without morality, vindictive and easily upset. They were unleashed to the world but not welcomed friendly. Chaos and Order children saw in them only their opposite nature and despised them. Instead of becoming a linkage between the races they were hunted from both sides. The two powers had to decide what to do with the Beastman. The Chaos Dragon decided that they should be let to be wiped out but the Order Dragon opposed. After all they were his children, made of his flesh. The agreement could not be reached. Chaos Dragon without the knowledge of his brother ordered a large group of demons to start the extermination. Some of the Beastman races extinct before Order Dragon found out whats happening. He gathered the survivors and hidden them in unlived area. Doing that he started the quarrel with Chaos Dragon which led to the war between the Primordial Twins. The Beastman are forgotten among other races.
Ancient Age
Beastman live undisturbed and isolated inside Impassible Swamps. They have divided themselves into clans and often fight among each other. No clan can gain a supreme position and hegemony all clans. Alliances are formed but fall off quickly. Blood of Chaos is strong in Beasts.
Modern Age
500 YSD Holy Falcon Empire Extends its borders and reaches the Impassible Swamps. First contacts among Beastman and Humans. Some Havens hunters die in the swamps and region is considered as dangerous.
561 YSD Holy Falcon Empire tries to gain new territories and starts to clear some part of jungle belonging to the Swamps. Doing so they unknowingly invade Beastman hunting territories
562 YSD Beastman attack some settlements killing all the inhabitants to stop the work.
563 YSD Holy Emperor sends small military force to protect workers. The whole squad vanishes with people they were to protect.
564 YSD 2 nd eclipse forces Emperor to forget about Impassible Swamps.
564 YSD after one of the battles between Heaven and Demons near The Swamps a new species appears in the jungle. Several medusas are found by Sadaka Lizardman clan the day after battle. Nobody knows from where did they came, some suppose they were born because of the powerful magic which floated in the air after the battle from the dead flash of human and blood of the Demons. Some say that this was by the will of one or maybe both of the Premodial Twins. Lizardman are impressed by medusas ability to use magic, unknown then to the Beasts, and join them into their clan.
564 YSD 585 YSD - Holy Empire is busy repairing damages caused by demons during 2 nd eclipse and leaves Beastman in peace. During that time Sadaka tribe enforced by magic slowly conquers other tribes creating one empire
600 YSD Emperor Joseph creates a crusade to pacify the Savages and continue to clear the jungle as his father planed. They are to reach the jungle next year
601 YSD One of the medusas dreams a strange dream in which Chaos and Order Dragon occur. During that sleep with the help of both dragons she completes the first Trial of Command. Also the information about coming crusade is given to her. She shows the Trial to her sisters of whom many pass it in next few weeks. The oracle medusa is chosen a High Queen and given the name Esser which means Mother and trusted with command over the united tribes. She forms the council of medusa queen which help her to prepare for the invasion.
601 YSD The invading force reaches the Swamp and marches inside the unknown territory. Almost 2/3 soldiers dies out of sickness or in swamps. Rest is caught in the ambush and easily defeated. The position of medusas as rulers is secured
602 YSD 717 YSD - Informal peace among the races, small trade happens near the border.
717 YSD during the 3 rd eclipse a Demon Count named Ashriel comes to the Beastman demanding their help. His rudeness and his insinuation that beastman are lesser race compared to demons enrages High Queen. His massacred body is left outside the jungle.
843 YSD 4 rd eclipse. Large group of Demons, leaded by one of the Demon Princes, Balahar himself, attacks the capital city and invades the palace. Few of them reach the Queen Chambers where they are vanquished by Queens Personal Guard and High Queen herself. Esser is seriously wounded and because of her late age has no chance of surviving the night. She sacrifices her life in a ritual and changes Balahar heart into an artifact great red ruby.
Every time Demon activity increases the Balahar Heart burns with brighter inner flame.
New High Queen is chosen.
860 YSD Unknown pestilence strikes in the jungle. Animals die and Beasts start to starve. Finaly Queen Azaara decides to invade Havens lands in search for food. Emperor is enraged and sends troops to pacify Savages. After heavy fights and couple big battles, Savages, not used to fighting in open, are pushed back into the Swamps. Month later the pestilence disappears as suddenly as it appeared.
