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Chabal2 Since: Jan, 2010
#2251: Jun 28th 2011 at 11:49:46 AM

What in the thirty thousand hells is that avatar.

As in, permanent dispel or temporary debuff?

Adannor (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#2252: Jun 28th 2011 at 11:51:26 AM

As in (if it works), forcibly rip anything demonic from their souls.

Diamonnes In Riastrad from Ulster Since: Nov, 2009
In Riastrad
#2253: Jun 28th 2011 at 11:52:40 AM

Hm... I can has entrance, possibly?

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.
Adannor (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#2254: Jun 28th 2011 at 12:05:14 PM

^As what do you want to play? Pretty much everything goes, but the insertion to the immediate situation can be tricky.

At the moment the group is, accompanied by an army, on the sort-of secret mountain pass, fighting off an ambush. As a global situation, they are in a country undergoing a covert demonic takeover, trying to stop it.

What would your character be doing in those mountains and how would he get involved with that plot?

^^^^P.S. @ Chabal: My current avatar is a cover to a fan song of a fanfic of this cute little thing trapping, mutilating and eating all her friends.

edited 28th Jun '11 12:16:32 PM by Adannor

GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#2255: Jun 28th 2011 at 12:46:43 PM

At this point, if it gets things moving and the pace back up to anything resembling Rhegium levels, I'll allow you to insert your character via drop-pod. First of all, a little bit of background.

High Fantasy World essentially focusses on what appears to be a renaissance-level magical kingdom with your standard High Fantasy fare in full force. We've got orcs, dwarves, elves (we're overdue for an elf character, insertion difficulty be damned its a dynamic we're missing) orcs, goblins, ogres and (smart!) trolls, both of the Chaotic Evil and intelligent varieties, demons, and of course, humans. Oh, and probably others. We've also got some more unlikely candidates such as the Mongrel; the result of a spell gone wrong, and the Diplomatiker, a Lawful Good necromancer from a kingdom of the same alignment... you read that right.

We're currently in the middle of a battle, and the combatants are mostly highly xenophobic humans though, so yeah, insertion is tricky. You're going to need some background to make sense of this.

Troperia is the hub of the last game and the main focus of the world so far, though Trell has taken over for most of the course of the latest segment. I'm going to need the veterans to fill me in, but it's a monarchy which seems to be physically at a Late Medieval level of tech, but with airships and universities bringing it to an Anachronism Stew I'd say averages out at roughly renaissance level. Its The Mario of states, predominantly human, but I know there's at least a few humans there. I'd need to check the cast, but most of them seem human at my last count so I don't actually know the minority status (in other words, no one has written it yet, so there could be elves, orcs, dire wallabies or Gods know what else there.)

Trell is essentially a fascistic High Medieval religious state with power split between the king and his lords, and the clergy. They've mostly turned their back on magic, putting their faith in militarism, a professional army, a police-state level of citizen control and, although this hasn't been fully demonstrated yet, an industrial capacity capable of putting countries 50 times their size to shame. They're highly xenophobic, but the current bunch will tolerate you as long as you aren't an elf. (I'm prepared to write in an elf character but prepare for shockwaves as the plot will swiftly go interesting places.) The reason for this is the disputed territories of the great forest to the south, where various atrocities stemming from slavery to outright genocide, and ultimately leaving the elves in full control of the forest and cutting Trells southern duchies in half, means that both sides have a shoot-on-sight policy, not just for hostile nationals, but for members of the opposing race as well.

Azmodan is one of the three duchies of Trell, and is worth mentioning because it happens to contain a freaking hellgate. The entire duchy is essentially a military wasteland, and is essentially autonomous to prevent central intervention frakking up the constant effort to hold back the horde. Azmodan regularly recieves reinforcements and resources from Trell proper, ironically making the king of Trell a tribute payer to Azmodan rather than the other way round. However, recent plot events have revealed that the duke of Azmodan appears to have fallen to the demons, and his followers with him, and Azmodan appears to have finally fallen to a demonic breakthrough... and of course, stopping and even reversing the breakthrough is an implication of the current plot.

I'll let you read more about Trell in a second post which goes into way more detail.

