Repost from here.



Decadent Court



0. Loose lore, the idea behind faction.



Decadent Court is an old empire. It's near its fall. Everyone knows it, including the emperor. Everone calls it sick man of Auriga. Citizens do not pay taxes, nobles do not want to fight wars, no one cares about preserving the state. Yet it is still standing. Its riches have not yet completely vanished. Its walls have fallen in disrepair but still stand high. Its warriors are lazy and corrupted but they still remember old days of glory and sometimes they try to relieve those days. Will this sick man become fertile ground for new empires rise or will it be able to continue its miserable existance long past all others have long been lost?



So, gameplay idea is inspired by some scenarios in strategy games where there is an old, big and powerful empire near its fall while other young, small and fierce factions attack and plunder it. You may have seen it in Master of Orion 3 or Rome Total War: Barbarian Invasion. Historical analogues are late West and East Roman Empires, Russia, Ottoman Empire, China. In 4X where everyone starts in the same situation it may seem impossible, but bear with me.



1. Faction Affinity - Decadence.



Decadent Court suffers no Expansion Disapproval IF quantity of active luxury resources >= number of current Age. Decadent Court produces only half of FIDS in all cities without Founder's Memorial. Decadent Court's settlers cost half of the usual and do not affect population.



2. Traits.

Well Connected (same as Drakken) - gives knowledge of everybody's starting position.

Meticulous Analysis - +1 vision to units.

Offence Last - -20% to attack.

Language Square - allows Parley and Bribe.

Big Army - +1 size of army and garrison.



New ones:

High Walls - +30 to defence of the cities.

Understanding Governors - Decadent Court cities do not have approval penalty after they're conquered. (So if you conquer Decadent Court city it's immideately more profitable for you than for its previous owner).

Old Guard - +1 militia in every city.

High Towers - towers are 50% cheaper.

Freedom through Blood - minor faction troops are 25% cheaper.

Boredom - permanent -10 approval.

City of Light - +1FIDS per population in capital.

Local Collaborators - Assimilated minor faction bonuses work as if there are 2 more villages assimilated.



3. Army.

1st tier unit is Emissary. It's fast infantry unit with somewhat decent attack.

2nd is Cataphract. It's a cavalry unit, but it's slow and defensive. Will wipe out any Ranged unit but is not a good choice against other cavalry or infantry units.

3rd one is Battery. It's a ranged gunpowered armored unit with a big shield. Unlike other units it can be used for offensive actions.



All of those units have good defense. They're weak though and supposed to mostly support minor faction units.



4. Favored victory condition - Expansion.

Obvious early strategy for Decadent Court is rapid expansion. They see where had other factions spawned and can plan expansion accordingly. Cheap settlers do not harm capital production and can be spawned rapidly, especially with quick access to Luxury resources. In theory Decadent court can expand into huge territory without any problems (Lore explanation is that all those cities are city-states and do not produce much for the central government, therefore -50% FIDS) as long as they have steady supply of Luxury Resources. Their military is weak but they effectively use minor factions and defensive bonuses to sustain what they captured. Further expansion is problematic: enemy can capture Decadent Court cities and instantly establish more effective government - so those cities are more productive and don't suffer from approval penalty like other conquered cities. For this reason Decadent Court presents an interesting opportunity to other factions: they start out stronger and bigger than others with decent defense but they have problems with getting a decent military and city exploitation by the midgame. On the other hand, if they get into trade and build a big capital city they can pour dust into military and city upgrades and build effective military mostly consisting of minor faction troops.



Still Decadent Court can support huge empire built on trade and resource gathering and later potentially expand into other factions territory. Or be conquered by other more capable factions.



Decadent Court quest line should add the technology for lesser non-capital FIDS penalty (-30% instead of -50%) and possibly better luxury resources extraction (they need it).

Love the idea and ---most especially---the traits.

Hmmm... have you read Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy? Because I can easily imagine the DC quest chain being similar to Hari Seldon's plan to save the Galactic Empire in that series.



