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| Thread: Jiriki's Revisioned HoMM idea |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted July 14, 2015 11:02 AM |
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Edited by Jiriki9 at 11:06, 14 Jul 2015.
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Jiriki's Revisioned HoMM idea
Hey People,
I have for a long time thought about re-envisioning this. It is an old proposal by me, and I wanted to bring it up again, make it more complete – but also change it at some points.
Some crucial info beforehand:
-This game will have quite some ‘new’ (not to the community but to official HoMM games) features like random events, ambushes, more diplomacy and others.
-Key game aspects are kept, though some (f.e. Skills, Terrain & Magic) get altered or expanded, sometimes vastly.
-The ‘full’ game will have exactly 12 factions. The reasons is that I created these by a system, based on the alignments below, and wanted to have every combination with 1 neutral and 2 non-neutral aspects in. At first, though, I will try to get down the ‘base’ game, which has 9 factions: The human Empire, the underground armies of Dungeon, the struggling faithful of Haven, the Children of Darkness in the Keep, the Sun Elves in their Palaces, the wild Ramparts of the Forests, the spawns of madness dwelling in the Ruins, the spiritual Spellcasters of the Sanctuary and the Barbarian Horde of Stronghold. The Necromancers of Necropolis, a Dwarven Faction (yet unnamed) and a Swamp Faction (yet unnamed, too) will follow in what I dub “expansions”.
-Everything here is still in work and I’d love to hear comments and suggestions, though I of course cannot warrant I will take all suggestions in  Of course, if you have questions and something is unclear, feel free to ask as well!
Content:
I Game Mechanics & Features
-I.I New Features
-I.II Heroes
--I.II.I Skill System
--I.II.II Artifacts
--I.II.III Classes
-I.III Units
--I.III.I Unit Types
--I.III.II Unit Tiers & Upgrades
--I.III.III Unit Stats
--I.III.IV Support Troops
-I.IV Magic System
--I.IV.I Magic Schools
--I.IV.II Spell Learning
-I.V Battle System
--I.V.I The Battlefield
--I.V.II Turns, Initiative & Actions
-I.VI Adventure Map
--I.VI.I Terrains
-I.VII Town
-I.VIII Resources
-I.IX Game Modes and Basic Infos
II Factions
-Castle
I Game Mechanics & Features:
I.I New Features:
Alignment:
In this HoMM VII Vision, the Alignment of any unit, dwelling, etc. is a combination of aspects, which come in three groups. Factions (and their units) are always neutral in one of the groups, and get one aspect each of the other two. The aspects are (including a neutral option always!):
Values – Light vs. Dark
Society - Order vs. Chaos
Focus - Might vs. Magic
It shall also be mentioned that in the (basic) game, each aspect will appear exactly 3 times - so it will be 3 Light and 3 Dark factions, and 3 Order, 3 Chaos, 3 Might, 3 Magic factions. With all expansions, it will be 4 of each.
Also, the aspects do have certain influence on the gameplay of a faction.
Light:
A light faction is not necessarily friendly, but it is based on values we call "good". They tend to be altruistic and often compassionate, to worship aspects of Light or Life and to hate evil, badly. Key aspects here are creation, preservation and virtue.
Gameplaywise light factions are likely to be proficient in life magic and leadership, have access to some healing or protection powers in the units and often do more damage against dark units.
Dark:
Dark factions are the counterpart of light ones. The key values here are egoistic ones like greed and ambition, cruelty and unscrupulousness. They also have a tendency to Death, and not uncommonly the manipulation of the mind. Dark factions are not necessarily aggressive, nor do they always hate the light factions as much as these hate them. Still, these are the factions most would call “evil”.
Playing a dark faction will often result in getting access to direct and indirect means of dealing damage and weakening enemies, and not uncommonly also on secrecy – so unless the faction is also might oriented, dark magic is always present. In some dark factions the egoism might be incorporated, for example through less synergies or sacrifice practices.
Light-Dark-Neutral:
A Faction that is neither light nor dark usually has aspects of both in them. They are neither as virtuefull as light factions nor as vile as Dark ones, and often, their behavior is also variable.
Order:
A society based on order is a society based on structure and law, on obedience and rules, but also on cleanness and on the fact that things are working smoothly and steadily. Ordered factions usually like to plan things, their towns are well-thought-built and their society hierarchical. They highly mistrust any chaotic faction and usually strive to bring their order to others.
An order faction will have less to none units with abilities based on chance, and often even have ability that reduce chance in other aspects. Order factions also tend to have well-trained and well-armed troops and few beasts or monsters, unless these are mounts.
Chaos:
A chaotic faction is based on emotions, variation, flexibility and, most important, freedom. It is not necessary lawless, but the laws are not that tight. They have often grown hatred against ordered factions, because these won't just let them be free. There are, however, exceptions to this as well, were the chaos is more subtle and appears to be ordered on the whole.
In gameplay this leads to many chance-based abilities and often even a certain unpredictability of the troops, which are more often beasts or wild warriors then well-trained soldiers.
Order-Chaos-Neutral:
A faction that tends neither to order nor to chaos is what one could call a good middle way. They are not as fix and hierarchical as Order-Factions and yet more ordered, structured and reasoned than Chaotic ones.
Might:
A faction oriented towards might shows no, or not much, interest in magic. Often, it mistrusts or even hates them. Heroes of a might faction will, at most, be able to learn very basic magic and almost never become a master of the arcane arts. However, that leads to physical strength and, often, to larger armies.
Furthermore, Might factions may have alternatives to magic, use machines and physically strong units and almost always have some kind of anti-magic abilities, be it magic resistance or more offensive abilities.
Magic:
A magically oriented faction is, as it's called, focused on magic and spells, and, often, also on casters and magical units. They might possess less physical strength and numbers than might factions but their mastery of the arcane may prove that not that bad.
Naturally, these factions will lead to magic-oriented heroes, usually. A Magic faction will also often have more casters and units supporting magic, as well as sometimes more units which are magically by nature, like spiritual units.
Might-Magic-Neutral:
Easy enough, a might-magic-neutral faction is not focused on might or magic and capable to do both.
Aspects, relations and morale:
The aspects also have quite some influence on the morale of a unit. It works like this: a unit gets +2 morale for each unit in its army that has exactly the same alignment as them – which is true for the units of the same faction. They get another +1 for each unit that shares one alignment with them – unless the other aspect of that unit is the opposite of the other of this unit, in which case no bonus is given. On the other hand, if an allied unit has one alignment aspect opposite to one of the unit, it gets -1 morale. And finally, if there is a unit in the army with exactly the opposite alignment, a unit will get -2 morale.
To make this clearer, let’s look at an example army. Let’s say we have a rather mixed army with a stack each of Blessed (Haven: Light & Order), Griffins (Haven: Light & Order), Rangers (Rampart: Light & Chaos), Crossbowmen (Castle: Order & Might), Vampires (Keep: Dark & Magic) and Succubi (Ruins: Dark & Chaos). Now let’s start to look at the effect has on the Blessed, which have a Light-Order-Alignment. There is one other Haven unit with the same alignment, giving them +2. The rangers share the Light alignment with the Blessed, but their Chaos-Alignment opposes the Blessed’s Order, so no morale bonus here. The Crossbowmen have the Order alignment, and the Might alignment has no effect on the Blessed, so +1 from them. The opposite is true for the Vampires, which give -1 because they are Dark. And finally, the Succubi are Dark-Chaos, valuing the opposite of what the Blessed value, giving these -2. So on the total they get +2+1-1-2, equaling to 0, which means there is no morale bonus or penalty for the Blessed.
Now if you look at the other units of that weird example army that will not always be the same. It IS the same for the Griffins, because they have the same alignment as the Blessed and thus face the same situation. The Rangers on the other hand get -1 from the Crossbowmen and the Vampires each, and no other boni, so their morale gets -2 from the army composition. The Crossbowmen gets +1 from Blessed and Griffins, but -1 from Rangers, Vampires and Succubi, so still a total of -1. The Vampires get -1 from Blessed, Griffins, Rangers and Crossbowmen, and only +1 from the Succubi, so they even have -3 morale. And the Succubi get -2 from both Blessed and Griffins, -1 from Crossbowmen and +1 from Vampires, leading to -4 morale.
This system may look a bit complex but it leads to quite easy calculations and it makes army mixing more complex and interesting (and possibly rewarding, if you mix Factions with close alignments).
Ambushes:
This game will feature Ambushes. Ambushes can be set by an army on the adventure Map. When the ambushers are hiding successfully and an enemy hero comes near to an ambush he is trapped in an ambush attack. In an ambush attack, the ambushed units are randomly placed in the middle of the battlefield, the player has NO influence on the placement (because of the moment of surprise) and the ambusher may place his units around the ambushed units. The ambushing units get an initiative bonus in the first round, so an ambush, if successful, is indeed a useful thing, but if the ambush is prevented, a normal battle starts - just that the ambushing units get a morale malus and the - now attacking - army which has prevented the ambush gets an initiative bonus. There will be various things, skills etc., influencing ambushes...
Diplomacy:
This game would feature an increased diplomacy in comparison to other HoMM games. This means more options of interaction between players, as well as more relations in which players can be towards one another.
Diplomatic Relations:
Generally, there are X possible Diplomatic relations between players (including AI, of course):
-War: the two players are in war. They have vastly reduced options of interaction. Any contact will result in fighting (or conquering, if one party has no forces, for example in an AM building).
-Neutral: the two players are not at war, but not peaceful toward one another. Upon a contact, both sides can choose whether they want to negotiate (see below) or attack. An attack does not necessarily mean war! Some victory conditions do not require defeating neutral players, but only enemies.
-Peace: the two players are at peace, having a lot of negotiation option. Forces of players in peace usually cannot just attack another.
-Alliance: allied players share a strong bond, including shared sight and the special option to lend troops to one another (see below).