Also involved is Necrosia... its an undead state. Colonial knows more about it than I do but his posts have been sporadic so I'll take my best shot. Under the King-In-The-Dust, Necrosia is ruled by liches and has a somewhat murky past connected closely with the old Romanesque empire of... damn it, I'm forgetting the worlds canon at an alarming rate. Does anyone else have a working memory that doesn't drop things at inconvenient times? The King-In-The-Dust is a peaceful fellow now, but the kingdom still faces incursions from those darn prejudiced humans from time to time despite handing both Troperia and Trell their collective asses in a previous war. Events in Trell, instigated by the current villain, the Duke of Azmodan, brought Trell and Necrosia to open blows and saw Trellian forces at the Necrosian capital at one point, and bringing a lasting peace via diplomacy is currently the Diplomatikers goal. (Colonials character.)

Sfosan also requires explanation. Essentially a collection of warring tribes, they're quite akin to the Necrosians in that they have a large undead population, but the similarities end there. A very large area, west of Trell and Necrosia, (Both of which sit on Troperias western border, with Necrosia being south of Trell) they aren't much of a threat to the much larger Necrosia united, but are a serious threat if they ever united or something threw Necrosia into chaos. They represent a serious military threat to Trell, which already has to deal with a hellgate.

The situation currently is that the party are trying to escort the Diplomatiker to meet Trells king to ratify the peace treaty, now under escort by nothing less than a small army. They've been ambushed by the knights of Azmodan, more details on Trells four Duchies I will put up later, and a mercenary Sfosan lich as well as several other mercenary companies. This diplomatic mission is their official purpose (and the main focus for the Diplomatiker) but its a recent addition to the covert one the rest of the party have. Richard, Mostrue, and the recent addition, Lamret, are focussed on the recovery, the first two for noble reasons, the latter for selfish, of the orb of destruction. No one knows exactly what the orb does, but only that if activated, it does something bad, and is worth starting a war over.

The party are more immediately rushing to prevent the duke from ambushing the king of Trell, Lascaris, and Melchior, the duke of Rhegium, the city from which the commander of their escort, Colonel Roxanne, hails and is stationed. If they fail, the entire kingdom will fall into a succession crisis, and Kendal (Duke of Azmodan) will probably take the throne, and after that just let the demons in. The current battle is being fought to break through and give warning.

For some reason, the dukes agents seem interested in the diplomatiker... why is not clear, but for some reason, it is apparent they are trying to take her alive...

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#2256: Jun 28th 2011 at 12:50:01 PM

Almighty Wall of Text coming, read if you have time.

This is stuff on Trell. Newcomer, this is all you need to know about your theatre (well, the stuff I've actually got written down.) Old guard, a lot of this will be familiar but there are some things I won't have posted here... I need to give this a re-read myself. None of this stuff is need to know.

Trell

Present day geography.

Basics.

Trell extends approximately 125 miles north to south, from Thrain to the southern border of Estrohirrim, and around 205 miles west to east, from Estrohirrims eastern border with Troperia to the poorly defined and mostly desolate western border regions of Azmodan between Trell and Sfosan, a land which even the highly organised Trellians have been unable to fortify fully, and which retains a sparse population. Most of the population are concentrated in the fertile south-east, around Trell and its daughter city Rhegium. The nation is extremely mountainous in its layout with the orc-occupied Mountains running approximately two-thirds of the way down its eastern borders, leaving only a small, easily defended land border with Troperia in the east. To the north are mountains that take up the dwarven client kingdom of Thrain.

Borders.

Trells largest border is with Sfosan, and runs from its south-western border with Trells greatly reduced southern territories. (The great forest to Trellians, Alveland to the wood-elves of the forest who forcibly seized the land back in a bloody revolution.) The region is heavily fortified to protect Trells limited supply of timber from the greedy machinations of the Sfosan warlords and further aggression from the elves into what are still disputed zones. Trell has its second largest border with the orcs of the Mountains, and fights off frequent raids, countered by the occasional bloody invasion when Trell isn’t too distracted by other events to counter the orcs. Thrain to the north takes the brunt of these assaults.

(Still working on Thrains northern border, and indeed Trells northeastern borders. Working on the understanding that Sfosan is just a bit larger than Trell, and both nations possess a border with the much larger Necrosians. So Sfosan occupies the direct west and south-west of Trell, but Trells northern and north-eastern borders are home to some other state.)

