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| Thread: Seperate Inferno from Necropolis? |  This thread is pages long: 1 2 · NEXT» |
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Saruman
Famous Hero
On academic leave
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posted May 08, 2003 01:55 AM |
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Poll Question:
Seperate Inferno from Necropolis?
I hate how the demons and devils and things have been incorperated into the death town. I have thought of enough undead for the Necropolis to be exclusively undead, and a Demon town:
Necropolis
Lvl1
Skeleton, Zombie
Lvl2
Ghost, Flesh Golem (Not really undead, but pretty close)
Lvl3
Vampire, Lich
Lvl 4
Bone Dragon, Corpse Gatherer (Giant undead, made up of 100s of corpses. Gains +10% defense for each creature killed)
Demon Town
Lvl1
Imp, Pit spawn (A sort of slimey thing, the embodiment of damned souls)
Lvl2
Cerberus, Demon
Lvl3
Venom Spawn, Pit Fiend
Lvl4
Devil, Doom Rider (Sort of like the Nasgûl; abilities: fly, Doom Blade (Casts poison and curse on the enemy, poison strength depends on # of Riders))
Anyway, while we're on the subject, what do you think? Should Death be both demon and undead, or just undead?
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Thank god I'm an atheist.
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Marelt_Ekiran
Promising
Famous Hero
Watcher of All
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posted May 08, 2003 02:46 AM |
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You ask for demon + undead or undead and then the options are.
Yes
No
Don't care
Which one is which?
As for your idea, I made a death town that fitted into a storyline. In this story, all demonic creatures were killed by the undead and resurrected by the necromancers, which caused some odd variaties of undeads. By the way, we're pretty sure that HOMM5 will have 6 levels, so you need a total of 12 creatures per town. Anyway, here is my death town of pure undeads (no demons at all in the new town formation, except for the efreet).
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Changes in the town of Death.
Of all towns, death will have the largest transformation, because it has to go from a mixture of demonic and undead, back to a pure undead town. In the story, I explained that the demonic creatures were murdered by the large hordes of undead after the return of the necromancer's expidition. There were only six undead in HOMM4 and I will have to turn that into at least twelve. Of course, the lich should be brought back and some others from HOMM3. The rest must come from the resurrected demons.
After the demons were killed and resurrected, the necromancers found out that demons were quite stupid and could easily be tricked. They managed to connect a demon summoning device with an undead transformer, which gave them a steady supply of undead creatures.
Level 1:
>Skeleton< (Excavation).
This classic creature is back and still has the increased ranged defense, although it should be scaled down to 50%. My proposal is also that the necromancy skill goes back to skeletons only. The skeleton is quite slow and is therefore less of a threat during combat. This eliminates the complaints about the overpowered vampire stacks from HOMM4, but still gives necromancy its usefullness. Besides, those armies of 5000 skeletons walking around was more fun than the 200+ vampire horde.
>Minion< (Minion well).
The murdered imps were brought back as these small and powerless ghost-like creatures. They lost their mana drain ability, but gained the ability to attack without retaliation. Minions are fast but very fragile. They come in great numbers, though.
Level 2:
>Zombie< (Graveyard).
Often considered the worst creature of the HOMM series, the zombie comes back in a bit more usefull form. They are still very slow, but have good damage and lots of hitpoints for their level. They gained the ability to infect their target, which is always triggered and decreases attack with 20%. Also, they can move to a dead stack and gain hitpoints by feeding off them. They heal 3 hitpoints per zombie per turn of eating, as long as there are enough hitpoints in the stack.
>Ghost< (Barren mounds).
The ghost is still fast, but does little damage. It still has an aging attack, but that has been scaled down to decreasing speed by half (not movement) and hitpoints by 20%. It is still insubstantial, which should be able to keep it alive.
Level 3:
>Darkhound< (Darkhound kennel).
The poor murdered cerberi lost two of their heads (it was too hard to animate three minds at once), but the remaining head now has a ferocious attack. They have a first strike and a Breath of Death ability (which works more or less the same way as the medusa's stoning). Good attack, but relatively low defense and hitpoints. They are fairly fast, but not incredibly.
>Mummy< (Pyramid).
These are real tanktroops. Slow, high hit points and defense. Damage is fair, but not great. They still have a guaranteed curse on all their victims.
Level 4:
>Lich< (Mausoleum).
The lich now has a dual function. It is a spellcaster, but the only one without a direct damage spell. It has the ability to cast Fatigue, Weakness, Sorrow, Misfortune, Raise Skeleton and for a lot of spellpoints, Mass Cancellation. The lich also attacks as a ranged attacker and does good damage. However, the attack has been scaled down to one target per shot.
>Vampire< (Mansion).
The vampires will appear in less numbers, since the necromancy ability should not be able to make them anymore. They keep their draining ability and no retaliation. They are still fast flyers, but their defenses have been scaled down drastically. Their numbers in the towns have increased, but it will be harder to fight and keep all vampires intact. It's still a great unit for its level, though.
>Wraith< (Spirit tomb).
