Ideas needed: Common Events

[Kael]

I was chatting with Phillipe and dot about common events in the #erebus channel. My problem is that we need some common events to make the rare events rare (otherwise the rare events become common, which is how it is now).

But I need ideas for common events, rare events are pretty easy (and more fun). In BtS common events are typically "a mine collapses" sort of thing, but I dont think that is very fun.

Here is the requirement for a common event:

1. It can't have a very strategic effect, you will have to assume that this event could occur 2-3 times a game so its effect should be very limited.

2. It should be fun.

3. It shouldn't have requirements (once you put a requirement on it it cant be very common) or should have very loose requirements. Ideally I want then to be available early in the game, which is when we need them most so tech requiremetns are out. And requirements like having to have a certain building will drive down the applicable range so far that they wont be common anymore. Requirements like "on a farm", or "to a unit", or "on a road" are all fine as we assume those will be widely available to all players.

Let me know if you guys have any ideas.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

Lost knowldege found from age of magic

Random tech given.


Epiphany

Give a unit a religious promtion, or changes religion, or gets rid of one.

Fall of a holy city

A holy city without the unique wonder can shift to another city with more followers for that religion. if the wonder is there, there's no way to move it.

Tree wither

Forest tile withers away.

Sickness

Reqs: Cottage, Village, town,
lowers town and village by one level. destroys cottage.

Dwarves Brawl

Requires brewrey.

Drunk dwarves brawl in the streets

 

[3141592]

Promising apprentice:

In the city of (city name) a young lad has been brought up as a promising fighter, we can either:
A)Have the lad join (a unit in the city) and give him five experience
B)Have the lad join the next unit built in the city and give them five experience
C)Terrific, spend 25 gold to speed up his training. City gets a ten experience warrior.
D)(only if evil) Promising fighter you say? He'll work in the mines with vigor! Adds 3% to the cities production

This is quite a positive event that adds a nice little boost, but isn't all that powerful.

 

[Kael]

Lost knowldege found from age of magic

Random tech given.


Epiphany

Give a unit a religious promtion, or changes religion, or gets rid of one.

Fall of a holy city

A holy city without the unique wonder can shift to another city with more followers for that religion. if the wonder is there, there's no way to move it.

Tree wither

Forest tile withers away.

Sickness

Reqs: Cottage, Village, town,
lowers town and village by one level. destroys cottage.

Dwarves Brawl

Requires brewrey.

Drunk dwarves brawl in the streets

The random tech and the fall of the holy city are to powerful for a common event. Forest withering away isnt fun. the barfight is an interestign idea, though better in a tavern than a brewery.

I like the Sickness and Epiphany ideas though.

 

[KillerClowns]

Wild beasts have been spotted in the forests near [city name].

Let the locals deal with it. (May spawn a barbarian animal.)
Hunt it down and kill it. (Costs gold. Won't spawn animal.)
See if we can capture it. (Requires Animal Handling. Costs gold. Will spawn an animal, which may be either barbaric or given to you.)
Send our finest hunters to capture it! (Same as above, but better odds of capturing it. Requires FoL.)​

 

[Kael]

Promising apprentice:

In the city of (city name) a young lad has been brought up as a promising fighter, we can either:
A)Have the lad join (a unit in the city) and give him five experience
B)Have the lad join the next unit built in the city and give them five experience
C)Terrific, spend 25 gold to speed up his training. City gets a ten experience warrior.
D)(only if evil) Promising fighter you say? He'll work in the mines with vigor! Adds 3% to the cities production

This is quite a positive event that adds a nice little boost, but isn't all that powerful.

this a bit to powerful as is, but I can drop the xp a bit to make it less of a deal.

 

[Bringa]

(all the gold costs in here are off the top of my head and evidently subject to much tinkering and balancing)

____1) Spiders in a Mine!____

Requirement: Mine

Description: One of your mines has become infested with a cluster of giant spiders! Until we clean the mine, we won't be able to use it. Let's hope they don't respawn!

===Option 1: Send out the call for help! Maybe some fledgling adventurer needs a simple dungeon... uh I mean, maybe we can convince an affordable hero to solve the problem for us!
--> costs 10-20 gold
--> results:
....75% chance of success, i.e. nothing happens
....25% chance of failure (can we show a dialog in case of failure? If so, make it say "Turns out our hero wasn't quite ready yet. Spiders 1 - 0 Hero.") Spawn an immobile barbarian unit ("Spider infestation" or "Cluster of spiders") on the mine (str 3? 4?)

