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Author Topic: Wands Race - [Arstotzka] {COMPLETED}  (Read 370962 times)

Iituem

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Wands Race - [Arstotzka] {COMPLETED}
« on: March 18, 2017, 08:44:48 am »

Wands Race is now, thanks to evictedSaint, complete!

Forenia remains at war, as it has since time immemorial.  Six months ago, in the hotly disputed mountains of Forenia, an old ruin was discovered belonging to some pre-Forenian people.  Contained within, amongst incidental treasure and corpses, were two wands and two spellbooks.  Unfortunately, those bastard Moskurgers raided the camp at the last moment and you were only able to get away with half of the loot.  Nevertheless, the discovery has revolutionised war; magic is real, and your nation has been able to train a handful of wizards based off the spellbook and wand you recovered.  The only problem now is trying to figure out more spells and ways to make use of your magic to get one over on those bastard Moskurgers!

Torches light the streets and rain falls constantly from the sky. You are meeting around a table strewn with parchment and quills, in a longhouse under watch by the local King's guard. After a period of extended argument discussion, the old team of wizards has been murdered in their sleep dismissed, and you have been chosen to replace them.

You are the indomitable people of Arstotzka.  Your people excel in the cold, wooded taiga from which you are come, and your armies consist primarily of small, flexible bands of close-combat warriors armed with axe and shield and led by chain-mail armoured swordsmen who excel at infantry combat and defensive strategy.  Only a small proportion of your forces are archers, but they are highly skilled and equipped with longbows that are long ranged and are excellent at holding defensive positions.  Your cavalry are moderately armoured and geared towards powerful charges, providing excellent support for your infantry once battle is met.  Although your longships are slow, they can pack a lot of troops in their hulls, so in regions where you control the sea they provide a lot of support to main battles.

To play for this glorious side, post here.  You can only play for either Arstotzka or Moskurg, so choose wisely.  Out of respect for the other team, stay out of their thread.  Post banter and such in the core thread.

To begin with, players should vote on which wand and spellbook their side has.  You can only have one of each, so choose wisely.


To play, during the Design Phase either post a design for a new item or spell, or quote someone else's design and add a +1.  You can only design or support one design, so if you change your mind go back and strike out your earlier post to make my life easier when totting up votes.

Spoiler: State of Forenia, 910 (click to show/hide)

« Last Edit: September 25, 2017, 06:42:20 am by Iituem »
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OceanSoul

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Re: Wands Race 910 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2017, 08:52:34 am »

I, Aempal Leyon, will support the efforts of glorious Arxtotzka!
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Finally have a game completely ready. Wait a week before posting it out of laziness.

Iituem

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Re: Wands Race 910 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2017, 09:05:20 am »

Welcome, thane Aempal!  Feel free to vote on the starting wand and spellbook for our indomitable nation!
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OceanSoul

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Re: Wands Race 910 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2017, 09:18:28 am »

Transmutation and Invisibility.
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Work on a potential forum game for my return to Bay12. Figure out parts that puzzled me before. Find more things to figure out that I can't. Work on another game instead of solving them. Get distracted and stop working. Remember it a week or two later. Remember I'm still on hiatus. Illogically, Be too ashamed to return yet. Repeat ad nauseam.

Finally have a game completely ready. Wait a week before posting it out of laziness.

10ebbor10

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Re: Wands Race 910 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2017, 09:38:19 am »

PTW.

Also, taking this side.
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Playergamer

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Re: Wands Race 910 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2017, 11:22:40 am »

Divination Spellbook and Wand of Fireballs.

Divination will make our archers dominate the skirmish phase of battle, and Fireballs will mean that our masters can blow holes in the enemy line during main battles.
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Urist Mc Dwarf

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Re: Wands Race 910 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2017, 12:09:39 pm »

Conjuration and I will second Fireballs

Conjuration allows for more options and fireballs are scary.

