04-09-2002 20:00									#1
	Related Updates Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

Wanted to keep the Alpha Release update thread separate from this, but there has been a LOT of stuff happening behind the scenes that I wanted to report on....so....I figured I'd make a new thread specifically for that purpose.

Here's the scoop:

Several of the core rules systems have now been expanded as we move closer. Details of the more developed ones are as follows:

Societal Model - We don't have one in the basic version of the game we're working on right now. What we *do* have is a Provincial Loyalty system written up to abstractly represent all that stuff. Loyalty goes down when you hire troops, goes up when you leave the province alone. Most building types increase the rate at which loyalty increases, and some buildings are better at that than others. Loyalty also determines other stuff about a province, like....how much income the province actually produces, how many troops you can actually train, and how long it takes to build stuff....so, it's not a perfect model....not a fully fleshed out societal model, but it's a good abstract reprsentation of one, and perfect for where we are presently in the life of the game.

Magic System - Has been completed, and has begun to be implemented! No timeframe yet on when it'll be ready to come off of the baking rack, but here's the complete list of spells that will be included:

	04-09-2002 20:06									#2
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Air Spells

Level 1: Cloak of Deception
Cost: 10
Area of effect: Target Army you control
Game effect: Choose one of the following, at the time the spell is cast -
1) No army information is reported to enemy player for the duration of this spell (even if an enemy has a spy in the province the army is currently in, and even if an enemy has a spy IN the army).
2) Army information is +/- 80% in its accuracy
Cloak of Deception carries a per turn maintenance cost of 3 mana.

Level 1: Elemental Divination
Cost: 15
Area of effect: Target province.
Game effect: Reveals the type and nature of any ward cast on target province. The ward remains visible to you for as long as it continues to exist. This spell has no upkeep cost.

Level 1: Fog of War
Cost: 20
Area of effect: Target enemy army
Game effect: If target army makes an attack at any time during this turn, all units IN target army must roll against a d20. 1-7 = Unit is “misplaced” for the duration of the combat and does not participate in battle. 8-20 = No effect. Misplaced units are still considered to be part of the attacking player’s army, and if all “non-misplaced” units are defeated, then the army automatically withdraws to its province of origin (no chances of captures here by the opposing side). Spell lasts until the start of the caster’s next turn.

Level: 1 Lightning Storm
Cost: 20
Area of effect: Target Army
Description: Select target army. d4 (1-4) troops in target army are killed. Leaders are immune to the effects of this spell.

Level 1: Precision (1337!)
Cost: 12
Area of effect: Target army you control
Game effect: Until the start of your next turn, all your archers become “elites,” gaining a +2 bonus to their attack values. This is cumulative with all other effects, including itself.

Level 1 Raven's Wing Windstorm
Cost: 15
Area of effect: 1 province.
Game effect: Choose target province. A magical windstorm occurs in target province, which lasts for the duration of your current turn. Your forces are unaffected by the wind, but if combat occurs in target province this turn, any enemy archers you face lose their tier one attack status (attacking on tier three, with the infantry), and suffer a -1 penalty to their attack values.

Level 1: Siphon
Cost 10
Area of effect: target province adjacent to a province you control.
Game effect: place Siphon Ward in territory adjacent to a territory you control. You gain two (2) mana from the Siphon Ward. Siphon ward is invisible to all but the casting player unless detected for. Note specifically that this reduces the mana that the owner of the province would normally collect. This ward carries no upkeep cost, and up to two Siphon wards may be cast in any given province.

Level: 1 Witching Way
Cost: 10
Area of Effect: None (Mana Pool)
Description: Next turn, add 20 mana to your mana pool. This spell may not be cast more times than your current # of provinces/3.

Level 2 Air Ward (protection from earth)
Cost: 15
Area of effect: Target province you control
Game Effect: A ward, visible only to you, appears in the target province. Any Earth spell cast on this province has a base 75% chance of failure, modified thusly: 75% + ((2-enemy spell level) * 20%). No more than one “ward” may be cast on any province at any given time. Spell carries no upkeep. This spell may also be cast to remove one (1) counter from any counter-based spell that the ward provides protection against that is currently in play, or to break any ward (again, only of the type that this ward protects against) currently in play. Counter removal is automatic, ward-breaking is same percentages as above.

Level 2: Arctic Blast
Cost: 25
Area of effect: Target province
Game effect: Places an Arctic ward on targeted province with three (3) storm counters on it. No troops may enter or leave targeted province for as long as the spell remains in effect. Your troops are not bound by this restriction, and may enter or leave freely. Remove one counter at the start of each of your turns, starting with the turn after the casting of this spell. Any player may pay ten (15) mana to remove a storm counter from the affected province during his/her turn.

Level 2 Eyes of the Falcon
Cost 10 + special
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Choose target province currently covered over by the fog of war. Fog of war dissipates over that province until the start of your next turn. Multiple provinces may be selected, and for each province beyond the first, you must pay 5 additional mana for the spell to operate. Note that this spell MAY be cast onto a territory where the Fog of War is already lifted. If such a thing is done, then the caster gains specific troop information on the province (full knowledge of all troops currently in the province targeted).

Level 2: Mana Leech
Cost 20
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Cast Mana Leech in any province you control that sits adjacent to a province containing a Focusing Sigil. Place 3 counters on ward. At the start of each of your turns, remove one leech counter and count the Focusing Sigil as though it were in your province (ie - it is as though you have a Focusing Sigil in your province). Note that this has no impact or effect on the Sigil leeched from....it still generates mana for its owner. Each time you remove a counter, the Focusing Sigil(s) affected by this spell must make a survival check vs. a d20 (1-4 = Focusing Sigil shorts out and is utterly destroyed, 5-20 = no effect on Sigil's operation). Note that it may be possible to reap the benefits of multiple Focusing Sigils with the casting of a single Mana Leech.

Level 2 ThunderHeart
Cost: 25
Area of effect: Target leader you control
Game effect: Target leader is infused with the spirit of the ThunderHeart. Place two counters on selected Leader. That leader grants 6 re-rolls per combat round in battle for as long as the spell remains in effect. Remove one (1) counter at the start of each of your turns, beginning with the turn after the casting of the spell.

Level 2 Wind Walkers
Cost: 30
Area of effect: 1 Army
Game effect: Choose target army. That army sees its movement rate doubled this turn. Note that the unit may make multiple attacks if desired, thanks to this additional movement. Level 3: HoofStorm's Fury
Cost: 35
Area of effect: Target army you control
Game effect: All cavalry hits you score are considered captures. Note that this spell does nothing for Infamous players, as all captures are automatically counted as kills.

Level: 3 Mana Surge
Cost: 30
Area of effect: Target opponent's empire
Game effect: Target opponent gains no mana on the following turn. On your next turn, you gain X mana, where X is equal to the amount of mana your opponent would have gained. This spell may not be cast if it was cast on the previous game turn. May only be cast by players who maintain a positive honor rating.

Level 3: Mayhem
Cost: 40
Area of effect: target province
Game effect: Conjures an infestation of disease carrying rats in target province. That province produces no income, and does not count as a province under your control in terms of Influence generation. No troops may be trained from the province next turn, and no mercenaries may be hired here next turn. Mayhem lasts until a friendly army numbering at least (target province's income/5) units spends an entire turn (begins and ends the turn) in targeted province (they spend the time clearing out all the infected rats). Armies entering the province must roll vs. a d20 to even enter the province (1-4 Troops refuse to enter, 5-20, enter normally). Each turn Mayhem is in effect in target province, that province has a 20% chance of rebellion. If rebellion occurs, a number of Infantry equal to (province income/10) spring up in the province and attempt to take control. If they successfully take control, Mayhem ends immediately (they put an end to the infestation themselves). Mayhem is unavailable to players with a positive honor rating.

Level 3: Sinister Wind
Cost: 30
Area of effect: Target enemy army
Game effect: Something wicked on the wind spooks all enemy horse troops. Target army may not issue charge orders with any of it's cavalry. Cavalry issuing normal attacks must do so on tier three (with the infantry), and all enemy troops are at -1 on their attack values. Spell lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 3: The Silver Lining
Cost: 30
Area of effect: Target province
Game effect: Target province generates double it's normal income, and counts twice for mana and influence generation next turn. If the province contains a barracks, troop training limits are doubled next turn. If the province contains a library, you gain 10rp's in each tech branch next turn. Only players with a positive honor rating have access to this spell.

Level 4: Chaosium
Cost: 40
Area of effect: Target enemy army.
Game effect: This spell promotes madness among the leadership of target enemy army. Split the army (randomly) into two halves. In the case of odd numbered troops, the owning player gets the extra troop. The army does battle with itself. After each round of combat, a check is made to see if the leadership comes to its senses and calls a halt to the bloodshed (30% chance per round, +10% per round after the first). Success immediately calls a halt to the battle, but the army may neither move nor attack until the start of the owning player's next turn. This spell may not be cast by players who maintain a positive honor rating.

