Design: Spells
- Thread starter Kael
- Start date
Kael
Deity
Xuenay said:
The startwar function does the checking to make sure the two entries arent equal (so i dont need to block on it everytime i use the function).
And Im thinking about reversing the startwar function so the person who commits the action declares war on the victim instead of the other way around. But it would be a global change.
Kael
Deity
Xuenay said:
You are right.
Kael
Deity
Deathling said:
Units flee into surrounding tiles if there is one they are clear to enter (and arent blocked by enemy units). If all of the surrounding tiles are blocked they are destroyed.
The former coast tiles stay coast tiles.
Ok, I have some ideas for the Law sphere...I guess I can only submit one. Let me know what you think. Which one is best?
Eye for an Eye - Law III - This is a constant city effect, takes 2 turns to cast, and the caster must stay fortified for spell to continue to work....casting a spell, combat (self initiated or otherwise),movement, any action at all = eye for an eye no longer in effect. Eye for an Eye - When one of your units in the city radius is slain, a unit of the attackers civ within the city radius is killed (always lowest value unit in stack, and doesn't effect heroes/demon/undead/animal). Also if a terrain tile is pillaged, then you are paid 50 gold, by the offending civ. (even when you are at war)
Swords to Plowshares - Law II - Same concept as the Magic card. Lowest value combat unit in tile is turned into a worker. Ownership doesn't change hands, it's just turned into a worker. You can use on your own units, or enemies. (Doesn't work on demon, hero, or undead.)
Lady Justice/ or the Black Judge - Law III - Summons a Lady Justice or a Black Judge unit, only one allowable at a time per civ. Lady Justice is a str 6 unit, capable of defensive upgrades, and when fortified in a city gives a simiar effect to a forbidden palace.
Have Gavel - Law II - Summons deputy mounted unit. This unit is a permanent summon, 3 per civ, str?...tier2, and when fortified in a city acts as a courthouse. Can see invisible units.
Heroic Cause/ Just Cause - Law II - Constant effect. Mage may not engage in combat or cast another spell, or effects are negated. Allows stack, with accompanying mage that has cast Heroic Cause, to cross over all borders without consequence, unless at war. Furthermore, any units of other non at war civs, that come into contact have a miniscule chance of joining your civ, and the stack with Heroic Cause.
Eye for an Eye - Law III - This is a constant city effect, takes 2 turns to cast, and the caster must stay fortified for spell to continue to work....casting a spell, combat (self initiated or otherwise),movement, any action at all = eye for an eye no longer in effect. Eye for an Eye - When one of your units in the city radius is slain, a unit of the attackers civ within the city radius is killed (always lowest value unit in stack, and doesn't effect heroes/demon/undead/animal). Also if a terrain tile is pillaged, then you are paid 50 gold, by the offending civ. (even when you are at war)
Swords to Plowshares - Law II - Same concept as the Magic card. Lowest value combat unit in tile is turned into a worker. Ownership doesn't change hands, it's just turned into a worker. You can use on your own units, or enemies. (Doesn't work on demon, hero, or undead.)
Lady Justice/ or the Black Judge - Law III - Summons a Lady Justice or a Black Judge unit, only one allowable at a time per civ. Lady Justice is a str 6 unit, capable of defensive upgrades, and when fortified in a city gives a simiar effect to a forbidden palace.
Have Gavel - Law II - Summons deputy mounted unit. This unit is a permanent summon, 3 per civ, str?...tier2, and when fortified in a city acts as a courthouse. Can see invisible units.
Heroic Cause/ Just Cause - Law II - Constant effect. Mage may not engage in combat or cast another spell, or effects are negated. Allows stack, with accompanying mage that has cast Heroic Cause, to cross over all borders without consequence, unless at war. Furthermore, any units of other non at war civs, that come into contact have a miniscule chance of joining your civ, and the stack with Heroic Cause.
Kael
Deity
Starship said:
It wouldnt be very fair for the team or I to help you pick one. But the rest of the community can help you if they want.
Corlindale
Emperor
But be careful... They might just pick out the ideas they think worst to further their own cause in the contest. It is a very devious community...you can't trust it...
I'm going to go ahead and nominate Swords to Plowshares - Law II for the contest, and I'll throw some ideas out for all the spells just to help get creative juices going.
Form of the Horror - Body III sorcery - Changes caster into an abomination of fleshy tentacles, claws, and teeth. A true combat horror. There is a 10% chance that the following turn, instead of the caster returning to his original form, he stays an abomination, and then has a random 10% chance per turn to turn into a barbarian.
The Twisting - Chaos 2 Sorcery - Turns lowest value combat unit in stack into beastman warrior. Enemy units have a save chance, 50%, it doesn't work on heroes, undead, or demons, and when changed immediately turn barbarian. You can use it on your own troops, who don't get a save. Beastman are similar to an axeman, but a little meaner.
Eye of Chaos - Sorcery 3 - Gives the unit 3 random powerful promotions from a new special promotion pool, Chaos promotions. On this special list of promotions are some pretty nasty, but powerful things. Such as turning unit into a flesh Horror, granting magical powers, plague carrier, immortality, granting flight, halving of health bar, insanity, etc...In general they should be a third good outcomes, a third bad outcomes, and a third somewhere in the middle. This can be used on enemy or friendly units, and ownership is not changed in any way.
Whispers of Chaos - Chaos Divine II - Makes unit act randomly for two turns. Special un promotion upon casting makes the focus of spell wander randomly, and has to save or turn barbarian.
