Battle of The Really Huge Things

>>49290819

Thrym, microunits:

1. Dwarfs: depicted as scrawny, dishonorable and malicious, but highly intelligent. They are not good fighters, but can protect themselves with knives, hammers and axes if need be. An upgrade allows them to pick up bows at their burrows as a final line of base defense.

2. Raiders and Raider Archers: at the bottom of the Thrym's microunit totem pole are the Raider units, a rabble of Nordic looking humans with shields and weapons. They had an interesting mechanic by which they spawn automatically at a certain rate based on the intensity of fighting around the map, but this seems irrelevant to a miniature game.

3. Werewolves: Wild looking humans with large weapons. Can turn into big wolves for faster travel around the map and to stealthily move through forests.

4. Huscarls: a more advanced infantry type unit, they have better armor and weapons than the Raiders and specialize in defensive fighting.

5. Warjarls: mounted warriors with heavier armor and swords.

6. Alf Warriors: Stealthy, stealth detecting elves who can move through the woods and switch between bows and swords. Special abilities allow them to put enemies to sleep and place duplicates of themselves in wooded areas to confuse the enemy.

7. Wild Hunt: Mounted elves with long spears who can teleport through clouds of mist. Killing enemy microunits will cause Elfhounds to spawn next to them, adding to their attack power - but will dissipate over time, requiring that the Hunt go on to retain their edge. A special ability, The Horn of the Wild Hunt, can instantly summon elfhounds and strike terror in nearby enemies, but can only be used sparingly and so must be used with care.

(cont.)

>>49290826
8. Valkyries: Warrior women mounted on giant ravens, with spears. Their special abilities allow them to return dead Raiders, Huscarls, or Werewolves or Warjarls to life, but there's a catch: a battalion who hasn't killed a certain number of enemies (the number being based on the value of the battalion itself – warjarls have to kill more than raiders to be considered) will be returned to life as a relatively weak battalion of draugr. A unit who HAS killed enough enemies will be returned as a very powerful battalion of einherjar.

9. Trebuchet: a siege engine built and operated by dwarfs. Useful for taking out enemy fortifications without having to bring in macroscale units.

10. Witches: a flight of wild looking women on brooms, dressed in black. They possess several abilities which impose debuffs on the enemy, including some low-level macrounits. Their basic attack involves flinging blue fire from their magic lanterns. At higher levels, they become invisible while flying and can detect stealthed units.

11. Huldras: the nice equivalent of the witches, forest women with animal features trained from the same building. They can heal and buff friendly units, but are weak in combat.

(cont.)

>>49290833
Thrym, macrounits:

1. Wurum: very unusual, the wurum is a giant, venom spitting snake whom a DWARF, of all things, can learn to transform into if it collects enough treasure. Dwarfs rarely collect this much treasure.

2. Troll: the bread and butter of the Thrym macrounit roster. Big, hairy, with cow tails and huge noses. They are versatile and simple to use: they can pick up enemy units to throw around, throw boulders, uproot trees to use as clubs, stomp people to death, etc. They can also hide themselves by becoming supernaturally still and looking like mossy rocks, and with upgrades, cast a few spells which hamper enemy units.

3. Kveldrida: another odd one in the Thrym roster – a macrounit which isn't meant for fighting. The kveldrida is a gigantic trollwife, covered in moss and vegetation which take the shape of a ragged, hooded cloak. They carry a massive cauldron into battle which they use to cast spells. Not many at first – but they can get more spells by grabbing enemy microscale units and throwing them into the boiling cauldron. Different unit types make different spells. They can use their cauldrons to smash enemy troops, but this is a waste of their talents.

4. Mountain Bruiser: The guys who make trolls look like trolls make regular people look. Not quite "feature of the battlefield" scale, but getting there. Their clubs smash through walls, buildings, and entire microscale battalions.

5. Mountain Builder: Same size, and indeed, same tribe as the Mountain Bruisers, but given to more cerebral pursuits. They wear metal armor and wield hammers. They can build fortifications quickly and are armored to the teeth, but far slower and wouldn't do as well in a fight.

6. Woodwose: a mischievous giant covered in leaves, with large antlers on its head. It can masquerade as a tree, bring trees to life, use birds to spy on or harass enemies and call packs of wolves to eat them.

(cont.)

>>49290844

7. Frost Giants: Bigger than the previous types, with ice armor an ice axes, and ice spears they can form and throw. Their breath freezes microunits solid or the body parts of macrounits. Several of them, working in tandem, can erect temporary ice-fortresses around the battlefield, which units can garrison. They are large enough to throw not just enemy troopers, but also the ruins of some buildings, and some small buildings themselves.

8. Fire Giants: The same size as the frost giants, but fiery. They are all about causing damage. Their fiery auras damage enemies just by their presence, and their breath sets battalions on fire. They can throw explosive fireballs and drive units into a burning rage. A side effect of being burning means that they cannot be climbed or bound (the ropes burn off).

9. Galeskald: A storm giant with a penchant for the arts. Among the largest units in the game, it can throw spears as large as trees (in fact, using a certain special ability, the spears which stick to the ground BECOME trees), sing to buff nearby units, or draw massive runes on the battlefield to create constant effects. Large enough to pluck dragons out of the sky.

10. Storm Thane: The largest units in the Thrym arsenal and the largest in the game in terms of height, Storm Thanes destroy entire enemy battalions by walking over them. They carry hammers and horns and are dressed in the finest of warrior-king type jewelry. Besides smashing the ground so hard battalions of troops are flung into the air on the other side of the battlefield, they can shoot lightning, summon lightning storms, blow hard enough to send microscale units flying or knock macroscale units down, and leap across the battlefield with a sound of thunder. Large enough to pluck dragons out of the sky.

(cont.)

>>49290850

Vritra, microunits:

1. Vanara: Mystical, jungle-dwelling monkey men enslaved by the dragon-lords. Serve as builders and resource gatherers (like the Thrym dwarfs), but also make useful scouts due to their unparalleled woodland mobility: by climbing and leaping between the trees, they actually move FASTER and stealthily through forest areas.

2. Clan Swordsmen and Clan Archers: basic footmen in the armies of the dragonlords, carrying geographically inaccurate but impressive looking banners. Come in large groups and have few advantages besides coming in large groups. The Dragonforged Armor upgrade, later in the game, gives them marginally more use by covering them in metal.

3. Clan Charioteers: Riding in gold chariots inspired by Thai depictions of Ravanna, pulled by tigers. Each chariot carries both lancers are archers.

4. Ascetics: Warrior monks with wide-brimmed hats and quarterstaffs, running across the battlefield like mystical ninjas. Their ability to make crazy wushu leaps gives them great verticality and makes them dangerous to macroscale units (which they can climb very fast), and they get a number of useful special abilities: The Empty Self turns them invisible, while Weightlessness Siddhi allows them to fly for short periods of time.

5. Lotus Archers: Looking like traditional Thai depictions of Rama, they are slow but long ranged archer units which can, in large masses, bring down even dragons. They possess a special ability which causes a field of magical lotus flowers to bloom where their arrows fall. These put many units who pass nearby them to sleep – but also heal them over time. Can be used offensively or defensively as a result. An upgrade causes a similar lotus field to sprout where members of these battalions die.

>>49290856

6. Dakini: winged, fabulous female spirits. Possess buffing and debuffing abilities in equal measure but will get slaughtered by anything with a ranged attack.

7. Cuoi: Buffalo headed spirits who worship the moon. Can heal microscale units and fight using a pair of axes, which they either throw or swing.

8. Kaliya Knights: Serpent people in service to the dragonlords. Silent and deadly, armed with both bows and sabers. They can crush enemy microscale units between their coils after being upgraded once, spit venom after being upgraded twice, and throw poison bombs after being upgraded three times.

9. Rakshasas: Multiheaded, many-handed demons carrying more blades than a Victorinox. They can possess microscale units and even some weaker macroscale ones, allowing them to control the unit and leave unharmed when it is destroyed. Since they can also leave whenever they want, this ability can even be used for transportation, due to its considerable range.

10. Devil-Watchers: members of a race of wise, elephant-headed spirits, they carry bowls of sacred milk and staves covered in bells to fight off demons. Possess healing and buffing abilities, and can cast off their consciousness by meditating on the atma.

>>49290864

11. Windriders: Very, very, very courageous men, riding magical kites. They are armed with crossbows and can be upgraded to throw firebombs from the sky.

12. Cloud Shepherds: Minor gods, mounted on mythical animals known as "ky lan" (the Vietnamese name for the Chinese "qilin"…). They are flying, mounted archers with an interesting mechanic: their "battalion" is not made up of more of them, but rather, of the "cloud flock", heavenly sheep and rams. Each shepherds flock grows over time up to a certain size, and each cloud sheep in it increases the shepherds survivability by being able to take hits for it. Furthermore: Cloud Shepherds possess special abilities which can be "fueled" by sacrificing a certain number of cloud sheep, making for somewhat of a resource management issue. By sacrificing members of their flocks, Cloud Shepherds can fire off lightning strikes, stun battalions with thunder, or heal with rain. They can also sacrifice the entire flock at once for a Tempest Charge, teleporting across the battlefield causing heavy damage and stunning everyone around them. The more sheep are in the Cloud Flock at the time, the greater the range and the damage.

13. War Turtles: Technically macroscale units, since they have targetable body parts (they are considered microscale because they come in groups), these are elephant sized turtles with jeweled shells, who can crawl on land or swim surprisingly fast through water. On their backs are howdahs with lancers and archers. Each Great Turtle can be individually upgraded to also carry, in addition, an automatic crossbow (great against groups of microscale units), a cannon (turning it into a siege weapon), or a bowl of healing water to buff units around it.

14. Hungry Ghosts: produced from dead battalions of human units through certain dragon spells. Weak and slow, but resilient and can come in large masses.

>>49290870

Vritra, macroscale:

1. Ascendant: Kaliyas who have achieved enlightenment, growing in size and gaining the powers of flight and magic. They breath poisonous vapors and can call massive, writing masses of serpents to appear to slow down, trip, kill and devour enemy units. They also have the ability to revive dead microscale units as hungry ghosts.

2. Nagini: The Vritra's only macroscale unit who doesn't fly makes up for it in versatility. Naginis are beautiful, enormous snake-women with innumerable arms, four of which are targetable and have game effects: the arm wielding a trident gives the nagini a powerful siege attack, the arm wielding a massive sword gives it a sweeping melee attack that can carve through microscale battalions, the arm wielding a flower allows it heal nearby friendly units, and the arm wielding a mirror vastly increases its line-of-sight and reveals stealthy enemies so long as it hasn't been harmed. Naginis, like many of the dragons, can crush certain types of fortifications by coiling around them and applying pressure.

3. Garuda: Not dragons at all, but rather, gigantic predatory birds. They can flap their wings to create winds that blow back enemy units and descend very quickly upon enemies, carrying them off into the sky and throwing them about. It does not have a ranged attack, and is quite vulnerable if it gets tied up on the ground.