Level 4: Honorbound
Cost: 40
Area of effect: Target Enemy Leader
Game effect: Select target enemy army containing a Leader. That Leader may not lead troops in an attack on any province you control for as long as the spell remains in play. Army is marked with an honor token that requires a per turn mana upkeep of 5. If the upkeep is not paid, the spell dissipates at the start of the owning player's next turn (at the start of the next turn of the player who controls the leader). This spell is only made available to players with a positive honor rating.

Level 4 Rainbow Ward
Cost 25
Area of effect: Target province you control
Game effect: When spell is cast, choose an element (air, earth, water, fire). The province you selected as the target of this spell is protected as though a ward of the appropriate type was in place. Rainbow Wards carry a 4 mana per turn upkeep.

Level 4 Unerring Twister
Cost 35
Area of effect: One enemy province.
Game effect: Choose enemy province. A menacing, magical tornado appears in the targeted province. This tornado cannot be precisely controlled, but has a deadly purpose to wreck havoc on enemy infrastructure. One building (at random) is destroyed in the province. If the target province contains no provincial improvements, then the tornado will seek out troops. All troops must roll a survival check (leaders are immune) on a d20. 1-4 indicates that the unit has been killed.

Level 5: Binding Tempest (Big Boom)
Cost: 60
Area of effect: Target province.
Game effect: Place X counters on target province, where X is equal to the number of provinces you controlled at the time of the casting of this spell. Targeted province is entirely shut down, generating no income, influence, or mana for the duration of the spell. No troops may not be hired in the province (via barracks or mercenary hires), and all buildings in the province are non-functional (Libraries generate no research, thieves guilds do not count for espionage actions, fortifications cease to provide any benefit). At the start of each of your turns, remove one counter from the storm ward, beginning with the turn after the turn of casting. This spell carries an iterative casting cost (ie - if you already have one boom spell in effect, then the casting cost of the second is 2N, where N is the original casting cost of the spell....3N for the third casting, and so forth).

Level 5 Military (Mass) Teleportation
Cost: 50
Area of effect: All provinces you control
Game effect: Provinces that began the turn under your control require no movement points to move your troops through.

(to be continued)

	04-09-2002 20:13									#3
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Earth Spells

Level 1: Binding
Cost: 10
Area of effect: Target enemy army
Game effect: Target army may not move from the province it is currently in. Player owning the bound army may pay 20 mana to break the spell and gain control of his army again during his turn. Spell lasts until broken by the player owning the bound army. This spell may not be cast on a player who controls fewer provinces than you control. A check is performed each round that Binding is in effect. If you control an equal or greater number of provinces than the player targeted by the spell, it ends immediately.

Level 1 Bountiful Harvest
Cost: 6
Area of effect: 1 province
Game effect: Choose target province. That province produces 50% more than the expected amount of goods on the following turn, resulting in a 50% boost in (baseline) income in the province (thus, a province that normally produces 20gpt, would produce 30g on the turn following the Bountiful Harvest's casting).

Level 1: Cover of Night
Cost: 12
Area of effect: Target province you control
Game effect: Target province you control is rendered invisible (fog of war in place) to all opponents. Note that this spell is negated by the presence of a spy in the targeted territory, for the player owning the spy. The Night Ward remains in effect in your province until broken by some other player. This spell carries a 3 mana per turn upkeep.

Level 1: Dervish
Cost: 10
Area of effect: Target Leader
Game effect: Target Leader becomes a combat unit for the duration of the spell. Treat the leader as a cavalry unit with stats of 12/12/2 (this number subject to modification by other factors-tech level, etc.). All other leader abilities function normally. Spell lasts till the start of the casting player’s next turn. Spell is not cumulative with itself.

Level 1: Elemental Divination
Cost: 20
Area of effect: Target province.
Game effect: Reveals the type and nature of any ward cast on target province. The ward remains visible to you for as long as it continues to exist. This spell has no upkeep cost.

Level 1: Siphon
Cost 10
Area of effect: target province adjacent to a province you control.
Game effect: place Siphon Ward in territory adjacent to a territory you control. You gain two (2) mana from the Siphon Ward. Siphon ward is invisible to all but the casting player unless detected for. Note specifically that this reduces the mana that the owner of the province would normally collect. This ward carries no upkeep cost, and up to two Siphon wards may be cast in any given province.

Level 1: Vengeful Earth Spirits
Cost: 5
Area of effect: Target enemy province
Game effect: Choose target enemy province. That province generates no income next turn. This spell may not be cast on a player who controls fewer provinces than you do.

Level: 1 Witching Way
Cost: 10
Area of Effect: None (Mana Pool)
Description: Next turn, add 20 mana to your mana pool. This spell may not be cast more times than your current # of provinces/3.

Level 2 Earth Ward (protection from air)
Cost: 15
Area of effect: Target province you control
Game Effect: A ward, visible only to you, appears in the target province. Any Air spell cast on this province has a base 75% chance of failure, modified thusly: 75% + ((2-enemy spell level) * 20%). No more than one “ward” may be cast on any province at any given time. Spell carries no upkeep. This spell may also be cast to remove one (1) counter from any counter-based spell that the ward provides protection against that is currently in play, or to break any ward (again, only of the type that this ward protects against) currently in play. Counter removal is automatic, ward-breaking is same percentages as above.

Level 2: Fracture
Cost: 25
Area of effect: Target ward
Game effect: Select target ward, and place two (2) counters on it. Target ward ceases to function so long as fracture counters remain. Remove one (1) fracture counter at the start of each of your turns, beginning with the turn following the casting of the spell.

Level 2: Kudzu
Cost: 15
Area of effect: Target province + special
Game effect: Place a Kudzu marker in target province, visible to all players. Beginning at the start of the province owner's turn, province targeted by Kudzu produces 10g less in income. For every turn that Kudzu remains in play, the province's income decreases by another 10g. When target province's income drops to zero, Kudzu "grows" into a random, adjacent province. Spell may be countered by placing ten (10) troops in target province. For every turn the troops remain in the province, and are not made to attack or defend, the province's income increases by 10g, back to its normal level. When income reaches its normal level, Kudzu is destroyed. Note that the turn the troops leave the province, there is a 15% chance the annoying weed will grow back! (check is made only once, and only on the first turn that there are fewer than ten troops in the province). Targeted province must be adjacent to a province you control at the time of casting.
_{side note: this is Vel's favorite spell so far...}

Level 2: Mana Leech
Cost 20
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Cast Mana Leech in any province you control that sits adjacent to a province containing a Focusing Sigil. Place 3 counters on ward. At the start of each of your turns, remove one leech counter and count the Focusing Sigil as though it were in your province (ie - it is as though you have a Focusing Sigil in your province). Note that this has no impact or effect on the Sigil leeched from....it still generates mana for its owner. Each time you remove a counter, the Focusing Sigil(s) affected by this spell must make a survival check vs. a d20 (1-4 = Focusing Sigil shorts out and is utterly destroyed, 5-20 = no effect on Sigil's operation). Note that it may be possible to reap the benefits of multiple Focusing Sigils with the casting of a single Mana Leech.

Level 2: Waiting in the Weeds
Cost: 25
Area of effect: target province
Game effect: select target province and place four (4) beast counters on it. If you attack province targeted by this spell, the commander of the army invading uses the beasts of the field as weapons against the defending troops. Beast Counters count as Infantry for purposes of combat, and are always removed first. Spell requires 2 mana per turn to maintain until you launch your attack, and may be cast more than once on the same province. If cast on a neutral territory, the beasts of the field join on the side of the neutrals if/when the province is attacked, unless YOU are the attacker, in which case they join your side in conquering the territory.

Level 2 Wither
Cost 8
Area of effect: 1 province
Game effect: Choose target province. That province produces 50% less than the expected amount of goods on the following turn, resulting in a 50% decrease in (total) income in the province (thus, a province with an income of 40gpt would produce only 20g on the turn following the casting).

Level 3: Haunting Hills
Cost: 20
Area of effect: Target province
Game effect: Troops controlled by all factions but yours must make a fear check vs. d20 before entering province targeted by Haunting Hills. 1-10 = troops refuse to enter. 11-20 = enter normally. This may cause an army attempting to enter the province to be split between those entering and those refusing to do so. Haunting Hills ward has a 5 mana per turn upkeep.

Level 3 Impenetrable Barrier
Cost 30
Area of effect: 1 province
Game effect: Select target province. All troops save for the troops of your faction treat target province as though it were composed entirely of mountains (in the basic game, this means that no enemy troops may enter the province). Your troops may enter the territory freely, but once inside, may not leave until the spell expires. Spell lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 3: MountainHeart
Cost: 10*
Area of effect: Target Province
Game effect: Until the start of your next turn, province targeted by this spell gains the benefit of one (1) level of fortification per 10 mana you spend on it.