River of Life - Life III Sorcery - I know no terraforming. Someone else suggested this, and it's pretty good though. Caster is immobile during casting, unless he dies a river forms at 3 turns per tile, and goes to the nearest sea.
Green Man - Life II Summoning - Akin to mud golems but more skilled. They are super workers that also have a low combat value. 3 per civ. Can also make special terrain upgrade garden. Garden adds happiness, and gold to tile.
Flight of the Valkyries/ Angellic Flight - Life III Summoning - Summons a powerful group of angels to your cause. They are an aerial unit that flies high above, and portends doom to your foe. They disappear, and are not permanent. The flight is a true aerial unit with bombing abilities, and also would affect enemy morale someway. (maybe 25% chance they get afraid promotion...-10% in combat, till end of turn)
Form of the Horror - Body III sorcery - Changes caster into an abomination of fleshy tentacles, claws, and teeth. A true combat horror. There is a 10% chance that the following turn, instead of the caster returning to his original form, he stays an abomination, and then has a random 10% chance per turn to turn into a barbarian.
The Twisting - Chaos 2 Sorcery - Turns lowest value combat unit in stack into beastman warrior. Enemy units have a save chance, 50%, it doesn't work on heroes, undead, or demons, and when changed immediately turn barbarian. You can use it on your own troops, who don't get a save. Beastman are similar to an axeman, but a little meaner.
Eye of Chaos - Sorcery 3 - Gives the unit 3 random powerful promotions from a new special promotion pool, Chaos promotions. On this special list of promotions are some pretty nasty, but powerful things. Such as turning unit into a flesh Horror, granting magical powers, plague carrier, immortality, granting flight, halving of health bar, insanity, etc...In general they should be a third good outcomes, a third bad outcomes, and a third somewhere in the middle. This can be used on enemy or friendly units, and ownership is not changed in any way.
Whispers of Chaos - Chaos Divine II - Makes unit act randomly for two turns. Special un promotion upon casting makes the focus of spell wander randomly, and has to save or turn barbarian.
River of Life - Life III Sorcery - I know no terraforming. Someone else suggested this, and it's pretty good though. Caster is immobile during casting, unless he dies a river forms at 3 turns per tile, and goes to the nearest sea.
Green Man - Life II Summoning - Akin to mud golems but more skilled. They are super workers that also have a low combat value. 3 per civ. Can also make special terrain upgrade garden. Garden adds happiness, and gold to tile.
Flight of the Valkyries/ Angellic Flight - Life III Summoning - Summons a powerful group of angels to your cause. They are an aerial unit that flies high above, and portends doom to your foe. They disappear, and are not permanent. The flight is a true aerial unit with bombing abilities, and also would affect enemy morale someway. (maybe 25% chance they get afraid promotion...-10% in combat, till end of turn)
loki1232
Loki
Can i say that I definetly would have selected swords to plowshares above the others in his first list?
I would have definately selected an eye for an eye.. Just turning a unit into a worker seems a bit... boring. And annoying. But I don't think I'm on the same wavelength as much of the design team AND am your competitor in the tounament, so you definately shouldn't trust my opinion 
Jono
Emperor
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Shouldn't all of this be discussed in Design a Spell: Discussion and QA?
Edit: Just wanted to add that theoreticall you could turn a whole (hostile) civilization into workers and end up with an army of them... *cough* *cough*
Edit: Just wanted to add that theoreticall you could turn a whole (hostile) civilization into workers and end up with an army of them... *cough* *cough*
Chalid
Black Dragon
No combined Magic is still far off. There are two resons:
1) We have 21 Spell spheres to fill first.
2) Combined Magic has to be balanced very well as not to make one combination of magic much more powerfull than others. This would kind of force the player to choose that combination (and the Ai would have to be forced to choose it as well) which would reduce the number of valid decisions instead of increasing it. So we would have to think of an very wide array of combined magic spells so that nearly any combination gets an advantage (some early, some late).
I could imagine that we use the Metamagic Sphere in combination with other spheres but that more a flavor than a design idea.
1) We have 21 Spell spheres to fill first.
2) Combined Magic has to be balanced very well as not to make one combination of magic much more powerfull than others. This would kind of force the player to choose that combination (and the Ai would have to be forced to choose it as well) which would reduce the number of valid decisions instead of increasing it. So we would have to think of an very wide array of combined magic spells so that nearly any combination gets an advantage (some early, some late).
I could imagine that we use the Metamagic Sphere in combination with other spheres but that more a flavor than a design idea.
loki1232
Loki
or available only to the bannor.feydras said:
loki1232
Loki
life sum II: Gaurdian--I know we've discussed this before but we've never decided on a spot, and I think this fits nicely.
basically this summons a Low strength unit that doesn't die for one full turn and automatically defends the stack if it is attacked.
basically this summons a Low strength unit that doesn't die for one full turn and automatically defends the stack if it is attacked.
Kael
Deity
loki1232 said:
Form a mechanic perspective thats "fear". Unit cant be killed and all attacks are pushed back. The only difference is fear can be overcome and this cant (which makes Guardian broken because a caster summoing it every turn would make a city unvulnerable).
But I do like the idea of a guardian summon that defends the caster, but it should be killable.
Corlindale
Emperor
I might have understood the suggestion wrongly, but I read "does not die for one full turn" as "is not unsummoned for one full turn". I assumed it would still be able to die from natural causes.
Do regular summons ordinarily stay for your opponents turn as well?
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