4. Makara: The Makara is a crocodilian river dragon from Cambodian mythology, here presented as also having (feathered, colorful) wings and being capable of flight. As in Cambodian mythology, the Makara possess backs strong enough to carry the gods – and indeed, each Makara juggernaut carries a golden temple-fortress upon its back, which rains arrows on the enemy as the Makara breaths fire at them.

>>49290877

5. Guardians: Dragons with the body of a lion and a leonine face, also from Cambodian folklore, known for their loyalty and courage. The Tao Guardian is a slow, flying tank and a support unit, being capable of several types of defensive spellcasting. Its signature ability allows it to absorb all damage directed at another dragon/battalion of microunits (or even several, if the Tao Guardian is feeling brave), ultimately increasing their survivability.

6. Dragon Magistrate: a beautiful, many colored dragon, entrusted by his lord with meting out justice in a province. On a larger scale than the previous units. Essentially the "backbone" dragon unit, magistrates do not have many special abilities, but are solid, all-around useful firebreathing fliers. They can crush buildings between their coils.

7. Dragon Knight: An armored, warrior dragon, with a lot of HP and access to potent offensive spells. The dragon knight can freely change shape, assuming the form of a gold-armored human warrior with a massive sword for when being huge and flying can be a hindrance. In this form, it is capable of making enormous wushu leaps and flinging microscale units into the air with its sword swings. In draconic form, they can crush buildings between their coils.

>>49290886
8. Sage: An old, old dragon with a beardlike mane and impressive antlers, the heavenly sage is almost a pure spellcasting macrounit, offering buffs to nearby friendlies. Sages can change shape into an old man in monastic robes to unleash deadly martial arts attacks. They are larger and longer than the magistrates and the dragon knights, being comparable in size to frost and fire giants.

9. Immaculate: Huge, many headed, enlightened dragons, their bodies adorned with gold. Each of their heads possesses a different ability: one strengthens friendly units with its fragrant breath, one breaths fire, one pushes back enemy units with a torrent of water, one poisons enemies in a large cone, one freezes microscale units in place with its hypnotic eyes, and one can regenerate other heads which have been severed so long as it is still alive. All heads can also attack in melee, should the Immaculate decide to land. They can take the shape of beautiful divine concubines, armed with a golden polearm.

10. Heavenly Master: A dragon so long with wings so massive that it can effectively wrestle a Storm Thane, or for that matter, pick up castle towers between its hindclaws and rip them off to throw somewhere else on the battlefield. Their most distinctive trait is the sacred crystal balls held in their foreclaws – the source of their power. Their crystal balls grant them access to immensely powerful offensive and defensive spells, including the ability to make geysers of molten metal burst out of the ground and the abilities to conjure out of nothingness a Garden of Delights (a structure which heals and empowers all friendly units around it), a Divine Fortress (which attacks and slows down enemy units around it), or call several battalions of Hungry Ghosts from the underworld. Even without their crystal balls, they are still among the most formidable warriors on the battlefield. They can take the shape of glowing, buddha-like figures, retaining all of their spells.

>>49290892

Anu, microunits:

1. Slaves: The Anu's worker units are weak, fragile, and work very, very slowly. They are also so cheap that a player can mass dozens of them by the first minutes of the game without even trying – which is good, because liches have special abilities which allow them to regain MP or gain temporary buffs by sacrificing these poor souls in masses.

2. Grave Servants: favored slaves who were once entombed alongside their necromantic masters, now tirelessly laboring for the Anu like hyperactive (read: actually useful) versions of the slaves. Have no combat value and no place in a tabletop game. Unlike their living counterparts, they are no good to sacrifice.

3. House Guards and House Archers: human soldiers recruited from among the living in the lands of the Anu. House Guards carry spears and shields, and die in droves unless massed in ridiculous amounts. House Warriors carry bows and curved swords, and aren't all that much better.

4. Bladedrivers: bladed chariots, carried by boring old regular horses and not nearly as impressive as the stuff the Vritra can field. Can carry either archers or spearmen – they aren't large enough for both at the same time.

5. Elephants: the strongest Anu units which aren't somehow created by magic, they are ridden and "crewed" by dark skinned mercenaries from lands further outside Anu's. Archers on back, smash buildings with their tusks. Since the Anu don't otherwise have siege engines in the classical sense, they're gonna have to make do.

6. Grave Wretches: slow, rotting zombies which are very weak, but can be "recruited" very cheaply from a building or simply produced by liches by sacrificing their even cheaper Slaves on a 1 for 1 basis. Ridiculous amounts of these make a nice backbone for an army.

7. Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Archers: can be recruited for resources or, more cheaply, "recruited" on the battlefield from unfortunate House units.

>>49290899

8. Utukku: Treacherous, jackal-headed demons summoned by the Anu. Can either move slowly and stealthily or quickly and noisily, and rip enemies to shreds with their claws.

9. Bonemights: crafted from several skeletons, these hulking bone horrors offer the Anu a much needed microscale assault option.

10. Asaggu: plague-bringing ghosts, torturously torn from the corpses of the diseased. They are stealthy and while their normal attack is piss poor, simply being around them causes damage to enemy units. Make for good harassment.

11. Edimmu: Edimmu (or edims) are flying, screaming ghosts with a weak melee attack but very high speed.

12. Vampires: powerful, undead troopers that can use bows from afar or swords at melee – replenishing their own HP by doing the latter. They can take to the air in the form of black birds (not bats, interestingly), but cannot attack in this shape. Two separate upgrades allow their bird form to be stealthed and for them to detect stealthed units in either form.

13. Lamashtu: Female demons, looking like the classical depiction of harpies, except beautiful instead of hideous. Can become or render other units invisible, and drain enemy HP from afar. They can also cast debuffs on enemy microscale units, the most powerful of which is the Seed of Evil. Units who have been implanted with demonic seed with be significantly weakened for a large period of time, and should they die within that time, immediately give birth to an Utukku from their corpse.

14. Lumasi: a bizarre, but loyal type of demon, with the hindlegs of a bull, the forelegs of a lion, the head of a man and the wings of an eagle. Lumasi can breathe fire, heal and buff friendly units, but their most useful trait is that they can be ridden by liches, giving them a physical edge most do not otherwise have.

>>49290906

Anu, liches:

1. Court Astrologer: a lich specializing in celestial magic. They can observe faraway areas of the map and, using a special ability, see what orders the enemy player is giving their units and buildings (down to the specific locations he's sending them), mark an enemy unit with an invisible (to the enemy) star that reveals their position, create mobile, controllable "Guiding Stars" which greatly increase the speed and line of sight of friendly units around them, and otherwise gather information for their controlling player. Far from being pushovers in battle, Court Astrologers can also perform such feats as driving entire enemy battalions insane by exposing them to visions of space, reducing their line of sight to near nothing with an eclipse, and, most spectacularly, calling down meteorite showers. Like all liches, it can mount a lumasu and can revive dead Slaves as Grave Wretches and dead House units as Skeletons. With an upgrade, it can also turn an entire House battalion into a Bonemight. With another upgrade, they can do the same to enemy human units.

2. Court Alchemist: A lich specializing in material magic. They can change the shape of the battlefield by raising mountains out of the sand or causing entire regions to crumble into a sinkhole. It can render large areas of the battlefield temporarily unpassable with walls of burning ice, which it can shatter on command for massive damage. To harm enemies, they can summon clouds of toxic gas and pools of liquid fire which spreads across armies, or debuff them by causing weapons and armor to rust. Like all liches, it can mount a lumasu and can revive dead Slaves as Grave Wretches and dead House units as Skeletons. With an upgrade, it can also turn an entire House battalion into a Bonemight. With another upgrade, they can do the same to enemy human units.

>>49290912

3. Court Conjurer: A lich specializing in mental magic. They can create illusory armies or large amounts of illusory duplicates of themselves, or influence the battlefield by creating illusory mountains to block line of sight or illusory fortresses to force the enemy into changing their tactics. They can take over entire battalions of microscale units permanently and put even macroscale units temporarily to sleep. They can cause enemies to rout in terror or buff allies with massive attack bonuses at the cost of defense penalties by numbing them to horror with visions of paradise. They can cause themselves to look like any friendly or enemy microscale unit. It has all usual lich abilities.

4. Court Librarian: A lich specializing in the preservation of scrolls and artifacts, and by extension, preservation in general. Possessing the most powerful defensive buffs in the game, as well as the ability to heal entire armies of undead very quickly for almost no MP and continuously re-revive them when they fall. Court Librarians can also freeze friendly or enemy units and structures in time, protecting them but taking them out of the battle temporarily, or alternatively, cause buildings and macroscale units massive damage by bombarding them with entropy until they crumble to dust. As a last resort, Court Librarians can temporarily remove themselves or large amounts (entire armies) of friendly or enemy units from the timeline, essentially causing them to disappear from the map entirely before reappearing some time later. It has all usual lich abilities.

>>49290916

5. Court Champion: A lich specializing in battle magic. The closest liches come to being good fighters, the Court Champion can engulf itself in ghostly armor and summon a whirlwind of burning swords to either defend it or attack enemies. It can teleport entire armies, fly on wings of flame and bombard enemies down below with torrents of explosive fireballs, and summon raging vortices of fire and lightning to ravage through the enemy side of the battlefield. It can also fight defensively, raising fortifications from the dirt which friendly units can garrison, or which it can cause to blow up spectacularly to cause damage to everything around them. It has all usual lich abilities.

Anu, macrounits:

1. Golem: the most basic of the Anu's macrounits is a troll sized, living statue. It has no particular special abilities and isn't very fast, but it's cheap and its real purpose it to soak damage for the liches behind it.

2. Colossus: Larger, smarter, and all around better than the golem, the bronze colossus can also breathe fire at enemy units or channel it into sacred flames around it, healing nearby friendlies.

3. Bonestrider: a gigantic scorpion made from the bones of innumerable skeletons. It has no special abilities beyond being massive and destructive, and being able to offer a threat to the smaller giants with its sting.

4. Tainted Flesh: the fortunate byproduct of some unspeakable necromantic experiment, Tainted Flesh is a massive blob of sentient gore with no bones or skin. It can slowly roll over enemy units to absorb them into its mass, growing larger and more powerful as it does. With enough flesh, it can sprout tentacles or hurl pieces of itself at enemies, or leave in its wake dangerous, toxic residue. After absorbing an enormous amount of enemy units (including potentially macroscale ones), it can even split into two smaller versions of itself.

>>49290921

6. War Barge: a magical, versatile flying ship the size of a frost giant, mounting innumerable archers. Each War Barge may receive up to three individualized upgrades from a list of several: a cannon which shoots streams of liquid fire at units below, the ability to go invisible, the ability to teleport short distances, a deck full of catapults, or a protective shell of stormclouds that increases its HP and causes lightning to surge at units passing beneth it.

