Ladies and gentlemen,



WELCOME! Welcome to the first Endless Legend G2G Event: the Faction Creation Competition.



We are not yet able to announce the 5th Endless Legend major faction (out of 8) for the simple reason that YOU are about to design it!

We want this Endless Legend faction to be complete and available on the day of the release.



This faction creation will be divided in 3 Quests, and will therefore request a real Community Teamwork:







THE QUESTS:



Quest 1: The Biography

• Submit a Name, a Background Story and a Basic Gamplay Idea.
• Vote for your favourite proposal in the forum polls.
• The best three submissions will be chosen for a GAMES2GETHER vote.

Quest 2: Hero, Units and City

• Submit your Hero, Units and City based on the winning Biography.
• Vote for your favourite proposal in the forum polls.
• The best three submissions will be chosen for a GAMES2GETHER vote.

Quest 3: Logo and Ship

• Submit your Logo and Ship based on the winning Biography, Hero, Units and City.
• Vote for your favourite proposal in the forum polls.
• The best three submissions will be chosen for a GAMES2GETHER vote.

THE BRIEF:

Proposals for the Major Faction should take into account the theme below, to avoid having too many similarities with the 3 upcoming unannounced factions and their gameplay.

Keep in mind that we have already given some hints on the Roving Clans during our Gamescom 2013 Reveal, you had a sneak peak at Drakkens at the Early Access Release and that we are already working on some Magic











THE DEADLINE FOR QUEST 1 SUBMISSIONS:





THE REWARD:

The winner of each Quest will:

• see their proposals* implemented in-game and get their name in the credits of the game.
• receive a special G2G Forum Badge
• be invited to Gamescom 2014! (more details in the rules attached below)

*IMPORTANT NOTE: Amplitude has the right to moderate proposals that are offensive, unrealistic in terms of scope, timing and vision. Amplitude will work with the winners to finalise the design and visuals, adapting the winning proposals to development constraints and to make sure they will be available in time for the release of the game.



Rules attached!

I have a questions:

Theme: "Minor Faction"

Does that mean our faction should be based of an minor faction already in the game or what?

Nom de la faction : Les Silhen



Histoire de la faction : Les Silhens sont un peuple vivant dans les profondeur souterraine d'Auriga. Au trait humain,une peau blanche comme la neige, atteint de myopie du a la noirceur des profondeurs, les Silhens ont hantée les rêves de plusieurs car ils ce sont avéré d’être d’excellent chasseurs sournois et hostile. Activent a la surface de jours mais le plus souvent la nuit, ils volent et tue pour ce nourrirent avec un don inné au combat,cannibalise et sans pitié.



Durant l'hiver, saison très attendu par les Silhens, débute la chasse et la moisson de chaire fraîche. Le froid joue en leurs faveur amplifient leur déplacement a la surface. Ils ont un mode de vie très primitif,que ce sois arme, outils, vêtement ou bâtiment, tout es fait a partir du recyclage et du vole, os,peau,cadavres fond partie en grande majorité de leurs ressources.



Un peuple hostile diriger par un instinct quasi animal avec la soif de sang, porteur de maladie et charognard, les Silhens sont le chaos et la noirceur d'Auriga.



Le gameplay des Silens : Hostile, Bonus en hiver pour attaques et déplacement, Déplacement sous terrain, cannibalisme régénératif, chasseur primitif, rage

Quick summary

Two powerful beings, old experiments of the Endless, created to annihilate all traces of their creators, use minor factions to found a religion to bring about the end of the Endless. This faction can make use even of villages other players control, diminishing the use of that other player for the villages, unless he's allied.

It does have no typical city-building, instead using a single big temple-city and will rely mostly on minor faction-villages instead of other cities to get FIDS-income (they act as if they were districts), converting them to their cult by applying influence.



Leaders



The Cult of the Eternal End has two leaders.