Lands

Trell is comprised of five main regions, the four dukedoms and Trell itself. The population at last census was 1,252,876. The vast majority of these citizens live within Trell proper, with the remaining population dispersed amongst Thrain, Estrohirrim, and Azmodan, the latter of which makes up for its inhospitable nature by its sheer size.

Trell.

With a booming population of around 450,000, of whom 27,500 live within the city itself, Trell is rather well populated for a medieval city, though it is dwarfed by the Troperian capital city. Trell is blessed with highly fertile soil, flat, rolling plains making up its geography, the land gently sloping down towards the south, from the mountains of Thrain to the north. The heartland extends around fifty miles north to south, up to the fork of the grand river Mearns that flows out of Thrains heartlands, and 100 miles west to north, from the foothills of the Mountains to the border with Azmodan. The river splits at what is traditionally Trells borders into two smaller rivers, which flow south. The largest of these successors, the Trelliage, splits again later, one river passing through the city itself and creates a natural moat around the cities fortress, where the king houses his closest followers and his guests of honour, while a second continues down, channelled naturally along the nations eastern spine by the foothills of the Mountains, creating a natural frontier. This second river then flows back west to rejoin the Trelliage and create a natural border between Trell and Estrohirrim before flowing south into the elven lands and out towards Necrosia. The second river, the Arboretium, flows west a considerable distance, flowing down south towards Sfosan about 25 miles west of the city. A third river, the Haustage, flows south again to the far west, though this makes up Trells border with Azmodan, about the only well defined border with the forsaken duchy. Trell has remarkable rolling countryside and is blessed with extremely fertile soil, though it begins to become rather hilly towards the east, where the capital is situated. (The capital is in the far east of the state, allowing easy communication with Estrohirrim… and considerably more complex communication with Thrain and Azmodan… particularly the latter. It can take a full six days to get an army from Trell to Graveshelm, Azmodans fortress capital in the far west.

Estrohirrim

With a population of around 90,000, 10,000 of whom dwell within the walls of the fortress town of Rhegium, Estrohirrim is a small duchy only about 30 miles across and from north to south, though it is well populated, with trade from Troperia bolstering its population as the thoroughfare west into Trell and beyond into Sfosan. Protected by a line of forts on its eastern border and mountains to its north-east, Rhegium is frequently bothered by necromantic attacks, blaming this problem of rogue necromancers on the Necrosians to the south. The Estrohirrim also have to deal with regular orc raids upon their farmlands, though Trell helps share this burden, and must also keep constant vigil on the great forest lands to the west to ensure that the elves do not decide to take control of the woodlands in the regions western sections, where the kingdom draws the precious lumber which helps make the region so wealthy. To the south, a heavily fortified border with Necrosia is nervously guarded. Blessed with fertile land, trade and a greater than average share in Trells fiercely guarded (and carefully managed) remaining forests, Estrohirrim is a power within itself, but thoughts of splitting off from Trell are unheard of; the duchy has been part of Trell since the nations independence from the Varankian empire, and depends on Trell for its tradelanes… and thus its future survival.

Thrain

Thrain, with its vast lands and technical status as an independent kingdom, is a tricky one to pin down; its vast mountains hold many small cities, but its agricultural population is small and it depends on trading food for the precious metals and superb craftsmanship. With a dwarven (and partially human) population of 120,000, made more numerous than Estrohirrim simply by its tremendous size; Thrain is only slightly smaller than Trell; stretching 40 miles north to south and 100 miles east to west. Thrain shares Trells goblinoid problem and it is competition over the forts to the east of its lands, which Thrain currently holding dominance in that theatre. Approximately 20% of the population is urban, a huge proportion of city dwellers for a medieval realm. Thrain makes up for this imbalance with a good understanding of technology, which makes up for the sparsity of arable land (the dwarves look on at the Rok tribes fertile valleys with envy) and the ability to trade its huge wealth of metals, jewels and recently discovered gold and coal in its western and eastern stretches respectively. Thrain comprises of its capital city of Bal-arok, embedded within the mountain of the same name, a vast mountain citadel complex with multiple layers, only accessible by fighting ones way inside the mountain itself up through steep slopes, and then up heavily defended crags filled with numerous fall-back positions. This is not the same realm the Trellians grudgingly brought to heel almost nine centuries ago. Extending out from Bal-arok are four great mountain arms sweeping out to form the extent of dwarven lands. The two mountain slopes, Rochel and Bakchol, sweep down towards Trell as the Mearns flows out of Bal-arok itself via a mountain spring based within the city itself, while Gorol extends eastwards to form the thrust east towards orc lands, the mountains reaching south and the valley the Rok tribe and its client tribes occupying forming the current border of the realm. Argol forms the western stretch, though this is less a straight chain and more a general branching off into the desolate, inhospitable mountains of the west, stretching sixty miles west of the capital and ruled by various troublesome barons and lords all grudgingly under the banner of the duke of Argol and thus, the king. This means that technically the duke of Argol controls more land directly than his or her own monarch, but the kings lands are ultimately far superior. Though the gold discovered in Argols eastern areas may convince Thrains king to take a closer look at his vassals lands. Besides Bal-arok, numerous forts and castles exist, with the mighty fortresses of Refrain to the east and Shaltar as a point of dominance in Argol to the west completing the formation of the three mighty fortresses which secure dwarven power in the region.

