Supressed by soul-leeching Lords?

Forced to ignore Your true nature?

Want to get out of that dark bunkers?



Join the Rebellion!

We give freedom to everyone! stand up against your oppressors , subscribe now!



After decades of suppression by the dominant races and factions, rumors of an alternative solution appeared in the cities and villages all upon Auriga. A nation for all, it was said, no matter if Centaur or Haunt. The news spread and planted seeds of unrest in the hearts of the ones that were called the unimportant, the minor races.

In the beginning this was ignored by the ruling administrators, a whisper in the wind, but soon the voices became louder, screaming for freedom, echoing through Auriga itself.

During the turmoils after the earthquakes and catastrophes that reshaped Aurigas face, these individualists took their chance to escape their cities and to gather forces and fall into open rebellion against the so called "big players".



Design:

Cities are as chaotic and mixed as the population. Wooden huts next to tents and large stone or metal buildings. Heroes are veterans of the different minor races, wearing old, partly torn armor, scars in the faces and so on.



Traits:

Join the rebellion: can assimilate additional minor factions per era.

for the cause: has to pay an increasing and upkeep per turn for every minor faction assimilated.

rally point: every assimilated and pacified (not destroyed) minor village automatically provides opulation: to the ciy in that region every X turns. The more opulation: a city has, the more turns between reinforcement.

propaganda: Unit action: by paying an huge amount of influence, turn an enemy city to your cause. (or lower its morale similar to siege)

select a leader: like the Vaulters holy Resource the Rebellion chooses an assimilated MF so its bonuses and reinfocements are boosted and its unit-costs are lowered.

printings: research that can stockpile influence (convert to :ep to prevent the loss of cities by the upkeep. (hard to balance, I know...)



thoughts about gameplay:

the Rebellion has no faction units (maybe except a settler), it uses the units of assimilated races and mercs from the marketplace.

The upkeep to hold the minor factions forces the player to balance between empire plan, negotiations and number of minor factions assimilated. If you can`t pay the accumulated upkeep, a random city or village leaves the rebellion. (this simulates a rebellions nature of never being long-living if not taken care of the rebels morale)

the upkeep compensates the free opulation: -reinforcements provided by the MF.

The Rebellion starts with 3 random MF-Units and an random major-faction-hero.

The first city built automatically pacifies a village and assimilates its faction in that region to ensure basic opulation:-growth to that city and an unit-type.

Additional to focusing on MF, this faction has to give a special look to its influence to maintain the upkeep.





Quests (incomplete thoughts):

rally support: assimilate 2 MF

arms for the mob: research tier 2 weapons and upgrade a unit

elections: select a leading minor faction for the Rebellion.





The Rebellion`s start is quite luck-based, but hey, every true rebellion is...



Note:

according to the announcement that this ist Quest 1 I focused on gameplay instead of designs etc.

CarlosDeMunyos wrote:
Hey, quick question. I really want to win this round, don't we all, right? However, if i was to win (i don't think i will but one can hope) i wouldn't want the tickets or anything but all i would want is my forum name (I.E. not my real name) in the credits. I don't want these tickets but instead think they should go to someone more deserving however i would want credit if i won. Do you think that would be ok? (in this highly unlikely hypothetical situation)

I mean, you could literally just give them to someone.

Visual description :



The Aelli are bird-like people with humanoid aspects. An Aellus is quite small, 170cm (5'7'') for the tallest of the men and 160cm (5'3'') for the tallest of the women. Never more, often less. Their graceful yet strong arms possess feathers on the back (from the shoulder to the wrist), allowing them to fly for long distances. They have 5 fingered human hands but claws instead of feet, nonetheless an Aellus can walk using a tail to keep one's balance but can't run. Apart from the back of the arms and the tail, we can found feather on their head, like we can found hair on ours.



The Aelli usually wear few clothes as they like to move freely in the air, but can still carry heavy weights using their claws. Possibly teamworking if their own strength isn't enough.



The Aellian good qualities are mobility and ingenuity.



Way of life :



The Aelli live in the Great Nest, inside of glorious and impassable mountains in the heart of the greatest continent of Auriga. The Aelli raise their children wisely, teaching them about the dangers and the wonders of the tricky planet. They gather all this knowledge thanks to hundreds of years of exploration.



Indeed, when an Aellus is old enough, he or she can leave the Nest with other people of his or her age heading toward an unexplored area of the planet where they try to settle and gather knowledge. Aellian settlements can only be found on high mountains, as they feel unsafe on the ground, where they build little structures and dig shallow cavities. However they make the best use possible of the little space they have and expand only if it's the only solution. After several years, some return to the Nest where they can teach about their discoveries. As for the others, they stay on their own will in the new colony and secure a reliable post for the next migrations.



The Aelli are helped by a race of Griffon which they maintain an harmonic understanding with. They use griffons on their daily life as we can use horses or bulls which are far stronger and tougher than we are. Not even the elders can remember when the path of the griffons and the Aelli crossed but legends say that the two people saved themselves from extinction a long time ago. The Aelli taught the griffons how to have restrictions and how not to destroy their own environment when the griffons taught the Aelli how to be capable of using force and how not to decay because of the fear of breaking balance (sometimes changes must be made for the common good). Griffons are a key part of the migrations and the settlements.



The Aelli always give as much as they receive, must that be from other people or even Mother Nature herself. They don't farm the land nor breed animals as they don't like to twist the natural order. They rather prefer to hunt and gather, using their high cities and incredible range to cover large territories. A hunting or gathering team can fly several miles away from the city in order not to over-exploit an area. When they do so, the Aelli not only take for their own good, but also help the nature developing. They help fruit trees and bushes to grow more beautifully and expand more easily, they feed packs and herds which have difficulties. The Aelli are good at taking care of plants and animals using the knowledge of their predecessors, the ones who migrated before them and learned how to make the environment an ally.



With that kind nature of theirs the Aelli are good at making friends. Moreover they are people of few words, which help not to raise too many conflicts, and being part of the Aellian "balance" is a good way for a city to grow and flourish. However they are sharp-minded and can hardly be fooled, their kindness doesn't imply their naivety. The Aelli treat all living beings in the same way, when they are not an immediate threat to them or to their allies, otherwise they don't hesitate to use force to protect the balance they cherish that much and try to resolve the conflict so that the future can be brighter for each side. They value the life a lot, but they can bring death or sacrifice themselves if they perceive that to be more a plus than a minus. The Aelli always are cool-headed when they make war, but they can be found in great anger if one decided to wreck their lands and disturb their balance, for that they are considered as a very reliable ally and a fearful opponent.



