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HiddenElephant
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 04, 2015 12:21 AM |
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ICTC8 - 'Loft'
The faction that goes by the name Loft is comprised of bird-like humanoids and their allies, the birds of the free and open sky. They make their homes on cliffs of rock, carving out holes and building nests out of wood. The humanoid denizens of these locals are known as "Harpies", "Furies", "Sirens", "Winged Folk", and other names.
The unifying feature of this faction is the ability to fly. Each unit is a winged being, and has no troubles with mobility. However, they tend to be remarkably fragile, and the faction possesses very little in the way of ranged attacks.
Harrier Hawk; Lv1 Flyer
These large raptors are trained expertly by the members of the Loft to harry and bother their foes, pestering them and distracting them from attacks.
Hit Points: 8
Attack: 10
Defense: 9
Damage: 1-2
Speed: 8
Movement: 12
AdvMov: 30
Shots: n/a
Growth: 25
Cost: 18g
Special Abilities:
Harass: Foes this unit is next to suffer a penalty to attack and defense.
Shrike; Lv1 Fly/Shooter
The most basic among Loft’s more humanoid troops, Shrikes carry shortbows with them that allow them to fire at foes from positions only a flying creature can get to.
Hit Points: 10
Attack: 12
Defense: 8
Damage: 1-3
Speed: 6
Movement: 12
AdvMov: 29
Shots: 8
Growth: 20
Cost: 30g
Special Abilities:
Short Range (see wiki)
Great Eagle; Lv2 Flyer
Magnificent beasts of wing, Great Eagles form the strike forces of the Sky Domain Kingdoms. They strike from high in the sky, allowing their foes no retaliation.
Hit Points: 24
Attack: 18
Defense: 14
Damage: 6-9
Speed: 7
Movement: 13
AdvMov: 35
Shots: n/a
Growth: 8
Cost: 140g
Special Abilities:
No Retaliation (see wiki)
Fury; Lv2 Flyer
The soldiers of the Sky Domain, they habitually dive-bomb their foes, resulting in powerful blows that can easily take a knight off a horse, or a head off a body.
Hit Points: 18
Attack: 20
Defense: 13
Damage: 5-10
Speed: 8
Movement: 12
AdvMov: 28
Shots: n/a
Growth: 8
Cost: 100g
Special Abilities:
Charge (see wiki)
Simurgh; Lv3 Fly/Spell
Mystical birds of ancient legend, and longtime ally of the Lofts, Simurghs bring with them magical knowledge well-used on the battlefield
Hit Points: 80
Attack: 15
Defense: 17
Damage: 10-14
Speed: 7
Movement: 11
AdvMov: 35
Shots: n/a
Growth: 5
Cost: 600g
Special Abilities:
Spellcaster: Mana: 30
Spellbook: Dispel, Forgetfulness, Song of Peace
Siren; Lv3 Flyer
Those Winged Folk with beautiful faces and voices often train to become Sirens, whose songs can change the tide of battle by mesmerizing enemies and bolstering the morale of allies.
Hit Points: 70
Attack: 13
Defense: 20
Damage: 10-14
Speed: 7
Movement: 13
AdvMov: 30
Shots: n/a
Growth: 6
Cost: 500g
Special Abilities:
Mirth (see wiki)
Hypnotize (see wiki)
Ziz; Lv4 Flyer
The Almighty Ziz are gigantic avians powerful enough to fight off dragons. Their wings beat with the force of hurricanes, rendering ranged attacks against them and their allies near-impossible, and their iridescent feathers make them resistant to magic.
Hit Points: 390
Attack: 40
Defense: 30
Damage: 60-90
Speed: 9
Movement: 15
AdvMov: 35
Shots: n/a
Growth: 1
Cost: 7000g + 3 gems
Special Abilities:
Hurricane: This unit and units close to it gain 100% defense against ranged attacks
Magic Resistant: 75%
Paradise Bird; Lv4 Flyer
Magical creatures originating from a mythical land, Paradise Birds’ brilliant plumage is truly magical. They are surrounded by auras of good luck, and foes struck by them lose their ability to see.
Hit Points: 190
Attack: 30
Defense: 25
Damage: 40-60
Speed: 8
Movement: 13
AdvMov: 35
Shots: n/a
Growth: 3
Cost: 2000g + 2 crystal
Special Abilities:
Greater Fortune: This unit and allies near this unit have maximum positive luck.
Greater Blinding: Foes hit by this unit have a 50% chance to be blinded.
Standard Buildings:
Village Hall (500g) - Town Hall (2500g, 5 wood, 5 ore) - City Hall(2500g, 10 Wood, 10 Ore, 5 Crystal, 5 Gem): Gives 500g, 750g, and 1000g per day respectively.
Fort (5000g, 20 Wood, 20 Ore) - Citadel (7500g, 10 wood 10 ore) - Castle (7500g, 10 wood 10 ore): Lv1 Walls, Lv2 Walls+moat, and Lv3 Walls+Keep respectively.