861 YSD 900 YSD Fortifications are being build by Griffin Empire across the border with the Swamps. Troops are ordered to shoot at any Beast seen.
951 YSD 5 th eclipse forecast by the Balahar Heart. Savages are prepared and await attack. None comes. When Emperor Andrei Griffin needs more man and weakens the defenses on borders High Queen decides to attack the fortifications. Savages capture most of the strongholds, loot them for metal high grade weapons and demolish what they can. Than they retreat into The Swamps
969 YSD 6 th eclipse. Beasts are the only race to forecast it but dont share this knowledge with anyone. But even they are surprised since the attack appears suddenly and their precious artifact changes from safe to invasion in less than 3 days.
Troops:
1. Gnoll (upg. Gnoll Warrior) creatures of a humanoid posture but covered in fur and with dog like face. One of the typical Beastman race. Comparatively weak and equipped with maces.
Special abilities:
Stun (Gnoll Warriors only) Gnoll Warriors have a chance to stun their enemy during attack. Stunned creature halves his retaliation damage and his defense is halved until his turn.
2. Lizardman (upg. Lizardman Javeliner) Humanoid Lizards, walking on 2 legs and equipped with spears and shields. One of the typical Beastman race.
Special ability:
Defenders increase damage made in retaliation.
Range attack (Lizardman Javeliner only) since equipped whit several short spears they can throw them at advancing enemy, very little of ammo (3-4 shots)
3. Puma (upg. Black Death) those native jungle animals are breaded by Beastman for their speed and huge critical damage. They strike fast and hard and are used as skirmish units. When a great warrior dies his soul is believed to join with one of the pumas becoming one with the animal soul. Such creatures are called Black Death and are even fiercer in battle than pumas themselves. In addition they are believed to be holy animals and increase morale of nearby friendly troops.
Special abilities:
Improved critical - +2 luck
Improved initiative increased initiative
Holy creature (Black Death only) all contiguous friendly units have +2 to their morale, when Black Death stack dies all friendly contiguous troops fall in rage which is represented by moving their marker on the initiative bar nearer to the action point.
4. Medusa (Medusa Queen) The nobility of the Beastman. They are the ones who rule the Wild. They are considered ugly and even horrifying by human standards. Their hair consists from dozen living snakes. Each medusa is capable of using elemental magic in small amount. When they are fully grown they may pass the Trial of Command. If they succeed they become Medusa Queens with ability to control Giant Serpents and to attack foes from range with petrifying gaze. Among Medusa Queens the High Queen is chosen which rules the entire Impassible Swamps kingdom.
Special abilities:
Spellcaster may cast simple curses such as weakness, slow, disturbing ray
Range attack (Medusa Queen only)
Petrifying gaze (Medusa Queen only) - each attack has a chance to petrify some additional creatures. This number is calculated on the base of killed creatures in this particular attack. The petrified creatures cant be resurrected but can be returned to life by dispel magic spell.
Control Serpents (Medusa Queen only) grants Mental Shield ability to Serpents.
5. Shapeshifter (upg. Doppelganger) Creatures possessing the unique ability to alter their shape and becoming the exact copy of another creature. In the Wild society they serve as secret police and private guard of the nobility. They are rather weak compared to other creature of the same lvl but their shape shifting ability gives them great power
Special abilities:
Shape shifting Creature may became the exact copy of another creature present on the battlefield with lvl equal or lower than his. Shapeshifter acquires all abilities and statistics of a chosen creature. The only things that stay the same are the name and number of creatures in a stack. (note that the statistics may rise but also lower their value!). Doppelgangers do not lower their statistics when the chosen creatures value is lower than their but keep their value instead.
6. Wyvern (upg. Royal Wyvern) On the command of High Queen Azaara group of Shapeshifters has stolen several dragon eggs. They were to be used to create new species the Swamp Dragon. Primitive rituals and nature magic has been used but without the desired effect. The effect was a much smaller grotesque of a dragon covered with spikes on its spine and tail. The ability to breathe fire has been lost somewhere in the process and all the creature could do was to once or twice for a day burst a ball of fire which set fire to whatever it landed on. From creatures mouth a strange gas unleashes itself that had a poisonous effect on all living creatures. Although the creatures didnt appear to be what the queen has hoped, they were so vicious and deadly that the experiment has been called a success and the breeding began. The new beast has been called a Wyvern.