7. Abominable Ark: An enormous (Storm Thane scale), floating, excruciatingly slow cube adorned with jewels and gold. This magical puzzle box is the prison of a terrible demon. Even contained within it, its influence is felt. By changing its configuration (which takes some time, but can be done on the move), the Abominable Ark can affect the battlefield in several ways: teleporting all units around it a large distance, turning all friendly units in a large radius around it invisible, revealing enormous portions of the map and all enemy units on them, buffing and healing all friendly units in a large radius, or just obliterating enemy units by briefly opening portions of itself and drawing them into the demon's prison. Lastly, the Abominable Ark can be sacrificed: by "unlocking" the puzzle box, the demon contained within can be released. The flying demon is enormously powerful and large enough to wrestle with Storm Thanes or Heavenly Masters, and its presence burns units in a large radius to ash. Unfortunately, it is also completely uncontrollable, taking out its anger at being imprisoned at everything unfortunate enough to be in the area. After a short time, it will disappear in a gigantic blast of fire.

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>>49291244

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>>49291264

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I like it.

Resembles the old good Heroes of might and Magic 3.

So you have Scandinavia, India and Undead.

What do you want now? More factions or refining something about the already existing ones?

>>49291677
>What do you want now? More factions or refining something about the already existing ones?

I'm not the one who made all things in the first place. Honestly, I was hoping to re-attract the guy from the last thread who said he could make tokens for all of those things so we could start working on wargame rules. I don't know how to do any of that myself.

Also, I was under the impression (OP from last thread said so) that Vritra was more Southeast Asia than India. That said, my understanding is that most Southeast Asian mythology is basically just Hindu mythology with slightly changed names, so it matters all shit.

As for other factions, in the previous thread there were some pretty cool ideas for a Native American based one, but I don't know any Native American mythology.

This is pretty cool, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who does imaginary wargames (quite a lot of stuff in my homebrew setting, especially the forces of the BBEG, are designed from a wargaming perspective).

>>49291264
This guy is clearly Egyptian, not Babylonian.

>>49290819
This idea is cool, got anymore about it?

Potential rules? setting? Is it doen? anyhting to add?

Any drawfags yet? Im an aspiring drawfag myself tho i dont know how much i can contribute.

I can see this game working with Paper cutouts, top down for the micro units and stand up for macro units

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>>49292101
>Any drawfags yet? Im an aspiring drawfag myself tho i dont know how much i can contribute.

Not the same guy, but I think every bit of drawfaggotry would help give a project like this some life. How about trying to draw some of the macroscale units? I'm particularly interested in how Vritra dragons might look, since I know so little about Southeast Asian depictions of them. Thai and Cambodian mythology are mentioned, so maybe the aesthetics of those cultures could be a good start?

>>49292166
Something like that but with talon-like legs and big, feathered wings would be absolutely perfect. If colored, make sure to have the wings be vibrant colors of red, green and gold.

>>49292101
I wouldn't care for a depiction of an Anu lich (should we use the term lich? It's fairly Germanic. I feel like the Anu would just refer to them as "Immortals", or something like that). There are so many undead pharaohs on Google, but nothing Sumerian, Akkadian or otherwise Mesopotamian. You know, with all this gold jewelry everywhere and bitching wing decorations on the back. Those crazy hats.

>>49292166
>>49292334

I dont realy have an awfull lot of time right now which is why im asking if anyone is active.

Maybe i can try some but i wont promise anything. and again im just beginning with drawfaggotry

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>>49292348
Nevermind i got bored and attempted to draw >>49292166

Turned out a bit gay

Didnt realy feel like doing it on a tablet, i might still try to colour it digitally

>>49292967
Meh, it turned out too human for my ow taste, i guess im not used to drawing monsters and from the description i got a humanoid dragon vibe simmilar to Bolas in mtg, but it doesnt fit the rest of the aesthetic. whatever, dones done now

>>49293096
It does look a bit humanoid, but fuck me, the head and wings are amazing. Maybe changing the shape and positioning of the talons (or adding taloned hindlegs) may change this, but speaking as someone who's worked with illustrators in the past, I know this may mean drawfag would have to redo everything all over again, so I won't do that to him. Good job!

>>49293182
thanks, the wings were actually pretty easy to do funnly enaugh.

Changing the torso, well adding a second pair of legs would be annoying, as for the humanoid bits, drawing a snake body is far easier so id just erase all the muscle stuff and have it be snakelike which gets rid of the weird humanoid nature of it.

The arms would be annoying to redo mostly because im not very good at drawing animal arms, mostly drawing humanoid characters.

i guess for the most part i stuck with the idea of bolas since its supposed to be a wizard dragon

>>49292967
This is plenty awesome!

What other ideas for civs/factions can we come up with?

>>49294259
Not!Austria Hungary: They marry into the noble families of monster races and thus have a bunch of weird soldiers and halfbreed warbeasts

>>49294576
You know, if you remove the werewolves from the Thrym roster, I could maybe dig a nation ruled by werewolves.

However:

1. They'd need to have a unique, unusual cultural background. Austria-Hungary feels kind of generic European, and the Thrym are basically that anyway.
2. They'd need ideas for many different types of units - including, and this is the hard part - macroscale ones. And they can't just use the most obvious, "Gothic Horror" theme since the Anu have pretty much got that one covered.

>>49294930
Austria-Hungary in the 18th or early 19th century, maybe with a few more steampunk elements, would be enough of a unique culture, in my opinion. Maybe their macroscale units could be steam tanks and zeppelins? And Frankenstein's Monster style electro-corpses/automatons for units?

>>49294958
So basically the worgen from WoW combined with the Vinci from RoL, with German names?

I made the example token and posted about possible mechanics in previous thread. Though I don't know what more I have to add.

Said post was >I've been toying with the idea of a hex based wargamef or awhile where a units abilities, attack and defense and stuff is per-hexside, to give an immediate sort of positioning mechanic. Thinking it's something that could be applied here. Pick related.

Mind, I don't know what the numbers do just yet. I figure a unit is 'reduced' and flipped to its weaker back side before it's actually removed from play. unless it really sucks to begin with.

This could also make some of those special abilities a little easier. (illusionary alf warriors are the same but have a 'spoof' backside when they're attacked. Count the number of tokens discarded in a turn to roll for more raiders appearing. Stack a units kills beneath it to count later for Einherjar raising, etc)

I'd pointed out later the high unit count may make it worth splitting into subfactions or making additional ones, depending on how complex each unit is. In my head, this would work better as a simpler fast-moving ruleset rather than a dice-bucket slog or more mainstream-ish miniatures game, but open to thoughts on the matter.

>>49295364
>I'd pointed out later the high unit count may make it worth splitting into subfactions or making additional ones, depending on how complex each unit is. In my head, this would work better as a simpler fast-moving ruleset rather than a dice-bucket slog or more mainstream-ish miniatures game, but open to thoughts on the matter.

How would you split the factions?

>>49295392
With a company of heroes style approach. Only allow one tree of specialized units at a time. (Though this was, admittedly, more in relation to the above's list of thigns for an RTS, where so many units with active abilities would lead to micro overload.)

I suppose that may also depend on if you can create new units midgame in our theoretical TTG adaptation.

>>49295036
>>49294958
i wouldnt go with gothic horror, thats just the time period.

I would say austria hungary could have a nice mix of Almost dieselpunk tech with monsterous infantry aswell as cavalry, i could probably come up with a couple of units and large units too

>>49295449
If you have the ideas, try writing them down the same format OP did!

>>49295449
I think dieselpunk is kind of pushing the aesthetic boundaries of the setting. There's only so much before it no longer feels like itself.

>>49295449
>>49297028

Secondarily, if the faction isn't led or controlled by either the macro unit race or something of equivalent power, it kinda defeats the point of the setting.

>>49297076
^that.

It's not about being controlled by monsters in general, it's about being controlled by monsters in a way that makes for interesting gameplay. Anu are a deliberate subversion, and their gameplay revolves around (their macros are there to protect the liches). It'd be redundant for this to be the case with another faction.

How about that Native American faction?

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>>49294958
Maybe the nobility are made up mad scientists a la Frankenstein.

I really like the idea of Pickelhaube-clad Frankenstein's monsters inside steam tanks

>>49298838
*made up of

>>49290819
How much lore is there for this?

I can't into Crunch but I can write

>>49298887
Basically nothing from what I understand. OP of last thread described it as mostly an RTS game idea her thought we might be interested in. There were a few little summary snippets I think have been missed here, but it wasn't much. If O-OP is around, maybe he can elaborate more?

>>49298921
>Basically nothing
Fuck yes. I love me some writefagging.

Yeah if OGOP could show and lay down the basics I would love to help fill in the blanks

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45KB, 500x375px

>>49299003
i can help too

Do you think he'd mind if we writefag our own stuff into his setting?

>>49299666
I mean, at this point? Might as well. We've no idea if he's coming back or not. The absolute worst thing that happens is he comes back and goes, "Hey guys, could you not?"

>>49299782
Noice. Will do tomorrow if the thread is still alive

>>49299666
No thanks Satan, you'll try and corrupt the setting

>>49300964
>>49299666
Nope do your best, i was drawing your ideas afterall.

Some other Faction Ideas:

>Sentient Dinosaurs

Worshipped as the Gods of Hunger.
Has anyone here played primal rage?
Imagine huge sentient dinosaurs that feed on their fanatical worshippers.
Units could be Tribal Humans on the lower caste and Tyrannical LIzarmen priests riding smaller diinosaurs


>Arachnic Centaurs

Driders, Scorpion Folk, you name it, lord over by degenerate cave dwellers, dark elves and whatever else you can come up with

>>49299666
>>49303725
Nevermind misread, i just woke up.
I dont know mang, its not my setting but i think at this point this is a community project

>>49303725
>>49303749
Two good ideas made on the previous thread (which OOP approved of, mind you) were a Native American based civ whose macrounits were massive animal spirits, and a Lovecraftian/Cosmic Horror based civ whose macrounits were tentacle monsters.

>>49304821>>49303749>>49303725
Well the most important question we need to ask ourselves is what do we want the overall setting to be like?

Grimdark? Tongue in cheek? High Fantasy? Weird World War? Magitek? Steampunk? Stone Age Fantasy? Sword and Sandals?

Once we decide on an overall tone and theme we can move on pretty easily from there

>>49305466
From the little that was said in the previous thread and from the unit list, high fantasy seems to be definitely implied. From what I've gathered, what the old OP did say was that this is a fantasy setting in which humans (and elves, and vanara, and what have you) have always been ruled by greater beings, and that the different factions (Thrym, Vritra and Anu) have been intermittently openly fighting or simply hostile towards each other throughout most of history, as well as among themselves. Thrym live somewhere cold and Nordic and have a High King, but the various tribes fight and raid among themselves as well. Vritra occupies a large jungle/marsh region and is in a state of "Warring Kingdoms", which would imply that they once had a centralized leadership which has somehow crumbled. The Dragonlords (their unit list makes reference to Clans with its basic soldiers) are thus not unified. Finally, he made reference to the Anu making up something called the "Immortal Court", which is full of backstabbery due to its nominal ruler being an impotent idiot.

