Polymathin wrote:
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.

Just don't forget the class of factions where there isn't some dominant race resembling some animals, amphibians, birds, demons, dragons, fish, humans, plants, reptilians or spirits, which isn't cybernetic, parasitic, shapeshifting or telepathic. There's still the multicultural religions/alliances/federations/rebels and whatever that are totally atypical, because they're not a congruent mass of just one race or fantasy archetype, but a more or less wild mixture.

Polymathin wrote:
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.

Hey, I proposed a race that basically amounts to giant piles of TALKING ROCKS! What more do you people what from me!? But yeah, still waiting for the Flying-Spaghetti-Monsters or Animated-Coffee-Tables Faction...

EDIT



I had a better background worked, but it wasn't saved after relogging, since i was apparently logged out at some point - so i lost it.

Here is a gameplay idea to consider though.

Yeah I a really disappointed there isn't a race of soul-sucking subterranean lawn chairs.

Polymathin wrote:
Yeah I a really disappointed there isn't a race of soul-sucking subterranean lawn chairs.

How about soul-sucking, subterranean octopusmen?

It is hard call, since some players just want to play human/elves/dwarfs and that's it.

However there is some loss, that we have fantasy game, but do not push the borders.

And even a fantasy race to need some solid cultural background, or at least consistent theme.

There is some rumor of dragon race, and that is most welcome.



From others games there are some nice examples:

Warlock II - has rats (actually monsters in general) and rock statues as playable races, that was nice.

Guild Wars 2 - has plant folks, but they wasn't as riduculous as it sounds (they ware a bit elvish), and also a Horny Beasts Half Deamons with knack for steampunk (was looking fabulous)



Not that any of it is really hard to imagine, some very different concepts would be hard to implement, but stays longer in memory than another necro empire.



Endless Space did some good in versalite races too. Another example as "the Last Federation" (another space game) with stuff like boarine herd community, or psionic commies hamsters. Weird stuff. ;-)

Xanarpia





The Xanarpians are all multicultural refugees of endless wars on Auriga. Tired of be manipulate

and used like a pawns for theirs masters interests, they tryed to gather and live like nomads in

peace, escape from others, fight only if they must . At this point they was minor society, but

when they discover the prophet-monk Xan everything has change.

Xan "The Planeswalker" - visionary monk from "nowhere", spent many years travel throught deserts

and hills to search/wait for "Sign of Endless". In his way, he often feel to attract by natural

deposit of crystals like titanium, emerald etc. Once, after ritual of commune with ancestors

(when he consumed mushroom),he saw gems and felt their vibrations, which he recognized like I

some sort of communications. After this, he exchange his saint book for raw gems of emerald, and

spent couple of months meditate with them in hand. He was so focus and stubborn to find way to

"speak" with crystals, until he undestand to feel vibrations with he's "third eye" and harmonize

his body with crystal frequency. Then he know that's he was choosed to the most sacred thing:

gather and teach all who wants live with no fear only if they believe in holy commune theirs

bodies with one kind of crystals "spirits of Auriga". To do this marvelous combine of human

flesh and raw gem, Xan must prove his "mad theory" and do it itself. In other case Xanarpians,

tired of empty promises, mark him as another mentall illness. He asked his several followers to

help him with the Ritual of Xanarpia, which mean "the man named Xan open his body to commune gem

and his soul to harmonize with vibrations". The used dust, they shallow cut his body, put not

deep gems of emerald, titanium,ruby and onyx in his chest and use liquid dust as "glue" to join

them. After week, Xan open eyes and that was the beginning of miracles he did.



Titanium give him ability of mental powers such as discover other dimensions, visons from the

past and resistance to magic, mind control. (science +)



Emerald open his creativity to feel earth&nature and listen plants. ( food +)



Ruby tranform his body to more resistant to damage and regenerarion very quickly (health +)



Onyx gives his skin dark grey colour and some kind of hard epidermis evolve into tiles, some

plates of armor ( armor/defense +)





Xan died after couple of months. He made one mistake - take to many kind of gems into his body.



However his proof was great gift to the followers change during this time first into apostles of

Xan, then Council of Xanarpia which is the high authority of this society.



They teach:



"We must resist to Vaulters which "steal" our gems, and made sacrilege when tranform crystals into weapon, armors etc.

We cannnot to stand spoken when Broken Lord consume our Holy Dust to live & conquer for only to sustain their pointless life;

We don't want to look how Wildwalkers blasphemers deny Gems and use them like decorations without respect;

We are the only one who can kill this parasites of Necrophages who wants consume our world;

WE ARE SYMBIOTS OF AURIGA, BORN TO ERASE THEM ALL!"