Here's a Wikipedia description of the series: "Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting 30 thousand years before a second great empire arises. Seldon also foresees an alternative where the interregnum will last only one thousand years. To ensure the more favorable outcome, Seldon creates a foundation of talented artisans and engineers at the extreme end of the galaxy, to preserve and expand on humanity's collective knowledge, and thus become the foundation for a new galactic empire."



And here's an analyzis of the series by SF Debris.



So basically, what I imagine the Decadent Court quest to be is to prevent the fall of the old Empire, and when that fails, ensuring that it can rise once again from the ashes.

Buzzkillington1990, it's an old image and old idea. Ancient historians imagined that states have lifecycel: first its young, brave and strong, then it becomes rich, lazy, sophisticated and cowardly. They've used it to explain rise and fall of various empires. Image of decadent Roman Empire dying cause it's citizens are impure, amoral, selfish and lazy is not accurate but it's strong and easily imagined. So no, I don't know about this book but I'm sure it's based on a similar narrative and images.



As for quest line, I imagined it to be about some young Emperor dreaming of restoring the empire to some old romantic past. During his struggles he realizes that constant decay of empire is its strength in some ways as lawlessness and decentralization lets people and factions to not rebel against weak government and do what's best for themselves; dishonorable mercenaries, merchants and governers are sometimes more effective than loyal soldiers and statesmen; vast terriotories give power even if they are not properly exploited. So this Emperor becomes cynical and conservative, learns to respect and love the nature of eternal decaying empire and makes sure it remains this way forever: too sick to incite fear, too vast and rich to be conquered, too old and important to be ignored.

"Too sick to incite fear, too vast and rich to be conquered, too old and important to be ignored. "



>.> That sums it up perfectly.

nice theme, although the 'strong capital, weak colonies' trope is somewhat similar to the cultists. the reliance on minor faction troops is also the same.

zukenft wrote:
nice theme, although the 'strong capital, weak colonies' trope is somewhat similar to the cultists. the reliance on minor faction troops is also the same.

Somewhat similar. However Court's colonies are useful fort trade and are much better with resource extraction and territory control. In some ways they're completely different: Decadence is all about expanding while Cultists do not own any territory apart from their capital.

ilitarist wrote:
Buzzkillington1990, it's an old image and old idea. Ancient historians imagined that states have lifecycel: first its young, brave and strong, then it becomes rich, lazy, sophisticated and cowardly. They've used it to explain rise and fall of various empires. Image of decadent Roman Empire dying cause it's citizens are impure, amoral, selfish and lazy is not accurate but it's strong and easily imagined. So no, I don't know about this book but I'm sure it's based on a similar narrative and images.



As for quest line, I imagined it to be about some young Emperor dreaming of restoring the empire to some old romantic past. During his struggles he realizes that constant decay of empire is its strength in some ways as lawlessness and decentralization lets people and factions to not rebel against weak government and do what's best for themselves; dishonorable mercenaries, merchants and governers are sometimes more effective than loyal soldiers and statesmen; vast terriotories give power even if they are not properly exploited. So this Emperor becomes cynical and conservative, learns to respect and love the nature of eternal decaying empire and makes sure it remains this way forever: too sick to incite fear, too vast and rich to be conquered, too old and important to be ignored.

This... this is actually quite brilliant. So basically, the empire of the Decadent Court has hit the sweet spot where the provinces have become semi-autonomous, so they will continue to pay taxes and levi troops, but otherwise do their own thing, and they won't rebel because leaving the empire will make them targets for other empires (the other factions) who won't let them just do whatever? Genius!

ilitarist wrote:


3. Army.

1st tier unit is Emissary. It's fast infantry unit with somewhat decent attack.

2nd is Cataphract. It's a cavalry unit, but it's slow and defensive. Will wipe out any Ranged unit but is not a good choice against other cavalry or infantry units.

3rd one is Battery. It's a ranged gunpowered armored unit with a big shield. Unlike other units it can be used for offensive actions.



All of those units have good defense. They're weak though and supposed to mostly support minor faction units.

