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[Campaign] Demons of Sin (Discussing story and game design)

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Hi guys

I am working on a project with a bunch of ideas going on, but I need some structure and maybe some other points of view. I have gotten a bunch of feedback, suggestions and points of view so far, but I still need some structure and a guide line.
I would love any kind of feedback, may it be positive or critique. If something seems 'lame' or somehow doll, let me know. I do not intend to create something bad. Also my main goals of posting this, is if you have any ideas you want to share with me, I would love to hear your thoughts!

This campaign will have a story where your choices as the main character (MC) will have an impact on the outcome of the game.

The idea behind this game is inspired by Diablo II, Lords of the Fallen, Path of Exile and the movie The Gladiator.

Select a topic below to read more.

Bossses:

The 7 Deadly Sins from Christianity will be inspiring the bosses in this world, making them the ultimate Demons of Sin (for deeper understanding, see the story tab).
The sins are named as follows and the Demons of Sin will be named as originally spelled by the author, Dante Alighieri:
Lust - Luxuria
Gluttony - Gula
Greed - Avaritia
Sloth - Acedia
Wrath - Ira
Envy - Invidia
Pride - Superbia

See more info on the trustworthy and beloved site, Wikipedia. :D
Link: Seven deadly sins - Wikipedia

Enemies:

Disciples:
Always come in a group of 3-4 enemies. Have following basic stats and abilities:
- Light attack (small cone radius, low damage)
- Slow movement speed
- Low health
- Killing one will increase the others maximum health
- They may channel a ritual, transforming into one single demon, gaining bonus health from each disciple successfully completing the ritual
- May cast Spirit Link

Demon Infantry:
Will be encountered alone early on, but will be out-scaled late game and may come in bigger numbers. Have following basic stats and abilities:
- Medium attack (medium cone radius, medium damage)
- Slow movement speed
- Low health
- May perform a roar, stunning nearby enemies
- May perform perform a series of 2-3 attacks in a row
- May perform heavy attack (increased damage)
- May charge at an enemy, dealing damage upon collision

Turned Human:
Variate in numbers and shapes, and are for the most part the weakest enemy in the game. Have following basic stats and abilities:
- Light attack
- Medium movement speed
- Low health
- May perform perform a series of 2-3 attacks in a row
- May perform heavy attack (increased damage)
- May block (if wielding a shield)
- May perform a ranged missile attack in a line (if wielding a bow, javelin etc)

Demoness of Lust:
An enemy with multiple weapon-wielding arms that causes swift series of attacks and will be encountered single-handedly as being one of the tough opponents. You will have to learn its kit to be able to counter it.
- Medium attack
- Medium movement speed
- High health
- May perform Slice & Dice, a series of swift deadly attacks in front of her for a duration
- May perform heavy attack (increased damage)
- May perform whirling blades, dealing damage to close nearby enemies
- May step into a Berserk stance, striking randomly around her
- May charge in an enemy target direction and deal a swift attack at arrival point
- May cause a Bladestorm, while chasing and deal damage to nearby enemies

More to come...

Game Design:

With the story set for now, I am looking for a play style for the map.
It is an RPG and gear, skills and a bunch of enemies will be a part of this map. Now I am looking for some interesting way of how the play style will be for this map. I was thinking of making the battle style like in the Lords of the Fallen somehow. My thoughts here were to keep every enemy unique on their abilities or attack styles. The goal is to achieve something interesting and fun to play, instead of the Warcraft 3 Blizzard campaigns, where you just hammer onto some unit until one falls.

If you have any ideas, both for game style and for unique features for enemy units and the Hero.
Ideas could be one enemy unit attacks in a cone in front of it after channeling its attack, forcing the player to side step and be more aware of positioning.
I may have to tell you it is limited of how advanced I can do triggers. So the simpler the better, also to spare time, since I am solo on this project... As always.

Join in with ideas for this game style or an alternative if you like. :)

Hero Skills:

The Hero (MC) will be customizable in its 'skill layout', being the abilities at its hands. There will be room for 3 'Common Skills', including a basic attack skill, and 4 'Virtue Skills' or 'Sin Skills'.

Virtue Classes:
- Exorcist: Counter to Demons/Undeads, may benefit from enemy humans.
- Templar/Crusader: Durable fighter.
- Inquisitor: Magician, Healer, Supportive, Utility.

Sin Classes:
- Disciple: Dark arts, transformer, magician.
- Rogue: Swift and cunning fighter.
- Cultist: Manipulator, Conjurer, Summoner.

Skills require Energy (which is basically mana) that will regenerate at a fast rate, but limiting the skill output depending on the amount of energy you may have.

Common Skills:
Common skills are skills the Hero has, like Basic Attack, and skills he may progress to learn. They will be taught by common folks, acquired through exploring the world map or gained through quest rewards. To use them you will need to unlock them with Skill Points, which are gained through leveling.
Examples of common skills:
- Basic Attack: Perform a basic attack in front of the Hero, dealing damage to enemies hit.
- Cleave: Perform a cleaving attack in a wider area, dealing damage to enemies hit. More energy expensive.
- Swipe: Perform a swipe attack to cause imbalance to enemies hit, making them vulnerable to critical strikes from Basic Attack or Cleave attacks. (Basically the Haze ability from Pandaren Brawler with attack skills based of Breath of Fire).
- Block: Briefly raise your shield, soaking some of the damage taken.
- Execute: Passive. Enemies taking damage to below 15 % of their maximum health will be instantly slain.

