The world of Lone Wolf: Magnamund.

[Hyperborean]

Kinboat just posted the Kai Lord I requested a while ago!

I'm glad to hear that you're making progress.

Speaking of progress, since it's impossible to fill the GL-list of Lourden with indigenous leaders I would suggest you just use the leaders of the neighboring countries (like Grandar Beylian). You could use Magnalord Fennic of Bautar and Archchief Borghanaphon of Chaman as SGL, since neither the Kloons (in Chaman) or the Herbalish (in Bautar) are suitable as military leaders. Svedchek Moldo (of Caron) would make an excellent MGL, on the other hand, considering the Ogrons are blueskinned giants (and not too bright, I might add).

 

[Hyperborean]

I looked at the map and noticed a strange thing. You have placed a lore stone in Torgar, and another in Kalte. The seven lore stones were placed in Varetta, Herdos, Ohrido, Tahou, Luomi, Gamir/Darke and Vinaldo/Shpyder. It's no wonder Gnaag could get hold of the three remaining lore stones so easily when two of them were in the Drakkarim countries, and the third in Luomi was conquered at the beginning of the Darklands war.

Are you going to include Sommlending Border Rangers as a unit? They could move like scouts, but have both offensive and defensive strength. I would also like to see Gourgaz-units employed by the Darklords. They are tough foes. And the Xaghash (lesser Darklords) are even tougher, but they only appear in book 14, so I guess they are not very numerous.

Have you ever considered making Ixia a one city-civ like Ruel? Even the Darklords feared the power of Ixia. And that's for a good reason: had Lone Wolf not stopped Lord Ixiataaga in book 17 the undead would have spread all over Magnamund.

I forgot a couple of names for the Sommlendings: the ancient ruins of Raumas, where Lone Wolf meets Banedon, and the bridge of Alema where prince Pelethar is killed. But I guess Sommerlund already have so many names that it doesn't matter.

 

[Hyperborean]

A few more barbarian camps would also be nice, especially in the Hellswamp, the Hammerlands and the Hardlands, since these countries were full of bandits and agarashi. A barbarian camp north of Herdos could also symbolise the threat of Lord Zahda.

 

[mrtn]

Ixia is a volcano, and I've changed the warning texts to match.

I'm not sure where Herdos and some of the other places are, hopefully I can find them in a map when I get home.

 

[Hyperborean]

I'm not sure where Herdos and some of the other places are, hopefully I can find them in a map when I get home.

If you don't have immediate access to the maps, you can try this site: http://www.btinternet.com/~julie20/maps.htm

It's got maps from all the first 20 books plus the map from the Magnamund Companion.

Herdos is the town in northern Dessi where one of the Lore stones is located, and the Hammerlands is the bandit-country just north of Bor. The Hardlands (or Tadatizaga) is the country between Ixia and the Darklands, on the west coast of Northern Magnamund. And the Hellswamp is (of course) the largest swamp in Magnamund (it's hard to miss).

I've finally had the time to look at the map more thoroughly, and it looks like most resources are in place. The only things I thought was missing was a horse in Lourden, iron in the Hardlands, gold and silver in Sommerlund (near Ruanon), and perhaps a couple of fishes near Sommerlund's coasts, and outside Ragadorn.
I would have placed the resources somewhat differently, but it's close enough. There should for instance be a few more resources here and there, particularly iron, but if you take gameplay-balance in consideration, it might be wise to avoid an inflation of some resources.

I assume you're not going to use resources like copper, tin, sulphur, jadin, bronin and platinum?

You can find a site with all the resources in Magnamund here: http://www.angelfire.com/or/SilentWolf/atlas.html

There is also a nation-list at Wise Eagle's Lone Wolf-site (I posted the link a couple of pages ago), but it's slightly different than this one. This nation-list is a direct copy from the Magnamund Companion.

You have placed the Lore stones in Varetta, Herdos, Tahou and Ohrido correctly. But the fifth Lore stone should be placed in Luomi in northern Eru (northwest of Bor), and the sixth should be placed in Darke (the capital of Nyras), and the seventh in Shpyder (tha capital of Zaldir). Both cities are found on the west coast.

