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Ulf
Tavern Dweller
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posted January 23, 2006 11:29 PM |
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ICTC: Imperial
DESCRIPTION MOVED TO FIRST POST......
The Sylphs (Imperial)
The sylphs are a graceful people who inhabit the colder parts of the world, focussing on an ordered battle system combined with powerful magic drawn from many realms - often related to time, which the magic users can bend to their will in a number of ways. Female sylphs can fly, males cannot. Valkyries and chronomancers are female; neither use their wings so that they can wield heavy weapons and magic more effectively, but chronomancers can fly since they ride pegasi.
Lands: The Imperial empire, to the north of Ashan.
Worship: any, although primarily the Dragon of order (the `good` aspect, not like the necromancers), the Dragon of air, and the Dragon of light.
Capital City: Horae Belluna, usually called Celestia
(Originally Belluna Palatia, "p(a)lace of the beautiful moon", but since changed to reflect modern views, meaning it has now lost its meaning - see history. The government now encourages use of Celestia since, although some may not worship the God of air that much, few will argue with the sylphs' link to air.)
Symbols: pillar and moon, stylised curly wing, diamond (mined in mountains near some of the cities, and claimed to ressemble the 4 states of the moon and the Dragon of order within, although this may be an interpretation that postdates the symbol).
What's left of the chaos sects often use a flaming pillar.
History
Ancient Age: the Imperials begin to become a noteworthy power of the world. They worship the moon as the bringer of light in dark times
0YSD: Sar-Elam’s rise to become the seventh dragon brings myths of her spell in the moon in the mythic era – and Imperial worship turns to the Dragon of order.
98YSD: Some of the younger sylphs begin to worship the Dragon of air, believing it to be a more sensible choice for spirits of air, and also because opinions on fighting being morally right began to wane.
330YSD: The moon is covered during a demon invasion. Some sylphs begin to doubt the power of the moon and the Dragon of order, creating a split-off sect that in theory worshipped no God, but the Dragon of chaos was within a number of decades generally (reluctantly) accepted as their patron by the other races. This sect has been beaten back by attrition and now few members publicly exist.
513YSD: The Imperials get there first beastmen as troops. Some sylphs are now looking towards the Dragon of light as their patron and the empire slowly begins to fracture.
540YSD: War of the Bitter Ashes sees the Imperials choose Sylvan and Haven over the now disrespected Dungeon elves.
564YSD: The second total eclipse topples the Imperial leaders from power, and a new system of government appears. The first move they make is to declare the empire officially polytheistic, and as time passed the Imperials slowly became more tolerant to one another.
717YSD: A chance sighting leads to the sylphs alerting the Dragon Knights of the demons. The Dragon Knights are skeptical and the sylphs feel ridiculed. They begin to look for ways of showing their abilites. The sylphs were never aware that was they had said was in fact completely true.
731YSD: The Imperials begin to become jealous about the magic power of the Seven Cities. Since they did not have the option that the Wizards did of expelling the opposite side from the empire, chronomancy was first investigated as an alternative display of the power of the kingdom. In the battle between Necromancers and Wizards, the Imperials liked neither more than the other.
843YSD: Imperial magic and troops aid in repelling the demons during the time of the 4th eclipse, much to the delight of the sylph leaders.
969YSD: The Imperials plan to aid Haven.
Allies: Haven, Sylvan
Neutral: Academy, Necropolis, Dungeon
Enemy: Inferno
[Some sylphs are 'friendly' with Inferno. These ones are neutral to all except `normal` sylphs.]
Faction special: Deconstruct - periodically enemy buildings in castles can be deconstructed from without, with the original resource cost of the building going back to the enemy.
Hero: Marshal or Murmillo
Special abilities (i.e. a free spell) -
Spear Strike - a barrage of spears flies across the battlefield in a number of directions from a point, doing limited damage.
Lunar Charge - a charge that will potentially blind and damage enemies near the path of the charge.
Line-up, including elements for dungeon (are these the right set?) and dwellings:
Level 1:
Maiden --> Initiate --Air-- Hallowed Temple
Female sylphs, a little like sprites and pixies, but clothed in white, and with wings. Flying (!), minor damage and defence.
Special: Silence - a fairly powerful spell learnt early, allowing one (or more?) enemy to be stopped from casting spells for a period determined by stack size (limited).
Attack + damage: low
Defense: medium
HP: low
Speed + initiative: medium to high
Cost + growth: cheap and plentiful
Hoplite --> Champion --Earth-- Battlefield Academy
Male sylphs (who cannot fly), that form the backbone, albeit a fairly weak one, of the Imperial army. Equal in defence and attack.
Special: Resist charge - as usual
Shield (Champion) - periodically the hoplite / champion will form an inpenetrable shield, blocking all damage to a quite large percent.
