Disciples of Erfworld - The Contagion - rules and signup

[BLANDCorporatio]

Hi then, so as previously promised, here's the rules and signup thread for yet another Erfsim campaign. Gameplay is, loosely, focused on world map, strategy and story. Battles and dungeon crawls will tend to be short, bloody, and if I can get my act together, automatic. It's more important what you bring to a fight, or what fights you choose (if indeed you choose fighting), than it is to decide what to do once a battle starts.

More info in subsequent posts by me (the first two of which I'll write as soon as this one is done).

Next post is basic setting description, aka, your side's history. It's very brief. It's your job to make sure it doesn't stay that way.

The post after that is rules (and from then on, setup posts will bracketed in spoilers to avoid walls of text when loading the page). If you know Disciples, you pretty much know the rules already.

EDIT: before spells, units. Won't get to it today, but will be available tomorrow.

The post after that concerns spells. I won't get to it today, suffice to say that like Disciples, spells don't really happen in battle. They can be very powerful, but are out of combat events. They are "not quite" under player control; think of them as requesting airstrikes, if you will. Play reasonably and your requests will be granted.

The post after that is about meta-tips, ie. mostly about how to handle combat in an efficient manner.

After I cover all the above material I will start responding to queries and such.

So then, onwards.

[BLANDCorporatio]

<Setting>

Big things have small beginnings.

The oldest sides had started with one unit, a lonely overlord scampering for rations, city zones, units. The crafty ones, the mighty ones, the lucky ones got to taste greatness before decline. The others failed into oblivion.

With the passage of time, the wastelands of Erfworld became inhabited. Teeming with units swearing allegiance to this Ruler or that Overlord, there's no more room for lonely pioneers. Whenever a side splits, in an attempt to recapture the vigor of youth, it sends its children with a sizable retinue for protection.

The star child had no such comfort. Fallen from the heavens into an alien world, it had no guards to rely on, no defenses. But the gods of fortune were smiling on it yet. Its fall had killed one of the natives. The body dead, but the knowledge it possessed still there for the star child to consume. And so it learned of its victim.

He was what was called a high level scout. Fast and agile, moving through the air vast distances each day, reporting what it saw with keen eyes and strong natural thinkamancy to the Ruler of a large kingdom, the Burgers. The star child could see the cities, the courtiers, the casters, the armies of the Burgers as they appeared in the scout's memory and knew that some of that power will go look and see what had killed their lookout.

Deciding that this was not the place to be when that happened, it sprouted wings. Mockeries of what the scout had, but just as functional. It flew away, looking for a place to set up a city. And start producing ... popping ... new units for protection. It thought of what those units should be like, using the Burgers, and the enemies that the scout knew of, for inspiration.

It will soon use the Burgers themselves for nourishment.

[BLANDCorporatio]

<Rules>

Spoiler: show

If you know of, or have played, the Disciples (I and II), then you can pretty much just skim this, as the rules are quite alike.

If a bit rambly.

Basically, you have an overland view of the world, in which units move in stacks. There are various places of interest on the map, like cities, ruins to explore, various shops, miscellaneous quest areas. Wandering/barbarian units also appear from time, to say nothing of whoever decided to pick a fight with you (or vice-versa).

Stacks are groups of units containing 8 unit slots and at least one, able bodied, unit. The slots are organized in two rows of four slots each, the "front" and "back" rows. Most units occupy one slot in a stack (so a stack may have at most 8 units). Heavy units occupy two slots, one in the front row, and the back row slot adjacent to it.

Some (but not all) Heavy units are Mounts. They may carry another, non-Heavy unit, and that unit, called a Rider, is considered to be placed in the back row slot occupied by the Mount.

On the overland map, stacks move with the speed of the slowest unit (barring special circumstances).

One such circumstance, arguably, is when carrying bodies around. Carried bodies must occupy stack slots as well; they can be Riders, but they can never be Mounts. There must be at least one living unit in a stack however, and all living units will incur a penalty to their move by a factor of (living unit number)/(total unit number). The adjusted move is used to decide how fast the stack can move.

