Polymathin wrote:
This sounds like it would really make gameplay fun. I am not sure if Vaulters already have this ability however. On their units it looks like there is an icon that implies the ability to teleport. I am not sure if it has been implemented into the game yet. Can anyone confirm or deny this.

melkathi wrote:
The only problem I could see there is making sure thy are different enough from the Vaulter Appertures.



edit: ah Polymathin already pointed it out.

Yes, Vaulters can build apperture gates in their star systems, allowing fleets to jump from one system to another.

Yeah, I realized this when I was creating the faction, but I decided in the end that



A. Giving the ability for all factions to make use of the Drift Dunes makes the game a little more enjoyable, and adds a more strategic aspect to the game

(Enemies can use your own Drift Dunes to invade you as well, so strategic placement of the dunes is key. It gives control to the faction, and the availability to other factions).



B. If the Drifters were implemented, and the player decided to take a diplomatic approach, The Vaulters would benefit from having even more teleport options, making them twice as mobile as they currently are.

(Currently as I am aware, Vaulters are able to teleport between their own cities only. Having the use of a Drift Dune would thus give them the ability to travel to enemy cities as well, with the help of a Drifter. This in tern would allow Vaulters to invade enemies, and teleport back to defend their own cities, simultaneously. Making for a deadly combination in-game)



-Contrary to the lore, even though the Drifters HATE Necrophages, if the Necrophages teamed up with the Drifters in-game, they would swarm all of Auriga in half the time. With their large numbers, and help of the Drift Dunes, they would raise hell to every opposing faction.



-Because the Drifters rely on units, mercenaries, and heroes rather than cities, they have a few faction traits that allows them to gain dust much faster than other factions. Now, imagine that a trade system is implemented into the game, and you, as a drifter, require more food for growth, and have an abundance of dust. What other faction requires an abundance of dust, but has no use for food?

Suddenly, with the help of the Drifters, the Broken Lords have become EVEN MORE broken.



-While it may not seem like that big of a deal, it is known that the wild-walkers focus around a defensive approach to the game. With the help of Drift Dunes, Drifters can come to their aid whenever they need it, making for impenetrable defensive strategies.





As you can see, all 4 of the current factions CAN benefit from the help of the Drifters, making for an interesting addition to diplomatic gameplay, and team-based strategies.



Edit: I have implemented these diplomatic advantages into my main post, feel free to check out the revised listing.

Hi, I might not be getting it because it is obvious but... do we just submit the ideas on this forum? Or through another webform somewhere?



"The Website" mentioned in the rules.pdf did not resolve for me unfortunately and I could not seem to navigate to the announcement webpage via Games2Gether.



Sorry for the confusion; I read too much into procedure documents! Hazard of the job!

Trithemius wrote:
Hi, I might not be getting it because it is obvious but... do we just submit the ideas on this forum? Or through another webform somewhere?



"The Website" mentioned in the rules.pdf did not resolve for me unfortunately and I could not seem to navigate to the announcement webpage via Games2Gether.



Sorry for the confusion; I read too much into procedure documents! Hazard of the job!

Yep, you just submit your idea in this thread and the devs will read through it.

Long ago, when Auriga was young and those who came before ruled over it with Dust and science, invaders came from the stars. They brought with them the horrors of war and death, and their thirst for blood and power seemed insatiable. No one knows how they were defeated, but those who delve deep into forbidden lore and ancient scripture tell of a horrifying weapon that robbed these invaders of power and locked them in prisons deep beneath the planets crust.



There they lay waiting, sleeping, dreaming..



Until now.



The Elders are a primordial race of devourers and enslavers. Their motives are an unsolvable riddle, but their power is undeniable. Through some eldritch magic or strange science, they posess power over the will of others. Through the subjugation of other species they gain some measure of power, but their true secret lies in an even darker place: By consuming the flesh of others, the Elders gain strength. Such horrifying strength...

History

The Elders are old. Extremely old. They remember the birth of stars, and they have watched empires rise and fall. In their glorious past, they enslaved and devoured entire races, laying waste too planets and doomed empires with their formidable technology and psionic power.

But that was before Auriga.

Not even the Elders themselves, or whatever remnants of them remain on Auriga, remember fully the all-consuming wars that ended with their downfall. What they do remember, engraved on the walls of their dark prisons beneath the planets surface, was that they once had a divine leader, a great and dark emperor whom they all followed blindly. This emperor, perhaps even their dark god, commanded the Elders to claim dominion over the universe. And the greatest prize of all was Auriga. They remember descending on the planet like a dark storm, powerful long-forgotten weapons lighting up the darkened skies like the baleful eyes of nightmarish demons. There was resistance, this much they know, but the details of that ancient battle are unknown to them.

