More Leaders Module Reborn 1.0

[azatote]

EDIT: Version 1.0 is out! At the moment, it contains 14 fully working leaders. Updates should be frequent.

Some (long) time ago, 25Hour created a module named "More Leaders" for RiFE 1.3 (thread here). It contained many amazing ideas of unique leaders, yet it suffered from balance and stability issues. I began to update his work for Ashes of Erebus, and soon I was creating brand new leaders on my own. I finally decided that it would be worth it to put my creations together into a module and to release it. So the basic idea is to add plenty of new emergent leaders in the game, with each a unique gameplay.

Here is a development sheet with a detailed description of the leaders as they stand (14 of them have been implemented so far). Most of them have two variants, the classic one designed for AoE 14.11 and the emergent one for a future SVN version of the module. For a more up-to-date description of the emergent leaders, look at this sheet.

Feel free to suggest balance changes and new leaders and to comment my work

Credits: most leaders artworks are from 25Hour's module, as well as some leader names and a few of the trait ideas.

 

[azatote]

So, here's a short description of the leaders:

Spoiler :

Rigmora the Forgotten (Hippus, neutral evil)

A spectral rider, whose cavalry units are buffed but are illusions (they cannot kill enemy units).

Spoiler :

Rizuruk (Clan of Embers, neutral evil)

She gets Orthus as a Clan unit! However, he still appears at a random location on the map, so you may have trouble bringing him back home.

Spoiler :

Detlesias (Dural / Amurite, chaotic evil)

A crazed pyromancer. He gives adepts Fire 1 but, more importantly, mages and archmages can cast Ring of flames.

Spoiler :

Shealnis Ethnor (Svartalfar, chaotic-neutral)

Her world spell is actually the Ljosalfar world spell, except that it gives the summoned treants hidden nationality.

Spoiler :

KAS-3061 (Mechanos, lawful good)

His melee units are robots: they get extra strength, but don't gain XP through combat.

Spoiler :

Ahuitzitli (Cualli, lawful evil)

His units begin blessed, and his priests can bless units.

Spoiler :

Rymath (Malakim, lawful good) - not available yet.

Literally a Bannor leader unleashed among the Malakim, who can adopt Crusade and build demagogs and flagbearers.

Spoiler :

Inaddlon (Scions?, neutral evil) - not available yet.

His unit rise again once when they die as they begin with the Phoenix blood promotion. However, they are significantly weaker and even weaker once they respawn.

Spoiler :

Feldspar (Ljosalfar, lawful neutral)

Gives archery units extra ranged strength and max damage, allows them to gain extra attack range through a promotion at level 4.

Spoiler :

Methner the Subtle (Sidar, neutral evil)

His archery units may learn the Marksman promotion at level 4.

Spoiler :

Iridius the Blackhand (Hippus / Sheaim, chaotic evil)

He casts the Sheaim and Hippus world spells at the same time, and his world spell is reset a few times during the game.

Spoiler :

Fandel Termeth (Ljosalfar / Doviello, true neutral) - not available yet.

A ranger, whose recon units can cast forest-oriented spells (Treetop defense for the hunter, summons for the ranger and beastmaster).

Spoiler :

Paragon leaders

Their world spell is reset every 120 turns in normal speed. They are Nelisha (Austrin), Annika (Lanun), Onuskit (Hippus), plus Ezawyn (Elohim) and Alderhand (Ljosalfar), whose world spells have been modified to be a bit less powerful.

I realize that the module is currently not balanced in terms of alignments and civs, I intend to correct that with further additions.

 

[black_imperator]

Some interesting ideas in there. Nice work

 

[azatote]

So, 14 out of the 17 leaders I've presented are working in the 1.0 version (download link should be on top of the page). I will rethink Fandel and Rymath, and I've not decided in which civ Inaddlon would go yet ^^.
I'm going to update the module to add some content (new icons, diplomacy texts, more Pedia entries, etc.). On the longer term, I haven't decided whether I'm going to add more leaders to the module or to first work on the SVN version.

 

[black_imperator]

Note that the current version of the module will probably work on the svn version provided that some schema files are changed.