Basic of Diplomatic Negotiations:
Negotiations can be initiated either from a special diplomacy screen accessible from the Adventure Map, or, if you are not at war, by having a contact between two forces (of any kind) of the player. In negotiations, pretty much everything can be exchanged for everything. Basically, though there are Trade Objects and Treaties. The First are traded once and for all, and afterwards belong to the other player. The second are enduring agreements. A third thing that can be done are Declarations, which just means you can declare war or the breaking of a treaty (which, in case of AI, will make the other player hate you quite much.
Trade Objects:
Everything in the game can be traded, unless specific rules of the map deny it. If the trade object is part of an army (troops, artifacts, heroes themselves, spells known by one hero only) it can only be traded when the force in question is part of the negotiations (and not from the diplomacy menu)! So If I want to trade my Cavalry for another players Rangers, we have to get these two to one another. This does not apply to towns and AM-buildings.
-Troops can be traded when they are part of the negotiation. [Neutral, Peace, Alliance]
-Heroes can be traded (together with all their troops) when they are part of the negotiation. [ Peace, Alliance]
-Artifacts can be traded when carried by a hero who is part of the negotiation. [Neutral, Peace, Alliance]
-Spells can be traded when known to a Hero or Mage Guild who/which is part of the negotiation – and, if it’s a hero-to-hero spell transfer, a skill is needed for this. [Neutral, Peace, Alliance]
-Towns, AM-buildings (including dwellings, garrisons and mines, but also all other flagged AM-objects), Resources and Map information can be traded anytime [Neutral, Peace, Alliance]
Treaties:
Treaties usually last over a decided time. Exception to this is changing the overall relation, which is also done in the treaties menu (except War, which is declared) and usually not bound to a time, though Peace can be temporary. Other treaties are…
-Defense Treaty: If one of the players in a defense treaty is attacked or declared war, both players in this treaty will declare war against the aggressor. Any player attacking another player outside of War immediately is thrown out of all defense treaties. [Neutral, Peace]
-Passing Rights: The agreeing players allow one another to pass through each other’s garrisons without interaction. [Neutral]
-Sharing Sight: The players now share all their sight and information about each other’s forces with one another. [Peace]
-Tributes: A Tribute means that each turn a certain decided number of a resource is granted to one player by the others. If players agree on mutual tributes, this is also called a Trading Treaty. [Neutral, Peace] [Alliance(Only Trading Treaty)]
Lending Troops:
In an Alliance, players can lend one another troops. A lent unit stays with the player it was lent to, but when it comes to a battle, the lending player has control over this force. There will be skills making lending troops more useful.
Random Events:
This game will feature randomly occurring events on the adventure map as well as in battles.
I.II Heroes:
As mentioned above, the role of heroes in battle is quite much the role they had in H5: They stand aside the battlefield, but have their own turn with their own actions.
Every Hero has the following possible Actions:
-Attack: Attacks an Enemy
-Book: Use an active ability or spell.
-Wait: delays the hero turn.
Also, heroes provide their army with more power through their might stats and their skills. Some units will also gain power through heroes' Magic stats.
The Hero stats are:
Attack - increases the Attack of the hero and, usually in a lower amount, of creatures under the hero's command (ratio is 4>1/2>1/1>1 for Core/Elite/champion units)
Defense - increases the Defense of creatures under the hero's command (ratio is 2>1/1>1/1>2 for Core/Elite/champion)
Power - increases the effect of Spells cast by the hero.
Knowledge - increases the hero's mana points and, usually in a lower amount, the mana of creatures under the hero command (ratio is 5>1/3>1/1>1 for core/elite/champion units)
I.II.I Skill System:
Generally, the Skill system is divided into two kinds of skills: Main Skills & Sub Skills. Sub Skills are always designated to a Main Skill and placed in a Sub Skill slot of that main skill. Main skills always have 5 levels (Beginner, Advanced, Expert, Master, Legend), with the highest skill levels being limited by the hero level. Main Skills can also be primary or secondary. Primary Main skills are always available, while Secondary Main Skills have some prerequisites (usually one or more primary main skill/s).
A Hero may have a maximum of 10 Main Skills. For each main Skill, a hero can have 5 Sub Skills.
The Skills are obtained like in H5: At level up, you get to choose to obtain either a main or a sub skill, with 2 of each kind given you to choice. Unlike in H5, though, your hero can decline the choice, for a loss of experience points - to be precise: when declining a lvl up choice, the hero will lose as much experience points that they need exactly 1 point for next level up. Choices cannot be declined if the hero is levelling up more than one level at a time.
I.II.II Artifacts:
Artifact Slots
The hero has different slots for artifacts:
Their right hand, in which mainly weapons of various kinds can be carried.
Their left hand, in which shields, but also quite some other artifacts can be held.
Their Head, on which heroes can wear any kind of hat, helmet, crown, etc.
Their Neck, which can bear one necklace or a similar artifact.
Four Ring slots, in which the broad variety of rings can be put.
The Cloak slot, on which heroes can wear any cloak and similar.
Their Chest, where you can put any kind of cloth and armor (except cloaks and such)
Their Feet, for any kind of shoes..
Four Free Slots, for equipment not fitting into one of these categories (here you can have tomes, special talismans, etc.
All artifacts which can or shall not be put on a free slot, can be carried in the "backpack" of the hero, which has no number or weight limits.
What’s also new is the POWER limit: not every hero can use a limitless number of magical artifacts. Each artifact now has a power value, which may not be higher than the heroes' power over magical artifacts. This power value is, of course, higher, the more powerful the artifact is. The power of a hero over artifacts is determined mainly by their level, and also by their 'Power' stat.
Artifact Levels
There still are artifact levels, each with Artifacts of power of a certain range: Lowest are the Common Artifacts, which are weakest, then come the Uncommon Artifacts, followed by the Rare Artifacts. And finally, strongest of all, are the Legendary Artifacts, which are almost always unique...
Artifacts of each power and level can also be unique, meaning that they can only be on a map One time at most.
I.II.III Classes:
Every hero starts with one Basic Class - this starting Class is their Main Class.
Most Basic classes belong to a faction and come with its alignment (which can now and then be different for single heroes, especially in campaigns).
Additional to the Basic Classes there are Advanced Classes. These can be obtained during the game, meeting certain prerequisites. Advanced Classes will give nice boni, usually, and the access to some powerful subskills. Also, some heroes gain second specials, or theirs are advanced or changed, if they choose a certain advanced class.
A hero can have a total of 3 classes, including their main class. Normally, that will be 1 basic class and 2 advanced classes.
I.III Units:
I.III.I Unit Types
There are several basic Unit types, which can already determine quite much and, in many cases, abilities are focused on a unit type, or spare one. Here is a list of Unit types, with subtypes being listed underneath a basic type.
-Living (Just living, organic beings).
--Beasts (Most animal units. Birds and Insects are not taken in)
--Birds
--Insects (Though biologically not correct, this includes any and all arthropods)
--Plants (All plant-based units)
--Humanoid (Well, all humanoid, more or less intelligent living beings) [This has further subtypes: Human, Elf, Dwarf, etc.]
-Undead (Beings already dead, but returned to live somehow, usually through necromancy) [skeletons, ghosts, etc.]
-Mechanical (Machines working through clockworks, springs, engines and such) [Ballistas, Dragon Golems, etc.]
-Animated (Beings made of unliving matter, brought to live by rites and/or magic) [Golems, Magical Armors, etc.]
-Elemental (Pure Elemental beings) [the Elementals]
-Demonic (Beings from the demonic planes. In this plane, they have some resemblance to living beings, but are still quite different in essence) [demons^^]
-Spiritual (spiritual beings, not truly made of matter, but of some kind of energy)
There are also hybrids of these types, which will possess some of the type's attributes, but not all... Examples are half-mechanical or half-demonic troops. Most beastmen count as humanoid, but some are considered Hybrids.
I.III.II Unit Tiers & Upgrades
This game uses a five-tier system. There are 2 unit dwellings per tier in each faction. The player can choose which 7 of these 10 possible dwellings the want to build in a town. As additional rule, only one Building of Tier 5 can be built – so you cannot have the two strongest units of a faction at once, at least not in the same town. In Campaigns or scenarios, the dwelling limit may be different for single towns.
If you look at a (non-existing) totally average unit of each tier, there will be a strength growth ratio of 256>64>16>4>1, meaning that this average Tier 5 unit will be as strong as 4 units of Tier 4, 16 of Tier 3, 64 of Tier 2 and 256 of Tier 1. That at least is the way it is planned, balancing of course is hard.
For upgrades, I'm indifferent still, but there will be at least 1 upgrade, maybe alternates.
I.III.III Unit Stats
Units have quite some stats, which we know from the former games.
Now first those which are available for all units.
Hit Points determine how many damage a creature can take. You have to realize that there are the Max-HP of a creature and the current HP in a battle, which are reduced whenever a creature takes damage.
Attack means how good your unit is in attacking enemy units. If the attack of an attacking unit is higher than the Defense stat of a defending unit, the damage dealt is increased.
Damage simply means the damage a unit deals with its normal attack, under normal conditions. This value has a minimum and a maximum damage, so it comes in a range, and randomness comes in here.
Defense means how good a unit can defend itself against attacks.. If the Defense stat of a defending unit is higher than the attack of an attacking unit, the damage dealt is decreased.
Initiative determines how quick a unit can take action in battle.
Speed shows how many hex tiles a unit can walk in one turn.
Now those which are not available for every creature:
Shots tell you how often a unit can shoot in battle (without an ammo cart) before it needs a refill. (Note: These can be ‘projectiles’ the unit carries, or ‘charges’ of a natural way of ranged attacking. This is important because some abilities refer to only one kind of these.)
Mana Points are used to cast spells and sometimes to use abilities. They are not growing with the stack size.