 

[Hyperborean]

I have finally figured out what the magic nodes are for.
It's a pretty good idea. But shouldn't Durenor, Lencia, Talestria and Bor also be able to build the magic guild wonder? As it looks now a Magician's Guild is most likely to be built in Sommerlund, Dessi or Vassagonia. It's not entirely unrealistic, but at least you could move the magic node in Vassagonia (south of Barrakeesh) to Nikesa in Kakush (since book 21 mentions the Magician's Guild in Nikesa (which Rhous comes from)). That should narrow the contenders for a Magician's Guild down to two: Sommerlund and Dessi. The others should at least be given a chance to build the Magician's Guild.

Speaking of wonders, do you have all the wonders you need, or may I come with a few suggestions?

 

[mrtn]

This is the excel file where I keep the mod ideas, and how I want it, so it shows how the mod should be, rather than how it happens to be atm.

In the lowest part of the "Buildings" page you'll find the latest wonder ideas. But yes, I'm open to new suggestions.

The Magic Nodes are resources needed for the Magicians and for certain wonders.

I'm using copper already (as a bonus resource), but I won't add the other ones you named.

 

[Hyperborean]

I'm using copper already (as a bonus resource), but I won't add the other ones you named.

That's probably just as well. I have absolutely no idea what jadin, bronin, platinum and sulphur are good for. Luxury resources maybe? And tin is only found in Lencia and Eru.

How about tobacco then? There was a section in book 9 where tobacco from Lourden was mentioned. I wonder why tobacco isn't listed as a resource in the Magnamund Companion?

Anyway, I've read through the file briefly, and there's a lot I want to comment, but for now I'll just stick to the wonders.

I was going to suggest the Tanoz-tukor, the Cathedral of Tekaro, and the Temple of Truth as wonders, but I see you already have them on your list. There isn't much for me to add except that maybe the Tanoz-tukor should give the ability to build larger armies or to heal in enemy territory, or maybe both (I don't know what you had in mind).

Are you familiar with the Tower of the Sun: the newest and biggest Lone Wolf site (after Project Aon)?

I found my way to www.towerofthesun.com only recently, and I stumbled across something interesting: the seven wonders of Magnamund.

http://www.towerofthesun.com/lonewolf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=371

That might give you some idea of any potential wonders you might want to include.

Personally I would recommend the Walls of Holmgard as a wonder. The walls of Holmgard are 200 feet high, over 60 meters! That certainly qualifies as a wonder. I mean, think about it: how many buildings in Stockholm reach that height? I don't know exactly what effect it would have, maybe barracks in all cities, or half the upgrade cost for units?

Another wonder is the Citadel of Kaag. Without risk of exaggerating I would consider this to be the wonder of wonders. The citadel reaches a height of 2 miles above the ground! That's 3200 meters! That would make it the biggest building in all of Magnamund. Nothing else even comes close. Let me quote the relevant passage from section 309, book 14:

In your lifetime you have gazed upon many awe-inspiring cities, but few compare with the enormous size and monstrous grandeur of Kaag. A coal-black curtain-wall constructed of massive blocks of smooth, featureless stone, encircles this city, forty miles wide. At its centre there arises a gigantic citadel of black marble, pyramid-shaped and slitted with numerous vents to allow what passes for air to circulate within. Its highest point towers two miles above the desolate plain.

Well, that says it all.

Apart from that I don't think there's much I can add. There are a few more candidates for wonders, like the Anarium in Tahou (book 9). There is also the Thalis Temple in the same city, as well as the Tahou Cauldron, which leads to the impressive ruins of the ancient city Zaaryx, situated 500 feet below Tahou.

And then we have the equally impressive city of Varetta, built on the very centre of the ancient realm of Cynx, where Nyxator once ruled.

Allow me to once again quote a relevant passage (section 100, book 6):

It is late afternoon when you catch your first breath-taking glimpse of Varetta. Built on a massive plateau, this city has stood since time immemorial. The walls and buildings are immense, constructed from blood-red rock and crowded together in complicated splendour. Great stone dragons writhe along the battlements, their coiled tails entangling the gatehouses and portals of the outer wall, and spirals of smoke rise from the mouths of angry-faced gargoyles, crouching like spies on top of the roofs and towers that fill the sky.

Varetta is also home of "humble" Gwynian, the greatest sage in Magnamund. Varetta has an observatory and a library. Maybe they could be the equivalents of the Observatory of Copernicus and the Great Library. I believe the official name of the academy was Varetta's Halls of Learning.

I was also going to suggest Nyxator's Lorestones and Shianti's Moonstone as wonders, but it appears you have other uses for them.

Agarash's Doomstones as an evil wonder?

The Sceptre of Dakushna?