Virtue & Sin Skills:
Virtue or Sin skill points will be acquired/rewarded through choices and actions done through-out the game. These may be spent at specific class NPC units to teach Virtue or Sin skills. These classes varies in both Virtue and Sin.
Example of Virtue and Sin skills:
Virtue: "Defensive, utility, healing, counter, disable."
- Exorcism: Cripples a target enemy demon, slowing it dramatically.
- Prayer: Channel for a few seconds, restoring health over the duration and granting a buff at the end, increasing armor for a couple of seconds.
- Meditation: Channel for a few seconds, gaining reduced damage taken. At the end gain a buff increasing your energy recovery magnificently.
- Sacred Ground: Create an area of Sacred Ground at your feet, dealing damage to enemies inside.
- Holy Bolt: Perform a medium ranged attack, stunning a target enemy and dealing damage. Undeads will take double damage.
- Savior: Passive. Has a chance to make a human friendly by hitting it with Virtue skills. Does still award kill experience.
Sin: "Offensive, conjuration, manipulating."
- Adorcism: Cause a living non-demon to go into Frenzy, increasing its stats, and make it attack everything.
- Haunt: Curse a target enemy with Haunt, making it take damage over time for a duration.
- Convergent: Channel for a few seconds and take form of a specific demon for a duration.
- Raise Dead: Raise a non-controllable minion from a corpse to fight for you. Lasts a duration.
- Slice & Dice: Perform a series of swift attacks in front of you, dealing damage over time.
- Backstab: Vanish to appear behind a target enemy, dealing an unavoidable attack.

Maps:

Prologue Map:
So far I have made the prologue map. It will be very small and just centered around the home village of the MC. Here the MC will travel from the upper left corner and downwards to the city. He will face demons raiding the city at this point and will have to fight them off to get to the church (Town Hall) in the bottom right corner. As he rescues the people who seek refuge in the church, they tell him of a Warlock that have already taken most of the villagers and taken them to be a part of a ritual in the upper right corner. The MC will witness the slaughter here and face the Warlock.
As the prologue event ends, the map will increase its size with the initial start point in the center.

Other maps will follow as I go.

Music:

A soundtrack with ambient music is in development by AMIG (myself). Link to soundtrack on SoundCloud:
Soundtrack

Story:

"In the beginning of time man were as one. United. We shared peace. But dark times would fall upon us.

The king, our king, was endowed two sons. Time shaped them, as it does us all. Both grew to be men, however, only one to be king. The elder son showed diligence to serve his people. He had temperance in his ways and was humble to those in need, who he gave charity. The king favored him and wanted for him to inherit the throne. The son was most grateful and he shared his appreciation with the love of his people. He was an idol to his people, but not to his brother, who lived in the shadows of his doing. Envious of his possessions, the smaller brother took his wrath upon his brother and killed him. The bereaved people cursed the son of sins, to bear his burdens within. Affected by contempt, the king had his son banished to live forever with his sins and guilt by his side. The burden grew stronger over time and started taking shape of voices within his mind. He was no longer by himself, but spoke for more. In time he lost control and let loose his seven sins to take over the virtues, ultimately changing the world forever.

As the sins spread across the lands, the kingdom was in time torn apart and divided into lands which was each ruled by a lord. People who failed to uphold the virtues took shape of the sins, while some pledged to them. They became what we know as demons and among those are the upholders of this imbalance. The Demons of Sin.

We were no longer one. Even the demon planes are divided, each keeping a sacred shrine. A shrine of Virtue and a shrine of Sin."
- The Warlock

You start with your MC being a former part of the army, but now retired in a peaceful village. One day your village is being overrun by demons and left defenseless due to a careless land lord. You manage to escape and rescue an innocent child in the doing, who you take under your wing. You take your vengeance upon the Warlock, leading the attack. Upon his defeat, you discover in fact that he endeavored to reach the lord to expel him from his sins inflated by a Demon of Sin.
The Warlock does not intend to fail his quest, and so he possesses the MC. Since the MC does not have a choice, he unites with the Warlock, despite his contempt, and lets the Warlock guide the MC through a journey of ridding the world of sins.
The essence of the story lays weight upon virtue and sin, which you as the MC will struggle to find a balance between, while being accompanied by an innocent child and a cryptic demon.
How will you determine what choices are right and wrong in a world of chaos and sin?
 

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Level 10
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Subscribing cause this seems dope.

The bit about the companion reminds me of a thing I was working on awhile back where you played as an undead and I used skeletons for the player unit cause 1) they didn't have gender and 2) the blizzard model skeletons already come in tank, archer and caster class models.
 
Level 8
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Subscribing cause this seems dope.

The bit about the companion reminds me of a thing I was working on awhile back where you played as an undead and I used skeletons for the player unit cause 1) they didn't have gender and 2) the blizzard model skeletons already come in tank, archer and caster class models.

Oh yea, as a class you mean?

In this map I was thinking about using the villager unit use attachable items to give it the RPG sense.
 
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Idea for the main character: A pregnant woman is captured by cultists who use her in a ritual to summon a demon. The ritual is interrupted by the angry mob of villagers and the cultists defeated, but they'd gotten far enough that the child will have some demonic characteristics when born. This causes him to be feared by part of the village, pitied by others, so when his powers manifest he can choose to raze the village or spare it.
Thus when the same thing happens to him later it gives him the motivation to prevent it happening to his own family.
However, when the demons learn of the MC's heritage they kidnap his family instead, hoping to conduct the summoning on their plane. The MC then follows them there.

The demon manifests as the MC's invisible companion, its own powers weakened by the botched ritual, but the fact that it's trapped between its and our planes gives it some unusual abilities that can be used as game mechanics (extend invisibility to MC, pass through certain walls, detect demonic activity-> find clues, channel magic powers through MC, bring the MC to the demon's plane, etc.)

Demons: Demons are the inhabitants of another plane seeking to spread out. The human religions (official and cults) are actually run by rival demons who use them to empower their human pawns.