Spellpower determines how effective spells cast by a unit are. In the calculation for the effect, the size of the stack is also taken into account! (Especially important on damage spells)
I.III.IV Support Troops
Support Troops are special "units", which differ from units in various aspects and replace the former “War Machines”/Warfare units
-most important, they cannot move
-they do not use a stack placeholder in the army, but they have their own place
-with few exceptions, they cannot attack and they can NEVER defend (only wait)
They do have changes in comparison to the former war machines, though:
-the most important thing is, they can stack
-also important, you will not have all support troops in the end, like you could in former HoMMs.
-some support troops will not even appear on the battlefield
The Stack system of support troops works like this:
You have one "Catapult" placeholder, which is reserved for Catapults and similar devices. All of these are active in battle and target Walls &Structures.
You have one "Supplies" placeholder, which is reserved for Supply troops, such as Ammo Cart, Beer Cart and mana Bowl. All of these are Passive in battle!
You have one "Tent" placeholder, which is reserved for all supporter Tents - Commander Tent, Healing Tent, etc. Most of these are active (but not necessary under your control!) and target units.
You have one free placeholder where you can put any Support Troop, including those not fitting into one of the other categories. (there are, for example, supporting troops which work on the AM only!)
I.IV Magic System
The Magic system shall be a bit different in this proposal than in former HoMMs.
I.IV.I Magic Schools
The Magic Schools in this game shall be ordered a bit different than before. There will be 3 main schools, each of them separating into 3 or 4 Sub Schools. Heroes, when advancing in the skill of a main school, will have to specialize in a sub school, often excluding other sub schools to an extent.
The 3 Main Schools will be Elemental Magic, Essence Magic and Arcane Magic.
Elemental Magic focuses on the elements the world is made of, their use, animation, creation and alternation, as well as their merging and antagonizing.
-Fire Magic handles everything concerned with the element Fire
-Air Magic handles everything concerned with the element Air
-Water Magic handles everything concerned with the element Water
-Earth Magic handles everything concerned with the element Earth
Essence Magic focuses on the mysterious powers of life in all forms, including the Mind.
-Life Magic, also called White Magic sometimes, deals with the powers of life, the positive Vital forces
-Spiritual Magic deals with anything concerning the Spirit and Mind
-Death Magic, sometimes defamed as Black Magic, offers the mysterious powers of Death
Arcane Magic deals with the (other) Forces of the World, which are unseen and yet always present.
-Chaos Magic deals with the element of randomness in any kind, with the unexpectable and surprising
-Order Magic uses and alternates the rules of the world
-Metamagic is the sum of all magic that is dealing with other Magic
I.IV.II Spell Learning
The spell learning system has changed a bit.
Like in former HoMMs, the Mage Guilds in the Towns will offer some specific spells for heroes to learn. However, heroes will no longer automatically gain knowledge of all spells of a visited mage guild, even if they have the corresponding skills (which they still need). Instead, you can choose them to learn a spell (which will take time=AM Movement of the Hero), if you wish them to. Why is this, and the choice, important? Because heroes are now limited in the number of spells they can learn.
It works like this: For each spell level, the knowledge of the hero determines how many spells of this level the hero can learn, by a fixed ratio. Also, there is a max level of spells of a certain school the hero can learn, determined by the knowledge and skill levels. And finally, there is a total maximum of spells a hero can learn, determined by the Knowledge and the Hero level.
In the following formulas, K is the Knowledge value of the hero, HL is the Hero Level and SL the Level of the corresponding skill.
Formulas for the Spell Level-specific Spell maximums:
-L1: 2+K
-L2: 2+K/2
-L3: 1+K/3
-L4: 1+K/4
-L5: K/5
So, for example, a Hero with a knowledge of 12 could have 14 level 1 Spells (not bad, eh?), but only 2 level 5 spells.
Formula for the School Maximums
(SL*K)/2
So, a hero with a knowledge of 6 and "Master Elemental Magic" can learn 12 Elemental Magic Spells at max.
Formula for the total Cap of learnable Spells
(HL+(K/2)-1)*2
So a Level 1 Hero with 2 Knowledge can learn a maximum of 2 spells, while a hero with Level 5 and 4 Knowledge can already learn 12 spells.
There may also be skills, artifacts, etc. enhancing this limit...
I.V Battle System
I.V.I The Battlefield
Like in H3, the battlefield is made of hexagons, not of squares like in H5. There will be different sizes and forms of battlefields.
Battlefield obstacles will be very different and may have a larger impact on the battle. Some of them will be structures, of which some can even be entered. This will especially be the case in battles over AM-Buildings.
Treasure Buildings and guarded Dwellings will also have their own specific battlefields.
I.V.II Turns, initiative & unit actions
The turns & Initiative work pretty much like in H5.
All units have 4 possible actions:
They can move to a target square and optionally attack a unit from there in melee.
They can wait (delaying their turn a bit).
They can defend (losing their current turn, but increasing their defense).
They can open the spell- and ability-book and use an ability or spell in it (if they have one).
Battle Movement
Moving around in battle works pretty much as it did in former HoMMs, but with an addition. If you wish, you can, instead of just clicking the target square, draw the path you want the unit to go. This way, you can better avoid traps and such - note, though, that abilities which base on the travelled squares will be altered a bit. You will not be able to misuse this (for example with jousting...such abilities will be probably and usually based on the shortest way to target attack location, not on the actual taken way, or the will just work if you take a certain kind of way).
I.VI Adventure Map:
The Adventure Map will be close to the one in H3, with a few options to change the angle of view, but not in full 3D, because I deem that unnecessary in an HoMM-game and sometimes even annoying rather than helpful.
There will be plenty of AM-locations of very different kinds, of course.
The Movement on AM will work as usual.
Terrain
The Terrain system will be altered, inspired by an idea I had years ago and in its execution mainly by AoW3. What was former Terrain is now split in two aspects: Climate and Terrain. Each place on the Adventure Map has a Climate and a Terrain. Some Factions have home Terrains, some home Climates, in which they can travel easier.
The Climates are:
-Cold: Very cold temperatures, snow everywhere. Special terrain is the frozen waters, over which armies can travel, but no Ships.
-Cool: Cool, but not ice cold temperatures. Snow is possible, but not frequent.
-Temperate: Well, normal, temperate climate.
-Warm: It gets warm, but it is not especially hot.
-Hot: Very hot climate. Deserts are burning sands, forests are teeming jungles.
-Underground: The special climate for the underground map layer, this alters all terrains to an underground style.
The Terrains are:
-Cultivated Lands: Fields and meadows. This land is populated and cared for by some ‘civilization’.
-Desert: Sands wherever you can see.
-Earth: Basic Terrain, alters highly with the climate. Fertile in Cool to Warm climate, Fully snow-covered in Cold Climate and dry and dusty in Hot climate.
-Grassland: Wild Grasslands, from the Snow-Covered Tundra to the dry steppes.
-Swamps: Muddy, wet, but lively. And untamed.
-Rock: Basic terrain for Mountain areas, but also frequent in underground.
-Volcanic: Well, where volcanoes are. Can be active or inactive, that does not depend on hot or cold climate.
-Wastelands: Dead, barren lands with no water at all. Desolate in any climate.
Underground also knows Rock and Earth Walls, which cannot be passed with normal means.
Aside the Terrains, there are three qualities of roads, which make traveling easier.
I.VII Town:
Town Screen
First important thing is, there are town screens again, proposedly a mix between H5, H4, and H3.
On the town screen, you will see the following things:
-The Garrison of the Town and the Visiting hero with their army (down)
-Short summary of the important infos (down left)
-A wheel to reach important windows, especially Fort (Recruitment), Hall (Building), Supports (Recruiting support units), Mage Guild, Tavern and Marketplace, but also various special buildings, directly (down right)
-A button to leave town (upper right)
-2 buttons to switch town (upper left)
-The Town picture, including all buildings. The Town picture depends on the faction (of course) and the terrain the town is on. You of course only see buildings which are already built. There are also houses and small buildings to be seen, which are no built buildings, but add to the ambiance. These depend on the town size. The Town Picture actually is in 3D, like in H5. The horizon behind the town is mostly based on the terrain the town is on. If Water touches the town, you will also see that water.
Building up the Town
This is probably the most important thing in a town. Generally, building works like it always did: You can build exactly one building per turn, using resources, and the building can be instantly used when built. As an alternation, though, the number of total buildings is limited, depending on the Town Size, which gets increased with certain basic buildings (Mainly the Halls and Fort & Upgrades). This limit is very high if you have built all of these buildings, though, it is mainly there to prevent players from pushing forward without these basic buildings.
I.VIII Resources:
There are 3 types of resources:
Gold, which is considered the main Resource and has a special role.
The common resources Wood, Stone and Iron..
The rare resources Crystal, Mithril and Mercury
Each common and rare resource has a different focus:
For the common resources, Stone is mainly used for buildings, Iron is mostly used on units, while wood is used equally for both.
For the rare resources, Crystal is very important for MAGICAL things, while Mithril is more use for MIGHT-focused actions. Mercury can be used for both, again.
Note that when recruiting units, it is often the case that 1 resource (except gold) pays for more than a few of them.
I.IX Game Modes and Basic Infos:
Player Number and Color
There can be a maximum of 12 players per Map. The player colors for these are red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, white, light brown, dark brown, black, teal and pink. Neutral forces are grey.
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted July 14, 2015 11:03 AM |
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Edited by Jiriki9 at 11:37, 20 Aug 2015.
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The Factions:
Castle:
"The Power lies in our hands - the ancient beliefs are to be overcome. We stand for Law and Justice, for an order that can be built and held up by the hands of men, and anyone who wishes to join in building up this empire, with muscle and stone, sweat and steam, blood and steel. We do not rely on the chaotic, oppressive forces of magic, but on the strength of our bodies and brains, our unity and our loyalty to the Emperor. If you wish to join us, we will be glad to count you in. If you want to stand against us - we will show neither mercy nor remorse."