The Eternal Queen, an abomination of an experiment imprisoned in an Endless body. She was the first experiment of rogue researchers on Auriga, where some Virtuals and Concrete worked together during the last war to create a perfect being, a new race that would hold all the virtues and none of the vices of the Endless, to replace them and banish the ruin the Endless have brought upon the galaxy. So they manufactured a concrete body with a neutronium casing, almost too heavy to exist, almost impossible to destroy. They filled this perfect casing with a mixture of Endless organs, virtual machinery and let dust flow as its blood. Then the virtuals copied the best parts of the most virtuous and intelligent virtuals they could get a hold of and put the ghost in this shell. The downside of this perfect being, this designated leader of their new bright future, was that she was immovable at the times of war. So they entombed her in safety and her throne is the only link to the Aurigan Endless facilities that still work. Though she cannot leave her tomb, she can use her virtual abilities to control all technology that is active and within her range of communications. To her, any database of the Endless holds no secret. To her, all the Endless are no gods, they are lesser beings that abandoned her, left her, that she feels an incredible urge to purge and to destroy. All but her twin...



The Unspoken was the second and final experiment. When the war drew closer, when the final calamity befell Auriga, the rogue researchers in their desperation for their goals built the antithesis to the Eternal Queen. Her twin, her inversion, her guardian. They programmed a batch of dust to fuse the bodies of the concrete and the minds of the virtuals, they gave their lives, their blood, their very beings. They sacrificed to create the demon to fulfill their dying curse.

He has no name.

He slept until the queen awakened him.

He is of many minds.

But he is determined.

Determined to destroy the gods.

To lead all who are not tainted by the Endless.

To bring them to their destiny:

In servitude to the Eternal Queen, bring about the Eternal End of the blasphemers who dare call themselves Endless in mockery of the one truth.

ALL things must end.



The Unspoken defiles Auriga



Although the Unspoken is very powerful, he is not Almighty. He is driven, he may very well be insane, but a cold, raspy and dead kind of insanity. A flame of a mind, so cold it burns worse than the sun.

So he searched for tools, he searched for power, he searched for his foes. When he did not find any Endless, he knew that he had to facilitate the leave of himself and the queen, to bring the End to those who still defied their inevitable death.

With the queen affixiated to her throne, he first reactivated the servants of the Endless. Though it pained him to use the tools that were so... tainted, he couldn't deny the sweet bliss of irony. With the robotic servants of the Endless, the queen slowly managed to start clearing the rabble. And to restart one production facility for servants, the last on Auriga that was still in a shape to work. There the servants unearthed her tomb, there lies the capital of the Eternal End.

One and only one city that shines in the remnants of glory of the Endless, being rebuilt for their destruction.



Soon a tribe of (enter starting minor faction here) investigated the strange beings that were wandering about in the ruins. And the Unspoken saw... an opportunity. He told them about the Endless as gods. About the ever-worsening winters. He told stories of the abandonment, when the Endless left Auriga to die. And he explained to them their salvation. The Eternal Queen.

Confronted with technology so advanced, it had to be magic, many (enter starting minor faction here) knelt and believed. They were the first Cultists of the Eternal End. Now the Cult is spreading under the watchful eye of the Eternal Queen, directed by the Unspoken. Aurigans without strong own beliefs are gathering to the call of their salvation, for revenge against the gods. It is finally time to build a civilization with one and only one goal: Leave Auriga to purge the Endless from the galaxy!



Organisation of the cult

The cult has a rather flat hierarchy. The high priestess of the cult is the Eternal queen, shackled to her throne. All cultists regularly undertake pilgrimages to provide the Queen with their offerings. The organizers of these trips through the lands of the dangerous Auriga are called the Harbingers. They spread the orders of the queen, organize her supply and enforce her will among the covens hidden in the converted villages. Next in the hierarchy are the Chosen, the assimilated cultist race living in the temple of cessation itself. Their job is to provide the queen's servants with maintenance, sustenance and material. All servants are directly controlled by the queen and working to mysterious ends the Chosen cannot start to comprehend. Some of the servants still have functional loudspeakers and through those Heralds she broadcasts what needs to be done and whispers regularly about her hatred of the gods that abandoned them with her on this dying planet, that killed Auriga, that need to be punished.

A very few of the cultist show promise in the use of the powers of the gods themselves. Those were taken in by the Unspoken himself, who taught them the forbidden arts. To slay a god, you need the power of a god. By their own kind, they are adored and mourned for. To them, they are living sacrifices, having given their innocence and purity to use the vile forces the gods once used, at least to a good and final end.



Servants and armies of the Queen

The Endless in their hurry to leave Auriga abandoned two kinds of servants: Robots of various sizes, ranging from humanoid like OP-bot to track-based triangles like futuristic tanks, and organic mono cell environment transformation systems (OMCETS). The former are in need of repair, the latter have survived for a long time buried in cyst-like encasements they produced to survive. Now that the Unspoken has unburied them and reactivated some of them, they make up the major military and construction force at the temple of cessation.