The wraith is now a lot tougher than it used to be. The top creature still regenerates and it sucks two mana per turn out of enemy spellcasters. It also has a panick attack, which makes the target lose it's next turn. I think this creature should not be in towns.
Level 5:
>Screel< (Venom laberatory).
It took the necromancers many experiments before they discovered how to make undead from venom-based demons. Finally, they managed to turn dead venom spawns into screels. The screel cannot shoot, but has a fair speed and a very high defense and a good attack. The venomous claws of the screel cause the victim to be poisoned with 25% of the actual damage done. The screel is also hard to shoot, like the skeleton it. In appearance, think of it as a smaller version of a bone behemoth.
>Dark Knight< (Palace of Darkness).
The dark knights are few in numbers, but they have by far the best damage of their levels. The defense and speed are fair, but they have high hitpoints. The attack of a dark knight is guaranteed to cause sorrow and they also have two retaliations per round.
Level 6:
>Bone Dragon< (Dragon vault).
The bone dragon is back with its fear attack and its boney structure that protects against arrows. They can fly, but not good (not really fast). Their attacks do good damage, but their melee defense is fairly low. They have a good number of hitpoints to expend, but they are still a bit easier killed than other level 6 creatures.
>Grim Reaper< (Gate of Doom).
The grim reapers are in fact undead devils. They teleport and attack with scythes. These weapons do good damage. Grim reapers also have good defense, but lower hitpoints than bone dragons. They are able to cast animate dead during battle a few times. This spell can be used on both friend and enemy. If you animate your own undead creatures with this, then 50% of these will be alive after battle.
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Perception is everything.
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Nasty
Known Hero
castor nebun si orb pe cinste
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posted May 08, 2003 09:41 PM |
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i agree that they should take the demons out of the necropolis...even if marelt gave an interesting ideea about mixing them...but think about it...they would be the only evil guys...there must make the demons powerful aswell and even the dungeon should reapear..cause the more vilains the more fun.
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You can trick me with food.Possesions mean nothing to a navajo.
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Marelt_Ekiran
Promising
Famous Hero
Watcher of All
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posted May 08, 2003 10:40 PM |
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Chaos not evil enough?
Besides, the storyline of HOMM4 and probably HOMM5 is no longer a struggle between good and evil like it was in HOMM2 and HOMM3. It is more a struggle for survival.
In HOMM4, the story was told of all survivors of the Reckoning, carving out nations for themselves. I would like it if those nations clashed. No good vs. evil battle, but each for his own, with perhaps a few alliances.
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Perception is everything.
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Braxen
Tavern Dweller
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posted May 08, 2003 10:54 PM |
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Great suggestions Marelt_Ekiran!
Some nice creatures there, and also nice to see that you´ve thought it through.
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One Brax To Rule Them All
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Nasty
Known Hero
castor nebun si orb pe cinste
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posted May 08, 2003 10:54 PM |
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yeah but in homm4 they tried to build themselves a kingdomand after that they would start a war....so homm5 would be that war...and you have to have vilains..and no the chaos isnt that evil..it could have benn more evil in it.
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Saruman
Famous Hero
On academic leave
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posted May 08, 2003 11:31 PM |
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Marelt, your ideas a great, but I would prefer it if the demons weren't slaughtered. If you did that, you would have to slaughter all the Angels in Axeoth as well, since you can't have unbalance in good and evil.
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Thank god I'm an atheist.
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gorman
Promising
Legendary Hero
Been around since before 2003
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posted May 08, 2003 11:43 PM |
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Yeah, i enjoy the part of the Grim Reaper.  Devil in a dark cloak and HUGE scythe! 
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When all else fails... Take notes.... ALL the time... ESPECIALLY when playing D&D.... or Pokemon in my case
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Marelt_Ekiran
Promising
Famous Hero
Watcher of All
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posted May 08, 2003 11:47 PM |
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Which would be the new counterpart of the angel. Angels have come to earth to bring life. Grim Reapers have come to the earth to bring death. Besides, I find the Grim Reaper a much more interesting character than those big red demonic things.
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Perception is everything.
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Nasty
Known Hero
castor nebun si orb pe cinste
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posted May 09, 2003 12:01 AM |
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your ideea is great... if the demons are slaughtered then besides the undead must apear a new evil race...maybe a new chaos one...but i would prefer a dungeon like one...with manticores...worms...
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Marelt_Ekiran
Promising
Famous Hero
Watcher of All
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posted May 09, 2003 12:09 AM |
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I included all of that in my Octagon system. The necromancers have an ally in the alchemists. Archaeon and Chaos more represent the evil sides of Nature. I'll repost these three towns here.
The Archaeon Town.
Based on the ideas of Debowy, I started to write a detailed outline of a new insect town, which took a major part of my free Saturday. The original version is posted on Heroes Community. I'm posting it again here with some explanations with it.
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More for the insect town.
These are just some more ideas for the creatures. The insect world is very diverse and there are many possibilities (BTW, many of the proposed creatures are not insects, worms, spiders, millipeds).
