Brainstorm

[SlipperyJim]

Okay, so here's a rough draft of the Huntmaster....

Disclaimer: I have no MP experience, so I probably stink at figuring out game balance. Please feel free to suggest anything that would make the Huntmaster more (or less!) balanced.

Disclaimer #2: Note the use of #copysr to give them sprites. As I said, I have no art SKEELZ, so that's about the best that I can do.

First, the Man Himself:

#newmonster 2295
#copyspr 559 -- Sleeper
#name "Huntmaster"
#descr "Huge and vicious creatures prowl the Ulmish woods. The Ulmish people know that these predators are a blessing from the gods, part of the divine plan to craft the people into fierce warriors. Yet, sometimes a beast will get out of hand and pose a serious danger to the people beyond what the gods had in mind. When that happens, the Shamans call upon the Huntmaster. The Huntmaster is a god-sent champion of the Wald who will is more than a match for any animal. When the Huntmaster enters combat, his hunting horn summons a pack of thirteen formidable hounds to help him take down any creature."
#weapon 120 -- enchanted spear
#weapon 152 -- longbow of accuracy
#armor "Leather Hauberk"
#onebattlespell 814 -- 13 Hounds from Heck
#hp 36
#str 18
#prot 5
#mor 18
#mr 14
#att 16
#def 16
#ap 12
#prec 18
#enc 2
#gcost 0
#rcost 1
#okleader
#okmagicleader
#animalawe 1
#heal
#magicbeing
#mapmove 3
#forestsurvival
#mountainsurvival
#coldres 50
#poisonres 50
#darkvision 50
#stealthy 10
#heal
#size 3
#startage 150
#maxage 750
#itemslots 31878 -- head, hands, body, feet, and three misc
#end

My goal was to make him a formidable thug, but not a full-fledged SC. I also gave him a few cool powers because I couldn't help myself. (Hunters should be stealthy, right?)

And his Hounds:

#newmonster 2296
#copyspr 1769 -- Black Dog
#name "Hound of the Hunt"
#descr "The Huntmaster is accompanied by a pack of otherworldly hounds. These hounds are faster than any horse and strong enough to tear a great bear into pieces. The hounds appear whenever the Huntmaster needs them, and they will only follow his commands. The hounds are only halfway present in this world, which makes them difficult to damage with normal means. The Huntmaster has trained his hounds to attack a creature's legs so that -- even if the hounds do not tear it to shreds -- he will be able to track down the creature and kill it easily."
#weapon 715 -- Rending Bite
#str 16
#prot 8
#animal
#hp 22
#mor 14
#mr 14
#att 13
#def 12
#ap 30
#prec 8
#enc 2
#gcost 0
#rcost 1
#noleader
#noitem
#magicbeing
#mapmove 3
#forestsurvival
#mountainsurvival
#coldres 50
#poisonres 50
#darkvision 50
#stealthy 10
#ethereal
#size 3
#startage 30
#maxage 60
#end

#newweapon 715
#name "Rending Bite"
#rcost 0
#bonus
#dmg 2
#att 0
#def -1
#len 0
#magic
#secondaryeffect 421 -- Limp
#end

Considering that the Hounds only appear during combat, some of their powers are a bit useless. (Stealthy? Map Move 3?) I wanted them to match the Huntmaster for thematic reasons.

The ritual to summon the Huntmaster:

#newspell
#name "Call the Huntmaster"
#descr "The Shaman enters a deep trance, aided by fasting and the expenditure of a great amount of magical energy. He begs and pleads with the gods to send a champion to rescue his people. At the end of the month, the Huntmaster arrives. The Huntmaster is a legendary, semi-divine hunter who is always accompanied by his thirteen hunting hounds."
#school 0
#restricted 2
#researchlevel 5
#path 0 6
#path 1 8
#pathlevel 0 4
#pathlevel 1 1
#fatiguecost 2500
#effect 10021
#damage 2295
#nreff 1
#end

A Conj-5 ritual that requires N4H1 to cast and costs 25 Nature gems.

And the onebattlespell that calls his Hounds:

#selectspell 814
#school -1
#researchlevel 0
#damage 2296
#nreff 13
#range 1
#effect 1
#end

Thirteen fast, ethereal, limp-causing Hounds from Heck is certainly enough to add some firepower. As with the Huntmaster himself, my hope is that the Hounds would allow him to raid some backline provinces and/or add to an army for a pitched battle. I really don't want the Huntmaster and his doggies to conquer the countryside all by themselves. Think "raider" and "thug" ... not "supercombatant".