Idea for the ending:
The MC ends up uniting the demons under his command and using them to overrun the humans
The demons remain at war and continue to raid humans for slaves and food.
The MC unites the seven lords under his command and leads their armies to the demon's plane to beat them once and for all. They are never heard from again, because while they do beat the demons it turns out only the demons can create the portals to send them back.
 
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A pregnant woman is captured by cultists who use her in a ritual to summon a demon.

So the main character was first born but affected by a demonic ritual?

Thus when the same thing happens to him later it gives him the motivation to prevent it happening to his own family.

I believe the part here will make it difficult, to what I have made so far. I like the idea of being partly demon, but I will have to find a model for it and it makes it questionable how the MC is not exiled at first or killed.
However I could use your idea, through saying the companion is summoned through an ancient relic, with the purpose and powers to steal the souls from demons slain. The companion will unveil its purpose through-out the game. Might be something about a family idol crafted in the name of the ancestors to protect the family, which is why it calls for the MC to uphold its prophecy. I'm afraid this may become too much of a faerie-tale somehow, though.


The demon manifests as the MC's invisible companion, its own powers weakened by the botched ritual, but the fact that it's trapped between its and our planes gives it some unusual abilities that can be used as game mechanics (extend invisibility to MC, pass through certain walls, detect demonic activity-> find clues, channel magic powers through MC, bring the MC to the demon's plane, etc.)

I like this. Might be awesome for various mechanics.

Idea for the ending:
The MC ends up uniting the demons under his command and using them to overrun the humans
The demons remain at war and continue to raid humans for slaves and food.
The MC unites the seven lords under his command and leads their armies to the demon's plane to beat them once and for all. They are never heard from again, because while they do beat the demons it turns out only the demons can create the portals to send them back.

Reminds me of the endings of 'Lords of the Fallen'. :D
 
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I was thinking more along the lines of the demon's spirit being attached to the unborn child (if the ritual had completed correctly, the kid would indeed have been born with a demonic mind and body). So when the child is born, it's 100% human in mind and body, but there's an invisible demon always hanging around him. It'd be enough to have him ostracized by those who know the circumstances of his birth, but those who don't treat him like a normal kid.

So when he finds the relic, the demon is now able to talk to him (the relic can force the demon to obey) and tells the MC the circumstances of his birth. Up comes the first choice of the story: kill every one of his childhood tormentors (and betray the trust of those who showed him kindness), or prove them all wrong by being better than they said he'd ever amount to be.

I had thought about the demon possessing the MC and changing the MC's body (via attachments like demon wings and such), but that might be too complicated to keep track of.
 
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I was thinking more along the lines of the demon's spirit being attached to the unborn child (if the ritual had completed correctly, the kid would indeed have been born with a demonic mind and body). So when the child is born, it's 100% human in mind and body, but there's an invisible demon always hanging around him. It'd be enough to have him ostracized by those who know the circumstances of his birth, but those who don't treat him like a normal kid.

So when he finds the relic, the demon is now able to talk to him (the relic can force the demon to obey) and tells the MC the circumstances of his birth. Up comes the first choice of the story: kill every one of his childhood tormentors (and betray the trust of those who showed him kindness), or prove them all wrong by being better than they said he'd ever amount to be.

I had thought about the demon possessing the MC and changing the MC's body (via attachments like demon wings and such), but that might be too complicated to keep track of.

Wow this is great. So it actually is the child who is the MC.
I would like the element of the family gone though, but I guess it would be difficult to actually create a bond between the player and the lost family anyway, I dunno.

I also like the part how he becomes more and more corrupted by the demon based on his choices.

So the relic will be like the savior, making it the good and bad side of the MC. Could be interesting.
 
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I see.

Well in this case, it really was going to be an entirely innocent woman. The cult leader (possibly the Warlock in disguise) needed an unborn child for their ritual, and just had to pick the one woman descended from the relic's owner/maker. As for being a caring mother, well, she wouldn't have bothered raising a possibly demonic kid if she didn't love him.
 
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I see.

Well in this case, it really was going to be an entirely innocent woman. The cult leader (possibly the Warlock in disguise) needed an unborn child for their ritual, and just had to pick the one woman descended from the relic's owner/maker. As for being a caring mother, well, she wouldn't have bothered raising a possibly demonic kid if she didn't love him.

Ye I follow. I could always make it so that the priest of the land lord had made an agreement with the warlock, to take a villager needed from the village.
 
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Are the lords all unrepentant assholes or are they at least publicly opposed to the demons?

I believe it will variate from Lord to Lord. No Lord will be caring and loving like that. Their mainly interest would be in economics and their own safety before their people.

Some will be less greedy, selfish and careless than others of course, since some of them need to shine brighter than others through their personality. I don't know if you were to actually like any of them, but I guess one of them might be 'ok' compared to the others. I dunno.

The one controlling the land of where the MC would live, would be one of the most selfish ones, which you will have to take revenge on. He could possibly have been a brother to another Lord who is more focused on his forces of arms and will be an ideal battle-to-come.
 
