Magic Items

[Honor]

I hate the fact that evil in the late game is so powerful, yet there are no equally powerful good units (heroes) to counter them. Especially the four horsemen and the avatar of wrath are so wickedly overpowered that you have to sacrifice dozens of smaller units to be a match for them. I think it is just unfair to have such an imbalance favoring evil in the late game and I would love to see some kind of powerful (but hard to get) counter to be implemented. The below items serve this purpose.


1. Bronze Blade of Divine Retribution

- Available after the Blight (AC = 40)
- Requires Good alignment to be equipped
- Can only be used by units with the Hero promotion
- +2 Physical Combat
- +20% against Demons, Undead
- Immune to Fear

This weapon can be built by a good civ when the AC goes above the aforementioned value. It will act like a World unit, so only 1 can be built. Also a civilization that has already built one of these weapons loses the ability to build the other two.
* Requires Enchantment Mana, Copper
* 1000 Hammers

---

2. Iron Blade of Divine Retribution

- Available after the first horseman appears (AC = 60)
- Requires Good alignment to be equipped
- Can only be used by units with the Hero promotion
- +4 Physical Combat
- +40% against Demons, Undead
- Immune to Fear, Disease

This weapon can be built by a good civ when the AC goes above the aforementioned value. It will act like a World unit, so only 1 can be built. Also a civilization that has already built one of these weapons loses the ability to build the other two.
* Requires Enchantment Mana, Iron
* 5000 Hammers

---

3. Mithril Blade of Divine Retribution

- Available after Hellfire appears (AC = 70)
- Requires Good alignment to be equipped
- Can only be used by units with the Hero promotion
- +6 Physical Combat
- +60% against Demons, Undead
- Immune to Fear, Disease, Plague, Wither

This weapon can be built by a good civ when the AC goes above the aforementioned value. It will act like a World unit, so only 1 can be built. Also a civilization that has already built one of these weapons loses the ability to build the other two.
* Requires Enchantment Mana, Mithril
* 10000 Hammers

These items would work well with broader alignment.

 

[Pyr0mancer]

First of all, the Horsemen and the Avatar aren't evil. They're barbarian, and will just as happily destroy the Sheaim as the Elohim. They go after whoever happens to be nearby.

Second of all, Good civs should be working to LOWER the AC anyway, so if the AC is in the 70s+, they've failed. Also, it's dark fantasy. The world is supposed to end.

Third, the Horsemen and the Avatar are supposed to be powerful. They're embodiments of the fears of the Gods, not just some random guy on a horse. They're supposed to be able to slaughter armies and leave nothing but destruction in their wake. Read the event text, it gives a good idea of the effect they're supposed to accomplish.

Fourth, for 5000 hammers you can build what, 20 champions? 20 champions will easily bring down any of the Horsemen, and with a few promotions and buffs can take down the Avatar. Hell, if you can spare 5000 hammers of production for a fairly weak piece of equipment, you've already won anyway.

Fifth, Sphener, Chalid Astrakein, and the Mithril Golem are all more than capable of taking on the Horsemen with a decent chance of success. Same goes for many of the Civ heroes. The Horsemen are only ~30 strength. Also, you could just use Cavalry with Flanking promotions to weaken them. Flanking III Horse Archers are like 85% withdrawal.

 

[Honor]

First of all, the Horsemen and the Avatar aren't evil. They're barbarian, and will just as happily destroy the Sheaim as the Elohim. They go after whoever happens to be nearby.

Well lore-wise they are evil demons trying to bring the creation to an end in their own little way, aren't they? But you are right, balance-wise it may not be fair to provide only the Good civs with a chance to fight them off, so here you go:

4. Bronze Reaper of Hellfire

- Available after the Blight (AC = 40)
- Requires Evil alignment to be equipped
- Can only be used by units with the Hero promotion
- +2 Physical Combat
- +20% against Demons, Undead
- Immune to Fear

* Requires Enchantment Mana, Copper
* 1000 Hammers

---

5. Iron Reaper of Hellfire

- Available after the first horseman appears (AC = 60)
- Requires Evil alignment to be equipped
- Can only be used by units with the Hero promotion
- +4 Physical Combat
- +40% against Demons, Undead
- Immune to Fear, Disease

* Requires Enchantment Mana, Iron
* 3000 Hammers

---

6. Mithril Reaper of Hellfire

- Available after the last horseman appears (AC = 70)
- Requires Evil alignment to be equipped
- Can only be used by units with the Hero promotion
- +6 Physical Combat
- +60% against Demons, Undead
- Immune to Fear, Disease, Plague, Wither