Maybe Helgedad should count as a wonder too. I mean: it's built on a rock surrounded by lava, and one million giak slaves died during the construction. It's pretty impressive in a megalomaniac kind of way. The Darklords could have built Helgedad on a tropical paradise island, but noooo, they just had to build it in the most inaccessible, inhospitable, unhealthy place imaginable.

And that's all I can think of.

 

[mrtn]

Another wonder is the Citadel of Kaag.

Yeah, I'll add it (as The Great Citadel). What effects should it give?

Personally I would recommend the Walls of Holmgard as a wonder.

Maybe, have to think about this one.

I was also going to suggest Nyxator's Lorestones and Shianti's Moonstone as wonders, but it appears you have other uses for them.

My understanding of these are that they are not available to ordinary mortals (still haven't read more than a bit of book 14 ), so I'm using Moonstone as the unavailable Trashcan tech. (giving railroads and such...)

Agarash's Doomstones as an evil wonder?

The Sceptre of Dakushna?

What are these, why should I include them, what would they do?

 

[mrtn]

Oh, yeah, now I know what the Great Citadel should give; 50% production boost and allow city size 3. I'll probably put it at Slavery in the second era, i e it'll only be available to the Darklords and the Drakkarim.

I've redesigned the first era, now it looks something like this:
(Playtesting showed that it's important to get roads earlier...)

 

[Hyperborean]

Yeah, I'll add it (as The Great Citadel). What effects should it give?

Oh, yeah, now I know what the Great Citadel should give; 50% production boost and allow city size 3. I'll probably put it at Slavery in the second era, i e it'll only be available to the Darklords and the Drakkarim.

Either that, or you could just use it as a Forbidden Palace. Zagarna, who became the Archlord after Vashna ruled the Darklands from his "hometown" of Kaag for over 1000 years. So during a large part of the Darklands existence (MS 3072-5070) Kaag was the de facto capital of the Darklands.

I was also going to suggest Nyxator's Lorestones and Shianti's Moonstone as wonders, but it appears you have other uses for them.

My understanding of these are that they are not available to ordinary mortals (still haven't read more than a bit of book 14 ), so I'm using Moonstone as the unavailable Trashcan tech. (giving railroads and such...)

Perhaps you shouldn't read the following paragraphs if you don't like spoilers, since the Moonstone is very much in the centre of attention from book 16 to book 22.

*SPOILERS AHEAD!*

The Moonstone was created by the Shianti; the whole chronology is centered around the creation of the Moonstone (MS 1; 1 MS = one year after the creation of the Moonstone and one year before its creation, respectively). So that certainly makes it more important than Nyxator's Lorestones. However, it tipped the balance between good and evil so the Moonstone was sent to the plane of Daziarn where it had once been created. After Greystar's quest (the fourth and final book: the War of Wizards is now available for download at Project Aon, btw) the Moonstone was once more transferred back to Daziarn, but there it was stolen by Naar, who used its incredible powers to open Shadowgates in various places in Magnamund. In book 16 there is a Shadowgate near the Maaken-gorge, and again in book 17, Naar uses a Shadowgate to free Lord Ixiataaga. Lone Wolf travels to Ixia to stop him, but in book 18 he finds out that it was a diversion. Naar had seized this moment to open another Shadowgate close to the Kai Monastery in Sommerlund, through which he would send a new race of evil dragons to destroy the Kai and Sommerlund, so Lone Wolf has to race back home from the other end of Magnamund to prevent this from happening.
I don't have book 19, but I think it's fairly safe to say that the Moonstone continues to play an important part. In book 20 the time has finally come to pay Naar a visit and settle the score once and for all. Lone Wolf travels to his home and takes back the Moonstone. In book 21, the Voyage of the Moonstone, the Moonstone has to be transported to the Shianti in southern Magnamund because it disturbed the natural order. And in book 22 the Moonstone is finally delivered to the Shianti.

Quote from book 21:

At first the presence of the Moonstone seemed greatly beneficial to Sommerlund. Crops grew abundantly, incidence of disease and illness became increasingly rare, and the newly-born were uniformly healthy. Even the offspring of the impoverished who, in normal times, could expect only one in three of their infants to survive longer than a month after birth, were all in good health and exceptional in their physical and mental development. The Sommlending called this extraordinary period of providence 'the Blessing of the Moonstone', yet this time of good fortune could not last. The power of the Moonstone was a great force for Good, but it was also greatly disruptive of the natural order of Magnamund. Soon death itself became a rarity in Sommerlund, and the four seasons of the year were slowly transformed into one unending spring.