To gather natural resources like wood or stone, the Aelli use artificial iron claws, mounted on armored gloves, as their hands are not strong enough. When necessary, these ones can act as powerful weapons, allowing the user to fly and fight as the same time. However the Aelli can also use more conventional weapons like bows and spears which allow them to fight from long or mid range, making good use of their mobility.



General gameplay :



- Fast exploration,

- Collaboration with other factions (minor and major),

- Using Auriga's environment and anomalies,

- Gathering knowledge.



Faction traits (+balance thoughts) :



- High cities : An Aellian city can only be built on a Ridge tile (impassable mountain) giving a few amount of and a great amount of but no benefits from nearby tiles. However expansions can be built far away from the city.



(I hesitated a lot about this one... because it is crippling a lot the faction in areas without mountains. But the general idea is to share and work with other factions, I don't really want the Aelli to be able to work on their own. They are not isolationist, they are fast explorers and good negotiators. The other traits and faction technology will help to softer this one.)



(The expansions work more as working camps than as districts here. The main problem is that a far-away expansion would cover 7 tiles, that is to say 3 to 4 more tiles than a regular expansion. I thought about making these expansions only 1 tile-wide but cheaper to build. A city would obviously need twice the normal amount of expansions to level up. This idea works in correlation with the next trait.)



(To make it easier it would be great if this faction could spawn next to a ridge, like usual factions spawn near rivers.)



- Auriga's knowledge : Using the knowledge of their ancestors, the Aelli are familiar with Auriga's anomalies and can use them at best.



(Basically the anomalies' tile bonus would be higher. That works in correlation with the previous trait, in the case expansions only cover 1 tile. As Aelli are fast explorers they can spot anomalies fast and take benefit from it with a long range expansion.)



- Sharp eyes and mind : For every minor faction village discovered and observed the Aellian empire earns a little amount of . For every minor faction village pacified the empire earns a little amount of per turn. If the village is destroyed the bonus is lost.



(the "Observe" action would be alongside the "Attack", "Bribe" and "Parley" actions on army interactions and could be used only once per village. Possibly granting a better bonus for each new minor faction discovered. But not necessarily.)



- Fast explorers : Aellian infantry/flying units are fast explorers and move faster during summer. Winter negates this bonus and make all Aellian units travel slower.



(This trait affects either infantry or flying units, depending on which one the faction begin the game with as a standard unit. The winter penalty would stack with the winter's -50% movement effect to provide the Aelli rushing all the map and gathering too much resources from "Sharp eyes and mind" with the ruins' searching. If they do, they would be stuck when winter comes. The Aellian empire is likely to be vast and the Aelli must be wary of the winter if they want to defend their lands.)



- Fair share : All trade routes involving an Aellian city has an automatic trade route bonus for both empires.



(As I said the Aelli is a better ally than enemy, and each trade route coming from an Aellian city gives more resources than a normal trade route. That bonus also apply to all Aellian cities and incite the Aelli to seek peace and treaties more than war and conflicts. That also help the Aelli to get resources they can't obtain because of flat regions without mountains.)



- The Balance : All negotiation term options aiming at getting closer to an empire and exchange with it cost less influence (for both empires) on Cold War or Peace state. The cost is even lower (for both empires) on Alliance state. But declaring war breaks the balance and cost more influence (only for the Aellian empire and its allies).



(Getting into the Aellian "balance" help a city or an empire to grow and flourish, however declaring war breaks the balance and should be considered as the last option for the Aelli. As for their allies, declaring war when being part of the Balance might be ill-advised regarding the Aelli.)



- Harmonic understanding : Minor faction assimilated units have a defensive bonus when fighting alongside Aellian warriors.



(As the Aelli might lack tactical resources because of the nature of "High cities", units could strengthen themselves as a result of the harmonic understanding (like between the griffons and the Aelli) to make up for that. The harmonic understanding could also affect some specific faction "tanky" unit unlocked through quests. I won't go any further on that as Units are part of Quest2. Once again the Aelli can't be all on their own, they have to rely on other factions - minor factions here - to survive.)



Other gameplay mechanics :



- Technologies based on the percentage of the discovered land like a "Hunting and Gathering" city improvement which would cost a few amount of and provide a good amount of but decrease in efficiency on non-fully explored region. We can imagine a "Knowledge storing library" empire improvement that would grant a bonus for each % of the map explored.



- Technologies based on improving the FIDS output from tiles (without anomaly). This would work like the regular expansions (working camps) but can only be built next to an existing working camp, allowing it to gather the improved tile. Several improved tiles next to a working camp would make it level up. This should help the Aelli to have the same FIDS output has other factions (if necessary only, it is more like a balance tool to make it more like a regular faction with leveling cities and leveling boroughs).



-The Aelli are well aware of the state of Auriga and might focus on surviving the changes occurring (late quests), especially during winter when they are weakened, using the knowledge they gathered. This kind of technology is only accessible during late Eras.

P5ych wrote:
Here's some Really Big Rats riding an Ice Warg

+9.001

<3

Huh, almost hundred entries...

P5ych wrote:
The Really Big Rats (RBR)



Background: The Really Big Rats are the youngest faction on Auriga having only recently been granted (some) intelligence and stature (2 and a half feet) by a mysterious event that they call The Big Thing. Now the rats are looking for The Next Big Thing and if they have to eat half the world's garbage to get it, well that's just a bonus.



Here's some Really Big Rats riding an Ice Warg

This post made my day lol

The Descendants - Children of Auriga





background:



The other factions first time met them gathering in places, that were called holy because of their connection to the nature. The descendants suddenly appeared on the surface of Auriga, but no one knows how exactly they were born, but themselves and her... the silent voice of Auriga. The descendants themselves say the great mother sent them out to pacify the world. So they woke up in the depths of Auriga to move in the light of the surface.



It is said that Auriga has changed during the war of the Endless. The dust a gave her a form of consciousness and she felt the pain the war did to her surface. That is why she never wants to lets such a war happen again and sent out her children.