Level 3 Skin of Stone
Cost: 25
Area of effect: Target army.
Game effect: Modifies the divisor portion of the defensive factor formula for an army by -5 (first casting makes the divisor 15 instead of twenty). May be cast multiple times on the same army. Spell lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 3: Upheaval
Cost: 30
Area of effect: Target province
Game effect: Places an upheaval ward in targeted province. Due to magically increased volcanic activity in target province, new mineral depositis are continually being brought to the surface. Provincial income increases by 5gpt, for as long as the ward remains in place. You may place as many upheaval wards in provinces as you wish, but each beyond the first carries an iterative casting cost (30, 60, 90, etc).

Level 4: And Dust to Dust
Cost: 40
Area of Effect: Target Army
Description: Any casualties you take during the course of battle are not deducted from your army until the battle is over. Troops slain in battle simply rise from the dead and continue fighting. This effect lasts until the start of your next turn. Note that the spell ends immediately if your army takes a number of casualties equal to the total number of troops in the army (as soon as all troops in the army have been marked as 'killed,' all your undead soldiers fall back to the ground and remain there). This spell may not be cast by any player who has a positive honor rating.

Level 4 Earthquake
Cost 40
Area of effect: 1 province
Game effect: select target province. All buildings in that province must roll a survival check on a d20 (1-10 = building is destroyed). For each building that is destroyed, two troops (chosen at random) are also killed. If no troops are present, ignore this effect. (note that this MAY cause the targeted player to lose control of the province if he relies heavily on Mercenaries).

Level 4: Renewal
Cost: 60
Area of effect: Special
Game effect: At the end of your turn, you gain the income, influence, and mana generated from 4-7 of your provinces (random #). This spell may only be cast by players who maintain a positive honor rating.

Level 4: Ward of Construction
Cost: 50
Area of effect: Target province and all adjacent provinces you control
Game effect: For as long as the ward of construction remains in play, all provincial improvements you construct within its area of effect are 25% cheaper (magically assisted construction). Ward carries a 5 mana per turn upkeep cost.

Level 5 Pestilence
Cost 30 + special
Area of effect: 1+ provinces
Game effect: Causes the province(s) targeted to become infected with a dreadful disease. Any troops moving through the affected provinces must roll a survival check. They must continue to roll survival checks every turn they remain in the affected provinces. Leaders are immune to this effect, but all other troops must roll vs. a d20 (1-5 = death). For every province beyond the first affected by pestilence, the cost is 15 mana. The spell lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 5: Pocket Paradise
Cost: 70
Area of effect:target province you control
Game effect: creates an extradimensional extension of target province, and allows one (1) additional provincial improvement to be built therein. This effect remains in play for the remainder of the game (even if you lose control of the province).

(to be continued)

	04-09-2002 20:20									#4
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Fire Spells

Level 1: Ambush
Cost: 15
Area of effect: Target army you control
Game effect: All troops in the army targeted by this spell capture troops on a roll of 19-20, in addition to their normal capture rolls.

Level 1: Arrows of the Phoenix
Cost: 15
Area of effect: Target Army
Game effect: All Skirmishers in target army gain the Initiative abililty for so long as the Arrows of the Phoenix spell remains in play (each round of combat, as opposed to just the first round), and a +2 bonus to their attack value. All archers in target army get a +4 bonus to their attack values (rather than the standard +2) during their "round zero" volley. This spell lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 1: Elemental Divination
Cost: 20
Area of effect: Target province.
Game effect: Reveals the type and nature of any ward(s) cast on target province. The ward remains visible to you for as long as it continues to exist. This spell has no upkeep cost.

Level 1 Fires of the Vengeful Heart
Cost 6
Area of effect: 1 army
Game effect: Choose target army. All units in target army gain +1 on their attack values until the end of your current turn. This is cumulative with all other effects and enhancements, but carries an iterative casting cost if cast multiple times on the same target (ie 6 for the first casting, 12 for the second, 18 for the third, etc).

Level 1 Savage Bloodlust
Cost: 20
Area of effect: Target Army
Game effect: All units in target army gain the "Initiative" special. Spell expires at the start of your next turn. Any unit that finds itself with "two" initiative specials (ie - either it started with that special as an ability of the unit, or you if you cast this spell twice on the same army), then those units also get a "round zero" strike per archer ability. Note here that these units gain no addition "to hit" bonus as the archers do, however.

Level 1: Siphon
Cost 10
Area of effect: target province adjacent to a province you control.
Game effect: place Siphon Ward in territory adjacent to a territory you control. You gain two (2) mana from the Siphon Ward. Siphon ward is invisible to all but the casting player unless detected for. Note specifically that this reduces the mana that the owner of the province would normally collect. This ward carries no upkeep cost, and up to two Siphon wards may be cast in any given province.

Level 1: Wildfires
Cost: 10
Area of effect: Target province
Description: Select target province. That province is subjected to wild fires that spring up all over it. Province produces no income on owning player's next turn. If the province targeted is adjacent to a province you control, you gain 10g in additional income next turn, added to your infrastructure pool (extra tarrifs as commerce traffic is re-routed away from the fires).

Level: 1 Witching Way
Cost: 10
Area of Effect: None (Mana Pool)
Description: Next turn, add 20 mana to your mana pool. This spell may not be cast more times than your current # of provinces/3.

Level 2 Fire Sprites
Cost: 25
Target: 1 province or 1 army
Game effect: Choose target province or army. If a province is targeted, choose one (1) provincial improvement. That improvement is destroyed. If an army is selected, any siege engines in that army are destroyed. If no seige engines are present, then all archers present must roll a survival check (d20, 1-7 = death). If no archers are present, then all other troops in the army must roll a survival check (d20, 1-4 = death). Leaders are immune.

Level 2 Fire Ward (protection from water)
Cost: 15
Area of effect: Target province you control
Game Effect: A ward, visible only to you, appears in the target province. Any Water spell cast on this province has a base 75% chance of failure, modified thusly: 75% + ((2-enemy spell level) * 20%). No more than one “ward” may be cast on any province at any given time. Spell carries no upkeep. This spell may also be cast to remove one (1) counter from any counter-based spell that the ward provides protection against that is currently in play, or to break any ward (again, only of the type that this ward protects against) currently in play. Counter removal is automatic, ward-breaking is same percentages as above.

Level 2 Flames of Change
Cost: 30
Area of effect: Target player
Game effect: If target player has any Fate Cards, he must choose and discard one of them without playing it. Target player may choose to pay 30g (taken from military budget) to keep the card, effectively countering this spell.

Level 2 Flames of Purification
Cost: 25
Area of effect: Target province
Game effect: Reveals the presence of enemy spies in province targeted by the spell. All spies discovered in this manner must make a survival check vs. a d20. 1-14 = Spy is killed, 15-20 = spy avoids the spell. Note that professionally trained spies gain +4 on their roll for survival.

Level 2: Knights of the Fire Mountain
Cost: 30
Area of effect: Target army
Game effect: Summons 2-4 Knights of the Fire Mountain into service in the army targeted by this spell. These troops never miss, cannot be the target of precision strikes, and are always the last troops chosen as casualties in battle. Troops remain until the start of your next turn.

Level 2: Mana Leech
Cost 20
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Cast Mana Leech in any province you control that sits adjacent to a province containing a Focusing Sigil. Place 3 counters on ward. At the start of each of your turns, remove one leech counter and count the Focusing Sigil as though it were in your province (ie - it is as though you have a Focusing Sigil in your province). Note that this has no impact or effect on the Sigil leeched from....it still generates mana for its owner. Each time you remove a counter, the Focusing Sigil(s) affected by this spell must make a survival check vs. a d20 (1-4 = Focusing Sigil shorts out and is utterly destroyed, 5-20 = no effect on Sigil's operation). Note that it may be possible to reap the benefits of multiple Focusing Sigils with the casting of a single Mana Leech.

Level: 3 Ashes to Ashes
Cost: 20 + special
Area of Effect: 1 or more units in target army
Game effect: Select target enemy army. For every point of mana you spend above and beyond the casting cost, target army loses one unit at random. For every unit so killed, your next turn's income drops by 10g. No more than 10 mana may be spent above and beyond the casting cost of the spell, and this spell may not be cast more than once per turn by any single player. This spell is not available to players with positive honor.

Level 3 Fire Wierding
Cost 10 + special
Area of effect: 1 Army
Game effect: Select target army. For every 2 mana beyond the casting cost you spend, one troop (random) in target army must roll a survival check (d20, 1-10 = death). For every enemy troop so slain, you lose 5g (payment to the spirits of fire...what they do with the gold is beyond you). If you have insufficient gold to pay this cost, then for every enemy troop slain, you lose one troop, selected randomly from all the troops currently under your control (a slightly more vicious method of paying the angry fire spirits). Leaders are immune to this spell.

Level 3: Magma Guardians
Cost: 40
Area of effect: special
Game effect: No player who currently controls a number of provinces greater than the number of provinces you currently control may attack you so long as Magma guardians spell remains. Magma guardians spell carries three counters. Beginning on the turn after the casting of this spell, remove one counter at the start of each of your turns. When no counters remain, the spell ends.