The Great Forest

Neither great nor much of a forest these days, with a mere 36,000 people living in it, whose call is primarily to agriculture, Salone castle forms the capital of this duchy, if one were generous enough to ascribe such a mighty term. Villages go surrounded by palisades here, and the borders are heavily fortified. This is because this region, for all its backwardness and poverty, is Trells control over the road to Sfosan, and protection from the warlike nation which puts even Trells bloody history to shame. Given at least some protection by the tail end of the river arboretium, which forms a natural line between this remnant and Sfosan, the border between these lands and Sfosan and elven lands are poorly defined and generally managed through fences and signs. Despite this, accidents (and plenty of deliberate murders) happen, and the forest duke and his diplomats have stressful careers, especially as the elves refuse to allow humans within their domain. Trade is non-existant between the elves and humans, each side harvesting (and hoarding) the regions resources in nervous peace. The Sfosans have no such qualms, but Trell has learned to be careful of trading with such treacherous partners. Overall the region contributes little to Trells coffers, and is a drain on the regious coffers, but its strategic importance, and maybe just a little pig-headed nationalism, keeps the region in Trells hands.

Azmodan

Azmodan would be a land of fertile, rolling plains, well supplied with rivers and with a share in the ore-rich mountains to the north to make grand cities. Instead it is a near barren land occupied with mighty castles, the strongest of which is Graveshelm. No census has ever been taken, though its population is estimated to be around 90,000, a tiny number considering its vast size; Azmodan is 75 miles across and sixty miles north to south. The reasons for the regions woes are quite simple however; the region has a hell-gate just twenty miles from its western border, and the frequent raids and occasional unsupported invasion have left the area a charred and blackened ruin. Yet despite all this, life does struggle on. The duchy is on permanent life support, its few remaining arable regions fiercely guarded, its mineral wealth jealously hoarded and given away only for the steepest prices… when it does not go straight towards the war effort of course. The nations rolling hills have become natural fortresses, where even the smallest of towns may have earthen ramparts and even the occasional stone wall. No village goes without full arms and a palisade, no one grows up unable to both shoot and fight, for every day, the demons may come again. And the men of Azmodan will be ready, and will extort whatever is necessary from the weakling nations which surround them in order to protect said weaklings… and themselves, first and foremost, against the inevitable storm which is to come. Some weak fools say that the region is doomed, and that it should be abandoned, but Azmodans duke knows the true price of such weakness. He will remain strong. He will remain vigilant. And the chaotic taint that is the nether hells shall not disrupt the order of Trell itself… no matter what cost its western borders must pay to ensure its safety.

