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| Thread: Faction Recreation Contest #2: Castle/Haven |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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Rimgrabber
Promising
Famous Hero
Voice in Gelu's Head
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posted August 17, 2020 08:11 PM |
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Faction Recreation Contest #2: Castle/Haven
Several people have said they wanted to join in so hopefully we'll have a more active discussion this time! We decided to move it to the Altar in hopes more people will see it and be interested. Anyone who wants to can join in at any time, and even if you don't submit a proposal you can judge.
This round is Castle/Haven. I know this town can be tricky to be innovative with but I look forward to seeing what you all come up with 
As a reminder, the requirements for a submission are:
- At least 2 hero classes(but can be more) and a short description of each. This can include their special skills if they have any, their role in society, and just general lore about them. If you want you can draft up a few individual heroes with their bios and specializations, but this is by no means required
- At least 7 units, but can be more if you want to use a different tier system than the standard one. A description of their role in battle and any notable abilities should be included, but you don't have to be too specific if you don't want.
- A grail structure, its effects, and 1-3 other unique buildings and their effects.
You have 1 week from when the first submission is made, after which there will be a 3 day voting period. As a reminder, anyone can vote, but you have to give ALL the submissions a rating out of 10 (except your own submission if you made one.)
Good luck everyone and have fun!
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PandaTar
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Celestial Heavens Mascot
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posted August 17, 2020 10:19 PM |
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Edited by PandaTar at 18:57, 18 Aug 2020.
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NOTES ON MECHANICS
1. Heroes in battle have sideline actions and field actions. Sideline actions are performed alone and don’t require direct interaction with any troop on the battlefield. E.g.: Spell cast, Call for reinforcement, Wait. Field actions are performed accompanying a select allied troop (TAG). E.g.: attack, move or defend. Tagged troops will gain certain perks and bonuses while the hero is accompanying them. While tagged, the hero can directly attack enemies. If tagged troops suffer too much damage or get slain, the hero is forced to retreat to the sidelines, in addition to losing their turn. The hero can return to the sidelines at the beginning of the round or move over to another allied troop instead.
2. Heroes are unique. They have unique classes, specialties and combination of skills.
3. Heroes can wander alone on the adventure map, but will get captured if confronted by a hero with similar power with an army; or be slain if in contact with neutral units with similar power or above. Heroes alone cannot claim or conquer enemy forts or towns, but can convert unprotected resource buildings and neutral dwellings after a number of days. Heroes with armies can move only where all their armies can move. E.g.: flying hero cannot fly over forests or a lake, if carrying ground units.
4. Heroes have loyalty levels. Performing tasks and taking actions increases those levels, as well as time under contract. Staying idle or just scouting to and fro will lower loyalty levels. Heroes with low loyalty levels can leave the kingdom at any moment or pass down information on your kingdom, if captured.
5. Some heroes cannot ride mounts.
6. Some units can wear gear and wield equipment.
7. Towns have population limit.
8. Units have stacking number limit (limiting army size). Heroes with evolved Commanding keyskill have higher limit cap.
9. Battlefield is not a chess board. It is irregular, with different ground heights, terrain and weather effects.
HAVEN TOWN
The prosper dells of Alistoma, protected by Enrithot cliffs and ridges, was the promise of hope for the scattered remains of the many human clans who escaped Aframia’s fall. As the humans slowly rebuilt their homes and families, guided by the wise anzu, they joined forces with powerful and benign creatures to help them build their ranks, crippled by the deaths of most of their soldiers in the last war. As women took on arms and the remaining men went into even harder training and labor, they are inspired by powerful heroes who fought and will fight to their last to protect their people. Although the anzu are considered their lords and guardians, most people look up on Sir Ambrose as their leader, because it was mostly by his own efforts he was able to gather so many different clans and cultures under a single banner. But a great array of other heroes, some really from unexpected origins, are now gathering around him.
TOWNSCREEN
FEATURED BUILDINGS
Hall of the Valkyries – base construction of a Haven town. Unlocks Heretic, Einherjar, Gullfaxi and Judge related technologies and buildings. Einherjar heroes can be hired there. Supporting unit Judge can be summoned there (each hero can conjure only one judge). Blocks enemy necromacy powers around town. A number of enemies destroyed during a defensive siege can be branded heretics.
Healing Falls (Tier 1 Dwelling) – improves clerical healing powers in town. The unit Caladrius can be hired there. Garrisoned armies are immune to poison and decay effects. Market goods: healing scrolls and antidotes.
Bay Market – sends envoys to other markets in a great radius around town increases variety of trading goods both ways. Have a chance to offer rare goods each week. Adds goods directed for certain dwellings.
Guardian Cliffs (Tier Ultimate Dwelling) – increases morale of all garrisoned units. Morale in town cannot be lower than neutral. The ultimate unit Anzu can be hired there. Anzu heroes can be hired there. Decreases greatly the efficiency of enemy flying units around town.
Archery Tower (Tier 2 Dwelling -> Upg.) – increases town’s vision radius. Increases chance of detecting enemy spies and scouting units around town. The unit Bowman can be hired there. Market goods: crossbows and shortbows. Upgradeable: Bowman can be upgraded to Tier 4 Sharpshooter. Market goods: daggers and longbows.
Keep Island (Tier 3 Dwelling) – barracks of a Haven town. Unlocks Amazon, Gladiator and Paladin related technologies and buildings. Unlocks Masonry, Workshop, Blacksmith and Armorsmith buildings. The unit Amazon can be hired there. Human heroes can be hired there.
The Watchful (Grail) – a large area around town is inaccessible by enemy spies and scouts. Improves chances of detection of those enemies around all allied towns. Morale is always positive for all allied units on the map. Increases ratio of number of summoned einherjars over heretics. Improves all allied heroes’ loyalty levels. Market goods: artifacts.
FEATURED SKILLS
Haven is a social faction, thus many of its perks and strengths lie on building foundations to develop areas, improve relationship with neighbors, attract commerce, produce goods, build alliances and keep harmony with the rest.
Faction Skill Tree – Infrastructure
Infrastructure allows building supportive structures and facilities on controlled areas improving general interaction on the surroundings. A caravan is dispatched to the selected spot required for a new construction to take place. Different structures take different amount of time to be finished. Any structure built through this skill system can be destroyed by enemy forces, and will provide scraps of resources. Some of the keyskills: Engineering, Logistics, Fortifications, Architecture. Some of the secondary skills: Paving, Sewage, Pathfinding, Garrison.
Other common Haven heroes’ skills
Leadership – secondary skill that bestows enhancements on morale and combat attributes when commanding troops.
Weapon Mastery – keyskill that evolves specific kinds of weapon proficiency, improving or even adding perks while wielding them. Some of the secondary skills: Swordsmastery, Lancery, Marksmanship.
Communication – keyskill that allows better understanding between two different parties. Some of the secondary skills: Diplomacy, Trading, Lordship.
Spirit Magic – through the Guild of Spirit, provides access to learn and teach Spirit Magic Spells and Techniques, which influences the aspects of the living souls and their interactions with the corporeal plane. Examples: Bless, Life Glimpse, Resurrection.
FEATURED HEROES
No one knows how old ARKEDIFF is, but legends mention him for thousands of years throughout known history, always guiding another race in difficult times. That’s why some say that the anzu nature is that of a wise guardian. As unknown as his motivations may be, the anzu now watches over humans, at the high cliffs of Enrithot and the green valleys of Alistoma beyond, passing judgement upon the wicked and promoting the souls of the valiant. The sky is his domain, the field for their strategies in battle and where winged allies follow Arkediff’s plight, commanding from above, whilst their human comrades strike on the ground.
Race: Anzu
Class: Supreme Commander – When tagged, cleanses any mind-affecting effects upon the tagged and adjacent allied troops, boosts morale for their next attack to maximum and improves damage and critical odds. Can call for reinforcements while tagged, which are added directly to their already present ranks and stacks.
Specialty: Prime Ruler – Town’s unit growth, income and diplomacy perks have improved effects when Arkediff is nearby. Allied armies and neutral troops from the vicinity don’t join enemy ranks and have a greater chance to join his ranks instead.
Perks
No mount – requires no mount.
Sky king – only highest mountains, extensive bodies of water and extreme weather prevents his flying movement on map. Last movement spot must be on reachable firm ground.
Strike from above – when tagged, inflicts bonus damage on ground units and cancels targeted enemy’s retaliation. Provides unavoidable ranged attacks when tagging ranged troops. Increases damage when tagging flying troops.
Anzu leader – provides an additional anzu for hiring while garrisoned for a week.
Thunderous roar – every three rounds, inflicts Fear on all enemies on the battlefield.
MARTHERIO was always a mysterious anzu. His history leads him back into occultism of some variety. Yet, his anzu blood never let him be swallowed into oblivion. He was the first anzu who contacted the Valkyries, guardian spirits of humans who send their judges to protect the souls of the valiant, whilst condemning traitors and the wicked. This unusual relationship grants Martherio a link to the spiritual world, a strong and special influence upon the souls of those who fight at his side, allowing him to act as a judge himself and bring forth einherjars prone to extend their willing heart to their cause.
Race: Anzu
Class: Judge Magister – allied judge units on the battlefield or any nearby armies have increased effectiveness. Martherio has Judge action options upon battlefield.
Specialty: Judgement Reach – has a chance to convert defeated enemy armies in battle into einherjars, which will be available for hiring at the nearest town.
Perks
No mount, Sky king, Strike from above
Mana spring – channels power from the spiritual word into mana, improving mana recovery from all allied troops on the battlefield.
Spectral coat – when tagged, provides Spectral Strike ability, granting physical and magical damage upon their attack.
There’s not a single person who does not know the name SIR AMBROSE. The most notorious knight of the old realm of Aframia, gatherer of peoples and the only knight ever to be resurrected in the Halls of the Valkyrie for his quality as a human, Sir Ambrose was guided back into the world of the living and the anzu ranks by Martherio, and then introduced to Arkediff. The anzu leader learned of Ambrose’s last fight against hordes of fell creatures, and his sacrifice when holding the docks while his people fled to the ships headed to Enrithot. When he finally fell, his body was immediately retrieved by his friend Cuthbert. The alliance with Ambrose gave people hope as they gathered around the anzu.