>>49305596
Oh, and he also mentioned Anu live in a desert/Mediterranean region and have African-esque mercenaries in their ranks. Overall, fairly stereotypical.

>>49305596
>>49305606
There was also talk of the idea that Anu were originally controlled by some other type of being (demons) and that their magicians turned to undeath as a means of standing up for the little guys. A thousand years later, they've gone completely drunk with power and are now all about the sacrifices and the worship themselves.

>>49305643
Yeah, let's please, please, PLEASE avoid turning this idea into yet another trite old HFY fapfest about humans defeating all the dragons and giants through the power of their endurance hunting or something.

>>49290819
Huge?

P.S. How do I remove the name from the reply function?

>>49306139
I think having one HFY faction would be a good idea, their macrounits essentially slaves, machines, or just giant humans (magic or someshit)

We could swing them as villians and that might be refreshing

>>49306742
If machines, I'm all for the previous idea of steampunk werewolves.

Alternatively, someone in the last thread suggested a faction inspired by occult lore: flying saucers, gray alien like beings, chupacabras, mothmen, etc. Macros being Lovecraftian style entities.

That's certainly not something you normally see in a fantasy RTS.

>>49290927
Question, does the Ark still open if it's destroyed by the enemy, or does need to be specifically unlocked in a certain way by the player?

>>49307170
I didn't write it, but you know, it could actually be an interesting gameplay mechanic if that was the case. To balance it out, make the storm demon inside even more powerful. Since Anu can't control it either, you could seriously mess up their tactics by blowing the Abominable Ark up from afar while it's in the middle of THEIR forces.

>>49306761
>Steampunk werewolves

Oh sweet jesus yes. Yeah so the HFY faction can be more like HUMANITY Ah Fuck. They deposed their greater beings and then fell prey to curses and diseases. Vampirism, Lycanthropy, and undeath spread like wildfire, arcane machinery the only thing holding their society and even bodies together

The "eldritch faction" could be Old Testament angels that are Lawful Good, not Lawful nice

Question, is this meant to be Table top or videuh?

>>49307297
The problem with an undeath based faction, though, is that it kinda steps on the Anu's thematic toes, doesn't it? I mean, if we rearranged the whole unit roster - remove werewolves from Thrym, maybe Hungry Ghosts from Vritra... But then, we'd have to remove like half of Anu's stuff.

Gonna take more thinking to give this new faction a truly unique flavor of its own. I like the dichotomy of (as Penny Arcade put it) "Dapper Werewolves", especially if it turns out they're mechanically inclined, gentlemanly and erudite, but it's gonna take more to give it a true atmosphere like the three existing factions have.

>>49307353
Nonono, these guys would be totally different, thematically.

Anu are Tomb Kings with the serial numbers filled off. Thrym are a mashup of Lord of The Rings and the Nords of Skyrim. Vritra are stereotypical Aztec jungle people.

These guys would be Victorian Grineer (from warframe), or Innistraad mad scientists. They are literally failing apart, like they have soul Aids

>>49307421
>stereotypical Aztec jungle people
Err, Vritra seem to be inspired by a hell of a lot of different cultures, but none of those are remotely Aztec. Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, India, a little bit of China... no Aztecs.

>>49304821
>>>49303725
>>49299666
>native american faction
Has there been anything solid written for this yet? I could write down a few ideas if not. I'm 1/64 Cherokee, so I'm an expert on this sort of stuff.

>>49307578
Back when this was talked about as an idea for a theoretical RTS, there was a seriously interesting gameplay mechanic revolving around one of their core macrounits, The Mother Spirit (which automatically spawned other units based on the terrain she was placed on). They were supposed to be a highly mobile, hit-and-run faction. Mentioned microunits included braves, skinwalkers, obsidian giants and a bunch of creatures with names I couldn't remember and certainly not pronounce. Macrounits would have been huge spirits: Grandmother Spider, Great Wendigo, Uktena, Thunderbird, etc.

I don't think they got too much of a treatment, so feel free to give it a try if you like.

>>49307651
Not sure how balanced that would be, relying on the Mother Spirits for reliable and quick unit production. Reading the other thread, I could suggest another idea: the villages from earlier can build basic units, plus specialist units depending on the terrain they're placed on/near. The Mother Spirits stay, but they focus instead on macrounit production. Like the villages, they can produce basic macrounits anywhere, and specialist macrounits depending on the terrain.
I'll have more later.

>>49307524
I didn't really read into them. That works fine.
>>49307524
>>49307578
>>49307651
How's about instead of zeroing in on our favorite factions let's establish the setting in broader terms?

Righto. Got a doc set up.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/182NcQFoY6QT9C1JR_k4JY7tsGbfkyiFgYg2KI9BIK14/edit#
While we're pitching new factions, I'd be suitably entertained by an immortal faerie court and their dickery. Though their mechanics might step on the native-american faction's toes.

So, rules wise what are our thoughts about unit production mid game? I think it's something that can be handled if we're using the suggested hextoken system. With minimal book keeping, it wouldn't be a huge issue. A lot of the factions unique aspects seem to center around unit production as well, and that's something I'd certainly want to see preserved.

>>49308362
Don't Thrym have the fairy court covered, between their elves, Wild Hunt, witches, trolls, witch trolls and whatnot?

>>49308402
Didn't notice the wild hunt, though alfs are a fair point. I assumed he meant, when he said trolls I figured he meant more the tolkien cave-troll sort. So yeah, I guess they do for the most part. Might make a good place to explore that subfaction idea though.

Especially if, as someone above said, the factions aren't really homogeneous but prone to intrigue and infighting, having some really distinct subfactions aside from a more 'baseline' expression of each could be neat.

>>49308483
>Big, hairy, with cow tails and huge noses. They are versatile and simple to use: they can pick up enemy units to throw around, throw boulders, uproot trees to use as clubs, stomp people to death, etc. They can also hide themselves by becoming supernaturally still and looking like mossy rocks, and with upgrades, cast a few spells which hamper enemy units.

If anything, the Thrym trolls appear to be less inspired by Tolkien and more by pictures like >>49291244

>>49308555
Huh. I utterly misread that. S'what I get for only showing up just before falling asleep and just after waking up.

>>49308592
>>49308555
>>49308483
>>49308402
>>49308164
I don't know much about SE Asia, but I think we should embrace the weirder elements of each culture that we base our factions off of, like Mandan manhood rituals for the Native American faction, the absolutely bizzare and degenerate stuff that the Nords bought into, like Odin giving dead dudes blowies for their "magic essence"

>>49308733
I'd be more convinced that your intentions weren't to turn this into your magical realm if all your examples of "weirder elements" you'd like to see didn't have to do with cocks.

>>49308931
Unless I'm mistaken Mandan manhood rituals involved putting bone hooks in your fucking chest then hanging by a ceiling until the pain sends you on a vision quest. A lot of Indian tribes where some metal motherfuckers.

The odin thing was a "bad" example but its stuff like that made the ancient world so weird.

>>49309086
Aren't Mandan the ones who tie their cocks up with cord so they'd be forever erect?

>>49309392
I have no clue.


Probably, the ancient world was obsessed with dicks. But besides the fixation with bollocks, what wierd ancient tradition could we translate into the factions?

>>49308068
Forgot to mention, to keep with the "mobile" shtick, the villages can be packed up and moved as the situation requires.

I mentioned it before, and might as well again: I know that we aren't real sticklers for historical accuracy, and I'm totally not doing this out of some misguided offense I think we've done the poor Amerindians, but, you know - do we want to give any proper geographical focus to that faction, or are we really just going for a grab bag of literally every folktale from the continent that we seem to like? I mean, nobody ever does Native American mythology correctly, and there are so many interesting stories from all over it will be a shame to have to give some up just because that particularly obscure cultural tidbit is Mohawk rather than Huron, but it can get ridiculous if out of control. Southwest tribes aren't even anything remotely like Northeastern ones. Imagine the sheer difference between a tribe like the Navajo on one end of the map, and the Aleut on other!

So where are we focusing our efforts?

>>49309785
Eastern + Plains
They're the ones most people think about when they about redskins

>>49309831
Okay. What do we know about their folklore?

>>49310681
They feature both Raven and Coyote? Like the folklore of basically every Native American people?

>>49309785
I think we should take the elements of mythology and culture that we like the most and that fot the overall theme of the faction.

Personally? I would like to have the Injun faction be some of the hardest motherfuckers who are deeply spiritual. The most metal group in the setting. So we'd cherry pick the parts of tribes that support balls to the wall savagery and deep religous beliefs

>>49311498
Headhunters? Men who sought out the heads of enemies because they were spiritually powerful, and could help make up for any spiritual imbalance in their village. Or at least, that's what I remember from the brief class I had back in uni.
Or how some tribes captured people and adopted them so they would take the place of a deceased person in a village. Part of the adoption process involved torture, if I remember correctly.
Or that one tribe that a ceremony where young men would hang themselves on hooks and swing around a pole.

>>49290819
What about an old testament, Abrahamic religion faction? Their macro-units would be angels, though not how modern Christians depict them, or even Medieval Christians. I'm talking the biblical descriptions, where one type of angel is, say, an enormous chariot wheel covered with eyes and constantly wreathed in flame. Or another is a four winged humanoid with the faces of a lion, an ox, a human, and an eagle. Special attacks could be along the lines of turning micro-units into pillars of salt, searing them with fire, or unleashing horrible plagues upon them.

This is a faction in which being good is defined as following religious laws and being part of the tribe. And being evil is about anything else... the old testament is super okay with genocide as long as it is being done to those who deny God. Micro-units have a primitive, middle-eastern feel -- slingers, spearmen, charioteers. Perhaps some of the weakest micro-units on their own, but fighting in proximity to their macro-units fills them with holy zeal to beat the odds (think David taking down Goliath).

At in some Islamic Djinns and Jewish Golems and you've got a stew going.

>>49311653
>Or that one tribe that a ceremony where young men would hang themselves on hooks and swing around a pole.
That's what I meant here. >>49308733
>like Mandan manhood rituals for the Native American faction,

And not necessarily headhunting since that is more associated with SE Assia and the Amazon but scalping for sure.