* Requires Enchantment Mana, Mithril
* 5000 Hammers

---

7. Bronze Warhammer of Balance

- Available after the Blight (AC = 40)
- Requires Neutral alignment to be equipped
- Can only be used by units with the Hero promotion
- +2 Physical Combat
- +20% against Demons, Undead
- Immune to Fear

* Requires Enchantment Mana, Copper
* 1000 Hammers

---

8. Iron Warhammer of Balance

- Available after the first horseman appears (AC = 60)
- Requires Neutral alignment to be equipped
- Can only be used by units with the Hero promotion
- +4 Physical Combat
- +40% against Demons, Undead
- Immune to Fear, Disease

* Requires Enchantment Mana, Iron
* 3000 Hammers

---

9. Mithril Warhammer of Balance

- Available after the last horseman appears (AC = 70)
- Requires Neutral alignment to be equipped
- Can only be used by units with the Hero promotion
- +6 Physical Combat
- +60% against Demons, Undead
- Immune to Fear, Disease, Plague, Wither

* Requires Enchantment Mana, Mithril
* 5000 Hammers

Second of all, Good civs should be working to LOWER the AC anyway, so if the AC is in the 70s+, they've failed. Also, it's dark fantasy. The world is supposed to end.

The thing is, why are the evil civs trying to raise the AC if it will bring on their destruction as well? I understand why the Sheaim do it, but the others? If the AC gets sky high, it is not only the good civs that will suffer. Wouldn't it add some flavor if there is some extraordinary way of fighting back when faced with utter destruction at the hands of the apocalypse?

Third, the Horsemen and the Avatar are supposed to be powerful. They're embodiments of the fears of the Gods, not just some random guy on a horse. They're supposed to be able to slaughter armies and leave nothing but destruction in their wake. Read the event text, it gives a good idea of the effect they're supposed to accomplish.

I understand and agree with this completely. They are supposed to do exactly that, but what do the civilizations of life and creation do to oppose this scenario? Wouldn't it be logical if this massive destruction raised some kind of reaction from the living world as well?

Fourth, for 5000 hammers you can build what, 20 champions? 20 champions will easily bring down any of the Horsemen, and with a few promotions and buffs can take down the Avatar. Hell, if you can spare 5000 hammers of production for a fairly weak piece of equipment, you've already won anyway.

The costs are just what I think they should be, they surely need to be tested and modified. Still I changed the costs of bronze, iron and mithril versions to 1000, 3000 and 5000 respectively, agreeing with what you say.

Fifth, Sphener, Chalid Astrakein, and the Mithril Golem are all more than capable of taking on the Horsemen with a decent chance of success. Same goes for many of the Civ heroes. The Horsemen are only ~30 strength. Also, you could just use Cavalry with Flanking promotions to weaken them. Flanking III Horse Archers are like 85% withdrawal.

The horsemen can get promotions, I think (at least the pedia says they can). Imagine a Combat V Avatar of Wrath against our puny, unpromoted Mithril Golem. Yes, of course one could use a lot of strategies to deal with the horsemen. It is not really about that, it is about watching the civs actually do something spectacular against the impending doom. The weapons are just something quick that came to mind for this purpose.

The real problem with these items is that they would require some SDK work to program the AI for utilizing them (wouldn't they?). This is a major problem since I've recently read a post by Kael saying they weren't doing any SDK work anymore.

 

[eerr]

crusader's blade-
+ 1 first strike chance
gives a chance at the effect of the immortal promotion, while blessed
+10% attack with honour
+10% defense with loyalty

magic bauble: a trinket from another era
immune to charm
+15% magic resistance
can be used as per a spellstaff

also, make the effect of that demon who hurt everyone around him into a crown or something

 

[abculatter2]

crusader's blade-
+ 1 first strike chance
gives a chance at the effect of the immortal promotion, while blessed
+10% attack with honour
+10% defense with loyalty

magic bauble: a trinket from another era
immune to charm
+15% magic resistance
can be used as per a spellstaff

also, make the effect of that demon who hurt everyone around him into a crown or something

Kael said that he's not going to do small, common items. You'd have to add these in a modmod

 

[eerr]

excalibur-
+ 1 first strike
gives a chance at the effect of the immortal promotion, while blessed
+25% attack with honour
+25% defense with loyalty


Leech crystal
steals 2 hp per turn from creatures in the tile
+10% magic resistance
immune to xp drain
sacrifice an artifact to gain a free promotion


also, you could make the effect of that demon who hurt everyone around him into a crown or something

Kael said that he's not going to do small, common items. You'd have to add these in a modmod

i meant them to be unique, i just didn't have any good names (excalibur seems cliche)

 

[blacknight]

A few more ideas:

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Banner of Hope
“This relic has appeared through the ages always seeming to be found in the places where hope was failing. It’s appearance would inspire the folk to renew their struggle against all odds.”