~An envoy from the empire, speaking to a village near the borders of the Empire
"Fooolsses! Murrderes! Build Ssstone weys, ssstone hudds, ssstone rrrules. Forrge iron ssworrds, iron boltsss, iron heartssses! Fell treess, burrn bushes, drry ssswampsss. Wantsss kill and rule alll, but noone everrr canss. Know nosssing! Hearsss not call of wild. Thuss, will perrrissh - through uss!
- A Lizardmen Tribe Chief
Basics
aka: the Empire
Colors: white, royal blue, and scarlet red
Symbols: the crowned fist, the rose and swords
Alignment:
Order-Might
Capital: Krongardt
In a Nutshell:
The Castles are inhabited by humans and a few allied races living in a strict hierarchical society. The political Body of this society is the Empire and the supreme leader of all its citizens is the Emperor. The Empire loathes Magic and is fond of inventions and what technology exists in this world – which is not that much, yet, though the Empire has driven it forward quite a bit. Its army consists mainly of disciplined human troops with great armament and training, spiced up by a few Mechanical units. Especially in higher tiers, Anti-Magic abilities are very common.
Lineup:
Tier 1:
-Legionnaire
-Pioneer
Tier 2:
-Phalanx
-Crossbowman
Tier 3:
-Cavalry
-Militarius
Tier 4:
-Chariot
-Witch Hunter
Tier 5:
-Dragon Knight
-Steam Tank
Legionnaire
"See them Marching: They are like ants, thousands and thousands of them walking through the fields, none thinking individually."
~One Elven Scout to another, watching a division of the Imperial Army marching by
Appearance:
A human in chain armor, carrying a Tower Shield in one and a Sword called Gladius in their other Hand. A Bronze Helmet prevents from seeing any hair. The feet are in sandals. Their eyes are blue.
Stat Summary:
Nice Defense.
Not great speed, nor attack.
Growth: Above Average
Creature Type: Living, Human, Male
Abilities:
-Large Shield: Reduces (physical/projectile) ranged damage.
-Shield Formation: This unit gets twice the defense bonus from the defend action.
Strategical:
Statwise, the Legionnaire is a rather average unit, though in itself with a bit of defense focus. The abilities support this attitude, quite much, so the main place for a legionnaire will be a solid defense line or position
Pioneer
" When speaking of the Legions, most think only of the Legionnaires themselves. But as worthy as them are all those units supporting them. And most important amongst these are the pioneers, clearing the path of the Armies and building up defenses around the Camp for the night."
~General Athorius of the 7th Legion
Appearance:
A human clad in light leather armor, with a backpack with a lot of tools on their back. They are only lightly armed, using a working axe in melee. At their belt is an old-fashioned pistol with one shot. Their hair is bushy and light brown, and they wear trimmed beards. Their eyes are green.
Stat Summary:
Great Initiative, reasonable speed and hitpoints.
Very weak damage, not so great defense and attack.
Growth: Slightly Below Average
Creature Type: Living, Human, Male
Abilities:
-Clearing the way: When this unit is in an army, the movement hindrance of difficult terrain is reduced by 5%. This ability only works if the stack size is no less than 1/10 of the army size.
-Pistol shot: (Activated, once per turn). This unit ranged-attacks an enemy unit within 5 tiles around this unit. The damage gets reduced drastically for each tile the enemy is away. The base damage is 150% of this unit’s damage.
-Trench-Diggers: When the army of this unit is attacked and does not get some kind of trench or Moat from the location of the battle, then a Trench is placed on the defenders’ side of the battlefield.
Strategical:
This unit seems to be almost a full support unit. Unupgraded and on itself, it can do little in battle. But the supporting abilities are really good, and it is relatively cheap, especially for a unit with its growth. Thus it may be a good choice on maps with few gold and resources.
Phalanx
"The Phalanx’ are an Elite troop, both their armor and their training of highest quality. Their origin lies centuries before the forging of the Empire, in the time of the old city state of Dhau."
~from Baron Helmgret’s almanac “Forces of men”
Appearance:
A human soldier in shining armor, with round gilded shields and long spears. Their head bears an Iron Full Helmet.
Stat Summary:
Excellent defense and good Attack and damage, as well as reasonable, though not excellent hp.
Low Speed and initiative.
Growth: A good deal Below average
Creature Type: Living, Human, Male
Abilities:
-Horsebreaker: This unit deals double damage against mounted units.
-Spear Wall: If this unit gets attacked in melee, for every tile beyond 2 tiles the enemy moved to get close for the attack, it gets 10% of this units’ melee damage, up to a maximum of 100%, dealt BEFORE it performs the attack strike. If damage was dealt this way, this unit, will not retaliate afterwards.
Strategical:
This unit is a great defensive/tank unit, and especially effective against mounted units, which strengthens the defense role, because mounted units are usually quick attack units. Their downsides are typical for defenders as well.
Crossbowman
"The crossbow - finest combination of inventorial spirit, mechanics and craftsmen’s art. It shoots with a high speed, granting, when you're able to handle it, a great precision and range - and did I mention that it pierces through conventional armor far more easily than a simple arrow?"
~A merchant praising his crossbows to a minor ruler
Appearance:
A human soldier, in leather armor, with many cloth parts with their faction's symbols and colors. on the head, they have a fancy cap. Their weapon is a crossbow(^^), on the back they have a quiver with bolts, in their belt, a dagger for close combat is to be seen.
Stat Summary:
Nice attack, damage and shots.
Weak defense and HP
Growth: above average
Creature Type: Living, human, male
Abilities:
-Piercing Bolt: The ranged attack of this unit ignores 10/25/50% of the enemy defense (depending on how far away the enemy is.
-Ranged Attack (Projectiles): This unit can perform a ranged attack and uses projectiles for this.
-Strong Melee Penalty: The penalty for striking in melee instead of range is twice as high for this unit.
Strategical:
Well, the crossbowman is kinda the shooter, dealing a very good damage overall, especially since some defense is ignored, and more the closer the enemy gets. Also, it has the typical shooter weakness of being lousy in close combat in a true perfection. So, NEVER let your enemies come to crossbowmen if you can manage, and shoot, shoot, shoot with them until no bolt is left in the world.
Cavalry
"Aim for the Horses!"
~unknown Crossbowman
Appearance:
Humans in Iron Scale Armor with quite some ornaments, including a helmet with visor. There are armed with a lance for charges and a sword for close combat. The horse is armored as well, but not too heavy. You can see that underneath it has brown fur.
Stat Summary:
Good speed and excellent attack.
No true weakness.
Growth: Far below Average
Creature Type: Living, Human, Male; Mounted (Horse)
Abilities:
-Jousting: This unit deals +10% damage for every tile between this unit and the enemy when attacking. The straightest route is used for damage calculation, even if it is blocked.
Strategical:
Cavalry is an excellent attack unit, especially from afar, and they do not die as easily as many typical attack units do. However for a unit of tier 3 they also are incredibly few – and expensive.
Militarius
"I asked you to make a weapon for our armies - your result is more than convincing. You shall be rich and lack nothing you want - as long as you are only working for my empire."
-Emperor Jeremia Lharn, to his Dwarven Chief engineer, Fraxni Wirebeard
Appearance:
A machine, in roughly humanoid shape, walking on two legs, having two arms, which are melee weapons in itself. The body consists of complete, hard metal plates. On the top, there is a more shining plate, giving the appearance of a head, a bit.
Stat Summary:
Good in almost any aspect except speed and initiative.
Growth: Below Average
Creature Type: Mechanical
Abilities:
-Magic Resistance (25%): Reduces any spell damage by 25% and gets a 25% chance that non-direct-damage-spells cast on this unit fail. If a spell fails, the mana is used up anyway.
Strategical:
The Militarius is a worthy unit statwise, which makes up for its lack of abilities. Its only downside is low its speed, which prevents it from being a great offense unit. If you get it close to the enemy on the long turn, or if the enemy is foolish enough to come close, though, it is capable of dealing great damage. Its Magic Resistance adds to its endurance and is wonderful against Enemies focusing on Curses or damage spells. Its Mechanical Nature protects it from any mind-based effects as well.
Chariot
"Decimus in front position, Thomos right behind him, getting closer soon. about 10 feet, 8 feet - OUCH!...that was his pivot!"
~Commentator of the Grand Chariot Race of Vahrburg
Appearance:
A, mostly wooden, Chariot, slightly ornamented. Pulled by 2 horses, driven by 2 humans, one who steers and one with a Spear for fighting. Both are clad in simple clothes, but have light helmets.
Stat Summary:
HP reasonable, speed great.
Initiative not so good, Defense bad.
{Note: maybe I will exchange Defense and HP}
Growth: Average
Creature Type: Vehicle (Drivers: Male Human; Pullers: Horses)
Abilities:
-Crash: This unit deals +10% damage and ignores 5% of the enemy defense for every tile moved over when performing a melee attack. Also, the initiative of both this and the enemy unit is decreased by Z% after a crash.
Strategical:
The chariot seems a very strange unit on first sight. It is very fast - but it does not get very many turns: an unusual combination. Additionally, it has good HP and bad defense. So what to do with it? The answer is: Pick a small target and strike it, from as far away as possible. The Chariots crashing into the enemy will bring disastrous damage to them. Then quickly finish the hit unit with the rest of your army, or get the chariot out VERY quickly.
Witch Hunter
"Magic is Chaos. It has to be forbidden, banished, and eliminated."
~Elias Tharken, First General of the Witch Hunters
Appearance:
A tall, seemingly muscular Human, garbed in Scarlet and Dark Blue Clothes, which are not entirely hiding that an armor is worn under it. They also wear a Hat of Black and Blue Colors. At the silver necklace they wear, a golden pendant in form of a rose can be seen. At their one side, a Long sword rests in its hilt.
Stat Summary:
Good Attack and reasonable Defense, good Initiative.
HP not good.
Growth: A good deal Below Average
Creature Type: Living, Human, Male
Abilities:
-Magebane: This unit deals double damage against units with the “Caster” ability.
