Nation Mod Release: Gollarn (latest version)

quantum_mechani · #1 March 16th, 2005, 07:38 PM

Nation Description:

The Gollarn are pale, amphibious humaniods from the waterlaced caverns deep below the earth. When the long dwarven mining tunnels of Vanhiem ran into the sacred Gollarn burial caverns, the Gollarn leader caste organized a crusade that ended with the capture of the Halls of Andvare and the abandonment of Vanhiem. Gollarn are stealthy and have keen reflexes, but are in general frail and do not value bravery. They have hunted and domesticated many of the strange creatures of the deepest watery caverns. While Gollarn tend to be isolated, many have banded into small underground settlements that constantly raid each other. The leader of each settlement is the Keeper of Secrets - the only Gollarn with the sacred right to make and read maps of the caverns. Ancient hermits known as Watchers of the Depths are philosophers and powerful mages of Earth and Sorcery. A guild of craftsmen mages, known as clayformers, have recently gained much power by harnessing the power of enchanted clay from the lowest depths of the caverns.

Some features that are not obvious from the unit descriptions:

*The trapper entangles enemies striking it, like a vine shield.

*The spirit walker can change shape to a mental form with 1 HP and an enslave mind weapon.

*The clayformer generates earth gems.

*There is a special benefit to casting to Gift of Reason on a depth diver.

Also, thanks to Eternal_Spearmen for drawing the images.

Please let me know what you think.

Boron · #2 March 16th, 2005, 08:36 PM

A very nice Mod with an innovative Nation

. Reminds me of Goblins and Gollum

.

Two questions :
Is it on purpose that the Depth Mind pretender has only 1 hp ?

The Depth Divers radiate both heat and cold via heat and chill abilities . Both abilities on one single Creature is imho a bit unthematic .

Otherwise well balanced in my Opinion

. The Gollarn will be a difficult but fun nation to play with

. The idea with the earthgem generating mages is cool also .

quantum_mechani · #3 March 16th, 2005, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Boron said:
A very nice Mod with an innovative Nation

. Reminds me of Goblins and Gollum

.

Two questions :
Is it on purpose that the Depth Mind pretender has only 1 hp ?

The Depth Divers radiate both heat and cold via heat and chill abilities . Both abilities on one single Creature is imho a bit unthematic .

Otherwise well balanced in my Opinion

. The Gollarn will be a difficult but fun nation to play with

. The idea with the earthgem generating mages is cool also .

The Depth Mind pretender is supposed to have 1 HP, he is intended to be a phantasmal projection (thus why he is also immortal, the real creature just creates a new one). The heat and cold auras are intended to be a representation of the chaotic magic used by the depth divers. Thanks for the comments; I'm aiming for it to be useable in MP, so I'm glad you think it is balanced.

The_Tauren13 · #4 March 16th, 2005, 09:41 PM

So, it appears the only reason to ever buy a depth diver is to GoR it...

quantum_mechani · #5 March 16th, 2005, 09:48 PM

Quote:

The_Tauren13 said:
So, it appears the only reason to ever buy a depth diver is to GoR it...

I actually toned them down a lot based on feedback from my mod concept thread. They have high MR, and resist everything, I think with a few buffs cast by mages they could be a force to be reckoned with all the way to the late game. They were originally sacred, I could put that pack on if everyone agrees they are not worth it as they stand.

The_Tauren13 · #6 March 16th, 2005, 10:05 PM

Sacred would be good; then you could get them an air bless effect so they quit dying to anything with a projectile...

Watcher of the Depths is lifeless? Why?
Bat Rider's sling is pretty useless...

quantum_mechani · #7 March 16th, 2005, 10:13 PM

Quote:

The_Tauren13 said:
Sacred would be good; then you could get them an air bless effect so they quit dying to anything with a projectile...

Watcher of the Depths is lifeless? Why?
Bat Rider's sling is pretty useless...

I have no idea how they ended up as lifeless, I'll remove it in the next version. The bat rider's sling is mostly useless, but it gives more versatility with orders.

The_Tauren13 · #8 March 16th, 2005, 10:30 PM

Also, he's not stealthy, but that may have been intentional. So, if he spends all his time watching stuff, he should have good eyes, right

Then why is his precision lower than the other units?
The raider seems kind of weak. They sure pack a punch, but die alarmingly quickly. Maybe you could increase their stealth a bit to give them a better niche use.

Well, everything seems to be fairly well-priced (except Im still not sure about the Depth Diver) after playing a quick test game. Its difficult to say how much the clayformer, spirit walker, and burrower are really worth, what with their cool unusual abilities (very intriguing

), but I think youve done a good job.

quantum_mechani · #9 March 16th, 2005, 10:47 PM

Quote:

The_Tauren13 said:
Also, he's not stealthy, but that may have been intentional. So, if he spends all his time watching stuff, he should have good eyes, right

Then why is his precision lower than the other units?
The raider seems kind of weak. They sure pack a punch, but die alarmingly quickly. Maybe you could increase their stealth a bit to give them a better niche use.

Well, everything seems to be fairly well-priced (except Im still not sure about the Depth Diver) after playing a quick test game. Its difficult to say how much the clayformer, spirit walker, and burrower are really worth, what with their cool unusual abilities (very intriguing

), but I think youve done a good job.

I took off the stealth and prec. for Watchers because they are supposed to be quite old (the way crones of avalon lose stealth that mothers of avalon have). I think it might be good to idea to give raiders a slight boost, either make them 9 gold or have better stealth. Thanks for your balancing help.

Tuidjy · #10 March 16th, 2005, 11:11 PM

The master hunter may need some toning down. Stealth +25 for an assassin is
a bit over the top, and the armour piercing daggers make him quite deadly
even against armour.

As for the clayshapers, I wonder how that will turn out. I know that in all
my games there comes a point where cash is meaningless. Being able to buy
a gem generator for 400 gold, and get a modest researcher... it's probably OK.

They have a great researcher, but I cannot think how he could be used in battle.
As a matter of fact, I think this nation is a bit light on battlefield mages.

All in all, I do not think the race is overpowered, but I would sure hate to
piss off anyone who can get assassins like this for 90 coins.