What's the best way to remotely summon independents

[Bananadine]

I'm trying to add a spell that'll let a player remotely summon an independent army. I'd like that army to try to take over whatever province it lands in and then stay in it thereafter, just as many randomly appearing armies of barbarians, knights, and Boguses do. I was surprised to learn that this is a difficult thing to do... at least, for somebody who only knows the basics of the mod system. Remote-summoning spells are pretty ordinary, but they always seem to produce units that belong to the caster's nation, or units that belong to Special Monsters.

I found one way to do this, anyhow: Hijack the spell Monster Boar, which seems to be tied to a hardcoded event, rather than to any general summoning system. I changed the spell's casting requirements and made the boar non-stealthy, and the job was done. I guess I could change the boar into whatever kind of creature I wanted. But... that'd hurt Pangaea. Also, I don't know how to change the message that comes with the spell, which still refers to a vengeful boar.

I'd like to just make a new independent-summoning spell of my own. Is there a better way?

If I have to hijack a spell like Monster Boar, can I at least choose a different spell? I couldn't think of any other Monster Boar-like spells, but maybe there are some. It would help a lot to have a few choices, because then I could just hang my mod on a different spell with each new game, according to which nations were unused in that game (so that nobody would be stuck with a slightly weakened Pangaea or whatever).

Can I change the text associated with the boar event?

Can I make a spell that invokes the Monster Boar effect in such a way as to produce multiple monsters? It'd be okay if multiple messages were also produced.

[Gandalf Parker]

Well the best way would involve finding the right bit flag. But thats a deep and dark territory that few have entered into. You might check with DrPraetorious or lch. Or maybe ask on the Dom3Mods forum.

An easier way is to find one already in the game that you feel can be hijacked and make changes along the line of what you have done. Some searching might find something with less impact.

The ownership will tend to be Independents (nation 25) or Special Monsters (nations 23 or 24). I think SpecMons was added specifically for that purpose and there might be a reason to use it for all such attacks.

It would be great if you can do this. Such a spell would be a fantastic addition to the various GMing mods as another way to add special events into the game.

SideNote: this reminds me that the bit flags were something I considered playing with in my own special way. Randomly selecting. Maybe the mod for Chaos Nation could include some national spells with randomly selected bits. If they did something interesting I could record it for later exploitation

[Bananadine]

What do you mean, bit flag? Are you talking about a flag that'd be part of a number that'd be specified as the #effect for the spell?

I don't know much about Special Monsters... but I have the impression that members of that "nation" don't stay around after they've won a fight. Otherwise I guess I could just create something similar to Ghost Riders. I want my summoned creatures to stay in the province! A way to make Special Monsters stay around after battle would satisfy my need, I think. I wonder what pennant the province would show then....

It occurs to me that a special nation could be added to the game for the purpose of occasionally casting this spell; and then the summoned monsters could just be allowed to belong to that nation. Then players wouldn't be able to use it, but the game's administrator could... that could have its uses, and it might serve my purpose. But it'd be a big hassle.

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally Posted by Bananadine

It occurs to me that a special nation could be added to the game for the purpose of occasionally casting this spell; and then the summoned monsters could just be allowed to belong to that nation. Then players wouldn't be able to use it, but the game's administrator could... that could have its uses, and it might serve my purpose. But it'd be a big hassle.

Thats the way its down now. In the various GM mods. And in server games such as my Chaos games.
http://www.dom3minions.com/HostedGames.htm

An interesting thing is that if you add the SpecMons nations to a game as an active AI then you modify the actions of such summons.
If I add nation 24 as a computer player then
A) they get a capital with a castle
B) they can be given a god, commanders, and troops (and those not limited to the usual choices)
C) they operate like any other AI building armies and moving them across the map attacking other provinces

Two interesting side notes.
1) they default to the white banner of the indepts so if you add both SpecMons then you get two "independent nations" which will expand blended into the non-expansion Indepts
2) random events which usually belong to 23 and 24 will become part of those nations if they win. It will expand from it. And the capital will immediately move that direction to protect that unconnected province

[Bananadine]

Yeah... I actually was planning to use the spell as an administrator, rather than giving it to an ordinary player. So I think that unless somebody else reveals an easy way to make an independent-summoning spell from scratch, it's probably best after all for me to use a hidden nation to cast the spell, in which case I won't need anything like Monster Boar.

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

2) random events which usually belong to 23 and 24 will become part of those nations if they win. It will expand from it. And the capital will immediately move that direction to protect that unconnected province

What random events bring Special Monsters to attack a province? I can't think of any.

Are you suggesting that the reason why Ghost Riders don't stay around after taking a province is that their nation normally isn't in the game? If 23 and 24 were present and healthy, then would a victorious Ghost Riders army remain in play, and potentially even march over to attack the player who summoned it?

[Foodstamp]

Originally Posted by Bananadine

Yeah... I actually was planning to use the spell as an administrator, rather than giving it to an ordinary player. So I think that unless somebody else reveals an easy way to make an independent-summoning spell from scratch, it's probably best after all for me to use a hidden nation to cast the spell, in which case I won't need anything like Monster Boar.

What random events bring Special Monsters to attack a province? I can't think of any.

Are you suggesting that the reason why Ghost Riders don't stay around after taking a province is that their nation normally isn't in the game? If 23 and 24 were present and healthy, then would a victorious Ghost Riders army remain in play, and potentially even march over to attack the player who summoned it?

That definitely will not work like you think. I'm sorry I can't think of a way to help you, I only know how to farsummon independents that leave after combat. You can use farsummon to summon troops that ARE part of your nation, and they WILL stay.

[Bananadine]

Originally Posted by Foodstamp

That definitely will not work like you think. I'm sorry I can't think of a way to help you, I only know how to farsummon independents that leave after combat. You can use farsummon to summon troops that ARE part of your nation, and they WILL stay.

Yeah, that's what I was planning to do with a hidden nation--I wasn't planning to identify the hidden nation with Special Monsters; it'd be an ordinary nation. The idea of warping Special Monsters was just an interesting tangent.

[Foodstamp]

Well you can do that np. The spell effect you are looking for is 100037. I hope that helps . That will allow you to farsummon creatures that can be controlled after the turn they are summoned.