-Magic Resistance (10%): Reduces any spell damage by 10% and gets a 10% chance that non-direct-damage-spells cast on this unit fail. If a spell fails, the mana is used up anyway.
-Purge: (Active. Cooldown 1 Turn). Removes all positive spell effects from target enemy unit.
Strategical:
Even only considering stats, the Witch Hunter is a nice unit, and for many purposes. But with the abilities, it comes clear he is an anti-magic unit, With Magic Resistance protecting the Witch Hunter himself, Purging preventing the enemy from effectively doing buffs, and finally magebane, making it a killer against Caster units. One should keep an eye on their HP which is there biggest downer.
Dragon Knight
"Hereby, I swear to be proud about the honor given to me, and to use the great power I am granted only for the sake of the Empire and its people..."
~part of the oath of the Dragon Knights
Appearance:
A classical European Dragon, standing on 2 legs, the front legs a bit shorter, one of them also on the ground most time of battle. 2 Large wings which can be spread for flying, a long neck and an equally long tail. The Back is only slightly spined. The Dragon is gray, its eyes shine bright yellow. The Rider is human, clad in a Chain Armor, wielding a sword. He uses a kind of saddle.
Stat Summary:
Good or at least average in all stats.
Growth: Below Average
Creature Type: Living, Human, Male; Mounted (Dragon)
Abilities:
-Bravery: This unit can never have negative morale.
-Fire Breath: This unit can switch between Fire Breath attack and normal attack. Fire Breath attack deals all damage as fire damage and hits the tile behind the target tile as well.
-Fly: This unit moves by flying and thus can pass over any unit, Wall and most obstacles without hindrance. It cannot pass through Underground Walls, though.
-Knights Commands: Target friendly humanoid unit of a lower Tier gets an extra turn and a bonus on morale.
-Magic Resistance (75%): Reduces any spell damage by 75% and gets a 75% chance that non-direct-damage-spells cast on this unit fail. If a spell fails, the mana is used up anyway.
Strategical:
The Dragon Knight is really a great unit, having no real flaw, and also combining the specialties of a dragon with the discipline and commander skills of a knight. This pride of the empire is quite expensive, even for that, though.
Steam Tank
"Beware of the greed and anger of the humans, and beware of the Machines they build. I have seen these Monstrosities, crushing through Trees, turning Grass to ashes, killing any living being in its way."
~A Warden to the Council of Seasons
Appearance:
A huge Machine, fully made of Metal, in roughly the Shape of a Ship Hull turned around. Several Cannons protrude from its sides, and steam comes out of several small holes and pipes. It drives on thick, low wheels. At its Front, there is a Huge Ram with which it can Crush enemies, obstacles and even Walls.
Stat Summary:
Excellent Hitpoints and the best Defense of all Tier 5 units.
Low speed and even lower Initiative
Growth: Average
Creature Type: Mechanical; Drivers (Dwarf)
Abilities:
-Cannonfire: The Cannons need time to reload, thus this units ranged attack has a cooldown of one turn.
-Magic Immunity: This unit is immune to any spells. It cannot be targeted by them and if it is in reach of an area-effect of a spell, this has no effect on this unit. It also is immune to Arcane damage.
-Metal Hull: The drivers of this vehicle are protected inside its heavy hull and thus are immune to any negative Mind effect coming from the outside. The downside is that if this unit attacked with fire, they are effectively sitting in a boiling Kettle, thus this unit takes double fire damage.
-Ranged Attack (Projectiles): This unit can perform a ranged attack and uses projectiles for this.
Strategical:
A truly awesome unit in terms of endurance, especially against Magic-oriented enemies. It is very slow though, and if the enemy can muster up some Fire damage, its endurance is easily outmaneuvered.
Hero Class: Legate
The Legates are the Leaders of the Empire’s Legions, trained and usually seasoned Commanders, able, disciplined and completely obedient to the Empire.
Stat Development
As a typical might faction, Legates will gain almost no Spellpower and just a little knowledge, boosting their might stats mainly, with a focus on Defense there.
Skill Development
By default, no magic skills will come up when leveling up a Legate.
Castle:
General Structures:
-Village Hall - 500 gold/day
->Town Hall - 1000 gold/day
->> City Hall - 2000 gold/day
->>> Capitol - 5000 gold/day
-Fort - allows Dwellings to be Built. Supports the Siege Defense with Palisades
-> Citadel - Increases creature Growth onto Lvl 2. Supports Siege Defense with Main Tower
->> Castle - Increases creature Growth to Lvl. 3. Supports Siege Defense with Wall Towers
--Town Walls - Supports Siege Defense with Walls Lv 1
--> City Walls - Supports Siege Defense with Walls Lv 2 and mines (exploding when enemies approach, dealing massive damage and stopping them)
-->> Bulwark - Supports Siege Defense with Walls Lv 3, Portcullis and Boiling Oil
-Tavern - Allows you to recruit Heroes, gives rumors and allows you to play minigames.
--Thief Guild - You can hire spies here, which will gather information for you.
-Marketplace - Allows you to trade resources, embetters the trade rates.
--Resource Silo - Gives you 3 Iron/day.
--Trade Post - Allows you to trade with other players.
Dwellings:
-Barracks [Fort] - Allows you to recruit Legionnaires.
-War Encampment [Fort] - Allows you to recruit Pioneers.
-Parade Ground [Barracks OR War Encampment] – Allows you to recruit Phalanxes.
-Shooting Range [Barracks OR War Encampment] - Allows you to recruit Crossbowmen.
-Imperial Stables [Citadel + Stables + (Parade Ground OR Shooting Range)] - Allows you to recruit Cavalry.
-Dwarven Workshop [Citadel + Blacksmith + (Parade Ground OR Shooting Range)] - Allows you to recruit Militarii.
-Racing Grounds [Imperial Stables OR (Stables + Dwarven Workshop)] - Allows you to recruit Chariots.
-Conclave [City Hall + (Imperial Stables OR Dwarven Workshop] - Allows you to recruit Witch Hunters.
-Dragon Tower [Castle + (Racing Grounds or Conclave)] - Allows you to recruit Dragon Knights.
-Factory [Castle + Iron Works] – Allows you to recruit Steam Tanks.
-Blacksmith [Fort] - Allows you to hire Catapults and Ballistas.
-Academy [Town Hall] - Allows you to hire Healing Tents and Commando Tents.
-Storehouse [Marketplace] - Allows you to hire Ammo Carts.
Special Buildings:
-Colosseum [Town Hall,] - On first Visit, heroes gain a permanent +1 Defense.
->Arena – Additional to the Colosseum effect,
-Fortifications [City Walls] - Enhances the HP of Walls and Towers
-Recruitment Office [Citadel] - Increases the population Growth of one random unit of the following each week: Legionnaires, Pioneers, Phalanx’s or Crossbowmen.
-Stables [Town Hall] – Increase the movement of visiting heroes for 3 days.
-Iron Works [City Hall + Dwarven Workshop + Resource Silo] – Gives you 3 additional Iron each day.
Background:
History:
"The history of the Empire begins long before its founding, as the bases of its society lie in the Iron Realm of the past, as well as in the City states that came before and the thousand nations which came after it. The Iron Realm was a vast kingdom, surrounded by enemies, but holding firm. It came to be when the humans, divided into a thousand cultures, were faced by enemies and threats on all sides. The Iron Realm bound these Cultures together, in a process lasting at least two centuries. It dealt with most of the threats, often by forces, less often by diplomacy. The Realm would afterwards last about 400 years, in which it continued to expand. But it should not last forever.
The Iron Realm was not as hostile to Magic as the Empire of these days is. In Fact, its mages held an influential position. Each Noble, by whom the Realm was effectively ruled, as they were only partly bound to obey the High King, had their own Court Mage. In many cases, it is said, these even were the actual rulers. And this is part of what brought the Iron Realm down. When it seemed that most threats to the Iron Realm were held at bay or even destroyed – Civil War broke out. It began in the Southern Provinces, but it soon spread and three big parties formed: The royalists, loyal to the King and the Realm in itself. The Faithful, who claimed the Clergy should rule the lands. And finally the Separatists, main cause of the civil war, who were only a loose alliance, wishing to restore times, in which each Region governed itself, without a High King, without an Iron Realm. Almost all Separatists were either Mages themselves or had Mages as closest Councilors.
And by this Magic, the Separatists gained strength and power with each month. Battle after battle was fought, and especially the Faithful were diminished, as most lands loyal to their cause lay in between the main Royalist and Separatist Legions. Finally most Faithful withdrew their claim and allied with the rightful King again. A few, though, fled the Region of the Empire, into Mountains, Forests and harsher environments. These were to build the basis of the ‘Sacred Church’ of our days. In the remains of the Iron Realms, though, the battles went on. And finally, after 34 years of war, its final battle came to be – and the Separatists won, slaying the King. But their victory was not as glorious as one could believe. As to be expected, the alliance broke down the instance it had no enemy anymore. In the night after the battle, internal fighting killed nearly half of the remaining separatist forces. At the same time, foreign forces invaded the lands of the Iron Realm from all sides. War broke out everywhere and Chaos reigned for over 600 years. And then came the glorious year in which Jeremiah Lharn was born.
The man who would be the Emperor was born to the Lord of a large, but not that important town, called Lharing. His youth will be covered later in this book in detail, but he was always a just, courageous and clever man. Soon after he reached manhood, his home was destroyed by an evil warlock, his family slain and his castle razed, the future Emperor left for dead. But he survived. And from that moment on, he pursued his goal to bring order everywhere. His first step was to make himself a name, which he did as diplomat and as slayer of evil chaotic beings, be they unnatural beasts or vile sorcerers. Through his reputation he was able to marry Agnes of Krongardt when he was 20, and from there, with the support of his Father in Law, he began to expand Krongardts land, gather allies and rally supporters. When his father in Law died 10 years later, Lharn succeeded him in the rule of a region that was 15 times as large as it was to the time of the Marriage. Lharn then started to formulate his ideas of an Empire of mankind with a strict law and. It was only 4 years later that this Empire was officially founded. Krongardt had gathered the support of over 6 large and two dozen smaller regions. The following 20 years saw a further expansion of the Empire and the inner forming of its social hierarchy. Since then, the Empire has stayed roughly the same size and fought no major wars, while the internal hierarchies were stabilized."