The Mission of the Descendants is to to unite all races of Auriga, to ally with factions and be an ambassador between all factions to let war become history and to learn from them.







playstyle principle:



-science bonuses through treaties and cooperations with other factions (peaceful communication)

-food and approval bonuses through anomalies (presence of Auriga)

-dust bonus per settled terrain type (respect of the nature / affinity to the planet)

-assimilated minor factions create additional influence

-malus through war



appearence:



-mix of mineral and organic

-humansized









So that's my idea of a faction for EL. Hope u guys like it ;-)

Btw great game!

Summary

During the Dust Wars, the Virtual Endless created the Cravers, a cyber-insectoid swam, to destroy the Concrete Endless. Before the Virtuals realized their mistake in creative such a race of beings, the Concrete responded by uplifting a race of their own. The Vyrogen, a barbaric race of draconic warriors, existed on a volcanic planet the Concretes had planned to terraform for themselves. The Vyroken proved to be exceptionally suited for stalling, if not outright stopping, Craver assaults. However the last time they would be used by the Concrete Endless would be on Auriga, where they were abandoned by their uplifters after the planet had been ravaged by wars.



Background

The Vyroken of Auriga have, through the centuries and millenniums of surviving there after being abandoned by the Endless, have adapted to the world the best they knew how. No strangers to harsh environments, for they had been used to fight Cravers on worlds in the process of being consumed by the horde and the fact their distant memory of a home world had been volcanic, they scrounged out a living the best they could on Auriga. While the Dust Wars have faded into legend and the Endless little more than mythical gods, the humanoid, dragon-like race clung to the core tenants of their culture to survive.



Every Vyroken is a warrior, from the moment he or she is born, to the moment they die. They start their training for war as soon as they are able to hold a weapon. Those deemed unfit to serve in the military are quickly weeded out. Long ago they would have been killed, for there would have been no use for them on their home world or in service to the Endless. On Auriga, however, every soul is needed to survive. Those than can't fight instead become laborers, tasked with ensuring that food production, construction and maintenance, and other basic needs for survival are kept and maintained. It is not as honorable to serve in such a role, but those that find themselves in such a place do so without complain. It is only through their efforts that their race can truly survive, thrive, and eventually discover a way back to the stars of their gods.



Their numbers are limited, however. The Vyrogen are long lived, but they do not produce offspring very often. The leaders aren't sure why. Perhaps it was a curse laid upon them by the Endless for their failure? Because of this, every Vyroken life is incredibly important. To reduce the risk of lessening their already small numbers, they looked to the other races of Auriga. As they come upon these other people, a choice is offered. Join with them and form a league, a pact of mutual defense and survival...or be conquered, and serve them as slaves and expendable labor.



They have come to view the Endless as gods, something their ancestors would cringe at, and in a warped way. They are not gods to be worshiped, but feared, and ultimately cast aside. Time has diluted memories and history. They simply remember grand beings finding them on their home world, so long ago, and choosing them to travel the stars and combat a horrific, all-consuming threat to life. They view their isolation on Auriga as a punishment for their failure to best serve the Endless, and seek a way to get off of the world so that they may continue their war against the All-Consumers (as they call the Cravers in their legends). Or, to simply find their home world, and return to the people they were taken from. The Vyroken are very honor-bound and dutiful, a proud people. They treat their allies and friends well, but if you earn their wrath or scorn, they will see you as less than dirt and trample upon you as such. Betray them, as the Endless did, and they will ensure not even as much as the dirt you set your home upon will be remembered by the stars.



They bow their knee to no one but themselves...although, in time, they will expect all others on Auriga to bend their knee to them. After all, they were chosen by the Endless Gods to serve them and fight among the stars...Can any of these lesser people say the same?



And once they reach the stars, the All-Consumer will be hunted down and exterimanted...And the gods that abandoned them, will be shown the mistake they had made.



Leadership and Government

The Vyroken are led by a council of elders. The oldest among them that have lived to an age to be allowed to retire their weapons and armor, and take leadership roles within their budding civilization. The council is always fifty-three strong: fifty council members, and three officials elected by the council to serve as the official heads of state. One serves as their head general, in charge of all the military forces at their employ, and is typically always male. The second is in charge of the civilian population, the working caste, slaves, and allied races, and is typically a female. Because these two aspects of the society typically have differing opinions on what needs to be done and compete for resources, the third elected official is mediator between the two, and has the final say after those two cast their opinions on whatever matter leads the day.



Military

The Vyroken approach to war is quite simple. Utterly destroy and crush your enemy with application of overwhelming force. Viewing ranged warfare as cowardly and beneath them, and Auriga lacking the proper kind of beasts to allow them mounted combat, each Vyroken warrior has mastered melee combat. In fact, you will never find a warrior of their (that is not an exile, or traitor) using anything except a melee weapon. Focusing on maintaining strong defenses while they close with enemy forces, they have come to rely on their allied, or subjugated, forces to cover their operational weaknesses. Their client-races and slaves will serve as their bowmen and cavalry, as the front ranks designed to die so that the Vyroken warriors can make it to combat unscathed.



In terms of Heroes, typically they have combat focused heroes, of which there are more male than female. For city-based heroes they do have a few, but are typically all female. The Vyroken female has proven to have a better mind for management and scientific research, while the men prove better at the arts of war and...well, war.



Gameplay

Faction Traits (Note, I'm never great at coming up with these. In the event this faction wins, the devs can change and tweak these as needed.)

---Elite Warriors - The Vyroken take their martial prowess and ability very serious. They are masters of war, and train constantly to keep such skills. However, this causes unit training times to be increased for all Vyroken main faction units.

---Melee Enthusiasts - With their disdain for ranged combat, for Vyroken main faction unit may equip ranged weaponry. Also, because of their larger build and stature, they lack the ability to form their own effective cavalry force.

---Dying Out - For unknown reasons, the Vyroken cannot quickly reproduce. Thus their population increases at a slower rate than other factions.

---Hardy - They physiology and adaption have let them grow used to the harsh world of Auriga. During the winter, they don't suffer as drastic of penalties as other factions.

