Fafnir13
King
Followers of Essus seem to lack a bit of shiny that all other religions have, that being unique disciple units. Shadow Riders are certainly nothing to sneeze at, but are a few high attack power units really worth giving up on Typhoon, Ring of Flames, or any of the other useful spells and abilities that other religions bring into play? Players who choose to follow Essus wholeheartedly need something to make it worth their while.
So, I am proposing we add spies. A spy is a 0 attack power disciple unit which has the special ability to move into tiles occupied by enemy or friendly units for a variety of nefarious purposes. In cities, they can be used to poison water supplies (adds to sickness), hamper construction (subtracts from hammers), incite dissidents (adds to unhappiness), and a number of other skills unlocked with various techs. For instance, some buildings in a city (like marketplaces, libraries, et cetera) can be by a spy once gunpowder is researched. The spy also has fulfills the very basic function of spreading the religion. Being able to do so in hostile territory is especially useful given that Essus retains the vanilla holy city ability of getting vision on cities where the religion has spread.
Spies can also perform missions against units. Poisoning food supplies can damage by a small percent or add the diseased promotion (your choice). Bribery can even be attempted on the unit with lowest power, price varying based on the unit (loyalty prevents this).
Performing a mission can consumes the spy. More can be built in the city with Nox Noctis or via an Undercouncil resolution that replaces the Nightwatch one. To aid the spy in carrying out its missions, it is invisible to most units much like Sidar ghosts.
So...sound like a good idea? My hope is that it would make Essus worth following. Gives some direct damage and other unique ways of playing havoc with the enemy. Probably too much for the Mod at this stage, but I can always hope.
So, I am proposing we add spies. A spy is a 0 attack power disciple unit which has the special ability to move into tiles occupied by enemy or friendly units for a variety of nefarious purposes. In cities, they can be used to poison water supplies (adds to sickness), hamper construction (subtracts from hammers), incite dissidents (adds to unhappiness), and a number of other skills unlocked with various techs. For instance, some buildings in a city (like marketplaces, libraries, et cetera) can be by a spy once gunpowder is researched. The spy also has fulfills the very basic function of spreading the religion. Being able to do so in hostile territory is especially useful given that Essus retains the vanilla holy city ability of getting vision on cities where the religion has spread.
Spies can also perform missions against units. Poisoning food supplies can damage by a small percent or add the diseased promotion (your choice). Bribery can even be attempted on the unit with lowest power, price varying based on the unit (loyalty prevents this).
Performing a mission can consumes the spy. More can be built in the city with Nox Noctis or via an Undercouncil resolution that replaces the Nightwatch one. To aid the spy in carrying out its missions, it is invisible to most units much like Sidar ghosts.
So...sound like a good idea? My hope is that it would make Essus worth following. Gives some direct damage and other unique ways of playing havoc with the enemy. Probably too much for the Mod at this stage, but I can always hope.
![[to_xp]Gekko](https://civfanatics-data.community.forum/avatars/m/74/74677.jpg?1475248346){kind=avatar}
to current productio) and so on. Missions require gold to use, maybe base to cost on the crime rate of the city so that crime-ridden cities are cheaper to operate in.
