R'lyeh: Endless Night
 

EDIT-Please Read!: I've got enough done on this one that it's now no longer a placeholder mod, and is one I'll definitely be finishing, at some point. Yay me!

Starting Gems: 1 Death Gem.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1227561170

PD: Longdead Servitor x 1 + Fossilized Mother = 1-20 Giboleth x 1 + Fossilized Mother = 21+

Starting Army: None.

Recruits:
Giboleth. As per the EA, but sacred.
Gibodai. As per the EA.

Capital Only Recruits:

Greater Otherness (sacred).
Shade Beast.
Longdead Servitor: Mindless, Undead, 2 claw attacks.

Commander Units:
Jarred Brain. Researcher/Communion slave. Has Astral 1, Blind, Immobile.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1225061854

Red Squick. bloodhunter

Yellow Squick. healer

Blue Squick. scout

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1227179664

Aboleth (as per the EA, but sacred)

Mindsplinter. Sacred. Astral 2, Holy 1. 100% chance Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Death. 100% chance Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Death. Stealth (0) Lifedrain Tentacle, Lifedrain Tentacle, Mind Blast.

Voice of the Night. Etherial, Immobile, Holy 2. Fear (0). Blind. Sacredawe.

Sepulchre of Heresies. Undead, immobile, stone being, no teleport. Astral 4. 100% chance Fire, Water, Earth, Air. 100% chance Fire, Water, Earth, Air. Darkvision (100) No slots.

Sepulchre of Blasphemies. Undead, immobile, stone being, no teleport. Astral 4, Blood 2. Superior leader of magical beings. Darkvision (100) No slots.

Sepulchre of Abominations. Undead, immobile, stone being, no teleport. Astral 4, Death 2. Superior leader of undead beings. Darkvision (100). No slots.

Sepulchre of Corruptions. Undead, immobile, stone being, no teleport. Astral 4, Earth 4. Superior leader. Darkvision (100). No slots.

Skylon: Improvement on Watcher: Immobile. Darkvision (100) Flies, in combat only. Autocasts Astral Geyser. Patrol bonus (25)

Stellar Pylon: Produces 1 Astral Gem.

Dark Pylon: Produces 1 Death Gem.

Capital Only:
Mind Lord. (As per the EA, but sacred).

Eye of the Night. Sacred. Undead. Mindblast and 4 life-draining tentacles. Astral 2, Death 2, Holy 1. 100% chance Air 1, Earth 1, Fire 1, Water 1. 100% chance Air 1, Earth 1, Fire 1, Water 1. Fear (0) Stealth (0), Assassin, Darkvision (100). Stronger in Darkness (3).

Other Units (PD only):
Fossilized Mother. Undead, Stone Being, Immobile, Blind, good Prot. Holy 3.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/attac...1&d=1225221672

Summonables:

Fossilize Sea Scorpion. Undead, Mindless. Has 2 claw attacks per round, decent Prot.

Fossilized Ammonite. Undead, Mindless, 4 tentacle attacks plus very high Prot.

Moon Beast. Astral/Fire Summons, costs fire gems (rubies). Cheap, lots of chaff wielding glaives that do armour-negating damage. I'm thinking 15 hp, no Prot, low def/attack, low movement (8/1) and ability blind.

Night's Pylon: Autocasts Darkness. Summons Fiends of Darkness.

Heroes:
The Loc-Nar. Immobile (can teleport), Immortal. Stone Being. Blind. Awe 0, Fear 0. Astral 6, Death 6. 1 Hp. Autocasts Life after Death. Shattered Soul. No slots.

Genethresh. Voice with Holy 1, Blood 3, Nature 3.

Void Pylon. Immobile, no teleport. True Etherial, 1 hp. Summons Things That Should Not Be (sacred).

Auluudh. (As per the EA, but sacred and immortal)

Multiheroes:
Polypal Mother (as per EA R'lyeh, but has Holy 4-summons Polypal Spawn, which are now Sacred.).

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

would these be a completely seperate nation or merged into R'lyeh?

tell me more about them :D

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

They'll be separate. They represent a hinted-at, totally alien/evil presence that always seems to exist on the fringes of known space. They live in the empty voids between the stars, and siphon energy and matter from ancient black holes. Their technology, combined with their powerful psychic abilities, allows them to reshape this raw, primal matter/energy into nightmarish living forms, and they use these forms as slaves, war-beasts, tools, and even architecture.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

hmm so they enslave AND create slaves from primal matter.. sounds strongish :D

I guess they'll sort of be a giant nation.. very few very powerfull units?

it would be kinda cool to have a nation of ONLY commanders :D not easy to balance though :D

