8 réponses à ce sujet

[Dorateen]

I’d like to toss out a germ of an idea for a project I just started thinking about. I am picturing a large exterior area (expanding to 4 or 5 more, which I will mention below) populated by creatures organized into packs. Essentially, they would be monster parties including spellcasters, healers, thieves and archers. There would also be rival factions, parties of elves and dwarves and humans opposed to them.
 
These clusters would start out at level one in a section of the map, gradually progressing to higher level parties further out. Eventually, I would expand onto 4 or 5 other maps, of various terrain types, and greater challenge ratings.
 
The idea is that the player would begin the module with a first level party of their own and attempt to wade through a massive battle. Timing would be essential if they wish to join in with allied factions against the monsters, or the player could wait and see which forces are finished off. I would be placing some of the hostile and defender factions close enough to each other, and keeping them balanced so that the player would hopefully encounter them in the midst of battle. Other groups would be isolated.
 
As for the defender factions, I would probably add conversations that allow wizard NPCs to sell magic equipment, cleric NPCs to sell healing items, fighters NPCs to provide arms and armor, etc. Maybe even an option to engage friendly factions in combat, if the player decides to slaughter everyone on the field.
 
The player would also be able to heal friendly creatures, to keep them around longer, should they choose a tactic of drawing monsters toward them as they explore the map.
 
I guess this is kind of like a battle arena concept. But I want to try to achieve the feeling of a group of adventurers (the player’s party) in the thick of a huge scale war. Not that they would be controlling armies, that is not the intent. The player characters would have to advance through the rising level of mob monsters and see if they can survive.
 
Story would be intentionally minimal. I’ve been in the mood to go for a serious Old School vibe. But instead of crawling through a monster-infested dungeon, it would involve ranging across a monster-swarming battlefield.
 This is something I am considering toward the end of the summer. I should have the current areas I’m working on for the community project finished, and be able to put this out just before I start back on the campaign I’m developing for the long haul.

I'm sure I could tweak the concept to make it more interesting/appealing. But at it's core, this is about building up a party of characters and letting them flex their muscles in an ongoing, wide-spread combat scenario.

Harumph!

Modifié par Dorateen, 11 juillet 2011 - 08:35 .

[kamal_]

Putting hostile and defender creatures near each other will cause the fight to resolve before the player spawns into the map. Occurs in PoE in Neverwinter if you are in the fighter or thief quest lines.

[Dorateen]

kamal_ wrote...

Putting hostile and defender creatures near each other will cause the fight to resolve before the player spawns into the map.

OK... so I have to look into how they did it in SoZ. Like whne a caravan is attacked, and there are guards already engaged with the monsters.

Maybe more scripting than I wanted, but should be doable. Right?

[kamal_]

Dorateen wrote...

kamal_ wrote...

Putting hostile and defender creatures near each other will cause the fight to resolve before the player spawns into the map.

OK... so I have to look into how they did it in SoZ. Like whne a caravan is attacked, and there are guards already engaged with the monsters.

Maybe more scripting than I wanted, but should be doable. Right?

Should be, it's probably not hard and you can take however soz did it and move it right over to your work. But there's more involved than just placing the critters near each other.

[Shaun the Crazy One]

In SoZ a different damage scale was set for the overland map, so that when two factions fight on the OM the battle isn't over too quickly. If you intervene in one of these battles the game goes to an encounter area. The two factions already involved in the battle spawn right on top of each other with damage proportional to the damage their token took on the OM. If your going for multiple factions I suggest AOS style where NPCs are constantly re-spawning.

[Dorateen]

Shaun the Crazy One wrote...

In SoZ a different damage scale was set for the overland map, so that when two factions fight on the OM the battle isn't over too quickly. If you intervene in one of these battles the game goes to an encounter area. The two factions already involved in the battle spawn right on top of each other with damage proportional to the damage their token took on the OM. If your going for multiple factions I suggest AOS style where NPCs are constantly re-spawning.

Hmmm. That is interesting and good to know. I thought the sides on the overland map might have been set to plot, but then, that couldn't be since sometimes the guards got killed before your party intervened, or vice versa.

I'm going to have to play around with this, to see if I can get the effect I'm looking for. The ratio between Hostile groups and defenders will probably be 5 to 2. The atmosphere should be one of a desperate conflict, allies outnumbered, and the monsters overrunning the map. Besides, don't want to make it too easy for the player's characters and let the NPCs do all the work!

Another way to try and describe what I'm aiming for is a Dungeons & Dragons free-for-all, with the sense that the player's party is just one participant out of many. Like an evil DM just dumped out the contents of the Monster Manual across several areas.

For some reason, this sounds like something I would have a blast playing.

[Eguintir Eligard]

its battle ROYALE...

and it's not a battle royale until you get elminster to stand at the center and yell "LETS GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE!!"

[Lugaid of the Red Stripes]

At the risk of too-much self promotion, play through The Dana'an Unvanquished and see how the battles play themselves out. I used a lot of respawning reinforcements, but also some special tactical AI to keep the combatants in a long, drawn-out skirmish rather than a short, intense melee. I'd be happy to help you adapt some of the code, and you might even want to use some of the areas.

[Dorateen]

Lugaid of the Red Stripes wrote...

At the risk of too-much self promotion, play through The Dana'an Unvanquished and see how the battles play themselves out. I used a lot of respawning reinforcements, but also some special tactical AI to keep the combatants in a long, drawn-out skirmish rather than a short, intense melee. I'd be happy to help you adapt some of the code, and you might even want to use some of the areas.

Thank you, Lugaid, I will take you up on the offer. In addition to respawning reinforcements, I also like the idea of the player character's having an option to "call for help" and any nearby friendly factions might join in. I will look at your scripts and see what I can use.

Now, I should also mention, this is very much in the theoretical/pre-planning stage. I got the idea simply when I was placing encounters for the community project, and going through the creature blueprints, I suddenly fancied this massive battle, with incremental intensity. Kind of like running the party through a gauntlet.

I've still got time before I try to implement this in the toolset.

Eguintir, as far as Elminster goes... bring it on!

Harumph!

Modifié par Dorateen, 12 juillet 2011 - 01:07 .