The OMCETS never leave the temple. They do not have any will of their own, only that of the queen, and her broadcasting range is limited. Their duty is to grow the temple itself, solving building materials in their creeping fluid bodies to apply them to the buildings. It is one of the major sights of the temple to trade visitors and pilgrims to see the ever-growing spires being extended to new heights by the glowing OMCETS that simply crawl up the sides of the buildings to excrete a new layer of material.

Still, the cultists are working hard on restarting the more powerful robots of her majesty and who knows what power of the Endless can be used against them?



How can you tell a cultist from a normal Aurigan?

By their very nature, cultists normally hide. They do not wear cowls or robes, save for ceremonial purposes. Still, to tell a cultist, they have secret hand-/claw- and pincershakes (whichever applies). Haunted have markings in the insides of their armor, delvers tattoo the symbol of the End on their throats, under their beards, the Kazanji receive dustburned markings in their ribcages' insides, the Urces tattoo the undersides of their tongues. For the ettins, both heads have to agree on joining the cult, so they mark each other's head below the fur as sign of their common agreement. The Erycis let the symbol be chiseled into the inside of the tooth of each head, not unlike the silics that bear it in a centre-piece of crystal. Onle the Bos and the Ceratan display the symbol proudly, on their bellies or scythes, respectively. And the sisters... please, don't ask where they do their markings...



Fanatics and war

Bound to only one city and relying on offerings of distant villages, the cultists seem very weak and easy to annihilate. But the fanatics of all villages will do what their brethren would never have done, otherwise. They will stand up to defend each other. If the word spreads that a village firm in the belief of the End or the temple of cessation itself is attacked by infidels, all believers in their realm shall rise and the Queen herself shall declare them tools of the gods, to be brought to their demise. All such villages spawn armies of fanatics and instantly become unpacified barbarian villages, again.

Should the cultists get hold of a major faction city, they will raze it in a grand show of defiance to the gods. A quarter of the population will be converted to the cult and appear as new population in the temple of cessation, while an industrial stockpile will become available for each population and each building, lost, due to the loot the new and old cultists immediately offer up to the queen.



Cultistic burial rites and why razed population is worth industry stockpiles

The Unspoken has a very pragmatic view of inanimate cultist material, feeding it to the OMCETS who reuse it for extensions of the temple. The cultists gather around a pile of their fallen former fellows, solemly hold candles and chant their anger at the gods to the heavens, while the OMCETS feed and slowly dissolve the inanimate matter save for the bones.

In the course of the years, the temple is now ornated by the blackened remains of countless cultists. And every single corpse was worth it, for the just cause of revenge...



Gameplay

Faction Traits

• High seat of the Queen - The Cult has only one city: The temple of cessation
• Inciting fanatism - The cult can spend influence to convert villages by sending an army with a hero (additional option to attack/bribe/parley). Pacified villages on their side cost 5 influence to convert, unpacified 15, pacified villages of other players 30
• Religious offerings - Any converted village in any region produces FIDS for them as if it were a city district, but those FIDS do not gain any flat bonuses by buildings built at the temple of cessation. This bonus does not work during winter, as cultist cannot organize trecks to the temple in the harshest season!
• Belief equals Power - Their capital does not normally gain population by converted villages, but it does gain +1 influence/turn per converted village in any region
• Hidden covens - Assimilating a faction works for all converted villages of that faction, instead of all pacified villages, no matter what other allegiance that faction has
• Subversive theology - Converted villages do not count as extra population for other players, anymore, but give all other bonuses, unless that player is an ally of the Cult - in that case both players get extra population from the shared villages
• The End is nigh - Attacking a converted village immediately means a declaration of war on the Cult - all converted villages within the borders of the offending player immediately go to revolt, all simultaneously spawning an army of Holy Retaliation to bring about the End
• Your enemy's dagger in your hand... - When the cult conquers a city, it is razed, yielding a quarter of the population, rounded down, as new cultist population to the temple of cessation. All lost population points and razed buildings yield one industry stockpile, each, to be used at any time at the temple.
  