>>49311711
>What about an old testament, Abrahamic religion faction? Their macro-units would be angels, though not how modern Christians depict them, or even Medieval Christians. I'm talking the biblical descriptions, where one type of angel is, say, an enormous chariot wheel covered with eyes and constantly wreathed in flame. Or another is a four winged humanoid with the faces of a lion, an ox, a human, and an eagle. Special attacks could be along the lines of turning micro-units into pillars of salt, searing them with fire, or unleashing horrible plagues upon them.
And that's what I meant here
>>49307297
>The "eldritch faction" could be Old Testament angels that are Lawful Good, not Lawful nice

>>49307353
The Anu are like the Skorge from Warmahordes. The emphasis is them being sand and tissue paper assholes. These guys are Doctor Jekyl sympathetic villians. They are a faction of freaks becsuse they had fallen due to their own hubris

>>49311711
>>49311960
Thus far, your Abrahamic faction sounds far too similar to the Anu. That's the problem with using the Old Testament for inspiration: the imagery just all comes from Mesopotamian mythology. They literally already HAVE golems, and their "demons" look like biblical "angels".

Old OP covered A LOT of ground with his 3 factions. We gotta have to get real creative to come up with something completely new.

Random idea for a faction :

Make steampunk pacific rim.

Like, giant robots with giant guns. Or giant swords, or fists. Whatever.

It would be like a human resistance, pacific rim+gurren lagann style. They would have developed a powerful tech under the rule of an uncaring and isolated dragon, and used it to take him down.
Now, they want to free all humans, elfs, etc... And basically wipe out everyone else.

I figure a pretty mobile faction with stupid firepower, but expensive and quite shitty in cqc, making them vulnerable to zerg rush.
(good way to balance them out compared to the dragon faction, which may have troubles against their shooters)

Right now, I'm kinda obsessed by the riflemen on bikes, but there could also be tanks, zeppelins spy bombers...

>>49312630
>It would be like a human resistance, pacific rim+gurren lagann style. They would have developed a powerful tech under the rule of an uncaring and isolated dragon, and used it to take him down.
>Now, they want to free all humans, elfs, etc... And basically wipe out everyone else.
That is precisely what we've been trying to avoid.

>>49312578
Fair point. Maybe we can move the angels into the eldritch faction as high level Elder Beings or scrap them entirely?

The big dividing line between Anu and the dons of Abraham is alignment and mechanics.

But you are right OP did cover a lot of ground. With Injuns in play that's a lot of more ground.

>>49312630
>>49312725
This isn't a humanity fuck yeah setting. Man is awed by these awesome figures fighting with them. This is a Kaiju Fuck Yeah setting.

I mean, do you really watch a Godzilla movie for the human parts?

Besides its looking like that slot is being taken by our Penny Dreadful faction, which is HFY that apparently stepped on its dick

Anyone added anything to the Google Doc?

>>49314284
Revision history says no.

Adding a bump before bed. Hoping this thing succeeds! It looks to have potential!

I throw a tentative vote at Austro-Hungarian steampunk werewolves, but on the condition that somebody manage to make them feel genuinely unique, rather than some weaksauce mishmash of the worgen and Reiksland.

>>49315270
I may be able to contribute something if this is still alive by morning. A faction of Gothic mad-scientist werewolves called the Kallas. I just need to find the right mixture of Poe, Capek, Kafka, Mary Shelly, and Louis Stevenson. It's gonna take some fine tuning, but I like the idea of the werewolf-ness of the nobility highlighting the human debasement and grotesque savagery of the upper classes which is typical of Gothic fiction. Either the nobility of Kallas literally turned themselves into werewolves so that they could engage in even more violent debauchery, they were cursed with becoming werewolves BECAUSE they engaged in too much violent debauchery, or it's simply a symbolic matter. I have this strong mental image of an 18th century ball, with everyone dressed up like Habsburg nobility with colorful animal masks - until the clock strikes midnight, they pull them off, the visitors realize that their patrons are animals with or without their masks, and that they were brought to the castle to serve as dinner. There's something perversely romantic and terrifying about it.

>>49315469
>>49315270
>>49313108
>>49312630
>>49307297
>>49306761
>>49306742

So this is obviously going to be the most technologically advanced faction, but probably the one with the lowest population?

And this is clearly going to be the penny dreadful faction, with all sorts of horror nonsense, but how did everyone get fucked?

I'd say it's becsuse they found a way to kill their gods and rise to power, but it turns out that gods and spirits and such are necessary for keeping the universe cohesive. So know they suffer from extreme bodily degradation and are afflicted with all sorts of diseases and curses that turn them into monsters, undead, and in desperate attempts to save themselves, hideous amalgamations of flesh and metal

>>49315662
Literally Anu, dude.

>>49315761
How so.

Anu are Mummies

>>49315662
See, the reason I think >>49315469 is a good idea is that it really puts the focus squarely on the INHUMANITY of it, with the human aspect used a mirror through which to see the darkness. This game has no place for undertones of HFY, it's about monsters being on top and humans being their servants. I don't care how or why Kallas became werewolves, I want to see the particular flavor of suffering they inflict on the humans in their domain. Do they hunt them for sport? Use them as test subjects? Kill them for the amusement?

It's a take on the theme that's not covered by any of the existing factions. Now if only their cultural aesthetic didn't feel so cliche.

>>49315838
I don't think it's about suffering so much as it is about domination. The relationship between humanity and their inhuman masters can be a powerful theme in the setting.

Thrym treats them as workers: they're valued for what they can contribute, and are rewarded per the way the giants believe they deserve.

Vritra treats them as students: the dragons are at the top of the spiritual food chain because they are enlightened. By subjugating humans they enforce the order of dharma, justifying their own actions with the idea that everyone has the potential to achieve greatness through enough incarnations (much like the Indian caste system, with dragons as the bharamin)

Anu treats humans as worshipers. Like Vritra, they essentially believe in an order of things: one in which they are rightfully on top and it is only natural that those beneath them should fulfill their desires.

Kallas' shtick seems to be of humans as literal prey, but I liked the romantic undertones of it. Very Bram Stoker, Victorian, "sensuality is satanic"ish. Humans exist to sate their hungers.

>>49315838
>>49316014
Look dude this is lore for an RTS, it's not Shakespeare.

The Anu are obviously Mum-Ra moustache twirling asshats, I think we can make Kallas sympathetic villians and the world won't fall apart.

The big difference is that Anu likes being "Evil", where Kallas kinda...evolved that way.

You say you guys want to use elements of Kafka, Shelly, and Poe, and yet you are pushing the Stoker elements above all.

This is a dying people who's hubris turned them all into monsters. Now they consort with the night and prey upon man to survive, augmenting their bodies eith arcane machinery to stay alive.


As for aesthetics for the faction I think we can get away with a gothic, Victorian feel, just to Illustrate that they where/are the most advanced setting culturally and technologically.

>>49316201
It's a completely different flavor of evil, though. As you said, Anu are mustache twirling. It fits with their nature as undead wizards and self-appointed gods. They are above human concerns, but are plagued by human flaws. They are cold and calculating, and probably can't stop thinking about how great it is they never need to eat or sleep, but at the same time, they can't get enough of self-glorification and magical dick waving.

Kallas is the opposite: they are a manifestation of the upper class' pretentions of civility contrasted with its pure savagery in Gothic literature. Hell, you don't even have to go as far as Stoker. Lord Byron had this all thought out way before. They ARE tragic figures, and I believe they could be sympathetic, but not because they ever had pure intentions and certainly not because they ever gave a shit about the plight of the lower classes/humanity. They are tragic as a group because they are willfully blind to the state they have rapaciously reduced themselves into, and as individuals they are tragic because their hedonistic escapades, which was intended to give meaning to their otherwise dull existence, have devolved into pure and pointless cruelty they do not truly take pleasure in but cannot afford to stop.

>>49316362
So basically an entire faction of the better written representations of Dracula, but with mad scientist werewolves instead of a vampire?

I wholeheartedly approve!

>>49316201
It's not exactly Shakespeare to want an aspect of the game universe to reflect something marginally deeper than the idea that humans are cool. I don't agree with the DEGREE of literary masturbation here, but I do think it's important to remember that Gothic fiction is ultimately about brooding heroes exploring humanity's darker nature. Vampires and werewolves FEATURE in it, but to make it all about them while ignoring the romantic aspects which define the genre in the first place is like slapping goggles on a top hat and calling it steampunk.

>>49316466
>>49316201
^
You wanna make these guys sympathetic, make them slaves to their passions. It's literally the point of the genre. They're wolves because they couldn't be men, because man has self restraint. If you really want to stress it, say whoever made them this way in the first place offered to change them back if they repent, but they just proved him right by angrily turning him off, dooming them to be less than human and take out their frustration on the peasantry.

>>49290819
Oh, hey, you actually made a new thread, bump

>>49316532
>>49316466
I think you guys misunderstand me, they aren't total retard mode slaves to their vison, and I'm not sure where folks see the HFY.

They fucked themselves, now they are paying for it

Bumping this thing for interest

>>49322361

We need to establish a setting/world name and flesh out the broader stuff as well. Getting bogged down in the details of a tiny fraction of the setting won't get us anywhere

>>49323950
Feel free to suggest something, I'm sure you will be joined by others.

>>49324434
Nobody takes initiative on /tg/.

>>49326252
Be the change you want to see.

I am opposed to the Werewolf idea vehemently. The entire idea of the setting is that GIANT monsters are on top, and the Anu are a deliberate subversion of that. To add in anything else ruled by things a similar size to mortal creatures not only steps on the toes of the Anu, but muddies the focus of the setting.
also, whoever the fuck keeps calling anu egyptians, stop. the guy who came up with this stated they were mesopotamians

>>49329175
>also, whoever the fuck keeps calling anu egyptians, stop. the guy who came up with this stated they were mesopotamians
Even if you haven't read the last thread, you'd think that with all of their units being beings from Mesopotamian mythology and none being the slightest bit Egyptian, there'd be some kind of clue.

>>49329175
What other kind of creature would you suggest? Few giant beings capture human imagination on such a universal, archetypal level as dragons and giants.

>>49329175
They would have giant creatures, obviously.

The EGYPTIANS are the super special snowflake faction that gets to have little people act like big ones.

>>49331372
But they aren't RULED by them, they are ruled by the werewolves.

Unless we end up giving the werewolves cthullu or making them 60 feet tall, its still just small people rule.

Bump for interest

>>49331586
Oh, I get what you're saying.

It's kind of a silly rule to shackle ourselves to, no?

>>49333378
>>49331586
>>49331372
>>49330242
>>49329307
>>49329175
We still don't even have a world name.

Before we go any further these questions need to be answered.

>What's the name of the setting?
>How did it come about?
>What is the average level of technology?
>Why is everyone fighting eachother?

>>49333826
Good questions.

>>49333826
>>What's the name of the setting?
Doesn't really matter at this point. Just call it something random like Medesza as a placeholder until we come up with something better.
>>How did it come about?
Let's assume the little people and big people lived fairly segregated from each other for a time before big people realize "hey, we're bigger and stronger than the little people, we can tell them what to do and they can't say squat". Thus began the age of the Titans. Or something like that.
>>What is the average level of technology?
Varies widely. Vikings (Early-High middle ages) and Mesopotamian (Antiquity) and Southeast Asia (I would assume pre-colonial times, Asians seemed to lag behind Euros starting about the 17th/18th centuries, right?)
>>Why is everyone fighting eachother?
Influence, resources, because they can.