===Option 2: That mine is central to our economy! We must spare no costs to assemble a 40 man raid... I mean, pay a group of adventurers whatever they ask for!
--> costs 50-60 gold
--> results: nothing happens

===Option 3: Spiders, eh? I don't like 'em. Let's see if we can spare some of our troops for this clean-up mission.
--> costs nothing
--> results: spawns the Spider Infestation/Cluster of Spiders unit (immobile, str 3 or 4) on the mine


____2) Road fees____

Requirement: Road

Description: Highwaymen have started harassing all traffic going through a section of road in your territory. They ask for unreasonable amounts of money and subject their victims to improvised poetry! We must put an end to them!

===Option 1: Call them out. Tell them their days are numbered. Our mighty army is coming for them!
--> costs: nothing
--> results: spawns a barbarian unit (appropriate to the current barb tech level? Otherwise maybe just a simple warrior) on the tile. The unit is a normal barb unit and may move and attack as it wishes.

===Option 2: Troubles, troubles, troubles. Why can't you have good news for me! Why can't we find truffles, for instance? I prefer truffles over troubles. Oh well, throw some money at it. Pay them to go away.
--> costs: 20 gold
--> results: nothing

===Option 3: My good man, we live in a free country! I mean, I am free to do whatever I please, and my subjects are free to watch me. If these men think they must demand money for passage, let them. Maybe they'll repair the road as well. The people will complain, but they will get used to it eventually.
--> costs: nothing
--> results: +1 unhappiness in the nearest city for 10 turns

===Option 4: It seems as though some of my subjects have found gainful employment. Good for them. Charge 10% tax.
--> requires: non-good leader
--> costs: nothing!
--> results: +1 unhappiness in nearest city for 20 turns, -1 diplomacy modifier from good leaders ("You treat your people badly" or sth like that), +1 gold per round (if that can be given through an event; if not, some flat sum)


____3) Thus spoke Zarathustra____

Requirement: Monument

Description: News of a miracle in <city name>, my lord! A monkey has walked up to the monument and touched it, after which it began to speak!

===Option 1: Teach the monkey to sing! I want a singing monkey! No matter the cost!
--> costs: 50 gold
--> result: +5 culture/round in the city

===Option 2: Fascinating. Maybe it could teach our wise men. I mean, our wise men could learn from it. By studying it! I'm not saying the monkey is smarter than our... oh nevermind. Make them study it.
--> costs: 50 gold
--> result: +20 beakers for the current research project

===Option 3: Feed the monkey bananas all day so it will praise our greatness to the people of <city name>!
--> requires: banana resource
--> costs: nothing!
--> result: +1 happiness in the city


____4) Clothing a Goddess____

Requirement: not Grigori

Description: During the annual fertility festival in <city name>, an ancient Goddess of Fertility has appeared to the people! However, she's asking for money. She says she needs new clothes. She'll pay us back, honestly, once she finds a way to turn fertility into money. But first she'll need new clothes.

===Option 1: Women. Oh well. Give her what she asks for. Maybe she will bless us with many children.
--> costs: 50 gold
--> result: +1 population in the city

===Option 2: Women! We can't afford to give her anything, and she would only ask for more anyway. Tell her we'll sacrifice a goat to her or something.
--> costs: nothing
--> result:
....50% chance of nothing happening
....50% chance of +1 unhealthiness in the city

===Option 3: A goddess of fertility, eh? Needs new clothes? I think I shall have a private discussion with her, here in my chambers. Ask her to come see me. Ask softly, but carry a big pike. If she says no, you say yes for her.
--> requirement: male leader
--> costs: nothing
--> result:
....80% chance of +1 unhappy, +1 unhealthy in the city
....10% chance of nothing happening
....10% chance of +1 population in all cities

===Option 4: Oh, just give her some of my old clothes. They may fit her.
--> requirement: female leader
--> costs: nothing
--> result:
....75% chance of +1 pop in <city>
....25% chance of nothing happening

 

[jenks]

Refugees:

A small band of (Human/Elvish/Orcish/Dwarven) refugees have passed through (civilization) territory.

A small band of (Human/Elvish/Orcish/Dwarven) refugees passing through your territory have approached you with their desire to settle in (city name here). We can respond with the following:
A) By all means, make the refugees feel at home (+1 pop in city, no cost)
B) Our forces need support, arm and train the refugees to be fighters for our cause (cost 15 gold, + warrior)
C) There is no room in (city name)! Provide the refugees with rations and equipment, so they may start a new colony as part of our civilization (cost 100 gold, + settler)
D) Shackle the vermin, if they wish to live among us they will earn their keep (+ slave of relevant race, requires Evil alignment, no cost)

thinking this event would be similar to the 'refugees from the calabim' event - with less diplomatic, more developmental options meaning it is more relevant in the early game. could also go with a worker rather than settler for option C if that seems a bit powerful

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I don't think that most of those really meet the requirements of being minor events without a very strategic effect.