Living Mounts can carry 1 non-mount corpse without incurring a penalty. A corpse so carried does not count in the calculation of total units in the stack for the purpose of determining movement penalty.

A specific ability of your side is that bodies can be delivered to a city and once there they can be used when popping new units. The XP that the dead unit accumulated can be, in part, acquired by the new unit. How big that part is depends on the archetype of the new unit compared to the archetype of the corpse it uses, choices the new unit makes when using the XPs to level up, but it can never be above 90%. A unit can acquire XP from a corpse only once in its life.

There are four unit archetypes that a new unit can choose to be: Melee, Archer, Archon, Support. Each archetype gets a choice between Might and Magic path at level 2, and a choice between Skill and Force at level 3. Choosing the same options allows a new unit to recover 90% of a corpse's XP. Choosing differently at a step places a 2/3 factor on recovered XP. Example: an Archer that wishes to follow the path of Magic and Force will recover, from a Melee Magic Skill, 40% (90%*(2/3)*(2/3)) of XP.

No other side has this ability. Use it well.

At the beginning of each turn, units receive rations that are drawn from the side's treasury. It costs level*10 Schmuckers to heal 1Hit for a unit of a given level. The players are free to allot the healing as they see fit, within the available resources. A unit might not receive any rations in a turn, but in that case it loses one hit.

Popping and building cities also cost money.

Units that reach 0 hits are dead.

{EDIT: how could I forget this: there is NO maneuvering in combat, ever. Units stay put in the same slots until they flee, die, or win the fight.)

When fighting, stacks engage front row to front row, which are considered adjacent to each other. Melee units are restricted to attack adjacent enemies, which means, enemies located either in enemy stack slots that are adjacent or, if those are empty, the closest enemy front row slot with a unit. If the enemy front row is empty, it "vanishes" and the enemy back row becomes adjacent. Archer units may strike at any one target, regardless of its location. Archon units attack all opponents at once. Support units, usually, provide buffs for allied units.

An exception to the above adjacency rules is for Melee Riders. A Melee rider can attack slots adjacent to the front of its Mount, but cannot be attacked by enemy melee until the mount is dead, in which case the Melee Rider ceases to be a Rider, and is simply a Melee unit placed in the front row slot occupied by the mount.

Combat takes place in turns. During a turn, the Combat score incremented by 1d5 decides the order in which units act. Ties are broken randomly. Higher adjusted combat acts first. Combat scores are between 10 and 90.

When a unit is to act, it may choose from surrender, retreat, attack, stun (halves damage, but a unit brought to 0 hits by a stun is revived as a prisoner, with 10% of hits, after combat ends, if its stack lost, and simply revived to 10% hits otherwise), defend (halves damage after defense until the next choice, but forgoes any other action), wait. Waiting means a unit passes on its chance to act. If, once all units got a choice in a turn, there are waiting units surviving, they get another choice (excluding Wait) in reverse order of adjusted combat.

"Damage" score is independent from combat. Here, damage means the result of a unit acting on its target, and may be damage proper, or some other effect, even a beneficial one. Damage has a source, which can be Matter, Motion, Life (for support abilities), Fate, Mind, Erf. Most units have Matter as a damage source.

If a target is Immune to a damage source, it can never be affected by attacks with that source. If it has a Ward, the first attack in combat that has that source will be absorbed harmlessly. No units have immunities against Fate.

Chance to hit should be self explanatory.

Assuming no immunities and no active wards, the damage dealt is Damage score of attacker*(1-Defender's Defense score/100). Defense scores will always be within 0 and 90.

Some units have a secondary attack. It can only occur if the primary attack hit and was not blocked by immunity or a ward. The second attack also has a chance to hit. In general, the secondary attack inflicts a condition on the target, like Poison or Frostbite, which while not, stat-wise, impressive, bypasses an enemy's defense score.

A unit's defense score is influenced by its natural defense, the items it carries, and the location it fights in- only defenders in cities or ruins benefit from this.

