Finished: Game Mechanics

[Nagathi]

Game Mechanics


To Whom Do I Teach a Well Deserved Lesson


This campaign is essentially a battle between the forces of Slaanesh and the forces of Khaine. Most battle sites will reflect that, however the construction of the campaign has been designed with your opponent in mind. By that, we mean the other Warhammer Fantasy armies. Each army has unique initial roles to play in the campaign. The campaign has been set up with five or six initial battle sites, which allow competition between several different forces for a win for two or more sides. For example, in the Northern Wastes, the invasion of Chaos allows battles between defending forces of Dark Elves, khainists, and the aggressive Cult of Slaanesh, slaaneshi aligned Dark Elves, and various Chaos forces. This accumulation of aggression in the Northern Wastes has incited Orc and Goblin war bands to join the fracas, and at this time, the Orcs and Goblins can fight anyone. This can mean disaster for either side because an Orc war band can log battle wins for either Slaanesh or Khaine.

A three-way battle is also being fought in the underway between the Dwarfs, the Skaven, and the Dark Elves. Wins can be recorded for those three sides in this case.

Because we are trying to run a logical campaign, the battle reports will be interpreted by the Campaign Managers (CM). This means that the players can directly influence this campaign. No definite flow of events has been pre-determined. This allows for a very fluid campaign. For example, imagine that the players of the Orc forces all decide that from now on they are following the Big-Boss Grimlak and will now only attack khainists and Dark Elves aligned to Khaine. Slaanesh has bought them with promises of certain… pleasures. Since this is what the players decided to do (and if they actually do it as represented by the battle reports) then the CM’s will shift the campaign to reflect what the players have done!

Or imagine that the Dark Elf players decide that beating down the High Elves in Arnhelm is a better idea than fighting amongst themselves in the Northern Wastes, well perhaps the CM’s will design fluff and campaign direction around that as well. Perhaps both the Cult of Slaanesh and the khainists decide that those pesky Empire human slaves in Karond Kar are too tasty to leave alone and both sides attack Empire, you could even see an alliance between the two groups.

The point is that the campaign is open to the actions of the players. Those actions will influence the campaign.

Stick a Knife in More than One Place

Battle sites will influence other battle sites. The most obvious one is the skirmishes between the cult and temples in Ghrond. Obviously, these wins will have direct effects on the battle sites in the Northern Wastes, Karond Kar, and the Southern Reaches. However, other effects may be more subtle. If a lot of battle reports are logged for Arnhelm and hardly any for the Northern Wastes and the Underway, perhaps the Dark Elves will start losing in the Underway and the Northern Wastes as they appear to be distracted by the High Elves. A major loss by the Khaine-aligned Dark Elves in Karond Kar could result in a weakening of the khainites in the Northern Wastes and Ghrond. Fight and choose your alliances and battles wisely.

Striking Deep

An overall win will be decided at certain battle sites based upon many possible player actions. Unlike the Storm of Chaos campaign, no battle site has been pre-determined to fall. No outcomes have been pre-determined.

So what will determine an overall win? Several things can. As already mentioned, wins in one battle site can influence other battle sites. Straight number of overall wins for one side will of course have a major effect. Large pushes by one individual side against another, i.e.: Skaven and Dwarfs log large number of battles in the Underway while Dark Elves log hardly any could mean that the Dark Elves will lose points indirectly. Druchii.net sponsored official Games Days will also have a large impact. Other things will also have an impact, but they will remain secret at this time.

Since the campaign is being logically run by the CM’s, it will function a little slower than the Storm of Chaos campaign. It may take quite a while before an overall win is decided. We hope that this is balanced by the adaptability of the campaign.

The Thin Edge

The battle sites each have a percentage bar similar to the Storm of Chaos campaign. Each logged battle will be worth a certain number of points and will affect the status bar. For example, the bar is at 50% Khaine and 50% Cult of Pleasure. The numbers show 50 Khaine wins and 50 Cult wins. Someone enters a Khaine win and now the overall numbers are 51 vs. 50. Khaine is now at 51/101 *100% = 50.5%. Cult is now at 49.5%.

The most important thing to note here is your opponent must also log a battle report for you or your opponent to get full points. Therefore, if you won and he lost, he has to enter a battle report indicating his loss as well while you enter one indicating your win. These verified battle reports will be worth more points to the winner. So using the above example, the verified Khaine win is now worth 10 points instead of just one point. Therefore the numbers now read 60 Khaine wins vs. 50 Cult wins. Khaine is now at 54.5% and the Cult is now at 45.5%.

Each battle site will start with an initial ‘seed’ number. The higher the number, the harder it is for any side to influence the movement of the status bar. Status bars can also be influenced by actions at other battle sites or any of the other effects already indicated. Therefore, the number of battles fought at a site might not completely reflect the status of a site.

Your battle reports will not immediately affect the status bar of a site. You will have to wait for us to verify the report. We are trying to prevent cheating as best we can. Cheaters will be dealt with and their names will become mud.

Alter the Sand of Time

You can influence the fluff of the campaign. The CM’s and the rest of the team will read written battle reports in the Druchii.net Battle Reports forum and may add your fluff to the campaign fluff. You can influence how this campaign is going on more than just one front.

You are the Game

The important thing to remember is that you are the main focus of the game. It is up to you to recruit your non-druchii friends to play in the campaign, and they might like to. After all, beating down Dark Elves on their own home turf is pretty enticing. Let them know that the campaign is not pre-designed to beat down any particular race. Give them a tour of the website and the fluff. Playing in the campaign does not require a lifetime commitment, you can even log other campaign games in this campaign, and we have made it pretty easy. All they need to play is an email address; they do not even need to log in to Druchii.net. It is supposed to be about fun after all.

That being said, the campaign is only about fun. People who take it seriously, are either too young to play in the campaign or are people who need to seek professional help. Do not feel bad about playing for more than one side, at least it will mean that you will be on the winning side no matter what. After all, is that not what Dark Elves do best anyway?


Nagathi
Loremaster