How it ended, however, they do remember. Vividly.

As their victory drew imminent, suddenly they were undone. The power of the weapon not only decimated their armies and left them powerless, but even cut off their link to the psionic power that made them so formidable. When the reverberations of that machine had died down, the end had come to the Elders plans of conquest. Imprisoned, rendered unconscious by the powers that ruled Auriga, they were sealed in tombs deep beneath the planet to slumber and suffer forever. Such was the punishment for their acts of savage aggression.



For a time they dreamt in those dark halls. But then came the awakening.

The greatest among them, their former general and commander, the Great Pw'll'eth, awoke from his slumber. Wether by accident or by design the Elders know not, but slowly, after millennia in darkness, theit psionic power returned. Using these slivers of his returned power, general Pw'll'eth started to awaken his brethren. As the years passed, and their hunger threatened to overwhelm them and drive them mad, they all turned to their dark religion, what little of it that had not been eaten away by their time asleep beneath the earth. They carved the history of their race on the walls of their prison, faithfully as they remembered it, and focused all their might on these tales of darkness, death and conquest.



They do not know if their prayers were answered, or if their psionic talents somehow shifted the earth above them and undid the powerful wards their captors and conquerors had put in place to entomb them. But the earth moved above them, and for the first time in countless thousands of years they knew light once again.



As the Elders took their first fledgeling steps on Aurigas surface, they realised something was amiss. They could not feel the cold, comforting embrace of their divine emperors presence through the psionic link. They recieved no new orders, no directions. There was only emptiness outside beyond their prison.

But rather than despair and go mad, their leader Pw'll'eth rejoiced. Here, he saw, was a world unspoiled, which had long since forgotten the horrors of war as the Elders waged it. Here was a world ripe for the taking, and all life upon it would serve the Elders or be consumed. This was his promise. And if he ascend and take over the mantle of emperor, leader of all Elders, who would there be to challenge him?



So be it, then. Let the darkness and the madness rise from within the earth, and consume all of Auriga. The God Emperor demands it.

Gameplay

The Elders do not pacify or assimilate minor Factions. Instead, when a minor Faction settlement is defeated in battle, the player may choose to either Enslave or Devour the village.



If a village is Enslaved, the Elders gain additional Population in the city of that region, as well as a percentage increase in Industry and a +20 Science bonus for a number of turns (yet to be determined, possibly permanent) representing the Elders using their captives as slave Labour and experimenting on them to further their dark sciences.



If, on the other hand, the player chooses to Devour the minor Faction settlement, the Devouring Hero and any units under his command recieve a temporary bonus to Attack Power, Defense and Critical Hit, as well as a Permanent 5% (or something along those lines) increase in Experience gained. This XP bonus is cumulative.

The Hero and any units under hsi command also gain the Sated Trait for a number of Turns equal to the temporary bonuses to Attack and Defense. This negates the Bloodlust Trait.



All Elders units, including Heroes, have the Bloodlust Trait. This Trait increases the units Upkeep cost each turn the unit has not dealt or been dealt damage, up to a certain maximum. This additional cost is reset to 0 at the end of a turn in which the unit deals or is dealt damage. As the Upkeep cost of the unit rises, their Critical Hit also rises, up to a maximum equal to the rise in Upkeep cost.



The Elders Faction has access to unique Improvements that can be built on either Enslaved or Devoured villages, which provide various benefits such as increased Science, increased Industry, access to special units (to make up for the loss of Minor Faction units) and the like.





The Elders are meant to be lovecraftian, otherworldly and unsetling. Their appearance and design is suppoosed to evoke the horror of Lovecraft, Derleth and other Mythos writers. Tentacles, vestigial wings, almost human features and dystopian, cyclopean cities that defy logic and geometry.

Their focus is on enslavement and dark, hideous science, with a not so subtle element of cannibalism which should be featured in their artwork and design.

Added pictures to my post to help portray the look of The Drifters.

Can be found on page 3.

None of the peoples of Auriga were spared from the calamities, least of all, the Vanguard. We suffered the loss of all things dear to us. Our homes. Our families. And above all, the Panotii. The memory of their pain and sacrifice shall never be forgotten. Even as we endured the journey away from the lands of the north, we could still hear their howling and weeping as they languished in their agony. Their agony. Due to their loyalty to us.