Attack + damage: medium
Defense: medium to high
HP: medium to high
Speed + initiative: low
Cost + growth: cheap and plentiful
Sphinx --> Criosphinx --Earth-- Valley of Light
Beastmen who have joined the Imperials from the southern parts of their empire - a lion / man cross. They are archers who attack with magic, but are also capable up-front fighters.
Special: Ray of Light - the Sphinx concentrates the light around it into one powerful beam, which it angles at an enemy.
Birds (Criosphinx) - a flurry of birds are summoned to harm and potentially blind an enemy.
Attack + damage: medium to low
Defense: medium to high
HP: medium to high
Speed + initiative: medium
Cost + growth: rarer and expensive
Winter Wolf --> Fenris Wolf --Earth-- Lupine Dens
From the north of the kingdom come these giant wolves - stronger, more vicious, and with more damage potential compared to the sphinxes.
Special: Charge of might - as usual, plus can cause movement of enemy backwards.
Mist (Fenris Wolf) - the wolf's magic breath crystallises in the air, resulting in a mist that reduces movement and combat effectiveness within the cloud, and stops ranged attacks from crossing that area of the battefield.
Attack + damage: high
Defense: low
HP: medium
Speed + initiative: high
Cost + growth: medium rareity and price
Valkyrie --> Chronomancer --Light-- Palace
The magic-user of this faction, valkyries ride white horses and chronomancers ride pegasi (i.e. they are able to fly - fast). Their spells are related to time and the moon. They attack with a polearm.
Special: Youth - the enemy is twisted in time to an earlier state, one in which it lacks some combat ability.
Attack + damage: medium to high (ignoring spells)
Defense: medium
HP: low
Speed + initiative: medium
Cost + growth: medium rareity and price
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Possible spells (do magic troops use their own? - I doubt it but do not know for sure):
Displace - allows a swap on the intiative bar - more troops means a bigger swap 'distance' allowed.
Haste - more chronomancy here, giving a troop the ability to 'slip' through time a little faster than others.
Night's Grasp - the time of the reign of the moon descends on the battlefield, with all non-imperial troops suffering various penalties, especially vision-based (so slower, ranged troops less effective...)
Timeslip - when the unit the spell was cast on is attacked, it can counterattack twice.
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Naga --> Naga Queen --Water-- Zephyr Peak
The snake-women return - more beastmen that have joined the imperials, being innately inclined to order and regulation. The usual flurry of swords leaves bodies scattered on the floor...
Special: Age - the opposite of Valkyries / Chronomancers, since the Nagas have not learnt to control their magic; proves less successful since age bestows experience.
Whirlwind (Naga Queen) - a powerful magic attack option.
No retaliation - as usual.
Attack + damage: high
Defense: low
HP: medium
Speed + initiative: medium
Cost + growth: rarer and expensive
Firebird --> Phoenix --Fire-- Aurora
Brilliant white birds of flame, theoretically involved with the Dragon of order's spell in the moon.
Specials: Divide - being insubstantial the firebirds / phoenixes are able to divide their being, allowing an attack over an area (with weaker result than normal for each unit)
Rebirth (Phoenix) - after battle a set % of phoenixes are resurected
Attack + damage: medium
Defense: medium
HP: medium
Speed + initiative: high
Cost + growth: rarer and expensive
On stats: these are relative to that level and would probably need some fiddling to work well in game and avoid `imbalances` - e.g. a unit that is low in attack, defense, HP etc but is rare and expensive would not really work.
Imperial cities...
are found in the north of Ashan, where the land is often covered by snow. Their architecture would ressemble a combination of graeco-roman buildings and the original alpha haven castle. Gold would feature in minor ways, as would some lighter colours, perhaps aqua or possibly mauve. There is a feel of order and cleanliness, as there is in the Imperial armies.
For that alpha castle search google for
"alpha screenshots" homm5
and pick the first result.
Grail: shifting orb of time (time-based benefit)
Map:
Thanks to FriendOfGunnar for the map! 
Any suggestions warmly welcomed!
[Original message...
Nymphs, sylphs or dryads form the imperial empire, along with various creatures - pegasi, lions and sphinxes, silver dragons, phoenixes, nagas etc. There could be a slight snow theme since with Academy moving to the deserts there isn't any snow left anymore.
Does anyone think the idea shows any promise? i've been trying to think of a more unique race to use. If it inspires i might consider doing some more.]
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phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted January 24, 2006 12:25 PM |
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Personally I think you should come with a crude line up before we can make any suggestions.
I also wonder how silver dragons and phoenixes are going to line up since they are both last level creature.Also there are too many dragons anyway.By the way beware there could be too much fliers in your castle.
But keep trying.
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Phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 03, 2006 10:13 PM |
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-Well switch the syphinx with winterwolf.