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So, here's my take on it:

a) You are an old soldier who has seen his share of horrors and fought his share of fights. A man who devoted his entire life to serving the crown ever since he was recruited at a young age, with little in return. After years of service you are finally given leave to return to your home city and lead the rest of your life in peace.

b) As a former soldier, you struggle to deal with the life of an ordinary man since war and service is all that you have ever known. When the rumors of demon attack in the borderlands spread, you advice the city guard commander to tighten the defences. The over-confident buffon refuses. Not long after the city is attacked. The demons easily break through the forward lines and as the cowardly commander flees, the city descends into chaos.

c) You refuse to run. You take up your blade once again, vowing to die defending your home. As you fight, you realize the young lads in the city guard begin looking to you for guidance and leadership. You are reluctant to command them, after all - you're just a soldier, all you ever did in your life was following orders, not giving them, but as you realize that there is nobody else who would fill that role, you take command of the town's defence. You fight by the side of men who chose to follow you, often putting your own life at risk to save them. You gain their respect and trust.

d) After some initial success, you realize that the city is beyond saving. You wish to stay true to your promise - to die with honor defending your home, but you are no longer alone. You now have a group of men that look up to you, who trust and respect you enough to put their lives in your hands. You know that staying means death and you cannot let your men down - you order the soldiers to cover the city's evacuation and retreat, ultimately forsaking your vow and your home to save your people.

e) As you retreat, you stumble across a young boy trapped in a building attacked by demons. Rescuing him would be costly, many of your men would likely die... You have to make the decision:

- Save the boy, sacrificing the lives of your soldiers in the process
- Abandon the boy and lead your men to safety

f1) You sacrifice your men and save the boy, but your decision is costly - a few days later, your camp is attacked by demons. Without the extra men, the defense is ineffective, causing the boy to lose his mother and sister. You take the boy under your care and promise his dying mother to protect him, fully realizing that one day that kid will blame you for failing to save his family.

f2) You leave the boy to die. Few days later in the camp, you meet his mother and sister. You don't tell them what happened. When the camp is attacked by demons, the defence is more organized, less people die, but still... the girl loses her mother. As the woman dies, you promise her to protect her daughter, fully realizing that one day your guilt will make you tell her that you chose not to save her brother.

g) You lead the rest of the survivors to safety. The soldiers wish to continue following you, but... plagued with guilt over your last decision, you refuse. You order the soldiers to stay and defend the town you took shelter in. Then you leave, with an adopted orphan at your side.

---

h) Some time passes. The demons continue raiding the land and the king does little to protect the people. You decide to fight. As you try to leave the child behind, the kid refuses to let you go. He/she wants to fight too. After a long argument, you agree to take the child with you and teach him/her all that you know, because you see the thirst for vengeance in his/her eyes and you realize that since you can't stop him/her from fighting, you can at least keep the child close to keep him/her safe(r).

i) In time, the child and you grow closer - he/she becomes your loyal companion. You watch with pride as the child matures and becomes a skilled fighter. Together you make the stand against the demons, but as your adventures continues, it's getting harder and harder to deal with your guilt over his/her real family.



---

Take from that what you will, but personally I feel that something like this would be way more interesting that some ancestral companion or some evil spirit, because there's a deeper and more personal connection between the character with some tragic elements and guilt in the mix. You also have this cowardly general somewhere that you could one day track down and take vengeance upon for abandoning his soldiers, or the king that is failing at protecting his subjects that ultimately you and your companion have to deal with and become the realm's true protectors.

And if you really want to weave in some magic, you can always make it so that the demons attacked the city specifically because they were after these children - for example, because they are half-human, half-demon and the demons fear their innate potential. This could for instance lead you to ultimately find the child's true father, a demon who is not evil, revealing that demons are actually not pure-evil, one-dimensional villains, but just another people who were enslaved and largely twisted by evil magics.

And ultimately, the story might conclude with that child becoming a true champion that not only saves the humanity and eventually rises to not be just a soldier like the main character, but a real leader who also saves the demons from enslavement and forges a peace between the two factions. Or better yet, you could give the player a choice which route he wishes to follow:

- side with the humans and push back the demons, becoming the humanity's leader
- side with the demons, free them from enslavement and become their leader
- side with neither faction, ultimately aiding both humans and demons, leading to the scenario where both ultimately find peace

This choice could stem from how the child reacts to his/her mentor's secret and the revelation about his/her origin - whether he/she considers humanity to have failed him/her, or is angry at the demons for the whole thing or forgives his mentor and tries to go for the middle ground.

The fact that the main character (mentor) is old means that he could easily die at the end, making the ending not just another "happy-ending", but more of a "bitter-sweet ending", with the overall victory being the nice part, but the child/hero losing his mentor in the process would make it a bit sad, mostly on the personal level.

---

But you are in charge of the story, so do what you wish :)
Feel free to take any part of what I wrote or use it as an inspiration :)
 
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Level 8
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Take from that what you will, but personally I feel that something like this would be way more interesting that some ancestral companion or some evil spirit, because there's a deeper and more personal connection between the character with some tragic elements and guilt in the mix.

I agree on this. I was thinking of making an attachment between the main character and a companion with no gender, like from 'The Last Guardian'. You do still create a bond here.
However, this might be easier to do a personal bonding between the two.

e) As you retreat, you stumble across a young boy trapped in a building attacked by demons. Rescuing him would be costly, many of your men would likely die... You have to make the decision:

- Save the boy, sacrificing the lives of your soldiers in the process
- Abandon the boy and lead your men to safety

If saving the boy somehow was an option to shape the whole game as a companion, the MC might somehow be forced to save him, but with 3 choices of doing so, leaving 3 unpredictable consequences.
I think I would change the scenario like the boy is trapped and his family is threatened by demons.
1: The MC acquires the boy, while ordering his men to help the family - the boy is rescued, but the family and his men dies.
2: The MC acquires the boy and is aided by his men, but the family dies tragically.
3: The MC acquires the boy, while ordering his men to get the other villagers to safety, leaving behind the family.
You will choose your decision through the order you give toyour troops.
You will not know, through the option you choose, what the out-come will be.

This choice could stem from how the child reacts to his/her mentor's secret and the revelation about his/her origin - whether he/she considers humanity to have failed him/her, or is angry at the demons for the whole thing or forgives his (dying) mentor and tries to go for the middle ground.