---The Vyroken League - The Vyroken need the aid of others to ensure their survival. They gain a morale boost for the number of minor factions in their League (be it through peaceful or military means of joining). An attack on any minor faction in their league is a declaration of war on the main faction itself. Minor factions that join the league peacefully and of their own accord grant bonuses to Dust and Science, showing the cooperation between the two and increased trade. Minor factions that are conquered militarily provide bonuses to Food and Industry, showing the influx of new slaves being put to work.

---Pragmatic - The Vyroken are a spartan, disciplined people. They value resources they can use, such as metals, over luxurious resources.

I've looked through every submission, lurking from the dark, before I decided to put down my idea. I've not gone in deep detail about traits, unit stats nor hero specifics but I tried to put down a setting and unique gameplay that will compliment minor factions as was the assignment. Might this faction get till the end the devs get all the rights to play with the concept as they please.



The Founders



"We have no choice, we have to carry this burden, only together can we survive... "



Background Story



Art owned by: Ninthray Studios



It all started with a shining star falling from the sky followed by the brightest light we had ever seen. Not many of us were left after what happened to us. We were hunted, slain and lost our homes to horrible insect-like monsters! Without food and on our last merits we decided to follow the bright light and hope for a brighter future. We had no idea that what we would find would change our lives forever.



We walked for days before we found what we were looking for. A huge object erected from the sands in which it had plummeted but for some strange reason it didn't seemed to have touched it's surroundings. The object had the shape of a square but had numerous holes in it as if it was made to build shelters in. After closer inspection it provided us with supplies of food, technology and strange mysterious markings. We had no idea what it was, who the owner was or where it came from but we decided to stay and claim it as our own. We had no choice, it was either staying here or go extinct.



We weren't the only ones looking for a brighter future. Species from all over the land came to visit and hailed us as their saviours as we provided them with our resources. We couldn't reject their gifts of food, company and protection and before we knew it we were in the middle of a buzzing civilization of mixed races where everybody helped each other and lived in peace.



Peace... Well untill they will discover we are a fraud of course. If they would find out our secret, our weakness, the fact we have no connection with the object whatsoever and are nothing more than a group of weaklings our whole society as we know it would collapse. With the enemy closing in and the worst incoming winter in forever we will have to work together to make it out of this alive.





Basic Gameplay

The Founders are a tribe of the last survivors of a race of humanoid creatures who happened to stumble upon a mysterious artifact that provided them with riches that attracted other species. They are respected and wanted by other minor factions from all over the lands but will have to carry a heavy burden with them as price as they are actually a weak race of diplomats. Only by working together and keeping the story up and gaining their trust will they succeed as they can't do anything on their own.



This is reflected by the following gameplay elements:



Start of the game:

- The Founders start next to their 'object' at the start of the game

- They will not be able to build settlers, they start next to their object which has limited building potential and will only grow when minor factions join their cause.

- They can only build one kind unit which is meant for scouting and collecting minor factions.

- Their hero is the first founder and a supporting hero



Core gameplay:

- They won't be able to fight with neutral minor factions, instead they can make peace with them and turn them into actual cities with limited building potential.

- These 'adopted' Minor Faction cities will keep giving you quests even after you have taken them, failing them will lower their trust in you which reduces production, dust and influence. You will have to keep them happy so to speak.

- They will have no limit on how many minor factions they can 'adopt' as cities.

- The main army force of the founders will consist of merchant troops and minor faction units which can be recruited from 'adopted' cities as well.

- Equipping higher end equipment can only be done at the 'object'.



Thanks for reading! Feel free to drop me some feedback on how to improve.

So anyway, stumbled onto this /#/endless-legend/forum/5-general/thread/1094-about-the-four-others-factions while wandering in the forums <_< Spoilers since that is files for faction.



I find it interesting that there are nine faction slots with seventh one being reserved for this contest... Does that mean ninth will be in expansion?



Anyway, names seem to be place holders, but seem like missing factions will include mage faction(which is what devs hinted in opening post), Roving Clans and Drakken as we know with ninth one being what appears to be dopplegander faction based on the name whether its placeholder or not... Dunno whether they are going to be in the game ever, but I guess that might mean bad things for my ideas since it sounds like a stealthy faction...

Court of Chaos



Inspirational art:







Background:

While there's little known about the origins of the Court, some say they owe their existance to the continuation of the experiments conducted by the Endless which led to creation of the Wild Walkers. Building upon the ability to share conciousness with other beings, the Endless tried to create a life form capable of transforming itself into any other being and theoretically into any possible physical form, gaining all the skills of the new form and retaining its own skills at the same time. Regardless of whether this is true, or what was the final purpose of the experiment, some time after the cataclysm, shapeshifter species emerged on the surface of Auriga. They were largely unorganised and diverse. Some of them preferred to stay in primitive animal forms and seemed to be degrading and losing intelligence over time. Others were much more intelligent and seemed to retain self conciousness regardless of the form they assumed. They started to exhibit some form of control over the others and thats how the first Court was formed.



Society:

The Court is an assembly of shapeshifters. It does not have a strong hierarchy, but rather is split into multiple groups led by the more strong willed speciemen called Masters of Form. The Masters often keep humanoid looks, however they usually posess wings that they use to reach their habitats located in places unaccessible otherwise. This separates them from those incapable of flight. They have some form of psychic control over other speciemen. Some of the Masters seem obsessed with finding the perfect form while mastering dozens of different forms on this seemingly impossible quest.



Low ranked members seem to inherit the traits of the form they chose to take, and thus can easily degrade if they chose to change into a non sentient creature.



Latest changes in their society have indications that some kind of universally accepted leader has finally emerged and this can't be a good sign for other races.



Biology:

Shifters of the Court can not fully assume a form of the creature they do not know. They can shift into creatures they have not studied for a short time, but they will have limited controll over the body. To fully study a form they need to observe the species they want to mimic and also form a psychic link with them. Their usual strategy includes infiltration of the species of interest and careful study of their habits. For some of the shifters this results in irreversible changes in their psychology, and they start to behave more like a member of the species they try to mimic. More powevful shifters seem to suffer from something akin to multiple personality disorder, although it seems normal for them. They can fully identify themselves with the species they shift into, however their real personality wich is competely alien to most races, seems to be present at the same time.



