Messages

46

Colonies / Lukon is too big....

« on: March 26, 2011, 02:06:30 PM »

Some Duke needs to secede or better yet, swear allegiance to someone else.

47

Helpline / Re: Marshal formation

« on: March 26, 2011, 02:03:23 PM »

The only thing that an "experienced" marshal has over a newbie marshal is the Leadership skill. If you train Leadership at the academy, you could easily have full access to all marshal settings for the instant you are appointed as marshal. Which is really the whole point of academy training. So there's no reason to toss the whole idea out the window.

What you can do is tie the implementation of these formations into the leadership skill rating.
* Higher leadership: + chance of success
* Very high leadership: ++ chance of success

* Specifying more options = - chance of success
* Specifying "overrides" for noble units settings (formation, encounter reactions, etc.) = -- chance of failure

Put all this together and calculate a chance to successfully implement a formation. If you fail, the consequences could range from nobles just lining up according to their personal settings, to being +/1 a line, depending on how badly you failed.

For an Epic Fail, when a newbie marshal tries to use a super-complex setting with lots of overrides, you could even assign completely random lines to each individual noble on that side. 

And you can even tie in the number of available custom formations to the leadership skill. One custom formation stored per 20% skill?

I think you're going about this the wrong way. I think that the options within the Formation Builder should have the Leadership requirements. The way you had it sounds reliant on D&D style dice rolls. Here is what I propose:

Leadership and/or H/P unlocks the Formation Builder. Because the Marshal does not always have experience in telling nobles how to precisely deploy their unit (outside of formations), an additional Leadership value will be required (to formulate a new strategy) for each level of sophistication.

Basic formation options such as Infantry, Cav, and Archers being deployed in the Front, Middle, Back, and Rearguard be made available immediately in the Formation Builder, but only in baby steps. Defaulting to what is possible with Infantry Charge, Archer Opening, Fortification Deploy, and Infantry Wall. As leadership improves, or maybe even use of custom formations increases by the Marshal, more options such as having the infantry deploy in Rearguard, and Cav deploy in the front, become available.

Eventually, when the Marshal is able to use some of the very advanced stuff, such as Weakening Skirmish, they will still not be able to change Withdraw settings in the Formation Builder. They will still need to increase their Leadership (or use more custom formations).

Perhaps also limit to how many formations they are able to have or use through the Formation Builder? If someone had 10 custom formations, then ya, units would become travel bots. But if they could only have say, one attack formation and one defence formation, then not really.

What I would like to see though, is be able to have maybe ten custom formations available, but only have one or two "active" to use within a given time frame. Example:

I have Formations named: Slay Those Monsters, Skeleton Explosion, Eat His Horses, and Bite the Dust. I choose to have Slay Those Monsters and Eat His Horses active. I decide that since the other guy doesn't tend to have a lot of cavalry, that I want to be able to use Bite the Dust instead. Well, now I have to wait a week, two weeks, or something in order to actually be able to use it. In the mean time, I still have to issue new line settings to nobles in my army so that I can hopefully mimic that formation.

And since people WILL forget what each setting does, a way to review what is in each formation the marshal has created.

48

Feature Requests / Re: Personal Prison

« on: March 18, 2011, 12:31:46 PM »

It would be pointless, even counter-productive.

Most players would know nothing about the feature, since captures in battle are rare enough as it is. I myself have captured maybe one noble in battle since the game started telling us who made the capture. In fact, knowledge of this feature (through in-game methods) would be less known than the hero bug that no one knew about for a year.

The Judge as we know it would become redundant. The whole point about having the government positions is to be able to give them power and authority. And by giving some of that power to everybody, forcibly, I think it would make far more people unhappy than happy.

49

Feature Requests / Re: "Convert" Nobles to Secret Society

« on: March 16, 2011, 01:15:51 PM »

Basically, the idea is to allow for high ranking members of a secret society to invite other nobles to join without having them travel to the guildhouse. It would work exactly the same way a priest can convert a noble with a private sermon, except with the obvious alterations. This would be a major change to secret societies especially when the two nobles are in enemy realms. What excuse could they possibly have to get to their enemy's capital, but if the two were to know where their armies were going to clash it would be that much simpler to send an invitation.

That would take A LOT of the fun out of secret societies too. In order to get this guy to join, why not have him, or help him orchestrate a legitimate reason to be in the region? Such as an attack or raid? If that noble has no kind of influence when it comes to decision making, or doesn't have such ingenuity, then how much of an asset could he be anyway?

I can still think of a few "reasons" he could get that far into your territory, for a few different classes. For example, an infiltrator attacking a lord. A trader attempting to steal food. A priest causing religious revolt. The list goes on...

Also, wouldn't there also be a fun factor in having him work exclusively for you until he CAN find a reason to be there?

50

Dwilight / Re: The Zuma

« on: March 15, 2011, 12:37:36 PM »

For a more anecdotal one about undead, which may or may not be reliable:

http://wiki.battlemaster.org/wiki/Sanguine_Times/Issue_11#Daimons

This happened two months after the invasion on Paisly I just mentioned. In THAT incident there were no undead, and I have a feeling it was that incident that is being mentioned.

51

Dwilight / Re: The Zuma

« on: March 15, 2011, 12:32:19 PM »

Oh yeah, that. Well that'll be an interesting mystery, huh? 

....... Does no one really remember? Nightling Balewind, the Madinan Duchess of Paisly, convinced them to raise Paisly in retribution for D'Hara taking the city.

52

Colonies / Re: Best kept secret in BM?

« on: March 15, 2011, 12:25:13 PM »

I love the colonies.

Yes, it's slow but that just makes it a bit more realistic IMHO*

There are two types of characters/players in the colonies..
1) The patient, intelligent and reserved who play the game like a 18th century game of chess by mail between kings.
2) The reprobates, troublemakers, assasins, rebels, misfits, duellists and schemers sent to the colonies as punishment.

This demographic often leads to trouble and fun.

* there is no such thing as an HO.

Very true. Until recently I was the Banker of Oritolon, and all I did with him was create conspiracies and cover his ass. He was part of a plot to create total anarchy across the continent (which sadly failed), was very patient with his goals, rarely took drastic action, used rebellions for personal gain, and tired to hire an assassin to take out the Duke of Oritolon, as well as place a 500 gold bounty on a realm mate.

I miss that character....

53

The Dream / Re: What the heck is Epic if his lair is underwater?

« on: March 14, 2011, 12:45:23 PM »

Maybe they have an ability that allows them to hold their breath longer while under water? Makes sense, wait in the water until their prey is close enough to strike. Or maybe they can breath both air and water? There ARE animals irl that can do that. Or maybe even, some monsters live in water, and some don't... Epic being one that does?