Special Abilities:
Flying
Poisonous attack - Attacked creature has high chance of becoming poisoned each turn his max HP, defense and attack will decrease until it will reach half of its natural value
Burst fire (Royal Wyvern only) Royal Wyvern once per combat may shoot with a ball of fire. The hit square and 2 contiguous ones (1 from each side) start to burn creating small wall of fire. Every creature standing or coming through it takes damage based on the number of wyverns
7. Giant Serpent (upg. Great Serpent) Enormous, 120 meter long snakes which strength is so great that they could easily rip the trees out of the ground. They have no rivals in the swamps and are the ultimate predators. They are controlled by some sort of magic and ancestral linkage to the medusas and obey the queens. Normally dreadful and unpredictable became tame when addressed by medusa and on her desire take orders from her generals.
Special Abilities:
Fear attacked creature may become paralyzed with fear and not retaliate to Giant Serpent, further more it initiative drops to the beginning of the initiative bar.
Eat alive thanks to its enormous size Giant Serpent can swallow in one go some of the weakest creatures. This is represented by additional 50% and 25% damage to 1 lvl and 2 lvl creatures
Mental Shield Since controlled by Medusa Queens their mind is already under strong magical influence that blocks any other attacks. If a friendly Medusa Queen is present on the battlefield the chance of succeeding a hostile mental spell is ((number of G Serpents number of Medusa Queens)/ Number of G Serpents)*100%
Magic Resistance (Great Serpent only) the thick skin of Great Serpents backed up with magical paintings gives those creatures magical protection and reduces damage from spells by 50%.
Work still in progress
I've just found out, that I made a big mistake. The name beastman had been already used for creaturs created by Wizards in Seven Cities. So the name will be changed but I don't have the idea on what.
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Phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted January 17, 2006 11:32 PM |
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3. Puma (upg. Black Death)
5. Shapeshifter (upg. Doppelganger)
6. Wyvern (upg. Royal Wyvern)
Flying
Poisonous attack - Attacked creature has high chance of becoming poisoned � each turn his max HP, defense and attack will decrease until it will reach half of its natural value
Burst fire (Royal Wyvern only) � Royal Wyvern once per combat may shoot with a ball of fire. The hit square and 2 contiguous ones (1 from each side) start to burn creating small wall of fire. Every creature standing or coming through it takes damage based on the number of wyverns
7. Giant Serpent (upg. Great Serpent)
Eat alive � thanks to its enormous size Giant Serpent can swallow in one go some of the weakest creatures. This is represented by additional 50% and 25% damage to 1 lvl and 2 lvl creatures
First of all ύ like to see the old swamp town back in businees ύ have quoted some places I want to point out
-Black Death is a bad upgrade name change it
-Doppleganger shouldnt be an upgrade to shapeshifter,it sounds more weak if you think on DnD basis and most of people will,change it to something else.
-The shapeshifters ability is confusing and probably would be out of balance.I would recomend it to choose it from a number of creatures like tiger(high attack),bear(high defense),eagle(swooping dive flying no retaliation but weak attack)
-Medusa has too many roles either should be a spell caster or a shooter not both
-I like the wyern story but be creative change the ball of fire and give somethin protective to the wyern.If they are the old fellas back they had terrrible hp do something that they have the upper hand aganist certain type of attack.
-Giant serpent is a bad idea with so many dragons lurkin around.I would recommend you to change it to somethin more plantish.Like something plant form of a deep devorer that does not punch so much put has hell of a durability.
-The eat alive idea is bad,since no one would attack 2nd levels with a last level creature.
I hope ύ was constructive keep up the good work 
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darkss
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 19, 2006 07:02 PM |
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Quote:
-Black Death is a bad upgrade name change it
Can be done, but I need something stylish not Great Puma, Super Puma, etc.