~From the Introduction to Archimares Terodinis’ “A History of the Empire”
Geography:
The Empire in its current form stretches over a great region of the Main continent in this game. Most parts of it are cultivated grassland.
Society:
The Society of the Empire is based on four pillars: hierarchy, law, service and the shunning of magic. The laws are of extreme importance and nearly everything is written in stone in them, from the structure of the Empire to which behavior is to be expected from anyone from peasant to general. The one and only person who does not have to answer to the law completely is the Emperor himself. The Empire is a very patriarchic society, with almost no women in higher positions. Its hierarchy is steep, and each step on the ladder means absolute control above those below. The other side of this is that serving the Empire and your superiors is both duty and honor. Station can be granted by talent, birth, or the Emperors Will. The bureaucratic apparat works surprisingly smoothly, and corruption is not as frequent as you would expect. And finally, magic is officially viewed as THE evil, the main source of human corruption. Diligence, Industriousness, Courage, Honor, Duty and Correctness are the values of this people.
Religion:
There is no official religion in the Empire. The official statement is that people shall focus on this world, and not any world beyond. Practically, though, the current Emperor – and, since the first Emperors recent death, the First Emperor Jeremiah Lharn – is often worshipped like the god. And the other side of the reality is that the Empire ist still young and many families were and are unwilling to give up their old religion. Thus there are many religions in the empire as well, mostly practiced in secret.
Dungeon
"My Child, look at this world that crawls at our feet and keep in mind everything you see. The slaves down there, are working for us. We have a hoard of immense treasure, and a horde of minions to our bidding. Or, well, I have, but as long as you are young, this is the same. There, you can see the Minotaurs training. And over there, a Shrine for worshipping - worshipping us. You see, my child, this world, this underground world, unseen to the eyes of the uplanders, is to our command. And do you know why? Because they fear us. And they have reason for fear, cause we are powerful, and they are not, which gives us the right to command them, because we are smarter and stronger than them. This is the only true rule, of the world, child - who is more powerful, may use this power."
~Ancient Black Dragon Mother, Mashendra, to her youngest son
"Our quarrel is dangerous, for we know that true, evil enemies are everywhere. And the ancient, black, cruel destroyers are still there, waiting, gathering, hoarding. The fled underground, defeated, but undestroyed. And thus, it is certain that they will return - to destroy the light and dominate the world once more.
~Sun Elven envoy Khiam'ahrun
Basics
aka: Armies of the Deep; The Slavers
Colors: Black, Crimson and Bronze
Symbols: Many symbols are used in the Dungeons, depending on who rules them. Most frequent to find, though, are Dragon Heads, Claws and Spiders
Alignment:
Dark-Might
Capital: None (Not a united Nation)
In A nutshell:
Dungeon is an underground faction who sets on raw strength on one and weakening the Enemy on the other hand. Dungeon is also known to often raid the overworld for slaves, plunder or the mere joy of destruction.
Lineup:
Tier 1:
-Troglodyte
-Cave Spider
Tier 2:
-Nibelung
-Harpy
Tier 3:
-Minotaur
-Medusa
Tier 4:
-Manticore
-Beholder
Tier 5:
-Black Dragon
-Spider Queen
Troglodyte
"We arrived to late - the village was already razed, the peasants slain. Yet we were able to get hold of the corpse of a strange creature, greenish and scaly, with no eyes and strange claws, and assume…"
~from a Patrol Captain's Report
Appearance :
In many aspects, similar to the H3 Troglodyte - same color, no eyes, broad mouth with sharp teeth, slightly thinner. They wear neither clothes nor armor. As a weapon, they wear skin gloves from which long and heavy claws obtrude (looking a bit like wolverine  )
Stat Summary:
Reasonable Damage.
Weak HP and Defense, Speed could be better.
Growth: Good Deal Above Average
Creature Type: Living, Humanoid
Abilities:
-Immune to Blind: This unit cannot be blinded in any way and gets no penalty for fighting in dark surroundings.
-Smelling Blood: When an enemy unit gets damaged physically within the movement range of this creature, it will rush towards the enemy and attack it. If this happens during a melee attack, the whole attack, including retaliation and other actions, is completed first.
Strategical:
The Troglodytes are not at all great, statwise, but they are quite numerous. Also, they are good for Underground fights, being immune to any darkness. Watch out for their passive "Smelling Blood" ability, if you do not calculate it, it may have some nasty side effects.
Cave Spider
"Spiders? Why should I be afraid of Spiders? If I see one I will crush it with - "
~last words of a treasure hunter
Appearance :
A large Spider, about as big as a dog. Its body looks like that of a wolf spider roughly. Its grey exoskeleton is covered by thin white hairs all over the main body and the legs. The eyes are black and unblinking, the chelicerae black, big and sharp.
Stat Summary:
Nice Speed, Initiative and Attack.
Low Hitpoints.
Growth: Slightly Below Average
Creature Type: Living, Insect
Abilities:
-Cave Crawlers: This unit can crawl over any kind of solid, grounded obstacle in battle, including Walls. Crawling over a wall uses the movement of more than one tile (how many exactly depends on the wall level).
-Spider Venom: This units attack has a chance to inflict paralyzing venom on the enemy. This venom lasts five turns and reduces the movement of the victim by 25% as well as Attack and Defense by 10% each turn (cumulative!). When the movement reaches 0%, the victim cannot act or retaliate anymore and loses that turn.
Strategical:
Cave Spiders are an excellent offensive unit. If their Poisoning is successful, they can deal huge damage to your enemies’ mobility. Even better, this also works on sieges. Their problem is typical for such an offender: They die really easy. A possible strategy is to take some smaller sacrificial poisoner stacks rather than a big force of these little critters.
Nibelung
"Ah, the story of Nibelung and his followers is the darkest in the history of our People, full of sorrow, envy, greed and hate, sadder even than the days of grand destruction."
~Dwarven historian Ramin Inkbeard
Appearance :
A Dwarf, with rather pale skin, long blond beard and hair, clad in a dark chain mail and black clothes, wielding a claw hammer into battle.
Stat Summary:
Nice Defense, good attack.
Weak initiative, Loooooow speed
Growth: Below average
Creature Type: Living, Dwarf, Male
Abilities:
-Greed: This unit has a greed for valuable materials such as gold and rare resources. Thus, when you find those with this unit in your army or close by and under your control, it will claim its share, effectively reducing your gain. If its gold, you get –X *2 Gold. If it’s a rare resource you get –(X/4)% of the resource. X in both cases is the number of units in this stack.
-Magic Resistance (25%): Reduces any spell damage by 25% and gets a 25% chance that non-direct-damage-spells cast on this unit fail. If a spell fails, the mana is used up anyway.
Strategical:
The Nibelungs are a nice defensive unit in the Dungeon lineup, with the typical dwarven weakness of slowness. However they deal a tiny bit more damage than ordinary dwarves.
Harpy
"Terrible, unnatural beasts they are! Came down on us, them monsters, shrieked like birds, killed anyone they could get...I was not the only one to run!"
~A merchant, having survived a harpy attack on his caravan
Appearance :
Torso of a humanoid woman, with rather human face, but bird legs and feet, wings instead of arms and partly feathered.
Stat Summary:
Good speed, initiative and attack, as well as reasonable damage.
Low defense and HP
Growth: good deal below average
Creature Type: Living, beastman, female
Abilities:
-Fly: This unit moves by flying and thus can pass over any unit, Wall and most obstacles without hindrance. It cannot pass through Underground Walls, though.
-Strike and Return: When this unit performs a melee attack against an enemy unit, it will return to its original position after the attack was fully executed, including any possible retaliation.
Strategical:
They are excellent offense units, striking quick and, after the attack, just returning to their starting position, which makes their low defense and HP not THAT a pain in the ***. This is even strengthened by the fact that they can fly, so not even city walls, or obstacles can really stop them.
Minotaur
"The Descent of the Minotaur lays in Darkness - some say it was the work of gods, some say a natural development, and others that a mighty Mage, Sage or Warlock once created them."
~from Khaleks "Bestyaryum Magna"
Appearance :
A typical minotaur - humanoid body, bulls head. The fur Color is Brown, the Horn color typical, they wear Leather armor and a big Double Axe.
Stat Summary:
Good Attack and Defense
Not that good initiative
Growth: Good Deal below average
Creature Type: Living, beastman, Male
Abilities:
-Assault: This creature has a chance to deliver another blow after the first one.
-Parry: This unit will ignore (n+X-Y)% of melee damage (does not block all types of attack, for example breath attacks cannot be blocked). X is the number of units in this stack, Y the number of enemy units (Champion units count as 5 units for this calculation!)) and n is a random value between 0 and 100. This unit cannot ignore more than 100% or less than 0% of damage this way.
Strategical:
The Minotaur is a nice and versatile unit. He exceeds neither in attack nor defense, and has no real weaknesses, so you can use him differently according to the situation.
Medusa
"And here, my ladies and lords, we are in the Stone Garden. Can you see all these Statues around us? They do all look real, don’ they? If the legend speaks true – they are."
~a guide on a tour through the fabled Murahsi Temple
Appearance :
The greenish body of a snake, the torso and head of a humanoid woman who looks like she is not young anymore, but has aged well and kept her beauty. Her eyes are bright gold and her skin pale. Instead of hair, thin hissing snakes grow out of her head. In her hands, she wields a curved bow.
Stat Summary:
Good in Damage and reasonable in Hitpoints
Speed and Defense could be better.