Political and Economic System

Overview

The basis of power in Trell is a form of vassalage based around the king, who commands direct control over the lands of Trell, acting as overlord to the lands of Trell themselves, and his four principle vassals who rule over three duchies, Estrohirrim, Azmodan and the Great Forest, and the kingdom of Thrain. While Estrohirrim and the Great Forest more or less do what the king says, paying regular taxes into the kings pocket and having their government appointed by the king, Azmodan has more or less broken off from Trell, and dukes of Azmodan are merely ratified by the king. This is because Azmodans soldiers will only follow leaders from their own lands who have solid military records, and the kingdom could not afford a civil war over the matter when hordes of demons are at their doorstep. The king also regularly sends the most promising recruits and squires to serve in Azmodan, and reinforcements and campaigns undertaken by the kings forces in the region are generally directed by the duke of Azmodan rather than the king himself. Occasions in history where the king has tried to intervene directly have often led to disaster. As a result, Azmodan distrusts interference, while Trell has learned that trying to exert direct military control over Azmodan is a bad idea. Because of its constant war economy, Azmodan is exempt from taxes and the king sends much of its trade profits from Estrohirrim west in the form of men and food to its western duchy, leading to comments that the duke of Azmodan truly commands the flow of resources in the country even as the king retains administrative control. It is said that if the demonic threat was ever to diminish, Azmodan could easily end up the dominant political power, and power would shift from east in Trell to west in Graveshelm… a move towards military centralisation that neighbouring Necrosia and Troperia anticipate with quiet alarm. Thrain, the dwarven client kingdom to the north, is fully independent and only obligated to send aid to the king in times of war, whose kings are appointed by a council of influential dwarven figures.

Political structures of Trell and surrounding regions

Trell

Trell is ruled directly by its king, but generally the king only hands down general policy to his dukes, trusting them to manage their own territories as they know best. The current king, King Lascaris, is generally regarded as being an extremely weak leader, relying on his advisors on civil matters and prone to placing too much trust in those he is advised by, while showing a xenophobia all too typical of Trellians but not becoming of one expected to lead. It is said that his council becomes extremely exasperated, and some question how even Trells robust internal systems can survive such a weak monarch. He is dominated by the machinations of his dukes, particularly the duke of Azmodan, Duke Kendal, and the king of Thrain, Balor Roschall. In any case, it is he who sets the tax rate in Trell and decides what portion of his dukes income to take as tribute to the royal treasury, decides which regions are in need of aid, the nature and specificity of which he is advised on in regular correspondence and the occasional urgent meeting for extremely serious matters, and decides how to resolve local conflicts. In greater escalations which draw in local monarchs, the king is also the leader of the country at war, in which case Trell is managed by the nations many counts and mayors via council. He naturally, therefore, takes command of Trells own royal army, and is expected to command Trells own forces into battle whenever possible to ensure that the king remains sharp and is not vulnerable to foreign threats or, indeed, to his own dukes and counts. The king is also the head of the church of Trell, and appoints priests and allocates resources to religious structures and orders when required.

These counts (and mayors in case of towns) manage six major fortifications and three major townships within Trell. They are as follows.

Esthedge Castle: forms the gateway across the river separating Estrohirrim and Trell if one is coming up the road linking there. This fortress town contains a permanent garrison of five hundred knights, with a population of two thousand disciplined, well-armed spearmen backed up by one thousand archers. The current count, Peregrin, is considered one of the less competent of the kings commanders, and is thus stuck in this reserve position supervising the passage of trade through the region, his position not really under any threat unless Rhegium is bypassed or sieged or Estrohirrim falls. He’s kept where he cannot cause too much trouble, but feels ill-appreciated, and some question his loyalties.

Dwemergate Castle: fortifies the passage between Thrain and Trell, Dwemergates name is exactly what it suggests. Perched atop the large hill that splits the Mearns up into its two constituent rivers, it is the main fortified point between Thrain and Trell, serving as a counterweight to Bal-arok. One of the largest castles, this, along with a chain of smaller fortifications running the course of the Trelliages eastern branch, does much to both keep Trell safe from the orcs of the mountains (besides Trells own role in this) and remind the king of Thrain where his loyalties should lie. The castle has two battalions of knights and eight of infantry, along with four battalions of crossbowmen, at all times, with smaller garrisons along the line of forts, and is commanded by Count Syrill, a capable commander on good terms with his dwarven counterparts in the north.

Economy

Currency

The basis of Trells currency is the monarch, and the currency is themed on Trells political system.