Race: Human
Class: Crusader – all troops under his command inflicts bonus damage vs fallen, corrupted or undead enemies. Every three rounds, sets an army with the following spells: Mirth, Focus, Clarity and Shield. If this hero has the Tactics key-skill, the spells will be enacted on the entire army on the first round.
Specialty: Living Legend – all tagged human troops get a battle-long buff on attack, defense, morale and speed. Any troops that are tagged two rounds in a row have the Spell Bless cast on them and doubled chances to inflict critical strikes. Increases weekly growth of human units when garrisoned at a haven town. Bonus effect on Communication keyskill.
Perks
On foot – this hero is a walker, so he can only accompany ground units while unmounted.
Rider – this hero can make use of mounts.
Melee – improves damage of tagged melee troops. Improves retaliation damage of tagged ranged troops.
Twin winds – when tagged, provides Double Strike ability, granting two consecutive uninterrupted attacks before retaliation.
Resiliency – when tagged, provides Infinite Retaliation ability, for each retaliation will deal 20% less damage than the previous one.
CUTHBERT is an einherjar, a sacred human soul bound by the Valkyries to help humankind in times of war and woe. He was a battle-cleric while alive. With the help of the dwarves of Duur, he built a temple and refuge for victims of the war, which cemented the alliance between Aframia and the merchant city of Duur, as Cuthbert was a very close friend to Sir Ambrose. When his temple was suddenly attacked by fell creatures, Cuthbert had no option but to seal himself with his assassins, casting a powerful spell which claimed his life. After returning as an einherjar, doom was nigh, for he learned a legion of enemies had already laid Duur to the ground and was now sieging Aframia’s Citadel. He arrived only to find Ambrose already lethally injured and the citadel on fire. He retrieved Ambrose’s body and took him to a boat, leaving the inferno behind.
Race: Einherjar
Class: Battle-Cleric – has improved effects of all Body and Spirit Magic Spells. Can enchant equipment prior to battle. Channels healing abilities of his armies, increasing their effects passively.
Specialty: Seal Evil – any sideline or support action casts a seal on fallen, corrupted or undead troops, making it impossible for enemy buffs to affect them. Seals neutral dwellings of fallen, corrupted or undead units on the adventure map. Seals penalties on allied troops, if there are allied fallen, corrupted or undead troops in the army.
Perks
On foot, Rider
Spectral – suffers no terrain or weather penalties on movement on the adventure map. Can pass through some obstacles on the adventure map. Provides increased magical resistance and decreases magical damage taken on tagged troops.
Einherjar power – when tagging einherjar troops, improves all their attributes values. When tagging spectral troops, cuts their mana costs for casting spells and adds a chance to reflect incoming hostile spell casting.
Healing aura – when tagged, casts the Spell Regen on the tagged and adjacent troops. Tagged troops are immunized against hostile Body and Spirit Magic Spells and have improved effects of friendly resurrection spells and abilities cast on them.
TYRIS left the elves millennia ago as she learned of great changes the new world unfolded before her. Her interest on the anzu was ever present, because even when she was very young, the anzu were already very old. But aside the path her own kin took, she chose the wandering, nomadic nature of the anzu and followed them. One day, Arkediff came down to meet her in a cave on a very cold winter. He sensed a profound sadness, which Tyris learned came from her own heart. Arkediff invited her to join him, and after centuries of solitude, the veil of sorrow lifted. She ventured the skies beside the anzus, learning more about many other races and realms. Now that she’s among humans, even not being very popular, she trains those in the arts of the bow and the arrow, for her long years alone and flying gave her impeccable and unrefuted aiming skills.
Race: Elf
Class: Elven Deadeye – when tagging ranged troops, ranged attack will cause enemy hero to retreat from any troop they are tagging, causing morale loss in addition to the loss of their hero’s bonuses. Lowers the costs for hiring ranged units at neutral dwellings on the adventure map. Lowers the cost and upgrading time for sharpshooters at a haven town she is garrisoned. Immediately detects scouts and spies within her view and automatically disposes of them.
Specialty: Eagle Eye – tagged troops are bestowed with sharper senses, increasing greatly their evasion and accuracy. Also grants them simultaneous retaliation, ignoring enemy’s First Strike or Initiative abilities. Grants ranged retaliation for a tagged ranged troop.
Perks
On foot, Rider
Ranged – when tagging ranged troops, improves their damage, critical odds and accuracy. Kills boost morale. When tagging melee troops, improves their odds of dodging projectiles.
Pierce their heart – critical odds for allied ranged troops on the battlefield are higher with greater damage bonus. When tagging ranged troops, ignores half the defense values of enemy targets.
Awareness – when tagged, provides protection against flanking penalties and strategies.
During the fall of Duur, one of the Dwarven lords was cut out of his home as he was at Aframia when the siege begun. CRAG HACK had to watch his city fall before him, as his ally the knight Ambrose warned him of the folly of wasting his life alone in rage. As much as Crag Hack was beyond grief with the loss of his kin, he was still responsible for the trades of ore and gems from the southern clans, resources which could help them turn the tide. He agreed to set sail ahead of Ambrose to the lands of Alistoma, where he could organize safe routes for trading again, never leaving his axes lose their sharpness, for he had unfinished business with his foes.
Race: Dwarf
Class: Iron Lord – upgrades blacksmiths and armorsmiths at towns, improving equipment quality. Iron ore pits and gem mines have increased weekly production. His armies have their equipment unbreakable. Has a special adventure map command: Ward. When set, he and his army will be stationary, but his area of effect will increase greatly, blocking the passage of enemies, unless directly engaged, and defense values of all units are increased. Ward takes the next whole day to be set and the next whole day to set off. Cannot set Ward if enemies are already in the AoE.
Specialty: Expert Commerce – markets have discounts for melee weapons, metal armors and shields, and iron ore and gem fees exchanges. Goods from the most evolved and upgraded Bay Market (or any market, if there are no haven towns under control) are available for all town markets under control. Each new market connected to the main market provides additional daily gold income.
Perks
On foot, Rider, Melee
Haggling – provides discounts for artifacts and increases their values for sale.
Runestone motif – any runestone equipped by Crag Hack (equips up to four) extends its powers to the tagged troop. Effects lingers for the next round.
Mythril mesh – all troops in battle have the permanent buff of the Spell Steelskin. When tagged, melee attackers have a chance to have their weapon broken and lose its perks.
Anvil hit – when tagging melee troops, makes their attack ignore enemy defenses improved by equipment, and have a chance to break their defensive gear. Attacks have a chance to stun or creep movement. When tagging ranged troops, decreases their range in exchange of a chance to stun targets.
UNITS
Tier 1 Caladrius – one of the first allies recruited by the anzu to assist humans. Their beautiful cry raises the spirit or any who listens to it, and the flutter of their wings heals.
Perks
Living: vulnerable to spirit and mind-affecting abilities. Morale plays a major role. Has a soul, which means it can be resurrected to its previous state.
Flyer: can move over obstacles and don’t suffer terrain penalties. Vulnerable to weather. Slight bonus damage and defense vs ground troops. Slight defense penalty vs ranged units.
Small: unit has damage penalty and bonus evasion vs giant units. Bonus evasion vs ranged units.
Special
Clear mind: immune to mind-affecting enemy skills.
Soothing cry: nearby allied troops have their morale boosted. Enemy mind-affecting ailments can be randomly purged.
Life flutter: heals allied troops when flying over them.
Tier 2 Heretic – when Valkyries condemn a fallen soul, they bind it to the Wheel of Redemption, thus calling it a heretic. Although sinister in nature, heretics are extremely resilient and loyal, as they vouch to redeem themselves and raise as einherjars.
Perks
Ground unit: unit suffers terrain and some weather penalties. Must move around obstacles. Has damage and defense penalty vs flying units. Blocks other ground units’ path.
Melee: unit only perform attacks at hand-to-hand combat. Has bonus damage and defense vs ranged units at hand-to-hand combat.
Conjured: immune to spirit and mind-affecting skills.
Special
Fate binding: immune to any animating or undead-affecting skills.
Cartwheel: attacks can go through enemy troops, allowing positioning behind their ranks. Only triggers when target is not adjacent.
Tier 2 Bowman – cliffs and ramparts are manned by bowmen and sharpshooters. These specialists on arrows can accurately find enemy weaknesses from afar and strike down scores of foes even before they get too close for a hand-to-hand combat. Tier 4 Upgrade Sharpshooter – training makes them able to hit even the concealed enemies, also being able to enchant arrows with some spells.
Perks
Living, Ground unit
Equip: can equip items, gears, weapons or accessories. Bowman (crossbows, shortbows and light armor), Sharpshooter (longbows, daggers and light armor)
Ranged: can perform attacks at distance, with a minimum and maximum range reach. Highest damage at the half distance to the maximum range on even ground. Maximum range and damage increases when attacking lower ground. Maximum range and damage decreases when attacking higher ground. Has damage and defense penalties on hand-to-hand combat. Has slight bonus damage vs flying units.
Special
Momentum: inflicts stacking greater damage when repeatedly attacking a target on the same position (both units).
Strong bolt (crossbow): shoot pierces a target and inflict reduced damage on any target behind it. Resilient to bad weather.
Fast fly (shortbow): shoots two arrows consecutively. The second arrow inflicts less damage.
Special Sharpshooter
Iron grip: attack range limit is greater. Damage increases the farer the arrow travels. Doesn’t have penalty shooting at targets on higher ground.
Expert shot: shoots over obstacles, ignores bad weather and has increased critical odds.
Magic arrow: inflicts elemental-based damage on attacks.
Hidden dagger: first melee retaliation against a foe inflicts critical damage.
Tier 3 Amazon – female warriors specialized in strike-and-run strategies, as well as stealth. As most men of all allied realms fell in the Battle of Aframia, either reemerging as heretics or einherjars, many women took in their stead.
Perks
Living, Ground unit, Equip (short swords, swords, daggers, knives, light armor, accessory), Melee
Special
Footwork: increases chances to dodge or reduce incoming damage from enemy attacks. Chances are greater against projectiles.