*End spoilers*

So, clearly, the Moonstone is a powerful artefact, more powerful than the Sommerswerd and the Lorestones combined (you don't hear about the Lorestones stopping people from dying).

Agarash's Doomstones as an evil wonder?

The Sceptre of Dakushna?


What are these, why should I include them, what would they do?

The seven Doomstones were created by Agarash as a mockery of Nyxator's seven Lorestones. They are obviously evil, and destroys and corrupts people. There is one Doomstone in book 3 and another in book 7. A third, "the master stone", appears in book 15. It was once attached to Dakushna's sceptre, but if I have understood it correctly it was lost BEFORE the demise of the of Darklords.
As you might know Lencia invaded Nyras and Zaldir, and Warlord Magnaarn searched for the Doomstone of Darke to bring the Nadziranim under his command in order to repel the invasion. His search was successful, and he would have destroyed the Lencians if it had not been for Lone Wolf. The reunited sceptre and Doomstone were destroyed in the fight, so unlike the Lorestones the Doomstones can actually be destroyed.
If you plan to include the Doomstones as an evil wonder it's pretty obvious that you can't have the Sceptre of Dakushna as a wonder too. I don't think the Sceptre in itself had any magicial properties.
As for what the Doomstones do I have absolutely no idea; besides destroying and corrupting things they don't do much. It appears that the master stone controlled the other stones, and that it turned warlord Magnaarn into some kind of undead creature, and took control of him, rather than the other way around, so maybe that gives you a few ideas.

Here's a link to a discussion about the Doomstones:

http://www.towerofthesun.com/lonewolf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=514

None of the wonders I've spoken of now (Lorestones, Doomstones, the Moonstone) were created by humans, but they were certainly used by humans and had a great effect on them. It's up to you if you want to use them or not.

I can think of a few other wonders, like the city of Ixia, with its crystal tower, or the Lajakeka (I have always wondered whether it was unique or if there where others). But I don't think they are needed. If you need more ideas you could always check the link in my last post.

The tech tree looks good. I don't think I have many comments on the tech, and I don't want to make a long post even longer, but there are two things I would like to push for. Firstly, I really think you should add metallurgy as a late tech which enables the construction of cannons. In the later books cannons are everywhere. The Darklords have them on their ironclads, and in their fortresses (you can actually see them on TWO illustrations in book 14 (illustrations II & XX)), and in book 21 there's even a small cannon on the cover. Both the Sommlendings and the pirates in that book uses cannons.
Secondly, regarding the skyships I mentioned a few posts ago I can live with the fact that it is a late tech everybody can use. However: since the Elder Magi invented the skyships they should be able to build them early on (era 1 or 2). In book 8 Lone Wolf and Paido uses an ancient skyship, a Levitron, to leave the temple of Ohrido. Apparently the Levitron is still operational despite the fact that the temple was abandoned some 7000 years earlier (long live magic!). And I think that their skyships should be a lot better (and preferably cheaper) than everbody elses.
Other civs that should be able to take to the air early are the Darklords (Kraan and Zlanbeasts) and Vassagonia (Itikars).

The Magnakai Book and the Lorestones appear a bit late in the tech tree. Perhaps the Magnakai Book should appear at the same time as the Tower of the Sun since they are of the same age. Or at least you could make the Magnakai tech follow directly upon the Kai lore. The Lorestones are far older, but since it was Sun Eagle who discovered their true power maybe their appearances as resources should be linked to that tech (Kai lore). People knew of the Lorestones before that, but those stupid lords and kings in the Stornlands actually believed the Lorestone granted immortality.
Anyway, these are just some suggestions, I understand if you feel you have to flesh out era 4 just a little bit.
You might also want to introduce the caravel since caravels appear in book 21. I don't know much about ships, but I know it's a merchant-ship, and definitely bigger and better than a cog. And galleons are even better, but I don't know if there are any in Magnamund, I haven't really checked the ship-types in the books. There is a sloop in book 15, a man-o'-war in book 17, and a clipper in book 18 (all Lencian ships). Perhaps you could introduce astronomy/astrology as a tech to be able to build some of the more advanced ships (with cannons).

I really should stop writing these long posts.

I have more to say, but I had to stop somewhere.

 

[mrtn]

Either that, or you could just use it as a Forbidden Palace. Zagarna, who became the Archlord after Vashna ruled the Darklands from his "hometown" of Kaag for over 1000 years. So during a large part of the Darklands existence (MS 3072-5070) Kaag was the de facto capital of the Darklands.