This is golden. I might use this. The companion (being the boy) will be shaped somewhat through the decisions you make, having an influence on how the boy is treated somehow.


a) and b)

This would avoid some problems I had with how things would start out in a medias res and a lot of other stuff. I might be able to work something out from this. Still I think I will be needing some decisions for the MC to desert his troops and his village in some way, to become a deserter. I feel like this would be a cool little option becoming a deserter, or what do you think?

----

However, I do still think I will keep this relic thingy, but maybe redo it. I would imagine the MC trying to save his companion by throwing himself in front of him, getting cursed by the warlock, leaving him with the demon within. He then needs to acquire a relic to contain it.
This will make the MC more interesting to play as, so the companion won't take all the excitement.

It might even be optional, on who to carry the burden, take it you throw yourself in front or the companion gets cursed.
 
Level 20
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^ I love this, especially the first part. An extended prologue where you meet/rescue your companion is a pretty cool way to introduce them, and weave story and mechanics together.
Happy you liked it :) It's just a rough draft to give the OP some ideas - after all, this is his story to tell, not mine :)

If saving the boy somehow was an option to shape the whole game as a companion, the MC might somehow be forced to save him, but with 3 choices of doing so, leaving 3 unpredictable consequences.
I think I would change the scenario like the boy is trapped and his family is threatened by demons.
1: The MC acquires the boy, while ordering his men to help the family - the boy is rescued, but the family and his men dies.
2: The MC acquires the boy and is aided by his men, but the family dies tragically.
3: The MC acquires the boy, while ordering his men to get the other villagers to safety, leaving behind the family.
I don't know, it kinda cuts out the part where the MC makes a decision that is tragic not only for himself, but also for the child/companion.

I mean, the core of my idea was that while your companion/child you rescued would be loyal to you, there would be some tension between him and the MC:
- if you saved the boy, he would eventually realize that doing so cost his mother and sister their lives and might be angry that you didn't save them instead
- if you abandoned the boy, eventually the sister would learn that you did so, causing tensions between her and MC

I think that in your idea the choice is less consequential, because what it ultimately comes down to is that the family dies anyway and the only difference is whether your soldiers die while saving the boy or not. Thus, the choice is more of an impact on the MC than the boy and I think it might also to be harder to write in those tensions.

Still I think I will be needing some decisions for the MC to desert his troops and his village in some way, to become a deserter. I feel like this would be a cool little option becoming a deserter, or what do you think?
I think my idea already has that covered, though on a more personal level:

- the MC abandons his home and vow to protect it
- the MC abandons either the boy or causes his loyal men to die

If you want the MC to be a deserter, i.e. a story point that would make him somewhat disliked by others, how about something like this:

When the original commander of the city deserts, he makes up a story that MC took a good chunk of his troops and run, causing the city to fall and thus making him retreat. Thus, the MC is branded as a deserter by many (including the authorities) when in reality he wasn't.

Also, you've mentioned lords and religion... Here are some of my ideas:

- Demons weren't originally "evil" - they were pretty much like humans, but in time a certain evil religion has spread in their domains, corrupting a lot of them and causing them to become obsessed with conquest of the "infidels", seeing everyone who doesn't follow this religion as not worth living and inspiring the demons to brutality

- The same religion now spreads among the human priests, causing some of them to secretly support the demons in their attacks. At the same time, some nobles also fall under the influence of that religion and consciously abandon their people.

- The king himself is not corrupted per se, but he is aware of that religion and struggles with a choice he has been given by the demons: accept it and join us, selling your nation to our onslaught in return for your life or refuse and die along with your people

However, I do still think I will keep this relic thingy, but maybe redo it. I would imagine the MC trying to save his companion by throwing himself in front of him, getting cursed by the warlock, leaving him with the demon within. He then needs to acquire a relic to contain it.
This will make the MC more interesting to play as, so the companion won't take all the excitement.
Well, that's your choice :)

I'm not a fan of this idea - I just feel that being possessed by a demon is a pretty standard theme, so what I would do is drop the relic completely and go for a more down-to-earth story, with the old soldier starting off as the main character, but then passing on the torch to his companion and the two switching roles, making the player actually forge his own main character (i.e. the child) in the process by deciding what events influence him as he grows and the original main character becoming more of a tutor/fatherly figure to him.

How I would see it is:

a) Act I - the siege of the city, including everything I wrote up until the moment where the kid becomes the companion; the old soldier is clearly the main character here.

b) Act II - both heroes trying to help people, fighting some nobles and working towards clearing the name of the old soldier who was branded as an deserter

Act II finale - the old soldier is captured and hanged for treason, as he dies, he reveals the truth about saving his companion. The companion is saved from execution by his real/demon father. The two take revenge on the cowardly commander to avenge the old soldier. The boy/companion becomes the main character and his demon father becomes his companion.

c) Act III - explores the backstory of the new main character, the corruption of demons, the evil religion, the corrupted human authorities; the main character ultimately gain enough power and following to challenge the king/demon warlock in charge of the religion (depending on the player choice).

d) Act IV - based on the player choice you either go against the humans (i.e. the king) or demons (i.e. the warlock) by helping either your human allies and uncorrupted lords you've met in Act III or the demon resistance you've also met in Act III. It ends with you becoming either the de facto leader of the humans or demons.

e) Act V - a short finale, in which you basically conclude the story by either:
- As human leader - take the fight to the demons and defeat the warlock
- As demon leader - take the fight to the humans and defeat their corrupted king (yes, the king would sell out his people to the warlock before that)
- As either leader - strike a deal with the opposing leader to forge peace, but ultimately betray the other side and rule both humans and demons either with the iron fist, seeing both races as slaves (i.e. become the "warlock" yourself) or as a wise and kind ruler (player choice)
- As either leader - walk off the chess board, not willing to fight anymore and not seeing any race as worth fighting for
 
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I'm not a fan of this idea - I just feel that being possessed by a demon is a pretty standard theme, so what I would do is drop the relic completely and go for a more down-to-earth story, with the old soldier starting off as the main character, but then passing on the torch to his companion and the two switching roles, making the player actually forge his own main character (i.e. the child) in the process by deciding what events influence him as he grows and the original main character becoming more of a tutor/fatherly figure to him.