Level 1 ideas:
>Worker ant< (Ant colony)
Weak, medium speed, but high numbers. Produces one random resource per 100 ants per day (so 50 ants produce one per two days). Chance of getting wood or ore twice as high as the others.
>Milliped< (Tree nest)
Medium speed, does fair damage for it's level, but has less numbers than the ant. Has two retaliations per round (like the unupgraded griffin of HOMM3).
>Cockroach< (Shaded den)
Slow speed, does not do a lot of damage, but is very hard to kill for it's level. Attack has a chance of inflicting maximum negative morale (based on a French proverb, "avoir le cafard" = "to have the cockroach". It means: to have the blues, to be depressed).
Level 2 ideas:
>Warrior ant< (Ant tunnel)
Ranged attacker, picks up rocks and throws them to hit a single enemy stack. Can use one turn to dig itself in, giving a 25% boost in defense until it moves from its position.
>Flying beetle< (beetle hive)
Flying and fairly fast. Does not do a lot of damage, but it hard to kill. Has a backshield, meaning that it takes half damage from creatures with tallness.*
>Wasp< (wasp hive)
Flying, fast and does quite an amount of damage, but has low defenses and hit points. Inflicts pain, which causes the targets attack and defense to drop by 20%.
>Earthworm< (compost heap)
Ground troop with medium speed and fair attack and defense. Every earthworm killed in battle has a 30% chance of reappearing immediately in a second group as two halfworms. All halfworms produced in the same battle are added to the same group (just as summoning works). Halfworms do half the damage and have half the hitpoints of the original worms. They have no special ability and disappear after battle.
Level 3 ideas:
>Firefly< (Tree of light)
Flying, spellcaster, low attack and hitpoints, but fair defense. Has fire resistance. Spells include firewall, fire bolt and bloodlust. Eliminates movement penalty for traveling or fighting at night, as long as one is present in the army.** Has a heigth defense.*
>Armed beetle< (Granite cracks)
Slow, but tough troop. Does mediocre damage, but has high defence and hitpoints. Has the shielding ability, which means that defending causes the creature to roll up in its shield, increasing melee defense with 75% and ranged defense with 150%. Excellent for guarding siege gates.
>Scorpion< (Sand fields)
High speed, good attack, low defense. Has a poison attack, which substracts a certain amount of hitpoints each time it is the victims turn (same way as HOMM4 poison works).
Level 4 ideas:
>Blood leech< (Mud pool)
Big disgusting black blob. Low speed and does fair damage, but has a high defense. Sucks blood out of living things to feed itself (works in the same way as the vampires sucking ability). Excellent for defending spellcasters and ranged troops.
>Mantis< (Mantis nest)
High speed, attack and defense, but expensive and low numbers. Binds the target with front legs. In all aspects, like the HOMM4 mantis.
>Mother beetle< (Breeding hive)
Medium speed, but tough and good damage. For every attack, it has a chance of inflicting "egg nesting" in one or more of the individual victims (more or less like the chance of the medusa stoning). A individual which suffers from egg nesting has one more turn to live and drops dead the moment of the next turn of the stack, unless healed by a powerful healing spell. For every dead victim, a new armed beetle is formed in a new stack. All armed beetles formed in this way gather in the same stack and are kept after the battle. If you win and some of your members still have eggs nested, then those members are just dead. Egg nesting works with undead, but not with mechanicals or elementals.
>Acid worm< (Poison Ivy)
Ranged attacker, good defense, but less damage than the melee attackers of the same level (which is usual for a ranged attacker). Acid attack, which drops creatures attack and defense by 30% and any creature killed by this attack cannot be resurrected, raised or animated.
Level 5 ideas:
>Dragon fly< (Lighting tree (lightning keeps shooting in it))
Flying, spellcaster. High speed and good defense, but low attack. Can cast the spells lightning, shockblast (lot of damage on a central point, though not as much as lighting, and less damage in a certain range) and windstorm (all flying creatures move with 50% of normal movementand take minor damage when moving). Has a height defense and tallness.*
>Death spider< (Poison web)
Medium speed, highest defense and damage of all. Binds its victims in the same way as the mantis does, but for every turn that the victim is in the spider's grip, it suffers 30 hitpoints damage per spider holding it (damage substracted at victim's turn).
* Part of the plan is to introduce a 3-dimensional aspect to the battlefield. A creature with tallness stands above the others. As a concequence, they take a bit more damage from lighting and ranged attacks, but have a bit higher melee defense than others. The flying beetle takes half damage, because tall creatures can only attack the upper shield.
A heigth defense means that if the flying creature defends, they fly high into the air and are immume to attacks from melee troops, except if the attacker has tallness. Ranged attacks still hurt, but the ranged penalty is larger. No extra defense against flying troops and spells. Note that only a number of flyers can do this. The flying beetle can't.
If there are only melee attackers on one side, and the other side stays in height defense for 3 turns, then this equals a fleeing.
** That is, if the idea of night and day is introduced.
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Insect town heroes.