Tavern (500g, 2 wood) - Hire Heroes Here. Needs Village Hall.
Battle Rookery (3500g, 10 Wood). Sells: Potion of Endurance (500g), Potion of Speed (500g), Leather Armor (500g), Longsword (1000g), Mage’s Staff (1000g). Needs Village Hall.
Caravan (4000g, 10 Wood) - See Wiki. Needs Fort.
Shipyard (2000g, 20 Wood) - Sea Wiki. Needs Fort and Body of Water
Prison - Heroes Held Hostage For Free. Doesn’t even need a Village Hall.
Spell Rookery Lv1 (1000g, 4 Wood, 4 Ore) - Lv 2-5 (1000g, 2 Wood, 2 Ore) - Teaches Spells of the appropriate level drawn from a specialized spell list. 3-3-3-2-1 for Spell Amount as it goes up. Lv1 Needs Village Hall.
Magical Atrium Lv1-2(2500g, 4 Ore, 2 Crystal) - Adds 2 spells to Levels 1-3 and 1 spells to Level 4-5 per level built. Drawn from an extended spell list, incorporating more potential spells. Needs Spell Rookery Lv1.
Dwellings
Raptor Nests (1500g) - Allows the hiring of Harrier Hawks according to their growth/week.
Archery Cliffs(1500g) - Allows the hiring of Shrikes according to their growth/week.
Both require Fort.
Eagle Nests(3000g, 6 Wood) - Allows the hiring of Great Eagles according to their growth/week.
OR
Diving Pillars(3000g, 6 ore) - Allows the hiring of Furies according to their growth/week.
Both require Fort and Lv1 Dwellings.
Crystal Nests (6500g, 12 ore, 6 Crystal) - Allows the hiring of Simurghs according to their growth/week.
OR
Auditorium (6500g, 8 Ore, 8 Wood) - Allows the hiring of Sirens according to their growth/week.
Both require Fort and Lv2 Dwelling
Sky Crown (14000g, 16 ore, 10 Gems, 10 Crystal) - Allows the hiring of Ziz according to their growth/week.
OR
Radiant Grove(14000g, 30 wood, 8 crystal) - Allows the hiring of Paradise Birds according to their growth/week.
Both require Fort and Lv3 Dwelling.
Special Buildings
Watchtower (1000g, 10 Wood) - Extends town’s area of sight, and any army within viewing distance will have their numbers shown.
Raptor Rookery(2750g, 10 Wood) - Provides armies with +5 AdvMovement for the next 7 days.
Arial Labyrinth (1000g, 6 Ore) - Heroes get an automatic +2 Melee Attack and +3 Speed once they visit this building.
GRAIL BUILDING: Gate of Infinite Sky - Gives 3000 gold/day. Doubles the adventure map movement for the units of the owner.
Heroes: (All heroes are of the Winged Folk/Harpy/Whatever they decide to be called this week)
Male Scout: Hawl from Wild Sea: This adventurous young Fury flew in one day on a strong tailwind. He claims to be from a land far beyond the sea no matter where he goes. Time will only tell if the wind picks him up again to take him somewhere new.
Female Scout: Pyka Goldfeather: Though easily distractible, Pyka Goldfeather has an eye for detail and a precise memory, allowing her to easily become a scout. Above all, she enjoys good friends.
Male Shaman: Skrawl: The members of the Loft are not known for strong organization or language skills, but Skrawl is different. Skrawl has traveled the world, and now speaks 5 languages fluently. He now seeks to expand his knowledge even further.
Female Shaman: Typhin Teloren: A vicious soul if there ever was one. Her family was shot down from the skies by bandits, and she carries a grudge for humans to this day. Though she loves her kin with all her heart, she habitually tortures humans she captures until they die.
Scouts (might) use the Scouting Primary Skill tree as their basis. Can easily branch into Tactics and Combat. Rarely, if ever, get Nobility.
Shamans (magic) branch out a lot. Loft doesn’t have its own proper school of magic, so it borrows from Life and Nature. Shamans can pick up both Life and Nature as skills. They’ll rarely get Order, but Loft as a whole will not go into Death or Chaos magic.
Spells: The spell list for Loft is drawn from the Life and Nature magic schools. They do not have any of the Summon spells naturally, but can gain Summon Phoenix through the Magical Atrium. For Life Spells, they do not gain any spells that can deal damage, nor do they get any Life-Unit-Only spells. They can only gain the Mass version of spells through the Magical Atrium. They can gain the Order Spells Blur, Dispel, Precision and Vision, as well as the Mass versions, through the Magical Atrium.
New Spells: Loft adds in a few new spells, befitting of their nature. All of these spells can be gained through the Spell Rookery as well as through other appropriate Magic Guilds.
Harpy Wing: Nature Spell Lv 3 - Cost 5: Target gains the “Strike and Return” ability for 3 turns, as read as the Harpy unit’s ability.