Eh, even though I don't think my idea even comes close to meeting the requirements either, I'll go ahead and propose an event I've been wanted for a while to make up for the unthematic lack of xp farming for barbarian trait civs (making their units essentially fight each other)

Brawl:
Very common, but requires Barbarian Trait and at least 2 units (non-combat units, heroes, and possibly national units excluded) on the same tile.

Two (or maybe more) units have allowed a minor disagreement to escalate to the point of physical combat. They damage and possibly even kill eachother, but gain some xp in the process.

I'm not sure if it really needs to be a real event, or sort of an "randomly autocasting arena battle." Of course, it it is a real event, you could be allowed options:

A. break up the fight immediately

No unit gets xp or is damaged/killed. It would probably have some other penalty too (e.g., causing unhappiness in a nearby city, or, eventually, hurting the units' morale)

B. Let them fight, but stop them before someone gets killed.

One or both units gets injured, and one or both may gain 1 xp. (Weaker units would probably suffer more damage than stronger ones.) Possible penalties like in choice A, but smaller.

C. Let them fight to the death.

Very high chance of losing one unit, small chance of losing them both. (chances probably depend on their relative strength). The winner would also be injured, but would gain 2-5 xp.

D. (Requires Gambling House in at least one city) Let them fight to the death, and place a bet on who will win. (This would possibly trigger another event letting you bet different amounts on different units, or there could just be an set amount of gold and an option for each of the units.) Requires a certain amount of gold (probably different based on which units you bet on, and on the odds of victory)

Very high chance of losing one unit, small chance of losing them both. (chances probably depend on their relative strength). The winner would also be injured, but would gain 2-5 xp. Also, you gain a possibly substantial amount gold if you chose the winner correctly (based on the relative strengths of the units, and on the number of Gambling Houses you have).

E. (Requires Gambling House in at least one city, and CoE religion and/or Undercouncil membership) Let them fight to the death, and place a bet on who will win, and rig the fight.

The same as choice D, but you get to chose who wins (>95% chance of the unit you chose winning). It would cost more (so your profits are lower, but almost assured), and there would be a small chance of your scheme being discovered (causing unhappiness in all your cities)

 

[cephalo]

I think that events happening once in a while adds to the fun, but I if they happen any more than they do currently, it could add up to an annoying distraction, especially if they have little strategic impact. More variety can only help, but when you say 'common', I really hope you mean that they will be common relative to the rare ones which will now be much more rare than they were...

I don't want to have inconsequential pop ups every couple of turns is what I'm saying. Be careful with this.

 

[Bringa]

No one is talking about increasing the frequency of events, cephalo. What Kael wants are some common events to make the ones we have now rarer. They are currently happening too often considering how strong they are.

 

[xienwolf]

Elderly Wanderer
--An old Man has approached the City guards of [City] and is requesting to see you...

1. Let him come, the elderly can be wise
   • +75 toward current Tech
2. Let my Domestic Advisor handle his needs.
   • +25
3. Let my Minister of Foreign Affairs sort things out.
   • +50

Lone Ronin
--Rumors abound about a Mysterious Warrior traveling the land seeking a worthy opponent. [Unit] reports that he has found this man at an encampment outside of [City Unit is Fortified in].

1. Let [Unit] investigate this matter, but give him strict orders to only observe.
   • [Unit] is not usable for 4 turns, but gains Defensive Promotion.
2. Send [Unit] with our best weapons and tell him to remove this so called "Legend" from our lands!
   • -20 , 75% chance unit gains 5 XP, 25% chance unit dies.
3. Take no chances, send all of our troops and remove this threat!
   • All units in [City] become unusable for 2 turns & gain 2 XP, requires at least 3 units in city.

Note: For this next series of events, there are no tooltips to announce the rewards. Or alternatively, it is a single event with 3 possible outcomes from each decision (33% chance of each), and the player is allowed to see a tooltip stating what the possible outcomes are & the percent chances.

Passing Stranger Series​

Triggers in any City

Thief in the Night
--A stranger has been seen wandering the streets of [City] late at night...