Here some ideas of the heroes for this town. I don't know what is planned for the skill system, so it is not possible to give much details on that point. For the time being, I assume more or less the same system as HOMM4.
Might Hero --> Ancient warrior (remember, insects and insect-like creatures roamed the land before any other animal).
For the skills, it should probably work out as a combination of combat and scouting.
Magic hero --> Insect witch.
Specializes in the new Archaeon magic (archaeo = greek for ancient or beginning).
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The Archaeon magic system.
The system works as all the other magic systems do. One for learning the actual spells, one for spell power and one for spell points. The speciality skill is the magic block. All creatures (but not the heroes) gain magic resistance as the level increases. To be exact: 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%.
Level 1 spells:
>Shield< Increases defense of target with 25%.
>Frenzy< Increases attack of target with 25%.
>Raise plants< Raises a certain amount of surface area of plants. These plants do not influence movement, but provide extra penalty for ranged attacks on both sides (so use with care).
>Scouting< No penalty for moving on hostile terrain.
>Stone sling< Minor direct damage spell.
Level 2 spells:
>Set vines< Covers a certain spot with vines. All creatures walking over these vines are bound on place for one turn. The caster and creatures on native terrain can see these.
>Animate earth< Summons a number of earthworms from the ground, based on casters level.
>Strength< Increases targets attack and defense by 25%.
>Mind immunity< Makes the target immume to mind spells.
>Fear< Causes the target to lose it's next turn, by using it to run in the opposite direction of the caster, if possible.
Level 3 spells:
>Living earth< The earth starts to move in the direction of the enemy side. All your creatures have a 1 increase in movement and all enemy creatures one decrese in movement. Does not work on flying creatures. Note: two living earth spells cancel each other.
>Ground shatter< The earth on a certain point explodes, damaging all nearby targets. The explosion leaves a hole and this spell can only cast on every spot once.
>Windstorm< All flying creatures take minor damage when moving and move at 50% of speed. The dragon fly is immume to this.
>Skill< Attack and defense increase with 25%, hitpoints increase with 25% and speed increases with 2.
>Earth hold< Target cannot move for three turns. It can still cast spells, shoot and attack adjacent targets.
Level 4 spells:
>Shockblast< Large amount of damage on one select point and less damage farther away from the nucleus.
>Egg implant< Implants eggs in a number of enemy creatures, based on hit points. Works the same as the mother beetle special ability, only, level 1 and 2 creatures give millipeds, level 3 gives flying beetles, level 4 gives armed beetles and level 5 creatures give blood leeches. Note: it would take a level 10 hero to kill one level 5 creature this way, a level 16-17 to kill two, etc.
>Mass strength< All friendly creatures recieve the strength spell.
>Stone shell< Can be cast on both friend and enemy. The target cannot be hurt, but cannot do anything either for 3 turns. If cast on a friendly target, the top creature will be healed and the stack is free of all harmful spells when coming out of the shell.
>Mass mind immunity< All friendly targets are immume to mind spells.
Level 5 spells:
>Meteor shower< Massive damage from rocks falling from the sky in a certain area.
>Earth clutch< All enemy targets are not able to move for three turns. They can still shoot, cast spells and attack an adjacent target.
>Mass skill< Casts the skill spell on all friendly targets.
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After a comment, I wrote that the setting would be a large underground forest, illuminated by fluorescent bacteria. As with most of my other ideas, not all creatures have a mythological background. But all creatures in the insect town have some background in the real world.
The Archaeon Magic system is basically a mixture of Nature and Chaos, but there are a number of unique spells in this school of magic. I was looking for a word that would be better than "Insect Magic". I remembered that there was something with "Arch", that would indicate something very old (like in Archaeology). I looked in the dictonary and noticed:
"archaeo- combining form. ancient: primitive, as in archaeology.
[< Gk. archaios ancient < arche beginning]
I played a little with the word and came up with "Archaeon Magic". That sounded good. I kept this word, also to indicate the allignment.
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The Alchemic Town.
I will post the octagon later, but the octagon was written/drawn before I made up this town. Only, an octagon has eight sides and I only had seven towns at that point. Septagons look so messy, so I was forced to make an eight town.
I had already thought of alliances and archenemies. Life would go against Death, but Order and Chaos would not be archenemies, but just enemies. This is a little flaw, but it fits in the storyline. More details when I actually post the octagon.
The town was forced to go between Order and Death, because of the other allignments. In the story, it is explained why these alliances are in place. This town was going to be an Alchemic Town.
I had to be careful at this point, because the spot between Death and Order was the most discussed point of all. It stands right on the opposite of Nature (archenemies). The problem was that this town would easily become another forge. To prevent that, I had to create a storyline to explain why Alchemy and Death are allied, without incorporating to much Death into the creatures of the Alchemists.
The result was a town made of scientists who had fled the governments of Life and Order and made an alliance with Death for protection. The creatures of the town are mostly humans, dwarves and drows, equiped with magical weapons. There are a number of mechanical creatures, but among them are the Catapult, the Ballista (both a little renamed), the Golem and the Dragon Golem.