Humanoid units can carry items. Using certain item classes are skills that can be learned on level up. There are, on any humanoid unit, a slot for head gear, for armor, for footwear, two hand item slots, and two potion slots, the latter can only be used for potions (duh). Potions tend to be most useful imbibed before battle, with the notable exception of healing potions.

In general, stacks are not required to have a leader (unlike Disciples). If a stack has a leader however, all its containing units receive a slight boost to combat (+5) and defense scores (+10%), and a more significant bonus to damage (+1). Leadership is an ability that may be picked up on level up.

Leveling up happens when a unit has accumulated enough XPs. Most XPs will probably be received through combat; surviving units of the winning stack receive an equal share of the XP.

On level up, a player unit gets to choose from various skills and abilities (wards, Leadership, item usage, stat improvements, secondary attacks). Levels 2 and 3 bring a choice; to make things easy, I'd rather this choice be announced when you pop the unit and locked in then. It becomes effective on the respective level, ie. the unit morphs into the appropriate type. Units may, in principle, reach any level if they survive long enough.

In general, you can expect levels 2 and 3 to bring fairly massive boosts (relative to the previous stats). Levels 4 and 5 also offer significant improvement. Beyond that, it's a steady trickle.

[0beron]

Yuuuuup I'm definitely going to jump in here
I'm curious whether we are going to be one of these unit types you described, or some kind of customized/leadership/commander unit?
Regardless of the answer, I'm definitely signing up

My Unit Stats

Spoiler: show

Harkin
A male Archon with flaming red hair, pale unblemished skin, and perfectly black eyes. Wears leather pants the color of cinnamon and a black vest with licorice trim.
All-a-paino - Archon
4H, 12Move, 45Combat, 10Def
75% CtH
Capsaicin: 3Dmg (Erf)

XP: 56

Will take Magic/Force path

[WaterMonkey314]

Count me in!

[ETheBoyce]

I too wish to show my mettle!

[MarbitChow]

Sign me up.

[Swodaems]

I'll join in.

[The Colonel]

Do want in

[0beron]

What's the news on this BLAND?

[kriss1989]

Do want.

[BLANDCorporatio]

*Ping*

Right-o, had a little too much on my plate in the last week days, but ready to resume posting of rules/setup. Today's topic, unit roster, part I.

Generalities.

Spoiler: show

Remember, Melee units target adjacent, and Archon attacks affect all enemies at once. You'll be limited to choosing units from among the roster for yourselves. Other units you will pop will also be of these types, but let's say that with you being First Born to protect the star child, you gain a bit extra by way of independence, abilities, and such.

Melee and Archon units (Support and Archer to follow)

Spoiler: show

Patty flipper - Melee
XP to next level: 80
XP to croaker: 4
10H, 10Move, 50Combat, 0Def.
80% CtH
Spatula: 3 Dmg (Matter)

Manager - Melee/Might
XP to next level: 500
XP to croaker: 25
15H, 10Move, 50Combat, 0Def.
85% CtH
Ball-pen: 6Dmg (Matter)
Has leadership

Burgermeister - Melee/Might/Skill
XP to next level: 500
XP to croaker: 50
18H, 10Move, 50Combat, 10Def.
85% CtH
Town key: 6Dmg x2 attacks (Matter)
Has leadership

Wendygo - Melee/Might/Force
XP to next level: 600
XP to croaker: 60
20H, 10Move, 45Combat, 0Def.
85% CtH
Slash: 10Dmg (Matter)
Has vampirism- replenishes 50% (rounded down) of damage dealt

Chef - Melee/Magic
XP to next level: 500
XP to croaker: 25
12H, 10Move, 50Combat, 0Def
85% CtH
Spatula: 5Dmg (Matter)
Has Motion, Mind, and Erf Wards

Master Chef - Melee/Magic/Skill
XP to next level: 600
XP to croaker: 60
16H, 10Move, 50Combat, 0Def
85% CtH
Chop: 8Dmg (Matter)
85% CtH
Spicy sauce: causes Blister (3 Dmg each of the next 3 turns, ignores enemy defense)
Has Motion, Mind, and Erf Wards