But everyone should get a FP, not just the Darklords. I'll keep the generic "Castle" or whatever I named it.

I don't really see a way to add the Moonstone, for now, at least, I'll keep it out of the mod.

I've thought about moving Kai Lore to the 2nd era, but have no place for it yet. The Magnakai tech is more of a Lone Wolf tech, i e it should come very late.

I'll add the Caravel as a late ship. Or maybe I should use the Carrack gfx instead?

 

[Hyperborean]

But everyone should get a FP, not just the Darklords. I'll keep the generic "Castle" or whatever I named it.

Yes, of course, but maybe the Great Citadel could be some kind of "super"-FP? Speaking of which, there is some controversy concerning the Lencian capital.

http://www.towerofthesun.com/lonewolf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=535

It appears as if the Lencian capital has moved around a bit. First Gamir (Darke), then maybe Vadera, then Helmstorm, then back to Vadera, and maybe they will move the capital back to Gamir again now that the Drakkarim has been defeated. The Lencians can't make up their minds.

If you tell a Lencian to go to the capital, I wonder where he'll go?

Maybe you should rename castle citadel since I recall that the castle in Vadera is called citadel (book 15, section 257). Both Kaag and Vadera have citadels and function as capitals instead of the real capitals (Helgedad and Helmstorm respectively). A coincidence? I think not.

When I think about it, astronomy, if it were a late tech, should probably not be linked to advanced ships. By then I think they no longer need to navigate after the stars. Astronomy should make the observatory-wonder available.

I looked into the matter of ships and noticed that there are Sommlending caravels both in book 2 and 12. And in book 5 Lone Wolf is travelling with a Vassagonian galley. Apparently the Vassagonians were falling behind in the scientific research, or perhaps they couldn't afford to update their galleys to caravels.

I've been looking a bit on your unit-lists, but it's hard to get a good overview. Are you really going to use all of those units in the game? There are like 5 different types of giaks.
A thought I've been entertaining lately is to replace the warrior/spearman/swordman with militia/infantry/heavy infantry and do something similar with the cavalry: horseman/cavalry/heavy cavalry/knight.

A list of some of the more important units would probably look something like this:

Generic list

Militia 1/1/1
Infantry 3/2/1
Heavy infantry 4/3/1
Horseman 2/1/2
Cavalry 4/2/2
Heavy cavalry 5/3/2
Archers 2/1/1
Longbowmen 3/1/1
Crossbowmen 4/2/1
Magician 4/3/1

Specific civs

Darklords

Giaks 2/1/1
Doomwolves 2/1/2
Doomwolf riders 3/1/2
Gourgaz 4/3/1
Vordak 5/3/1
Xaghash 6/6/1
Helghast 8/8/1
Deathknight 6/4/2
Tukodak 7/4/2
Nadziranim 6/4/1

Sommerlund

Border ranger (scout) 2/2/2
Sommlending Knight 6/4/2
Kai Lord 9/9/1

Durenor

Durenese Knight 6/5/2

Lencia

Lencian Knight 6/4/2
Lencian Crusader 7/4/2

Talestria/Slovia

Knight 6/4/2

Vassagonia

Sharnazim 6/3/2

Dessi

Vakeros 6/3/1
Elder Magi 4/6/1

Bor

Musketeer 4/5/1

I haven't really given much thought to the strengths and weaknesses of each unit, so there is always the need for some adjustments, but I think it's fairly balanced. I don't think Bor and Dessi should have cavalry. Dwarves don't ride, and Dessi is... well, just a jungle, really. So there's not much room for horses there, except maybe around Hikas and Anasundi where there might be some plains. Paido seems like a fairly good horseman, though. I just don't think they have horses (or riders) in enough quantities to build entire armies around them.
And the Helghasts should be invisible, only Kai Lords and magicians should be able to spot them.
I haven't included air units, ships and catapults or cannons in this list. This is just a suggestion, loosely based on a list I made from the time I planned to make a civ 2 scenario, many years ago.

Hmmm, come to think of it, the Sommerswerd isn't exactly made by humans either, and yet you have it as a wonder. Maybe the Moonstone could be a wonder which increases happiness, and perhaps it could cause the appearance of Shadowgates as a resource (instead of magic nodes). And it could give rise to an interdimensional awareness as a very late tech. I have to think of a better name though: how about interdimensional travel, cosmic awareness, astral travelling, Daziarnology, or something like that? I wonder if I could find any ideas in the Greystar books? Through Daziarn the magicians and scholars could become aware of other civilizations beyond Magnamund, and begin to study its many wonders. The Shianti (also known as the Ancients, or "lesser gods") came from Daziarn, so it's not particularly unrealistic.

