[shatner]

So much of Dominions is about hiring gobs of mages so you out-research and out magic your opponents. There are so many commanders and priests that are rarely, if ever hired, which I find a pity, and frankly a little boring. While I certainly don't want a nation where every commander has some awe-inspiring power that makes them comperable to a high-end mage, I do enjoy it if the lesser commanders have something about them that makes them interesting.

Take MA T'ien Ch'i as an example. They have:
1) An H1 priest that prevents bad events AND unlocks a nice money-making good event
2) An H2 priest that prevents bad events, causes good events and unlocks 2 nice, money-making good events
3) A cheap commander with a big patrol bonus and an immunity to seduction
4) A high stealth spy
5) A cheap, recruit-anywhere researcher
6) A pair of weak mages with weak healing
7) A weak mage which prevents bad events

And everything else is either normal or a is a mage which inherently justifies itself. That's a lot of character and it makes the nation more interesting.


So let's look at the potential line up for Jomon and see if we can make it similarly interesting:
*1) An H1 amphibious priest who auto-casts water ward at the start of battle. Place this priest among a group of shrimp soldiers (or what-have-you) and at the start of battle they'll enjoy a nice defense boost. That might make you want to bother hiring an h1 priest at one or two points early in the game.
*2) An H2 amphibious priest who can lead 10 to 25 troops under water. May have a chance of getting W1.
3) A monk mage-priest who can cast one of five unique spells
4) A mage who prevents bad events and summons an ethereal bird at the start of battle
*5) A commander who can take 40 troops sailing
6) A high stealth assassin
*7) A cheap commander with a nice patrol bonus

Commanders with an * next to them are new; having been thought-up by one of the suggestions in this thread or is contained in Legowarrior's original post. While none of these ideas will make or break the nation, it will make it more interesting. I think making a commitment to character will help us going forward on this brainstorming.