But now, we seek a new home. Away from the ice, the torment, and most of all, the memories. For we cannot risk being exposed to the ravenous dust for a second time. Instead, we now turn our efforts towards finding a new ally, as our hearts are empty from our loss.



The search will be relentless. Brutal. Lethal. But we will never give up, we are the Vanguard. And as we endure the warm summer months, we will search. We will seek. And we will find. And once we do, together with our comrades, we will rise up and make a name once more for our people. As one.



But what will they demand? Merely to be our counterparts? Or our sole devotion...





GameplayRationale





The Vanguard a people who once inhabited the northern pole of Auriga. Thriving off the cold land, they were subject to the full force of the Calamities and Ravenous Dust. Even though they escaped, their brethren, the Panotii, sacrificed themselves to the dust to save the Vanguard.



Now as the Vanguard searches for a new ally, they stand ready to eliminate anyone who stands in their path. As such, they are searching for a minor faction to unify with, and for them to be their equals. Once they assimilate a minor faction, there is no turning back. For the integration of the minor faction has made them just as much a part of the Vanguard as the natives.



While there may only be one, they still desire to protect all minor factions. However, sometimes the good of their people conflict with this desire...



In short, they must integrate themselves into a minor faction, and expand that minor faction into all other villages, no matter the cost. However, this may include exterminating all the other minor factions to insert their own into them. But this could bring back many, many, bad memories.





Rough Gamplay Outline





-The Vanguard must settle a city on a pacified minor faction village, turning it into their city. They can only pacify via quests



-Minor faction in starting region automatically pacified



-Any other villages in the region other than the Capitol Village may be expanded through various methods.



-They can exterminate minor factions in other regions, and turn them into villages of their integrated minor faction to receive greater bonuses.



-May only assimilate or exterminate during Winter.





Possible Traits





-Heat Intolerant: -x production during summer



-Cold Embrace: 1/10 influence in the summer, 2X influence in winter



-Truth and Consequences: Can exterminate a village and populate it with an assimilated minor faction (part of Affinity)





Quest Rationale





The story of The Vanguard centers on their loss and their yearning to find new friends to achieve great things with.



As such, the quests would focus on pacifying minor factions through quests to find the right minor faction to assimilate. For example, they might be asked to pacify five different minor factions.



After that, they would have to assimilate one after settling with them. And then exterminate and replace the others, resurfacing their dark past, and highlighting the difficult choices that will lie ahead...







Please note that I refrained from reading any other biographies before writing this, so any similarities are purely accidental.

EisenKreutzer wrote:


Long ago, when Auriga was young...

A fan of the Mind Flayers I see?

Mordius wrote:
A fan of the Mind Flayers I see?

Hehe, yeah I love me some Illithids. But the images are more about setting a mood and inspiring the imagination than a specific visual design. Though Cthulhu is in the public domain, so basing some designs on him isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

EisenKreutzer wrote:
Hehe, yeah I love me some Illithids. But the images are more about setting a mood and inspiring the imagination than a specific visual design. Though Cthulhu is in the public domain, so basing some designs on him isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

oh damn, having Cthulhu as a Hero would be sick. Or having him randomly spawn as an epic boss and wreak havoc.

Updated my post to be less Mindflayer-centric.

Lords of under(or whatever their current name is) sound pretty good, but I'm confused at how their xenophobia mixes with minor faction theme?



Anyway, I feel like editing my post, but I'm kind of in between edge about that since its not like I should have complete description of what all gameplay features should be like... I mean, devs ultimately choose what that is like, I'm just supposed to descript an idea..



Can anyone give me feedback if there is something I should edit or add onto my post? I guess I could edit phew self deprecative comments away, but anything related to lore or gameplay that could be improved upon?

Mordius wrote:
Yep, you just submit your idea in this thread and the devs will read through it.

Thanks very much for the clarification Mordius!

Brief Summary:



Six-legged elephant-like race that delays winter with successful diplomatic actions, cannot declare war, takes extra damage during winter, can assimilate extra minor factions, has stealth abilities, and gets bonuses on anomalies, ruins and minor faction villages.



Intended as a peaceful wide faction with small hamlets dotting the landscape, pursuing minor faction quests at all costs so as to delay winter. Excels at defense. Intended victory goal is diplomatic.