 

[mrtn]

That unit list isn't possible, the AI needs defensive units to not go totally bonkers.
The different giaks fill the general warrior/spearman/swordsman roles.
The Magicians will fill a defensive and bombard role. This will probably make them much more useful for the AI to catch the Helghasts.

And the Helghasts should be invisible, only Kai Lords and magicians should be able to spot them.

Of course.

Dessi will be able to build cavalry if they find any horses.

 

[Hyperborean]

That unit list isn't possible, the AI needs defensive units to not go totally bonkers.

Hmmm... how about garrisons 1/3/1?

The Magicians will fill a defensive and bombard role. This will probably make them much more useful for the AI to catch the Helghasts.

Yeah, I thought about a bombard ability for the magicians, but then again, that's what catapults are for. It's tricky to find an appropriate role for the magician.

I have rarely encountered invisible units when I have played civ; at least not until I started to play Rocoteh's WW2-global scenario a few days ago; and definitely not invisible land units. How does it work? If a magician/Kai lord spots a helghast, can other units who cannot normally see the helghast attack it? If not, then maybe the magicians' offensive ability should be beefed up a bit so they have a chance of attacking and destroying a helghast. But magicians shouldn't become too powerful, because that would render the knights useless. Perhaps they should have a high offensive capability and a much lower defensive capability?

If I remember correctly there was a discussion in book 14 about the left-handed and the right-handed magic. The nadziranim practiced right-handed magic, and the good magicians practiced left-handed magic, I think. I don't think Greystar followed that philosophy, it appears that the Shianti used a different kind of magic. I was thinking that maybe the right-handed magic should be more offensive, and the left-handed magic more defensive, but then again, we are not talking about Jedi and Sith here. It appears that if you mastered both kinds of magic you would become incredibly powerful. That was the reason Vonotar betrayed Sommerlund, so he would learn the secrets of the right-handed magic, and become almost invincible. I have heard something of a duel he had with Alyss (she appears in book 16) in one of the novels Joe Dever co-wrote with some other author, but Vonotar lost the fight and was transformed to the aged hunchback we know from book 2.

Anyway, when I think about it Daziarnology doesn't sound like a bad idea. But it should definitely be a late tech, so I guess the bit I said about Shadowgates replacing magic nodes doesn't work, unless you want magic to appear very late in the game. But the Shadowgates doesn't have to be linked to Daziarnology, they could be linked to a Moonstone wonder instead, which would appear earlier. I don't know, maybe it's a bad idea. But I was thinking about the Shadowgates, and how they appear on Magnamund. We know for a fact that there is a Shadowgate in the Magician's Guild in Toran, and another in Torgar. They are stationary, while there is a "jumping" Shadowgate in the southern parts of the Shadakine Empire in southern Magnamund (see Greystar book 2: the Forbidden city), and then we have all the Shadowgates Naar opens in Ixia, near the Kai Monastery, at the Maaken-gorge, etc. I don't know if there are any more. But the question is, regarding the stationary ones in Toran and Torgar: how did they get there? Did the Darklords and the Sommlendings excavate them? Had they always been there? Or did the magicians somehow create them with magic? And what about the "jumping" Shadowgate always appearing in different places? Is it a natural phenomenon or the result of a failed magical experiement?
The reason I'm asking this is because even if it's unclear if the Shadowgates can be created or not, it is clear that the scholars of Magnamund gradually learns more about the function of the Shadowgates during the course of time. If I may continue my habit of quoting passages from the books (book 20, section 223):

You [Lone Wolf] accompany the members of the secret council to the deepest chamber below the Guildhall wherein lies the Daziarn Portal. It is a perpetual entrance to a Shadow Gate and is one of only a handful which exist upon Magnamund. For many centuries the magicians of Toran have used this portal to banish criminals and traitors from Sommerlund, believing that it led to the limbo of deep space from where there could be no escape. However, in recent years their understanding of this portal has greatly increased following your own journeys through similar Shadow Gates. Inspired by your accounts of your experiences on the planes of existence which lie beyond the material universe of Aon, and by their own experimentation, the Brotherhood magicians and the Elders of the High Council of Dessi have since been able to achieve limited control over the forces which exist within these supernatural portals.

