Underdeep Expansion Development (Long-Term)

Xathan · March 08, 2013, 12:09:14 AM

Quote from: Steerpike
Fair enough. Although I don't want to tamper with anything "fundamental" (like changing metal into ore, much as that idea appeals to me) I will stick to an incremental update system and surprise you guys in terms of major expansions.

Just wanted to say I am totally cool with metal-ore conversion if given some time to prepare...but I'm biased since I have very few metal uses that are even close to critical.

Any "fundamental" change that makes the game better (or more interesting), IMO, should be implemented, so long as we have a bit of a heads up and can "pre build" some of the buildings we'd need to adapt (if applicable)

As far as incremental changes, I'd love to see some new upgrades for existing units above all else. That and slight increases to the map size and what not for new options for building would be awesome.

Also, some kind of "wild west" expansion would be awesome.

Steerpike · March 08, 2013, 12:10:02 AM

Instead of ore --> metal, I'd be more likely to introduce finery forges or blast furnaces or something for the refinement of steel, or something like that, if I decided to add resource elements.

I love your crazy western version! I SMELL A SPINOFF :P!

Nomadic · March 08, 2013, 04:39:22 AM

I kind of like how it is now, nice and simple.

Xathan · March 20, 2013, 04:25:53 AM

As we approach what may be our first player knocked out of the game and things I hear OOC and IC suggest there are at least two, if not three, plots that involve one faction obliterating or counteri obliterating each other, I'd be much more interested seeing individual unit lists for all these factions - not the full stat block, but case of a bit more concrete functionality so we can consider new units better as we ponder options for when/if we die.

Steerpike · March 20, 2013, 12:47:10 PM

I'll work on getting those up.

I'll emphasize that unless people are totally wiped out - every unit killed, every dungeon taken - there will be possibilities of them continuing on in some form or another.

Xathan · March 20, 2013, 01:00:07 PM

Quote from: Steerpike
I'll emphasize that unless people are totally wiped out - every unit killed, every dungeon taken - there will be possibilities of them continuing on in some form or another.

I can't speak for anyone else here, obviously, but for me, for example: if Liltul dies, then much of the fun of RPing the Exalted would be lost to me (even if I had a new Exarch by then - my enjoyment comes from the character as much as anything else) while if every dungeon of mine was taken but Liltul was safe, I'd be more interested in her taking over a new faction in some sense.

Part of this is just a weirdness in how I am. I constantly want to play new classes in DND, I play random anymore in Starcraft 2, I was a huge altaholic in World of Warcraft; if given choices, I want to try out every single one that interests me, and so many of the new factions do.

Also, it's fun to see and plan what I would do with another faction even if I'll never play it; not just typical stat theorycrafting, but also RP theorycrafting as well. :)

Steerpike · March 20, 2013, 02:36:39 PM

A preview of the Derro, a faction I am tinkering with (some players have already encountered some Derro units):

[spoiler]Starting Dungeon: Derro players must always claim their first Oubliette in the Lowerdeep.

Starting Resources: Derro aren't careful with their wealth, but they have no compunctions and stealing from the dead or the living. Derro players begin the game with 850 Gold, 100 Metal, and 150 Food.

Madness: Derro are thoroughly mad, and their deranged minds are strangely impervious to sorcerous tampering. All Derro have a +4 bonus to Defence and Morale checks to mind-influencing spells or effects, as well as Psychic attacks. They are immune to Confusion spells and effects.

Sadism: Derro take delight in acts of senseless brutality, especially against helpless victims, and they often engage in such acts before battle to "get their blood up." Derro can torture and kill any prisoners or slaves they possess to gain Attack and Morale bonuses. For every 5 units they torment and kill before a battle, they gain +1 to Attack and Morale during the battle, to a maximum of +4 Attack and Morale.

Sunlight Vulnerability: Derro have been tainted by dark magic and cannot stand the touch of sunlight. For each full week that a Derro unit spends on the Surface it loses 1 Health. It immediately recovers this lost health if it returns underground. Units that reach 0 Health due to this deterioration are destroyed completely. Regeneration and healing spells have no effect on sunlight-damage. Like Dark Elves and Duergar, they suffer double the normal Morale penalties from sunlight.