Mingle: stealthily merges with an allied troop to attack an enemy from their blind spot, inflicting bonus damage. But the allied troop gets retaliated instead.
Strike and return: moves, attacks and returns to their starting position.
Tier 3 Einherjar – souls of brave warriors fallen in battle, brought back by the power of Valkyries. The more they aid allies in battle, the stronger they become. They also master incantations from clerics using their own energy as fuel to temporarily revive their comrades.
Perks
Ground unit, Melee, Conjured
Ethereal: suffers decreased physical damage and increased magical damage. Inflicts normal damage against other ethereal units. Inflicts increased damage vs living units. Can move through small and medium physical obstacles. Not affected by bad weather or terrain penalties.
Special
Valiant soul: each time this unit takes a successful action, its own HP is slightly increased.
Spell
Life Glimpse: sacrifices itself to return as hit points on another allied living creature slain in battle. Number of revived units cannot be higher than the sacrificed. Their life is spent at the end of the battle.
Tier 4 Enfield – the second race of flyers recruited by the anzu. Enfield’s majestic appearance disguises a ferocious battle capacity. They are relentless and extremely fast combatants, quickly moving between allied ranks and slashing down the unaware. Their speed gives away the impression they are in many places at once.
Perks
Living, Flyer
Special
Fast sweep: incredibly fast attack makes it impossible to retaliate. Inflicts two strikes when flanking from the back.
Slashing dive: when moving, inflicts moderate damage on enemy targets on its way.
Mirage menace: after directly attacking a foe, the enfield confuses enemies by turning into three different targets, increasing chances of evasion and retaliation damage. The effect dissipates if the enfield moves or dodges an attack.
Tier 5 Gullfaxi – golden light-bearing horse raised by the Valkyries from the souls of fallen stallions. It is a fast and powerful horse, which can travel both on land and water, and can also jump great distances. Although they are best fighting on their own, gullfaxi abide to carry warriors on their backs to combine their powers, if it’s proven necessary.
Perks
Living, Ground unit
Mount: this unit can be mounted in battle by a matching number of a compatible allied troop. Combined troops have added life and defense, and share damage taken. Attack is based on the rider with a small bonus. Mobility is based on the mount with a small penalty.
Walk on water: allows moving over bodies of water. Cannot move over sea, open ocean or on water during bad weather.
Special
Clear Mind, Awareness, Fate Binding
Long jump: jumps over small to moderate obstacles. Cannot jump over high walls.
Scorching core: adjacent enemies are blinded by the intense light emanating from its body, having great chances to miss attacks and skills, or become unable to move. The intense heat damages all adjacent foes each round based on Light, Fire and Spirit Magic. Doubled effects vs fallen, corrupted or undead enemies.
Searing hooves: after the physical damage inflicted by this attack, an additional Light and Fire-based damage is added over time for 2 turns. It can stack.
Tier 6 Gladiator and Paladin – masters of battle, gladiators were trained to be brute and deadly. They raise the morale of their allies and are quick at wielding their weapons. Their supportive counterpart are the paladins, battle-clerics and shield-bearers, fierce with a weapon and powerful spell casters.
Perks
Living, Ground unit, Melee, Equip (Gladiator: gauntlets, swords, long swords, two-handed swords, maces, hammers, axes, flails, halberds, spears, small shields, light armor, helmets, boots; Paladin: swords, long swords, maces, hammers, large shields, full medium armor, full heavy armor)
Special Gladiator
Fervor: each successful hit, dodge, defense and kill increases morale and self-healing capabilities. Halved effect when adjacent to allies having successful actions. Adjacent units have increased morale around it.
Battle frenzy: with each hand-to-hand interaction, there is a slight buff to offensive attributes, until reaching a cap.
Tit-for-tat: always retaliates. If they are critically wounded, their retaliation will also inflict critical damage.
Special Paladin
Clear mind, Fervor
Exorcism: inflicts greater damage vs conjured, living, fallen, corrupt and undead units. Dispels any spirit or mind-affecting buff on their target.
Spells Paladin
Sacrifice: sacrifices portion of its own life to revive a fallen allied unit.
Purification: cleanses body and spirit-affecting ailments.
Bless: cleanses Curse and buffs damage and critical damage variation pending to the highest limits.
Tier Ultimate Anzu – the elite fighting force in Haven. These huge flying lions can lay waste of almost any enemy they encounter, flying higher than any other, indomitable and powerful. Acting lords of the human realm, they bestow hope upon their wake. When people hear its battle roar, they are assured that the enemy will be destroyed, as they can later hear the thunderous echoes of the deadly hammering dive marking the demise of anything under it.
Perks
Living, Flyer
Giant: bonus damage and accuracy penalty vs small units. Cannot suffer knockback. Blocks the path of ground and flying units.
Special
Clear Mind
Battle roar: constantly boosts morale of all adjacent allied units and decreases morale of all adjacent foes. It has a chance to paralyze them when attacking.
Arc blow: attacks all adjacent positions in front of it. Knockbacks small units.
Indomitable: cannot be bound in place, crippled, stunned, petrified, frozen, paralyzed or slowed.
Guardian of the sky: immunity to any weather effect affecting flying units. Bonus damage against flying units.
Heavenly hammer: area attack inflicting massive damage on the main target and moderate damage on all adjacent foes. It can knockback them. Has a 3-round cooldown.
FEATURED SUPPORT AND SIEGE UNITS
Judge – spiritual beings sent by the Valkyries as their voices among the living. Their presence allows fallen allies to be returned as einherjars and, sometimes, as heretics. Judges are difficult to take down, for it requires specific means to do so, but when it’s done, it can do great harm even to allied ranks, for the powerful spectral shockwave which comes from their demise can wipe all the surrounding area.
Perks
Living, Ethereal
Backline unit: unit that’s not considered direct combatant, being disposed of, if all allied troops are destroyed. Targetable. They cannot block passage of other troops, but they cannot overlap them either.
Special
Pass down judgement: passive ability that will bring back some fallen allies either as heretics or einherjars. Higher morale troops have higher chances to return. Each successful einherjar action taken on the battlefield causes a slight random buff on einherjar troops and higher chances to raise einherjars from the fallen. Each successful heretic action taken on the battlefield increases chances of heretics be converted into einherjars during the battle. Any losses from einherjars and failures can dispel debuffs on them and decrease chances to fallen allies to return either as einherjars or heretics.
Brand the heretics: active ability that can bring back fallen enemies as branded heretics lasting until the end of the battle. Enemies must be humans.
Energy singularity: when destroyed, a judge causes a massive damaging nova, affecting foes and allies alike. All judged and branded souls in the battle disappear.
Falconer – an adventure map unit sent for scouting the limits of the realm and gather data on movement. Alone, they can fend off attackers, if not too outnumbered. Their falcons are also used to carry messages, trading and might also fight alongside their masters.
Perks
Living, Ground unit
Flying vision: scouting vision can see past high structures and terrain.
Scout | Spy Unit: this unit can wander on the adventure map as a scout or spy.
Actions
Scout | Call Back: sets a patrol on visited or controlled area removing fog of war. Can move around.
Trade: sets an envoy to trade with the nearest market. Does not reveal map on travel.
Spy: on enemy lands, reveals an occupied area while remaining stationary. Details on enemy forces can be inaccurate.
Ballista – inflicts physical damage on an enemy target. Can cripple flying units. Can stun ground units. Inflicts critical hits on small units. Shots in line. Vulnerable to melee combat and fire-based attacks.
Death Blossom – inflicts physical and fire-based damage on all targets on an area. Targets are affected by Searing Wounds, damage over time, and Incineration, body gets destroyed. Can set alight oil traps. Vulnerable to melee combat.
Perks
Backline unit, stationary
Mechanical: immune to body, spirit and mind-affecting skills. Vulnerability to certain elements and enchantments. Vulnerability to animating skills. Vulnerability to terrain and weather effects. Can be restored, repaired or maintained.
I think that covers most of what I wanted to propose. A tad excessive, I think, but hell. Hope you guys enjoy it, if you survive all the reading.
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"Okay. Look. We both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster."
GlaDOS – Portal 2
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Alon
Known Hero
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posted August 17, 2020 11:44 PM |
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Edited by Alon at 18:57, 28 Aug 2020.
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Castle
In the kingdom, everyone has a role to play. That's what it means to be civilized: to know your place. The priests pray, and the soldiers fight with valor, and the commoners work. The king, by the grace of the gods, reigns, and the subjects obey. The believers in the true gods prosper, and the monsters and heretics die.
The castle is a complex kingdom with a tech level that wouldn't look too out of place in a European kingdom somewhere at the boundary between the Middle Ages and the Early Modern era. It utilizes combined arms, so that different units support one another; an army using just one type of unit is easily countered, but one using many in tandem, including both might and magic, will prevail.
The general rule in castle strategy is that as the army develops, it gets more complex. Higher-tier units lose to lower-tier units in monobattles, but are crucial in support roles. The tech tree also makes units more specialized and complex, with upgrades that work best when paired with more units and particular buff spells - for example, your pikeman-archer army had better have protection from enemy offensive spells for the archers and protection from melee attacks for the pike.
Heroes and skills
The castle has a tradition of an organized, professionally-drilled military core, supplemented by levies. Troops fight not just with their body but also with their spirit, making leadership and morale so crucial - the soldiers need to see that their commanders are up to the task, so that they are certain the gods are on their side and they should stand tall no matter what horror they face.
Special skill: leadership
All castle heroes have this skill, which improves the morale of all allied troops. Morale is crucial to avoid freezing in panic when facing a fear-based attack, such as from cavalry, or from even more fearsome creatures such as demons, dragons, and behemoths.
Lord
The lord is the castle's might hero. Seeing a warrior of noble birth inspires the troops to keep fighting. In addition to the leadership skill and to general might bonuses to attack, defense, and tactics, the lord also has the combine troops ability, allowing splitting, recombining, and reassigning troops between adjacent stacks of the same unit.
Additional bonuses, depending on the hero, include estates (more money), siegecraft (more damage when attacking city walls), bonuses to individual units like cavalry or archery, tactics (fighting on more favorable terrain), and diplomacy (the ability to surrender and ransom soldiers in a lost fight, paying money to avoid losing the army).