And then they use their magic to send Lone Wolf across the astral plane to the plane of Darkness. So there has definitely been some progress of the knowledge of the Shadowgates. We could call this tech Daziarnology (I can't think of a better name). But I have no idea what it would do. It cannot cause the appearance of Shadowgates since these already exist, and since you have magic nodes as a resource I think the idea of Shadowgates as a resource would be redundant. Perhaps Daziarnology could make the Moonstone wonder become available, since the Moonstone is primarily used to open (and close) Shadowgates. Although I must point out that the Moonstone can be used for so much more, it's the most powerful artefact in all of Aon. It can both create and destroy life.

Dessi will be able to build cavalry if they find any horses.

So lets make sure no other (friendly) civ will have a spare horse resource to trade with Dessi.

 

[mrtn]

Hmmm... how about garrisons 1/3/1?

I don't see anything particularly wrong with my unit lines, so I'm gonna keep them. Having three different defenders is a good idea IMO.
The Units 1 page in the excel file is very obsolete btw, it's the units 2 and 3 that count.
I think that a defensive unit that have a high bombard value fills a good role, I'll keep the magicians like that, at least until I've playtested and got proof that I'm wrong.
I'll probably give them lethal sea bombard.

I've thought about left- and right-handed magic before, but I've never found a game implemention, so it'll stay in the "Dismissed" folder.
The same with Shadowgates; however cool they may be I still need a way to implement them in the mod, if I can't; they're out.

 

[Hyperborean]

I don't see anything particularly wrong with my unit lines, so I'm gonna keep them. Having three different defenders is a good idea IMO.

Well, I didn't say I thought there were something wrong with them, I was trying to help by showing an old (modified) list I made years ago, just to show what an alternative list might look like. You have a lot more units in your list, of course, and that's probably the reason I'll never make a scenario, because I don't have the time or devotion it requires. I usually quit after I've made an unfinished map and some equally unfinished lists of units and cities, and stuff. For instance, I made a map of Ereb Altor (if you know what that is) for civ 2, but I never bothered to finish it.

BTW, you asked me about the throne of Andurin a while ago, maybe you should check this link for some useful information, especially post 3:

http://www.towerofthesun.com/lonewolf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=668

"fields of crops and of other vegetables"

 

[mrtn]

Yes, I know about Ereb Altor. Hm, isn't there a "map translator" from civ 2 to civ 3 somewhere?

Maybe I should add a "Gift of Ishir" tech for the dwarves? This would give "crops" ( a resource that really need a name...) and maybe a throne of andarin wonder, though that seems to be of lesser need now...
Maybe skip the wonder altogether and just have the resource? Or add the resource at "Drodarin", the dwarven start tech?

 

[Hyperborean]

Sorry, I meant Andarin, not Andurin.

Yes, I know about Ereb Altor. Hm, isn't there a "map translator" from civ 2 to civ 3 somewhere?

Well, I uninstalled Civ 2 years ago, and the Ereb Altor map with it. And even if I hadn't, the map would have vanished when my old computer died about a year ago. I lost a lot of stuff that day.

I've been thinking of making a new Ereb Altor map for Civ 3, but I don't have the time right now. Making a map that roughly looks like Ereb is easy, it's the polishing bit that usually makes me give up. It takes ages to get the proportions of the landmass right. And I cannot bother with that right now.

 

[Hyperborean]

Maybe I should add a "Gift of Ishir" tech for the dwarves? This would give "crops" ( a resource that really need a name...) and maybe a throne of andarin wonder, though that seems to be of lesser need now...
Maybe skip the wonder altogether and just have the resource? Or add the resource at "Drodarin", the dwarven start tech?

Well, that's up to you. I don't have the book, so I know very little about it. But the throne of Andarin sounds wondrous enough to me.

Anyway, I came back to tell you that the Magnamund Companion is now available at Project Aon.

http://www.projectaon.org/books.htm

Go to other material, view online/print (PDF) and choose the Magnamund Companion.

I already have the Magnamund Companion in Swedish, so I thought it wasn't much of a deal, but they have stuffed a lot of extra-material into it, from the news-letters I think. I haven't paid attention to the newsletters before, but perhaps I should look at them to see if there's anything else I have missed. I have learned a lot by reading the MC appendixes. For instance, did you know that Ilion and Halia were once a part of Lencia? That means that their capitals, Feravan and Saldor, respectively, belongs to Lencia. So, I would advice you to remove Feravan and Saldor from Bor's city-list and add them to Lencia's. If you want you could also add the names Ilion and Halia to the list. As if 36 names wouldn't be enough.