 

[cthom]

beautiful images! quite a lot of evil orientated leaders there i think. really like the mechanos robot idea. good work, i'll keep watching this

 

[azatote]

There have been no updates on this module recently, simply because I stopped working on it to focus on the SVN version with dynamic leader traits. The first new emergent leader (Rigmora the Forgotten) is ready and will be released this week-end, and a few other ones should follow in the next weeks.
In case some of you are still playing AoE 14.11 and would like updates for this version, please let me know

 

[Calavente]

Great ideas and bold way of doing it (the themes seem mostly balanced) (a - for a +)
are all of those emergent leaders ?
(thus do they have innate traits ?=

KAS-3061 (Mechanos, lawful good) get "golem" melee units... without the luirchips bonus to golems, nor help from barny (do they get the copper/iron/mithril bonus ? can they get the enchanted blade promotion / haste (need living) ; do they get in reverse the bonus that mechanos can give to siege units (mana-fueled core...etc )?

and I dunno why I missed your post 5 months ago ... I'm still playing (1 game a year or something like that : 4 a year, and alternating MoM, magister, AoE and Emm)


Edit: I'm seeing some questions on emergent versions: my ideas

Spoiler :

Shealnis Ethnor (Svartalfar, chaotic-neutral) - Sylvan Shade

14.11 version: your world spell becomes the following: it summons a treant on every forest in your empire (exactly like the Ljosalfar world spell) and gives them hidden nationality.

Emergent version:

• level 1: your world spell summons treants with hidden nationality
• level 2: resets your world spell
• level 3: resets your world spell und upgrades it (how?)

• I wouldn't go with resetting world spell but something like that:
  
  
• level2 : free promotion to tier IV mages/priests/druids so they can summons hidden nationality treants (with weak promotion) on forest (might need a new spell)
• level3 : New treant (Treant Elder) unit available at commune with nature and with a grove, limited to 4, can gain xp, (melee), (hidden nationality same stats as treant, race elemental, get bonus from tower of element), chance to summon treants (hidden nationality temporary & with weak)) when victorious in combat, if battle on forest/jungle (like AirIII elemental can summon weaker lightning elemental), can only move in forest/jungle/new forest) (you thus need to bloom a path in front of them)(or if impossible : impossible to move in desert and ice)

KAS-3061 (Mechanos, lawful-good) - Robotic

Emergent version (my propositions):

• level 1: your melee units are robots
• level 2: melee units get a free mobility 1
• level 3: Melee units get drill I II & III

Ahuitzitli (Cualli, lawful-evil) - Chosen of Agruonn
Emergent version (my propositions):

• level 1: Units are born with unholy blessing
• level 2: adepts & priests can cast unholy blessing
• level 3:

 

[azatote]

Thank you for your feedback! The downloadable file on this thread is designed for AoE 14.11, which is anterior to the current emergent mechanic (so yes, they're innate traits only). The emergent version of Rigmora is ready and should be released with the next revision of the SVN. I'm currently finishing Detlesias, and other emergent leaders (Rizuruk, Shealnis, maybe I'll take care of Tethira as well) should follow.

As for KAS-3061, as he's a Mechanos leader, he gets no Luchuirp bonus for his golems. The golems are not alive, they cannot be healed by a Healer for instance, but I'll make sure the Repair spell works on them. The secondary unit combat siege given by the level 3 trait is meant to give them the refined mana affinity and other bonuses like the machine spirit spell. The trait's features are still under development, I may indeed give buffs the the golems and borrow some Luchuirp abilities for the higher levels.

I really want to keep the world spell reset for Shealnis, but I'll certainly keep some of your ideas to complete the higher trait levels.

 

[26Hour]

Some (long) time ago, 25Hour created a module named "More Leaders" for RiFE 1.3 (thread here). It contained many amazing ideas of unique leaders, yet it suffered from balance and stability issues.

DID IT EVER. 100% honesty: it's from back when I was using FFH as my guinea pig for learning to program. Which, uh, probably explains some of the stability issues.

For reals, though: I'm super pumped someone's seen fit to use my ridiculous modmodmodmodmod...mod as feedstock for making something cool in a modern FFH version. Was recently looking for something to liven up my work commute and I thought: "what ever happened to FFH?" And then I saw THIS. Which: awesome. The tiered emergence mechanic sounds pretty great, and I look forward to seeing how it plays.

(Posting under an incremented username because the machine spirits haven't seen fit to give me back my decade-old CivFanatics account. So it goes.)

 

[azatote]

Welcome back 26Hour! And let me say thank you SO much for what you call a ridiculous modmodmodmodmod. You can't imagine how useful it has been for me to have this formidable collection of gorgeous leader artworks, leader names, trait ideas, plus portions of XML and python code to reuse or to employ as examples and templates.
I'm really glad you like what I've done with the material stolen from your old module. I'm not updating it anymore since I find the other version with upgradable traits much cooler; for which I still have many ideas, just lacking time to work on the module at the moment.

 

[black_imperator]

Welcome back !!!
the emergent mechanic is live in the svn version, along with a version of azatote's module. if you wanna se what he's up to, you can also check the aoe discord channel (link below)