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Well, technically, the Enslave Mind ability for them just represents their memory of that particular unit, which they can then recreate. So it's not actual enslavement-the original gets disintegrated-it just duplicates the effect :)

They then use the duplicate to study-to better learn the ways of their enemies-and to fight against their enemies/serve the Aboleth cause.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

May I suggest Aboleths 'touched' by the Hungry Void alluded to in the title? If the Aboleths' growth can be altered by a single god, then a poorly-developed Aboleth who touches a practically endless field of raw magical (or pseudomagical) energy will surely exhibit some strange development. The question, I think, is whether a 'Void-touched' Aboleth would be a recruitable unit/commander, a summonable unit (possibly representing purposefully making young Aboleths access the void?), or a hero (I'd guess a magical prodigy who learned to access the Hungry Void far before most). Any could work, really.

EDIT: If you haven't already planned on including something like this, of course.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

I haven't quite decided in what direction I'm going to go with these guys yet-I'm thinking they'll fall vaguely between Warhammer 40K Genestealers and Lovecraft's Elder Gods. I'm going to have to do a lot of research, because while I love sci-fi, I've been ignoring a lot of the particulars lately in favor of fantasy and history.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Updated this a bit, including most (if not all) units, and starting gems.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Badger, I have a severe problem picturing this race

I can't figure out what aboleths are.. can't imagine which of the troops is an aboleth. Is a sepulchre a creature??? are those pylons creatures? And are they all undead?
I was thinking of somesort of R'lyeh race but all I see is undead, a wurm (for me totally out of context) and some machines.
only 2 troops, only PD?

I'm pretty sure you have it all planned out and with the things you know the first post makes complete sense but for me and I guess for others too the idea behind the race is a complete mystery.

Could you, for me and all others that don't know the story behind this race give some additional information how all these pieces fit together?
And then explain the basic game play thingies behind how you envision them in dom3000?

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

These are meant to be a mostly undead race-they're the recovered remnants of the Aboleths which have been wrested from the grip of a black hole, or from fossilized remains.

The Sepulchres are boulders containing fossilized Aboleth Mind Lords. Their spirits-along with their bodies-are trapped inside the stone, making them immobile.

Some of the Aboleths *are* alive-the Mindsplinters, for example, but that's because the Voices of the Night (Aboleth Mothers) were brought back into existence by being recovered from the black hole Event Horizon, and were able to reproduce. As it is, they've been mutated by the negative radiation from the Black Hole-and that radiation also powers the undead units.

The Eye of the Night is a fossilized Mind Lord that was extracted from the stone-most can't be, because their bodies and spirits were too badly damaged in the fossilization process.

The Pylons are gateways to Time and Space-they enable the Aboleths to summon creatures from out of the heart of the Black Hole-beings that the Black Hole swallowed, but the creatures they summon lack wills of their own, because they've been destroyed and then remade. That's why they're all different, because they're stolen from various alien worlds. Basically, the Pylons function like Transporters-the way Transporters destroy a being at one end, and remake it at the other end, except you're not transporting or destroying anything, you're just remaking from information the Aboleths can psychically garner from the Black Hole's history.

The Pylons are just massive quarts crystals that have been aligned to the Black Hole's energies, but the Black Hole can influence and warp the Pylons and sometimes give them greater powers-they can be destroyed on the battlefield, though, and are quite fragile.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Ok that starts to make a bit of sense.. not much but ok.

The mindblast thing does make them look a bit like R'lyeh but for the rest not much at all.

I've looked up a bit in wiki on elder ones (those are the ones we are talking about right? aboleths didnt give me anything, just D&D aboleths... why are you calling them aboleths anyway kinda complicating things since there are aboleths (like DnD) in the EA.)

anyway.. I can't see anything on mind blasts on the first glance.. why do they all mindblast? and why not call them elder thingies instead of aboleths?

(I'm sure there is good reasons for all your decisions but if we could get rid of the mindblasts they would not be as r'lyeh at all and that is always a good thing :D)

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

basicly the pylons are void gates like R'lyeh has...

You could of course give their capitol a "black hole" site which reflects that gate so it's a bit clearer with what the sites are linked

can you tell me more about the mysterious black hole btw? I'm digging into lovecraft but haven't read about this yet (still not about mindblasts either)

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

I might switch MindBlast to paralyse, or something. I really haven't worked out all their particulars yet. And I'm just continuing the Aboleths theme because I like Aboleths :) The Black Hole is just an astronomical black hole-and the Pylons are unit producers, you don't enter them, they just make you units. The Black Hole will be their starting site, yes.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Most sites about chtulu don't describe many particulars about those gods really, they are powerfull but it's not described in what way. Except that they can create mindless shoggoth which can change shape. All your summons are these shoggoth then I guess?
and all those commanders are old ones in one form or another?

