A Total Conversion Fantasy Mod
Mythra is in rebirth. Ravaged and torn asunder by unleashed magical energies and the emergence of infernal leviathans from fissures deep within the underworld, formerly glorious civilizations now lie in ruins, fragmented into imperiled tribes on the very verge of extinction. Elemental forces, brutally transforming the landscape with raw power, are beginning to slowly yield to the energies of creation. Life once again springs forth. But it will not last; Atropa, The Bloodmoon, now waning behind Aion, will inevitably reappear yet again as the harbinger of destruction. There are those that will try to resist, buttressed into hardened cities of physical and magical will, and those that adapt to sustain it; roaming, restless, nomadic survivors. Still others will welcome its wrath altogether....
Overview:
The Bloodmoon Chronicles (hereafter "BMC") is a concept of a world with two moons: a larger moon, Aion, that orbits the planet Mythra and a smaller moon, Atropa, that instead orbits the larger moon. Atropa, commonly referred to as "The Bloodmoon," orbits around Aion as such that it periodically waxes and wanes between Aion and the planet Mythra, turning it increasingly red in appearance as it moves closer to the planet. The gravitational effects as Atropa interposes wreak havoc upon the planet causing massive tidal shifts, earthquakes, flares of magical energies trapped within arcane nodes, and fissures from deep within to erupt and unleash hordes of unnatural dimensional beings. Aion's own elliptical orbit places it at varying distances from Mythra, thereby increasing or decreasing the effects of Atropa's interposition depending upon Aion's proximity to the planet.
Your civilization will begin just as The Bloodmoon has completed its final phase betwixt Aion and Mythra at Aion's perigee to the planet. The effects of this phenomenon have been devastating and Mythra lies largely broken and in ruin. For now, Atropa is continuing its revolution to the dark side of Aion, while Aion continues its own trajectory to Mythra's apogee. The destructive forces are largely dormant for the time being and the elemental energies are waning. It is now a period of rebirth as the might of creation and life begin to once again gain ground. Eventually Atropa will return, however; mildly at first as Aion orbits distantly, but with increasingly catastrophic effects as the large moon inevitably draws nearer to the planet.
Concepts:
For those familiar with Civilization IV's Fall from Heaven II mod (who isn't?) you will likely find that some concepts are loosely based upon it: Raw mana nodes as resources and affinities to them; copper, iron, and mithril as powerful unit promotions; starting resources in palaces (mana in particular); wonders that provide a mana resource (such as the FFH Soul Forge that provides Death mana), mastery wonders, etc. Some civilizations will also function similarly to those from FFH. This mod is by no means intended to duplicate Fall from Heaven or its modmods but it will certainly be inspired by FFH to some degree, as well as by concepts from Master of Magic and the Age of Wonders series. Following are some of the intended core concepts:
- The Bloodmoon: This will be a game mechanic that cycles through sixteen moon phases, benefiting and/or disadvantaging various civilizations during each phase (roughly 6-7 turns in length). Similar in concept to the Armageddon counter from FFH, instead it waxes and wanes, increasing its effects after every cycle. Each phase of the moon has a corresponding aspect of mana that is dominant during that phase and many phases are also represented by a deity whose followers benefit during their patron's phase. The phases, separated into four primary quadrants, are as follows:
Spoiler :
- Mana: This will be a resource and the foundation for the magic system. Initially, the game begins with raw mana nodes throughout the map with no particular affinity (each usually guarded by a powerful creature). Each civilization's palace will begin with up to three aspects of mana (fire, shadow, etc.), resources (horses, timber, etc.), or a combination of both. Raw mana nodes can only be converted to an aspect of mana with which a civilization has affinity, is within its borders, and is cleared of its guardian. Converted nodes grant additional resource quantity and increase affinity potency for that magic aspect. Knowledge of aspects unknown at game start can be attained through the civic tree, alignment tree, as epic treasure from cleared lairs, or wonders either built or conquered. Although mana is technically a resource, civilizations will be unable to trade it as a resource.