Level 3: Mercenary's Creed
Cost: 35
Area of effect: Target army you control
Game effect: All troops in target army may be "bountied up" per the Mercenary bounty ability, to a maximum of +2 on their attack values. This spell lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 3: Sacred Heart
Cost: 30
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Three (3) armies (chosen at random) that you control are treated as though they have leaders present in them for the duration of this spell. Spell lasts until the start of your next turn. This spell may only be cast by players with a positive honor rating.

Level 4: Chaos Barb
Cost: 40
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Cast on target player. Each time target player moves armies, 1-2 units are lost, at random. Spell lasts until the start of your next turn. Note that leaders are unaffected by this spell. The ward for this spell is placed in the target player's capitol province, and is invisible until the first troop loss occurs, at which time, targeted player gains knowledge of its existence. Spell lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 4 Fire Warding
Cost: 30 Mana
Area of effect: 1 Army
Game effect: Select target army you control. From now until the start of your next turn, any time a troop is taken as a casualty from a non-archer attack by the army protected with Fire Warding, the army inflicting the casualty ALSO loses a unit (at random).

Level 4: Mana Barb
Cost: 45
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Each time player targeted by this spell casts a spell of his own, that player loses 1-2 troops at random from somewhere in his empire. The ward for this spell is placed in a random province belonging to the targeted player, and is invisible until the first troop losses occur, at which time it becomes visible to the targeted player. This ward has two (2) counters on it. At the start of each of your turns, remove one counter from the ward. When no counters remain, the ward dissipates. This spell may not be cast against a player who controls fewer provinces than you control

Level 4: Mana Burn
Cost: 45
Area of effect: special
Game effect: For every five (5) mana that targeted player has remaining at the end of his turn, that player loses 1-2 troops at random from provinces he controls. The ward for Mana burn is placed in a random province belonging to the player targeted by this spell, and is invisible to that player until the first troop loss occurs. This ward has two (2) counters on it. At the start of each of your turns, remove one counter from the ward, When no counters remain, the ward dissipates. This spell may not be cast against a player who controls fewer provinces than you control.

Level 5 Firestorm
Cost: 70 Mana
Area of effect: 1 Province
Game effect: Everything in target province is destroyed. Provincial Improvements, troops, leaders....everything. You lose half your accumulated Influence upon casting this spell. The price of any Church Intercessions made on your behalf increases by five (5) with each casting of this spell. This spell may not be cast by players with a positive honor rating.

Level 5: Here there be Dragons
Cost: 75
Area of effect: Special
Game effect: All provinces you control are protected by level 2 fortifications for the duration of this spell. All archers you control gain a +2 combat bonus when defending, and all cavalry you control gain the Initiative special, and the ability to execute a charge immediately, on the first round of combat, whether attacking or defending. This spell has two counters. Beginning on the turn after the casting of the spell, remove one counter from the dragon spell at the start of each of your turns. When no counters remain, the spell is broken. This spell may not be cast if you already have an iteration of it in operation, and may only be cast by players with a positive honor rating. Note that a player attacking you has more provinces than you currently control, then the bonuses become lvl 3 fortification and +3 to your combat values.

(to be continued)

	04-09-2002 20:24									#5
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Water Spells

Level 1 Clouded judgment
Cost: 10
Area of effect: Target enemy leader
Game effect: Spell cancels all re-roll benefits of having a leader in the army. Any player may spend 20 Mana to cancel this spell during their turn. Spell lasts until dispelled, and carries no upkeep.

Level 1: Elemental Divination
Cost: 15
Area of effect: Target province.
Game effect: Reveals the type and nature of any ward cast on target province. The ward remains visible to you for as long as it continues to exist. This spell has no upkeep cost.

Level 1: Freeze
Cost: 10
Area of effect: target enemy army
Game effect: army is permanantly frozen in size. No additional troops may be added to the army, and troops in the army may not be transferred out. Spell remains in effect until the freeze ward is dispatched in some form by controlling player, and is made visible to the player owning the army at the start of that player's turn.

Level 1 Miring Muck
Cost 10
Area of effect: One province
Game effect: Choose target province. That province is subject to rains so fierce that no troop movement into, or out of it is possible this turn. Any troops currently in target province must remain in place. Lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 1: Mistmoon Warriors
Cost: 20
Area of effect: Target army you control
Description: Select target army you control. When Mistmoon Warriors is cast, target army gains a random number of Infantry (2-5). These remain in play and on the board until the start of your next turn. Mistmoon warriors may move and attack immediately, when summoned. If summoned in a province containing an army, they are added to the army's infantry pool for the duration of the spell, and are always taken first as casualties.

Level 1: Siphon
Cost 10
Area of effect: target province adjacent to a province you control.
Game effect: place Siphon Ward in territory adjacent to a territory you control. You gain two (2) mana from the Siphon Ward. Siphon ward is invisible to all but the casting player unless detected for. Note specifically that this reduces the mana that the owner of the province would normally collect. This ward carries no upkeep cost, and up to two Siphon wards may be cast in any given province.

Level 1 The Murky Deep
Cost: 5
Area of effect: target enemy province.
Game effect: target province has fog of war put over it from the province owner's POV, unless that player keeps troops IN the province. Note that even with troops in the affected province, the owning player loses "sight" over all provinces adjacent to the targeted province. Murk ward is in effect until dispatched by the province owner or one of his allies.

Level: 1 Witching Way
Cost: 10
Area of Effect: None (Mana Pool)
Description: Next turn, add 20 mana to your mana pool. This spell may not be cast more times than your current # of provinces/3.

Level 2 Blood Tide
Cost: 20
Area of effect: target army
Game effect: add +5 to the divisor of target army's defensive factor rating (20 becomes 25 after the first casting). This spell may be cast more than once on the same army, and carries an iterative casting cost for doing so. Lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 2: Guardian of the Still Waters
Cost: 20
Area of effect: target army you control
Game effect: Target army protected by the still waters ward cannot be the target of any other spell for as long as guardian ward remains in effect. This ward carries a 2 mana per turn upkeep. If the upkeep cannot be paid, then the spell ends immediately, and the army once protected is again a vulnerable target for enemy spell casting. Note that when an enemy spell targets the army protected by the ward, both the enemy spell and the guardian ward shatter, ending both immediately. Note too that spells with non-specific, or province specific targets may affect the protected army without triggering the ward (ie - earthquake targets a province, not an army, and so the effect of earthquake would not be countered by the guardian ward).

Level 2: Ice Knives
Cost: 25
Area of effect: target enemy army
Game effect: places an ice knife ward on enemy army (invisible to the owner of the army). The next time that army does battle, an extreme (really extreme) magical cold settles over the targeted army. All survivors belonging to the army targeted by ice knives find that all their equipment has been destroyed. These troops must be re-equipped immediately (cost = 1/2 the troop cost, drop all fractions). If this cost cannot be paid immediately, then the troops not paid for become mercenaries (and may cause the province to revert to neutrality). The spell ends as soon as this effect occurs.

Level 2: Mana Leech
Cost 20
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Cast Mana Leech in any province you control that sits adjacent to a province containing a Focusing Sigil. Place 3 counters on ward. At the start of each of your turns, remove one leech counter and count the Focusing Sigil as though it were in your province (ie - it is as though you have a Focusing Sigil in your province). Note that this has no impact or effect on the Sigil leeched from....it still generates mana for its owner. Each time you remove a counter, the Focusing Sigil(s) affected by this spell must make a survival check vs. a d20 (1-4 = Focusing Sigil shorts out and is utterly destroyed, 5-20 = no effect on Sigil's operation). Note that it may be possible to reap the benefits of multiple Forusing Sigils with the casting of a single Mana Leech.

Level 2 Water Spirit's Warding
Cost 30 + special
Area of effect: One province
Game effect: Select target province. That province cannot be the target of any other spell for as long as the Water Spirit's Warding remains in effect. For each province selected beyond the first, add an additiona two (5) mana to the spell. This spell carries an upkeep of two (4) mana per province, per turn. If the upkeep cannot be paid, then the spell ends immediately, and the province once protected is again a valid target for enemy spell casting. Note that this ward is invisible unless magically scried for. When an enemy spell targets the province protected by this ward, both shatter immediately. Your spell ends, and the enemy spell has no effect.

Level 2 Water Ward (protection from fire)
Cost: 15
Area of effect: Target province you control
Game Effect: A ward, visible only to you, appears in the target province. Any Fire spell cast on this province has a base 75% chance of failure, modified thusly: 75% + ((2-enemy spell level) * 20%). No more than one “ward” may be cast on any province at any given time. Spell carries no upkeep. This spell may also be cast to remove one (1) counter from any counter-based spell that the ward provides protection against that is currently in play, or to break any ward (again, only of the type that this ward protects against) currently in play. Counter removal is automatic, ward-breaking is same percentages as above.