Grants wielder +2 Strength and +4 First Strikes.
Wielder can cast Hope.
If owning civilization ever has more than twice the score of another civilization, the Banner of Hope vanishes, to appear a few turns later in the capital of a weaker civilization.

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

Mirror of Knowledge
“One has only to gaze into the Mirror of Knowledge to glimpse traces of the thoughts and inspirations of a world of people.”

+50% research towards any technology that has already been discovered by any player.

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Befouled Raiment
“Some say evil has an aura to it. Some say it can infect all around it. Some even say inanimate objects can be affected if the evil is strong enough. Worn by a dozen of the Age of Magic’s most powerful liches, these robes hold but a shadow of their former enchantment. They hold all of their masters' evil.”

Grants Wielder +1 death strength.
Any space the wearer enters is changed to hell terrain.
The wearer gains a spell that can be cast when standing on any food resource. When cast the resource is permanently destroyed.

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Tome of the Universal Fabric
“This thick tome holds magical secrets never imagined. The entirety of creation, it claims, is simply woven and bound magical energy. With the right knowledge and rituals, this magic can be released.”

An arcane unit using the Tome gains a spell that can be cast when standing on any food resource. It has a five turn delay and when completed the spell permanently changes the resource into a raw mana node. However the caster has a chance of undoing himself and the tome as the magic is released, destroying them both (30% chance for adapt, 20% for mage, 10% for archmage).

 

[Visage Darkskin]

Apocryphal Tiara of Kyorlin

Unearthed near the wastes of the Letum Frigius, Fudeltice the Sage not only claimed that this item had been worn by Kyorlin himself, but that it had survived his final battle with Mulcarn and was now infused with Kyorlin's own powerful magical essence. While this idea (along with Fudeltice’s many other wild claims) has long been widely discredited, no one can deny the aura of powerful raw magic swirling around this mysterious item. Many adventurous souls have withered away and gone berserk trying to tame the tiara's powers. The few strong enough to have survived and to have wielded, albeit briefly, the magical energies of the tiara, reported being followed by a strange ominous shadow shortly before disappearing, leaving only the tiara behind. Efforts to remove the tiara, short of removing the head itself, have been unsuccessful in the past.

Trigger, appearance and equipment:
1. Becomes visible and acquirable 2-5 tiles away from the Letum Frigius in a random passable terrain after one non-AI player discovers sorcery (i.e. it does not appear at all without the Letum Frigius improvement on the map).
2. Its appearance is announced to all players (like and event).
3. Can be worn by any unit but can only be "removed" by the death of the unit (recreated on the tile where the unit died).
4. Marked by the “Apocryphal Tiara of Kyorlin” promotion/tag.

Effects when equipped:
1. User gets the Channeling I, II and III promotion. The Unit still has to gain experience to upgrade and gain the spells his civilization has access to (although the effect could also be nerfed to only grant Channeling I and II).
2. User gets the enraged promotion (removed after combat).
3. User gets the weak promotion (permanent).
4. 50% chance that a unique hostile Lich with death I, II, III, Chaos I, II, III and Mind I, II, III promotions appears ready for combat on the closest available tile (to reclaim the tiara). This effect only triggers when first equipped by a unit and if the Lich is not already present in the game. Therefore, there is a risk of the Lich reappearing every time a new unit equips the tiara (if the Lich is not already present in the game).
5. 2% chance that a unique hostile Lich with death I, II, III, Chaos I, II, III and Mind I, II, III promotions may appear on any given turn ready for combat (again, if the Lich is not already present in the game).


Some Strategic Pros
1. Another archmage-level caster with the physical attributes of whichever unit you used to upgrade.
2. Might be specially useful for civilizations which cannot build archmages.
3. The risk of the Lich appearing must be considered by the player wearing the item at all times, therefore adding some flavor.
4. Might allow divine casters to have access to more than their default magic spheres.