Sundae Knight - Melee/Magic/Force
XP to next level: 600
XP to croaker: 60
16H, 10Move, 50Combat, 0Def
85% CtH
Icicle: 6Dmg x2 attacks (Erf)
Has Motion, Mind, and Erf Wards


All-a-paino - Archon
XP to next level: 100
XP to croaker: 5
4H, 12Move, 40Combat, 0Def
75% CtH
Capsaicin: 2Dmg (Erf)

Chipotato - Archon/Might
XP to next level: 800
XP to croaker: 40
8H, 14Move, 40Combat, 0Def
75% CtH
Capsaicin: 4Dmg (Erf)

Chuck-a-luck - Archon/Might/Skill
XP to next level: 800
XP to croaker: 80
12H, 14Move, 40Combat, 0Def
75% CtH
Capsaicin: 5Dmg (Erf)
80% CtH
Daze: reduce combat by 20% of its value for next two turns

Wasabit - Archon/Might/Force
XP to next level: 1000
XP to croaker: 100
13H, 14Move, 35Combat, 0Def
70% CtH
Resiniferatoxin: 10Dmg (Erf)

Eye Scream - Archon/Magic
XP to next level: 900
XP to croaker: 45
8H, 14Move, 40Combat, 0Def
75% CtH
Icicles: 2 Dmg (Erf)
30% CtH
Brain Freeze: victim misses next turn (Erf)

Starbuck - Archon/Magic/Skill
XP to next level: 1200
XP to croaker: 120
10H, 14Move, 45Combat, 0Def
75% CtH
Icicles: 3 Dmg (Erf)
45% CtH
Brain Freeze: victim misses next turn (Erf)

Lichorice - Archon/Magic/Force
XP to next level: 900
XP to croaker: 45
12H, 14Move, 40Combat, 0Def
75% CtH
Saccharine rain: 7 Dmg (Erf)
55% CtH
Sugar high: reduce primary CtH of victim by 20% of its value (Mind)

EDIT: and because my sleep patterns are already in disarray, the support units roster

Spoiler: show

Jolly Bee - Support
XP to next level: 100
XP to croaker: 5
6H, 20Move, 10Combat, 0Def
100% CtH
Heal: heals 2Dmg points on one target

Irn Bruer - Support/Might
XP to next level: 500
XP to croaker: 25
10H, 18Move, 90Combat, 0Def
100% CtH
Caffeine: boost primary damage of target (except Heal and other support abilities) by 20% of its value for the next turn

White powder Mage - Support/Might/Skill
XP to next level: 1000
XP to croaker: 100
10H, 18Move, 10Combat, 0Def
100% CtH
Stim-pack: grants target an extra action this turn
50% CtH
Caffeine: boost primary damage of target (except Heal and other support abilities) by 20% of its value for the next turn

Dew Mountaineer - Support/Might/Force
XP to next level: 1000
XP to croaker: 100
12H, 18Move, 90Combat, 0Def
100% CtH
Caffeine: boost primary damage of target (except Heal and other support abilities) by 60% of its value for the next turn

Sprite - Support/Magic
XP to next level: 500
XP to croaker: 25
12H, 22Move, 10Combat, 0Def
100% CtH
Heal: heals 5Dmg points on one target

Light Sprite - Support/Magic/Skill
XP to next level: 700
XP to croaker: 70
10H, 30Move, 10Combat, 0Def
100% CtH
Heal: heals 5Dmg points on all friendly targets

Pepper Doctor - Support/Magic/Force
XP to next level: 500
XP to croaker: 50
15H, 22Move, 10Combat, 0Def
100% CtH
Heal: heals 12Dmg points on one target

Archer units and spells tomorrow. Also meta-post on setting.