Iituem

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Re: Wands Race 910 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2017, 02:09:37 pm »

Looks like we might have a consensus on fireballs, but will wait for more spellbook choices before I compile the starting turn.
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Roboson

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Re: Wands Race 910 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2017, 03:18:45 pm »

Conjuration and fireballs.
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Iituem

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Re: Wands Race 911 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #9 on: March 18, 2017, 05:27:07 pm »

Forenia, 910

In the mountains, Arstotzka has proved to be highly effective, winning nearly all of the skirmishes in the passes and even successfully taking hold of a Moskurger castle.  Moskurg meanwhile has failed to gain any ground at all, as their troops have been sapped in skirmishes before this can even come to pass.  Although Arstotzkan gains are not significant enough to shift the balance of power, continued victories may gain them real ground in the mountains.

The King and his thanes put this victory down in large part to the terrain; infantry, ambush tactics and small flexible groups of soldiers all do well in the mountains, and Arstotzkans are famously inured to cold weather, whereas the Moskurgers continue to freeze their toes off whilst fighting.  In addition, apprentice wizards are able to put up clouds of smoke to confuse the short-ranged Moskurger archers in the passes, and frequent attacks with summoned ice wasps sap the morale of combatants trapped in the snow.

Unfortunately, even with the new web spell paralysing escaping foes, Moskurgers are still able to escape during a rout, thanks to their long-standing cavalry traditions.


In the jungle, Moskurg is mostly able to win in skirmishes against Arstotzka, particularly on the defensive where their apprentices were able to detect ambushes laid in place and encircle them with troops.  In the jungles, Moskurger archers are aided by magic to hit two out of three times, twice as often as before!  Whilst Moskurg and Arstotzka both traded land, with Arstotzka capturing several forts and Moskurg seizing an Arstotzkan gem mine, Moskurg has come out with a slight advantage despite their lack of territorial gains, having slaughtered many fleeing Arstotzkans with their fast sabre-armed cavalry.

During the fighting, loyal Arstotzkan warriors tell of a worrying sight; a pack of demon riders led by a robed figure who slaughter all in their path.  To hear it told, no arrow can strike them and no sword has ever felled a single one of these cavaliers.  They supposedly led the strike on our former gem mine.


Moskurg has had an excellent showing in the plains, where their cavalry focus has come to the fore.  Without terrain to aid the Arstotzkans' ambush tactics, Moskurgers were able to win most skirmishes and bring their massive formation-based armies to bear.  At the same time, the Arstotzkans fielded a very visible wizard in a well-protected contingent on the battlefield; huge balls of fire hurtled over the field when battle was joined, roasting dozens of spearmen at a time.  Moskurgers still seized a major fishing town and butchered the entire local garrison, resulting in further losses for the Arstotzkans as the Moskurgers prove that they can follow up on a victory with great effect.  Moskurg has not yet gained enough territory to be significant, but they are en-route to a significant gain in land on the plains next year.

The King and his thanes put this failure down in large part due to the terrain; cavalry, mobility and formation tactics all work extremely well on the plains.  Ambush tactics are nullified by open terrain and Moskurger wizards scrying for nearby traps and pitfalls, although even these advantages are not enough to explain the severity of losses.  Several thanes have spoken of seeing robed Moskurger wizards studying them from quite close distance before some of their most disastrous failures.  Better bodyguards for your officers may help kill off these wizards before they can keep doing whatever it is they are up to.

Additionally, the King has deployed Arstotzka's finest wizard to the front here in the plains, where their efforts are single-handedly holding Moskurg back from claiming vital Arstotzkan territories, to hear them tell it.  Whether or not that is true, they are a vital asset during the main battle and especially on the attack, whether in the deciding battle or roasting targets of opportunity during a skirmisher advance.


At sea, luck has favoured the Moskurger forces on the eastern coast, where they have been able to defeat several longships at sea and capture several crucial harbours, including one filled with Arstotzkan ships under repair from earlier battles - they naturally torched the lot.  This represents a significant gain for Moskurg in the battle for naval supremacy in the east, although both sides agree this to be mostly down to luck.

With the losses suffered thus far across the board, the King has opted to reinforce the fighting in the jungle and plains; the Arstotzkan navy is now fighting at reduced capacity.

It is 911, the Design Phase.

Propaganda Contest:  The team that provides the most inspiring (or entertaining) description of their nation's master wizard and his/her cohorts will gain a Revision Credit.