Cleric
The castle's magic hero, the cleric, is a soothing sight to the troops, who can rest assured the gods are with them. The cleric has the usual spellcasting powers of all magic heroes, but in particular has the bless ability, inspiring one unit per turn to attack and defend with greater fervor.
Additional bonuses, depending on the hero, include specific spell types like healing and protection as well as individual caster units like monks and court wizards.
Special buildings
Templar Guild: a secondary mage guild. The templar guild provides the town with additional spells focused on clerical magic, in addition to the more arcane mage guild. This is in line with the separation of roles in society: there are wizards, and there are paladins and clerics.
Levy: defensive structure for sieges. The levy allows recruiting temporary troops, who can only be used to defend and relieve sieges, and disappear after danger passes without refund. The temporary troops can be any tier 1 unit, representing the better-off common farmers who can mobilize during periods between the harvest and sowing.
Palace: additional income and morale. The splendor of the palace attracts gifts and inspires people to fight harder for such an important place. The morale bonus is strongest when defending the town, but also extends past it to some extent, and bonuses from different towns' palaces stack.
Units
Units have 3 tiers. The same town can build all units in each tier - the rule is that a tier 1 building is required to build a tier 2 building and a tier 2 building is required to build a tier 3 building.
Tier 1
Pikeman: basic infantry unit, strong and sturdy but slow. The pikeman has reach and therefore strikes first both when attacking and when defending. In sieges, the pikeman can also operate battering rams at gates.
Archer: basic ranged unit, high damage but low HP. The archer outranges most other low- and mid-tier ranged units, like centaurs and javelin throwers, but causes little damage to heavily armored units like golems.
Outrider: fast light cavalry, ideal for scouting as well as for infantry support.
The three tier 1 units have a rock-paper-scissors interaction: archers kill pikemen before the pikemen can reach them, outriders kill archers because they close the distance fast, pikemen kill outriders using their first strike ability and good stats for cost.
Tier 2
Catapult: immobile but sturdy ranged unit, good for AOE and in sieges. When not attacking castle walls, the catapult's AOE lets it cause more damage, up to a limit, against large unit stacks (think 1,000 pikemen); it also destroys armor, making it dangerous to units that rely on it, like golems and dragons.
Griffin: air support. The griffin is fairly tanky, but its best use is mobility. An all-griffin army can fly on the adventure map with the hero riding one of the griffins, making it a great scout; in battle, the griffin can also fly over pikemen to reach the archers behind them, or over walls and natural obstacles.
Monk: a junior member of the clergy, with very weak fighting abilities but spells aiding other units, including healing, magical armor, and resistance to offensive magic.
Good unit comps at this tier include outrider-griffin for mobility, pike-archer-catapult-griffin for sieges (and griffins can reinforce armies in the field very easily), monk-archer-outrider for good offense with anti-air, and monk-pike-archer for defensive slow pushes.
Tier 3
Paladin: fast, heavily armored cavalry with magical support powers. The paladin's smite attack causes extra damage to various monsters, and in a pinch the paladin provides other units magical armor protection and buffs to damage.
Court wizard: a higher-ranking member of the cloth specializing in combat support. The court wizard is a glass cannon with a choice of spells providing buffs to attack and speed, debuffs to enemy units, and a powerful AOE fireball that can decimate large stacks.
Angel: a flying caster-fighter with strong attack, high HP, and a soothing presence that passively raises allied units' initiative and morale. In a pinch the angel can also heal. The only problem with the angel: the unit is very expensive.
Good high-tier unit comps include the ultimate mobile strike force of angel-griffin, or the slightly more versatile but still mobile angel-paladin-griffin-outrider, or court wizard-monk-pikeman for raw DPS with acceptable protection, or angel-paladin-archer-pikeman for slaying certain kinds of high-tier enemy units, or many others.
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted August 22, 2020 09:43 AM |
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I am not sure how long the deadline still lasts and if I am going to make in on the mark...I am working on it, though!
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FirePaladin
Promising
Legendary Hero
DoR Modder
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posted August 23, 2020 07:08 PM |
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I've got a nice idea, I should post it here tomorrow.
Edit: I was away for a while, the prolonging of the time limit didn't do too much good either for my post (it would have been done actually the day after the post then) so I will finish it soon.
Current version, I might update it:
Overall description
Castle is the most basic faction in the game, representing the vast majority of the human settlements and military. They rely mostly on somewhat higher creature growth for lower level units and different weaponry for certain units, but they can also use some magic. They can also upgrade War Machines and create Battle Rams, to compensate for their lack of flying units. Rough sketch, btw.
Heroes
Most might heroes start with Leadership and/or Tactics, while magic heroes usually won't start with them (but there are some who do).
Lord (Might class, looks like Alon used it as well):
People of noble origin or more rarely, who have proven their value on the battlefield as commanders. They specialize in might stats, with 4/4/1/1 chances for might stats at the first 7 levels, and 3/3/2/2 form level 7 onwards.
Cleric (Magic class, all other options were kinda too situational for them):
Being a human, their magic affinity is relatively lower compared to other races'. However, they specialize mostly in buffing and other support magic. Their skill chances are 2/3/2/3 until level 10, with 2/2/3/3 from level 10 and up.
War machines:
Battle Ram/Heavy Ram:
Simply used to ram a town's gate, carried by some guys (reaches the gate in one turn). The Heavy Ram can be upgraded with the Blacksmith's upgrade, and overclocks your PC hard as- and has a charge bonus, being able to destroy the town gate in 3 turns, compared to its base form, 4 turns.
Catapult/Trebuchet:
A catapult. The Trebuchet also deals area damage compared to its base form, and can be acquired with the Blacksmith's upgrade.
Ballista/Heavy Ballista:
Just the Ballista with an upgrade. Maybe can have a certain ability, but depends on how the faction behaves overall.
Special Buildings:
Blacksmith with upgrade:
Does what I said above, upgrades war machines.
Church: Raises morale for the next battle and also applies a small buff for the next battle. Gives one more support/buff spell in the Mage Guild.
Holy Cathedral: Grail building. Gives the basic bonus (something like bonus gold and 50% growth), but doesn't increase Angel's growth. However, you can convert any human unit into an Angel once per week, regardless of having their dwelling or not. It's actually a high-tech genetic lab.
Units:
Level 1: Infantry
Being very basic units in the human armies, they don't have an upgrade, but can equip different types of weapons for different types of enemies from the town's Blacksmith (they start with a spear, and can equip maces or pollaxes). Average initiative and speed.
Level 2: Archer/Bowman
As the name suggests, they're humans armed with wooden bows, also boasting defensive stats similar to the Infantry. At upgrade they are able of raining arrows over a certain area, but with less damage. Average initiative and lack speed.
Level 3: Pikeman
Light-armored units with pikes. They can attack from a distance of 1 square, avoiding retaliation, once every 2 turns. They are also effective against any kind of cavalry, suffering no charge damage and dealing higher damage against them. Average initiative but above average speed.
Shield-bearer:
High defense units, armed with the same weapons as any infantry unit, but with the possibility of using swords as well. They also have a shield, which deflects 15% of the damage dealt upon them, but 25% for the units behind. Good for protecting shooters. Low initiative.
Level 4: Marksman/Crossbowman
Average damage dealing ranged units, with a smaller range penalty as a base unit and gaining no range penalty with the upgrade. The upgrade's damage is increased by a bit in a range of few cells, but the unit itself is weakly protected from attacks. High initiative and average speed.
Level 5: Swordsman/Knight
Higher-ranked humans in society, wearing chain mail and full-plate armor (at upgrade) and bearing swords and shields. They have high defense and average damage, lacking only speed and a bit of attack. Average init.
Level 6: Cavalier/Horseman
Fast horse-mounted humans armed with lance, boasting great overall stats but lower defense. At upgrade, their defense is now average, and can also equip a battleaxe, losing the charge damage but gaining the ability to attack two cells at once (once per battle). They also ignore a small bit of the attacked unit's defense, if not too OP. High speed and init, ofc.
Level 7: Paladin
Heavily armored soldiers coming from rich and influential families, with high defense stat. They also have average damage and attack stat per total growth, but somewhat low health value. They have a maximum growth of 3, compared to other level 7 units. Their armor is enchanted/blessed and resistant to 10% all damage types, with 25% physical and 20% fire and magic. They have average speed and initiative.
Angel:
A superior alien race with compatible genetics with humans, their dwelling can be rarely acquired due to its exorbitant price (gotta have some aberrant price there). Unlike most level 7 units, they have a maximum growth of 1 and boast at least above average stats per weekly growth. They increase the army's morale and can also resurrect troops once per battle (can be done more times with a specific spell, as well as with any limited ability), but only those who have died at most 2 turns before. The ability to resurrect can be something else instead tho.
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Enshackling time itself, heralds of the Ancients among their heat-depleted land.... Who could they be, who could rally the beings of the East and the North and control the mortals' fate?
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Rimgrabber
Promising
Famous Hero
Voice in Gelu's Head
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posted August 24, 2020 02:32 AM |
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I'm gonna do my proposal tomorrow too. I think I'll extend the deadline to 10 days since half of us haven't started yet lol.
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted August 24, 2020 09:12 PM |
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Taht sounds good. Which day is deadline now?
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Rimgrabber
Promising
Famous Hero
Voice in Gelu's Head
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posted August 25, 2020 04:12 AM |
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FirePaladin
Promising
Legendary Hero
DoR Modder
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posted August 27, 2020 06:53 PM |
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Updated my post above.
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Enshackling time itself, heralds of the Ancients among their heat-depleted land.... Who could they be, who could rally the beings of the East and the North and control the mortals' fate?
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted August 27, 2020 10:53 PM |
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Edited by Jiriki9 at 19:20, 29 Aug 2020.
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Not really done, but I will post what I have now...maybe you will get the ideas I wanted to transport, even though a lot of things feel unfinished for me.