There are nineteen mana affinities in all; one from each of the aspects, plus three additional affinities from the Alteration sphere. Mastery of a sphere of magic requires affinity with three of the four aspects within that sphere (all three in the case of the Alteration sphere) and allows its respective mastery wonder to be built. The spheres and the corresponding mastery wonder are as follows:
Divine Sphere (Order, Light, Aether, Life): Mastery wonder - Pillars of Divinity
Existential Sphere (Body, Mind, Spirit, Nature): Mastery wonder - Garden of Adrostia
Necromantic Sphere (Chaos, Shadow, Entropy, Death): Mastery wonder - The Necromanteion
Elemental Sphere (Earth, Fire, Air, Water): Mastery wonder - Elemental Gate
Alteration Sphere (Enchantment, Illusion, Metamagic): Mastery wonder - Alchemist's Runestones
Once three mastery wonders have been built (or conquered), a civilization may begin on the Tower of Essence wonder for a Mastery victory. Conquering a mastery wonder without having the requisite mana affinities will provide no bonuses and will not count as complete until the requisite affinities are gained (since palace resource affinities aren't taken upon conquering another civilization's capital, this is very likely to occur). Likewise, conquering territory having converted mana nodes within its borders that have not been learned by the conquering civilization will dispel them back to raw mana nodes.Existential Sphere (Body, Mind, Spirit, Nature): Mastery wonder - Garden of Adrostia
Necromantic Sphere (Chaos, Shadow, Entropy, Death): Mastery wonder - The Necromanteion
Elemental Sphere (Earth, Fire, Air, Water): Mastery wonder - Elemental Gate
Alteration Sphere (Enchantment, Illusion, Metamagic): Mastery wonder - Alchemist's Runestones
Some civilizations may already have most of the requisite mana affinities in their palace at the start of the game to begin building a mastery wonder; the remaining can be learned in the alignment or policy trees relatively soon. This gives them an advantage towards building it from the very start (complete with the bonuses it provides). However, anyone completing (not starting) a mastery wonder automatically receives a large diplomatic penalty with every other civilization. Even starting the Tower of Essence wonder, on the other hand, forces total war on that player from all civilizations for the rest of the game.
Spellcasters, initially weak units, can eventually become extremely powerful through a combination of mana affinity and advancements. They are also required to build epic magical items for heroes and cast powerful enchantments on units and cities.
- Renown: This concept replaces Culture, since not all civilizations will pursue cultural goals and yet in the base game it is required for policy and ideology tenets. Renown is effectively a civilization's fame and it is acquired by various means, usually associated with that civilization's traits. Some civilizations will acquire Renown culturally, whereas others may acquire it from cumulative unit experience, wealth generation, exploration, etc. The mechanic will work similar to the base game (e.g., gaining Renown for every unit killed similar to the Honor civic gaining culture when killing barbarians) but it will be a civilization-specific trait instead of necessarily being a policy, building, or terrain bonus.
- Research/Advancements: Similar to Faerun there will be no traditional technology tree, as it is not very conducive to the fantasy genre. Unlike Faerun, however, Advancements will not necessarily be from building upgrades upon reaching a certain city size. This may be effective for traditional civilizations but will put nomadic, barbaric, and infernal civilizations at a disadvantage. Instead, Advancements will work similar to the Renown mechanic and will be closely aligned with civilization traits. There will be a Scholarship civic and other policies and tenets that provide bonuses to Research, but the pursuit of Advancements should not be the dominating factor as it tends to be in the base game since it will require forgoing other policies and tenets in order to do so. Instead, civilizations will tend to pursue only those Advancements that will benefit their unique traits and ignore those that provide little benefit to them. In addition, research points will be required to purchase Sorcerer units, requiring some degree of sacrifice between advancement and buying powerful spellcasting units.
- Mana Users:
There are three disciplines for users of mana: Sorcery, Summoning, and Channeling. All mana units begin with the Level I promotion for their discipline:
Sorcerers - Cost Research to build and use the Sorcery I, II, and III promotions. Is a civilian unit and has the Study (+1 XP/turn) or Research (+1 Research/turn) ability while located in a Mage Guild or Sorcerer's Tower improvement (which provides an additional +1/turn). They are the only mana user type that can cast spells from the Alteration sphere. Sorcerers focus on magical damage, enchantments, and arcane supremacy.
Summoners - Cost Renown to build and use the Summoning I, II, and III promotions. Is a civilian unit and gains XP and Renown for all combat actions performed by units it summons (including its familiar, which can also gain XP). Summoners focus on mastery of dimensions and planes of existence, primarily to summon/banish units to/from Mythra.
Channelers (Priests) - Cost Faith to build and use the Channeling I, II, and III promotions. Is a combat unit and begins with the Medic I promotion. Channelers focus on healing, protection, and defense.
Spells for each discipline are as follows:
Spoiler :
- Alignment: This concept replaces Ideologies; a civilization will choose which alignment they will follow (Good/Neutral/Evil) at game start. Certain civilizations may only have one or two options. The alignment trees grant access to certain magic aspects, heroes, resources, and Advancements. Alignments will be mutually exclusive and impact relations with other civilizations; Good and Evil civilizations will always have severe diplomatic penalties with each other from game start that increase with every advancement into the next age. Once any civilization reaches the Age of Might, Good and Evil civilizations will automatically start permanent war with their opposing alignment. The Neutral alignment tree, although not provoking war, has significantly weaker tenets than Good or Evil but will still be complementary to certain civilization traits.