Quote:
-Doppleganger shouldnt be an upgrade to shapeshifter,it sounds more weak if you think on DnD basis and most of people will,change it to something else.
Well I can't think of any other name, any suggestions? Maybe just change the order Doppleganger -> Shapeshifter
Quote:
-The shapeshifters ability is confusing and probably would be out of balance.I would recomend it to choose it from a number of creatures like tiger(high attack),bear(high defense),eagle(swooping dive flying no retaliation but weak attack)
I really like the idea of having any unit opponent has thrown aggainst me. The rule is realy easy:
unupgraded unit - you change your unit into exact copy of enemy unit (same abbilities and statistics). When you choose low lvl creature you just changed your 5 lvl unit into a couple of low lvl creatures, not a good choice (f.e. you can change 5 shapeshifters into 5 militia). It's better to leave them as they are.
upgraded unit - you change your unit into copy of enemy unit (same abblities, statistics can only increase). This time you would get 5 militia, but with Doppleganger's statistics since they are higher)
As for balancing They should have slightly lower weak growth than other 5 lvl creatures. So you will theoreticly have similar lvl 5 units as enemy but fewer in number. As for the lower lvl creatures the only reason I can think of changing in them is to gain their skills but you still have the same number of units. And since unchanged dopplegangers are underpowered they should equal theier strenght this way.
Beside don't forget that 70% of battles is fought with neutrals and you will rearlly have a situation when this abbility will be powerfull.
Quote:
-Medusa has too many roles either should be a spell caster or a shooter not both
Medua is a lame spellcaster and when upgraded will never be used in this way. Her main role is to be a shooter but I don't see why to take off from her something which she will not use anymore. It can still be there. She baceame a spellcaster because she has to do something when not upgraded and besides they are the leaders and as only 4th lvl creatures there must be something special in them.
And as for shooting spellcaster - Inquisitor is an example that it already exists in H5
Quote:
-I like the wyern story but be creative change the ball of fire and give somethin protective to the wyern.If they are the old fellas back they had terrrible hp do something that they have the upper hand aganist certain type of attack.
To be honest It's only there because I like the idea but don't have nothing to put it on. And it fits the story. It can be changed but I need more opinions to decide to do so.
Quote:
-Giant serpent is a bad idea with so many dragons lurkin around.I would recommend you to change it to somethin more plantish.Like something plant form of a deep devorer that does not punch so much put has hell of a durability.
Well this unit is likely to change and I'd like to hear some suggestions but surely nothing plantish. I just cant stand the idea of walking flowers moving through snow and lava fighting against dragons and Angels
Quote:
-The eat alive idea is bad,since no one would attack 2nd levels with a last level creature.
Yes I agree it's nothing special but it fits the creature and I think the race is quite strong and can manage a not so good 7th lvl creature. Moreover the fear abbility is the main power of this creature this is just a minor bonus.
Quote:
I hope ύ was constructive keep up the good work
Yes you were and I look forward for more opinions from you and others
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phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted January 23, 2006 11:38 AM |
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Hey I have the suggestion for the wyern upgrade.
Remember I told you ύt should be somethin defensive how about this;
Air Reflexes:Being smaller than the dragons have their uses.While being in the swamp the wyerns developed killer instincts and unmatched reflexes.They can easily evade any attacks directed at them while airborne.
Ability:While fighting creatures with flying wyern receives %40 less damage from those creatures.
Army Role:Good at dealing with high level fliers including dragons,but still have low hit points compared to other levels.
So while being a real tough guy for the fliers they are still the same a bit weak fellas back in heroes 3.What do you think?
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darkss
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 23, 2006 09:22 PM |
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Good one. I'll add it with next update, though it's the skill both upgraded and unupgraded version should have. That means the posionous attack will be pushed to the upgraded verion only.
Any more interesting ideas?? I'm open to them and since you're the only one interested in this town (at least it seems so ) they are even more valuable. Any comments about the history?
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phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 06, 2006 07:04 PM |
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Race: 8(I always like swamp towns)
History: 8 (Its not so thrilling but the fact that swamp
creatures both fight deamons and heaven is interesting)
Creatures: 8(Some very good ideas but still needs a bit more detail.
