xerox
Promising
Undefeatable Hero
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posted January 12, 2011 11:47 PM |
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My H6 Academy
Hello! 
It was a long time since I made a real faction (ICTC actually) but now it's time.
I think it feels a bit weird that in H6 lore, Academy is mentioned EVERYWHERE and yet does not appear so I thought it would be PERFECT to make my own version of Academy as an expansion H6 town.
Oh, and also Heavens is a new terrain that is the opposite of Subterrean/Underground.
Any critiscm is ofc welcome.
Let's get started!
“All secrets will be understood, and mastered, in time.”
The Seven Cities were once the dominant force, politically and military, on Ashan but recent events have all but devastated the once wealthy and powerful nation. First, the cities were already far too divided and when the Necromancers rose to power, it was too late. The Seven Cities were not united and fell and the once lush ground which they stood upon, had been turned into a wasteland. Now Grand Sorceress Alturia has disbanded the Seven Cities and the surviving metropolises have united to become the Silver Cities. Exhausted by the conflicts below, the Wizards have elevated the cities far up into the sky and above the clouds. But under the shadows of the once brilliant Academies, lurk many enemies. Below, the Necromancers gain more and more power and the Orcs grow more offensive in their thirst for vengeance. And among the heavens themselves, the Lord of the Sky himself is not happy to see intruders settling in his realm. A storm masses over the cities of clouds, but the Grand Sorceress is ready to ally with anyone and anything to ensure the legacy of the enlightened ones.
In a nutshell: The Silver Cities are the descendants of the old Seven Cities which was destroyed in the period of the original MM: H6. The Wizards are often seen as xenophobic and elitistic, and among there is a common saying with the people of Ashan that the only thing that the Wizards worship are themselves. They do not have any relation to the Dragon gods. Wizards are locked in a constant search for more knowledge that they hope can help their nation become the global power it once was.
Inspiration: Mesopotamian and Arabic mythology but also influences from Hindi mythology and Indian architecture.
Associated colours: White, sky blue, gold and silver.
Symbols: The Eye of Wisdom, number 0: the infinite search for true wisdom.
Worship: No one except perhaps themselves. Core Philosophy: "Always seek enlightenment. Search the past, present and future for knowledge. There will be no rest until all mysteries have been solved and questions answered. Only then can true wisdom be achieved.”
Country/Kingdom: The Silver Cities, levitating within The Skylord’s Realm.
Capital City: Al-Shaffar, the Sky Dome.
Social Organization: Among the Silver cities, the the citizens are expected to have skills in either magic or engineering. Wizards always seek time to study so labor is performed by bestial, elemental and even mechanical slaves. Most citizens owns a servant or slave which helps them do all work at home. The Wizards are on top of the ladder, followed by the Tinkerers and Engineers. All citizens are expected to work and help ensure the welfare of the Silver cities. Cruel and even twisted laws such as getting turned into a beastman keep order in the society and it is not unusual for the upper castes to censure the complaints of the lower.
Architecture: The Silver Cities are filled with domes and spires. Living among the clouds, the Wizards have managed to harness the powers of the winds and used it to shape their buildings. Sometimes, buildings appear to vanish into clouds. The material used for creating all this is enchanted marble with attributes of wind energy into it which makes the material smooth and light. Transportation through all the floating platforms is done through teleportation, levitation and portals.
Magic: Wizards are masters of all magic but have since long shown a special affinity to old Primordial and Air magic, which makes even more sense now when they live among the clouds. The Wizards invent many spells themselves and are masters at converting energies, a technique which is now used on the battlefield.
Magic Hero: The Wizard
Wizards are able to master all schools of spells but have always had greater potential in mastering primordial and Air elemental magic.
Might Hero: The Engineer
After the fall of the Seven Cities, a new spark of invention seems to have lighten up. Everywhere, Engineers are popping up with new inventions. So far, most Engineers of the Silver Cities work with animating stone with various of different energies but who knows what the future may bring for already there are schematics of "golems", animated soldiers fighting in the frontline and there are even ideas for enormous, mechanical airships.
Academy Strategy: "Adapt, improvise and overcome!"
Commanders of the Seven Cities should observe every moment of their enemy so that when the enemy strikes, they can retaliate with a devastating counterattack. The Wizards have developed several unique techniques to counter their enemies and as the battle rages on, they are known to gather Life energies on the battlefield and convert them into power that can protect their own lines and destroy enemy lines.