Level 3 Diviner's Scrying Pool
Cost 20
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Turns target province into a scrying device. Select target province, pay 5 mana, and Fog of War is lifted in that province until the start of your next turn. Scrying Pool enchantment costs 5 mana per turn to maintain. This spell is available only to players who maintain a positive honor rating.

Level 3 Mana Drain
Cost: 35
Area of effect: Target opponent's empire.
Description: Target opponent gains no mana on the following turn. Any mana wells that player has must roll against a d20 (1-4 Mana well is completely emptied) (5-15 Mana well is drained to half its current total) (16-20 No effect on Mana Well).

Level 3: Rust to Dust
Cost: 10
Area of effect: Target enemy army
Game effect: Spell negates all bonuses granted by technological upgrades and any other means to troops in army targeted by this spell. Troops are counted at their baseline a/d/m values only. This spell may only be cast by Infamous players.

Level 3: Ward of Unmaking
Cost: 10
Area of effect: Target spell marked with counters
Game effect: Remove one counter from target spell. Note that this impacts any spell marked with counters, regardless of the school that spell is from. If no counters remain on targeted spell, that spell ends immediately.

Level 3: Weird Ward (Bounce Ward)
Cost: 40
Area of effect: target province
Game effect: Target spell targeting province or army protected by the Weird Ward targets one of the caster’s provinces or armies instead (at random). Weird Ward carries no upkeep cost. The spell ends when it "bounces" any ward cast on protected province.

Level 4 Floodwater Rising
Cost 35 + special
Area of effect: 1 or more target provinces
Game effect: Target province is the subject of massive flooding. All buildings and troops must roll a survival check d20, buildings 1-2 = destroyed, troops 1-3 = destroyed). If the province targeted is one you control, the buildings need not make a survival check, and the troops are lost only on a roll of one (1). Also, if the targeted province is one you control, the income generated by that province on the following turn is doubled (the sediments dredged up by the flooding cause crop yields to explode through the roof). No income effect on provinces controlled by any other player. No troops may move into, or out of provinces affected by the Floodwater spell. Note specifically that this spell CAN kill the Artificer's Mighty Golem. Leaders, however, are immune to this spell's effects. Note that for every province beyond the first that this spell targets, an additional 15 Mana must be paid. Spell lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 4 Mirror, Mirror
Cost: 50
Area of effect: Special
Game effect: Allows you to cast a level one or level two spell belonging to any other elemental school this turn. Spell lasts until the start of your next turn. Note that once you cast Mirror Mirron, you must still pay the full casting cost of any additional spells from the other elemental schools. This spell is available only to players with a positive honor rating.

Level 4 Ward of Erosion
Cost: 50
Area of effect:
Game effect: Eliminate any ward in play with this spell, regardless of type or school, or number of counters remaining on it.

Level 4: Pirate's Crossing
Cost: 10
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Your armies may treat lake territories as though they do not exist. Territories adjacent to Loch Laern are all considered to be adjacent to each other for the duration of this spell. Spell lasts until the start of your next turn, and may not be cast by players with a positive honor rating.

Level 5 Water of Life
Cost 50
Area of Effect: 1 Army
Game effect: Grants ten (10) "phantom hits" to target army. Note that these hits are always removed first in combat, and that they apply across the board (ie - unlike the Defensive Factor, these phantom hits apply to archer damage--including round zero first volley of archer attacks--and cavalry charges. The first 10 hits caused by enemy army attacks are simply ignored. This spell may be cast multiple times on the same army, and has a cumulative effect.

Level 5: Winter Moon
Cost: 70
Area of effect: special
Game effect: No spells may be cast by any player for the duration of Winter Moon. Winter moon lasts until the start of your next turn. When this spell is cast, it is immediately made known to all players that Winter Moon is in effect.

(to be continued)

	04-09-2002 20:26									#6
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Artificer Effects

Level 1 Enchanted Bellows - Enhanced Armoring Techniques
Cost: 25 Mana & 60 Gold
Area of effect: 1 Barracks
Game effect: All troops that target barracks trains gain an additional +1 on defense. This spell may only be cast once per barracks, but is cumulative with all other effects. Note that the bonus for cavalry is +2

This spell must be maintained by paying 3 mana per turn. If mana cannot be paid, then the spell is broken.

Level 1: Honor Bound
Cost: 20 Mana + 40g
Area of effect: Target enemy army
Game effect: If enemy army targeted by this spell attacks you while the spell is in effect, you automatically gain the greater of 10% of that player's honor or 5 Honor. Note that this may increase the global supply of honor in the game. The ward this spell places on target army is invisible to all but you until after the attack is made. The ward ends when the army targeted makes any attack. This spell carries an upkeep of 2 mana per turn. May only be cast by players with a positive honor rating.

Level 1: Inquisitor’s Delight
Cost: 10 Mana + 20g
Area of effect: Target province
Game effect: Removes fog of war and reveals the presence of any spies in target province. If spies are already known in the province targeted by this spell, then one (random) of those spies is killed outright. This spell may be cast as many times as needed to purge the infestation of spies from the province in question. May only be cast by infamous players.

Level 1: Philosopher's Well
Cost: 5 + 5g
Area of Effect: Target Mana Well
Description: From now until the end of your current turn, any mana in target Mana Well may be removed and converted to gold at a 1:1 ratio. This gold is evenly divided between your peacetime (infrastructure) and wartime (troop) budgets. This spell requires no upkeep to maintain.

Level 1: Training Automatons
Cost: 15 mana + 30g
Area of effect: target barracks
Game effect: Due to enchanted training constructs, the troop training limit at target barracks is increased by +2. This enchantment carries a 2 mana per turn upkeep.

Level 2 Enchanted Forge - Magically Tempered Steel
Cost: 30 Mana & 100 Gold
Area of effect: 1 Barracks
Game effect: All troops that target barracks trains gain an additional +1 on attack. This spell may only be cast once per barracks, but is cumulative with all other effects. Note that the bonus for cavalry is +3

This spell must be maintained by paying 3 mana per turn. If mana cannot be paid, then the spell is broken.

Level 2: Explosive Ward
Cost: 25 Mana + 50g
Area of effect: target province
Game effect: Places an ward invisible to everyone but you in province targeted by this spell. Your troops may enter or leave targeted province freely, and without triggering the spell. If any other player sends troops into province targeted by this spell, they lose 4-7 troops at random from their army. Note that leaders are unaffected by this ward. Once triggered, the ward is broken. Note that this spell CAN be cast multiple times on the same province and its effects are cumulative. Spell carries a 3 mana per turn upkeep. Note that the explosive ward may *also* be used to target enemy wards, and if used in this fashion, it has a flat 50% chance of shattering the ward it targets. If so, both spells end immediately.

Level 2: Implements of Pain
Cost: 20 Mana and 40g
Area of effect: target spy in any province
Game effect: target spy, under threat of pain beyond imagining, becomes an agent in your service. This spy requires no upkeep of any kind (he's working for you cos he's terrified of you). If the spy is in your territory, he is considered a double agent. Professionally trained spies have a 30% chance to resist this effect. If they successfully resist, they are destroyed outright, and you gain 10g. Implements of Pain resolves immediately when cast (and is therefore not subject to countering of any kind).

Level 2: Magically enhanced Battlefield Medicine
Cost: 20 Mana and 40g
Area of effect: target army you control
Game effect: For every one of your troops killed in battle in a given round, roll d20. 1-4 = that troop is "revived" and reports for duty normally on the following round. 5-20 = troop is dead and stays dead. Note that this does not apply to captures. This spell has 1 permanant counter on it and remains until removed. Carries a 1 mana per turn upkeep, and may only be cast by players with honor.

Level 3 Tinkerer's Workshop
Cost: 20 Mana & 90 Gold
Area of effect: 1 Barracks or 1 Research Facility
Game effect: If barracks is targeted, Tinkerer's Workshop allows an easing of troop training limits on the target barracks. Barracks targeted may now train two (2) additional troops per turn. Additionally, Cavalry trained from target barracks cost 4g less.

If Research Facility is targeted, then target Research Facility generates an additional five (5) reserach points per turn. These bonus research points are given to a single tech tree, chosen randomly each turn.

This spell must be maintained by paying 1 mana per turn. If mana cannot be paid, then the spell is broken.

Level 3: Gossamer Shackles
Cost: 35 Mana and 80g
Area of effect: target enemy army
Game effect: Target enemy army may not withdraw from combat. This spell remains in effect until the army targeted by it has won five battles, at which time, it dissipates. No upkeep cost for this spell.