Main gameplay idea: units shapeshift into assimilated minor faction units in combat. Since most of the faction abilities influence combat, the faction is supposed to be played aggresively, focusing on military tech and making up for its weaker economy by leeching resources from the enemies.



Gameplay idea (long version):

The Court employs stealthy and adaptive tactics to pursue its goals. Military is one of its greatest strengths. Basic unit of the Court is capable of shapeshifting and at the beginning of each combat phase can chose any known form to shift into. They also shift their gear to equivalent tech gear of the unit they change into, but their gear is more expensive. Instead of researching new units the Court researches new forms. All assimilated factions also grant a new form instead of a new unit. To compensate for this unrivaled versitality they have lower army limit, which also represents their chaotic nature.



Yet another advantage of the shifter armires is an ability to infiltrate enemy lines using their shapeshifting abilities, which lets them place their units closer than normal to the enemy during unit placement stage.



The Court has an ability to pacify minor factions by permanently sacrificing their units to infiltrate the village. They also have unique tech to adapt to different climate conditions, which grant FIDS bonuses on specific tile types (they can adapt to most types, but that would slow down other resarch significally, so generally they need to chose what type of terrain they want to settle in).



The Court sends agents to spy on other factions and boosts its science output by leeching science from cities adjustent to its colonized regions.



Sample traits:

Masters of many forms - The Court units gain an abillity to assume the form of any unit of any assimilated minor faction. A new form can be chosen at the beginning of each combat phase

Technology espionage - The Court adds 20% of science production of any region adjustend to its own colonized region to the science production of that region

Combat camouflage - In combat, you gain one additional row (closer to the enemy lines) to place your units

Insiders - Can permanantly spend 1 unit to pacify a minor faction vilage

Anarchists - Maximum army size is reduced by one. It is further reduced by one in the fourth age.

P5ych I love your rat faction idea! If my faction idea doesn't cut it I will defiantly be supporting yours.

Polymathin wrote:
P5ych I love your rat faction idea! If my faction idea doesn't cut it I will defiantly be supporting yours.

I would ship that ;-). Although i would change the name for Big F!@#$ Rats, brings heavier impact.

Just think of it, there is a lot of chance to play another human empire, or elvish empire, also insects and floating armors are quite popular. However currently EL lacks dragon and bestiary, and rats are sweet, but warhogs would be strong voice to.

The Adventurers









Background:



The Adventurers is a race of gremlin like small beings created by the Endless who improved their beast ancestors mental capabilities. Due to their size, Adventurers rely on sorcery, magically improved ranged weapons and tough friends to protect themselves. Adventurer sees his own live as an Quest - endless search for something new. It is hard to find adventurer in a same place again, they Quest constantly driving them to move forward. Adventures believe that their souls live as long as the memory about their Quest lives in the hearts of sentient creatures. All adventurers make Stories about their lives and sharethem with all willing to listen.



Adventurers society is mostly anarchic. The only thing that gathers most of Adventurers in one place is a grand storytelling fest - competition for title of theVoice, best narrator in the world.Voice doesn't have any direct power in Adventurers society but his words are always treated with great respect. Adventurers are wide spread and can be found in almost any corner of Auriga.



After last dire winters the Voice understood that Auriga has changed and will never be the same.He decidedto unite Adventurers and proclaimed: "When World is dying it can be only one goal for Quest - saving it".They answered his call and are ready to meet the Last days working together on a Legend, that will tell the fate of a dying world and do all that necessary to save as much listeners as possible.



Gameplay:



Quests! More quests! Pacified minor factions village will generate new special quests to the Adventurers (each 15 turns). All these special quests must lead to the uncontrolled regions on the map and force player to relocate cities often. Upon completion of certain number of special quests Adventurers will unlock traits that will improve minor faction units fighting abilities. Adventurers are best suited for diplomatic victory and they racial quest requires completion of minor faction special quests.



Traits:



• Travelling cities: due to nomadic nature Adventurers can relocate their cities with all improvements. After relocating to the new region Adventurers get bonus approval that decreases over time(from +20 to -10, -1 per turn) and FIDS production bonus(20%) for next 7 turns.

• Endless quest: pacified minor factions village will generate new special quests to the Adventurers (each 15 turns)

• Pathfinding: decrease rough terrain movement penalties

• Born to explore: increased reward for quest completion and searchingruins

• Storytellers: bonus approval for each alliance, all allies also gain approval bonus

• Keepers of stories: diplomatic relations bonuses with other factions

"But what about the ROUSs?" "Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don't think they exist." Come on everyone, more rat factions! The ROUSs need to exist!

Thanks for the rat love guys.



I was afraid no one would like the little guys because they don't really seem like a serious faction, but you proved me wrong.

Faction proposal.



Name: The Gras (pronounced grace)



Use of the Welsh language to create naming structure.

Gras = Grace. Un-o = One of. Yr-olaf = The last. Un-o'r-olaf = One of the last. Rhai-olaf = Last ones. Mae'r-bobl = The People.



Background story:



Note - The background story is designed in such a way that it can be blended in to Endless Space and Dungeons of the Endless. Title such as "Fallen from Grace" and "Return to Grace" depending on the starting point of the story.



Here's what we know so far - quests will provide more of the story.



Having a collective mind and no physical body the Gras are stuck between states of being. The Endless war halted their ascendancy to a fully Transcended state, thus they have struggled for aeons to find 'the One', which is the last of their race left behind with a mind unconnected to the collective and tasked with protecting their Transcendancy to a higher state of being.



... "What is it? A light, we see a light! It has been so long. How long? It is not known. We have been alone; cut off; isolated. Was it necessary? The 'Last-ones' say yes. Yes we do. It was necessary or all would fail. 'The Last' of us protects that which we left. When will we be reunited? What has the 'The-Last' of us done? 'The-Last' of us has done what was required. The light; it quivers. We should seek it before it leaves. What if it's danger? What if it's 'The-Last' of us? I will check. Wait 'One-of', should you do this alone? It is best. But you were the last of the 'Last-ones'; you're transcendancy is at the greatest risk. We the 'Last-ones' agreed to this. 'One-of' will seek the light."