Growth: Slightly above Average
Creature Type: Living, Humanoid
Abilities:
-No Melee Penalty: This unit does not suffer any Penalty on its melee attack, despite being a shooter.
-Ranged Attack (Projectiles): This unit can perform a ranged attack and uses projectiles for this.
-Stone Gaze: Melee attacks by this unit against a living unit (which may not be immune to blind!) have an X% chance to turn them into stone. X is equal to the number of units in this stack, but capped at 100. Stoned units cannot act or react in any way as long as the effect remains, but have a 50% resistance against physical damage.
Strategical:
Another versatile unit, which can be used in range, but is equally effective in close combat, not dying too quickly. Stone gaze is simply awesome, especially because the growth of the Medusas is better than you would expect by their strength.
Manticore
"The Manticore is an unnatural Hybrid, probably created by a master of magic in ancient times, maybe even by an ancient dragon."
~from Khaleks "Bestyaryum Magna"
Appearance:
It has the body and mane of a red lion, a human head with three rows of sharp teeth (like a shark) and the black tail of a scorpion.
Stat Summary:
Nice attack and Damage, Good Speed and Initiative.
Defense could be better.
Growth: good Deal below average
Creature Type: Living, Beast
Abilities:
-Devour: Removes a target stack of fallen Units by devouring their corpses, also recovering a bit HP in the process. Can only devour organic units.
-Poison Sting: The Melee Attack of this creature has a chance to inflict a poison effect on the enemy, which deals damage every turn.
Strategical:
The Manticore is certainly an offensive creature, but one with the ability to endure there a bit. Against living enemies, the Manticore has its poison, and against all those who base on resurrection, including undead, he is useful by devouring the corpses.
Beholder
"It is this eye. It searches me, it tries to find me, and there is nowhere I can hide."
~Inhabitant of the madhouse of Redleaf
Appearance:
A globular body with One Giant Eye and many Tentacles, floating near above the ground. The skin is light brown, the iris of the Eye is orange.
Stat Summary:
Good Attack and Damage
Weak Defense, Speed and Initiative could be better.
Growth: Average
Creature Type: Living
Abilities:
-Float: This unit floats above the ground, and thus is immune to ground-based effects and can cross above some obstacles. It cannot float above units or walls, though. Also, it does not count as flyer for any purpose!!!
-Gaze: This unit can perform ranged attacks only against targets to which it has a free, straight line. So if walls, enemy units or high obstacles are in the way of this straight line, this unit cannot range-attack that enemy.
-No Melee Penalty: This unit does not suffer any penalty on its melee attack, despite being a shooter.
-Ranged Attack (Charge): This unit can perform a ranged attack and uses charges for this.
Strategical:
The Beholder is, of course, mainly for use as a shooter, but it's not so fixed on the role as other ranged units, since it has no melee penalty, and also because it cannot target every enemy on the map, any time. It is not really effective on Siege Battles, unless you can quickly breach the wall.
Black Dragon
"The Black Dragons are not just old, but ancient. They are cunning, they are greedy, they are powerful. And above all, they enjoy having power over lesser beings.
~Coyran Windsong, Halfelf
Appearance:
Similar to the H3 Black/Red Dragon in general body shape. Color is black and dark grey, the Eyes are shining yellow.
Stat Summary:
Good HP and Speed. Reasonable Defense and Damage.
No real weakness
Growth: Below Average
Creature Type: Living, Dragon
Abilities:
-Fire Breath: This unit can switch between Fire Breath attack and normal attack. Fire Breath attack deals all damage as fire damage and hits the tile behind the target tile as well.
-Fly: This unit moves by flying and thus can pass over any unit, Wall and most obstacles without hindrance. It cannot pass through Underground Walls, though.
-Magic Immunity: This unit is immune to any spells. It cannot be targeted by them and if it is in reach of an area-effect of a spell, this has no effect on this unit. It also is immune to Arcane damage.
Strategical:
Nothing much to say, a really mighty and powerful unit.
Spider Queen
"Ah, young elf, you look so splendid. We will have so much fun together. I want to feel you – and after that I want to taste you! Now come to me!
~A spider queen to her victim.
Appearance:
A hybrid creature with the upper body and had of a humanoid woman and the back of a spider. From the spider back 6 spider legs and a retractable sting protrude. The upper body has 4 arms with hands, the lower of them being partly covered in chitin and with black claws. The spider part is the color of a purplish black. The humanoid skin is dark as well, and the blending of skin to chitin is smooth and strange to the eye. The eyes of this creature are shining purple and drips of blood are scattered on the humanpid part - on which she, by the way, wears nothing at all. The spider queen also has no hair, but wears a black metal crown.
Stat Summary:
Good Speed, Awesome Initiative, Good Damage
HP and Defense are really low for a Tier 5 unit
Growth: Average
Creature Type: Living, Humanoid-Insect, Female
Abilities:
-Queen of the Arachnids: While this unit is on the battlefield, all friendly Insect units get a bonus on attack and initiative.
-Seductive Call: (Active). Targets an enemy male unit who is not immune to mind control and not adjacent to this unit. That unit will in future not take other actions but moving and use these automatically to get closer to this unit. The spell breaks when this unit takes any action while being adjacent to the other unit.
-Spider Venom: This units attack has a chance to inflict paralyzing venom on the enemy. This venom lasts five turns and reduces the movement of the victim by 25% as well as Attack and Defense by 10% each turn (cumulative!). When the movement reaches 0%, the victim cannot act or retaliate anymore and loses that turn.
Strategical:
Nothing much to say, a really mighty and powerful unit.
Hero Class: Overlord
The Overlords are brutal, aggressive War Leaders, and Tyrants in time of peace. The law of the strong is the only thing that counts for them. Magic is for weaklings.
Stat Development
Power and Knowledge will only grow a little on an overlord, and power will, on the veeeeeeeery long run, grow slightly more. Defense will not grow that much, either, though. The main stat of this class definitely is attack.
Skill Development
Actually, magic skills will come up when leveling up an Overlord, but only rarely. Offensive skills of any kind are most likely to come up.
Town
General Structures:
-Village Hall - 500 gold/day
->Town Hall - 1000 gold/day
->> City Hall - 2000 gold/day
->>> Capitol - 5000 gold/day
-Fort - allows Dwellings to be Built. Supports the Siege Defense with Palisades
-> Citadel - Increases creature Growth onto Lvl 2. Supports Siege Defense with Main Tower
->> Castle - Increases creature Growth to Lvl. 3. Supports Siege Defense with Wall Towers
--Town Walls - Supports Siege Defense with Walls Lv 1
--> City Walls - Supports Siege Defense with Walls Lv 2 and Abyss (Impassable moat in front of the Walls, leaving the gate the only place to reach – unless you are a Flyer in which case the Abyss is no true obstacle)
-->> Bulwark - Supports Siege Defense with Walls Lv 3, Portcullis and Boiling Tar
-Tavern - Allows you to recruit Heroes, gives rumors and allows you to play minigames
--Thief Guild - You can hire spies here, which will gather information for you
-Marketplace - Allows you to trade resources, embetters the trade rates
-> Slave Market [City Hall] – Allows you to trade troops and slaves for money.
--Resource Silo - Gives you 1 Mithril/day
--Trade Post - allows you to trade with other players
Dwellings:
-Waste Pile [Fort] - Allows you to recruit Troglodytes.
-Webbed Caves [Fort] - Allows you to recruit Cave Spiders.
-Deep Mine [Resource Silo + (Waste Pile OR Webbed Caves)] - Allows you to recruit Nibelungs.
-Cliff Nests [(Waste Pile OR Webbed Caves)] – Allows you to recruit Harpies.
-Labyrinth [Citadel + Blacksmith + (Deep Mine OR Cliff Nests)] - Allows you to recruit Minotaurs.
-Stone Gardens [Citadel + (Deep Mine OR Cliff Nests)] – Allows you to recruit Medusas.
-Manticore Lair [War Shrine + (Labyrinth OR Stone Gardens)] - Allows you to recruit Manticores.
-Pillar of Eyes [City Hall + (Labyrinth OR Stone Gardens)] - Allows you to recruit Beholders
-Dragon Hoard [Treasure Hoard + Castle + (Manticore Lair OR Pillar of Eyes)] – Allows you to recruit Black Dragons
-Spider Temple [Slave Market + Castle + (Manticore Lair OR Pillar of Eyes)] – Allows you to recruit Spider Queens
-Blacksmith - allows you to hire Catapults and Ballistas
-Academy - allows you to hire Healing Tents and Commando Tents
-Storehouse - allows you to hire Ammo Carts
Special Buildings:
-Slave Fighting Pit [Slave Market + (Labyrinth OR Stone Gardens)] – Allows you to trade slaves or troops for experience.
-War Shrine [Town Hall] - On first Visit, heroes gain a permanent +1 Attack.
-Treasure Hoard [City Hall + Nibelung Cave] – Increases your daily income by 500.
-Escape Tunnels [Fort + Thief Guild] - Allows you to flee when defending this city.
->Traveling Tunnels [Citadel + Town Hall] – Allows you to send troops and heroes between this city and each other city with Traveling Tunnels.
Background:
History:
History? You are funny, human! We are old, that is all you need to know – old and powerful. We were here and old, before any empire of the humans existed. We were an Empire. Than lesser beings swarmed the surface, and some fools among our cousins claimed we have to serve them, rather than rule them as was our right. We retreated from the surface – and found the underground ripe and ready, a realm of itself. And here we are, here we wait, plan and gather. You upworlders might have forgotten, but we did not. We will come back. And when we come, your lands will be razed and ruined.”
~Urathal, Ancient Black dragon, in a conversation with the famed Elven historian Ilyi’aras Earthdrop
Little is known clearly about when, how and where the first dungeons came up, at least from an objective point of view. Definitely, though, the Black Dragons had a lot to do with it, which is probably one part of the reason for them being worshipped.