General infos
-the setting is an entirely new one, neither the "old" setting up to H4, nor Ashan
-there are several gameplay aspects that I have decided for myself, but will not detail here, unless someone asks me to. After all, this is about the faction, not a proposal
-both world and gameplay I'll develop during the rounds(Which is the reason why I won't give relations for the yet unknown new factions)
-I follow a classic, choiceless 7-tier lineup
-BUT there is also a "Tech Tree" for every faction (saw the idea here and found it awesome so it's in my proposal) and alternative upgrades.
Haven
In a nutshell:
More or less a classical haven, with the holy-theme in. Here, though, the focus lies on 7 virtues worshipped, to which the haven population aspires to follow.
Backstory:
....
Faction Relations
-Necropolis: Virtueless, dangerous creatures of darkness. Constant war.
-Inferno: The embodiment of evil, arch enemies of the angels. Constant war.
-Dungeon: Dark and foul creatures, fit only to slay on a quest. Constant war.
-Forge/Factory: Strange people with little virtue, but they maybe save. Shifting relations, around neutral.
-Rampart/Sylvan: Creatures of Light and life, though seclusive, arrogant and no followers of the virtues. Little relations, but usually peace, sometimes alliance.
-Stronghold: Fierce and courageous, but too wild and virtueless. Shifting relations, between war, truce and neutral.
-Sanctuary: Neutral
-Cove: Truce to war.
-Dwarf Fortress: Noble, ancient people, though stubborn. Peace, sometimes alliance.
-Tower/Academy: Greedy for power, knowledge and progress. Little virtue there. Truce, more or less.
-Conflux: .Neutral
-Swamp Fortress: Neutral, bordering to war.
Hero Classes
Paladin:
Starts with 2 Attack, 2 Defense, 1 Spellpower, 1 Knowledge, as well as the Steadfastness Sub-Skill.
Chances for Skill choices at level up (all non-mentioned: about standard chance)
-High Chances for Leadership, Light Magic, Defense, Enlightenment
-Low Chances for Dark Magic, Archery, Siege Warfare, Stewarding
Cleric:
Starts with 1 Attack, 2 Defense, 1 Spellpower, 2 Knowledge, as well as the Piety Sub-Skill.
Chances for Skill choices at level up (all non-mentioned: about standard chance)
-High Chances for Light Magic, Enlightenment, Mysticism, Defense
-Low Chances for Offense, Nobility, Logistics, Dark Magic
Duke:
Starts with 3 Attack, 2 Defense, 0 Spellpower, 1 Knowledge, as well as the Loyalty Sub-Skill.
Chances for Skill choices at level up (all non-mentioned: about standard chance)
-High Chances for Nobility, Stewarding, Leadership, Logistics
-Low Chances for any Magic Skills
Faction Skill: Virtue
This skill allows Haven heroes to follow one of 7 virtues, each increasing a different stat on units in the heroes army up to tier 3/4/5/6/7 for Basic, Advanced, Expert, Master and Legend Skill level.
-Compassion: Bonus on Hitpoints
-Faith: Bonus on Morale
-Honesty: Bonus on Attack
-Humility: Bonus on Luck
-Justice: Bonus on Damage
-Sacrifice: Bonus on Defense
-Valor: Bonus on Initiative
Subskills {unfinished}
-Piety (Increases any healing effect on friendly units while following Compassion, Faith, Humility or Sacrifice.)
-Righteousness (Increases the effectiveness of buff effects on friendly units while following Honesty, Justice or Valor)
-Steadfastness (Reduces the duration of negative effects / debuffs on friendly units while following Faith, Justice or Valor.)
-Lightbringer (Your units get +50% damage against dark and evil units wjile following Justice, Sacrifice or Valor.)
-Loyalty (Your units‘ morale cannot be lowered by enemy effects while following Faith, Humility or Sacrifice.)
-Ascetism (This hero cannot be declared Governor of a town. For your units, luck can trigger on defense, working in reverse on the damage they get, while following Compassion, Humility or Sacrifice.)
Units
Tier 1: Militia
The majority of the Haven armies are not trained troops, but rather civilians called to arms by some Knight, Lord or Hero. Some follow fervently at first, but in the end, it is clear that they are untrained, badly armed and undisciplined. Most of them end as cannon fodder. Fortunately, there’s a lot of them.
Strong Stats: Growth, Extremely Cheap Price, Initiative
Weak Stats: HP, Attack, Defense, Damage
Abilities:
-Homeland Defenders (When fighting in or close to a friendly town, the militia gain a bonus on morale, attack, defense, initiative and speed. When fighting far away from any friendly town, they get a heavy malus on Initiative and morale.)
-Undisciplined (When good morale triggers, the militia choose for themselves which action they take, but they have a bonus on speed and attack for this action. When bad morale triggers, the militia move as far away from the closest enemy as possible.)
Upgrades:
-Town Watch (Town Watchmen get better arms and a bit of training, so the citizens can sleep quietly night and day. Bonus on Defense, Attack, Damage and HP. Loose “Undisciplined”. The bonus from Homeland Defenders is doubled when defending a town. Town Watch also increases the Income of a Town (less criminals in the streets))
-Pilgrim (Some Militia follow a hero fervently, seeing them as a pure follower of the 7 virtues. These pilgrims will draw more of their kind, as fanatism calls for weak hearts. Pilgrims are better in initiative, Speed, Morale and Damage. They are even weaker in HP, though. They also have the ability to increase their numbers, slowly but steadily.)
Tier 2: Spearman
While Militia are only civilians, Spearmen are true soldiers. Which means that they get a pay – usually. Most of them spend that on drinking and whoring, though. After all, virtues mean little for a man who sees the horrors of war daily.
Strong Stats: Defense
Weak Stats: Speed, Attack
Abilities:
-Hedgehog Formation (When using the Defense action, this unit gets a bonus on their next retaliation.)
-Spearwall (When being attacked, this unit retaliates before the enemy can strike their attack.)
Upgrades:
-Pikeman (Pikes are longer than spears, so they are better – that must be the thought in pikemen. Pikemen get a bonus on their defense and Hitpoints, but are even slower and less fast to act. They gain a bonus on their retaliation damage for every space the attacker has moved before reaching them.)
-Halberdier (Combining spear and Axe brings the halberd, a weapon much loved by the halberdiers. It is frowned upon by many others – but not if too many halberdiers are around. Halberdiers have much better attack and damage. They loose the spearwall, but they have an additional retaliation instead.)
Tier 3: Crossbowoman
In earlier times, the haven troops used Bows like most peoples did back then. But the invention of the crossbow meant a great addition for the human troops. Now, a keen eye and a steady hand are more important than being nimble and quick. Traditionally, these are women, though no one remembers why.
Strong Stats: Attack, Damage;
Weak Stats: Initiative, Hitpoints, Speed
Abilities:
-Armor Piercing Bolts (The Crossbowmen ignore 10% of the enemy defense on ranged attacks.)
-Long Range (The range for reduced damage is farther away for this unit.)
-Ranged attack
-Slow Reloading (This unit gets a little malus on initative after performing a ranged attack.)
Upgrades:
-Markswoman (The secret marksmen training is said to involve hitting dangerous targets right in the eye from a very far distance. They eat a lot of rabbit as well. Gets a bonus on damage. Has no range penalty anymore.)
-Repeater Crossbowoman (Shooting only one bolt is not enough for these ladies – the more the better, they say. Surprisingly, they also have a better armor, preferring chainmail to leather. They get a bonus on Attack and Defense. They also gain the double shot ability, but loose the Long Range.)
Tier 4: Monk
There are a lot of ordinary monks in the Haven lands, pious and humble men. But some of them hear the call of battle. “Someone must bring the virtues to the battlefield.” They say. And so they do. Their brothers usually frown at them, but few soldiers do so. After all, a monk might very well safe your life in the next battle – or afterward.
Strong Stats: Hitpoints, Initiative
Weak Stats: Defense, Attack, Damage
Abilities:
-Prayer Chant (Increases the morale of all friendly Haven units during battle by 1)
-Spellcaster (Can cast the following spells: Blessing, Cure, Dispel, Shield)
-Strike of the Heavens (25% of this units damage is Light damage.)
Upgrades:
-Zealot (Some monks enjoy battles more than others. These zealots are respected, but rather feared than loved. They get a bonus on attack and damage. They do 50% light damage instead of 25%, always get a damage bonus against evil units and also get the Bolt of Light damage spell.)
-Preacher (Some Monks say the most important thing in battle is to still be virtuous while fighting. They often unnerve their allies as much as their enemies, but somehow they manage to raise their spirits at the same time. Some say, the soldiers just want to get over with it. Can perform the Preach action to give all friendly units a bonus on initiative and another random stat. Deal even less damage, but have a better defense.)
Tier 5: Faithful
Devout believers in the virtues, defending them with a two-handed sword and a golden plate armor.
Strong Stats: Defense, Attack, Hitpoints
Weak Stats: Extremely Expensive, Low Growth
Abilities:
-Double Strike (This unit strikes twice on their attacks)
-Virtuous (Effects of Virtues on this unit isincreased.)
Upgrades:
-Crusader (Fanatic followers of the virtues, smashing down any unbelievers. They are better in speed and damage. They also do more damage to evil units and to units of tier 6 or 7.)
-Signum (Protectors of the virtuous, defenders of the innocent. They get more defense. They also have the ability to double strike for retaliation and also to retaliate for adjacent allies.)
Tier 6: Knight
Commanders and Fighters of the people, seeking Glory, Power, Fame or Honour. Riding strong War Horses and wearing heavy armour, they are hard to bring down.
Strong Stats: Speed, Defense, Hitpoints
Weak Stats: Attacks, Expensive, Low Growth
Abilities:
-Field Commander (Gives a bonus on initiative and morale for Units up to tier 3.)
-Jousting (Deals more damage on attacks, the longer their way to their target is.)
Upgrades:
-Templar (Bringers of the Faith, the Templars are loved by their people but feared by all others. They have a better dEfense, Attack and Hitpoints. Their Commanding abilities work up to Tier 5.)
-Tourney Knight (Fighting in tourneys, loved by the ladies. They have better Attack and Speed, but less Defense. Their jousting bonus is better.)