1. Send the Guards to apprehend and question the man
   • +1 permanent "Our City is kept Safe at Night!"
   • "The Guards interrogated the man and discovered he is a Thief!"
2. Attempt to follow him and discover his purpose
   • +2 XP to garrisoned units of [City]
   • "The Guards caught him breaking into a house, he died in the ensuing struggle."
3. Do nothing, he can cause no harm
   • +1 for 10 turns "We fear for our Safety!"
   • "We have been informed that there were a series of break-ins in the night, at least one of which resulted in Murder as well."
4. Post more guards through the City, encourage the populace to observe a curfew if they do not wish to be subject to random questioning
   • Nothing Happens
   • "The guards report that nothing suspicious seems to have happened, and overall night-time traffic has reduced significantly since we put the changes into effect."

The Good Samaritan
--A stranger has been seen wandering the streets of [City] late at night...

1. Send the Guards to apprehend and question the man
   • +1 for 10 turns "You Wrongfully detained an innocent!"
   • "The Old Man they apprehend turns out to have been leaving random gifts in the town, word of our harsh treatment has spread"
2. Attempt to follow him and discover his purpose
   • +1 permanent "Someone brings Gifts in the Night!"
   • "Our Soldiers observed the man leaving gifts in front of a Widow's House. The Nightwatch is inspired and begins a new tradition in his honor."
3. Do nothing, he can cause no harm
   • Garrisoned Troops gain Homeland Promotion.
   • "Tales of great Kindness in [City] move our soldiers to higher levels of devotion."
4. Post more guards through the City, encourage the populace to observe a curfew if they do not wish to be subject to random questioning
   • Nothing Happens
   • "The guards report that nothing suspicious seems to have happened, and overall night-time traffic has reduced significantly since we put the changes into effect."

Secret Meetings
--A stranger has been seen wandering the streets of [City] late at night...

1. Send the Guards to apprehend and question the man
   • City gains a Theater, or Theater in city gains +2
   • "After questioning the man, he reveals the presence of a members only Theater hidden in the back alleys."
2. Attempt to follow him and discover his purpose
   • +1 for 10 turns "Our Privacy has been violated!"
   • "After bursting into a building they saw the man cautiously enter, our guards found themselves in the dressing rooms of an underground theater. The Star was so distressed he has quit the troupe."
3. Do nothing, he can cause no harm
   • +1 Permanently in City "We enjoy a thriving Nightlife!"
   • "Rumors abound of many activities being available for nighttime entertainment in [City], allowing people a chance to rest after working all day."
4. Post more guards through the City, encourage the populace to observe a curfew if they do not wish to be subject to random questioning
   • Nothing Happens
   • "The guards report that nothing suspicious seems to have happened, and overall night-time traffic has reduced significantly since we put the changes into effect."

Note: Though +1 Happy might seem strong, there is only a 1 in 3 chance of getting it, and they have to guess randomly as to which it is (or answer in an RP appropriate way, which is the goal). Plus, people have pointed out that a TEMPORARY gain of is actually a BAD thing because then your city might grow beyond it's True Happy Cap, and you wind up with an Angry Citizen as the temporary boost wears off. I wish I could have thought of a way to make the second quest give a permanent Happy for the second option, but it doesn't quite fit. It actually fits best in the third option slot

 

[dozens]

"A monastary for X religion sprung up near Y town spreading their faith to nearby cities." where Z would be in the range from 2-4. Could make it a cult rather than a monastary, or something more specific for each religion if you don't want a general relgiious event. Could also make a negative one saying an inquisition run by fanatics popped up and removes all religions not of their types from a couple surrounding cities.

"A blind seer claiming to be the voice of such-and-such deity has made a prophecy that signals the end is near/far" Raises/lowers the AC by 2-4.

"A band of adventurers has been spotted in a tavern in one of your towns with tales of exotic locations and monsters. Thier stories inspire a few townsfolk who decide to follow in their footsteps" Gives you a unit with a couple promotions. I would like to say just a Hero promotion but that might be too powerful.

"A gray-robed old man with a beard has shown up in the town of Y, putting on grand fireworks display for the local townsfolk during their farming festival." Remove unhappiness in Y city for 2-4 turns. Trying to be reminiscent of LoTR.

"A trading caraven from across the world have come through your land selling may strange and exotic foods and animals that have never been seen before." Gain a resource type near the city (thinking more along the lines of grapes, spices, wheat, cows).

 

[jenks]

Citizens are leaving the (civilization) city of (city name)

Disheartened by your leadership, citizens are leaving (city name) to start their lives anew

(-ve population in city, to the sum of all but 1 of unhappy citizens in city, leaders with good or neutral alignment only)

Seems like a pretty obvious one to me. Doesn't have much impact as unhappy peeps aint productive, but makes sense in flavor i think.