Spoiler: State of Forenia, 911 (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Arstotzkan Spells (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: March 18, 2017, 05:34:00 pm by Iituem »
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OceanSoul

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Re: Wands Race - Design Phase 911 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2017, 05:34:44 pm »

I propose a Circle of Conjure Individual. It would be a one-use-per-cast circle that would summon specific individual enemy troops. With it, we could take out their generals and captains, as well as any mage that got too close to the frontlines. Their troops would get in disarray from the lack of leadership, and we could easily capture enemy mages for their intelligence, preferably their spells, and maybe how to cast them. Chances are, they'd have a spellbook, or notes to remind them of specifics on casting their spells.
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Work on a potential forum game for my return to Bay12. Figure out parts that puzzled me before. Find more things to figure out that I can't. Work on another game instead of solving them. Get distracted and stop working. Remember it a week or two later. Remember I'm still on hiatus. Illogically, Be too ashamed to return yet. Repeat ad nauseam.

Finally have a game completely ready. Wait a week before posting it out of laziness.

RAM

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Re: Wands Race - Design Phase 911 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2017, 08:21:27 pm »

Circle of Conjure Individual
+1 As I support this and follow a principal of not voting for my own stuff, but I worry that we don't know enough about selecting targets. It'll probably eat about three to five revisions to become valuable outside of ambushes.

Spell of Transference: Conveys the magical ability of an individual to another for a duration, effectively upgrading a wizard at the cost of one or more others. Look into specially training a new class of wizard to operate while being supported by others in this way, so as to prevent the spontaneous explosion of wizards who attempt to wield more magic than they are trained to. I like the idea of three apprentices = one skilled, but even if it is ten to one, the thought of 90 apprentices enhancing a single skilled channeler wizard into the equivalent of a master wizard seems pretty cool.

Spell of Embolstering: Enhances the spell of another wizard, usually increasing its area of effect, numerical production, duration, or intensity where applicable. This would allow weak wizards to enhance the performance of our elites. Fog is great at the start of a battle, but if our apprentices could then run off to support the webbing then wouldn't that be nice...

Code: (please elaborate) [Select]
In the depths of the Arstotzkan Tundra in a cabin formed more of old ice than wood, our great wizard was born. Alone in the frozen depths, the burning passion of a true Arstotzkan heart kept them warm as they were drawn to our mighty capital. Finding such a gem of Arstotzkan spirit, they were trained by our noble elites until they could bring forth their Arstotzkan pride as living flames.
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Roboson

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Re: Wands Race - Design Phase 911 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2017, 10:14:22 pm »

Edit: Someday, but not today.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)
« Last Edit: March 19, 2017, 12:16:15 am by Roboson »
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Roboson

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Re: Wands Race - Design Phase 911 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2017, 12:15:29 am »

To me it doesn't seem like our magic is particularly powerful (our wasps do damage to moral, but don't actually kill enemies, our fog isn't that helpful because their archers hit us now more than ever  (2/3 arrows hit), and our webs can't even stop the enemies from retreating), so maybe there is need for a new spell or an upgrade to our spells now as opposed to later.

I propose Summon Shadow
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So, while I think making spears/lances is important someday, shadows are more useful now. But no matter what we do, we need to assign all of our thanes some sort of protection.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2017, 12:23:50 am by Roboson »
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RAM

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Re: Wands Race - Design Phase 911 [Arstotzka]
« Reply #14 on: March 19, 2017, 01:43:45 am »

Actually, I am shifting my +1 to spears.
All the magic proposed seems long-term stuff and spears would cover a big gap in our current arsenal.
Or we could try to mix it up with some conjured weapons. Maybe a spear-wall spell? A row of summoned spears appear embedded in the ground and last for, say, half-a-minute. They can be summoned as a surprise against cavalry or picked up and thrown by infantry. The latter would give them some utility outside of preventing charges.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2017, 03:18:46 am by RAM »
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Vote (1) for the Urist scale!
I shall be eternally happy. I shall be able to construct elf hunting giant mecha. Which can pour magma.
Urist has been forced to use a friend as fertilizer lately.
Read the First Post!
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