Some Strategic/Flavor Cons:
1. Do we really need/want another available spellcaster?
2. Potentially allowing dwarves and barbarian civilizations to have one advanced spell caster goes against their unique design, albeit it is only a “small” exception.
3. Might allow divine casters to have access to more than their default magic spheres. (Although the Govannon “train sphere” spell also does that.)
4. Although it would not be a problem for demons, it also seems a little anathematic to allow animals, boats, catapults, summons, golems wearing the tiara and casting spells. On the other hand, allowing only alive units to wear it would not allow infernals to use it.

Any change/nerf/suggestion is welcomed. If the FFH team is interested, the story of the tiara could also be fleshed out and more details on the “owner” of the tiara added. Oh, and please forgive any English mistakes I might have made.

 

[El_Duderino]

Bordsen's Flask
[from history 301 at the University of Midgar]
Bordsen was a legendary pirate from the age of magik, who was famous for always fighting after drinking from his seemingly endless flask. While he always won the duels (except for the last one see pg. 538) how he won was never the same, sometimes the booze would make him unhumanly strong, other times his drunken stumbles would set off a chain of events culminating in a freak accident which led to his oppenents demise (see pg. 672 for the infamous wallaby incident). The bottle is known to have been passed around from lanun captain to captain for the past 200 years, but its current location in unknown.

unit gains ability "drink from flask" - can be used then item respaws at random location on map
50% chance that it randomly gives unit any number of the following promotions enraged, weak, strong ect.
25% chance that unit vanishes for 1-5 turns and wakes up in a random location on map with a killer hangover
25% chance that unit gets projectile vomit and does fire damage to all surrounding units

 

[Arctic Circle]

The scrolls..

A series of magic items that are of various power and increase the rate arcane and disciple units gain xp..

 

[Mithrus]

Slightly off topic, but I'd like Kael and Co to consider adding 1-handed+shield and two handed weapons promos. Similar to ships, have a unit in the city be allowed to re-outfit itself with different equipment. The idea then is a 1h+shield adds to both defense and offense (+x/+x), while a 2h weapon adds purely to offense (+1.5x/+0). I think having 2x the normal bonus might be a bit too good, hence the 1.5x recommendation. Iron would be +3/+0, mithril would be +6/+0.

Also, weapon damage types (slash/pierce/blunt) and armor type (leather/chain/plate) could allow for more customization of units. Each damage type gives a ~+20% bonus vs one corresponding armor type, and maybe ~-20% vs a different armor type (blunt vs leather/slash vs chain/pierce vs plate). Instead of axemen/swordsmen/macemen, some more generic warrior-esque nomenclature be used. Similar to above, in a city each unit could change its gear out individually (weapons only, armor type is inherent to the unit). I know this can be a micro-management nightmare, but each unit could come with default equipment.

 

[eerr]

which is the bloodiest cult-like angel, demon, creature...

 

[Skitters]

I'm not a FfH expert by any means, but I'll just suggest an idea that's been bouncing around in my head. There's a few different aspects of it that you may or may not see as particularly useful, so I'll separate them out.


Part 1-
At game start, a few linked magic items (probably four or five) spawn scattered around the world.

Going off on a tangent form this suggestion, what if there was victory based on gathering up items?

In particularly I'm thinking on the lines of their being 21 Tablets/Orbs representing each of the Angels.

These would be scattered across the world but would start the game invisible, and will remain that way unless either being carried as an item or upon completion of a National Wonder (Temple of the Orbs...or some such?!).

This Wonder would initially reveal the Orbs/Tablets that the Nations Palace has an affinity for (So most nations will reveal 3 Orbs, Hippus perhaps 2 +1 random one)

Other Orbs would remain hidden - but by a unit carrying an Orb he/she has a chance to see other Orbs* - that chance growing with each Orb that they carry.

*NB would only be revealed if in normal visual site

So if a unit has a single Orb there would be perhaps a 10% chance that it will reveal the location of a hidden orb. As said before, an orb carried as an item would be visible (or at least you could see that a unit is carrying it as an item)

However, the Orb would have an increasingly detrimental effect on a unit carrying them - perhaps;
1 Orb: -1 strength
3 Orbs: -1 hit point per turn
7 Orbs: the unit location is revealed to all with the Temple of the Orbs
21 Orbs: reveals location to all whether they have a Temple or not.

A minimum of 7 Orbs would be required to see the Orbs for those Angels with no accompanying mana (creation and a couple of others?)