I don't see why they should have a mindblast attack.. or a paralyse attack.. to bad I don't see why they are powerfull at all so no idea what would be better .. lol I'm going do dig up some more info.. interesting stuff this.

It certainly makes for a nice race.. but all stuff I can find is a bit vague on the details.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

While you're researching Lovecraft, let me point you in the direction of William Hope Hodgeson, and his Night Lands-a unique vision of the future, if ever there was one.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

If there was ever a mod that needed the Mi-go to make an appearance, this would probably be it. They'd be so easy to make, plus you could include the whole "we put brains in jars" thing by having recruitable (or summonable) immobile units that can literally do nothing except do a high amount of research. Maybe a chance at like one astral, but having a bunch of brains in jars just sitting there would be ill.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Not a bad idea...not a bad idea at all! I'm definitely stealing it for something-be forewarned :) -I just don't know if it'll be this mod, or my future Yuggoth mod nation. For that matter, it's entirely possible I'll make a Yuggoth Dominions 3K nation, sometime. Not until after Cimmeria, Aksum, Partha, and Ammon Kush (and my dragons) are done, though.

Even Aboleths in Space is really just on the back burner until those others are playable-but I wanted to get something down about them.

Thanks!

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Just giving this a quick bump since the graphics for Ammon are all but finished, and Aboleths in Space will be my next project.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

The Menacer, play the dom3K mod.. the Illithid have an elderbrain :D... also a brain in a jar, immobile and astral :D

PS can't wait to see the Aboleths

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Hey, I stole that idea fair and square.

Besides, I've decided retroactively to make the Illithids humans who have been mutated by the Aboleths.

Atleast for my own purposes.

:p

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Have you been able to play dom3k badger?

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Honey hasn't been able to play anything for a long time so I guess no. Have you been able to play it Sombre?

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Ofcourse I haven't, Sombre, but you knew that already. I do feel, however, that Aezeal's put a lot of effort and enthusiasm into this project, and that he deserves some support. Considering that I'm one of the people who came up with the idea in the first place, I feel I'm in a position to offer that support, and even to envision my own contributions to the effort, in a format of my choosing.

I feel, in a word, responsible. No Dr Frankenstein am I.

As to whether my particular "vision" is "canon", I don't feel all that attached to it. It's Aezeal's baby, as far as I'm concerned. So he can decide what's what, and if he wants me to change something to make a better fit, I will attempt to do so without ill feeling. But like with your Warhammer mods, you have the right to interpret them as you see fit, irregardless of the opinions of others. They belong to you--but at the same time, you can't claim that they fall under the Warhammer company aegis.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Well there isn't that much need for canon :D There are races that somehow ended up in space, they mostly developed independant of eachother so there are no attachments :D

I'll just try to help balancing them against eachother, whatever you do with your nation is really up to you :D

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Well, you asked me to help you un-uninspire yourself, here I am.

I might as well start with what I think the mindset of the Aboleths might be. My thinking is that, after so long (presumably) in a black hole, the Aboleths would themselves be altered at least mentally. They, once planning to dominate 'lesser' species (and perhaps ally with their 'equals'), would now be more destructive in nature (like a black hole). Basically, everything an Aboleth finds that isn't also an Aboleth (or sepulchre, or whatever), it wants to kill or convert (or something along those lines). One could think of the Aboleth homeplanet as a great big "black hole", with the Aboleths (playing the role of horrible, crushing, warping gravity) spreading outwards far in every direction to bring everything under control of the Aboleths. I'm not sure how that would be represented in-game, though (small death dominion? lots of unrest from undead, mindraping, betentacled beasts roaming around (so you'd have to patrol heavily to keep up your income, resulting in fewer people or less income)?).

I'll post more when I have time (I don't right now, you see).

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

Thanks Darkwind-keep it coming!

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

I guess I'll do one 'theme' per post. So, this post's 'theme' is Sepulchres. Keep in mind this is just my interpretation, and any thematic/semithematic/pretty much any suggestions I have can be used or not used at your (or Aezeal's I guess) leisure.

I think of the Sepulchres as a cross between a cathedral and a Zerg hatchery. They are living beings (perhaps those Aboleths whose bodies could not be recovered, but whose minds persevered--or perhaps holy men caught by the holes) whose minds, already warped by suffering in a black hole, have been forced into an immobile receptacle. Sepulchres, if not simply insane, would be warped just as much (if not more) than the average Aboleth, and would be practically the opposite of what they were before. Going by the names, I think the 'holy men' theory fits best--the Sepulchres are more unholy than holy. Although, the Sepulchres don't have Holyor Unholy as the case may be). But I'll continue in my train of thought despite that (and perhaps convince you to give them some Holy).