Faction Incomplete as of 1/5/2015. It will be updated and edited.
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HiddenElephant
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 05, 2015 04:16 AM |
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First major edit in; a large chunk of text. I used the HOMM4 style of unit ladder, as I always thought that there was greater possible variability to be had with that one. Again, I would greatly appreciate thoughts on the unit stats so that they may be made better, as well as art suggestions for appearances. Heck, thoughts on the entire things, as well as suggestions on how to make it better, would be greatly appreciated.
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted January 06, 2015 02:07 AM |
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Interesting approach. All creatures being flyers might be a bit imbalanced, maybe?
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I used the HOMM4 style of unit ladder, as I always thought that there was greater possible variability to be had with that one
It is a matter of taste, probably. I always missed upgrades on H4. And there were quite some auto-includes/pseudo-choices. But as I said, prob'ly a matter of taste.
Quote:
thoughts on the entire things, as well as suggestions on how to make it better, would be greatly appreciated.
Well, I'll try to offer some opinion and advice then.
presentation:
-So far, it is not that easy to read your faction. It would probably get better if you included bold and/or underlined headlines to structure your faction.
units
-I don't know what some of the units are and it is not really explained so far (f.e. "Ziz". never heard of that.) Adding an explanation would be helpful here.
-The unit variety, naturally, is a bit limited so far (harpies and birds as far as you can see). Of course, that also is the point of your idea, but maybe you could include 1-2 non-bird units for variety?
-For unit stats: didn't go into them deep for now. I always find it a bit hard to do so, because it is quite difficult to imagine the stats working ingame. On that topic: you woudl consider the faction being in H4?! (so one can compare the stats to something)
so much for now
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HiddenElephant
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 06, 2015 03:31 AM |
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Jiriki9 said:
Interesting approach. All creatures being flyers might be a bit imbalanced, maybe?
units
-I don't know what some of the units are and it is not really explained so far (f.e. "Ziz". never heard of that.) Adding an explanation would be helpful here.
-The unit variety, naturally, is a bit limited so far (harpies and birds as far as you can see). Of course, that also is the point of your idea, but maybe you could include 1-2 non-bird units for variety?
-For unit stats: didn't go into them deep for now. I always find it a bit hard to do so, because it is quite difficult to imagine the stats working ingame. On that topic: you woudl consider the faction being in H4?! (so one can compare the stats to something)
so much for now
I don't actually imagine all-flyers being that unbalanced, mainly because of mobility. Think of it this way: Flyers counter Shooters; they get in there as the Crow Flies, and prevent shooters from doing their thing. As an off-set, they are now in range of the Melee Mob. with low defense and health, this faction would probably become cubed chicken to the Melee Monsters.
*blink blink* You never heard of the Ziz? Wow. That's a first for me. The Ziz is the final part of the Hebrew Giants, the others being Leviathan and Behemoth. Leviathan and Behemoth are both used as size indicators, but Ziz isn't weirdly. Maybe because Zizian isn't catchy, maybe because there isn't a flying thing alive or dead that matches up to the things on the ground.
To give you an idea of the size of the original Ziz, here's a tale of yore; Travellers were going one day down the road. Eventually, they came to a lake with the Ziz, almighty Sky King of Birds, standing ankle-deep in the water. They, therefore, thought the water would be shallow enough for a good swim/bathe. Before they could, a voice thundered from above. "A carpenter dropped his axe in this lake, and it took 6 YEARS for it to reach the bottom." The travelers dutifully heeded the words, and only stopped to fill their water-skins.
Also, suggestions on the weakest areas would be most appreciated for units. I thought about Bats, but decided that those would be either neutral creatures aligned with Loft, or aligned with Chaos.
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted January 08, 2015 11:35 AM |
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Quote:
I don't actually imagine all-flyers being that unbalanced, mainly because of mobility. Think of it this way: Flyers counter Shooters; they get in there as the Crow Flies, and prevent shooters from doing their thing. As an off-set, they are now in range of the Melee Mob. with low defense and health, this faction would probably become cubed chicken to the Melee Monsters.
You got apoint there but I sitll think it may be hard to balance.
Quote:
*blink blink* You never heard of the Ziz? Wow. That's a first for me. The Ziz is the final part of the Hebrew Giants, the others being Leviathan and Behemoth. Leviathan and Behemoth are both used as size indicators, but Ziz isn't weirdly. Maybe because Zizian isn't catchy, maybe because there isn't a flying thing alive or dead that matches up to the things on the ground.
Well, no, I never heard of them^^ But then again, it seems to me you have 2 Birds even in the champion tire. I think the ziz sounds cool so maybe change the bird ofparadise?
...overall, though, the problem is that not only it are mostlybirdss, I think it aremostlybirds of prey.Mabye you could change some into non-bop-birds, f.e. Raven, Crane, Parrot.
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