Dynamic modded Pantheon Council Game (discussion)

[Gregstrom]

I'd be interested.

Also as an idea, it might be worth having a gamesmaster race in an inaccessible province with a number of moddable spells available to them, to allow for any other special effects that might be required later in the game.

[Ironhawk]

Sounds like a fun concept! I do worry that the politics of the voting system might overshadow the actual game, but who knows? Let me know when you start this one...

[Ironhawk]

So, I was looking over the upgrades in more detail. What is the purpose of:

"making holy a non holy capitol only unit (will also double the unit cost)"

Because with only some rare exceptions, all cap-only units are already holy. I guess you could retroactively make upkeep for your top mage be less, at the expense of all future mages costing more? Can't see a place where I would choose to pick this one tho.

Another thing I was wondering: do you need to be holding the VP on the 6th turn? What if I hold the VP for 5/6 turns but lose it on the last one?

[Twan]

The 3 pts was a discount for the few non sacred capitol only units, but I've forgoten the last lines when I cut pasted the rules. (there was for 5pts : "make holy any unit (also double its cost)")

For VPs, yes my idea was to check control every 6 turns only, I like the tension of the autumn phase in Diplo.

Anyway, there will be new version of rules before I eventually launch this kind of game (it won't be soon as I have a lot of work the coming months and too much games and projects).

[djo]

I think the concept for this game is interesting, but I'm at my quota for games right now. I do have a couple comments that may help you, based on a couple of the more elaborate Dominions 2 games I was in (Twan may remember these, but I don't think he was in either of them).

In "Yarnspinners 2", we had a "gamemaster" nation in the mix, and it worked out well. It was controlled by the host (who did not play), and its purpose in that game was merely to cast that global that reveals all the province ownerships. The host then posted the screenshots every 5 turns. Things to make sure of: make sure the nation isn't susceptible to event-caused attacks or dominion kill!

In "Council of Wyrms", we had an elaborate proposition/voting scheme set up. Ironhawk is right, you do need close controls over procedure to keep the politics in balance with the game. It looks like your allowed votes are very limited, which ought to help a lot. Make sure your voting procedures are carefully set down (timing, quorum, ties, etc.).

I think your turn limit is a good idea. The CoW turned very stagnant without one. When going to war potentially incurs a penalty, the action slows down a lot.

[Gregstrom]

Would a gamemaster nation in a province that had no connections to any other province be immune to dominion kill?

[llamabeast]

By the way Twan, I would be happy to host this on the LlamaServer. If you give me an updated version of the mod it will take me about twenty seconds to put it on the server, so it's not a problem.

[LDiCesare]

About seduce: "seduce - need to be female assassin"
There are male seducers now (satyrs in the Blood national spell for Pythium Serpent Cult if I remember well), so stealthy should be enough to be able to seduce.
This looks very interesting.
If I understand correctly, you should break a NAP right after a vote, in order to get 6 turns to wreck havoc without the morale hit? Not that I'd break any NAP if I play, my being nice and all that...

It would also be fun if you could change the titles of Gods in-game, but I don't think whether there's a mod command for that.

[Evilhomer]

Sounds cool, I would probably play.

[LDiCesare]

I tested, and it's indeed possible to mod spells in-game. There are just weird behaviours on the first turn when you mod them (the spell appears to remain in the old school, but with new description and all, so you may not be able to cast it if you have the required level in the good school but not the old school. It then behaves correctly after one more turn.)
I don't know how you tag a spell as national, however, so I just tested with a #newspell.

You might even add some creatures which cannot be summoned unless the spell has become allowed. Or ban some spells from being cast: "By five votes versus three, Tartarian Gates have been permanently closed, and Titans whall remain where they are." So Tartarian Gate spell is modded out till next vote. Or maybe it summons a butterfly instead of a Tartarian...