I know that you posted an image of a cavalry unit on the Brainstorm thread, but I still feel that I should ask if you have given any more thought to the general appearances of the units? Like, what will their armour look like, what will their mounts be, etc?



Personally, I can imagine the troops looking slightly 40k-ish; lots of flash and bling, at the cost of functionality. Basically, their armor looks like a prime example of "form over function" (possibly base their apperance around the in-game Dust Armour and Weapons. What could be more decadent and ostentatious than armour and weaponry litterally made of Money?).



Likewise, I'd imagine their mounts looking somewhat overweight, like they haven't been used for actual conflict in who-knows-how-long. Like this







but wearing this

Buzzkillington1990 wrote:
This... this is actually quite brilliant. So basically, the empire of the Decadent Court has hit the sweet spot where the provinces have become semi-autonomous, so they will continue to pay taxes and levi troops, but otherwise do their own thing, and they won't rebel because leaving the empire will make them targets for other empires (the other factions) who won't let them just do whatever? Genius!

Thank you!



As for appearance I don't have a good understanding of visual arts. I've imagined their Emperor (Basileus? Sultan? Whatever.) standing near old militaristicly looking throne. The throne looks metal, it has stright lines, it's rusty. The throne is obviously uncomfy so the Emperor doesn't like to sit on it, he stand nearby. There's a cup in his hand. Fancy golden sword encrusted with gems on his hip, it's unpractical and dull. His dress is all fancy as well. On his chest hung coats of arms of conquered lands. There are about 8 of them on his chest and stomach. It seems there was not enough space so couple more are on his hip. His crown is hanging on a throne: if you look closely you'll see that both throne and crown are too big for a guy. Emperor looks content, maybe slightly drunk. He's politely smiling and overally seems not to care to much.



As for units, I thought about them looking Greek/Russian/Eastern Orthodox with those dome helmets and chainmails. They might be overwheight and have impractical equipment but I'm not sure how to show it with visuals. Perhaps their animation shows that their weapons are too heavy or that they aren't eager to get in a fight, but it's hard to do with the same animation length.



Also it seems that those cavalry units should get costly DLC giving them bonus defense.

ilitarist wrote:
Thank you!



As for appearance I don't have a good understanding of visual arts. I've imagined their Emperor (Basileus? Sultan? Whatever.) standing near old militaristicly looking throne. The throne looks metal, it has stright lines, it's rusty. The throne is obviously uncomfy so the Emperor doesn't like to sit on it, he stand nearby. There's a cup in his hand. Fancy golden sword encrusted with gems on his hip, it's unpractical and dull. His dress is all fancy as well. On his chest hung coats of arms of conquered lands. There are about 8 of them on his chest and stomach. It seems there was not enough space so couple more are on his hip. His crown is hanging on a throne: if you look closely you'll see that both throne and crown are too big for a guy. Emperor looks content, maybe slightly drunk. He's politely smiling and overally seems not to care to much.



As for units, I thought about them looking Greek/Russian/Eastern Orthodox with those dome helmets and chainmails. They might be overwheight and have impractical equipment but I'm not sure how to show it with visuals. Perhaps their animation shows that their weapons are too heavy or that they aren't eager to get in a fight, but it's hard to do with the same animation length.



Also it seems that those cavalry units should get costly DLC giving them bonus defense.

Hmmm... I can actually imagine that throne, somewhat, albeit with more focus on the "Decadent" part.







As for the "Leader", if he's meant to be the "Young, dynamic leader looking to restore the Empire to its former glory", you could have him look like Feyd Rautha:





And have him argue in-quest with the current Emperor, Vladimir, who is the embodiment of decadence:





Pictures used without permission, under fair-use. Vladimir Harkonnen, pictured by Raymond Bonilla; Feyd Rautha Harkonnen pictured by jubjubjedi; and throne room pictured by Amplitude Studios.

Congatulations! You win a very first post of mine on this forum! Yay!

...