  

Further gameplay abilities

• The cult has racial technologies allowing to upgrade spawning barbarian and especially Holy Retaliation armies
• Generally, they can only trade for most strategic resources or luxury resources - or gather them via quests
• If they declare war by themselves onto anyone, there is no Holy retaliation and no revolt
• They can build the units of all minor civilizations they have at least one convert of
• Their own higher tech units are robotic Endless warmachines in a rather deplorable state: very powerful, but also consuming lots of strategic resources - only researchable via their main quest
  
  

Main quest sketch

[LIST=1]

Gain the first followers -> convert three minor faction villages (yields 1 pop to the main city)

Name the Chosen -> Assimilate a faction (yields 2 pop to the main city)

Repair the Tomb -> Upgrade the city centre to lvl2 (yields two base military units in the city)

Guard of the Damned -> Have at least one army with 5 minor faction units in the city (yields lots of dust for the "protection" the Cult offers)

Tools of their own Demise -> Repair the Endless facilities in the city by gathering 30 titan and 30 glasssteel (yields the first military unit beyond the base cult-unit, the Flying Drone / high initiative, medium armor, low damage)

When the Darkness beckons -> Have at least 20 minor faction villages converted (yields lots of random luxury resources)

We can rebuild them, we have the technology -> Repair the Endless facilities in the city by gathering 30 of each age III resource (yields the second military unit of the Cult, the Risen Archers / low initiative, high armor, high attack)

Weapons of Old -> Use the redesigned facilities to build an experimental war machine (yields a lot of dust as tribute for the might of the Cult)

Ad astra -> Repair the Endless facilities completely by gathering 30 of each age V resource (yields the final military unit of the Cult, the Nameless Guard / melee, extremely high armor, nigh indestructible)

Not for glory, not for life, for the death of their destiny -> Upgrade the city center to a space-capable barque to leave Auriga and bring the demise to the Endless (needs lots of FIDSI -> wins the game)

[/LIST]



For those that remember the ES faction creation contest - what happens to the cult should they make it off Auriga?

Should the Cultist make it and leave Auriga in their flying temple, they are supposed to strand upon the moon of Dariesh. The Unspoken would become Thir'Chajót, posing as a native Hadei of the nearby planet, then leading chosen to the Eternal queen on the moon and bestowing those that swear allegiance with the power of the dustborn, thus leading the Fal'Hadei, my ES-contest contribution: http://forums.amplitude-studios.com/...ull=1#post5305

Complete domination of the galaxy would have been only a stepping stone to the extermination of any residual Endless.



Cultists in the forum

There is a rumor about a

LegionQC wrote:
Nom de la faction : Les Silhen

From the .pdf:

3. Languages

To ensure – to any possible extent – the Participants’ equal chances, the sole language of the Contest is English.



If it in French how should peoble who can´t speak French vote for you?

Teslaflux wrote:
I have a questions:

Theme: "Minor Faction"

Does that mean our faction should be based of an minor faction already in the game or what?

This is a very good question as it is not clear.

I interpreted that as: "Your major faction has to make use of minor factions in a creative way.", but you're right, it is not crystal clear.

The Sowers



Description: The Sowers are a race of sacrifice. They once suffered from starvation as Auriga was dying and created technology to replace their inefficient digestive system. Their success in this endeavor has put them on a holy mission to complete the process. To become living machines and fix a broken world for themselves and their allies. Those that help the Sowers shall never be betrayed. They live to serve. Their work is endless.



Faction Traits:



Service to the Emperor: There are no leaders of the Sowers and they look toward the true Emperor for guidance. As such, they are only allowed one ally but both of them share strategic resources without trade. Additionally, sower population can be assigned to a 6th category, increasing industry of their ally by 50% of what those population would have given them. Lastly, victory conditions made by ally is considered a victory for them diplomatically. (Effect: 0.5 sharing of strategic resources with ally permanently / Only allowed one ally / Add population to allies industry for half the normal bonus / Special diplomatic victory condition)



Friends with benefits: The sowers also trade food to their trade partners in addition to the normal dust and science. They receive industry in addition to dust and science. (Effect: +food on outgoing trade. +industry on incoming trade)



Population of Scale: The Sowers do not breed much due to their constant experiments on themselves. This has stippled their growth. Their technology will eventually overcome this burden. (Effect: -25% food production era 1 / -50% food production era 2 / -75% food production era 3 / population growth based on Industry era 4 and beyond) (Visually, they become more robotic per era. By era, 4, they become full robotic.)