Lore/Details/Description:



The Tluli Serenu is a peaceful race of six-legged elephants with split prehensile trunks and shifting patterns adorning their bodies that can grant them chameleon-like camouflaging abilities. They also have an extremely complex and detailed language which, combined with incredibly long-ranging communication that carries over miles, makes them seem almost telepathic. They are so adept at language that they are able to learn languages within hours of encountering them - needless to say, they are fantastic diplomats!



Diplomacy is the Tluli Serenu's calling card, for they were created by Auriga herself (their amazing intelligence is fueled by the dust that permeates the planet) to be her emissary and to follow The Calling: create balance in the world. Balance strengthens Auriga, when Auriga is strong all thrive, and when all thrive there is balance. The Tluli Serena help foster the balance by creating peace between peoples, fostering communication, wisdom and peace.



Before the long Dark Season that has just ended, the Tluli Serena attempted to gather all the sentient beings willing to rid the world of the Necrophage plague; with a mighty army made up of people and creatures from all over the planet, they came close to doing so, but in the end they failed. When the Necrophages swarmed over the great army of life and defeated it, they seemed to preclude any possibility of the Tluli Serena fulfilling The Calling, and thus the long Dark Season began. But Auriga was not defeated.



When the long Dark Season began, their small remaining numbers gradually lost their highly developed language and consciousness as they foraged and fought for simple survival. All but one, that is - the hero, who remembers their mission and with the advent of summer is again taking up The Calling. The other members of the tribe had not completely forgotten, memories deep within have come to the surface again, out of the Hibernation which made them little more than beasts.



Although Auriga was not defeated by the long Dark Season and summers have returned, the prospect of balance still seems remote as the Dark Seasons grow more brutal and frequent, and the Tluli Serena are fearful that history will repeat itself. The Necrophages are again one of the main reasons for the imbalance, again creating vast hives in the earth, again killing countless creatures and again destroying huge swaths of forests - they seem intent on destroying Auriga.



Their mission is to unite Auriga and combat the Necrophages and any other who wishes to dominate the planet unjustly. Only with all the dust-fed life of Auriga working together can they return balance and overcome the eternal winter that approaches.



Their cities are the ruins that still hold power and dust from the ancient past as well as the dwellings of those who have taken up the good fight. They find solace in the strange terrain dotting the landscape that recalls the world they once lived in so long ago (re: anomalies). Winter is more devastating for them than any other, for their minds enter the Hibernation, and any of them roaming away from the herd will simply wander away.



Their cities are ancient ruins with a southeastern Asian motif (re: Angkor Wat, something like this or this)



Shoot, and I promised myself I wouldn't WoT y'all... Oh well.





Gameplay Features:



Peaceful: Cannot attack minor factions, cannot declare war on major factions (may be aggressive if declared on of course)



The Calling: Each minor village pacified by the Tluli Serenu delays winter by one turn, each alliance with a major delays it by 20 turns.



The Hibernation: Lose contact/control of units outside cities and unaccompanied by a hero during winter (they become roving bands)



Diplomatic: May assimilate 2 minor factions multiplied by era, able to assimilate all minor factions in the sixth era. Minor factions grant units occasionally, minor faction units cannot be trained normally. Can build borough streets off assimilated minor faction villages, granting FIDS to the region's city.



Ancients: Gets a bonus to Influence for each ruin in city domain, double happiness on anomalies that provide happiness



Not Born Yesterday: 50% penalty to growth; speeds up with more assimilated villages.



Born From Auriga: city expansions arise from the ground, granted by Auriga, and require both dust and production to create. Dust grants the Tluli Serena consciousness and is drawn to them, giving +1 dust on every tile that produces 0 dust (?)



Huge Creatures: Free roads between cities and pacified minors (their size and weight create them naturally). Units naturally have high defense, HP and MP but are expensive to create and maintain



Tech: start with Language Square



Tech: gets a faction-unique tech granting peace treaties and alliances early in faction quest line





Hero Ideas:



-ancient, weak, general not soldier, many tusks

-support class

-grants chameleon powers (hides units unless adjacent), powers that can be upgraded in skill tree

-cannot wear armor, gets extra trinket slot(s)

-aura of wisdom grants increased sci when governing (not sure about this, don't want to step on vaulters toes)



Hope you like the concepts, please feel free to leave feedback!