Obviously, I stole those from the Order and Life allignments, so I have to preplace them. I was thinking that Order should go more in the direction of snow and ice (storyline) and have a police-like guard. The frost demon should also go to the side of Order (and maybe get a different name).
Originally posted on Heroes Community, Altar of Wishes. 25 March 2003.
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The Alchemic Town.
As promised, I give you the last of my series of new towns. This is a town that goes between the philosophies of Order and Death. It is concentrated on metals, so the main resources should be ore and mercury.
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Some practical information:
Town name: Laboratory
Might hero: Blademaster.
The blademaster is armed in light but strong armour. He or she wields a sword of a strange metal in his or her hand. Skills should work out as a combination of combat and tactics.
Magic Hero: Alchemist.
The Alchemist is dressed in robes and wears some light armour made from the strange metals of this town. The alchemist specializes in Alchemic Magic.
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Creatures:
Some of these creatures come from my own imagination and some are derived from creatures from Life and Order towns. This fits into the storyline of this town. Again, there will probably be to many creatures, but we will just have to pick the best ones.
Level 1:
>Mountain Dwarf< (Dwarven mines).
This dwarf is the equivalent of the Order dwarf (which will have to be renamed "Field Dwarf"). The mountain dwarf is also strong, sturdy and slow. The mountain dwarf's magic resistance has changed. They now have a 25% magic mirror. This means that every spell has a 25% chance of backfiring (leaving the dwarfs unharmed). Direct damage spells are split. 75% to the dwarves, 25% to the caster.
>Tiravar< (Levitation lab).
The tiravar was one of the first inventions of the newly founded laboratory. It is a disc of metal which is lighter than air and it has a few short blades attached to it. It is fast, flying and attacks by swirling around with the blades. It is mechanical and high in numbers, but does not do much damage and is easy to kill.
>Macemen< (Macemen keep).
Macemen are squires who abandoned the haven in protest of the backwardness of that town (see: story). They were equiped with maces (the thing the golblin carried in HOMM3). These maces are a quite heavy. Macemen are a little better armoured than squires, but lost speed and the stunning ability. Instead, they have an equal chance to inflict concussion, which makes the target run away without retaliation (same thing as fear).
Level 2:
>Acolyte< (School of chemistry).
Acolytes throw with small vails of magic. Most of these are direct damage explosions (technically ranged attacks). They can also throw with poisonous vails (half damage of ranged attack each turn) or with vails of acid (lower attack and defense).
>Field catapult< (Craftsmen guild).
These small catapults shoot their projectiles high into the air. This allows them to shoot with a very large range. No penalty for range, obstacles and can shoot anywhere beyond castle walls. Unfortunately, the accuracy is not that high. Low speed and little damage. Catapults are mechanical.
Level 3:
>Dwarven warrior< (Training field).
These dwarves are stronger than all their counterparts and have been trained for battle. They are still slow, but have higher attack and defense than the others. They have the special ability that their armour and weapons hit one third of the ranged damage done to them back to the ranged attacker (after doing full damage to the dwarves).
>Drow ranger< (Ranged fields).
The hatred of the drows for the elves drove them to this town as the opposite of nature. They were welcomed by the alchemists and equiped with bows made of springsteel instead of wood. These bows allow them to shoot better than the elves without ranged penalty.
Level 4:
>Tower guard< (Tower barracks).
These specially trained elite troops wield two windsteel blades at once. This allows them to strike with large damage and incredible speed. They have the first strike and a high speed and damage. Unfortunately, their speed requires that they wear no armour, which lowers their defense.
>Steel golem< (Foundry).
These slow animated monsters do good damage and are extremely hard to kill. They are mechanical and the metal they were made of gives them extra protection. They are immume to to direct damage spells caused by fire, lighting or spirit shocks. All other spells are reduced by 60%. They are low in numbers.
>Drow Mage< (Magic pinnacle).
These drows are extremely dangerous mages. They combined their spiritual powers with the power of the control of the materialistic world. They are spellcasters. Spells include: Sulphur flame (direct damage by raising a poisonous flame on the spot of the target. Target is also poisoned). Mana well (target regenerates one spell point per round per 7 drows casting). Repulsion aura (movement within 7 yard range of target takes triple movement). Anti-magic (normal version).*
Level 5:
>Shockbolt ballista< (Ballista works).
The bolts of these large ballista's have been magically and alchemically prepared. They do much more damage than the old ballista's. They are still slow and defense is mediocre. Ballistas do full damage on range and obstacles, but cannot shoot past defense walls like the catapult does. Ballistas are mechanical.
>Rednir< (Rednir factory).
Redniri are mechanical objects made from the same light metal as the tiravar (lighter than air). These machines fly and use acid attacks, which lowers the attack and defense of their target by 20% in addition to the normal damage. They are slow to bring to start, but once they go, they go fast (=low speed, but high movement). Attack and defense are both fair, but not great.