I'll be honest, I don't think we should be thinking about the big picture until we have the factions a bit more fleshed out. After we have the factions and their lore done, then we can work on stringing it all together into something more coherent.

>>49336929
Is that name a reference to something?

>>49336929
The Asians appear to have cannons (to put on their war turtles). I'd say their tech ranks higher than the Norse.

>>49336929
Fair enough.

For the sake of everyone's sanity lets put this Kallas issue to rest. First off I don't think it should be Lycans exclusively (and in our fiction I think the distinction between Lycanthropy and "Werewolfism" should be made, as the later is Thrym shapeshifting magic, and the former is a terrible affliction. This setting gets to have its furbait cake and eat it too). The faction should include vampires, "frankensteins", ghouls, and nearly everyone is going to have a measure of transhumanism with steampunk enhancements. The degradation of their souls are directly reflected in their bodies.

Now with the whole Macrounit thing, I think its silly to have ALL factions be ruled by their Big Guys, in fact having inverse societies be the distinctly evil factions be in charge of their macrounits be a theme.

However the Kallas wouldn't have that reflect in their mechanics as much as the Anu

>>49339973
Anu already have (Mesopotamian) vampires in their unit roster. Thrym are easy enough to handle, you just replace their "werewolf" unit with "berserkers" who turn into bears and you've achieved the exact very same thing. And I do like the focus on werewolves for Kallas: it's a creature that's very rarely depicted as being the "bad guy in charge". Except for maybe in Pratchett's Uberwald, I don't remember the last time I've seen "werewolf nobles" ruling over the peasantry. It makes for a fascinating mental picture of the contrast between the epitome of civility (being an 18th century Austrian gentlemen) and the epitome of bestiality (being a man-eating monster).

Once you go full steampunk, their macrounits can just all be machines.

THAT SAID, I do agree with the sentiment that having another faction ruled by human sized entities is boring. There's got to be something beyond werewolves we can use. No love for the Native American one after all?

>>49339973
>>49340000
As another sidenote, I've gotten a strong impression that the guy who came up with Kallas wasn't thinking Hollywood "turn mindless with the full moon" type werewolves. More of a Bram Stokery "deviant nobility" kind of deal. They probably attained lycanthropy either deliberately, through mad science or a deal with the devil, or by being cursed with it for their inhumanity. In either case, it's expressed more subtly than in turning them into the Van Helsing wolf. More like the Garou from Werewolf: The Apocalypse: overly emotional, instinctively hierarchical cunts, except without the morality. They can probably change shape at will and do so with gusto. I can only imagine someone looking like an 8 feet tall, anthromorphic wolf dressed in fine Prussian officer's dress with epaulets and a sabre and everything grinning cruelly with a glass of wine in one hand and the head of some poor fuck who pissed him off in the other.

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>>49340000
>Anu already have (Mesopotamian) vampires
Hmmm, I was really going for a Bram Stoker/Castlevania Vampire.

Maybe we can just name the Anu ones Strigoi (ignore the slavic route)? Or whichever ones are more savage? Just dropping it from Kallas could work too, although I was really gunning for them being the Monster Movie/Penny Dreadful faction.

>Thrym are easy enough to handle, you just replace their "werewolf" unit with "berserkers"

It works!

>, I do agree with the sentiment that having another faction ruled by human sized entities is boring. There's got to be something beyond werewolves we can use
Fuck it, we can just move the Eldritch stuff over to them, for a furry Insmouth feel? They discarded their old gods for new ones that would ulpift them at a cost?

It would fit with the Gothic theme, I suppose. Kinda Mignolversy in a way...

OR we can have their Macrounits be giant mechanical castles. With their leaders in them. I can't find the poetry in it, but it may work.

>No love for the Native American one after all?
Plenty, I just want to get Kallas out of the way, since its a neat concept but we need to reach concensus.

>>49340031
>the guy who came up with Kallas
Speaking. Although the name and the Prussian/Austro Hungarian theme came in organically. I don't mind it though.

>wasn't thinking Hollywood "turn mindless with the full moon" type werewolves
Correct. My biggest inspiration where the Worgen and pic related. And those Leviathan novels, if you know anything about them.

But I wasn't thinking anything subtle. The nobility accidentally the whole faction through their quest for dominance, now they are a bunch of brooding freaks.

They never asked for this. And yet, they did, didn't they?

>>49341371
>mobile mechanical castle
>ruled by the werewolf duke
>Howler's Moving Castle

>>49341371
Combining several of the previous ideas: the people of Kallas (though possibly by now just the peasantry) based their church around unpleasant angels who are possibly no longer even watching. Centuries ago, these angels, being moralistic and ruthless, dies irea style, cursed the nobility of Kallas to become werewolves after committing one blasphemy too many, either in the pursuit of pleasure or science, following the old mythological logic of "if you wouldn't act like man, you shouldn't look like man". What they didn't foresee was the degree of fucked upedeness the nobility of Kallas has descended into: rather than learning their lesson and repenting, they just went "Yeah, God? That's how you want it? Fine! No more Mr. Nice Guy! Outlaw the church, burn the icons, rape all the nuns - we like being monsters anyway!"

But of course, in the tradition of Gothic literature, this is just an angry mask for the fact that in reality the nobility of Kallas now realizes, centuries later, that their lives are hollow and their science cannot return to them something they've lost and can't even figure what ("their innocence", or "their purity", or simply "their humanity"). They party hard and terrorize the countryside from their mad science werewolf castles both to make a show of it and to forget themselves how miserable they ultimately are with their fate. But since their gods have already forsaken them, there is no hope for them for redemption. Cue brooding.

Their campaign hero would of course be a Byronic motherfucker who spends half his time crying, half his time fucking his cousin and half his time killing shit, as it is tradition.

>>49341738
Okay. So it sounds like we need to settle on their macrounit before we finalize their lore.

Steampunk Castle golems or Giant Eldritch Things?

My vote is for Elder Gods

>>49341939
Elder gods

>>49341939
Steampunk castle golems. Don't pile the monsters up too high. Focus on one good idea.

>>49341939
Steampunk. Save the elder gods for their own, Lovecraft themed faction. Gothic horror and cosmic horror don't mix best. The former is far too focused on human emotion and far too reliant on the concept of a moralistic universe (would an Elder God feel the need to curse depraved nobles with lycanthropy? No, it isn't interested in such concepts and has no grasp of poetic justice. Uncaring gods kill romance)

Call me an idiot, but what's the meaning of "Kallas"? Thrym is old Norse for "frost", Vritra is dragon in Indian mythology and Anu is a Babylonian god.... Does Kallas have meaning?

>>49343285
Unless I'm mistaken, it's a reference to 19th century Finno-Estonian writer Aino Kallas, whose stories tackled the theme of murderous love (the "Slaying Eros") and whose most famous novella features a romantic werewolf.

>>49343331
I, uh, actually made it up at random because I was looking for something German sounding that wasn't too similar to the other faction names.

That's a... bizarre coincidence. Happy, but bizarre.

Is basebuilding going to be a thing?

Because Kallas' thing could be mobile bases, like you can build a bigger macrounit with resource generators and other macrounits

>>49344954
A. Likely not?
B. Anu already have those according to OOP's original RTS concept. Their cities float.

>>49345106
This is no longer an RTS. It can't be. Let it go. We're working on a tabletop game now.

>>49346159
This is honestly the easiest option.


How could Base building work in a tabletop?

And what should Kallas' mechanical gimic be? So we can generate a unit list then go into the other factions before fabricating lore.

>>49346485
I would say dual mode heroes, but honestly, Vritra already seems to have it covered, what with many of its dragons being able to take human shapes, and unlike Vritra (who can populate its macrounit list with all those weird and cool Southeast Asian dragon myths), there are really only so many variations on "noble who turns into a wolf". True, you could place said noble inside a war machine of some kind and even have many different types, but then you lose on the whole "dual mode hero" shtick since it doesn't really matter whether the giant steam robot is being currently piloted by a human or a werewolf.

>>49346485

>How could Base building work in a tabletop?

Depends on scale and complexity of individual units. I've seen basebuilding done in something like Ogre for example. Could probably pull it off with a little thought.

>>49346485
Going by the RTS logic, you cannot shove a new faction into an existing scheme while expecting them all to stick to their gameplay niches. You gonna have to make some changes to the Thrym, Anu and Vritra and rearrange their play styles so that all 4 are balanced against each other (I'm usually the last one to link to TvTropes for something like this, but if you want to, check out a "trope" there called "Faction Calculus". It gives a good explanation of the subject)

>>49347065

>>49346159
Well shit. I thought having structures to reinforce your units was a cool idea.

On Kallas, would it be alright if we took inspiration from any stories and legends from 18th-19th century Europe? I really like Kafka and his ideas of intelligent beasts (the ape story) and transformation (the Metamorphosis).

>>49346649
Well it should be pretty easy, microunits are just infantry blobs and Macrounits are super easy to track.

>>49347065
I'm just going to step away from anything resembling mechanics. I can't into crunch at all, I just want to fluff

>>49349857
I mean why not? We're almost done with Kallas and I want to finish them and move on to something else

Okay so Kallas' "leader" macrounits are giant steampunk mecha castles...

But how would they play?

The B movie gothic Horror element could encourage a slower playstyle, and the contructs could encourage a more defensive playstyle?

>>49352439
Maybe to go with the Gothic horror theme, some kind of... emotion based mechanic? Like their heroes get different abilities based on whether in a given moment they're brooding, sadistic or furious, and various circumstances in the game can "change their mood"? Say, a couple of hero units are lovers... If one sees the other using a certain special ability, both become sadistic. If they're too far apart from each other, one becomes brooding and the other becomes indifferent. If one dies, the other becomes furious - but if the other dies, she becomes brooding instead...

>>49355699
That's prettt good!

>>49352439
>>49355699
well I'm getting a huge Bloodborne vibe from this faction concept, so maybe borrow a concept from that game which is all about rewarding aggressive behaviors and punishing passive ones

>>49343243
you've obviously never played Bloodborne, that game shows that Gothic Horror and Cosmic Horror can mesh together quite well

>>49356684
Bloodborne is actually an excellent example of treating Gothic horror like "goggles and cogwheels steampunk". In literary terms, it has virtually no Gothic horror in it. It uses the term to describe an aesthetic filled with werewolves and castles and shit, but its themes are completely different. It's cosmic horror crossed with Shinto religious sensibilities. You could've transplanted it from Imperial Germany to early 20th century Japan and very little would've changed. No focus on human emotion, no tortured protagonists, no destructive love. The Doll is KINDA appropriate, but never gets as much focus as it would've in a proper Gothic fiction book. (I'm also totally okay with the idea of Kallas' worker units being living dolls, by the way).