Religion

In a land where the church is the ultimate authority, even common priests hold the power to excommunicate those of their flock they are commanded to guide. Even the highest commander, or even noble, can be brought to their knees in a heartbeat if they step outside the rigid religious rules of the kingdom which have turned Trell into the parochial, militaristic kingdom it is today. Monarch and Church authority overlap, and while they generally reinforce each other to create a dual authority, and repression, they have clashed. Patriarchs and kings have both fallen to one another in conflicts over church and state authority, generally when one is percieved to have gone too far, but ruthless prosecution of church or monarchial influence have threatened to break the balance towards either secular monarchism or true theocracy at several pivotal moments in Trellian history. With the weak king Lascaris in charge, Trells religious body, under the formidable command of Patriarch Aelfrith III, has become more and more noisy, to the point of being able to challenge army commanders on even the flimsiest of pretexts. Trells commanders live in fear of a purge, with loyalists to the king being wary of their next step. And it is excommunication they fear.

Under excommunication, citizens of Trell become lower than outlaws. They are not merely outside the protection of the law. All citizens and soldiers are obligated to bring an excommunicant to the nearest church authority. They undergo purging, a terrifying punishment where layers are cut off the victim excruciatingly slowly, from skin to innards, until the victim repents, at which point a sword blow is "mercifully" administered, or expires from the wounds, at which point the corpse is cut into fine pieces, ground down, and physically scattered. Visitors to Trell, seeing this gory display, have been known to be violently sick, and described the normally immaculate Trellian churches as having run with blood from wall to wall after such travesties.

It was not always this way. The church was once seen as a source of freedom and organisation away from the kings authority, but these days, in these threatening times, it is merely another form of tyranny for the people of Trell to shoulder.

edited 28th Jun '11 12:50:25 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
Diamonnes In Riastrad from Ulster Since: Nov, 2009
In Riastrad
#2257: Jun 28th 2011 at 1:12:34 PM

Damn, that's a lot of text.

Hm, no Elf for me. I like the subversions of the standard High Fantasy Elves, not playing it straight. Dragon Age Elves; half of them xenophobic primitives, half of them second-class citizens that were formerly slaves- good, very good. Deanne Dee Elves: awfully, horribly bad.

You mentioned intelligent Trolls?

edited 28th Jun '11 1:13:17 PM by Diamonnes

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.
GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#2258: Jun 28th 2011 at 1:30:16 PM

They're sort of Gamebreakers in this world; supposed to be the king of all boss fights rather than player characters. We have orcs, goblins and ogres though... ogres aren't that smart at anything bar fighting though (they aren't dumb fighters though, ogres are smart at one thing and one thing only, and thats fighting; they're geniuses at it.)

Trolls are about five times the size of ogres, smarter than (already very smart, if rather narrow-minded) orcs, more cunning than goblins, and if they were a Dn D monster they would have a challenge rating on par with the most powerful dragons or demons; basically end-of-game stuff. The reason the orcish races haven't taken over the world yet? They're mutant ogres; extremely rare events that happen once a century or something.

To summarise in war terms, for the orcish races, goblins are the tacticians, orcs the strategists, ogres are the special forces, and trolls are superior in all things and will end up in charge. Just as well they're so valuable as the sheer amount of resources consumed by a troll can sometimes force an agressive campaign.

EDIT: If it helps, so far we've managed to subvert the hell out of everything from knights to necromancers.

edited 28th Jun '11 1:32:05 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
Diamonnes In Riastrad from Ulster Since: Nov, 2009
In Riastrad
#2259: Jun 28th 2011 at 8:23:33 PM

Damn. I have a soft spot for playing trollish type V Big Guy characters. :(

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.
GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#2260: Jun 30th 2011 at 11:57:37 AM

We need Colonial, and we're reaching the point where I can't ignore Mostrues inaction as well.

Any new ideas Diamonnes?

edited 30th Jun '11 11:57:55 AM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
Chabal2 Since: Jan, 2010
#2261: Jun 30th 2011 at 12:39:56 PM

Well Flanker's going to be gone for about three weeks, maybe have something take Mostrue out of commission?

GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#2262: Jun 30th 2011 at 12:44:59 PM

Urrgh, forgot about that.

I've already hijacked one player character. Apparently permanently. But yeah, I guess I can get something to knock Mostrue out. He can always wake up if we're still here when Flanker gets back.

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
Chabal2 Since: Jan, 2010
#2263: Jun 30th 2011 at 12:51:20 PM

Hopefully we'll have moved on in three weeks...