[BLANDCorporatio]

*pong*

Archer units

Spoiler: show

THAC0 Bell - Archer
XP to next level: 40
XP to croaker: 2
4H, 12Move, 60Combat, 0Def
85% CtH
Pea shooter: 2Dmg (Matter)

Grillphon - Archer/Might
XP to next level: 800
XP to croaker: 40
16H, 14Move, 60Combat, 0Def
85% CtH
Skewer throw: 5Dmg (Matter)
Heavy (occupies 2 stack slots)
Mount (may carry one unit)

Chimaeramen Poodle - Archer/Might/Skill
XP to next level: 900
XP to croaker: 90
20H, 14Move, 60Combat, 0Def
85%CtH
Noodly appendage: 4Dmg x2 attacks (Matter)
Heavy (occupies 2 stack slots)
Mount (may carry units)

Medium rare Grillphon - Archer/Might/Force
XP to next level: 1500
XP to croaker: 150
25H, 14Move, 60Combat, 0Def
85% CtH
Skewer throw: 9Dmg (Matter)
Heavy (occupies 2 stack slots)
Mount (may carry one unit)

Egg Noggin - Archer/Magic
XP to next level: 500
XP to croaker: 25
7H, 16Move, 60Combat, 0Def
70% CtH
Tipsyness: victim misses next turn (Mind)

Spirit - Archer/Magic/Skill
XP to next level: 900
XP to croaker: 90
10H, 16Move, 60Combat, 0Def
40% CtH
Tipsyness: victim misses next turn x2 attacks (Mind)

Jaeger bomber - Archer/Magic/Force
XP to next level: 900
XP to croaker: 90
10H, 16Move, 60Combat, 0Def
50% CtH
Tipsyness: victim misses next two turns (Mind)

General unit stuff:

Spoiler: show

It costs 50Schmuckers to pop a Melee or Archer unit, 60Schmuckers for an Archon or Support. I'd like to know which choices you intend the unit to make (Might/Magic, Skill/Force) as it reaches levels 2 and 3.

Gaining levels above level 3 bestows the following benefits: on every extra level, +1% CtH for primary and secondary attack (if one exists) until a max of 95%. Units that already have 100%CtH don't get this, naturally.

From level 4 onwards, Melee units gain 2H every extra level. Support and Archers gain 1 every level. Archons gain 1 extra hit every other level.

From level 4 onwards, Melee units gain +2 damage every extra level. Archers 1 per level, and Archons 1 every other level. Units that don't deal damage (certain ranged units, some support units) gain an extra hit when other unit types of their tree would get a bonus to damage.

Also on level ups, abilities become available. If a unit already has an ability then it won't need, nor get the chance, to choose it from level ups. One ability can and must be chosen on a level up from the available options. Options not chosen at a level up are still available at the next. A unit can choose five abilities (which means, from level 2 until and including level 6) after which no other options are available.

I'll let you decide which abilities to take when level ups happen.

General abilities (become available to all classes):

level 2: leadership, natural armour (+10Def), fleet foot (+2Move)
level 3: tough (+2Hitpoints), pathfinding (+2Move), quick (+3Combat)

Magic abilities (available to units on Magic paths):
level 3: Erf Ward, Motion Ward
level 5: Mind Ward

Might abilities (available to units on Might paths):
level 3: well protected (+15Def), beefy (+3Hitpoints)
level 5: strider (+5Move)

Skill abilities (available to units on Skill paths):
level 4: sure shot (+10% CtH both primary and secondary), prescient (+10Combat)
level 6: frenzy (gain one extra attack at half the normal primary CtH; secondary CtH if present stays the same)

Force abilities (ha ha ha. No. Simply abilities available to units on Force paths):
level 4: fierce (+25% damage, rounded up), determinator (+25% Hitpoints, rounded up)
level 6: vampirism (convert half of damage dealt to a victim into self heal)

[Swodaems]

So, to get to the highest def possible, I would need to first pop as a patty flipper. Then on level 2, I'd choose to go might (becoming a manager and automatically granting me leadership,) and take natural armor. At level 3, I'd go skill, become a burgermeister, and take well-protected.

Have I got the general idea right?

[0beron]

Depending on what other people pick (since I assume we will be working closely together, or even stacking together often) I will select either an Archon or Support.