Level 3: Standing Stones
Cost: 40 mana + 100g
Area of effect: target province you control
Game effect: Creates standing stone guardians for your province. Guardians have the following stats: 0/10/0, may not be targeted by precision strikes, or killed in combat. May not be pillaged, unbuilt or destroyed by normal means (though certain anti-ward spells will impact them). These may not move by any means. They are native to the province they were created in, and if removed, they will crumble to dust. Not only are the Standing Stones ferocious guardians and a great addition to your defensive forces, but should the province containing a Standing Stone ever fall into enemy hands, Standing Stone guardians make an attack on enemy troops garrisoned in the province. A successful hit = 1 unit dies at random from the conquerer's garrison there (leaders not affected). If conquering player has no troops remaining in the province, it immediately reverts back to your control. Consider standing stones to have three counters on them. Counter-removal effects WILL slay a Standing Stone guardian, but that serves as one of the only means of ridding the protected province of these constructs.

Level 4 Mana Well
Cost: 40 Mana & 150 Gold
Area of Effect: 1 Province
Game effect: Target province generates two (2) additional mana per turn. This mana is NOT added to the player's normal pool. Instead, it is held separately, and is ONLY usable to pay for maintenance of spells. If there are no spells that need maintaining, then these points simply build up until there ARE spells that require maintainance. Maintenance costs are deducted from any mana held in Mana wells first, before being deducted from a player's normally generated mana.

Level 4: BoneYard
Cost: 50 + 100g
Area of Effect: Target Army
Description: Target enemy army sees its Defensive Rating reduced to zero until the start of your next turn. Every hit you inflict on target army by Archers counts double.

Level 5 Mighty Golem
Cost: 50 Mana & 30 Gold
Game effect: Golems are specially created units designed purely for defense. They may be created at any Artificer's Guild, or any building that currently has an Artificer's enchantment placed on it. Golems have a movement rate of zero (0). They may not leave the province they are built in. Golems stats are: 0/18/0. They may not be targeted by precision strikes, may not be targeted by any area-effecting spell, and are automatically chosen last as casualties. Only one golem may be created per province, per turn. Golems do not require upkeep of any kind.

(to be continued)

	04-09-2002 20:29									#7
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Miracles

Level 1: Blessing of the Meek
Cost: 10 Mana + 10 Influence
Area of effect: your empire
Game effect: Count the number of provinces you control, and compare them to the number of provinces controlled by the largest player in the game. At the start of your next turn, you gain 20g * the difference between the two.

Level 1: Laernan’s Blessing
Cost: 20 Mana + 10 Influence
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Next turn, all your provinces produce 5g more in revenue. If you control fewer than ten (10) provinces, then all your provinces produce 10g more in revenue.

Level 1 Lions of the Faith
Cost 10 Mana & 5 Influence
Area of Effect: 1 Army
Game Effect: Target army gets 3 re-rolls per round, as if they had a leader present. Note that this effect IS cumulative if there is currently a leader present in the army, and with multiple castings of the spell. Lasts until the start of your next turn. May only be cast by players with honor.

Level 1: Mantle of Kaylarr
Cost: 25 Mana + 5 Influence
Area of effect: Your empire
Game effect: Mantle of Kaylarr has four (4) counters on it. Remove one of these counters at the start of each of your turns, beginning with the turn following the casting of the spell. Reveal the location, type, and owner of any wards currently in place on all provinces you control. Mantle of Kaylarr will attempt to destroy any ward(s) you wish, if 5 Mana and 2 Influence are spent on the attempt. Chances of success is a baseline 60%, - (10% * level of the spell targeted). Failure simply means that the ward escaped Kaylarr's Mantle for now....you may try again, so long as you can pay the requirements to do so. When the last counter is gone, this spell ends.

Level 1: The Mark of Ollux
Cost: 10 Mana + 10 Influence
Area of effect: Target army you control
Game effect: Any troops captured are immediately converted to mercenaries and added to your force pool, to be used by you during the course of the next round of battle. This spell lasts until the start of your next turn. May only be cast by Infamous players.

Level 2: Blood Moon
Cost: 30 Mana + 15 Influence
Area of effect: special
Game effect: You gain only half your income next turn as your empire is turned upside down in a quest to root out all subversive elements. All enemy spies must make a survival check (80% chance of being destroyed....professionally trained spies are at 60%) All enemy cast wards are in provinces you control are revealed and must make a survival check (70% chance of destruction -5% per level over 2). For every spy an enemy has placed in your territory, one random improvement in that player's empire is destroyed. For every ward a player has placed in your territory, two random improvements in that player's empire are destroyed. This spell resolves immediately, and cannot be countered by any means. May only be cast by infamous players.

Level 2: Boon
Cost: 15 Mana
Area of effect: special
Game effect: You man convert mana to influence at a 3:1 rate this turn (3 mana = 1 influence). Also reveals the total number of provinces controlled by all players.

Level 2 Festival of the Highfather
Cost 10 Mana and 10 Influence
Area of Effect: 1 Province
Game effect: Until the start of your next turn, no attacks may be made into, or initiated from target province.

Level 2: Noble Sacrifice
Cost: 30 Mana + 30 Influence
Area of Effect: Target Army
Description: Sacrifice a leader you control to utterly destroy target enemy army. This spell may not be cast if you have no leader available, and may only be cast by players with a positive honor rating.

Level 3: Gloomwing
Cost: 30 Mana + 20 Influence
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Rumors of Nilrogg under your control circulate through the whole of Candle'Bre. Any battles you fight (offensively or defensively) until the start of your next turn are done with all troops on your side seeing +2 to their a/d values, and all enemy troops facing your minions are at -2 to their a/d values. This spell is non-cumulative with itself.

Level 3 Religious Fervor
Cost 20 Mana and 10 Influence
Area of Effect: 1 Barracks
Game effect: Target barracks has no restrictions whatsoever on the number of troops that may be trained in it this turn.

Level 3: Lunacy
Cost: 35 Mana + 25 Influence
Area of effect: target enemy army
Game effect: gain control of target enemy army and move it where you see fit. Troops are still loyal to the owning player and will not attack that player's own territories, but this could be used to reposition enemy's army and/or to attack an ally's holdings. Note that if an ally's holdings are attacked, the player may undo the restore diplomatic relations with that faction to their former level -10 by paying a price equal to the casting cost of this spell.

Level 4: Heretics
Cost: 40 Mana + 20 Influlence
Area of effect: special
Game effect: Place six counters on Heretic marker when this spell is cast. Beginning on the turn after the casting of this spell, remove one counter. When no counters remain, Heretics spell comes to an end. Only factions controlling more provinces than you control are valid targets of this spell. If that condition is met, then targeted player may not make use of church intercessions to block any attack you make. Any attacks made by targeted player into territories you control may be blocked via church intercession for 10 Influence, rather than the normal 20. When cast, the Heretical Ward is placed in a random territory belonging to target player. The ward remains invisible until sought out by the player.

Level 4 Highfather's Blessing
Cost 30 Mana and 15 Influence
Area of effect: 1 Army
Game effect: All units in target army gain +2 on their attack and defense values. Cavalry gain +4 on their attack and defense values. This spell may not be cast more than once on a target army, but is cumulative with all other effects. Lasts until the start of your next turn.

Level 5 Crusaders!
Cost 50 Mana and 30 Influence
Area of effect: 1 Army
Game effect: Target army's defense factor (the number of "phantom hits" it can take via tier three attacks) doubled (sum of all defensive factors divided by 10, instead of 20). This spell may not be cast more than once on a target army, but is permanant, so long as even a single soldier remains alive in the army. Additionally, captured troops are automatically converted to the cause. These are all considered Infantry, and at the end of any battle this army participates in, captured troops are immediately put into service.

-=Vel=-

	04-09-2002 20:31									#8
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Other news.....

(Will continue this in a bit....but in case you didn't realize from the reading above, it's gonna be a busy day on the CB forums.... )

-=Vel=-

	04-09-2002 21:16									#9
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quote: Originally posted by Velociryx (Will continue this in a bit....but in case you didn't realize from the reading above, it's gonna be a busy day on the CB forums.... )

Even busier then the past few days? Vel, I still didn't find the time to go through your complete list of spells yet, to comment on balance and such

DeepO

	04-09-2002 21:24									#10
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Actually, all this business is because of the last several days and weeks!

-=Vel=-
PS: No worries re: balancing and such....I ran 'em through some basic testing, but only in-game testing will reveal the really broken ones!

	04-09-2002 22:10									#11
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Changes to the Combat System

Couple of things were wonky with the combat system, so we've been doing some tweaking and experimenting to make it work the way we want/expect it to. Here's the scoop on all changes made thus far (these represent changes from the core rules):

* (pulled from the magic update and expansion) All armies now have a "Defensive Factor Rating" which amounts to "phantom hits" taken as losses before troops actually start dying. This is a baby step toward a "hit point" oriented system, and suits our purposes since we're only at the stage of strategic level combat. The DFR is calculated by summing all the defense numbers for all troops in the army and dividing by twenty. (Note that archers add nothing to the DFR, and that it is calculated each combat round - diminishing as losses are taken. Note too, that the DFR ONLY provides protection against damage caused by infantry units. Archers and Cav ignore the DFR.