Balance: 8 (I find it generally good)
Originality: 8(okay maybe the creature line up cannot be so original because of the idea of the castle but that medusa and NOT using a swapdragon as last level puts you one point up)
Total:40/50
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Oakwarrior
Famous Hero
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posted February 06, 2006 07:14 PM |
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Race: 8 (Great!)
History: 8 (Great!)
Creatures: 7 (Good)
Balance: 9 (Excellent!)
Originality: 8 (Great!)
Total: 40
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frakel
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 07, 2006 01:07 AM |
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Edited by frakel on 6 Feb 2006
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Race: 7 (A nice take on the fortress town)
History: 8 (Nicely incorporated into H5)
Creatures: 6 (Puma doesn΄t fit well with the other coldblooded creatures)
Balance: 8 (Well balanced creatures)
Originality: 3 (this low rating doesn΄t meen your town is bad - just that its very close to the fortress we know from H3)
Overall: 32 / 50
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darkss
Tavern Dweller
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posted February 07, 2006 08:55 AM |
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I did a poopoo...  I cannot reply to the thread as the voting goes.. Will not do it again... NEVAR
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phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 07, 2006 09:12 AM |
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as ύ know the you cannot enter more the entries are closed.
If you do YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.BE WARE!
as far as ύ know.
Its time for rating.
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kookastar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
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posted February 07, 2006 11:55 AM |
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Race 4 more description needed
History 9
Creatures 7
Balance 7
Originality 7
34/50
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BoogieMan
Famous Hero
The John of Spades
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posted February 12, 2006 12:07 AM |
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Race: 7
Interesting enough to have their ancestrlal heritage responsible for their savagery. Medusa leaders are a nice touch.
History: 7
Not bad. The part about the dragons trying to create a better race but failing miserably is a bit far-fetched.
Creatures: 6
Doppelganger doesn't fit and to some extent, neither does the puma
Balance: 8
Seems quite good
Originality: 6
Nothing to be excited about.
PENALTY -1 for not including a hero
TOTAL: 33
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The BoogieMan wrote ... and saw that it was good.
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FriendOfGunnar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
able to speed up time
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posted February 14, 2006 07:20 PM |
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Wild
Race( 3+ 3)=6 The lack of a strong central race reduces compatibility with HOMM5
History( 2+4 )=6
Creatures(2 +3 )=5 too many repeats
Balance(3 + 4)=7 the 120 meter long snake is hard to implement in HOMM5
Originality=5
An interesting vision of the swamp faction, but It needs more creative creatures, a stronger centralizing race or idea, and a more compelling storyline.
(minus one for no flag)
Total Score=28
How I graded these:
Race (Originality [1-5]+Compatibility with HOMM5 universe[1-5])
History (How interesting is it to me [1-5] +Compatibility with HOMM5 universe [1-5])
Creatures (Originality [1-5] +Internal Consistency [1-5])
Balance (are the special skills inventive [1-5] + Does it have a variety of flyers, shooters, walkers, spell-casters [1-5]
Originality (all the originality scores added up and divided by two. This means that creativity counts twice. [1-10])
24 to go
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Valeriy
Mage of the Land
Naughty, Naughty Valeriy
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posted February 23, 2006 06:15 AM |
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Race: 6
Good, but missing heroes, abilities and a bit more explanation of lifestyle.
History: 6
Good, but more integration with other HOMM5 races is required.
Creatures: 8
Quite a nice lineup - varied and swampy.
Balance: 6
Some specials may be too powerful.
Hard to tell since hero abilities are not described.
Originality: 7
Interesting take on a swamp town. Some things are taken from the old fortress and almost unchanged.
Judge Rating: 33
Good effort, but seems a bit unfinished.
Phoenixzs: 40
Oakwarrior: 40
Frakel: 32
kookastar: 34
BoogieMan: 33
FriendOfGunnar: 28
Visitor Rating Average: 35
FINAL AOH ICTC RATING: 68
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You can wait for others to do it, but if they don't know how, you'll wait forever.
Be an example of what you want to see on HC and in the world.
http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com
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