But yeah, in terms of its themes, Bloodborne is a piss poor example.

>>49356778
You gotta have to accept the fact that the meaning of literary genres WILL be watered down into a shallow puree of aesthetic elements nowadays. The vast majority of readers of any work wouldn't even know what the word "theme" means, much less understand how they're represented. They read Neuromancer, and they don't see the ironic tension between technological enlightenment and capitalistic immorality, they see "COMPUTERS AND JAPANESE MEGACORPS AND HACKERS IN LONGCOATS, YEAH!". They read Starship Troopers and they don't see an essay in politics and sociology, they see "DUDE, EXOSUITS THAT FIRE MINI NUKES, YEAH!".

It's actually the same with cosmic horror, for that matter. How many works of "cosmic horror" nowadays do you think actually embrace Lovecraftian nihilism, his explorations of the emptiness of the human condition or our place in the universe? People nowadays see "cosmic horror", and all they get is a mental picture of "tentacles".

That said, I still think Gothic horror shouldn't be mixed with cosmic horror. The two genres are practically antithetical. You CANNOT combine them on any level but the shallowest, and I, for once, don't see the appeal of vampires next to tentacle monsters. It's meaningless. I'd rather focus on one or the other.

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>>49356828
>>49356778
Okay let's fold up the /lit/wank and put it in our pockets.

We get; cosmic horror=/=gothic horror

Now Kallas has two major mechanics, punishing passiveness and rewarding aggression, and emotional interplay between hero units. Kallas has now turned into Pattapon: Gothic Dieselpunk edition. (I say dieselpunk so we can get this aesthetic in pic related. The machines can run on blood.)

For the sake of discussion lets nail down the other faction mechanics so we know our outer limits in game design

>Thrym
Balanced faction. Babbys first choice and well rounded. No real crazy mechanics, right?

>Vritra
Flyers and ranged fighters. Will inevitably be called fags for not getting in your face like other factions. Kinda squishy other wise

>Anu
Liches are the only unit that matters. Every other unit exists to keep them in play, and they liches exist to get THEM in play, so on and so forth...

>Kallas
Its all about keeping a good operational tempo. Slow down and let your units stsrt dying/taking heavy damage and you could lose control of your hero units. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the units you take and tactics you use.

>Lovecraftian faction
Microunits feed the Macrounits, which are nigh impervious, but slow. You want to win against these guys? Stop their means of resource production and take out the little guys so their big guys can't stay.

>Injuns
Self harming and self healing mechanics. Your health and "mana" system become your major resources. Not necessarily the strongest but have high survivability.


What do we think? I think we shouldn't have any more factions, and just use the ones we have for now until we have the setting and crunch down tight

>>49357335
I thought Kallas were more about musketeer and hussar armies?

>>49357870
They could be their basic tier units, equivalent to the Raider, Clan and House soldiers. Call them Imperial Musketeers, Imperial Grenadiers and Imperial Hussars or something.

Working on a Kallas unit list. Honestly, I'm fudging most of this since the faction doesn't really interest me all that much, but at least it'll be progress.

>>49359386
Godspeed, anon.

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>>49359386
Low teir units should be crypt ghouls and dirt farmers and the like, followed by wolves and such, then creepy automata, then actual soldiers

Mid tier units should be more elite soldiers, magicians, jack the ripper types, werewolves, mechanical cavalry

High teir should be walking tanks like pic related, giant Frankenstein creatures and other mad science monstrosities, alpha werewolves/Were Generals, etc

The hero units should basically be gothic keeps on legs with fists

>>49360197
Well, I done fucked, than.

>>49361080
Nononono, post what you have, I demand it!

>>49361080
What this guy said:>>49361246 it's always good to post ideas, even if we don't run with it in the end. They could be modified, or they could serve as inspiration for something better.

>>49361246
>>49361371
Didn't finish it, even. Had a World of Darkness session (ironically) in the middle and only just came back home.

It's just the microunit list, without even any werewolves on it so far. I thought they'd be on a separate one, like the Anu liches.

Kallas, microunits:

1. Patchwork Roboti: While far from averse to breaking the peasantry's backs in pointless, self-gratifying works, the nobles of Kallas are also impatient and industrious and know the value of quick labor in battle. Patchwork Roboti are sewn together from the pieces of multiple corpses and artificially revived protoplasm to serve as this labor. They're as good for construction and mining as they're at clobbering enemy units, but need to be watched: if let into combat, they have a tendency for going berserk and needing to be put down.
2. Dolls: It has been in vogue for some time for the decadent nobles of Kallas to have their personal needs attended to by beautifully painted, delicately dressed Dolls built from porcelain, hardwood and brass. Nobles who are furious may abuse their Dolls in order to calm down (but at the cost of the Doll's HP). Nobles who are brooding may find solace in interaction with the Doll (but this slows them both down significantly). Nobles who wish to stroke the fires of their sadism and are calm at the moment may simply strike the Doll, but this destroys it instantly. The broken souls clinging to the Dolls' clockwork hearts secretly long for death, and will sprint madly towards enemy blades if brought to the front lines. This will result in any attached Kallas nobles becoming brooding.

(cont.)

>>49361482
3. Roaming Rabble: Bearded, fur-hatted woodsmen from the wilds and hamlets of Kallas, armed with axes, knives and muskets. They are mobile, stealthy and can detect stealth, but are very weak for their pricetags and poorly suited for actual combat. They can lay traps for enemies and be upgraded with hounds, for extra combat ability or horses, for extra mobility. They can't take both.
4. Imperial Fusiliers: Having refined the art of mass slaughter beyond the medieval proclivities of their neighbors, the armies of Kallas rely on gunmen, rather than spearmen, to form their rank-and-file. Their guns can cause significant damage but are slow to reload, and their abilities in melee combat suffer compared to those of Raiders, Clan or House warriors.
5. Forlorn Hopes: Battalions made up of soldiers handpicked for their courage, dim-wittedness and greed, Forlorn Hopes are the first to push into the fray and are generally doomed to go down in a blaze of bullets. Armed to break enemy lines, the Forlorn Hopes carry close range trench guns and axes into battle. They may be upgraded with grenades, which put them in as great a risk as they do their foes, as well as combat drugs which increase their speed at the cost of health.
6. Imperial Hussars: Winged, armored lancers atop black horses, meant to charge enemy lines. They can inflict fear in some of the lowlier microscale units, and, like Forlorn Hopes, may be upgraded with combat drugs.
7. Fliegenkopffen: "Fly Heads", thus called for the grotesque looks of their gas masks, are the latest evolution of Kallas' infantry corps. Armed with primitive semi-automatic weapons and toxic gas bombs, they are excellent for laying down the hurt against entrenched enemies, and are capable of diggings and fortifying trenches of their own. An upgrade even allows them to deploy machineguns to defend their trenches. Their disadvantages lie in their enormous cost and very, very slow speeds.

(cont.)

>>49361494
8. Clockwork Goliaths: Kallas would replace much of their armies with these gigantic, humanoid automatons, but their production is simply too costly. Their battalions are small, but very effective: they are armed with gatling-style guns taking up one of their arms and carry huge chainsaw swords with the other. Care must be taken to manage them in battle, as they are in constant danger of overheating both their guns and their boilers. Overheated guns cause more damage – right until they melt out of shape and become useless. Overheated boilers cause the Goliaths to blow up in a shower of shrapnel… which the commanders of Kallas have also found uses for.
9. Verminkind: Human sized cockroach-like mockeries of nature made from people, they are maddened by grief and disease and wish for nothing more than an end to their existence. Unfortunately, they're somewhat unreliable: they're as likely to skittle away from battle and find some dark corner to crawl into and die as they're to go into rage and try to eat enemy troops. Kallas has met limited success in manipulating their behavior by applying noise and light, mostly that of exploding shells. An upgrade to the Lord-Surgeon's mutative chemicals makes verminkind even viler, so much that their clouds of disease stench cause damage and disorientation in nearby foes.
10. Field Guns: Predecessors to Kallas' infinitely larger, more impressive macrounit Siege Cannons, the field guns nevertheless make quick work of closely packed enemy troops and light fortifications. They are extremely fragile and fire very slowly, making them easy prey to fast enemies.

(cont.)

>>49361503
11. Gorehounds: Bred and chemically manipulated by the Kallas for ferocity, size and bloodlust, these gigantic hounds sometimes accompany their masters into battle and are released in packs to tear enemies limb from limb. The more engaged they become in combat, the stronger their attacks grow, but after a certain point they will become uncontrollable even by the Kallas.
12. Carrionites: Surgically-produced abominations with the heads of rats, pigs and crows and the bodies of deformed men, the carrionites were originally made for maximum survivability on the battlefield and to compliment the fliegenkopffen in offense. True to their purpose and name, they can regain strength by consuming enemy and friendly corpses and are hugely durable. They are armed with flamethrowers, and their innate cruelty ensures they'll take great joy in using them in battle. A little too much joy, in fact: faced with the prospect of freshly made corpses (or enemy troops easily transformed into ones), they may become uncontrollable to Kallas.
Kallas, noble commanders:
1. Lord-Surgeons: A "battalion" actually comprising a single, noble surgeon/scientist and its cadre of mutant lab assistants, they can erect field hospitals to provide care for allies on the battlefield. They can also launch various psychoactive gases into battle in order to inflict enemies with hallucinations, induce rage in allies, or poison both sides equally. An upgrade allows them to throw a gas bomb which will slowly transform human soldiers affected by it into verminkind. Like all of Kallas' noble commanders, the Lord-Surgeon can unleash their bestial sides to increase their speed and combat abilities, but at the cost of becoming vulnerable to moods. Generally speaking, performing medical works cheers them up and they can sate their sadism on the igors, but their scientific minds grow bored and they fall into brooding simply by standing around too long not using any ability.
2. Gentlemen Dragoons:

>>49361521
Any more?

>>49361748
That's as far as I've gotten before having to leave for my session.

You finish it or fix it or change it if you like.

>>49361521
The only objection I have is here. I think the Body horror stuff can be shuffled into a Lord Surgeons retinue, to make room for more mechanical units to illustrate their technological superiority

Any expansions to the unit list?

>>49362828
I reallt don't want to, I'm horrible at anything resembling balanced crunch.

>>49362930
Was there any crunch that I didn't notice?

>>49362965
There are... hints of it?

>>49363463
>>49362965
No, but we are discussing potential mechanics.

We should finish the other factions and the fluff before working on the actual dice and numbers fluff

>>49363684
Before we continue to other factions, I suggest we first finish Kallas. Their unit list's an absolute mess at the moment. None of those fit thematically. Hell, what historical period are they in even? They got musketeers and hussars besides machineguns and mustard gas.