Description for game:



So, we have major faction who belief strongly in "gems way" and used them tenth more like others

to transform "chosens" to(with major law of one kind of gem in body):



Theologists/archmage/Archmonks/Planeswalker(choose correct name) - TITANIUM

Architects/nature's prohet/Plant shepherds - EMERALD

Light infantry/berserkers/high health & regen - RUBY

Guardians/blackguard/heavy infantry/war machines - ONYX



As basic meat/warriors we have those who are "not worthy of Gem" - they are

unsuccessful "chosens" or volunteers of the Ritual.

They are stiil believe some day they repeat this process so they are Fanatics and looks like

this:









Suggestions:



1. Use any gems of exist in Endless legend or only "main" four. I don't know if ruby or onyx

exist(i think not) so use others to replace this if you want.



2. Tier 1 - there is no possible to made "gem chosen", instead of mine of titanium we have

sanctuary of titanium, of emerald etc. In Tier 2 we have tech

to gather more gems (my suggest is this nation use more than twice gem than normal as minimum).

Tier 3 is first to tech for Gem warrior, special buildings with gem use, other specialization of

gem&human creature etc.

this proposition can weak much this faction so I'm not sure if is correct



3. In two hex area of some Gem deposit/sanctuary armies of Xanarpia have bonus to

strenght/defence/initiative/crit/movement depends od kind of crystal.



4. In Tier 4 we have tech of Second Ritual so we have made Elite Infantry ofRuby and Onyx gems

with this look:







5. Faction start or not start with one of Sanctuary(gem deposit)



6. Heroes names:

Prince Durtu - capital city builder food/production +++

Tangerion - Restless Warrior attack/crit +++

Nathaniel Durand - Guardian of the Temple Tojira defence army/city+++

Lord Marcus - Eye of Xan, high prophet influence/science +++



7. Economy start as others, but from period of upgrades I think about consume gem instead of pay dust for elite units, or change "food" in cities on gem consuming.

8. gems exchange for bonus to food, influence, production, etc

9. Army paid with gems instead of dust, dust used on market to exchange for gems if needed.

10. Units made by gems and ugpraded of gems - example onyx gives them solid plates of skin armor, with slow movement and thorns, ruby for red "mutations" of blade instead of hand etc.

11. Economy strong depends of gem, deposit of gems are weak point of faction.

---------------------------------------------------

well is very late night and I forget others ideas

Thanks for read

-----------------------------------------------------

My Wisdom Singers are led by a white avian humanoid tribe, could be forefathers/mothers of Hissho?

@ Polymathin

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.

As far as I can tell there are only the Vaulters that are 'human like'. Being that they are of course

I think what you're really getting at is the way they look. The problem being that 2 of the 3 factions (Wild Walkers and Broken Lords) have been animated to look 'human like', but there was tons of scope for them to look different in the game.



From the Bestiary...

Wild Walkers -

A faction of creators and builders, these peoples strive to bind rocks and trees into great living monuments

Broken Lords -

A faction of knights and town-builders that exist only as energy / spirits wrapped in their great suits of armor

Just off the top of my head...

For the Wild Walkers you can easily imagine a race looking more like a cross between Ents and Rock Giants.

For the Broken Lords a race with more high-tech armor which could include 6 bionic legs for the cavalry unit melded to the torso of 2 arms and a head with multiple sensors.



However we got units that have 2 legs, 2 arms, a head, etc, etc. Which as I read the info on these races does not mean that they needed to look that way. Hey even the very cool looking Dragon race "the Drakken" follows this trend Oh well - perhaps the dev team will tweak there unit models for the 2 remaining future races/factions to be different.



Least we forget, there are also the wonderful minor races/factions and they can sometimes look very different, giving the armies in the field and the game play great flavour. I believe there are some new ones to come in the future too, besides the very non-human looking Ice wargs. Can't wait to see them.



That said - if it's really far out with weird traits I probably will never play it. Why? Because I get engrossed in a game and want to feel some affiliation to what I'm doing. That's just me though. Every one to their own

lynxlynx wrote:
It is hard call, since some players just want to play human/elves/dwarfs and that's it.

However there is some loss, that we have fantasy game, but do not push the borders.

And even a fantasy race to need some solid cultural background, or at least consistent theme.

Well, freaks for the sake of freaks is a very bad idea. Also, now we need everybody using plant-folks in their fantasy games and there you have your new "elf" (or "dwarf") equivalent.



While having something less used than human/elf/dwarf trinity is, potentially, a good thing, in the end is all about mechanics (unless you play for the lore alone!). If the plant-folk plays like elves and the stone-folk plays like dwarves, what's the point? I'd rather have some overused elves with interesting new mechanics, than some dust-enhanced seals that bring nothing really interesting/good.



That said, I think that most of the proposals deserve praise (humanoids or not, the devs have a good source of extra factions if they ever need more) and more than one a spot in the game. Some would shine more, I think, if they hadn't the minor faction theme attached by contest rules. If people are as creative for Quest 2, I'll be really impressed.