Level 6:
>Lance titan< (Temple of lighting).
These titans abandoned the academies to follow the alchemists. The alchemists equiped them with special shocklances. The titans lost their ability to shoot, but instead, they gained a long-weapon attack with a very special feature. If the lance strikes an enemy target, then all other enemy troops in a range of 5 yard recieve half the damage that they would have recieved if attacked. Visually, this looks like chain lighting shooting from the initial target. Lance titans do good damage and have defenses equal to a normal titan (which I renamed "cloud titan").
>Dragon Golem< (Dragon factory).
They look like large mechanical dragons with good damage, but they are much more useful than their HOMM4 counterparts. They are large, which is a problem in manouvring and fairly slow, but they have both a first strike and unlimited retalitation. If you get them near the enemy stacks, they are an absolute nightmare.
*Anti-magic will come in two forms. As a level 3 nature and level 5 nature spell. The level 3 spell is what we know and what the drow mage uses. The level 5 spell is called "divine magic shield". It still allows positive spells, but shields the negative. It also protects against the ring of greater negation, the forced dispell and the Talurin spells (see: spirit town).
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Alchemic Magic:
Spell learning: Alchemic Magic
Spell points: Materialization
Spell power: Metallurgy
Speciality: Transformation
Transformation allows the hero to generate a certain amount of gold after each battle won. The amount depends on the XP of monsters killed, the skill of transformation and the level of the hero. (Fun fact: they had this in King's Bounty).
Level 1:
>Armour strength< Target gains 25% increase in defense.
>Decay< Defense of target drops by 20%.
>Shrapnel< All creatures withing a 2 yard distance of caster take minor damage.
>Charge weapon< Minor damage is added to the initial attack of target.
>Disintergrate death< Cast on a stack with dead creatures and destroys a number of hitpoints of the dead. These creatures cannot be animated or ressurected.
Level 2:
>Shackle of pain< Target takes minor damage per distance traveled on combat map, based on casters level. (I'm talking very minor damage, but it adds up after walking some distance).
>Transform weapon< Turns the weapon of the target into a useless metal, lowering its attack by 25%.
>Armour of force< Increases defense of target by 50%.
>Hope< Increases morale of all friendly targets by 2.
>Remove obstacle< Removes all obstacles in a certain range, determined by level of the caster.
Level 3:
>Sulphur flame< Direct damage by conjugating a poisonous flame on the spot of the target. The target is also poisoned.
>Mana well< Target recovers a number of spell points per turn, determined by level of caster.
>Mass decay< Defense of all enemy targets drops by 20%.
>Repulsion aura< Movement within a 7 yard radius of target takes five times the movement.
>Reflection shield< Target takes only 25% damage from direct damage spells (includes poison and plague). No effect on other spells.
Level 4:
>Mass force armour< Increases defense of all friendly creatures by 50%.
>Hammer fists< Increases damage done by target by 100%.
>Enchant weapons< All enemy weapons turn against their owners, causing all enemy targets to do minumum damage minus 20%.
>Solidify mind< The enemy target loses the ability to think for itself, it can no longer retaliate.
Level 5:
>Forced dispell< The target is dispelled of all beneficial spells and loses all natural special abilities. Forced dispell breaks "anti-magic" and magic resistance and immunity, but not a "divine magic shield".* When used on a hero, it dispells the advanced class bonus.
>Force displacement< The target gains the ranged ability. The ranged damage equals melee damage and suffers the normal ranged penalties and has twelve shots. Special abilities (like first strike) are not carried over to the ranged attack. Target keeps normal melee abilities. (spell can be used in combination with "precision" to eliminate range penalty).
>Meltdown< Works the same as the poison spell, but at high levels, it kills hundreds of spell points per turn.
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Unique buildings:
>Tower of animation<
This tower links itself to a hero. Everytime a new hero enters the city, he or she is automatically linked to the tower. A hero can be linked to an unlimited amount of towers, but the link is broken if the enemy takes over the town.
As long as the hero is linked to at least one tower, movement of all mechanical creatures in his or her army on the adventure map is increased by 10. This is to prevent this town from suffering from the slow speed of the mechanicals.
>Alchemist market<
Trade resources to gold at a better rate than the normal marketplaces. It only works resources to gold, no other way.
>Steel gate<
Castle gate gains another 100 HP, meaning you need at least two more hits to get it down.
Shop --> Metal foundry.
Mage guild --> Tower of skill
Library 1 (order) --> Sidehall of Order
Library 2 (death) --> Sidehall of Death
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Story:
The oppresion of individual freedom became to much for some people in both the Haven and the Academy. Especially for those who came up with new inventions. The Academy mages came to the arrogant conclusions that they possesed the ultimate knowledge and accepted no other opinion. The holy orders of the Haven always chose for the old and traditional ways without even considering innovations.
Many people from both towns left and formed towns for themselves. These towns were highly innovated, but extracted a high price from nature. The elves declared war to the newly formed faction and attacked. The alchemists (as the innovative magicians were called) were weak to start and could not fight the elves.