[WaterMonkey314]

I'll take a backseat role (as I can't guarantee proper attention at all times) and will go with whatever the group most needs.

[BLANDCorporatio]

<Spells>

<Casters>

Spoiler: show

Your Overlord, the star child, is a (presently low level) caster, and will for a while be the only caster you have.

The star child will not get XP from combat for the simple reason that it won't be available for you to take along in fights. It can gain XP by consuming corpses however (unlike your other units, it can do this as often as it wants).

I assume you want that XP to go to the purpose of researching spells. If the corpse is a caster, 90% of XP can go to magic research. If the corpse is some other unit, that chose the Magic path (and it must be at least level 2), that number drops to 50%. Only 20% of XP are available for research when taken from any other kind of unit.

Other options for magic-capable units is hiring, capture/turning, or popping from a caster corpse. The latter option will always produce a level 1 caster of the same discipline like the corpse. All caster units, regardless o how they were acquired, are considered NPC.

Star child magic stats:

Caster level 1, a mix of disciplines "Astromancy". 20 max juice, increases by 20 each level. Juice replenishes a lot like hitpoints- each turn, you can use some of the treasury to replenish points of juice at 10 schmuckers per juice point.

Unlike your other units, the star child does not need token rations to avoid damage. Unless you want to replenish juice or lost hits (<- this shouldn't happen), you can afford not to give it rations.

<Spell generalities>

Spoiler: show

All spells also have a source. If a unit has immunity OR wards against that source, it can never be affected by that spell, even if the spell is beneficial.

Units inside cities, ruins, or other structures, are also protected from most spells. Stacks that cannot be seen (are inside fog of war, for example) cannot be targeted by spells.

Spells come in tiers. Low tiers (1-3) can be cast twice in a turn. Higher tiers (4-5) may only be cast once.

The spells that the star child can research and cast follow. For other spells, you'll need to buy scrolls or hire/acquire casters.

Spoiler: show

Tier 0

Comm link

(Passive; already researched)
Allows all units of your side to talk to each other freely and share sights. Always in effect.

Tier 1

Summon Laika
Effect: summons a Laika (Melee/Might/Force; 30Mov, 4H, 50Com, 0Def, primary {80% ch. to hit, 2 damage Matter}; improved sight; grants 8XP to croaker).
Summon lasts for three turns after which it vanishes without leaving a corpse. It does not gain XP.
Source: Life
Research cost: 100XP
Cast cost: 10 juice

Flash
Effect: deals 2Erf damage to target stack.
Research cost: 100XP
Cast cost: 10 juice

Corrosion
Effect: reduce Def of target stack by 30% (Numbers)
Research cost: 100XP
Cast cost: 10 juice

Lightning
Effect: deals 2Dmg to target stack (Erf)
Research cost: 100XP
Cast cost: 10 juice

Med pack
Effect: heal 2H to each unit in target stack (Erf)
Research cost: 100XP
Cast cost: 10 juice

Tier 2

Travel beacon
Effect: replenishes move of all units in the target stack by 20%.
Source: Fate
Research cost: 200XP
Cast cost: 20 juice

Erf Ward
Effect: provides Erf Ward for one turn to units in the targeted stack.
Source: Life
Research cost: 300XP
Cast cost: 25 juice

Motion Ward
Effect: provides Motion Ward for one turn to units in the targeted stack.
Source: Life
Research cost: 300XP
Cast cost: 25 juice

Warp blade
Effect: deals 4Dmg to units in target stack (Numbers)
Research cost: 300XP
Cast cost: 20 juice

Heat shield
Effect: increases Def of units in target stack by 20%.
Source: Numbers
Research cost: 400XP
Cast cost: 25 juice

Tier 3

Mind Ward
Effect: provides Mind Ward for one turn to units in the targeted stack.
Source: Life
Research cost: 800XP
Cast cost: 35 juice

Number Ward
Effect: provides Number Ward for one turn to units in the targeted stack.
Source: Life
Research cost: 800XP
Cast cost: 35 juice