Terraforming: The sowers never wish to suffer again from conditions out of their control. They mastered the ability to change the world! (Effect: Use a massive amount of strategic Resource to terraform 7 grids into tundra. Can be done anywhere but requires 5 turns to cast)



No Lust for Dust: Being completely obsessed with the perfection of the race, their scientist have no need for advancing the power of dust and avoid it at all cost. (Effect: +50% buyout price on units and construction / Retrofitting cost production and is added to the construction queue)



Mill Foundry: Already learned.



Gameplay:

The sowers are played very passively. They focus on trying to tech up as quickly as possible early game to reach their golden age of era 4. As such, their early game is slightly weak and get weaker in era 2 and 3 due to having their population stall.



Fortunately though, they have little use for dust and many bonuses to industry and once they hit era 4, their population will skyrocket while they pump out units.



In order to survive the early game, the sowers must find an ally and trade partners. They gain huge bonuses with their ally and need the added support from more aggressive factions.

where is this polling place for voting? Also, was I suppose to post my idea here?

Nosferatiel wrote:
I interpreted that as: "Your major faction has to make use of minor factions in a creative way".

That's exactly it

DevildogFF wrote:
This is a very good question as it is not clear.

Yes proposals should be in English so that everyone can understand those. If there are just a couple in French (and not too long), we could translate them for the poll phase, but better not count on that because we might not have enough time for that.

godman85 wrote:
where is this polling place for voting? Also, was I suppose to post my idea here?

The poll phase will start once the submission phase is over (friday May 9th 12am CET) and yes here's where you can post your proposals

I'm still not sure about the 'Minor Factions' part. Does it have to be based upon an existing one, or can we just come up with a whole new faction from scratch?

skamaks wrote:
That's exactly it

Akraen wrote:
I'm still not sure about the 'Minor Factions' part. Does it have to be based upon an existing one, or can we just come up with a whole new faction from scratch?

According to skamak's answer, it seem you can make one up from scratch.

You should just give it a mechanic that uses minor factions in some way for its gameplay.

skamaks wrote:
That's exactly it

Good to know. Thank you.

Nosferatiel wrote:
According to skamak's answer, it seem you can make one up from scratch.

You should just give it a mechanic that uses minor factions in some way for its gameplay.

Yes but it does however say this:

Steph'nie wrote:




THE BRIEF:

Proposals for the Major Faction should take into account the theme below, to avoid having too many similarities with the 3 upcoming unannounced factions and their gameplay.

Keep in mind that we have already given some hints on the Roving Clans during our Gamescom 2013 Reveal, you had a sneak peak at Drakkens at the Early Access Release and that we are already working on some Magic

More Specifically the 'avoid to many similarities to upcoming factions' which caused me to be slightly confused.

Akraen wrote:
More Specifically the 'avoid to many similarities to upcoming factions' which caused me to be slightly confused.

They're referring to upcoming major factions and that any proposal shouldn't get too close to their gameplay.

If you stick to anything that works with using minor factions for your faction gameplay mechanics, you won't come close to breaking that rule. That's why the disclaimer's there.

Name:

The Church of the Creators



Background:



The Church of the Creators( or simply The Church) is leaded by the mysterious Vicar and follows the teaching of the Creators.

Bonded by the same faith his followers consist out of strange clockwork like beings, living minerals and members of the various races who roam at the surface of Auriga and found shelter in the community of the Church.



Every member got baptised with the “Blood of the Creators” or Dust how other people call it.

After the baptism every new member of the Church gains a role within the community, the same clothing and the same mask to represent the unity of the Church and the equality of every sentient being in the eyes of the Creators. Because of that outsiders can´t tell members apart and aren´t able to recognize them as a member of an specific race.



The holy goal of the Church is to found the Core of the Creators, mystical place somewhere at the dying world where the Creators will return some day and reward those who had prepared the world for their advent.

To achieve the goal the Vicar and his followers searching for every ruin, anomaly and artefact left behind or created by the Creators and protect those holy places and objects while he spreads his message of salvation. Either through kind words of the Priests of the Creators or through fire and sword brought by his the Knights of the Creators.



Gameplay:



- The Church gains +1 influence from every worked ruin because of holiness of those places.



- Anomalies are considered to be created by the Creators and thus are the people of the Church happier if a anomaly is within there realm. +5 happiness from every anomaly with a cities reach.