You really have given me some ideas to work on here. I am currently trying to figure out how the dots should be connected and how everything would work and make sense. I think I will use some of your ideas here, since they are really great. However, I have worked out something now before I saw your post, since I was disconnected from the internet for a couple of hours. I still appreciate your feedback and what you've worked out.
If you would like to take a look at what I made, maybe we may be able to come to an agreement. I have arranged it so I was able to get an overview on the lore and plots of the project.

The Main Character:
- A former soldier now retired
- Lost family under the invasion
- The Warlock possesses him upon defeat
- Is guided by the Warlock to obtain a relic

The Relic:
- Grants the ability to speak the demonic tongue
- Consumes the souls of demons

The Companion:
- A boy saved by the MC under the siege on the village
- Lost family under the invasion
- Is primarily affected by the MC's decisions
- The innocent side of the MC

The Warlock:
- Possesses the MC when defeated
- Speaks to the MC in demonic
- Was leading forces against the Land Lord
- Wants to reveal the truth about the Pastor
- Intends to rid the world off of the sin demons
- Needed human blood from the village to cancel the Pastor's disguise (I kept this aspect of the Warlock, to state the fact that he is no 'good guy', but has good intentions)
- Fights the Sin Demons
- Guides the MC, while possessed, to accomplish his task
- The cruel side of the MC

The Land Lord:
- Lord of the land of which the village among others are located
- Carelessly fails to reinforce and protect village of the MC
- Is misled by the Pastor

The Pastor:
- Is the adviser for the Land Lord
- Is in fact a sin demon in disguise
- Corrupts the Land Lords mind

Sin Demons:
- Pure evil
- Seeks power and domination
- Not all demons are evil savages, regarding their barbaric nature
- Remains of those infected by the Dark Magic
- Practice Dark Magic

Dark Magic:
- Separated humans and demons
- A curse

--------

After the village was destroyed, the MC will seek out the Warlock for vengeance. Upon defeating the Warlock, the Warlock will possess the MC as a final resort to finish his task.
This way there will arise dispute between the companion and the MC's actions affected by the Warlock's possession.
Possessed and haunted by the demonic voices, the MC will seek a priest (no lore on the priest yet) and uncover the relic. Acquiring this will make the MC able to understand the words of the Warlock. The Warlock explains how his attack on the village was to create a ritual to reveal the truth about the Pastor, using human blood. The Pastor is the reason why the village got destroyed in the first place, due to the lack of caring from the Land Lord, who is corrupted by the Pastor. The Pastor is in fact a Sin Demon.

This is actually nothing but an intro to the story. All this will be a part of a whole lot more and will not be the main event of the story.

Edit:
Additionally, I understand your thought with the torch given on to the companion. I just fell over a couple of ideas for it.
So let's say the main character is hung by the human Lord for being a deserter. It could be a tragic scenario, really to shine through the feel of this story.
Through the choices you've made, they may have an impact on the new MC, the Companion. Say you have made choices which will affect the child's reputation in a good or bad way for both factions, human and demon. Also, if this is a skill point based game, certain choices you've made through-out the intro will shape the child's default starting stat points. It could be if you, as the MC, focused on training your companion in combat or preferred something else.
Could be an interesting thing, like from the game Fallout 3, as you pass the test, you will have your skill points shaped after how well you made it.
 
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We don't have to come to an agreement, though :) It's your project and your story - I've just shared my pitch with you to hopefully give you some ideas and inspiration, what you will do with it is totally up to you :)
 
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We don't have to come to an agreement, though :) It's your project and your story - I've just shared my pitch with you to hopefully give you some ideas and inspiration, what you will do with it is totally up to you :)

Haha ye I know. Might have meant we came to an understanding. :)
 
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Further idea (going further with MC's guilt over the kid's family): at some point he can't take it any more and tells the kid everything about his real family and MC's role in failing to save them, willing to let the kid finish him:
Kid kills MC (cutscene or boss fight where the goal is to lose) and the warlock takes over his corpse to keep carrying out his own plans (change of abilities and voice set).
Kid decides they'll finish the whole quest and then decide whether or not MC should live.
Kid forgives MC.
 
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Further idea (going further with MC's guilt over the kid's family): at some point he can't take it any more and tells the kid everything about his real family and MC's role in failing to save them, willing to let the kid finish him:
Kid kills MC (cutscene or boss fight where the goal is to lose) and the warlock takes over his corpse to keep carrying out his own plans (change of abilities and voice set).
Kid decides they'll finish the whole quest and then decide whether or not MC should live.
Kid forgives MC.

Glad you're still with me here. :D
I suppose I will have to not kill the MC too early then. When would be a fitting time? Both the player and the characters need time to get attached to each other. Also it cannot wait too long, if the MC has to die and you have to play on as the child.
 
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Well, around halfway then, possibly after a big battle.

Although it depends, what time of timescale are you thinking of? Letting the kid become a teenager or 20-year-old by the time it happens could have some interesting results (for example, the kid swears he'll be the one to kill the MC after the main plot is done, and gets Taunt to make sure no one else kills him).
 
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Well, around halfway then, possibly after a big battle.

Although it depends, what time of timescale are you thinking of? Letting the kid become a teenager or 20-year-old by the time it happens could have some interesting results (for example, the kid swears he'll be the one to kill the MC after the main plot is done, and gets Taunt to make sure no one else kills him).