>>49363805
WWI (Weird War One) Austro Hungary/Prussia. They are top dogs technologically, but they're run by psycho furries and have to contend with some seriously powerful magic so it all Balances out

>>49361482
I'm not sure the systematic abuse of robomaids as a game mechanic is such a good idea...

>>49363964
How so?

>>49364404
>>49363964
No but seriously.

>>49363964
I think it's great. You kinda have to keep your Dolls in check so they don't charge head first into the enemy, and close to your heroes so you can manage them easier.

These guys are like the Anu in that they require a bit of micromanagement, but I think some Heroes can reward cutting lose and risk losing them or other units.

Kallas is definitely very strategic and risky, where Anu is DON'T TOUCH MY GLASS CANONS, Vritra is Lel Flyers, and Thrym is the well rounded fighter faction.

Indians are probably going to be Lel Heal, and Lovecraft is probably going to be Lel Adjectives

>>49363964
kek

>>49361521
I really like the fact that despite having tech superiority, a single bad decision can make their units practically unusable.

>>49366592
>Lel Adjectives
How's that a strategy?

>>49364404
>>49365262
Creepy sexual undertones?

>>49370334
Call me an SJW, but I just think it'd be a problem to sell to people.

>>49370742
We were gonna sell it?

>>49370100
I was joking about how Lovecraft wrote. Their strategy would would involve feeding Microunits to Macrounits to keep them in the game. Anu and Kallas are Unit management, Lovecraft would be resource management.

>>49363876
I had thought that they were proposed as being decidedly Victorian - the inclusion of WW1 stuff muddies their focus too greatly.
>>49366592
When the guy who first mentioned the setting talked about his idea for the natives, it was about them being VERY mobile and being based very heavily on the lay of the land. Healing is just boring.

While I still don't really like the idea of another tiny-person faction, I think it could potentially work as a theme. The macrounit-ruled factions, though divided and warring, are the natural way and the only good and just path. People like the Anu and the Kallas are obviously corrupt, vile and debauched - mortal weakness brought to head by mortal leaders. They are the bad guys because they are ruled by morally corrupt, lesser races.
Because of this, I feel that the Lovecraft's faction should NOT be painted as bad, just alien.

>>49372146
>I had thought that they were proposed as being decidedly Victorian - the inclusion of WW1 stuff muddies their focus too greatly.

What would you occupy their unit list with, than?

>>49372146
WW1 is way more interresting than Clockfop.

Clockfop is degenerate.

>>49371787
I could try working something for the Lovecraftian faction. That's kind of my thing. I've had some ideas that should fit the theme planned (weak/expensive microunits and strong macrounits, with the human microunits being able to be sacrificed to heal macrounits or summon things. Possibly a side theme of morale/leadership fuckery, if such mechanic exists).

Visually, maybe something celtic (or whoever were the guys who historically had druids). Combine weird druidic blood-rites and worship of strange beings from wild places with screaming woad-clad warriors.

>>49372146
Yeah, I proposed then as such, but people seem to enjoy Prussian/Austro-Hungarian psycho monster mobility in walking tanks more.

I don't mind, really, I enjoyed the before mentioned Leviathan books greatly.

We've also kinda circumvented your quandry by having their macrounits essentially be Castle Mecha. Simulated macrounits, if you will.

But yeah, your rationale has been mine THE WHOLE TIME.

They are not a healthy people, and deposing their gods for power has made them the most advanced nation at the cost of their minds, bodies, and souls.

Injuns being Sanic fast works pretty well, I hadn't considered that, but healing isn't boring and playing with the health and "mana" (if we have that at all) to increase speed/survivability is interesting to me.

In fact, the biggest thing I've noticed is that each faction save the Thrym as a give and take. Vritra can Fly but need to go to ground to fight, Anu have glass canons that need to protect their macrounits so they themselves don't get swarmed, Kallas requires you to manage your units and even perhaps sacrifice some to maintain control over your units


I think its neat

Do we have al name for this, or are we actually naming it "Battle of the Really Huge Things"?

>>49373071
>Possibly a side theme of morale/leadership fuckery

That seems to be Kallas' mechanic, balancing everyone's melodramatic psychosis.

But...
>Visually, maybe something celtic

Neat! I wanted them to be something medieval to be more tonally consistent with everyone else (save Kallas). The only problem I could see with this is that the Thrym has already kinda has this covered.

Maybe something African? I don't know if it meshes 100% but its something we're missing. What do you think?

>>49373573
Clash of the Tita- wait no...

Titanfa- no...not that either...

Wrath of the Ti- oh shit that's right...

I got nothing chief

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>>49373624
I was thinking of morale fuckery more along the lines of messing with enemy's morale. Causing fear and insanity seems to be kind of a general theme with Lovecraftian horrors.
Here's what I've got so far, most of it is still very generically "Lovecraftian" that could be sutomized to fit a particular theme.

General stuff: Units are divided into two categories: humanoid (cultists and other mortals) and Aberration (weird eldritch things). Humanoid units can be sacrificed to heal Aberrations, and some faction abilities buff Aberrations.

Microunits:
1. Cultists. Your bread and butter cultist. Cheap as they get and absolutely pathetic in most ways, these guys are only threathening in large numbers, and even then tend to be mediocre. Their complete disregard for their own lives and undying devotion to their eldritch gods makes them OK tarpits, but don't expect them to really kill anything. Primarily exist to serve as fodder for the Elder Gods. Can be upgraded with a Cult Demagogue, who can sacrifice members of his unit to summon microunit Aberrations.
2. Cult Warriors: These guys can actually fight, and carry proper weapons and armor instead of robes and knives. Still mediocre, but at least they can kill something.
3. Coven: A coven of warlocks who commune with eldritch gods and call upon their powers. Their spells focus on debilitating enemies and buffing your Aberrations, rather than direc damage. Can sacrifice membes of nearby Cultist units to power up their spells or summon microunit Aberrations.
4. Favored Ones. Your Wildbur Whateley/Deep One hybrid stand-ins. Basically highly mutated human/aberration hybrids. Humanoid but count as Aberration for purposes of spells and abilites that affect Aberrations (can't be healed by sacrifices, though). The obligatory expensive elite melee units. Possibly give them an ability to alter their stats to represent them being weird mutating horrors that can grow tentacles and shit.

(cont.)

>>49374067
5. Invisible Stalkers: Aberration microunit who'se gimmic is that they're extremely stealthy until they reveal themselves to attack a unit. Fast and hit quite hard, but very fragile.
6. Hunting Horrors: Flying Aberration microunit. Nothing particularly special, but fill the role of fast cavalry and general purpose summon.
7. Servitors. Aberration microunit that is tough but lacking in offensive capability. However, they play strange instruments that create an area effect that buffs friendly Aberrations and debuffs enemy units.

Macrounits:
1. Dark Young. Relatively cheap basic macrounit. Very tough for its price and effective against microunits, which it can trample or grab with its tentacles. Against macrounits it can use its tentacles to grapple them, but its damage is somewhat lacking.
2. Shoggoth. Huge mass of protoplasm that can alter its chape and composition to change its stats (gain a boost to offense, defence, or speed). Being a gigantic mass of slime, it can just roll through microunits in its path.
3. Elder One: The big floaty thing in the picture in previous post. An enormous flying mass of eyes, mouths, tentacles, and other, stranger appendages, this is probably one of the toughest and hardest hitting units around. It's also slow and ridiculously expensive, though.
Has a special mechanic that lets it generate a token at the beginning of your turns, and expend tokens to spawn other Aberrations. This included macrounits, but the cost is so high you'll have to wait for a long time to built up enough tokens for that. However, you can sacrifice friendly units to the Elder One and convert them into more tokens.

>>49374067
>>49374228
Legally speaking, can we use terms like "Shoggoth" or "Dark Young"? Don't they still belong to Lovecraft at the moment?

>>49374660
Who the fuck cares, are you going to sell this or play with corporate lawyers?

>>49374736
Weirder things have happened on /tg/...

BIG vs BIG

>>49374660
Isn't Lovecraft's stuff generally considered to be public domain these days? At least judging from the amount of random Cthulhu-themed stuff.

>>49376390
The impression I get is 'yes, but US Copyright law is fucked, so only maybe.'

>>49374228
>The big floaty thing in the picture in previous post
I thought that was Shub-Niggurath in the pic?

>>49374228
Also, wouldn't the Shoggoths be a bit similar to the Anu's "Tainted Flesh" macrounit?

>>49377436
Avatar of Shub-Niggurath, in all likelyhood. You can't really summon the Outer Gods in the flesh (as it would be) into the universe. They probably wouldn't fit (and in case of Yog-Sothot, you'd literally be trying to squeeze him inside himself).

>>49377668
>>49377452
>>49377436
>>49376669
>>49376390
>>49375420
Niggers are we even done with Kallas?

>>49377452
Probably. They're both big blobs. Shoggoths are one of the veyr famous big Lovecraftan monsters (short of the Great Old Ones themselves), so I felt something like one probably should be included. Aside from being blobs the two aren't exactly the same, as my idea with the Shoggoth was that its big thing would be to be able to mould its form to alters its stats. The same concept could be done as something like a Hedorah-style sludge monster or something, rather than a featureless blob, in order to differentiate the two some more.

There would probably need to be some more macrounits, but those were the only ones I could think of at a short notice (aside from a not-Dunwicth Horror, but the whole invisibility gimmic would be kind of hard to pull off). Maybe I'd need to make some original Lovecraft-style monsters (preferrably without just ripping off stuff from my homebrew setting).

>>49377872
I think that might actually be preferable.

How about we're done with the Kallas before we move on to yet another faction?

>>49378850
fa/tg/uys are not good at finishing what they

>>49377872
The Color out of Space. Used primarily as a crowd-killer and a macro-unit debuffer, it has no actual attacks, but rather does damage over time to all enemy units near it. While not strong enough to harm macro-units that much, it kills off micro-units in droves. To compensate for its low single target damage, its poison also debuffs macro-units to lower their attack and speed; not much, but just enough to make it not completely useless against other macro-units.

>>49380670
>>49377872
>>49377668
We should refrain from using Lovecraft's names. Its not the most original faction, but straight out saying that this thing is the Color From Outer Space is really immersion breaking.

>>49380670
How do you represent a color which doesn't exist? Green, like in the movie?

What was the name of the Native American faction again?

>>49379615
I see what you did there.

Someone really ought to take charge of this whole business and give the people some directions, or we'll all go around in circles until this thing stagnates.

Where's the original OP for Pete's sake?

>>49387143
Would he even want to be in charge of this thing? He did leave it to /tg/ in the first place, and his original intention was a tabletop RPG to go with his RTS idea...

>>49388198
That's completely impractical, though.

How about "Titanomachy"? Or is that too pretentious/

>>49390697
That sounds cool. I would roll with it.

>>49390697
I was just reading about that.

Meme magic is real folks

>>49391527
How's that meme magic?

>>49392441
I was memeing son

Praise kek