Tier 7: Angel
Strong beings of Light. The highest angels are said to be embodiments of the virtues
Strong Stats: Speed, Initiative, Attack (Immune to Light Damage)
Weak Stats: Defense, Weakness (Dark +50% damage)
Abilities:
-Flying
-Sword of Light (They deal 50% of their damage as light damage.)
Upgrades:
-Archangel (Leaders amongst angels, stern and strict. They deal pure light damage and can, once per battle, revive fallen friendly units. They have better Hitpoints and Damage.)
-Seraph (Fierce and firy defenders of the light. They have better attack and speed. They can switch between 3 different blades (physical, fire or light damage).
Special War Machine: Prayer Tent
Improved Healing Tent, that can also dispel negative effects.
Town:
Building Chart
Quote:
Legend:
Building A [Requirements] (Effect)
>Upgraded Building A
-> twice upgraded Building A
-Other Base Building needing Building A
General buildings are black
Magic buildings are blue
Dwelling are red
Special buildings are green
Buildings unique for Haven (except dwelllings) are bold
Village Hall (500 gold income)
>Town Hall (1000 gold income)
->City Hall (2000 gold income)
-->Capitol (5000 gold income; unique per faction)
-->Province Hall (3000 gold income)
Fort (Adds weak Walls; allows Building dwellings)
>Citadel (makes the walls stronger, adds central Tower and weak moat; +25% Creature Growth)
->Castle (Makes the Walls and moat stronger, adds Towers on the Walls; +50% Creature Growth)
Tavern (Can recruit heroes of level 1)
>Inn (Can recruit heroes of level 5)
Marketplace (can trade resources)
>Ressource Silo (gain +2 Iron per day)
Mage Guild Level 1
>Mage Guild Level 2
->Mage Guild Level 3
-->Mage Guild Level 4
--->Mage Guild Level 5
Monument [Town Hall, Graveyard] (The town gains a daily supply of remains, depending on the Hall Level, that visiting heroes can use as their skills allow.)
Blacksmith (Can build the Ballista)
>Houses of Healing (Can build the Prayer Tent)
-Armory [Barracks] (Increases the population of Militia,Spearmen and Crossbowomen.)
Guardhouse (Allows recruiting Militia)
Barracks [Guardhouse] (Allows recruiting Spearmen)
Shooting Range [Barracks, Blacksmith] (Allows recruiting Crossbowomen)
Monastry [Town Hall, Mage Guild Level 3] (Allows recruiting Monks)
-Houses of Healing (Can build the Prayer Tent)
Cathedral [City Hall, Barracks, Monastry] (Allows recruiting Faithful)
Tourney Ground [Citadel, Barracks, Inn] ((Allows recruiting Knights)
-Tourney Fields [City Hall, Ressource Silo] (+2 Morale while defending this town. Unused Knight Population in this town increases its income.)
Portal of Light [Cathedral] (Allows recruiting Angels)
Defenses:
Stone Walls; Water Moat (stops enemies, but deals no damage), upgrades to Deep Moat (heavy units have a small chance of drowning when passing); Towers are manned with crossbowomen
Tech Tree
Every faction has their own Tech Tree, offering benefits for all your heroes, armies, towns and AM-Structures.
The tech tree can be accessed on the Adventure map. Most Techs have requirements you must meet. If it is buildings, 1 town with them is enough.
Techs take time to research. The more towns you have, and the better built these towns are, the less time Techs take.
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Rimgrabber
Promising
Famous Hero
Voice in Gelu's Head
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posted August 28, 2020 12:05 AM |
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Friendly reminder that judging starts tomorrow and will go for 3 days! I'm not gonna be too strict with it though, make edits during judging if you want, but don't expect people to change their scoring accordingly. Anyone who wants to judge can even if you didn't submit a proposal, but you have to judge every entry (except your own if you have one). Score on a scale of 1-10 final scores will be based on the average. Winner gets a feeling of satisfaction. Good Luck!
My gameplay is modeled after H5.5, so if you're wondering what a skill is use that as a reference. Tactics is a new skill which like in H3 increases the area you can arrange your troops in, the perks involve using the battlefield to your advantage. 7 tiers of creatures with alternate upgrades, and 3 hero classes; one might, one magic, and one that is either might, magic, or balanced depending on faction alignment. Morale and luck cap is 5, and racial skills are a mix between H5 and H6. They don't occupy a skill slot, and mastery is based on the hero's actual level like in H6, but its a passive ability rather than a spell, like in H5. Basic at level 1, Advanced at level 5, Expert at level 15, Master at level 20.
Haven - Alignment: Neutral, Balanced
Lore - Once the most dominant race in all the world, the mighty empire created by the humans spanned many a continent. Their culture was even further reaching, their language and currency used all over the world, their customs influencing all other cultures. That was 500 years ago, however, and what few records exist of the empire's fall are vague and unreliable at best and self-contradicting at worst. Regardless of what really happened, humans have been reduced to occupying little more than a few isolated city-states across the world, hated and feared by all they once subjugated. This has led to extreme xenophobia both from and towards the humans, leading to a lack of knowledge about the current state of human society, which has, in turn, led to horrifying rumors about where their continued military prowess comes from.
Faction Skill: Jingoism
When led by a Haven hero, Haven troops will always have positive morale. The native terrain boost is increased based on skill mastery.
Classes:
Centurion(might) - While not the power they once were, Haven’s armies still boast legendary tactical prowess thanks to their top-notch military schools and long history of militarism. They enjoy a very high social standing and are revered as the saviors that will restore humanity to its former glory. Centurions are arguably the greatest generals in the world, and are well-versed in all manners of combat and diplomatic etiquette.
Likely Skills: Tactics, War Machines, Leadership
Unlikely Skills: Sorcery, Destruction Magic, Occultism
Prophet(magic) - Little is known about modern human religion, although it is believed that they have forsaken their polytheistic faith in favor of a monotheistic one worshipping a god of war, whom they believe will restore their empire. Its Prophets are the highest-ranking members of society, being the only ones that can speak directly to them.
Likely Skills: Light Magic, Dark Magic, Sorcery
Unlikely Skills: Defense, Luck, Tactics
Templar(balanced) - If Prophets are the messengers of the god of war, Templars are its enforcers. Boasting an impressive aptitude for both might and magic, Templars are feared by their enemies throughout the world.
Like Skills: Offense, Light Magic, Leadership
Unlikely Skills: Summoning Magic, Occultism, War Machines
Hall of Heroes
Morgan "Ironfist" Kendall (Centurion)
General Kendall earned the nickname Ironfist for the unparalleled discipline seen in his troops. Anyone who survives a battle against him will tell you there is no sight more terrifying than the slow advance of an impenetrable wall of shield and spear.
Staring Skills: Tactics, Leadership
Specialization - All Milities, Legionnaires, and Praetorians receive +1 attack and defense for every other level of the hero, starting at the first level. Additionally, they also receive a 10% higher boost from the "defend" command.
Isabel (Centurion)
Youngest of the Emperor's 7 children, Isabel knew that she had no likely path to the throne, so she devoted her time to studying battlefield tactics instead. She was especially interested in siege equipment and has made her father proud of her glorious military career, owed to her expert deployment of the Balista and Catapult.
Starting Skills: War Machines, Tactics
Specialization - This hero starts with a Balista equipped. Any Balista under the hero's command will gain +1 attack for every level. The Catapult will deal an additional +2% damage to fortifications per hero level, and when defending against a siege, so will the arrow towers.
Cuthbert(Prophet)
It is unlikely that Cuthbert would have risen to any sort of power during the height of the empire, as his love of the dark arts is no secret. Today, however, it seems he is a favorite of the god of war himself, as Cuthbert's ability to cast hexes in combat is unrivaled by any human, perhaps even any spellcaster in the world.
Starting Skills: Dark Magic, Occultism
Specialization - For every 5 levels of the hero, the effective spellpower of Dark Magic is increased by 1. For every 10 levels, the mana cost is also lowered by 1.
Alessia(Prophet)
Perhaps the most beloved figure in the empire (besides the Emperor himself, of course,) Alessia is the paragon of what a priestess should be. She is the role model of every woman aspiring to priesthood and thought by many to be the bride of God himself. While there is no way of knowing for sure, the armies she leads into battle always demonstrate an otherworldly level of strength.
Starting Skills: Light Magic, Sorcery
Specialization - At the start of combat, each friendly unit has a 10% +1% per level chance to receive one of the following spell effects: Bless, Haste, Endurance.
Freyda(Templar)
The youngest Templar in history, Freyda is a once-in-a-century warrior. Her skills surpass people twice her age, and many believe it to only be a matter of time until she becomes the Supreme Commander of all of the empire's forces. She revels in battle, and this rubs off on her troops.
Starting Skills: Leadership, Warcries
Specialization - Any warcry used by the hero additionally increases the speed of the target by 1, and gives a plus +1(hero level/6) boost to attack.
Ingham(Templar)
Quiet and reserved, Ingham was once a monk living in a remote monastery, before his exceptional ability to teach was discovered by the empire. Skills in arts both martial and magical, he is a highly sought after commander.
Starting Skills: Light Magic, Enlightenment
Specialization - All Magus, Veneficus, and Cantatio Gladio in the hero's army receive +1 to attack and defense for every other level of the hero, starting at the first level, and +1 spellpower for every 5th level of the hero, starting at the first level.
Troops
T1 - Cacula (Vexillarius/Bucinator)
All citizens in human society are required to enlist in military service on their 16th birthday and continue to serve for at least 2 years. These Cacula, or “squires” as they are known to non-humans, are weak in battle, but high in numbers. They mainly serve to assist other units in logistical and equipment support; ranged creatures replenish their ammo when next to them, and melee troops have their defense increased. When upgraded into Vexillarius(Flag Bearers) they additionally increase the speed of adjacent units. When upgraded into Buccinators (Buglars) they increase the morale of the entire army.
T2 - Venator (Sagittarii/Agrimensor)
Venators, or scouts, provide ranged support to the melee-focused armies of Haven. Their archery skills are unremarkable, but they receive no melee penalty. Upgrading them into Sagittarii (Archers) grants them the ability to ignore more enemy defense the closer the target is, and upgrading them into Agrimensor(Hunters) grants their hero a reduced penalty on rough terrain.