You could do some kind of fast forward after the MC's death and then play as the companion. It might be too much to let the companion stay as a child while slaughtering demons.

I really appreciate you guys helping out with a great brain storm. It really gave some interesting points of views.

I have now changed the title and the topic to battle systems/type. Read the main post for details. If you have any ideas for either the topic or the story, please feel free to share, it really is appreciated!
 
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Sin Demon battle: The MC is targeted by seven minor demons who force him into sleep and fight him in his mind (thank you, Legends of Arkain). As the Warlock is also sharing his mind, he participates in the battle. During the battle, the MC is not a hero but a regular unit with unit versions of his abilities, as is the Warlock. Warlock has an extra Abolish Magic spell with a longer cooldown and Spell Immunity.

If you're developing the MC's personality further, I have some modifications in mind.

Models:
Wrath: Pit Lord
Sloth: Forgotten One
Avarice: Voidwalker
Lust: Succubus (astoundingly enough)
Pride: Archimonde
Envy: Kil'jaeden
Gluttony: Felhound


Each demon has its own debuff:
Wrath: Gives Berserk to the target and forces him to cast Berserk, then removes the ability.
Sloth: (Slow) Severely reduces attack speed and movement speed.
Avarice: While alive, Avarice randomly spawns gold coins around the arena, giving +1, 0, or -1 gold. While the Avarice debuff is active, the target is forced to go collect the last-spawned coin.
Lust: (Cripple) Severely reduces attack, attack speed and movement speed. Alternately, removes attack while buff is active.
Pride: Gives Taunt to the target and forces him to cast Taunt, then removes the ability.
Envy: While active, replaces the target's abilities with weaker versions of a randomly chosen unit, including the Warlock's. Alternately, summons an enemy copy of the MC with better stats.
Gluttony: While active, target has negative HP regen.

Possible mechanics:
An earlier sidequest allows the MC to face the demons one at a time rather than all at once(in which case they also summon troops).
An earlier sidequest makes the demons target each other as well as the MC (in which case they also summon troops).
 
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Sin Demon battle: The MC is targeted by seven minor demons who force him into sleep and fight him in his mind (thank you, Legends of Arkain). As the Warlock is also sharing his mind, he participates in the battle. During the battle, the MC is not a hero but a regular unit with unit versions of his abilities, as is the Warlock. Warlock has an extra Abolish Magic spell with a longer cooldown and Spell Immunity.

Hmm, I think this goes against the story line I've already developed, but there are always time for change!
However, I think I will stick to the 7 demons being an individual boss fight. In this case, I might actually use your suggestion here, though. :)

Just might be difficult making up a 'last boss' for the map then, but I guess you could always make something up like the last Demon of Sin is trying to persuade the MC to overthrow humanity or you will have to defend the kingdom against him, making him the ultimate threat compared to the others. What are your thoughts on this? :)


Models:
Wrath: Pit Lord
Sloth: Forgotten One
Avarice: Voidwalker
Lust: Succubus (astoundingly enough)
Pride: Archimonde
Envy: Kil'jaeden
Gluttony: Felhound

I like this. I was not aware of these 7 sins to be an actual thing lol. Might be a cool to use something that actually exists and make some stuff around that. Nice idea.


Each demon has its own debuff:

Definitely some cool stuff going on here.


Possible mechanics:
An earlier sidequest allows the MC to face the demons one at a time rather than all at once(in which case they also summon troops).
An earlier sidequest makes the demons target each other as well as the MC (in which case they also summon troops).

Some early game choices, which makes the outcome of the game shift entirely through-out the whole map, will make the map replay-able and lots of fun to explore. :)

Overall very nice input mate! I'd almost wish for you to join in, haha. xD
I will definitely use some of these ideas for sure, thanks!
 
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I was thinking of it being an ordinary boss battle to introduce the mid-tier demonic units, the way the first human campaign has you fight an Abomination early on before they start being produced. For example, imagine the reverse happening, with a demon facing off against a footman, a rifleman, a priest, a sorceress, a knight and a mortar team so as to learn the capabilities of each unit before fighting them on a regular basis.

Oh, the Warlock is on the MC's side during the battle, just to clarify. He has Spell Immunity because it's not his mind the demons are invading so he can't get hit by their temptations, and Abolish so that he can help clear the MC's mind. Good place to include a lore info dump, since he presumably knows more about the demons than the MC does.

Timing-wise, this would happen sometime after the storyline you've put up, when the demons fought so far have been very minor (as in felguards and voidwalkers and the occasional Sin). It serves to show that the demons are starting to take the MC seriously.

As for the final boss, I was thinking of several demon lords sharing power and prevented from becoming the single big bad by the others (as a working example, let's say there's three). The final chapters would be like this (though I have an idea for an AoS map):
* The MC goes for the frontal assault against all 3, in which case they all have huge amounts of HP (e.g. 30,000 HP each), but they also use the opportunity to attack with great big AoE spells (i.e. 1000 damage meteors) the MC has to dodge. When he first enters their lair or every time a lord dies, the MC is given the choice to join them or fight them as you described.
* The MC goes after each lord in turn, so each boss is comparatively weaker (e.g. 10,000 HP), but they take longer to die since they aren't going to hit themselves with their own spells.

Which gives several endings: the MC triumphs over all the lords and saves humanity, the MC triumphs over all the lords and attacks humanity, the MC joins the lords and is promptly betrayed by them, the MC joins the lords and betrays them, the MC joins the lords and they enact an allied reign of terror, etc.
 
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I was thinking of it being an ordinary boss battle to introduce the mid-tier demonic units, the way the first human campaign has you fight an Abomination early on before they start being produced. For example, imagine the reverse happening, with a demon facing off against a footman, a rifleman, a priest, a sorceress, a knight and a mortar team so as to learn the capabilities of each unit before fighting them on a regular basis.