A Sepulchre's role in Aboleth society would still be roughly the same, though, I think. A Sepulchre is an Aboleth version of, say, Notre Dame--a masterful combination of life and architecture, perverting the holy and sacred in artful and aesthetic ways (to an Aboleth). They pass out advice and guide Aboleths in their endless quest to corrupt or destroy what they once sought to hold in an iron mental grip. The Sepulchres are still only 'local' priests, however, and are not the top of the society (probably due also in part to their constructed nature), so in game-terms they'd probably get holy-2 (probably at the cost of some other magic). Considering their magic, Sepulchres would also probably act as sort of 'magic centers'. They would help draw matter from black holes (likely a sacred task), if not do the bulk of it. Different Sepulchres would specialize in different combinations of magic--possibly depending on their tendencies before.

To sum up (and add a bit more): Sepulchres are, in my mind, beings of priestly authority warped and placed in a living structure to help feed the growing 'Event Horizon' of the Aboleths. I think they would go well with either 1 or 2 Holy (depending on the Sepulchre perhaps) at the cost of reduced magic. They'll probably end up being the main summoners, due to their non-capital-only nature and immobility. Perhaps add a national spell (if only for thematic reasons if the spells aren't that useful) for each of the Sepulchres?

I hope this is enough to get your brain-juices flowing, because I practically wrote a book on the Sepulchres. I guess that's just how cool they are.

Re: D3K-Aboleths, the Hungry Void
 

The sepulchers sound like a nice idea.. you could have them domsummon, summon or ust make creatures. Basicly they are a broken version of the more powerfull aboleths

About the post before that: I'm not quite sure how to implement that best in the game :D

What is the plan with the graphs btw? I can't wait to see this in action.

Re: R'lyeh: Dying Time
 

Bump: These guys are starting to come together nicely. Sepulchres are going to be very strong but immobile, non-SC-able mages.

Re: R'lyeh: Dying Time
 

If those last four sprites are for the Sepulchres, it looks like I went in a completely wrong direction (or mostly wrong anyways), not only about the whole priest-thing (which was a bit off what you posted to begin with) but about them being buildings. They look awesome, though, including the non-Sepulchre sprites :)

I noticed you made a couple other changes, though. It seems the Voice is Ethereal and Immobile now, with H2.

Re: R'lyeh: Dying Time
 

Yeah, the Voices are Aboleth mothers. I always kind of liked that the Aboleth mothers were originally etherial. That was changed in a recent patch, and while I agree with the change, I figured this was a great opportunity to go with a unit that would thematically be etherial, since they've been called out of time and space by the Mindsplinters.

Thanks for the compliments! I have to admit, I'm really proud of how the sepulchres turned out :)
My dad and I used to go hunting for fossils a lot, when I was little, and I've always been interested in them, especially the Pennsylvanian era, since I'm from Pennsylvania.

As far as changes go, I've decided to make these guys a lot closer to the EA Aboleths already in the game, than I had originally intended, and so I've made some major shifts, but I think the end result will feel more right, and be more welcome as a continuation of the "normal" Dom3 game, than a completely unfamiliar Nation would be-especially a Nation of Aboleths, who are already bizarre enough as it is.

Re: R'lyeh: Dying Time
 

NICE NICE NICE, once this nation is ready I'll make an update to the dom 3K file with them in it!!

Re: R'lyeh: Dying Time
 

Yeah, I've gotten most of the really difficult graphics done for these guys. So, hopefully it won't be too terribly long in coming.

Re: R'lyeh: Dying Time
 

A few more, just for you, Aezeal--thanks for your enthusiasm, by the way! this mod has turned out to be a *lot* more fun and motivating than I ever thought it would.

Re: R'lyeh: Dying Time
 

I like the title of the thread a lot less though :D
what was wrong with the old title? (I don't even really see in which way this one would be better :F

Re: R'lyeh: Dying Time
 

Yeah, I don't like it that well, either, but I didn't like the first one. How about this?

Re: R'lyeh: Endless Night
 

hmmm it's not really R'leyh without mind flayers and starspawn etc :D, I liked the Aboleth name better since the race is about aboleths, but since I still don't have a whole picture of the race it's hard for me to say if r'leyh really isn't suitable.. the endless night thingie is a HUGE improvement though :D

does this race get space ships and special space forms or do the creature travel space as they are (which could very well be since they seem like the could live in space :D)

Re: R'lyeh: Endless Night
 

You'll noticed that the original R'lyeh is EA Aboleths :)

Instead of space ships, they get pylons, but the Eyes of the Night do travel in space. I'll probably give them a space monster multi-hero or two, and maybe some heroes, but the Mind Lords should still be able to capture spaceships from others, via Enslave Mind.