- Minor villages adjacent to cities have a yield of +1 food and production. They provide a additional yield of +1 science and Dust if the Minor Fraction is assimilated to the empire.



- The Church starts with the technology "Search Parties"



- To become a member of the Church a being must be baptised with Dust. It cost dust instead of influence to assimilate a Minor Fraction



- The Church has has racial technologies which provide it with a higher yield from ruins and villages.



- The Church has some difficulties with other major factions because of prejudice about them. That means that the Churchs diplomatic actions require more influence to work.(higher influence cost for actions like: alliance, thanking, etc).



- The Church fields an army consist out of Knights(infantry), Rangers( archer) and Priests(Support) but that id one me idea.





I´m sorry if there is any mistake or a sentence is not easy to understand. English is my second language.

NB I've been trying to post this for a few hours now! Everytime I write it and preview it wipes is, so I did that about 4 times :P

I have made a few rough sketches of apparel, scenes and appearance of the faction, but have a broken scanner! If you think they’re wanted I’ll try to get them up ASAP.



Apologies if it’s not very good, I added notes in a different colour so you could see explanations and reasoning behind ideas. In short I decided to try my hand at making a faction whose gameplay, not story, was themed around minor factions!



______________________________________________________________________



Faction Name



Azi Dahaka (possibly just Dahaka)





The name is inspired by study of Zoroastrianism, the drake like figure Zahhak also went by the name above (Azi – dragon, Dahaka – manlike (in Sakan at least)) which due to its etymology I thought would be fitting for bipedal drakes.

The background is an attempt to reference both the Automatons and the gameplay to the Horatio, with the Dust-induced sentience and the rapid expansion from their traditional attitude towards coming of age, which leads below in the gameplay section to rapid development of a city.

______________________________________________________________________



Background



Augria’s troubled death throes were both glorious and terrible in their shaping. The surface is riddled daily with new crevices, crags, cliffs and chasms that wind like rivers through ice and sand. Life, however, is a wondrous thing, and has somehow adapted to these growingly common appearances on the landscape. Dragons have always favoured caverns and hideaways to slumber, and their diversity only grew as their homes became more available. Yet as they spread they came into contact with more of Augria’s wonders. Who can say when or who, or what kind of dust it was that they came across – there were neither scientists nor adventurers roaming the land when destiny wound its way like a serpent to the serpents’ lairs, only silent ruins. Instead, to those silent ruins came the Dahaka. No longer crawling beasts, but upright men, changed physically by the powers of Dust; no longer witless, but now sharper in the mind than in the scales that coated their leathery skin. As beasts, their children would be nurtured: grow wings that were strong enough to carry them; and when they were ready, were thrown uncaringly from their homes to find a new place to live. Now, it seemed, providence had deemed them strong enough to discover a new world.



Together these creatures would emerge, blinking and stumbling out of their caves, and into the annals of Augrian history.

______________________________________________________________________



Appearance (image to follow if you want)



Their appearance is, in its simplest image, of bipedal western dragons: they have long faces that complement their usually hunched forms to give an air of brooding or, perhaps, menace. Their body and face is ‘scaled’ in the same way a turtle’s face and legs are armoured: the top is usually harder than the underskin, where the scales ‘scale-off’ (excuse the pun) in a gradient as you near the exposed area, towards revealing the neck, undertail, and stomach of the creature. Their faces are naturally stern and their voices deep, although their language has a certain softness that is quite soothing and therefore unnerving for subverting initial expectations. What appears to at first be dark grass (although of varying colour) on their face turns out to be in fact hair, or at least a quill-like feathers, that extend from the chin to hide the neck, and from behind the ridge that marks out their head from their neck – behind the eyes, down towards the nose and along the underside of the upper jaw; appearing almost (though still dissimilar) to the hair of a Vaulter woman, perhaps crossed with the extensions of a Wild Walker.



The apparel of the creatures is inspired by the beauty and strange similarities between Feudal Japanese and Ancient Roman ceremonial armour, especially the use of masks and embellishment on the helmet. Unfortunately I cannot upload the images I sketched at the moment as previously mentioned, but the style is simply a combination of the infamous samurai mask and crosshatching style of the armour alongside the more elaborate forms of Roman breastplate and plumed helmet that was worn in ceremony. When not in military apparel the traditional clothes are geared towards surprising elegance that shows Dahaka are just as fitting as any Augrian race, consisting of many layers of soft and colourful veils weaved from the many fantastical resources to be found in Augria.