I mean hello. And sorry for my english, sometimes it might be... original [/derpmode]

0. Loose lore, the idea behind faction.



Decadent Court is an old empire. It's near its fall. Everyone knows it, including the emperor. Everone calls it sick man of Auriga. Citizens do not pay taxes, nobles do not want to fight wars, no one cares about preserving the state. Yet it is still standing. Its riches have not yet completely vanished. Its walls have fallen in disrepair but still stand high. Its warriors are lazy and corrupted but they still remember old days of glory and sometimes they try to relieve those days. Will this sick man become fertile ground for new empires rise or will it be able to continue its miserable existance long past all others have long been lost?

It somewhat reminds me Broken Lords' intro, where they had a choice: become souls bounded to armors or die... when i think more about it, i see the new skin for the faction, same thing like Mezari.

Ok, straight to the thread, i like the idea. The faction, that 'shines' thanks to it's corruption, heh

So, gameplay idea is inspired by some scenarios in strategy games where there is an old, big and powerful empire near its fall while other young, small and fierce factions attack and plunder it.

So... it's the thing, that all factions do: try to survive as empire, though in ur faction there is more corruption, which should be pointed out in their lore within skills, no?

1. Faction Affinity - Decadence.



Decadent Court suffers no Expansion Disapproval IF quantity of active luxury resources >= number of current Age. Decadent Court produces only half of FIDS in all cities without Founder's Memorial. Decadent Court's settlers cost half of the usual and do not affect population.

Sounds... idk, wierd and interesting. Though it's effectiveness much depends on game options.

2. Traits.

Well Connected (same as Drakken) - gives knowledge of everybody's starting position.

Meticulous Analysis - +1 vision to units.

Offence Last - -20% to attack.

Language Square - allows Parley and Bribe.

Big Army - +1 size of army and garrison.

New faction with known traits? That won't make teh faction unique.

New ones:

High Walls - +30 to defence of the cities.

Understanding Governors - Decadent Court cities do not have approval penalty after they're conquered. (So if you conquer Decadent Court city it's immideately more profitable for you than for its previous owner).

Old Guard - +1 militia in every city.

High Towers - towers are 50% cheaper.

Freedom through Blood - minor faction troops are 25% cheaper.

Boredom - permanent -10 approval.

City of Light - +1FIDS per population in capital.

Local Collaborators - Assimilated minor faction bonuses work as if there are 2 more villages assimilated.

25% cost reduction is too much, as minor factions' units gets cheaper via assimilation. Maybe boost something other might be look more legit, like increasing the minor factions' income of assimilation bonus by %?

and how about:

Forethought - simply said, they do not trust anyone... (obtained via quest?)

+X% for siege-shield for each city per each neighbour city of enemy or ally

3. Army.

1st tier unit is Emissary. It's fast infantry unit with somewhat decent attack.

2nd is Cataphract. It's a cavalry unit, but it's slow and defensive. Will wipe out any Ranged unit but is not a good choice against other cavalry or infantry units.

3rd one is Battery. It's a ranged gunpowered armored unit with a big shield. Unlike other units it can be used for offensive actions.

The army requires unique passive, like healin Broken Lords by the dust.

And there is one more thing. Faction likes minor factions, but have not a support unit, sounds to me just wierd... unless they have the passive.

they start out stronger and bigger than others with decent defense but they have problems with getting a decent military and city exploitation by the midgame.

good early, weaker late?

Decadent Court quest line should add the technology for lesser non-capital FIDS penalty (-30% instead of -50%) and possibly better luxury resources extraction (they need it).

This penalty, looks insane :P



Ok, that's all, folks... will add more thoughts later. I like the idea in overall.

>New faction with known traits? That won't make teh faction unique.



I felt that Drakken knowledge of other factions really suits this faction. Other traits are generic. I don't think new faction should only have new unique traits. Anyway, it's all a matter of balancing. Same for insane penalty: perhaps this faction will be underpowered if implemented as it is now but I'm just making a point about potentially interesting gameplay here.



As for unique passive for army I thought about something like this: unit gets overall bonus if it's health is less than 50%. This way it's beneficial to use damaged troops which works with the theme. As for support unit - I imagine this faction to be more straightforward and unimaginative militarily, it swarms its enemies with massive armies or pays them off.