PS - Nod to PANCZASU for the idea of throwing two foreign words together for the name! ^^

Ok, silly question, but are you really meaning to write "prehensile tusks" or was that meant to be "trunks" ? Because it is funny how our brains will skip ahead to ideas further down the document and then we type words that we didn't mean to - something spellcheck cannot spot.

melkathi wrote:
Ok, silly question, but are you really meaning to write "prehensile tusks" or was that meant to be "trunks" ? Because it is funny how our brains will skip ahead to ideas further down the document and then we type words that we didn't mean to - something spellcheck cannot spot.

Haha, yup, supposed to be "trunks" - nice spot! Edited

Morphlings



Basic Concept:

These creatures are the product of Endless bio-manipulation. They have the unique ability to chose which traits of which parent to pass on to their children, instead of a random mixing of both. Exposure to dust heightens and expands this ability though, allowing them to enhance traits beyond those of their parents and even add new traits, given that they have had sufficent exposure to an example of it in another species. This ability, along with their very quick reproductive cycle makes them incredibly adaptable to both the environment, and cultural shifts.



Description:

As a general rule, Morphlings resemble 3-ish foot tall humanoids, with long prehensile necks, and large multifaceted eyes. Since each set of parents can effectively shape their children how they wish, personal preference has caused a wide diversity in the specifics of the appearance of Morphlings. They mostly adhere to 5 basic "templates" though, based on which of the they are in charge of producing, and 1 based on quickly expanding population. These templates vary widly in muscle structure, build, height, and minor features such as claws, based on the needs their jobs.



Game Mechanics:

Adaptive Physiology: +1 in any hex that produces .

Life learns to adapt to any environment, and Morphlings can piggyback on that effort.



Specialized Population: Each District provides a +1 per opulation: to the of your choice.

Expansion is done to meet a need, and Morphlings can meet that need as well.



Mimicry: Each City can produce the unique unit of a pacified minor faction in its area, Morphlings do not have any military units of their own though, aside from a settler type.

When two cultures interact, there is always some mixing of culture. Morphlings will mimic others in more than just their actions though.



Reverse Assimilation: Morphlings do not get traiditional benifits from assimilating a minor faction. They know if their assimilated minor faction(s) match those of another faction(s) though, and they receive 10% less cost and more profit when making dealings with those factions (so a trade of 100 for 100 would cost only 90 , and gain 110 :food. The other faction is not affected (meaning they do not receive less or pay more), and in fact they would not even know that there was a difference. In trades for single objects (such as a technology), they gather a benifit in whatever main resource was requried for it (for example, when trading for a technology, they would gain 10% of that technology's cost)

While other factions take minor factions into their empire, Morphlings chose to adapt a portion of their population to become like a chosen favorite faction. This allows the Morphlings to walk among them unbeknownst to other factions, allowing them to gather an unseen tithe on any common dealings.



[HR][/HR]



When I first had the idea, I was trying to find a creative spin on the doppelganger/shapeshifter idea, but then I saw Rudest's Maskari, and so I decided to take it a little more in the "Zerg" direction, minus the Apocalyptic Space Locusts vibe (since the Endless Universe already has enough of those). I like how it turned out, hopefully someone else will too



Also, I'm not attached to the name, its just a placeholder until I think it over more, or someone else has a brilliant idea.

hellstork wrote:
The toxic diplomacy is a kind of way for the faction to not be completely helpless while it's building up its skill in alchemy. There are other ways to do that probably, but I think it fits better with the lore for the race. The Lords haven't been to the surface in a long time an a lot has changed. They spy and keep tabs on potential threats because they're kind of a paranoid race. But as the game progresses and the Lords become more capable of survival, the effects of toxic diplomacy diminish, and the minor factions become less of a threat and more of a tool the Lords can use. I hope that makes sense. I really want the Lords to fit both game play wise and Lore wise.



Also, does anybody have any ideas or concepts that they think might fit the Lords? Nothing is set in stone (pun intended) apart from their use of alchemy. I'd really love to see other ideas people might have for them. They need a new name, that's for sure. Lords from Under is just a placeholder. But anything else like what mounts they should use, or other fun things I may not have covered in my post



Edit: This is meant to reply to Teslaflux's comment

Ok, that makes sense.

And for a name. Maybe something with a reference to the philosopher's stone? I dont know. Names are always tricky.

Yeah, I got tired of trying to think up a good name and after few hours just went with taking word from dictionary...

ResonanceMask wrote:
Yeah, I got tired of trying to think up a good name and after few hours just went with taking word from dictionary...

But it works for your faction. Not everyone will know immediately what the name means. And even then it is ok.

Huh, good point...