______________________________________________________________________



Gameplay





I was unsure about balancing, so I have simply put varying possible values to indicate whether positive or negative. The aim was to create a game style that focuses upon rapid expansion, rewarding lots of smaller settlements than larger ones. Further bonuses were simply included to either reflect their draconian and/or Roman/Japanese inspired characteristics or to grant them ways to focus upon expansion.

• Individual Dwellings: -5 Approval for every unit of population (NOT including minor factions) (i.e. 4 population in that city grants -20 in that city only), yet negative approval on first level boroughs is changed to +10 (or possibly just no penalty? +0).
  
  
  
  “Before the dust enlightened them, the evolutionary traits of the crag-spawn meant new adults were forced, sometimes violently, from their families in order to make them seek a new home for their families – taking thrown from the nest to a new level. Even now a discontent with crowding remains within the Dahaka”
  
  
  
  The former encourages players to balance the disapproval of population growth with borough bonuses that negate the modifier of the 2 pop required to place them, leading to forced expansion of the city. Each faction has a major bonus; I consider this to be their, somewhat subtle, bonus: an attentive player will ensure to generate higher levelled boroughs with his placement and ensure positive approval from any city!
  
  
  
  Secondly the important factor is that minor faction pop gain does not affect it. Again this means minor factions are pivotal to ensure a high pop city with high approval – easy free boroughs!
  
  
• Possibly OP addition Forced eviction: Can spend Dust to negate the -5 approval on a single population unit (max number is equal to the number of allied villages in the region).
  
  
  
  “Not every Dahaka conforms to the old ways, yet they can still be ‘persuaded’ to leave for greener pastures, and it just so happens your neighbouring villages can be ‘persuaded’ to accept them.”
  
  
  
  The ability allows you to negate the -5 approval from one pop unit, one each payment (up to a max n = number of minor faction villages in the region). This encourages settlement in minor faction rich areas and rewards the settlement by them by allowing for higher approval. The cost is of course left up to Amplitude depending on how OP it is!
  
  
• Old Traditions: x2 population disapproval in each city, x0.5 expansion disapproval
  
  
  
  “Old customs die hard. The tradition of new families spreading out to new dwellings has lead the culture into a expansionistic race.”
  
  
  
  I am not sure of the exact proportionality of pop disapproval and expansion disapproval in Endless Legend; these should be balanced so that they negate each other perhaps.
  
  
• Honourable code: Units cannot retreat from battle and cannot engage in sabotage. (Again, minor factions do NOT gain this).
  
  
  
  "No tail-pulling or scale-ripping, always leave your opponents mask on."
  
  
  
  Assuming retreating and battle cards are in the final game. This again forces the faction to utilise minor faction units in their forces.
  
  
  
  This can be changed to “opponents cannot retreat from battle” if you decide they are too weak with their other abilities.
  
  
• Greener pastures: +2 movement per turn
  
  
  
  "If you gotta go from home, might as well be positive about it!"
  
  
  
  This can be applied only to colonists (or completely cut) if the faction is deemed imbalanced with it!
  
  
• I would leave the more minor benefits/hindrances to you, such as the unlocked techs, as I do not know enough about the balance to be accurate! – excluding the one necessity which is the tech that allows for parley with minor factions!
  
  
  
  

Summary:



-Faction gains benefits from numbers of boroughs and cities but loses approval on population, not including minor faction pop boosts. While simultaneously allowing you to ‘pay off’ the negative modifier for n = number of villages in the region population units. This allows you to draw neutral population units without any negative modifiers, ensuring any good player will focus upon minor faction rich areas.



-Units are hit with nerfs that may force you to recruit minor faction units if you wish to engage in hit and run tactics (and will definitely be needed if battle cards are added as you get no sabotage!)



-Extra movement to colonise faster.



-Starts with the ability to bribe/parley, to encourage quest seeking from minor factions.

Both the Sowers(maybe you should change the name because of the Sowers from ES?) and the Cult seem to promise a interessting playstyle.

Shoreyo wrote:
NB I've been trying to post this for a few hours now! Everytime I write it and preview it wipes is, so I did that about 4 times :P

Yeah, that is quit annoying or if you want to edit it it is the same(sometimes)



Nice presentation of your faction by the way. And I like dragons.