T3 - Milities (Legionnaire/Praetorian)
Cacula who choose to remain as soldiers after their 2-year term expires are named Milities, or foot soldiers, and exchange their spiked club for a spear, shield, and shortsword. They are among the finest infantry in the world, boasting high defense and HP, resistance to ranged attacks, and reasonable damage output. Upgrading them into Legionnaires gives them the ability to retaliate preemptively, and upgrading them into Praetorians lets them transfer some of the damage from an adjacent ally to themselves.
T4 - Numerus (Berzerker/Skullcrusher)
Numerus, or barbarians, are fast, lightly armored infantry carrying massive battle-axes capable of dealing tremendous amounts of damage to foes and crippling them, giving them a speed penalty. While not as sturdy as Milities, their enemies will usually be dead before they can land a blow. Upgrading them into Berzerkers gives them a chance to attack twice, and upgrading them into Skullcrushers greatly increases their defense at the expense of speed, and swaps their battleaxe for a warhammer that deals tremendous damage and lowers its victim’s defense.
T5 - Magus (Veneficus/Cantatio Gladio)
Magus, or mages, are assumed to be a relatively recent addition to Haven’s armies, as they did not rely on magic historically. Their ranged attacks deal fire damage that ignores obstacle penalty, and they are capable of casting various basic hexes. Upgrading them into Veneficus (Wizards) grants them access to a wider variety of spells both offensive and defensive while upgrading them into Cantatio Gladio (Spellswords) causes them to lose their ranged attack in exchange for the ability to cast a spell and attack in melee in the same turn.
T6 - Alaris (Decurion/Dragonslayer)
Alaris, or calvary are heavy-armored soldiers with wicked lances on horseback. They boast well-rounded stats with high speed, defense, and damage. For every tile they move on their way to their target, the more damage they deal. Upgrading them into Decurion (Champions) allows them to additionally ignore a percentage of their targets armor, also based on distance, and upgrading them into Dragonslayers allows them to deal an extra 20% damage to tier 7 creatures.
T7 - Mal'ákh (Saráf/Mal'akhElohim)
(4th wall break) I thought it would be cool to write a really ominous description in Hebrew that implies the Angels are dark eldritch entities responsible for the fall of the original empire and are using the humans as puppets to invade the mortal world, but apparently I can't use Hebrew letters or distorted text or anything so just imagine these playing similarly to how Angels normally play, except they look like eldritch horrors. Seraphs gain increased power as their allies die, Archangels can resurrect.
Unique Buildings
Altaris ex Voto
"Altar of Wishes" in the common tongue, excess rare resources can be fed to the altar for temporary boosts over the next week
Coliseum
The Coliseum is where heroes go to prove themselves. All heroes recruited from a town with a Coliseum are hired at level 3, and all visiting heroes receive a +1 boost to their attack and defense.
Caeli Adyta
Grail Structure - The Shrine of Heaven increases gold income by 5000, creature growth in this town by 50%, and provides defending heroes with +5 to all primary stats. Additionally, non-Haven troops now also benefit from the Jingoism skill, and there is no moral penalty for mixing troops of different factions.
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PandaTar
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Celestial Heavens Mascot
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posted August 29, 2020 01:21 PM |
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Edited by PandaTar at 05:34, 30 Aug 2020.
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Accordingly to the first post, I'll set scores based on:
1. Heroes
2. Units
3. Structures
4. Bonuses (Lore, depth, overall creativity – which might give additional points, if the other three situations do not fill the whole score)
Will post scores probably tonight.
Alon = 7.5
A traditional approach of Castle. So, I had to pay attention for details.
1. Heroes
Having ways to change tactics and maneuver troops was something I always thought strange the game lacking in that regard, combining and such. Directly influence on units based on class instead of simply specialty feels more useful, approachable and leaves specialty opened to add another perk.
2. Units
The units seem all rather balanced on themselves, trying to compensate each other weaknesses, although nothing stands out much either way, not anything particularly too strong, or weak.
3. Structures
From the three featured buildings, I like Levy the most (had to Google the word, because I did not know it). It makes feel like the town is more than the hired units, but a whole, as you feel in games on which how the population is happy and evolving affects the kingdom growth, as it should be.
4. Bonuses
To be frank, nothing stood out too much, except from this and that detail already considered above. All in all, a traditional Castle/Haven. No bonus added, then.
FirePaladin = 8
Also a traditional approach of Castle. So, I had to pay attention for details.
1. Heroes
Basic. I felt like it missed a bit more detail, perhaps. Like, why are they heroes?
2. Units
Siege units feel good enough, less standard than the games. This is the sort of situation on which I approve upgrades, because it is mainly weaponry, and not living beings.
I personally prefer settings such as these, units that can be equiped or a really and consistent (and logical) difference between upgrades and non. And also, not all have it, which feels less forced.
Units feel useful in their roles.
3. Structures
Blacksmith with actual other functions is always welcome. Terrible if you build something that will only provide a single war machine and never again the blacksmith will build anything else.
Is Church a siege-only building (regarding those buffs)?
Holy Cathedral feels ... imba. But hell. Supposed it would be at a high cost.
4. Bonuses
Point for humor, a little.
Jiriki9 = 9.5
Although feeling like a traditional approach, it has a flair of exotic features due the virtues.
1. Heroes
These virtues also helps giving the additional stand-out features upon heroes and their classes. Considering virtues followed and combined with the subskills create different results, it's a nice setting giving uniqueness to heroes.
2. Units
I basically enjoyed the proposed units, even some of their upgrades. They made sense with a town; again, not only a town with hired units, but a living and thriving town with strengths and weaknesses and population.
Also, would suggest more units tied to this or that virtue, as it is the theme of this faction.
3. Structures
In comparison with units, felt like buildings could feel a bit more useful on the long term, instead of a single-use, as fair as description goes, for example, House of Healing. All in all, this is the most traditional approach on the proposal.
4. Bonuses
Point for humor too. Also likes ideas such as technologies being able to provide specific uses in towns (a la AoW, for example), defensive buildings having a bit more of an organic feel about them (not only fixed numbers that don't escalate much later on). Lore, although very resumed, would be interesting to look upon, because it gives more of a feel on how units came into being. But, as I said, this is bonus.
Rimgrabber = 9
A more renegade vibe around them, as a vengenful faction, always feels refreshing.
1. Heroes
I didn't have a personal likeness or unlikeness on them, and the faction skills feel, dunno, a tad limited? It would all depend on combination of skills to have a better grasp, so I'll consider it 'traditional'.
The featured heroes feel pretty apart between classes, which is good, in my humble opinion. I would suggest something on the heroes specialized on units that it could be considered their specialty to affect the training, and not only the battling. Which means that a hero improves units at town for any other hero as well, because, in a sense, they can improve their training, not only their performance in battle while the hero is present, if that makes sense to you. Perhaps an addition to morale when they carried those units in their armies would differenciate the specialized hero from other heroes.
2. Units
The trademark exotic names.
I like the interactive elements between units, it makes units feel units more united as an army (or more like jerks, as those damn Seraphs), aside protecting flanks, but actually acting (even passively) on a role to improve their nearby counterparts, or hero on the adventure map. Defined upgrades feels like different training, which helps giving them utility, and not something just for the sake of having.
3. Structures
I liked this building more, as they have utility on long term, either with hiring heroes, using surplus resources and improvement of skills.
4. Bonuses
Point for lore and additional content to make things plainer, clearer, like Jiriki9's proposal. Adding known heroes feeds nostalgic impulses too, hohohohoho.
That's it. Hope nobody felt like a harsh judgement, as these things are very personal and I am usually more prone to appreciate exotic stuff. It's a bit hard for me to analize traditional features. No ill-will intended. I merely wonder if I would like to play that faction and try to start from there.
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"Okay. Look. We both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster."
GlaDOS – Portal 2
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted August 30, 2020 11:12 AM |
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Edited by Jiriki9 at 11:12, 30 Aug 2020.
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SO, I'm also judging now.
Before I come to the proposals, a word on Haven:
I find it hard to judge, because Haven is a faction where I have so tight exceptions and on the other hand I really like creativeness in proposals. But here it is about making a HAVEN (or Castle) Town and I cannot ignore that. I hope I found balance here.
PandTar
As usual, your proposal is very creative. The mechanics are quite far off from classical Homm, but as it is about the town, I will try not to take that into account. (There ar ethings I find very interesting, and those not really my taste - at least not in homm.)
-Heroes: Wow. a lot to comprehend, as a lot of things individual for each hero. And a MERCHANT CRAG HACK.  Fun aside: I loved the background stuff here. The gameplay...I am not sure. I think it could be fun to play with these heroes. Another thing is they do feel a bit knit-together both in terms of gameplay and background, and that does not feel so havenish.
-Units: Even more unconventional than the heroes. Certainly interesting. They also come toghether better than the heroes, imho.
-Town: I personally would have separated these more. It is certainly creative to have buildings with multiple effect, though. And I do like the special effects.
-Other stuff: As mentioned, very nice backgrounds. Here, I would have LOVED hints on a campaign. I also like the merchant stuff going through the faction.
Overall, I realized I cannot take the general mechanics out ocmpletely, though I tried.
8 points for a wonderful, and wonderfully presented town, that does not hit the (my) mark for Haven, though.
Alon
A conventional proposal.
-Heroes: Pretty classical. WOuld have liked a bit more unique stuff here. After all, that's mostly stuff we know.
-Town: Solid, mostly. The Levy is awesome, though.
-Units: Classical with a few twists. Siege units on the battlefield are interesting. The wizard does feel very off, more info on the background might have changed this.
Overall, I missed background info here, which might have knit it all together more. It is solid, it does feel like haven, but it feels like it was the kind of haven that you play in tutorial or campaign, but rarely choose afterwards.
6 points.
FirePaladin
Classical as well, in how it works. Little background makes it hard to see if it feels like a castle in that part, but I think it will.
-Heroes: Not too innovative there. The stats are really fitting, imho, and I like how the chances change.
-Units: VERY traditional, a mix between H2 and H3 somewhat. What it lacks in innovation, though, it has in feeling like castle and in giving the impression it could work.
-Town: I like the Church.