Are we allowe to consider the knights Elite Mooks?

edited 30th Jun '11 12:53:33 PM by Chabal2

Flanker66 Dreams of Revenge from 30,000 feet and climbing Since: Nov, 2009 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Dreams of Revenge
#2264: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:13:38 PM

Agh, sorry about this. Again.

As Chabal said, I'll be gone for three weeks starting sunday, so I'd like to get at least one post up before then.

If it's not too much trouble, may I have a recap of the current situation?

Locking you up on radar since '09
Adannor (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#2265: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:17:17 PM

To put it maximally short: there are enemy undead everywhere and our paladins are pressed by a squad of enemy's demonic-empowered knights.

GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#2266: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:17:32 PM

Er, I just knocked you out. Hold on a second while I un-knock you out.

Basically, the knights just broke out, the spearmen have been revived as undead and are currently playing merry hell with the pike formations, something has... happened, to the Diplomatiker, and the Diplomatikers guard is currently cut off from the rest of the army.

Elite Mooks? Yes, definitely. These guys are for player characters and paladins only.

edited 30th Jun '11 1:18:43 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
Flanker66 Dreams of Revenge from 30,000 feet and climbing Since: Nov, 2009 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Dreams of Revenge
#2268: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:20:55 PM

Ah, thanks.

Since I've sort of lost sight of the "local" picture around Mostrue (so many different units! tongue), can you provide a basic rundown of what he could reasonably be expected to react to?

Locking you up on radar since '09
GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#2269: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:22:51 PM

Well, he's either at the base of the left hand outcrop of the 2nd ridge, behind the 2nd, who are currently engaged in fighting off the undead, along with Richard and the 7th, safely behind the paladins and out of the trouble, or he's been left behind out on the flats before the 1st ridge, and is currently being charged by 200 angry knights along with Roxannes retreating guards.

EDIT: This has become something of a mess. There's so many different fights going on I'm having trouble keeping track, and the irregular turn order is playing even more merry hell as I can't keep a linear progression.

edited 30th Jun '11 1:23:47 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
Chabal2 Since: Jan, 2010
#2270: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:23:07 PM

If he has any Herd Hitting Attacks, this'd be a good time to use them.

Elite Mooks as in Conservation of Ninjutsu still applies?

GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#2271: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:24:25 PM

Remember these guys are not without protection. These are the best knights Trell ever had, and unlike their less endangered cousins, they aren't shy about magic.

Conservation of Ninjutsu, sure, but don't expect to win by charging a single PC in. If the entire party focussed on the formation charging them, they might win. Might.

EDIT: If you're wondering why I've suddenly upped the difficulty curve, its because you guys have so far been thrashing everything I send against you. I felt you guys had earned a real challenge.

edited 30th Jun '11 1:26:10 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.
Chabal2 Since: Jan, 2010
#2272: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:32:14 PM

But if I have Ironclad Mc Invulnerabillington here decapitate a knight, it won't be cause for disagreement?

Flanker66 Dreams of Revenge from 30,000 feet and climbing Since: Nov, 2009 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Dreams of Revenge
#2273: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:34:12 PM

Ah, I see.

Well, I don't really see him lingering with Richard after confirming he's going to be okay, so I assume he's with the 2nd.

It's a little tricky balancing Mostrue - give him too many powerful abilities and he becomes a cheap solution to any problem, but traps await careless nerfing, as well.

Locking you up on radar since '09
Chabal2 Since: Jan, 2010
#2274: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:36:20 PM

Maybe give him support magic instead of outright damage, for example, raising force/earth walls to channel the chargers in one (or several) at a time.

GameChainsaw The Shadows Devour You. from sunshine and rainbows! Since: Oct, 2010
The Shadows Devour You.
#2275: Jun 30th 2011 at 1:41:54 PM

Its notable that Mostrue is, so far, one of the lightest offenders for breaking the game. Though I must note everyone here has shown remarkable restraint in that regard.

The Black Bludgeon is still a lot bigger and probably more magical than the knights. I wouldn't advise letting him get bogged down, but he'll take out a number on his own and a few dozen if he's actually supported properly.

edited 30th Jun '11 1:42:59 PM by GameChainsaw

The term "Great Man" is disturbingly interchangeable with "mass murderer" in history books.

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