Unit list:

Derro Overlord (general)
Derro Brigand (melee infiltrator)
Derro Club-Thrower (ranged)
Derro Filcher (poor combat unit, good thieving and trap disarming)
Derro Mutant (versatile but expensive unit with a "multiattack" ability and a selection of other abilities to choose from – double-headed, poison, flyer, regeneration, climbing, or an immunity)
Gibbering Mouther (slow-moving confusion-causing unit, hard to kill; destroyed by sunlight like vampires)
Derro Screecher (sonic ranged attacker with a new ability - "deafening")
Giant Centipede (fast-moving poisonous tunneling vermin)
Derro Warlock (confusion-based caster, many spells involving madness)
Gibbering Orb (mega-unit, flying, with confusion aura; destroyed by sunlight like vampires)

Room/Defences Ideas:

- a leadership building allowing the Overlord to embark on insane and irrational quests, a nonsensical version of Dwarven boasts
- a mutation room that turns regular Derro into Derro Mutants
- buildings that produce randomized effects on garrisoned units
- Chaos Portals (one-way) that teleport a regiment to a random location on the map
- traps that produce randomized negative effects[/spoiler]

In Underdeep, Derro are Deep Gnomes who were twisted by alien magic in the Lowerdeep. Deep Gnomes are traders, tinkers, wanderers, and merchants in this world, so the Derro were originally a group of Gnomes who wandered into strange places and came back wrong.

Xathan · March 20, 2013, 05:01:09 PM

The Derro look awesome. I'm assuming they have a slave market type building like the drow to get torture victims, since they don't have slave soldiers they can Torture?

Steerpike · March 20, 2013, 05:23:27 PM

Yeah, I would give them a slave market.

Xathan · March 20, 2013, 05:30:37 PM

Coolness!

If you're taking request, I'd be most interested in Icthyoids, eye tyrants, and naga off the list. Thanks for indulging my curiosity either way! (I have an insane idea for a new faction if Mu bases get destroyed but Liltul survives, and those 4 factions counting Derro now make the best candidates: I'll pm you about my mad idea)

Steerpike · March 20, 2013, 06:03:41 PM

Eye Tyrants are definitely on the way. I think Icythoids are a good one too. Both of those feel like "classic" Underdark monsters.

A bit on Eye Tyrants so far. They would have very few units in terms of numbers, since most of their units would be powerful Eye Tyrants with about 40-50 Health. They would have Eyeless minions (Grimlocks, basically) for fodder. They would also have a major drawback in the form of Control and Ego scores: Elder Orbs and Overseers would generate Control, while other Eye Tyrants would have Egos, and if total Ego ever exceeds Control, your Eye Tyrants start rebelling and killing one another. They would also be isolationist, not allowing allies near their lands. However they'd get to choose races they wish to expunge, temporarily giving their units the Grudge ability against them.

Their unit list right now looks like this:

[spoiler]Eye Tyrant Elder Orb (extremely powerful general/spellcaster)
Eyeless Marauder (basic melee)
Eyeless Spear-Thrower (basic ranged)
Lesser Eye Tyrant (core unit)
Eye Tyrant Overseer (control-generator, also a leader whose presence buffs other Eye Tyrants)
Eye of Flame (big damage dealer with terror spells)
Eye of Frost (also big damage but with paralysis spells)
Crawler (bizarre verminous transport-unit that melds with Eye Tyrants to boost their speed, health, and melee damage, transforming them from slow-moving ranged/spell attackers into highly mobile melee brutes)
Eye Tyrant Observer (non-combat infiltrator)
Eyeball Tree (scary defensive mega-unit)[/spoiler]
They would be very dangerous individually, but because of their small number of units it would be difficult to spread their army out, so they'd tend to have to concentrate their power. The Control/Ego drawback would mean that they would have to be very careful about how many units they recruit and how they use those units, because the loss of too many Overseers could be disastrous.

Xathan · March 20, 2013, 06:31:28 PM

The control ego interplay is awesome, and that unit list looks so insanely cool. Would they be able to, in spite of their isolationist tendencies, be able to maintain allies that respected their boundries, or would they have the Orc limit of only being able to maintain an alliance for X amount of time?

Steerpike · March 20, 2013, 06:43:43 PM

So long as allies respected their boundaries they could have allies indefinitely. What this means, though, is that allies can't easily come to their defense. If allied units trespass, the Eye Tyrants all go berserk and auto-attack them as if they were hostile. Granted, that only happens in regions the Tyrants have dungeons/outposts in.

Of course, they also couldn't have allies of the same race as the species they have designated for their Grudge ability. So if there are 2 Dark Elf factions, for example, and the Tyrants have marked Dark Elves for their hatred, they become hostile with both factions.

Xathan · March 20, 2013, 06:47:27 PM

I like that way of handling it; means eye tyrants could be good allies, but inherently could not count on their allies to help defend them, which is fair given their greater power.

Steerpike · March 20, 2013, 07:43:01 PM

Yeah, I figure they'd be a very unique faction to play.

Any ideas for Icthyoid units, apart from the usual infantry/ranged/spellcaster type units that almost every faction has? They'll have Krakens as a high-tier unit, of course, but I'm not sure what else to give them. Giant frogs feel a little banal. I'm thinking maybe something akin to the Star-Spawn of Cthulhu...?

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Underdeep Expansion Development (Long-Term)

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