Upon collecting 21 Orbs - and returning to the Temple of Orbs - the carrying unit would be able to Cast a spell. This would take 10-20 turns to complete, during which time the unit would be immobile and all other nations would be informed.

I'm thinking on the lines that if successfull then the castor is perhaps summoning the One

 

[Darksaber1]

Sounds more like a victory condition.

 

[eerr]

PK crystal
+30% vs living creatures
after fighting a creature, one of the following may happen:
can gain level 1 magic or combat promotion from the foe
can gain knowledge of a nearby enemy city (as per the spy effect)
can light up nearby enemy territory, and reveal hidden units.(as per hawk/ranger hybrid)
can convert enemy mercenary

 

[Helsturm]

I always liked the idea of the "training tomes" in DnD. The ones that your character could study and gain a point of strength, or what have you.

What really makes something like that neat, now, is that the mechanics are already in the game.

If you added an option to "Bring the tomes back to the capital" to the event popup about finding ancient knowledge in the desert/ruins. Then you could spawn a book item.

The player would then pick it up, and cast the spell, which would open up a conversation giving him a list of free promotions. He would choose one, then the book would go away. To simulate the training, you could have the delayed fire and make it take 4-5 turns before he could move again.

Some examples of promotions:

Heroic strength I
Heroic defense I
All the trait promotions (say, an Elohim ranger being able to take the commando promotion)
The racial slaying promotions could be brought back

The idea is that the promotion would be a "top tier" sort of thing for an average character. You could even expand it to creating the Lost scrolls, that give a tier III spell to an arcane character that uses (ie, from a sphere he doesn't already have). It would just a neat little way to have some radical diversity in units.

It does sort of work similar to the mutate spell. The difference being that it the player is in control of what happens as opposed to it being random. Plus, the RP factor is pretty cool. And, because they are one-shot, one-unit deals...you're not really going to overpower anything if you increase the spawn rate.

As an aside...

I also always liked the idea that if my normal unit killed a hero unit, it got the heroic promotion.

 

[Domingo]

Here is my idea:

Embrace of the Overlords

Description: An unadorned silver circlet. When worn, the user is filled with the voice of the deep.

Effects:
Adds: Religion (Octopus Overlords)
Adds: Evangelist (Octopus Overlords)
Adds: Water Walking
Use: Transports the bearer from any ocean tile to any other visible ocean tile. (5 turn cooldown)


This could maybe even be a quest reward whenever you implement those.

 

[Helsturm]

I always liked the idea of the "training tomes" in DnD. The ones that your character could study and gain a point of strength, or what have you.

To expand on the idea that I presented above:

Tome of Battle

1. Grant 20 XP
2. Extra Attack (when carried)
3. Heroic Strength I (to city_attack unit)
4. Orc Slaying
5. Collateral Damage +10%

Tome of Defense

1. Heroic Defense I
2. Guardsmen Promotion (when carried)
3. Grant 20 XP
4. Teleport between cities
5. Build unique wonder that gives +30% defense to city

The Siege Tome

1. Grant 20 XP
2. City Attack I (to non city_attack unit)
3. Bombard +20%
4. Shadow Walk (when carried)
5. build unique wonder that gives seige weapons +2 XP

Tome of Nature God guy

1. Grant 20 XP
2. Commando
3. Double movement in forests/jungles (when carried)
4. Bloom (recon unit)
5. build unique wonder that gives +1 happy per forest in cross

Tome of Ancient Arcana

1. Grant 20 XP
2. Grant random tier 3 spell
3. Heroic Defense I (when carried)
4. Escape
5. Build unique wonder that adds +30% research



Just a couple of ideas.

 

[Bad Player]

Here is my idea:

Embrace of the Overlords

Description: An unadorned silver circlet. When worn, the user is filled with the voice of the deep.

Effects:
Adds: Religion (Octopus Overlords)
Adds: Evangelist (Octopus Overlords)
Adds: Water Walking
Use: Transports the bearer from any ocean tile to any other visible ocean tile. (5 turn cooldown)


This could maybe even be a quest reward whenever you implement those.

Possibly there could be 1 special item per religion (ie 7 items total) and they each have a e.g. 10% chance to spawn on a map (similar to e.g. odio's prison and other map features).

 

[cyther]

Perhaps some sort of Enchanted Heartstone item. It could be equipt to a unit that would gain the Enchanted Heartstone promotion which would act like immortality but when transported to the capital after combat loss the item would be dropped. Or It could create a non-moving heartstone unit that when killed the holding unit is killed but the holding unit acts as an immortal while it is alive.