-Phoenix should have a high damage in my opninon(No its not connected to my nick name)
-ý cant really figure what the dwellings of the creatures are,are the things beside the creature upgrade dwellings or does those words also belong to the upgrade name?probably they are dwellings so make them bold or make them different somehow.Some bold characters for the creature names could be good.
-No,no retaliation for the naga? ý am suprised
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Ulf
Tavern Dweller
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posted February 03, 2006 11:30 PM |
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Quote:
-Well switch the syphinx with winterwolf.
-Phoenix should have a high damage in my opninon(No its not connected to my nick name)
-ý cant really figure what the dwellings of the creatures are,are the things beside the creature upgrade dwellings or does those words also belong to the upgrade name?probably they are dwellings so make them bold or make them different somehow.Some bold characters for the creature names could be good.
-No,no retaliation for the naga? ý am suprised
-Why do you think I should switch the sphinx and wolf? I suppose the sphinx is 'bigger' in general than the wolf, but I just can't imagine it doing that much damage. Bearing in mind that those wolves are larger than usual ones.
-Phoenix should not do high damage in my opinion - difficult to explain why. I think where it is it is about green dragon's level, which sounds about right.
-Thanks for pointing this out. They were tabbed at first but html has cut the white space out.
-Good point.
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Gnoll_Mage
Responsible
Supreme Hero
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posted February 06, 2006 11:27 PM |
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FriendOfGunnar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
able to speed up time
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posted February 06, 2006 11:33 PM |
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Imperial
Race( 4+5 )=9
History(3 + 5)=8
Creatures(4 +4 )=8 (you were doing great until you got to the nagas and firebirds, they seem out of place)
Balance(5 + 5)=10 fenris mist and lunar charge are interesting, plus others
Originality=8
Total Score= 43
How I graded these:
Race (Originality [1-5]+Compatibility with HOMM5 universe[1-5])
History (How interesting is it to me [1-5] +Compatibility with HOMM5 universe [1-5])
Creatures (Originality [1-5] +Internal Consistency [1-5])
Balance (are the special skills inventive [1-5] + Does it have a variety of flyers, shooters, walkers, spell-casters [1-5]
Originality (all the originality scores added up and divided by two. This means that creativity counts twice. [1-10])
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phoenixzs
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 07, 2006 05:51 PM |
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Race: 7(its hard to put into the game although the race is appealing)
History: 6(more like a religion history to me,could be more creative)
Creatures:7(the creatures are good but when they are all together lineup becomes strange)
Balance:6(the wolfs ability to stop missiles and sphinx blinding chance is overpowered.The line up is strange but balanced suiting for multi role.Deconstruct is too powerfull)
Originality:6(Valkyers ability is original but naga or phoenix could have used some original ideas to make it a bit more like a member of the castle)
total 32/50
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BoogieMan
Famous Hero
The John of Spades
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posted February 08, 2006 07:40 PM |
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This town is missclassified under Magic/Wizard Towns in the Index thread.
Race: 6
You race had potential, but has no flavour, starting with the faction's name and ending with their cities and religious life.
History: 6
Mostly religious oscillations.
Creatures: 6
A hetherogenous line-up, there is little to justify why the sphinxes, nagas and firebirds have aligned with the Imperials and not with some other faction.
Balance: 7
Seems balanced enough; the mediocre stats are compensated by special abilities, although some of them are not thoroughly explained (e.g. naga's whirlwind attack)
Originality: 6
Average
TOTAL: 31
FriendOfGunnar, come on ...
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The BoogieMan wrote ... and saw that it was good.
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kookastar
Honorable
Legendary Hero
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posted February 10, 2006 10:47 AM |
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Race 6
History 6
Creatures 8
Balance 8
Originality 9
37/50
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frakel
Adventuring Hero
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posted February 11, 2006 07:29 PM |
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Edited by frakel on 11 Feb 2006
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Race: 6
History: 5
Creatures: 5
Balance: 7
Originality 6
Overall: 29 (I have little to add too what BoogieMan and Phoenixz allready have said...)
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ThE_HyDrA
Admirable
Famous Hero
The Leader of all Hydras
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posted February 23, 2006 10:03 AM |
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Imperial: Ulf
Race: 7
History: 7
Creatures: 8
Balance: 8
Originality: 7
Total: 36
Comments: An interesting race, though too similar to the Haven with their imperialistic lifestyle. The polytheistic form of worship is a unique idea, though the rest of the history is short, concise and well-written. While not a revolutionary list of creatures, you have been measured with their abilities (except Maidens and Initiates), and their balance is comparable to other towns. More description would be appreciated on the history of the sylphs and how they came to being. This is a good town, and integrates well into the world of Heroes.
Average: 35.17
Total ICTC: 71.17
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"Dragons may breathe fire, but Hydras have many heads." - The Creed of Hydras
"As the Dragon drew its breath, the Hydra pounced, swiftly but powerfully, and the Dragon was defeated.”
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