MOD: Stealthy RotR

[Endoperez]

This is a very simple mod. This adds certain special abilities to the special units of Caelum theme Return of the Raptors. The Raven Guard gets stealth 20, Harab Seraph gets Stealth 20 and abilities of a spy, and Harab Elder gets Stealth 30 and abilities of an assassin. I changed their descriptions and gold costs to accord this. However, I based the changes on the Complete version of the RotR, so Raven Guard with stealth costs 13 gp instead of 17 the unmodded (by this or by the Complete series) costs.

Harab Seraph now costs 110 gp instead of 90, and Harab Elder costs 280 gp instead of 270. Harab Seraph becomes quite expensive for its abilities as a mage, but stealth 20, ability to lead 25 stealthy fliers (and/or 20 Fiends of Darkness if you can get them) should make up for it. Harab Elder was already quite expensive, so I upped its price only by 10 gp. While probably quite an effective assassin, they aren't common or cheap enough to really benefit of their ability to assassinate.

If anyone can think of a use to the graphics used in the banner, be welcome to contact me. I'm beginning to be quite proud of my MS Paint skills... It is a Raven Guard with the Cloak from the Stealthy icon in-game, with the cloak continued to cover its legs and the weapons slightly edited.

[Scott Hebert]

Interesting, to make the Harab Elder an Assassin. He should be pretty nice, considering he can do everything the C'tis Assassin can do, plus fly (and Bless himself).

Personally, I think you went a little overboard on the Stealth scores. +5 for the Raven Guard, +30 for the Harab Seraph (this is the standard for Spies, isn't it?), and +20 for the Elder would be fine. In fact, I can't think of a single Assassin in the game that has a Stealth that high, at least that's recruitable.

[shovah]

Scott Hebert said:
Interesting, to make the Harab Elder an Assassin. He should be pretty nice, considering he can do everything the C'tis Assassin can do, plus fly (and Bless himself).

Personally, I think you went a little overboard on the Stealth scores. +5 for the Raven Guard, +30 for the Harab Seraph (this is the standard for Spies, isn't it?), and +20 for the Elder would be fine. In fact, I can't think of a single Assassin in the game that has a Stealth that high, at least that's recruitable.

but he kinda needs it i mean even with these upgrades RotR is still a fairly weak themecompared to base caelum

[Scott Hebert]

Oh, you won't find me arguing that RotR is not underpowered. I'm just not sure if this is the way to go about helping them.

And, oddly enough, going back on the other thread...

Why not make the Harab Elder an Inquisitor? Actually, rather than go the Spy route, I'd prefer to see the following:

Harab Seraph: Gain Holy-2, Inquisitor, bump cost to 140 or so (on par with Iron Priest, doesn't fly but Holy-3 and similar magic), Gain Stealthy (+0). Probably should cost about 150 in that case.

Harab Elder: Increase to Holy-3, Inquisitor. Give Stealthy (+20) and Spy.

There, Flying Stealthy Inquisitors. But very expensive ones. Normal Caelum gets a cheap stealthy preacher, so it's not out-of-character for the nation as a whole. About 150 for a Stealthy (but not very), Flying, Inquisitorial Priest-Mage doesn't sound horribly unbalanced as it is.

As far as flavor is concerned, the Raven Clan did come back and oust the old order, imposing their own. They could have established the inquisition to maintain their own power, and it would also reflect their zeal, especially vis-a-vis the old order.

[Endoperez]

I don't see how bird-people worshipping a god of vengeance could be so good at converting humans (the most common population), so I won't be making inquisitor-themed RotR. I imagined their return as a quick, brutal ambush, Harab Elders assassinating High Seraphs and Raven Guards overpowering other defenses thanks to the information provided by Harab Seraphs. Their priestly power is still low, however, as the Caelians have hard time accepting their new rulers. This is why only Harab Elders have priestly power.

Harab Seraphs can only be produced at the capitol, and are the best mage of the nation. If they try to assassinate an SC, they will die, and they are too precious to waste on killing normal commanders or even mages. However, changing the stealth scores to +10, +30 and +20 would be trivial and probably more balanced. I would like to keep the Raven Guards' stealth rating higher than just +5, because they aren't very good fighters.

[Arralen]

I like the idea. Needs some playtesting, oc.