They left to search for a quite place and found it close to the borders of Nekross. The necromancers welcomed the alchemists as friends and allies and both sides had many benefits from each other. Some of the alchemist still had some ties to the Academy faction, but the Haven had condemned them for their betrayal, fights with the elves and ties with Nekross. The Alchemy and Haven factions soon became bitter enemies.
The alchemists, now free to push their innovations forward, developed a new kind of magic to control their crafts. It was still somewhat based on their old magic, but they took a lot of influence from the necromancers, who taught them how to use magic to hurt or weaken your enemy.
The drows, who were driven out of their habitats by the elves who came after the Reckoning, had always searched for revenche. After the skirmishes of the alchemists and elves, they offered their services and protection. The alchemists accepted and drows lived next to the humans and dwarves. Some became alchemists themselves. These were the most dangerous, since they combined their spiritual powers with the control of the material world of Alchemic Magic. Most drows, however, remained warriors. Most used the springsteel bows, invented by the alchemists, but some took up the skill of blade. These drows fight with the dwarven and human guards and some have risen to the level where they command armies under the title of blademaster.
This is the history of the Alchemists. I still have to write a story to tie all towns and peoples together. Also note that I stole a couple of the creatures from the Haven and Academy. I will have to replace those. The Haven should go more in the direction of the heavens and spirits. The Academy should train more fighters and use them as elite guard. I don't have any specific details yet on these points.
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Changes to the town of Chaos
The lands of Chaos are huge in size and the central government rules of it in theory. But in practice, there are many small communities and individuals that look after themselfes. The central government of what is called: The Empire of the Gold Sea, made an alliance with the creatures of the swamps, among them some of the refugees from Tantalia.
When the war with Paleandra and Great Arcan started, the policies were changed. The government send sorcerers to the communities to enforce the conscription that was issued and they used force if necesarry. The overall control of the army and the land as a whole was increased, bit it did not even come close to the organization of countries like Paleandra and Great Arcan. Still, it was good enough to maintain control and their forces were large and strong.
Level 1:
>Gnoll< (Gnoll hut)
The gnoll has returned from its retirement in the swamplands of Axeoth. They are no longer equiped with flails, but rather with quarterstaffs. They are very decent level 1 units, although quite slow. They are better used for the defense of ranged attackers and sorcerers. They have a 20% of dodging an attack with their staffs. This includes magical attacks. Direct damage spells are not weakened, they either succeed fully or, in 20% of the cases, fail completely.
>Bandit< (Thief's tavern)
The bandit still has its stealth ability, but carried it over to the battlefield. It now has the option to do a hidden movement. The bandit is visible at the beginning, but during it's turn, becomes invisible for the enemy and then moves within their normal movement range. They become visible again when either attacking or walking right next to an enemy troop. If bandits stay hidden for three turns and all other troops are dead, then this equals fleeing. Aside from this ability, they are fast, but weak.
Level 2:
>Lizard sniper< (Hidden den)
The lizard sniper has no ranged penalty and a ranged first strike. They do fair damage, but have horrible defenses, so protect them at all cost. In the early game, they make great units to clear mines, but in later battles, they might get slaughtered fairly quickly, because of low numbers.
>Harpy< (Harpy cave)
The harpy still has that pesky hit and run attack, but they are fairly weak creatures. If the enemy gangs up on them, they are lost, so use their ability wisely. Their movement is now one of the highest in the game. They are overall quite weak, but compensate for that in numbers.
Level 3:
>Minotaur< (Maze)
The minotaur lost its ability to block melee attacks, but they gained an incredible hand-eye coordination, which allows them to block ranged attacks 50% of the time. They always have maximum positive morale. Their defense is good and their attack is fair. They are quite slow, though.
>Evil Eye< (Pillar of eyes)
The evil eye has fully joined the ranks of the armies of Chaos. They still come with that irritating random spellbook. Their damage is fair at most and their defenses are horrible. They also suffer from the melee penalty and do not cast their spells when melee attacking. If the speed spell is available, then the minotaur might be the better option here.
Level 4:
>Medusa< (Statue garden)
The medusa is a ranged attacker with good damage and mediocre defense, but they lost the stoning ability. They should go back to their looks in HOMM3, since they look quite horrible in HOMM4. The medusa, however, gained a poisonous bind, using the snakes on her head. In melee attack, they do full damage and bind the victim. The victim looses 10 hitpoints per medusa per turn in her grip (damage substracted at start of victim's turn).
>Basilisk< (Basilisk dungeon)
The basilisk has gained a 50% chance of paralysing the victim during an attack. A paralysed victim cannot retaliate when attacked and suffers of this situation for two turns. However, the paralysis is dispelled when the victim suffers damage. They are quite fast for ground troops and have decent attacks and defenses.
Level 5:
>Gorgon< (Gorgon lair)
Everyone's favorite cow is back and they have taken back the death stare that the medusas borrowed in HOMM4. They do not kill creature at a certain chance with a certain number per gorgon, but more with a formula like the medusas. Because of their high levels, their ability will still make the level 6's shiver in fear. They have great defenses, but their attack is no more than average. Medium speed.