* Archers now get an "Initial Volley" on "round zero" of any given combat. This attack is made at +2 to their normal attack values.

* Leaders (see below, the section on the expanded nature of leaders) - a leader's re-roll ability is in effect every combat round, and applies only to certain groups of troop types.

* Pikemen - Now attack and defend on Tier two (to make it such that if cavs hit them, they can hit back). Pikemen also "auto-target" cavalry--hit cavs first, if there are any cavs to hit--this should be okay, since pikemen are also autotargeted by just about every other unit....they're good, but have a notoriously short battlefield lifespan).

* Cavalry - It is now possible for cavalry to kill or capture multiple troops in a single round (abstraction of cav shock ability). The mechanic is this. Roll an attack die for the cav. If a hit is reported, add three to the roll and check for a second hit. If a second hit is reported, add six to the modified roll and check again. Continue this pattern (3,6,9, etc) until no further hits are reported. Adds value to cavs, at least until the appearance of the (much cheaper) Pikemen.

* Siege Engines and Fortifications - I dunno....musta been smoking some really bad stuff when I wrote this originally....it was WEAK! so....the following changes have been made:

Siege engines are available after tech level X (no changes here....same tech level it's currently available at), and cost 20g. They carry a standard (2gpt) upkeep, and count toward a province's per turn hiring limit.

Combat with siege engines is a bit different, again, reflecting the increasing complexities of the system we're putting together.

Siege engines attack on tier two. They ALWAYS attack with the following priority, where targets are concerned:
1) Their first target (and target of choice) will be fortifications. That's why these guys are here....to bust up fortifications.
2) Enemy siege engines. If there are no more fortifications to break up, then the siege engine will target enemy siege engines.
3) Enemy troops.

Siege engine notes:
* Siege engines attack and defend with a roll of 7 on a d20 (35% chance of hitting). A successful hit against a fortification will give that fortification one "breech counter." (see notes below on fortifications). When a number of breech counters = to the max breech counters a fortification at a given level has been doled out, that fortification ceases to exist. Note that as a siege grinds on, the fortification in place (assuming it began at some level higher than fortification level 1) will be downgraded as a sufficient number of breech counters is given out in damage.

* Against other siege engines or enemy troops, a successful hit = destruction. Note here that this implies that siege engines may make precision strikes without the usual penalty.

Fortification Levels and their effects:

Level-------# of Breech Counters-------Notes
1 ------- 3 ------- All defending troops are +1, All defending archers are +2 - No charges or flanks allowed

2 ------- 5 ------- All defending troops are +2, all defending archers are +4 - No charges or flanks allowed

3 ------- 9 ------- Per Lvl 2, plus double the defender's defensive rating so long as the fortification remains at this level. All troops gain the initiative special, on the first round of combat.

4 ------- 14 ------- Per Lvl 3, but the "initiative" special is in effect every round that the fortification remains at this level.

Last edited by Velociryx on 04-09-2002 at 22:30

	04-09-2002 22:21									#12
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

Expansion of Leaders and Leader Abilities
One of the things we definitely wanted to do here was to create a slighly more "heroic" or "epic/quest" feel to the game....to build that in without disturbing the existing framework too much.

Leaders were a natural choice for this, since a) we already had them in the game, and b) right now, as the game stands presently (essentially a wargame with some extra stuffages), it made sense to make war leaders be the pivotal figures in the story. As the game matures, expect to see some variation here, however.... Here's the scoop on leader changes:

Leaders

Another area that needed some serious attention, the goal of this change is to make leaders a bit more "personal," with the notion that players will begin to identify with specific leaders, and thus, give the game slightly more of a "quest oriented" feel (which we can build on with fate cards)

Leader Generation
Any time an army that does not contain a leader fights a battle, there's a 2% chance of that army generating a leader. This chance is halved when fighting neutrals and rebels (1%).

Every leader rises from the ranks of a specific type of troop type (Infantry, Mercenary, Pikeman, Skirmisher, Cavalry, Archer). This is pre-generated for all leaders that exist at game start, and randomly determined, based on troop types available, in the case of newly generated leaders.

All leaders provide +1 to the attack and defense values of all troops with them. Additionally, each leader comes with three free "re-rolls" per round, which are auto-applied to any misses the army gets when rolling combat. These re-rolls are auto-applied to the troop category that the leader hails from (ie - A leader hailing from the archery corp, would see his re-rolls auto-applied to archer misses in his army). If none of the specified troop type report misses when rolling combat, then the re-rolls are simply lost. They are not holdable, and do not carry over from round to round.

Each time an army with a leader fights a battle, there is a 10% chance that the leader will gain a skill/ability. One (1) ability is chosen at random from the list below.

Leaders may have up to two skills (note - some fate cards may extend this, or expand the number).

Only one (1) leader is allowed in any given army, but multiple leaders/armies are allowed in provinces. If multiple leaders are present in the same province when that province is attacked, then all leader skills and abilities are additive in their nature (HUGE advantage to the defender!)

Leader Specials
Let’s call this the completed list of leader specials available in the standard game. If needs be, we can expand it later (an expansion for the game, or once we see how the whole thing hangs together, but this’ll give us something solid to work with so we can see how it’ll play….also keep in mind that we can introduce other leader specials as fate card effects…. ). I’ve included parenthetical “shorthand” in cases where the skill name is more than one word….might be useful in terms of coding.

Ambusher
All archers under this leader's command gain an additional volley during "round zero."

Anti-Magic
Leader is particularly resistant to magicks cast on him, and the troops under him benefit from this protection. You may cast any beneficial spell you wish on such a leader, but spells cast by your enemies that target this leader and his army have a 30% (-5% per level of the spell) chance of fizzling and having no effect whatsoever.

Artillerist
+2 to the attack value of all siege engines in this army, whether on attack or defense.

Awe-Inspiring Leader (awesome)
The first ten units in this army require no support costs, and follow merely out of a desire to serve under this leader.

Barbarian
Leader counts as a combat unit in all battles, attacking with whatever group he hailed from, but with a +6 bonus to normal unit stats. Leader cannot be the target of a precision strike, and is not killed as a result of any precision strikes against the troop type he fights with (even if the number of hits indicate he should be dead). Leader unit is always the last casualty taken.

Battlefield Guile (wily)
Leader gains 3 additional re-rolls per round, applicable to any and all troop types (but preference is auto-given to the troop type the leader was spawned from....any carry-over rolls are assigned with the following priority (archers, cavalry, skirmishers, pikemen, infantry, mercenary, siege engine).

Fearsome Adversary (fearsome)
Any enemy units that report combat results that would be reported as captures, are instead reported as misses. All enemy units fighting against this leader are at –1 on their attack and defense values. Fearsome adversary is only available to infamous players, and only if your infamy is at least –30. Anything less, and these guys won’t give you the time of day.

Great Ferocity (ferocious)
All units under this leader's command gain an additional +1 when attacking only.

Great Weight with the Church (churchitude)
Generates 1 Influence for you per turn

Heroism
Leader is only attracted to players with positive honor of 30 or higher, and the presence of such an active, heroic figure in your ranks absolutely prevents the per turn loss of honor due to forgetfulness of the people (he stays in the forefront of their minds with tales of his valor). If your honor drops below the threshold required for this leader, he will leave your service, never to return. If there is another player in the game who meets his honor threshold requirement, the leader will migrate to the service of that player, taking his army with him. If no other player on the board currently meets his requirements, he simply vanishes, leaving the army behind, and leaderless.

Immovable
The army this leader commands WILL NOT retreat, no matter what the circumstance. The option to withdraw is simply no longer available. Leader gains a bonus to his defensive rating = army cost/50.

Quartermaster
All troops under the command of this leader cost 1g less to maintain (to a minimum of zero).

Sapper/Engineer (engineer)
Leader's engineering detachment cause 1-3 breech counters against enemy fortifications per combat round (given at the end of each round), even if the army contains no siege engines.

Sniffer
Leader is especially sensitive to magical energies, and can detect the presence of any ward(s) in territories he travels through with a 50% probability. This ability is automatic, and a check is made at the start of each of your turns. If the General detects a ward or wards, their type and nature are revealed to you immediately. Who put it there, however, remains a mystery.

Statesman
Leader provides you with a 5% boost in effectiveness for any attempt you make to positively impact diplomatic relations with any other faction. Statesman generals will only serve leaders with honor of at least 50. If your honor drops below this threshold, there’s a 5% (cumulative) chance that this leader will leave your service. If he does so, there’s a 25% chance he’ll lead the army with him away too! If there is another player in the game who meets the honor requirements, this leader will gravitate to the player who a) meets his minimum requirements and b) has the least number of provinces.

Stoic Defender (defenseguy)
All units under this leader's command gain an additional +1 when defending only.

Vast Wealth (richdude)
+ 10gpt added to your income (5 each, military/non-military budget). Note that if you are a small empire (third largest territory set or smaller), this amount is doubled to +20gpt. Check at the start of each of your turns, to see what your General donates to your cause.