A few other things of interest:

There's a strong alliance between Ilion and Talestria. The knights of Ilion form a cavalry regiment under Queen Evaine.

The Zakhans of Vassagonia have attempted to assassinate the Grandars of Firalond for a long time.

Valerion (in Northern Magnamund) was founded by religious refugees from Siyen and Shadaki (in Southern Magnamund).

Anari is allied to Slovia, Lourden, Firalond and Kakush, but Slovia is not allied to Lourden, Firalond and Kakush. Slovian mercenaries account for almost 70% of its army!

There are 3 kinds of Giaks: Mountain Giaks, Swamp Giaks and Szalls. It appears that it is the Mountain Giaks who are used as soldiers by the Darklords.

Two more potential MGL names are Prince Lydan of Winigen (who built Castle Taunor in Lyris), and his brother: Prince Frennen of Woeld (in Salony next to the Slovian border). They could be used as MGL for Slovia.

You can also add Winigen (in Lyris) to the city-list of Slovia if you like.

Prince Lydan (or Lyden?) was killed in the battle of Tido (in Slovia).

Concerning our Shadow Gate discussion, it appears that I was right in that the Shadow Gates in Northern Magnamund are stationary, while the Shadow Gates in Southern Magnamund tend to migrate.
Also, in addition to the Shadow Gates I mentioned a few posts back, there is also a Shadow Gate in Ikaya in Kalte, and another one in Barrakeesh.

The royal family of Sommerlund is actually Durenese!

Only a minority of the Hammerlendings seems to be Drakkarim. The others are bandits who originate from Kagorst before the Drakkarim destroyed their city (and later rebuilt it under Darklord rule).

If I have understood it correctly there is a Drakkarim population in northern Magador!

Another MGL for Lyris (and hence: Slovia) could be Hal Morkarn. He is the mercenary captain Lone Wolf meets in Varetta. During the Darkland Wars he and his men are killed at the battle of Oredal in Eldenora.

The regent list of Vassagonia I posted a while ago is WRONG! According to the newsletter Zakhan Kimah is replaced by Lhazhor, the Emir of Bisutan in MS 5060.

So this list is definitely wrong:

MS 5050 Zakhan Moudallah
MS 5057 Zakhan Kimah
MS 5057 Allani
MS 5060 Zakhan Kimah
MS 5061 Zakhan Orhman
MS 5071 Zakhan Canokash
MS 5072 Zakhan Shoualli

The newsletters are official, everything in them comes directly from the author, Joe Dever himself, so therefore there can be no Zakhan Orhman, at least not at the same time as Lhazhor. I'm uncertain about the others. I know for a fact that Zakhan Shoualli is mentioned in book 21, and Moudallah is in the Magnamund Companion of course. But this Allani dude, who doesn't even have a Zakhan title, and interrupts Kimah's reign, looks a bit suspicious, and so does Canokash. But I'm not picky, I'm not gonna complain if you include them on a GL-list for Vassagonia. The more the merrier.
All I'm saying is that Lhazhor deserves to be on the GL-list more than some of the others.

I think I have mentioned this already, but Skarn (Lone Wolf) and Ikar (Sun Eagle) as MGL for Dessi.

This has also been mentioned: Raumas and Alema, two more "city"-names for Sommerlund.

Potential MGLs for Sommerlund:

King Corel I
Crown Prince Pheron the Young (he died as an infant)
Queen Maura II
Princess Imelda
Karl Vanalund (Ogen Vanalund's son, killed by Barraka)
Lord-lieutenant Fernant (the Sommlending representative in Vassagonia, from book 21, I have mentioned him before)

MGL for Durenor:

Prince Oldar

There are Giak shamans! And they serve the Darklords in combat as battle-magicians.

The Nadziranim are not humans (this didn't come as a surprise), and like the Darklords they cannot survive outside the Darklands (this is a surprise!).

Archlord Vashna's combat stats:

CS: 58 Endurance: 88

!!!

There are 8 other planets in Magnamund's system: Torm, Bazitto, Cannadom, Plutarnis, Gordonia, Hermidos, Shuna and Ithis.

The Sommerswerd was made by the Nuomia, a race of demi-gods serving Kai in the Plane of Light.

I may have missed something now, but read the MC for yourself to see if you find anything useful.