Overall, this is a very classical castle, that transports the feel of a human faction struggling in probably fantastic world. It could definitely use more background and creativity, though.
7 points.
Rimgrabber
A tad less conservative, yet still very recognizable as haven.
-Heroes: A nice section. I get a good feel of the heroes and the faction skill is simple but well fitting.
-Units: I really like this part of your proposal. It is very Havenish, but it also is creative and breaks expectations.
-Town: What I see, is fitting and interesting to me.
Overall, I really liked this and would like to play it very much. The pseudo-Roman feel and the slight dark twist add a lot to it.
9 points.
I hope I wasnt too harsh!
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PandaTar
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Celestial Heavens Mascot
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posted August 30, 2020 04:13 PM |
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Edited by PandaTar at 16:24, 30 Aug 2020.
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I'll try adding a bonus on the next round then, giving a resume of how a Campaign could be. Giving I grabbed parts of my actual Haven Citadel full designs to make this one, it would require some tinkering, like Crag Hack's background being an envoy from far lands, instead of a close ally – yet, a war-merchant of sorts, HOHOHOHO.
On a holistical view, scenarios would encompass:
1. Battle of Aframia (Sir Ambrose)
2. Fall of the Temple of the Sun (Cuthberth)
3. Arrival at Alistoma (Crag Hack)
4. Last ship to Alistoma (Cuthberth)
5. Arise (Arkediff, Martherio, Tyris, Sir Ambrose and Cuthberth)
6. The Iron Lord (Crag Hack)
7. Alliances in the South (Sir Ambrose, Crag Hack and Arkediff)
8. Scouting the elves (Tyris, Martherio and Cuthberth)
9. Unexpected invasion (Tyris, Martherio and Cuthberth)
10. Preparing the counterattack (Sir Ambrose and Arkediff)
11. Uniting the Dwarven Fortresses (Crag Hack)
12. Enforcements (All heroes)
13. The Walls of the new Alliance (All heroes, last map)
Of course, some other hero would enter the fray, in addition to the regular heroes you could hire. My actual proposal has 30 heroes for Haven Citadel; a lot of old names.
____________
"Okay. Look. We both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster."
GlaDOS – Portal 2
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Alon
Known Hero
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posted August 30, 2020 06:47 PM |
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PandaTar said:
I'll try adding a bonus on the next round then, giving a resume of how a Campaign could be. Giving I grabbed parts of my actual Haven Citadel full designs to make this one, it would require some tinkering, like Crag Hack's background being an envoy from far lands, instead of a close ally – yet, a war-merchant of sorts, HOHOHOHO.
So... what I like re campaign specifically is to weave things together. So if you have 5-6 factions (i.e. the H2/4/7 six, possibly omitting the Academy), you have 5-6 protags, one per faction, and you have one long campaign in which you jump between POVs as the protags first become important leaders within their own factions and then either fight one another or maybe form a temporary alliance to fight something else.
You can even use the first mission per faction to highlight important aspects of what the factions are, fundamentally. So, for example, maybe you open the briefing for Haven with some mentor telling the protag "your father was a true hero to our people, a real crusader, and it's natural that you should step into his role and help defend our land" and then saying something about how to build a combined army of a couple different tier-1 units. And then the next map you play Stronghold and the briefing opens with a mentor telling the protag "your father was a brave warrior, a real ogre, but don't think that means anyone goes easy on you - you need to prove yourself worthy of the name, go fight off monsters that are encroaching on us" and then giving you tips on how to build single-unit armies.
I guess the reason people complain about my lore being too thin is that I'm thinking of the lore as mostly "what distinguishes this faction from other factions"? So the way I think of it, you have the following distinctions for Haven/Castle vs. other factions:
Stronghold: actually pretty similar martial cultures, and even pretty similar clerical magic (shamanism holds that shamans have healing and scrying powers, rather like the powers D&D gives priests), but the Castle is a much more complex society with much more division of labor, hereditary rule, etc. In gameplay terms, this means Stronghold armies have to be simpler - you pick 1-2 units per hero and build that - whereas Castle armies require you to balance a lot of units and spells in the same army. The Castle also has actual war machines, rather than orcs climbing city walls taking unbelievably high casualties.
Preserve: the Castle is a martial sedentary society, the Preserve is various fantasy creatures living in the forest. The Castle has way higher population, can actually take losses whereas unicorns and such are just about irreplaceable, and mostly wants to fight on open terrain in meadows. Both factions think highly of their tradition, but the Castle tradition is "we dominate nature and use it to grow food" whereas the Preserve one is "we live in the forest and hunt and pick berries." And both use combined arms, but the Castle way is much more akin to large Early Modern military history whereas the Preserve way is a glorified D&D party with a few flavors of fighters, a rogue unit that can climb walls, and magic users.
Academy: this is the hardest one to distinguish, which is why I keep expressing skepticism about it. The Academy is a complex hierarchical society, like the Castle. The difference is, the Castle is deeply wedded to its tradition whereas the Academy is run by mad scientists who mostly fight with constructs and summons. The most obvious difference is, if you show up saying you're starving, the Academy will 4 times out of 5 kick you out and let you starve and 1 time out of 5 have some job for you cleaning the lab, and the Castle will always have some porridge for you provided of course you swear you and your progeny will forever be serfs to the local lord.
Necropolis: not really similar to the Castle in any way, and Castle lore mostly just views it as a pure antagonist in order to tell heroism stories about knights vanquishing disposable skeletons. That said... the clerical magic of the necropolis does have some similarities with priestly traditions of protection magic and such, and like the Academy and Castle, the Necropolis is an extremely complex society using different kinds of undead to fulfill different roles.
Dungeon: a hierarchical society run on the basis of pure strength. The Castle and Dungeon are both extremely exploitative, but there is some measure of mutuality in Castle relations, whereas to the Dungeon, the weak exist 100% for the pleasure of the strong. In gameplay terms, low-tier Dungeon units are disposable cannon fodder for irreplaceable high-tier units like dragons, whereas the Castle does try to keep most troops alive at all tiers and has strong horizontal relations within the army and not just vertical ones.
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Jiriki9
Honorable
Undefeatable Hero
Altar Dweller
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posted August 30, 2020 07:56 PM |
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Alon, I actually like what you wrote here, and would it have been in the proposal, it would have added much to the feel of it, imo.
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PandaTar
Responsible
Legendary Hero
Celestial Heavens Mascot
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posted August 30, 2020 08:05 PM |
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Edited by PandaTar at 15:38, 31 Aug 2020.
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Agree with Jiriki9. I would give a small boost for bonus features. Helps with immersion.
My actual model of campaign is that each faction have their own great ending, because of the lore I created. Factions do interact with each other, but not on global situation, because they are too far apart to make sense they would go stir trouble here and there. There is a greater situation that each faction have to face on their own, after their struggle with more regional business involving other factions.
Probably there will be intermediary campaigns that take hold of a greater scale, but again, not involving a world-like clash. These intermediate campaigns are how each faction becomes aware of what to face next.
So, we have just today to finish votes. Which faction comes next?
____________
"Okay. Look. We both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster."
GlaDOS – Portal 2
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Rimgrabber
Promising
Famous Hero
Voice in Gelu's Head
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posted September 01, 2020 12:46 AM |
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Great proposals guys!
PandaTar
I remember your proposals were always amazing, you did not disappoint! If you don't mind me asking where do you get your artwork?
Heroes: I like how you took classic heroes and completely redid them in a way that still fits them. The one thing I don't understand though is why do they have specializations if they all have their own unique class?
Units: It's always hard to give Haven a cool lineup while still having it be recognizable, but you pulled it off! I especially like the Anzu.
Buildings: I like how some of the dwellings provide other effects. I might steal that.
Lore: Very in-depth. I'd love to read a full story taking place in this setting.
Other: It was a bit hard for me to follow in parts because of how different the mechanics are from Heroes, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless.
Overall Score: 9.5
Alon
A quite conservative proposal, but that's to be expected for Haven. I liked your new ideas for gameplay mechanics, and the unit synergy was very cool, I wish there was more of that in the real games.
Heroes: I don't have much to say here, as most of it seems to be based on the new mechanics,
Units: Pretty standard line-up, I like the new tier system, and the use of the catapult as an actual unit is a cool thing. One of the things I liked about Heroes 4.
Buildings: I really like the buildings, especially the Templar Guild. Another thing I liked about H4 is the unique spells for each faction, and having that in addition to some standard spells is a really good idea.
Lore: Not really much to go on here in the OP, but your later post with the faction relations helped expand a bit.
Other: Not much else to add.
Overall Score: 7
FirePaladin
Also a fairly conservative proposal, not much to add.
Heroes: Not a lot to go on here, but I like that you specified their stat allocation.
Units: Also pretty conservative, very reminiscent of the H1/2 Knight lineup. The Paladin's damage resistance sounds really strong, and I like the Angels and how you can transmute human units into them. Battering Ram sounds fun.
Buildings: I really like the blacksmith upgrades, and as I said above the idea of a genetics lab where you can turn humans into angels is very cool and hints at a lot of potentially awesome lore and backstory.
Lore: Not much to go on here other than what's implied by the grail building, but I hope you flesh out this world more in later rounds.
Other: Not much else to add.
Overall Score: 7
Jiriki9
I think this is a really cool take on Haven, quite original while still conservative enough that I could see it feasibly being in a real heroes game.
Heroes: For some reason I really like Paladin as a hero class instead of Knight or something. 3 classes is always a plus too in my book. The faction skill is really interesting and well thought out.
Units: Pretty standard Haven lineup, but a lot of details about their abilities, which is great.
Buildings: I'm not sure I understand what the monument does, since unless I missed it none of the abilities mention creature remains anywhere, but still a cool idea.
Lore: Unfortunately, nothing really here. Sorry if you felt rushed, I think next round there's going to be 2 weeks instead of just 1.
Other: I'd love to play this faction in-game.
Overall Score: 8
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Alon
Known Hero
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posted September 01, 2020 01:31 AM |
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Can I give scores tomorrow?
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Rimgrabber
Promising
Famous Hero
Voice in Gelu's Head
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posted September 01, 2020 01:39 AM |
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