- Civics: The civic trees will be similar to the base game. Three of them will also be mutually exclusive: Chaos, Order, and Balance. The ten civic trees and a brief description of each follows:
Chaos - Allows access to the Chaos aspect and its buildings, special units, and heroes; provides bonuses towards Renown and Research from specialists and scout-class units, increases assassin and spy effectiveness
Order - Allows access to the Order aspect and its buildings, special units, and heroes; reduces maintenance costs for buildings and units, increases productivity
Balance- Allows access to the Nature aspect and its buildings, special units, and heroes; increases city growth rates, provides terrain bonuses, reduces diplomatic penalties
Alteration - Allows access to the Enchantment, Illusion, and Metamagic aspects and buildings, increases effectiveness of spellcasting units
Elementalism - Allows access to the Earth, Fire, Air, and Water aspects and buildings, including access to special units
Devotion - Allows access to the Light, Shadow, and Spirit aspects and buildings, provides bonuses to Faith, increases the effectiveness of faith-based units, reveals sacred sites
Martialism - Allows access to the Body aspect and provides bonuses to the production, strength, and experience of military units
Mercantilism - Provides bonuses to trade and exploration, allows purchasing of mercenaries, increases naval movement and visibility, enables slavery for neutral and evil civilizations
Scholarship - Allows access to the Mind aspect and buildings, provides specialized unit promotions, generates bonuses toward new Advancements
Industrialism - Increases quantity of resources, provides production bonuses, allows access to specialized resources and buildings
- Religion: Similar to the base game in many ways, religion also allows the Ascension victory condition in BMC. It borrows the BNW archaeology system as well. Initially, there are several hidden sacred relics throughout the map (equivalent to Antiquity Sites) that are revealed through a tenet in each of the Alignment ideologies. The Devotion civic allows the building of Disciples that can retrieve these relics. Great Prophets can be consumed to construct a tier of the Altar of Transcendence in a Holy City to house the recovered relics. Seven tiers must be built, requiring a total of 28 relics to complete. Once complete, the founding religion's unique hero will become its Avatar and begin to ascend the altar, which forces total war on that player from all civilizations for the rest of the game. If the Holy City is not captured before the Avatar completes the ascension the player achieves an Ascension victory. Relics captured from a rival Holy City can be added to any altar the same way recovered relics are (similar to how great works function in the base game).Order - Allows access to the Order aspect and its buildings, special units, and heroes; reduces maintenance costs for buildings and units, increases productivity
Balance- Allows access to the Nature aspect and its buildings, special units, and heroes; increases city growth rates, provides terrain bonuses, reduces diplomatic penalties
Alteration - Allows access to the Enchantment, Illusion, and Metamagic aspects and buildings, increases effectiveness of spellcasting units
Elementalism - Allows access to the Earth, Fire, Air, and Water aspects and buildings, including access to special units
Devotion - Allows access to the Light, Shadow, and Spirit aspects and buildings, provides bonuses to Faith, increases the effectiveness of faith-based units, reveals sacred sites
Martialism - Allows access to the Body aspect and provides bonuses to the production, strength, and experience of military units
Mercantilism - Provides bonuses to trade and exploration, allows purchasing of mercenaries, increases naval movement and visibility, enables slavery for neutral and evil civilizations
Scholarship - Allows access to the Mind aspect and buildings, provides specialized unit promotions, generates bonuses toward new Advancements
Industrialism - Increases quantity of resources, provides production bonuses, allows access to specialized resources and buildings
In addition, faith-based units have several unique promotions and abilities that provide support to combat units and cities.
- Victory Conditions: There are five victory conditions in Bloodmoon Chronicles:
Domination - Per the base game, be the last player in possession of your original capital
Time - Similar to the base game, the player with the highest score at the end of the time period wins. Specifically, in BMC it is four complete cycles of the Bloodmoon orbiting Aion (roughly 400 turns)
Mastery - The player who completes the Tower of Essence
Ascension - The player whose Avatar ascends the Altar of Transcendence
Renown - Unlike a Cultural victory which it replaces, a Renown victory is achieved simply by a civilization accumulating a total predetermined amount of Renown throughout the game.
Contributors Needed!Time - Similar to the base game, the player with the highest score at the end of the time period wins. Specifically, in BMC it is four complete cycles of the Bloodmoon orbiting Aion (roughly 400 turns)
Mastery - The player who completes the Tower of Essence
Ascension - The player whose Avatar ascends the Altar of Transcendence
Renown - Unlike a Cultural victory which it replaces, a Renown victory is achieved simply by a civilization accumulating a total predetermined amount of Renown throughout the game.
BMC is still in concept form; unit models, civilizations, and the underlying code for its specific game mechanics are still greatly needed to make this concept a reality. I have been developing many of the unit models for over two years to the point where it is now ready to move from the concept phase; however, I have little programming talent to develop the mod mechanics. If you would be interested in contributing to this mod please let me know! I can also gladly offer my unit modeling talents in exchange for assistance with the development of this mod. All contributions will be identified in the mod credits.
Contribute on the Subversion Website! https://civ-bloodmoon.sourceforge.io/
![[civ5]](/images/icons/civ5/entries/entry2.gif "Civ5 [civ5]"){kind=icon}
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Hey! Don't be sneaking off on me, I still need your help! 
Good luck with project