I liked those 'passing stranger' options by xienwolf above, if that was programmable that would be cool.

 

[xienwolf]

Easily programmed, it is just 3 events with the same text as each other and no requirements They aren't linked or anything, you just have to leave the tooltips blank so the player doesn't know which option to select. I re-wrote it a little so that all 3 have a chance of permanent happiness boost, initially the second quest didn't. I thought that was a bit too asymmetric.

Planning to come up with many more similar to that, where you don't know which one it is and will get something good for 2/3 of the options, but are forced to answer in a RP appropriate way and hope for the best.

 

[Arwon]

How about an event which randomly adds + or - modifiers to Perpintach's attitude towards other leaders? It probably doesn't even need text popups, just "you amuse me" or "I am not amused".

 

[kumquatelvis]

Elven Family (requires forest, not elves):
An elven family is asking permission and supplies to establish a cottage in one of our forests.
1) We gladly welcome them. -40gp, free cottage in a forest tile.
2) Barbarians make the area too dangerous. Equip the elves to join us in the fight against them. -25gp, Free Archer of Leaves.
3) Pah! They're much better suited to the mines! Requires evil. Free elven slave
4) We have no need of their kind. nothing happens

Spring Discovered (requires desert tile)
Our people have discovered a freshwater spring in land thought barren.
1) Excellent! Desert tile becomes a plains.
2) We must exploit this to it's fullest. Bring in miners to excavate the spring. -40gp. 80% chance tile gains an oasis. 20% tile remains a desert.

Strange Crystal (Requires mana node, Knowledge of the Ether not discovered.)
Our scouts have noticed weird emanations coming from a strange crystal jutting from the ground.
1) This crystal must have magic powers. Smash it and distribute the pieces to our warriors for luck. Lose mana node. All melee units gain Enchanted Weapons. All archery units gain flaming arrows.
2) It must be a sign from the gods. We must make sacrifices to it. Requires evil. Lose 1 population. Gain two imps.
3) We must send out our wisest men to study the strange emanations. Requires scientist or great scientist. Gain 200 towards Knowledge of the Ether.
4) It's best not to mess with the unknown. Nothing happens.

Wild Horses (requires horses, Horseback Riding)
We have found a herd of wild horses roaming about.
1) They shall make excellent mounts. Capture them! Gain free horseman unit.
2) What excellent breeding stock. Lure them into our horse pen. Horse pen gains +1 production.
3) They are free spirits and should be treated as such. Leave them be. Require Fellowship of the Leaves. +1 Happiness in city for 20 turns.

Rampant Orcs! Requires an Orc unit to have just pillaged a tile.
Ack! Orcs are running rampant across our lands.
1) This has gone on too long! We must give out warriors special training to combat this threat. Requires warrior. A warrior unit gains the Orc slaying promotion.
2) Perhaps they can be bribed. -25gp. Gain Orc Warrior.
3) Nothing can be done. All is lost. Nothing happens.

Kilmorph's Blessing Peak, Requires Runes of Kilmorph
Kilmorph has blessed one of our mountains so that it's bounty can be extracted.
1) Praise be to Kilmorph. Peak gains mine, production capabilities of a hill. Alternatively, peak becomes hill.

 

[it-ogo]

Dwarven treasure
prereq: Military unit on a hill tile without improvements.
"You found a picture on a rock which shows a way to the cave with dwarven treasure. Unfortunately cave is too big. Would you like to search?"
A. Yes: Unit can not move for 10 turns, 10% chance to receive between 50 and 150 gold.
B. No: No effect.

 

[Rex rgis of Ter]

An affluent benevolent duke in city X has died and left his fortune to the state. What will we use his fortune for?

1) Honor the man with a funeral and monument. He will remebered as a great benefactor.
Cannot have a monument in city
Get free monument, +10 culture
2)Give his money to the poor. I'm sure it is what he would have wanted.
No requirments
+1 in the vity for 20 turns
3) I think I'll just keep it all. He did leave it to me after all.
No requirments
+1 , + 75 gold

 

[rhawn]

Two women approach your court claiming to be the mother of a child. You propose to cut the child in twain and give each woman half. The second woman pleads you to give the child to the first woman and to spare it harm.
1. Give the child to the first woman. (+ for 10 turns, you solved the problem)
2. Give the child to the second woman .(+2 beakers 10 turns, you are wise)
3. (Requires Evil) I have already ruled! Cut the baby in half. Give half to each woman. (-10% maintenance in city for 10 turns, you stand by your judgments)
4. (Requires Calabim) Eat the baby. Feed the women and any dissenters to your soldiers.(+1 population in city, all people are food)