War Wizard/Battle Mage (bada$$wiz)
Counts as a focusing sigil under your control and generates 10 Mana per turn for you.

Warlock
Attracted only to players with at least –50 infamy, Warlocks are fearsome indeed. They count as two (2) focusing sigils under your control, and each time they are in battle, they siphon off 5 mana from the opponent they are fighting. This mana is immediately added to your available pool, and may be used immediately. If the opponent in question does not have sufficient mana, then for each mana he cannot provide you in this way, he has a 20% chance of losing a random, non-mercenary troop from the army currently doing battle with the Warlock’s army.

Ward Breaker (breaker)
Leader is schooled in the Witching Ways, and has a flat 25% chance of breaking any ward he finds. Leader must remain in the territory containing the ward for an entire turn (must start and end his turn in the territory containing the ward to be broken), and may not participate in any battles on attack or defense.

Last edited by Velociryx on 04-09-2002 at 22:48

	04-09-2002 22:39									#13
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

Vel, you left out the bit about: maximum one leader is allowed per army, so in an attack only one leader can participate on the offensive side. However, because multiple armies can be in a certain province defending when another faction's army invades, it will be possible to have mulitple leaders defending (one from each army in the province).

If multiple leaders are defending, their bonusses are additive, making them very strong defenders, more then attackers.

DeepO

	04-09-2002 22:49									#14
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Good catch! Added!

-=Vel=-
(off to lunch, and then right back into the fray!)

	05-09-2002 00:53									#15
	Put an end to popups!

More notes on revisions and expansions!

Here's some more detail on the Loyalty stuff....the formulae we're using, what it does, how it works....all that jazz.....just keepin' everybody informed as to what the heck we're doing over here in the lab!

Rebellion will be driven by the new concept of Loyalty.

Assumptions
1) All your core provinces begin the game at 100% loyalty.

2) Rebellion chances, and your ability to do anything in a province (train troops, collect income, build improvements) are directly tied to a province's loyalty.

3) Loyalty is calculated/modified each turn, at the start of each player's turn. This is also when rebellions are checked for.

4) 'Natural Drift' occurs, with a given rate, slowly converging to the maximum again. Base rate = 20% (=0.2), the formula for the drift is
NewLoyalty = OldLoyalty + (MaxLoyalty - OldLoyalty)*DriftRate + 1.
If NewLoyalty > MaxLoyalty then NewLoyalty = MaxLoyalty.
(This '+1' to include a bias so that loyalty can reach MaxLoyalty.)

5) Newly conquered provinces have a default starting loyalty rate of 0%. Because the rebellion the next turn will only be calculated after the natural drift of the loyalty, a honorable player starts at 20% in the first turn when rebellion can occur. Infamous players have it more difficult.

6) the maximum of loyalty (MaxLoyalty) your citizens can reach is also under modification by certain honor / infamy events

Impacts of Loyalty
1) Income impact = NormalIncome * Loyalty = Income collected

2) Troop training rate = Income/10, then rounded to nearest integer
(may be impacted by above)
(the rounding is done like this instead of dropping all fractions because otherwise it will take too long to have a full training capacity again.)

3) Build barracks requires loyalty of at least 55%
I changed this from 75%. The minimum turns it takes a neutral (honor=0) player to be able to build a barracks is 4, while infamous players (at 5% DriftRate) need 10 turns. 75% would mean 6 turns minimum, 17 turns maximum (a bit too much, IMHO)

4) Chance for rebellion = (MaxLoyalty - Loyalty + 20)*(RebellionFactor - 2*ArmySize/Population)
If Chance <0 then Chance = 0
(the 2 factor in ArmySize/Population should prolly be tweaked more)
(same for the 20 factor... but a bias here will ensure that you can leave certain provinces undefended, and still do (moderate) recruiting. Otherwise, the first troop you recruit will mean that the province rebels)

Impacts to loyalty
1) Recruitment : each time you recruit a troop, it drags down the loyalty of a province (NewLoyalty = OldLoyalty * RecruitmentPenalty * (number of troops recruited/max number of recruits possible in target province)
Note that hiring mercs does not impact loyalty at all!
RecruimtentPenalty has a base rate of .8 (Note that this prolly has to change. it is the 20% decrease as mentioned in the original posts, but with a 20% natural drift this means that you can only train troops each 7 turns to keep the province out of rebellion. If you make it a 10% decrease, you can do that every other turn to keep it out of rebellion)
Note also that the max number of recruits is NormalIncome / 10, not Income / 10

2) Building Modifiers:

NewLoyalty = OldLoyalty + SumOf(NewlyBuildBuildings).

building bonusses:
- All fortifications: bonus = 10 (so each level will give 10 loyalty)
- barracks: bonus = 0
- temple, scribe tower, academy, market, bank : bonus = 5
- library, university, cathedral: bonus = 10
- thieves' guild: bonus = -20

NewLoyalty = OldLoyalty + 5*NumberOfNewBuildings + 10*(LevelOfNewFortification - LevelOfOldFortification)

3) Honor - Driftfactor: DriftFactor = .2 + honor*.15
(Totally infamous: honor = -100 -> DriftFactor = 5%. Totally honorable: honor = 100 -> DriftFactor = 35%. Neutral: driftfactor = 20%)

4) MaxLoyalty: MaxLoyalty = 100 + Honor*.1 - TreatyBreaks*5
If MaxLoyalty > 100 then MaxLoyalty = 100.
If Maxloyalty < 50 then MaxLoyalty = 50
so instead of having 3% per step of infamy, we have 10% for 3 steps.

Note that I included the positive version of it as well, to have a balancing mechanism for the treatybreaks. When you break a treaty, it will decrease your honor, but if you work hard you can be so honorable that people will forgive you. I changed the punishment for broken treaties to 5%, because I don't see many treaties get broken during one game... plus I added a cap to the lower limit, so there will always be some maximum loyalty left to climb to

Another note: here the reward for being honorable is the same as the punishment for being infamous. This can of course be split, so that for instance totally honorable players get a 5% surpluss (meaning they will be forgiven one broken treaty, nothing more), or even less (so a broken treaty will never be fully forgiven)

5)RecruitmentPenalty - Honor:
If honor>0 then RecruitmentPenalty = .8 + honor*.06

6) RebellionFactor - Honor:
If Honor<0 then RebellionFactor = .15 + Honor*.10
(Totally honorable: factor = .12. Totally infamous: factor = .05)

* Note that Infamous player (see formula above) have fewer rebellions than honorable players....one of their advantages....fear is a powerful tool of suppression.

Chance for rebellion = (80 - Loyalty)*(RebellionFactor - 2*ArmySize/Population)

Size of Rebel force in a rebelling territory:

provincial income/2 = Max possible rebel units.

(100 - Loyalty)*MaxRebelTroops = Size of Rebel force

Composition of rebel force = half infantry (or pike, if you have discovered the tech for pikes), and half randomly split between archers and cav.

**This brings to mind another change wrt neutral territories. All neutral territory defense forces have been doubled in size (half infantry, and half split between archers and cav). Further, every turn, the neutrals get an additional unit (random type), up to the max they could support on their own (baseline income/2). Each province has a 3% cumulative chance of "discovering" the tech for pikemen, at which time, that prov's infantry will auto-upgrade TO pikemen for defense.

-=Vel=-
(off to find more goodies to update you with!)

	05-09-2002 01:32									#16
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

Note to the loyalty-rebellion post: this really is still a design under discussion... as evidenced by the many comments refering to previous versions. Vel, allow me to post the final doc once we get out the buildings-debate

DeepO

	05-09-2002 01:38									#17
	Put an end to popups!

From the reading of the thread _{(point of clarification for those reading here: The thread being referenced is in the "top secret" development lab.... )}, it looks like the Loyalty thing is pretty well locked down. If there's any changes in building modifiers, those'll be more along the lines of tweaking individual values (which in turn, will likely get further tweaked when we get a "live" system to play with and see how it works), than a radical departure from the existing formulae, but by all means, you and RPM continue to hammer away at it and post the revisions when you're done, and I'll mark that one off my "do-list"

-=Vel=-

	05-09-2002 01:47									#18
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You're right what the tweaking of values is concerned, Vel. It's just that you did adjust the buildings in the post, but left in my comments like "so instead of having 3% per step of infamy, we have 10% for 3 steps."... I just wanted to mention that this is, as evidenced by the comments, a work in progress

But yes, I don't think many other formulae will appear, we have about everything covered that can have an influence on loyalty.

DeepO

	05-09-2002 01:50									#19
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

D'oh! And that, folks, is about as busted as busted can get!

Quite so, my friend! I think that is evidence enough that I've done my day's supply of cutting and pasting... I think I'll give it a rest for the day and let everybody catch up on their reading, and see what further magic you and RPM can work on the loyalty formula!

-=Vel=-
(and then, I'll dust off my growing collection of fate ideas and see if I can come up with a few more!)