Vangil was slowly dying from his wounds and he knew it. His wondering for a way out had led him further than any and his troop were dead or lost behind him. His wife and son awaited him at the encampment. A tear fell. Blast the Vaulters, and the Delvers, for their false promises of a way out. Blast the 'phage for their ceaseless attacks. And as for the robotic ones I wish them a torment beyond death. They who had enslaved and modified our DNA to become what we are now. Vangil knew if he perished then the last of the Mae'r-bobl would perish too, their story forgotten and trapped in these caves, lost forever unless he could find a way out.



His eyes caught a glimmer in the darkness. What is that? A door? It's like nothing Vanglin had seen before. Perhaps with the faintest of hopes there may be a way out, a way back to the encampment. He put the last of his strength to opening the door. One pair of arms was not enough, he needed both pairs so he laid his torch down and strained with all he could muster. Was that a hint of movement in the door? He heaved and sweat beaded on his brow, trickling down his dirt covered face into his beard. The door cracked open with a mighty release of pressure that blew him off his feet, coming to rest half open.



Vanglin was so tired from the effort, from the wounds, from the ceaseless wondering in these caverns. He looked down for his torch and picked it up wondering what would last longer, the dying torch or his dying body. With a little laugh to himself and shrugging his muscular upper shoulders he entered with swords, shield and torch held ready. At first there was nothing. A vast empty chamber, echoing and dusty. His heart sank and with it his knees as he lowered his fading body to the floor in despair. Propping himself up against an oblong cut stone he placed the quivering torch in a small crack and started to remember his wife and son. After a moment or two he noticed a wisp of light. Was it light? It was something that seemed to fade in and out of vision just outside the circle of his torch light. "Was this it? Is this how I'll die?" he wondered. "Are angels real after all?" The wisp of light had such grace of movement. Vanglin decided there and then that he'd welcome whatever it was as he was too tired to fight any more...



Basic Game play:



The Gras (pronounced Grace) can not build a population or army as other major factions do at the start. As a symbiont race they require a host to do the building. Thus the Grace can bring 3 minor factions together to create one harmonious whole using the Merge ability of their unique unit 'Un-o'.



The Gras are influence dependant and can lose an entire minor faction (Cities reduced by a third, lose ability to build minor faction unit and all villages become independent/hostile) if they sustain a negative influence over a number of turns. If a minor race leaves then a new optional quest is triggered, called "Rescue the fallen" which would reinstate the faction. Alternatively a new minor faction may be persuaded to replace the lost one.



Military units from the minor faction can then be used as their own and built in any city. These units will gain the "Touch of Grace" trait.



The Gras use influence to develop their minor races into an harmonious whole, also to apply bonuses to their units, and to boost their faction FIDS temporarily.



The Gras start with one new minor faction called 'Mae'r-bobl'. This is the minor race they rescued and bring to the surface in order to fulfil their quest.



As the Gras start with only minor factions they have no starting research and have a science penalty due to the trait "From scratch". This can be offset with their trait "Touched by grace", which gives a science bonus based on population. It's up to the player to make that choice.



In order to merge factions and build cities the Gras have a unique unit that can not be killed, but can be damaged, with a fixed set of abilities. This unit is 'One of' or Un-o in their language and does the following:











Use of Minor Factions ~



The Gras have an enhanced parley ability with minor factions giving them a secondary option to 'Merge' and along with 'Mae'r-bobl' join the Gras. This brings the minor factions abilities and units into the main population and doubles the minor factions ability.



Starting with 3 minor faction assimilation slots for the 'Merged' minor factions; the first being populated with 'Mae'r-bobl'; 2 other slots exist for new 'Merged' factions. Plus an additional slot, like the other major races, for an assimilated faction, making a total of 4 slots at the start of play.



The Gras founding city population is capped at 4 until they have merged with 1 other minor faction and they can not create any settler units until they have merged with 2 minor factions. A merging can only happen when the Gras have carried out the quest set by the minor faction.



Once merged or assimilated the remaining minor faction villages provide increased influence, population and a happiness bonuses.



They bring a new minor faction with them. This minor faction is called Mae'r-bobl which means 'The People'. The Mae'r-bobl have been genetically modified for a task they no longer remember. Their only racial memory is of robots being part of the forced modification and a battle against them to escape. They have 4 arms and are humanoid in appearance. Like the Vaulters they have some immunity to the harshness of winters through their thrifty and hardy natures, with greatly enhanced life.



Traits ~



From scratch:





Graceful speech:





Blessed with grace:





Collective stance:





Touch of Grace:





The collective grace:







Leaders ~



'One-of' in the universal language, or 'Un-o' in their own, was the last of 'The Grace' or 'Gras' to merge with the collective mind. As such Un-o has the greatest living knowledge of what happened to the 'Gras'. As a collective mind that is shared instantly with the 'Gras' but only Un-o possesses the empathic link to this history.

Un-o seeks the only remaining member of the Gras not to have merged their mind to the collective. That last one, or 'Yr-olaf', was tasked to do whatever was necessary to keep the Trancendancy of the Gras process secure. However the war of the Endless began and not even Un-o knows what happened to Yr-olaf. By finding Yr-olaf, Un-o hopes to solve the mystery and restart the process of Trancendancy.



Vanglin is the military leader of Mae'r-bobl and the first of the merged factions, thus the first physical leader. He has a mind merge with Un-o directly and represents the Gras as the their physical embodiment to completion of the quest. Vanglin has a secondary quest to find the reason for Mae'r-bobl DNA manipulation and to punish (harshly) those that were responsible for it.



Appearance ~



No one knows what the Gras look like in detail, they are equally perceived through feeling their presence as beholding their image. No matter who looks upon them though, they are struck by the beauty of these ghost like luminous beings. Are they an angel? That sound of singing, can you hear it or does it only exist in my mind?

Un-o is the only Gras known to sight. Tall graceful and full of light that sometimes fades and sometimes shines. The ghostly figure seems to smile at your spirit rather than you. Their are wisps of light that swirl and as you almost see Un-o the wisp fades and the detail is nothing more than a hint of what was.



The merged faction, called Mae'r-bobl, on the other hand are very clear to see. After the horrific and painful manipulation of their bodies to create new DNA, they tower over other Humanoid creatures. They now have 2 pair of arms one set above the other and have very broad shoulders to accommodate their second pair of arms. They are strong, agile, more athletic than muscular and deadly with sword and bow. They are also versatile and incredibly tough for humanoids, with an increased lung capacity and a second heart they have long lives and increased stamina. They are also very very good swimmers making them ideal for amphibious warfare.



