Fantastic Ideas

[Lord Garth]

I have read in the forums that Rick and Uncle Mike are working towards various updates of Maelstrom and/or a possible Alamaze 5.0 . I have also seen that they have asked players to submit suggestions to help in this development. I may be late to the party but I figure I have one (1) whole game under my belt now so who better than me to share my thoughts, ideas and insights with the masses? Plus, I'm great at suggestions! And I have a lot of Fantastic Ideas. Everyone in my head says so. In fact, this may be the first installment of a series.

If the ideas are good, use em. If not, toss em. I won't feel bad. Or hurt. Or pout. Or cry. Or feel really bad on the inside after putting myself out there with ideas that I thought were really, really good only to have them stepped on and tossed away like garbage.

Anyway, Enjoy!


Fantastic Idea # 1

TRANSFER HIGH PRIESTESS TO GROUP
A kingdom owned group at a pop center containing a kingdom owned H.Priestess may transfer that H.Priestess to that group. A H. Priestess in a group will give that group a passive 10% heal per turn. No order is required. The kingdom has no control over who the H.Priestess heals as the effects of the heal are dispersed evenly per brigade regardless of type or training.

A H.Priestess in a group will surely be well protected in battle and have the same survival chances as a Marshal. A H.Priestess in a group that is routed/destroyed with have a 70% chance of death and 30% chance of capture. If captured the H.Priestess will serve her captors the following turn and be assigned to the group/pc that destroyed her previous group. A H.Priestess in a group may be kidnapped/assassinated as normal.

Lastly, A H.Priestess may not issue divinations or orders of any kind while she is in a group unless her controlling kingdom has the Devout trait in which case she may cast 'Summon Lesser Angel' but only for battles involving her group.

NOTES:
-- 10% is flexible. Could be 12. 15. Whatever.
-- Will probably need the order to have an option to transfer the priestess back into the PC, if the kingdom wishes.
-- Another option would be to have an agent "Escort High Priestess" to and from groups. Same rules apply as transferring artifacts in regards to range, etc.
-- H.Priestess would show up on recon reports, of course.
-- Kingdom may have more than one H. Priestess in a group.


Fantastic Idea # 2

The Nomad may issue Move Capitol order at half price without it being the sole order of a king.

NOTES:
-- Because he is the NOMAD!


Fantastic Idea # 3

TRADE A NAMED ARTIFACT FOR A NAMED ARTIFACT
Exactly as it sounds. Both trading kingdoms must issue this order, enter their artifact's short name and the short name of the artifact they are trading for and the kingdom they are trading with.

NOTES:
-- How has this not been done yet?



That's all for now. Feel free to comment or add your own Fantastic Ideas!

[PTRILEY]

I think you ment avenging Angel combat spell, not lesser Angel pop improvement spell. I like these though.

[Wookie Panz]

Lord Garth you have some interesting ideas.  I would think trading an artifact for another should be an easy thing to code?   I like the Nomad idea as well and I think many would agree that Nomad could use some help in Maelstrom as that are not often chosen.

[Pine Needle]

Fantastic!

[Lord Garth]

Thanks PT. I did mean to say Avenging Angel. Good catch.

Wookie, Glad you like the Nomad thing. I think it fits with the theme of the kingdom and could be used very effectively if a player thinks out of the box. I'm trying to give some kind of boost to normally overlooked positions without overdoing it.

[Wookie Panz]

Thanks PT.  I did mean to say Avenging Angel.  Good catch.

Wookie, Glad you like the Nomad thing.  I think it fits with the theme of the kingdom and could be used very effectively if a player thinks out of the box.  I'm trying to give some kind of boost to normally overlooked positions without overdoing it.

SA is another that can use some help and is devout so your H.P. idea would fit the bill.

[Senior Tactician]

I think that trying to change the current kingdoms such that each is as popular as the other, and has the same number of wins will result in them becoming simply more similar to each other, which doesn't add to the game.  I like the SA the way it is, its a real challenge, and I had panned to choose that kingdom in the upcoming game, until it became a pagan game, eliminating a good portion or their play.

If Mike is going to take time to program out of the precious little he has, I think the idea of bringing new kingdoms with new abilities is a much more time-efficient way to bring some novelty to the game.

Which kingdoms really have substantial unique abilities available only to them?  AN, DE... that's it really.

However, if you did want to spice up some of the old kingdoms, maybe a couple of new traits... and give them to kingdoms which people suspect are lacking.

I have one to start off:  Convert/Enslave:  When defeating an enemy in battle, the conquering group has a chance to capture and convert or enslave an opposing wizard, causing them to join your group, if you have space.

[Lord Garth]

Oh I'm not trying to chance any current kingdoms, Senior T. I consider the H.P. thing a good option for all kingdoms since everyone uses groups. Another reason for the 'Avenging Angel Exception" was that H.P.s of Devout kingdoms can do more that those of other kingdoms and I felt that should carry over to H.P.s in groups or else you could argue it is a handicap for Devout nations.

I doubt Rick or Mike even read this stuff but it is fun to toss up ideas and hash them out with other players. And I agree it might be fun to think of new kingdoms. In fact, I may be giving that some thought soon.

Your idea of capturing an opposing wizard in battle is interesting. Why not a leader too? However converting (bribing) would be some multi turn process though that could be expensive and have a chance of failure.

[Eregnon]

I've always liked the idea of double agents. You bribe an agent, and he still performs his missions normally for the owning kingdom, but you get a report on what he does.

[Lord Garth]

I've always liked the idea of double agents. You bribe an agent, and he still performs his missions normally for the owning kingdom, but you get a report on what he does.

Double agents were nice when you got 'em. And you always had to worry about your own guys getting doubled. I'm guessing that had to get rid of that with hidden pops in the game.