EisenKreutzer wrote:
How about soul-sucking, subterranean octopusmen?

Why does everyone have to be soul-sucking? How about craft furniture-making subterranean octopusmen?

indigav, I am also taking into consideration the faction that have not been released yet. In addition to the 4 faction we have right now we will also get a faction of nomads, wizards and shape-shifters. To me all of these factions sounds a bit too human but hey maybe the devs will go crazy with them. I would just like to have more diversity in the game.

92 entries, now. We're going straight ahead to the full one hundred...

Just to clear up all we need for round one is a name, a back story and a basic game play mechanic right?

Oh well, I just discovered this game yesterday, I have to say I'm already hooked and waiting for more, this is a basic attempt at something and most of what is written is just a vauge idea based on what I've seen from the two games I've played so far, not sure if this is everything I need as everyone else appears to have done things for the 2nd and 3rd contests too. Either way, good luck everyone.



Name:



The Ryuukin



Back story:



“Harmony within, harmony without. As the great teacher once said, a family united is strong, a family divided shall shatter and all the world is but one home, all who dwell there, one family.”



The Ryuukin hail from the hot tunnels that run where the magma flows, their settlements while orderly were the most hostile to other races, affording them peace and solitude for a time. When disaster hit and all their homes were washed away in the hot flow they were forced to leave for the surface following the great teacher, while others may joke that the ryuukin swim in the magma, this is not so, even dragonscale burns.



The great teacher taught his followers much on the way to the surface but died in the dark before they ever saw the light of the sun. Now First Disciple Ming must help his fellow Ryuukin find their way into the light.



Gameplay:



Ancient Chinese lizard-men-dragon things!



The ryuukin are based around ancient china and its reforms, oh and their half-dragons, as such these are the vauge Ideas I have for the faction.



Provincial capital: Cities gain a greater bonus for friendly villages in their borders, because all things flow through the city. In mechanic terms I was thinking one of the following: Villages create areas where resources (food, research, ect) are gathered in the same way a city does but all of the tiles are cut off in a siege (seems a bit OP as some provinces have three villages), OR, they provide a smaller stack of resources, say one of each of everything save influence, OR provide a random luxury good each turn.



Warm bloodied: The Ryuukin are hit harder in the winter months than other factions, a minor debuff in attack and defence over these periods could show that, of cause, minor faction creatures wouldn’t be afflicted the same way.



Scholars, Forward-thinkers and Philosphers: The Ryuukin are a sopicticated people, more suited to learning than warring, Research is buffed, +1 on research tiles, Starting with the library tech, Quicker research time, ect ect...



Bureaucracy and hegemony: Double the bonus granted by a minor faction on assimilation, capital makes two influence instead of one, capital has better defences.



Units:



Tier one would be a dragonscale, just a humanoid coated in scales, a archer type. Their main attack would be a wand or crossbow, the wand allowing them to spit fire as a attack visual as well as giving the two handed stats.



Tier two would be a Magma Kappa, because why keep the theme to one part of asia? A soldier type. Heavy defence but low initiative.



Tier three shall be of course, a small Chinese dragon of some kind, cavalry type. With an aoe or spead attack as well as good move.



The idea is to drive the faction towards relying on the kappa to take the hit and the dragon to be able to take out weaker enemies but not bigger meaner things like the titans and such, for whom the faction would need a one on one type monster to counter.

Thrifty wrote:
Just to clear up all we need for round one is a name, a back story and a basic game play mechanic right?

Yep, that's it! Be sure to keep in mind the theme of "Minor Factions" and that the one you create should be different from the other Major Factions. You could go a few steps further if you want, as some people have, if you're on a creative kick and just can't keep the juices flowing (though it's not necessary). ;p

I just did a wee update to my faction The Betrayed Ones on page 25. Please give feedback. It's much appreciated.

The Keepers



These vaguely mechanical insectoids have existed on Auriga for as long as records detail. Perhaps they were created by the endless ; perhaps they were simply coopted by them. Whatever their origin, their original purpose was clear: to observe, record, and learn about the incredible bounty of anomalous life and features that litter Auriga. For ages, they kept to their purpose.



However, over the ages something in them ...changed. Their directive had been merely to passively watch, but they began to experiment through Auriga, interfering when they thought it could help them learn. Their goals changed further: "make no changes" became "allow no changes", and the keepers began to act as guardians of the various races, ruins, and anomalies of Auriga. These changes generally made them unpopular with the more powerful races of Auriga: keepers would often destroy settlement and raid outposts of any race that was "upsetting balance", or threatening a site they deemed of interest.



Where these changes could have ultimately lead is unsure ; during the recent cataclysms, the subterranean Keeper Overseer, the main center of record keeping and the administrative brain of the hive mind, was utterly annihilated. Only a few semi-autonomous keepers survived : the rest perished, or went silent and dormant when the overseer was destroyed.