Magic ~



The magical qualities of the Gras are wrapped up in their collective mind and non physical bodies. These beings bring the ability to bend light, with Un-o's ability to blind whole armies temporarily, and the Gras may be able to make units or even cities invisible for short periods of time. This makes invasion by enemy forces a lot more difficult as where would they lay siege?



Quests ~



Chapter 1 - "The Merging" requires a merger agreed with a second minor faction and founding a second city this removes the population penalty

Chapter 2 - Merge with a third minor faction and found a city to complete "The Merging" which provides the ability to build settler units

Chapter 3 onwards dedicated to finding Yr-olaf and discovering how to restart their transcendancy



Alternative Quest - Rescue the fallen. Return a minor faction to the Gras.



Note: All percentage bonuses and penalties may be altered to rebalance in line with Amplitudes new factions and game play.

The Awoken is an young civilisation composed of different race united by a systeme of caste. They follow an expansionnist politic relaying on quick diplomatics alliances with minor faction and polyvalent armies figthing any major threat. Intrepid explorer, ingienous invention, soft diplomacy and cunning tactics are the bases of Awoken playstyle.



Kreewlod, Jq'Auria and Daezlin are the three major race of this multiracial civilisation.



The Awoken believe in two things : Freedom and Strength. They earned their right by using their strenght : strenght of mind, of will or physical. But above all of them, the real strenght, in wich the Awoken have almost a religious faith is the one of Unity.



Now as they discover their own strenght and are eager of knowledge and discovery, they look for “release” other minor-faction and help the primitive species to evolve. Dust revealed itself as a valuable and efficient tools for both, however, if Dust acquisition is one their major concern, they are ignorant of its true origins and impact. Existence of race as the Endless is only know of their wisest or most cultivate scholar, and only as legend, strange tales about those ruins, their former occupants and curious technologies hidden inside.









Races :

• Kreewlod : bipedic feline humanoide are former wild and primitive predator that mix with the elder Jq'Aurias long ago. Their evolution is mainly due to their recurrent exposition to Dust and the extended observation of their master, turning in a small amout of time from hunting beast and luxury pet to intelligent being questionning their Jq'Aurias master. An evolution as surpising that sudden, and violent. Kreewlod were instinctive beast, and now they are impulsive person, some of their previous master weren't very kind with them... First apparition of Kreewlod's intelligence happened where persecution were the strongest, they earn their right to freedom in blood, blood of brothers, sisters and masters. At their beginning, Kreewlods community were not so distant to their savage ancestors, except they were intelligent enough to be vindictive, resentful and make things. This is where another trait of the species appear : Dust fascinate them, using things around and their previous master's stock of Dust they soon demonstrate ingeniousness of creation. The first recognize leader of Kreewlods group create 2 artificial but fully effective arms integrated to his body, in this way, As'Kaal (name he give himself) invented the physical mark of Kreewlods leaders. He is also the one who unite his species as a free community and negotiate peace and autonomy with the Jq'Aurians.
  
  

• Daezlin : small humanoid, living in clans. Their skin is colored from bright blue for some to dark red for others. Each clans regroup several families of almost same the colors. Some individual present a pair of horn on their forehead, and sometime some scale forming a shell around their articulation. Remains of their ancestors or new evolution ? Even the oldest among them cannot answers this question. Daezlin are fecund, a small village can have his population doubled in a year, this high fecondity is balanced by the weakness of Daezlin to disease, bigger predator or raiders bands. Physicaly, they aren't ideal soldier, barely good in fact. From their beginning Daezlin suffers many disaster andd catastrophy, decimating them. It's through the encounter with Jq'Aurians they begin to prosper and develop. Daezlin are hardworker, dedicated, superstitious too, in fact they are quite the contrary of Jq'Aurians, so they are quite amused by this curious people always playing and singing. As surprising it could seem Daezlin consider it is their role to teach at Jq'Aurians the “True meaning of life” : the sweet sweat after a work well done, a large family to watch over and a repetitive and quiet way of life.
  
  

• Jq'Aurians : elder among the oldest being on Auriga. Some consider them as immortal but they are wrong, Jq'Aurians just don't like to die in public and you can hear about one's death several years, even decades after it happens. Tall and haugthy, thin and witty, they favor all distraction and neglect all things related to work, fatigue and pain. Naturally they spend a tremendous amount of time to learn, read, write, sing, play … and let others races serve, rewarding them with the beauty of their creation (which is somehow relative), their knowledge and especially Dust. Jq'Aurians have discover Dust long ago and study it since. Lack of hardwork prevent them to fully understand its nature and power, but still they are able to show others how it is magnificient then pay them with it to do their work. Through the course of tragic event, Jq'Aurians ally with Daezlins then Kreewlods, founding the Awoken. Jq'Aurians believes they are still the leaders of this new civilisation, that they guide them on the path of Enligthenment, but if they are talented diplomats which rally other species, soon they will understand that no one rule over the Wakening.
  
  

Organisation :

Each caste are mainly composed of a specific race, often more adapted to the caste's role in the Awoken civilisation. Still, other race are accepted in a caste as long as the individual prove his value to the caste. Here the three caste, their role and the main race composing them.

• Dawn : (Diplomatie - Approval); Jq'Auria : High longevity, witty, gambler, dynastic.
  
  

The Dawn caste gather artists, poets, scholars and diplomats. Those who dedicate themselves to the mind and the will. It is said that the member of the Dawn caste are “The ray of sunshine, which enlight the Awoken faces and pull them from sleep.”

• Rise : (Population – Expansion); Daezlin : Fecund, fragile, superstitious, clan organisation.
  
  

The Rise caste is the most common among Awoken population, because Daezlin are major part of it and they are higly fecund. The Rise caste regroup workers, builders, farmers, mineers, craftsmens. Faithful in the Unity concept, they are considered as the most powerful caste in the Awoken civilisation and are proud to be his beating heart. However, among the Rise caste, an Elite more religious and less pragmatic begin to extend his influence.

• Dusk : (Science - Military); Kreewlods : Bipeds, former predator, ingenious, four arms leader.
  