Med pod
Effect: heal 5H to each unit in target stack
Source: Erf
Research cost: 800XP
Cast cost: 30 juice

Summon Warp Spider
Effect: summons a Warp Spider (Archon/Might/Force; Heavy, 10Mov, 22H, 50Com, 10Def, primary {80% ch. to hit, 5 damage Numbers}; grants 100XP to croaker).
Summon lasts for one turn after which it vanishes without leaving a corpse. It does not gain XP.
Source: Numbers
Research cost: 1000XP
Cast cost: 45 juice

Tier 4

Universal attractor
Effect: deals 4 damage to all units in the target hex. Will also affect known units inside ruins, cities or structures (ie., explore the ruin to know what's inside with a summon or such, and you can now target those units)
Source: Fate
Research cost: 1000XP
Cast cost: 40 juice

Star-fall
Effect: does 8 damage to all units in the target hex.
Source: Motion
Research cost: 1000XP
Cast cost: 45 juice

Existential Angst
Effect: reduce combat of units in target stack by 40% of its value.
Source: Mind
Research cost: 1500XP
Cast cost: 45 juice

Tier 5

Flesh of the Gods
Effect: bestows Matter Ward on all units in the target stack that are not already immune or warded against Matter.
Source: Fate
Research cost: 2000XP
Cast cost: 55 juice

Gamma Ray
Effect: all units in the target stack receive 13 Erf damage.
Research cost: 2400XP
Cast cost: 65 juice

[BLANDCorporatio]

<General/meta on setting>

Spoiler: show

You've somehow managed to construct one L1 city (grants you 100Schmuckers per turn. Aka, not very much), and whoever pops will begin as an L1 unit.

You know that the Burgers have 12 Cities, you have a foggy idea of where they are but not of what the terrain looks like or what expects you there.

You know there's another side in the vicinity, which is at war with the Burgers, the Vegge Talians. You know where two of its border cities are, but again, not what the terrain is like around them or what the defenses are.

In general, you can expect a side to have loads and loads of L1 units, much fewer L2s, even fewer L3s. If you somehow managed to croak an L6 unit from a side, well done; there's a chance they won't produce a similar champion any time soon.

Unlike them, I'd expect your side to have an easier time getting units to level 2 (even if only you can hunt their L1s and use whatever XP they managed to obtain to boost your new recruits). Balancing a higher level army against the increased upkeep cost of healing will be something to manage.

My guess is that the beginning may be a bit bumpy but as you get to the faster growth region of the curve, you'll be making minced meat of the opposition.

Mmkay, so that's done. Well, sorta. I'd expect, much like other similar and recent campaigns, for things to be tweaked during progress, alas.

Anyway. I'll be gone over the weekend, so we can begin next Wednesday. Until then I can handle messages, questions and comments. Speaking of which-

So, to get to the highest def possible, I would need {Melee/Might/Skill, Well-protected}.

Have I got the general idea right?

That's a pretty good melee unit. Really depends on what you want, and for Def, that's good. I'd argue other paths are available. If you expect units that use other damage sources, and/or want to march with protection against certain spells, Wards may be more useful (even if, as noted, they'll also prevent those units from receiving certain buffs, as well). There's also a generally tough and self-healing unit in Melee/Might/Force.

Depending on what other people pick (since I assume we will be working closely together, or even stacking together often) I will select either an Archon or Support.

Indeed you will. There's 8 unit slots in a stack, and there's no use to go to battle with less if you can fill all of them. And if you fill all of them, there's no point in putting Melee units in the back slots.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Quick heads-up. I'll be Away From Keyboard for the weekend. Sunday evening I should be back, I think, and if questions pop up until then, I'll answer them.

Right-o then, we may get this thing going starting next Wednesday.

[0beron]

Well I'm not seeing many people step forward with specific class selections, so I'll show my interest in building a Lichorice. (Archon/Magic/Force). So unless there's a sudden outpouring of "I wanna be an Archon too!" then I'll start out as a All-a-paino