Geography:
There is no coherent Realm of this Faction. Dungeons are found all in the underground, but more often still far away from bigger Settlements – or at least their cave entrances are. Thus, all but very few dungeons have only underground domains. There, they have no preference, settling in dusty underground deserts as well as in fertile mushroom fields.
Society:
The Society in a Dungeon is based on Power and Power is most often based on Strength – but also on cunning. There is no code of honor at all in this society, so any means are allowed. Blood and Death are everyday happenings and War and violence are thoroughly practiced. Slaves are common as well, usually taken from raids to the overworld, but also from other dungeon cities. These slaves are treated badly, usually, and often sent to die in the arenas. Gender, on the other hands, means little and less – as power is not bound it. The same goes for race and there are a few former slaves who managed to rise and now are overlords with mighty armies.
Religion:
The most common worship in Dungeon is the Black Dragon Worship. It consists in sacrifices of gold and flesh and service. The worship is directed to the most powerful dragon of the city, usually. Sometimes, lesser Dragons also get worshipped, if a city is big enough. If there is no dragon, there are a lot of forms dragon worship is practiced. Sometimes, Black Dragon eggs are worshipped and cared for as holy relics. At other places, Giant Dragon statues are worshipped in place of a dragon. There is no general clergy, but most cities do have an independent priesthood, often consisting of Medusas, but other priests exist as well.
Aside the dragon worship, there are 2 main other religions. The Spider Queens are also worshipped, and as in worldly affairs, they are the most powerful rivals to the Black Dragons here. The worship consists of sacrifices as well, but also in wearing Robes and veils of Spider Silk, and in frequent prayer. In some places, the Spider worship is only done secretly, not to provoke anger in the Dragons. The third big religion is the belief in a deity of War called Yauh. It is theoretically more widespread than the other two amongst warriors, but it is less important because Yauh has only shrines, no priesthood, no official followers. Still almost everyone prays to Yauh before a raid, a battle or any other fight.
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted July 14, 2015 11:03 AM |
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Reserved
...any comments yet, and/or any wishes what I should present next?
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articun
Supreme Hero
As i dream, so shall it be!
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posted July 14, 2015 11:07 AM |
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This is your idea of small portions and information??? 
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted July 14, 2015 11:10 AM |
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Edited by Jiriki9 at 11:13, 14 Jul 2015.
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This IS only a very small part of what I have already. The main informations and one faction. I hope that some people will read this and hopefully get intrigued.
EDIT: Also I assure that this looks like more than it is. For example, the Town buildings take a lot of place for not that much information, as much is already known - Halls give money, marketplace lets you trade, etc.
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articun
Supreme Hero
As i dream, so shall it be!
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posted July 14, 2015 11:13 AM |
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Why not make it a pdf and publish it somewhere online??
I will try to give it a read later on!
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted July 14, 2015 11:19 AM |
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=D I think that HC is pretty much a fitting audience for this.
Thanks for giving it a try 
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articun
Supreme Hero
As i dream, so shall it be!
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posted July 14, 2015 11:24 AM |
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Jiriki9 said:
=D I think that HC is pretty much a fitting audience for this.
Thanks for giving it a try
I meant giving us the link here to the .pdf
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted July 14, 2015 12:29 PM |
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Hmmm, but for that I'd have to have it finished Also, it wouldn't be less to read, would it? It just would mean one more obstacle to reading it (opening it)
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MattII
Legendary Hero
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posted July 14, 2015 02:47 PM |
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Edited by MattII at 22:56, 14 Jul 2015.
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Hm, 5 tiers, 2 creatures per tier, no upgrades (at least in the traditional sense AFAICT), interesting. Of course, it's hard to make judgements in some cases, because while you're long on descriptions, you're short on detail, giving us neither skills nor spells.
Also, I note that while there are many complex formulas here, mana is still dictated by Knowledge*X. I have to say, this feels a bit lame, and was in fact among the first things I changed. My own method for calculating maximum mana eventually ended up as (2+X)*Hero Level, where X was dictated by the number of magic skills the hero had (working from the H3 skill tree, Sourcery, Mysticism and the Magic schools would give +2 each, Wisdom, Scholar and Eagle Eye +1 each, and Intelligence +1/2/3), so the growth was more smooth.
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Storm-Giant
Responsible
Undefeatable Hero
On the Other Side!
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posted July 14, 2015 02:58 PM |
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The Spell learning system sounds very confusing, yet interesting nonetheless. It makes more difficult achieving a varied spell book, but it doesn't cost additional resources or whatsoever - only coming back to the town to learn new spells after levelling up.
Creature tier system sounds similar to H4, but with slighty smaller jumps between tiers? I still do prefer a 3-tier system with choices on every level, however this is something I could live with, for as long as demolishing dwellings is possible inside towns (so you don't get screwed by your opponents choices).
I can't say I agree with everything, but I see some very good ideas here and makes for a solid package. Good work! 
____________
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted July 14, 2015 03:15 PM |
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Thanks for the comments.
Yeah, the spell learning system IS quite complex. Nonetheless I like the idea to have ypell learning via mage guild in, but not as free as before...
On the tier system...well, I thought I'd try something new. Upgrades are probable to come in later on.
Quote:
I can't say I agree with everything, but I see some very good ideas here and makes for a solid package. Good work!
Thank you.
Any thoughts on the faction?
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Mediczero
Famous Hero
Warlord of the sea
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posted July 14, 2015 07:48 PM |
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Wow all of this is so complex! Really great work! 
And all I can figure to work on is a bunch of lineup with original artwork... 
Although, after reading a bit closer it start to seem far to complex...
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LizardWarrior
Honorable
Legendary Hero
the reckoning is at hand
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posted July 14, 2015 08:00 PM |
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Hehe, look who's back in the business Gonna need to read it all before I will post a comprehensive comment
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted July 14, 2015 08:32 PM |
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Quote:
Although, after reading a bit closer it start to seem far to complex...
can you tell me which parts are too complex for your taste? and do you have ideas for simplifying them?
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articun
Supreme Hero
As i dream, so shall it be!
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posted July 14, 2015 08:45 PM |
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Wow... Just Wow...
Although given how you structure your factions, i believe 12 is a bit much and might prove to have similar units...
Are you sure you can keep up all this explanation for all Factions?
Also, where do summoning magic belong?
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Mediczero
Famous Hero
Warlord of the sea
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posted July 14, 2015 08:58 PM |
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Jiriki9 said:
Quote:
Although, after reading a bit closer it start to seem far to complex...
can you tell me which parts are too complex for your taste? and do you have ideas for simplifying them?
1. Alignment
For me it appears to be overly complex. Simply "good"/"neutral"/"evil" could provide a similar effect without being confusing in the end, though at the cost of intense faction specialization. (do we even need that?)
2. Unit Types
Okay, I find it a bit over the top to have so many subtypes of living, which is just based of certain abilities. Simply living should do...
Is Animated and Mechanical really so different after all..?
3. Magic Schools
Seven was okay, but this is crazy! Fewer schools please, either just elemental or thematic.
And BTW, the lineup system is flawed, and balacing it is far to hard. Try forcing people to choose atleast a few lower level units...
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted July 14, 2015 09:41 PM |
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Ah, I had expected resistance =D
Where do I start responding?
...faction number is based on alignment, thus I will start there. Well, I prersonally DO like complexity and this is a try on a bit more complex system, also it is quite systematic and good-neutral-evil does not really give ingame structure.
If I am sure I can keep it all up, well...we will see You have to keep in mind I am building on existing stuff, which keeps a part of the work.
Now, to magic. Well, there are 3 basic magical schools, based on how the magic is working/what the magic is altering inside the world. The others are only specializations within the corresponding skills.
Summoning magic is no own school, summon spells will be found in all other schools - maybe except metamagic. For example the Elemental Magic school offers the summoning spells of the elementals.
Quote:
And BTW, the lineup system is flawed, and balacing it is far to hard. Try forcing people to choose atleast a few lower level units..
which flaws do you see exactly?
Well, they are forced to have at least one of each lower tier to get one of the higher tier, usually. Overall, it is more or less choosing a champion and choosing which 2 others to keep out and that depends on strategy, I would say.
Finally, the unit types. I have to say, despite being complex, that I insist on these in this concept, and ESPECIALLY on the difference between mechanical and animated, because it feels so illogical to me that something brought alive by magic shoudl be vulnerable to the same things as something working through technological devices. Animated units are vulnerable to the same things as spirits (without the physical resistance these have), but they can NOT be sabotaged because a saboteur would need a mechanic to sabotage and in an animated unit they would not find it...
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articun
Supreme Hero
As i dream, so shall it be!
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posted July 14, 2015 09:54 PM |
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I on the other hand like the complexity you have put into the unit types. It gives place for more abilities like "Animal Hunter" or "Insect Hunter" and so on but also, can create interesting in game rivalries between units or a more prey/hunter relationships. Now if those unit types are merely decorative or they each provide specific bonuses this is up to you.
Well, you are building on existing stuff indeed, but still heroes Games had at most 7-8 factions at a time and you are increasing that number to 12 and aiming for 14, which in itself is quite a feat and imagination stretcher But i guess, you have a lot done and for the rest, we are here as well to help
Also i didn't quite understand the concept of support units. Can you maybe make that specific passage more detailed? You say that there might be Support units in the AM. What does that mean? Also, do you mean that there will also be a choice between which support units a faction can have? As in, does it have more that one of each kind (Support / Attack / Siege)?
Lastly, Maybe you can keep a little bit more on the Heroes IV lineup system, where you are forced to build the 2 lv1 units but choose from there on. As you have the system now, it's like each Faction has a pool of same level units except the 2 champions and you have to choose 5 of the general pool and then 1/2 champions. So Mediczero is not too far off in saying there is a flaw, unless we have understood wrongly.
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Mediczero
Famous Hero
Warlord of the sea
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posted July 14, 2015 09:57 PM |
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I got nothing, though I must add that I prefer things simple...
I'll stick to the creative part...
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