  

May be the more contested and recent caste, Dusk member are without doubt the most impressive of Awoken society. They do not hesitate use curious devices or alter their body with artificial invention powered by Dust. Military and searcher, ferocious and smart, they are disturbing individual for most of the others Awoken. But when war come, the Dusk protect the Awoken of darkness and ignorance. Their thirst for Dust is just a little matter of concern.



History :

As a civilisation with multiple influence and race, write a chronological history of the Awoken represent more than a challenge, it would need several lifetime. Even Jq'Auria historian and chronicler hardly manage to gather enough information to relate the beginning of each race. Plus, Daezlin, for example, have chosen to forget about all their previous life and the sad event who almost decimate them. Kreewlods, don't see the necessity to relate some event, notably the one that could be prejudicial to them and Jq'Aurians have a strong tendancies to emphasize story as history. But, through the work of scholar and enthusiast this is a list of event, the closest thing Awoken have to an history :

• Jq'Aurians breed the first Kreewlods and use them as pet, hunting beast, or for fighting game.
• Daezlins hardly survive to winters, Moorh of clan Elz gather a few clan and lead them toward more hospitable land. Half of them didn't make it, the other, demoralized, exhausted and hopeless hide in subterran to survive.
• Several Jq'Aurians dynasty agreed to choose a monarch. The Monarch is in charge of Justice case and military organisation. The Monarch role is considered as annoying and boring, only a few of Jq'Aurians are willing to endorse this responsibility.
• The Monarch looks for willing mercenaries to organize a defensive force commune to each Jq'Aurians domain. The commands are given to an unamed foreign general, the mercenaries lead by him plunder defenseless Jq'Aurians domains. He became to be known as “Azure” and provoc almost the annihilation of Jq'Aurians dynasties.
• Daezlin clans recover their strenght and will, they build their first important colony in one of Auguria's great deserts. Suspicious and careful their only foreign contact is a Jq'Aurians lord of the Aoslhc dynasty, far from the other dynasties. The Daezlin are the only civilised culture around. Their exchange are pleasant for both party, Aoslhc dynasty is know for their talented poets and gambling tendancies which highly amuse Daezlins.
• Azure's forces walk against the Aoslhc dynasty which seek refuge and protection in Daezlin's city. After a short siege in the desert and some deliberation between Aoslhc lords and Daezlin clans, Azure's forces are slaugther by outnumbering Daezlin. Surviving Jq'Aurians and Daezlins became one united nation.
• The new nation encounter some rescaped Jq'Aurians lords fleeing Kreewlods revolt.
• After a few skirmishes, Kreewlods and the new nation engage discussion about peace. The talent of Aoslhc diplomat, Dj'Olym inspire the Kreewlod leader As'Kaal to join new nation and found The Awoken.
  
  

Nowadays, the Awoken just begin to assemble in the biggest city they ever had. Looking for their role in the world of Auguria. As the majority want to discover others species ready to join them, some are worried by the threat of others majors civilisation spotted around and look for prepare the new and fragile coalition, others burn of a passionate desire for Dust and exhort their brother to discover more and satistfy their thirst. And a few see in this new Unity a way to fulfil their own personal goal at the cost of the majority.





The Awoken should be considered as an active faction especialy in early game. Minor faction villages are valuable objective offering them bonus incoming, aproval and some scouting (less than a watch tower). First contact with minor faction should be diplomatic and peaceful at the beginning.



The Awoken's armies are composed of powerful and fierce infantry supported by impressive artificial creation and auxiliary units from assimilated faction. The Kreewlods, feline humanoïd, constitute their army, from basic soldier forming infantry group to specialize unity armed with Kreewlods weaponry and some advanced engine powered by Dust.When in conflict with other major-faction, Awoken use their minor-faction affinity to produce units able to exploit weakness in the opponent armies and also take advantage by deploying troops in village able to flanking or threatning decisive position.Early expansion is favorised by the minor bonus approval from the minor-faction assimilated.



Later, units and efficiency of Awoken should be much more Dust dependant, favorising player which have correctly expanded his civilisation and reinforce his position, some tech improvement should improve their armies and heroes efficient to plunder ruins, making them the new valuable target at this stade of the game.



As the Awoken, hardtime come with winter where an inconsidered expansion could be punish by other major faction. But the first turn of summer is a day of feast and life for them, waking up another time, through the trial of winter, gaining a minor boost of mobility for this turn only. Helping them go back to their former position or motivating new expansion plan.



Some faction trait :

• Unity place Building) : Allow the purchase of Minor Faction's unit in villages of the region.
• All brothers : (Tech) Village act as disctrict (but cannot be extended).
• A Dawn Brighter : Each assimilated minor faction brought a bonus global approval.
• A new beginning : Begin with a supplementary slot for assimilated minor faction
• Wake Up Brothers ! The first turn after Winter, all units of the Awaken have +X mobility bonus on the map.
• Avenge us : Awoken unit have some bonus point in attack if they fight in a region with at least one destroyed village.
• Tragedy estroyed village in a controled region brought malus approval to the city of the region.
  
  

Defining features : Minor-faction based, Expansionnist, Multiracial, Polyvalent (through minor faction unity), Powerful infantry, FREEEEEEDOOOOMM !!



Note : Hope my english is correct, it isn't my native language x/.

Did a last update to the Flayers before going to bed. Added a a few lines to the Gameplay section and added a Minor Faction section, to explain a bit better their interaction.



edit:

changelog: the population upkeepcost for Flayer units is now suggested to include for Flayer cities as well. Minor faction villages should then be linked to Flayer cities, to provide "tribute" that pays for this upkeep. Flayer morality (how bloodthirsty or not the player choses the faction to become) and the assimilated/conquered minor faction villages would thus affect "peaceful" Flayer expansion.

lynxlynx wrote:
I would ship that ;-). Although i would change the name for Big F!@#$ Rats, brings heavier impact.

Just think of it, there is a lot of chance to play another human empire, or elvish empire, also insects and floating armors are quite popular. However currently EL lacks dragon and bestiary, and rats are sweet, but warhogs would be strong voice to.

I agree, I see a lot of ideas for human or human like factions posted here but In my opinion they are already pretty well represented in the game. Let the liquid imagination flow people. Lets explore some really freaky stuff with a fantasy feel.