>Efreet< (Lava spring)
The efreet is a though competator for the gorgon. They have gained the spellcasting ability, just like their genie antipoles. Efreeti can cast: Firebolt, Magic Mirror, Aura of Fear and Fire Aura. Next to that, they have a speed and movement that is close to teleporting and are hard to kill, because of high defenses and the fire shield. Their physical damage is not that great though.
>Hydra< (Hydra pool)
Big, bad and many heads. They might be considered as neutral creatures, because they don't belong in this town setup. I can't place a hydra on a low level, but at the high levels, they get overshadowed by the others. However, if they will be there, they will have to come in classic form, with no retaliation and attacks with all heads.
Level 6:
>Black dragon< (Dragon cave)
The black dragon can go on with being the one-per-week ultimate big bully. But they now face competition in the form of the talurin from the spirit town. The talurin can break through their magic immunity and cause heaps of damage. The black dragon is still the undoubted king of the physical damage and the defense, although the hitpoints are roughly equal with that of the talurin.
>Nightmare< (Dark woods)
Nightmares are weaker than the black dragon, but you get two per week and they are a good choice, even next to the dragon. They now cast a cloud of terror, which works the same as the cloud of confusion, except that it causes terror. They have the ability to teleport and have a first strike. Their attack and defense are a little below average of their level, but they have relative high hitpoints.
Spell changes:
- All schools of magic have some forms of direct damage spells, but chaos spells of the same level are always a bit stronger. Next to that, chaos reserves the access to the sorcery skill. This sorcery skill will perhaps make a combo chaos-someothermagic favourable.
- Chaos will also remain the only one with level 5 direct damage. The highest non-chaos DD spell is the mind implosion from spirit magic.
- Add a level 4 spell, called Firestorm. The firestorm summons a storm of fire over the battlefield. Flying creatures take damage when using their flying ability (they have the option to walk, but this makes them much slower). The Firestorm also causes all firebased spells to do 50% more damage. With efreeti in your army, this certainly is a worthy spell. Nature benefits even more from it.
- Make inferno a bit bigger.
- There should be a form of a landmine spell, estimated level 3.
- Make spell shackle based on caster level, instead of a fixed 10 damage.
- Remove either speed or first strike. They don't have to share both with nature.
- Bring back the firewall.
- Add a level 4 spell that makes all chaos units do 50% more damage to Life, Order and Spirit.
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Perception is everything.
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Nasty
Known Hero
castor nebun si orb pe cinste
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posted May 09, 2003 12:31 AM |
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i like very much the insect town and the changes in the chaos town..but cant you find a place for the pit fiend?cause his really bad a$$.
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Marelt_Ekiran
Promising
Famous Hero
Watcher of All
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posted May 09, 2003 12:50 AM |
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Maybe as a neutral chaos creature, but they don't really fit in with the towns.
Level 4:
>Pit fiend< (Brimstone chasm)
The pit fiend is now purely a creature of the underworld. They still carry whips, but they now do damage to all creatures in the three hexes in front of them. Good attack, but quite low defense for their levels, so should not be used alone in front of the other troops. The presence of pit fiends in the army increases movement on subterranian terrain by 40%.
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Perception is everything.
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Nasty
Known Hero
castor nebun si orb pe cinste
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posted May 09, 2003 01:07 AM |
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Maybe the pit fiend could have a specialty like burst...he sometimes bursts whipping everybody near him...only enemies.
this is a special move so it wont take a round...the hero could still hit when the pit fiends time comes...but it would equalize his low defence.
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Planeswalker
Famous Hero
Chaotic Good
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posted May 09, 2003 11:15 AM |
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Hmmm... I loved Pit Lords in H3 and that was only because of their "Summon Demons from Dead ally" skill.
In other words, you can't have a Pit fiend without any summon demon skill.
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Like 2D RPGs? Download Everestia! everestiagame.com
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Marelt_Ekiran
Promising
Famous Hero
Watcher of All
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posted May 09, 2003 07:58 PM |
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But what if there are no demons to summon in the first place?
That's why I left it out in my original planning.
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Perception is everything.
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HydraKing
Tavern Dweller
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posted May 16, 2003 12:51 AM |
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Well i think they should bring back demons that look like the horned demons from heroes 3
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Saruman
Famous Hero
On academic leave
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posted May 16, 2003 01:47 AM |
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Marelt, HOW much time do you have on your hands? That post was enormous!
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Thank god I'm an atheist.
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Marelt_Ekiran
Promising
Famous Hero
Watcher of All
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posted May 16, 2003 01:52 AM |
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I did not write that on the spot. It's a small part of my complete Octagon description. You can find the complete version in my journal on the Guardians Grove.
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Saruman
Famous Hero
On academic leave
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posted May 16, 2003 01:58 AM |
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Oh. While we're on the subject, will someone please explain to me what Guardian's Grove is?
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Thank god I'm an atheist.
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