Amidst the ruins, the remaining keepers have come together to rebuild. Their focus on gathering knowledge remains unchanged. However, they see the other fledgling empires emerging from the ruins as threats: they seek to dominate Auriga, while the watchers wish to keep it in a state of perpetual balance so they can continue their observations. So, despite their uneasiness of changing Auriga so dramatically, they have decided to build an empire, and to smash any other races that dreams of hegemony...



Gameplay Basics



Guardianship: Keepers consider themselves the guardians of Auriga. They benefit more from anomalies, and see themselves as the watchful custodians of all races (both major and minor). They will aggressively attack any other race that interferes with their duties. They also attempt to destroy the major empires, returning them to their rightful place as minor factions.



Gain more benefits from anomalies. After taking a city from a major faction, can settle the defeated race as a minor village in a region.



Equilibrium: Keepers try to keep Auriga from drastically changing. They tend to be hostile to large and powerful empires on principal : these empires can dramatically change Auriga in ways the keepers can neither predict nor control. However, this applies to the keepers as well : they become unhappy if they become too large and seem to be the driving force of change.



Gain an attack and relationship bonus/malus against other empires depending on relative size or power, and a approval bonus based on their relative power/size.



Diversity: Keepers also feel their secondary goal is to learn about Auriga and its races. Keepers therefore encourage diversity, and interaction between other factions.



Gain an extra minor faction assimilation slot. Peaceful minor factions provide a bonus in their region (bonus depends on minor faction). Can 'swap' minor faction villages - gain a bonus in region for having a diverse set of minor factions. Can have 3 (or 4 with tech) minor villages in a region, but cannot create or destroy villages or control their population - they gain new villages only from defeating cities of major factions, and then can only swap the inhabitants of any two villages. Gain a combat bonus within an army for the number of different races (excluding Keepers) in that army.

Holy crap, up to 94 ._.;

Some minor factions really inspired me but i could not stop thinking that a tweaked version of the Hissho would fit nice in Endless Legend.

Also there are so many propositions yet that i didn't go through all the pages, so i don't know if anything similar came out already.

So here is my idea below, hope you'll like it:



-----------



Name:

Kyusho



-----------



Background:



The Kyusho is an avian off-worlder race, brought a long time ago on Auriga by the Endless. Naturally gifted as warriors and hunters, and with a high sense of loyalty, the kyushos were highly prized by the most important Endless families of Auriga to serve them as guards.

Eventually the proximity of the kyushos to the Endless' high society gave them the acquired taste of the finer things, and taught them the subtilities of the political games. This widened their role to activities of negociation, spying, and assassination for their masters.

Over time, the thirst for power consumed the Endless and almost extinct all form of life on Auriga.

Many of the kyushos disappeared with their master, and very few kyushos survived as small herds of ronins, roaming the surface and the depths of the desolated planet.

Knowledge and memories were lost, but their will to preserve their culture and traditions survived the long process of the healing of Auriga.

And with the rebirth of the planet, emerged a Kyusho society, eager to restore the grandeur of the past, and recover any relics that survived in the ruins.



----------------



Basic gameplay idea:



The basic gameplay would be conquering through politics and wars, and dig the ruins to find and re-establish their past.

Their ease to create influence would help them to run their empire, seduce minor factions and manipulate major ones.



- Trait "The truth is out there": not being great scientists, kyushos suffer -##% to there science production on the empire.



- Trait "Digging the past": any ruin that is cleaned provides a direct boost on science. Ruins provide a science and influence output when inside city's limits (i consider the output could grow through race unique technologies in different tiers).



- Trait "Feels like home": Ruins inside a city's limits are taken into account as a borough for city/borough leveling.



- Trait "Battle honor": Kyushos take pride in military victories therefore any won battle provides +5% to attack for 15 turns.



- Trait "Charging defense": Kyushos aggressivity and taste for combat reflect in there style. They never use shields and only wield the finer blades (+##% weapon damage).



- Trait "Death before dishonor": (as in ES) hero is injured if he retreats from a battle.



- Starting technologies: "Search Party" and "Advanced Alloys".



And they would start with the infantry unit.



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I don't want to jump into "quest 2" of the competition, but i feel that units are part of the gameplay in my idea so i just give a brief rough idea of what i imagined, but of course i'm forcing no one



The three units would be Infantry, Support, and Flying, (a combination not done so far in the first 4 factions we know).



- The Infantry unit would be a classic samurai-like. Medium damage. High HP

- The Support unit would be an orator that corrupts enemy units, doing small damage and lowering their initiative (or defense). Medium HP.

- The flying unit would not fly but still ignore obstacles.

A ninja-like unit that is invisible on the world map, and that remains invisible in tactical combat until it give its first strike, or if an enemy moves to its position. Strong damage, low HP.