Mod: Kingdom of Avalon 1.1

[Xietor]

Kingdom of Avalon is a mod that seeks to improve upon MA Man so that the race can be more competitive in mp on medium and larger maps. While MA Man is not broken in its vanilla form, it also can be a bit repetitive to play, with few options. The severe old age of the crones, combined with these other concerns, can make MA Man less fun to play than a race based on King Arthur and his Knights should be.

Kingdom of Avalon improves upon MA Man in several respects. First, it adds a new Pretender, Master of the Hunt, who is a buffed up Lord of the Forest. It is hoped that this pretender can give Man a signature pretender. Additionally, the Crone is improved in several respects. She is given mapmove 2, an additional elemental pick, and less extreme old age. Knights of Avalon have had their gold and resource costs reduced, and a Knight of Avalon Commander has been added. Woodsmen have been added to all castles to give Man a stealth option. To further the stealth option Bards have had their leadership increased. Lord Wardens and Wardens have also received a small increase in stealth. The Warden of Avalon has been buffed, so that his stats match his lofty description and he is worthy of a bless. An additional site, White Man Hill, has been added to the starting site for MA Man, giving them an additional n gem, increased growth, and 100 extra supply points. Lastly, to give them some utility, the Daughters of Avalon have been given fortunetelling 5.

[Sombre]

They sound powerful.

Giving a growth increasing site in the cap is a bit extreme isn't it?

[Xietor]

Thank you for taking the time to look at the mod. I did actually play test KOA in sp, and did not find it overpowered. But I also placed many limits on myself. KOA has not been tested in mp, but my prediction is this mod will only raise MA Man to average, not boost them into the above average range. And it does give Man a few more design options.

As for growth in the capital, and the extra n gem. Pythium is a much more powerful race and they get more gems in their capital. And Ma Man is one of the weakest mp races, especially on a larger map. When you consider that other races that are stronger than Man get design points, I do not consider growth in the Capital overpowered , and I also think it is thematic. It is also original. No other race has it. A forest race with growth seems a nice fit to me.

Growth does not kick in at the start of the game, but does add a nice income boost once you get into year 2 and 3. So it should not have much of an effect on the crucial early game.

[Aezeal]

Hmmm might be better to have pangaea have a growth scale then but ok..
quite a lot of changes I've not tested it but I'm not sure I'd play against this nation in MP. MA Man seems to have a lot of options now and magically they have much more support now which helps a lot I think.

We'll see when the first reports of testers come in though, I must admit I doubt the nation will be severly overpowered, but all these changes might be a bit much.

I must say I have respect for your perseverance in boosting MA man though (I seem to remember more of these threads with an increasing number of boosts with regular intervals in the past )

[Zeldor]

Sounds like a mod nation that is worth trying in MP. I think I will allow them [and few more mod nations] in next game I host.

[Xietor]

Thanks for the feedback.

"I'm not sure I'd play against this nation in MP."

Trust me, Man with KOA is just average. Their wardens are a bit better, but still nothing special. They a bit faster, but still are not mounted(meaning that midlevel evocation spells will tear them apart before they reach you).

They still have no tie in to Astral or Death. They still have no national summons to speak of. and will tremble when harbingers start flying around taking their provinces.

KOA mostly makes MA Man more fun to play. If you take the unique pretender, you can get a cheap e4n4 bless and have some design points, but you still face the prospects of a midgame and lategame with no thugs and sc's. So you have to plan for that to survive.

The extra elemental pick gives the crones true elemental diversity. And it is much needed. The map move 2 and removal of old age from the crones makes them a viable strikeforce and relevant in large games. The extreme old age of crones is not really a major factor on smaller maps, but it would be a killer on a large map. And count me in the number that crones may be old, but being nature mages, old does not mean on death's door.

Aside from the changes to the crones most of the other changes are not "major"
balance factors in a mp game setting. They are all factors, but the changes to the crones are by far the biggest change. Though I think a less experienced mp may think a boost to wardens is a big deal, but it really isn't.

[Zeldor]

I totally agree - old age on crones was just insane. Even N4 mages started old and got diseased very fast.

I'd start a next game now, but looking at MP threads and amounts of people seeking subs I guess it's not the best time. Maybe in few weeks