* Strengths: Multiple counters to enemy attacks, powerful support abilities, many shooters.
* Weaknesses: Unreliable luck, limited debuff abilities
* Racial Ability: Recharge – When Academy creature use special abilities, they generate Energy for the hero. The player can use this energy to unleash powerful destructive magic or empowering blessings for allies.
Wizards prefer to stay behind the front lines together with other Magi and supportive constructs. Instead of having actual soldiers on the front lines, the Wizards have summoned and enslaved spirits (often elementals), created and animated constructs and sometimes create new species of Beastmen, though the creation of Beastmen is rare nowadays as the last generation of Beastmen actually caused a rebellion which destroyed much of the old city As’labaddji, the Sixth City.
The Wizards main tactic on the battlefield is unsurprisingly knowledge and enlightenment about their enemies. For every attack an enemy makes, a skilled Wizard will often be able to predict it and counter it properly. A Wizard should know his enemy inside and out, and as such be able to destroy him inside and out.
Gameplay
My general concept for Academy is to be a town very much specialized with the use of special abilities, which will relate to the racial skill. One of the unique mechanics of the new Academy is that activated abilities can be used more than one time but they all have a cooldown, meaning that they need a few turns to recharge in order to be used again. Statwise, Academy creatures are less expensive and I guess less “elitist” than in H5 and have more average stats as they rely on special abilities in combat. The player is supposed to use the special abilities as much as possible and the reason for this, other than that they can be used more than once, ties in to the racial skill below.
Racial skill: RECHARGE
When I reworked Academy I wanted a racial that was fun. Sure, in H5 Artificer was very tactical and strategic but personally I did not think that it was a fun racial. This time, I wanted a racial that is active in combat, on the battlefield. I did not want a passive racial. The concept of this racial started out as “When your creatures deal or take damage they gain Energy which they can use on special abilities” – I ended up scrapping that and reworking the concept a bit.
So for the hero, Wizard or Engineer, they have another resource outside of Mana. This resource is simply called Energy. Energy can be used to cast extra-powerful spells and abilities by the Academy Heroes and these spells are generally more powerful than spells from the normal Magic types. So how do you get Energy for your hero? Well, through the creatures in your army of course!
Academy is a town filled with creatures that all have some activated special abilities that can be used several times each battle, instead of only the usual once or twice per battle. I wanted to make the new Academy rather unique when it comes to its playstyle and I did that through having a focus on special abilities. I ended up tying these up to the racial skill. So when your creatures use a Special ability, they regenerate Energy for the hero. The amount of Energy, depends on if it is a Core, Elite or Champion creature. Core creatures generate 20 Energy, Elite 30 and Champion 40.
The Hero always starts with 0 Energy and it caps at 100. So if my Huma Birds cast Gift of the Winds and then Thunderstrike, I will have got 40 Energy which will let me cast an Energy spell of the first level. Below, you can see the different levels of the Recharge skill aswell as understand what each tier of Energy spell costs.
Basic Recharge: Gives the Wizard or Engineer access to the first level of Energy spells that costs 40 Energy to be cast.
Advanced Recharge: Gives the Wizard or Engineer access to the second level of Energy spells that costs 60 Energy to be cast.
Expert Recharge: Gives the Wizard or Engineer access to the third level of Energy spells that costs 80 Energy to be cast.
Ultimate Recharge: Gives the Wizard or Engineer access to the fourth level of Energy spells that costs 100 Energy to be cast.
In the future, I will update this with Energy spells for all the four tiers. Generally, the first tier represents level 1-2 spells, the second 3-4 spells and third level 5 spells and the final, Ultimate and unique level 6 spells.
Line-Up
As the lore of the early Silver Cities is that they have elevated their cities above the clouds to Ylath's domain, "The Skylord's Realm", Academy is now more associated with air than ever.
Academy's strength does not lie in attack, defense, speed or numbers but in their special abilities combined with Recharge.
Core
Rain Bird -> Huma Bird
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Elite
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Champion
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Neutrals
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Boss
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*The inspiration of this creature comes from that I wanted a sky/cloud theme for the new Academy and not the old, boring desert so with their new terrain actually being "Heavens", I felt like I had to give Academy an avian creature and I always hated Gremlins, so these ended up as the Core shooters of Academy!
The Huma Bird comes from Persian mythology and it is basically a bird that spends all its life in the air and because of this, it has no feet.
TO BE UPDATED
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Over himself, over his own
body and
mind, the individual is
sovereign.
- John Stuart Mill
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