Yes these were my intentions as well. It's a valuable method to introduce the player to the game.

Oh, the Warlock is on the MC's side during the battle, just to clarify. He has Spell Immunity because it's not his mind the demons are invading so he can't get hit by their temptations, and Abolish so that he can help clear the MC's mind. Good place to include a lore info dump, since he presumably knows more about the demons than the MC does.

I didn't get that at first. Okay nice concept really and yes it is intended the Warlock will inform the MC (and the player) about the Sin Demons through-out the game.

Some cool ideas for the final boss fight really. I might have to make a plan with all excessable boss fights and make up with myself what I would like to use and how. :D
 
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Optional boss fight idea: Tourney

A tourney organized by the human lords. The MC signs up under any one of the lords' colors (different rewards), and fights progressively harder battles against their champions. Several different types of battles available (vs. animals, one-on-one, team battle, obstacle courses, timed fights, no-magic, no-items, etc.) Winnings include reputation, items and money.

The first fight is plot-mandated (although winning isn't, just win enough fights to get noticed by the lords). After the tourney, some fights are repeatable in order to farm money or items.
 
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Haven't played it, you'll have to tell me when ideas get too similar.

Nothing too similar. In The Witcher 3, you may participate in some unarmed brawling matches and as you beat your opponent, you may challenge a stronger opponent in another part of the land.

Like a side quest with no impact on the story or anything.
 
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Models:
Wrath: Pit Lord
Sloth: Forgotten One
Avarice: Voidwalker
Lust: Succubus (astoundingly enough)
Pride: Archimonde
Envy: Kil'jaeden
Gluttony: Felhound

I used your idea. I have worked on a story and some lore.

Story:

"In the beginning of time man were as one. United. We shared peace. But dark times would fall upon us.

The king, our king, was endowed two sons. Time shaped them, as it does us all. Both grew to be men, however, only one to become king. The elder son showed diligence to serve his people. He was temperant in his ways and was humble to those in need, who he gave charity. The king favored him and wanted for him to inherit the throne. The son was most grateful and was to share the news with his wife-to-be. He was an idol to his people, but not to his brother, who lived in the shadows of his doing. Envious of his possessions, the smaller brother longed for pride and took his wrath upon his brother and killed him and his dear. The bereaved people cursed the son of sins, to bear his burdens within. Affected by comtempt, the king had his son banished to live forever with his sins and guilt by his side. The burden grew stronger over time and started taking shape of voices within his mind. He was no longer by himself, but spoke for more. In time he lost control and let loose his seven sins to take over the virtues, ultimately changing the world forever.

As the sins spread across the lands, the kingdom was torn apart and divided into land which was ruled by a lord. Man took shape of the sins and some pledged to them. Those were named Demons and served the ultimate Demons of Sin. We were no longer 'one'."
- The Warlock

What I have been plotting for this is that the first born is characterized to have all the virtues, which are the contrasts to the seven deadly sins. As his smaller brother unleashed the sins upon the world, he will form the Sin Demons. The Sin Demons will each be named after one of the sins. When slain by the MC, they will turn into the contrast virtue.

You will by this way in the end be able to choose rather to serve the virtues, being the humans, or be persuaded by the Sin Demon, Superbia (pride), to take back what you lost from the lord in vengeance, leaving you to side with the demons.

-----------

This is what I have worked out so far. It might need some configurations - but what do you think of it so far? :)
 
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We're going to need more info on the state of religion for it to be in the right context, and there are a few points that need clarifying, but it seems promising. We're going to meet one or both brothers, right?

I had an idea for the sins, which could be made compatible with your origin:
The sins are more akin to elemental forces that seek only their continued existence, which is why they manifest themselves in people and so strongly in the brother's mind and his entourage (and with a feedback effect: the sins are powerful in the first place because people rarely resist indulging themselves). Actually defeating them essentially rewrites reality so people will enact the corresponding virtue with far-reaching consequences (beating wrath causes many wars to stop regardless of the cause, beating greed causes an economic crisis as people require less goods, etc.).

Regarding the final choice: You could have one for every sin instead of just pride (Wrath: beat the lord to death, Lust: get your wife back, Avarice: get your possessions back etc.) or even all of them. The last one causes the demon lords to turn against you, as you are now a greater danger to their position.

How's this for the hierarchy (with units as an approximate idea of power level):
* Sin Demon: The actual embodiment of the sin, each a boss in their own right. Because each sin only seeks to perpetuate itself (wrath wants people angry, sloth wants them lazy, etc.), they are only capable of working with each other for a limited time then go right back to competing with each other. (Heroes)
* Demon Lords: The strongest of demonkind. They are strong enough to avoid enslavement to a single sin, so their powers and armies are amix of all types (the execute-underling-for-bringing-bad-news type will be more Wrath than Avarice). (Heroes)
* Avatar of Sin: Lesser incarnations of a sin, and single-mindedly devoted to their patron. (The kind fought in the 7-on-2 boss battle: higher-tier Voidwalkers, Eredar...)
* Ascended Servant: Humans turned into powerful demons as in the origin. They tend to be more powerful because they can conceive of working alongside other sins for more efficiency. (Doom Guards etc.)
* Greater Demons: Demons who have risen in their hierarchy (Bloodfiends etc.).
* Lesser Demons: Unaffiliated, but have buffs depending on which sin they're serving (Felguards, Voidwalkers...)
* Willing Servants: Humans who willingly serve the demons in the hopes of becoming one. (Acolytes, Grunts)
* Infernal Rabble: The weakest of the demonic forces, humans tricked into signing over their souls for an eternity of servitude (Draenai, Fel boars...).
 
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We're going to need more info on the state of religion for it to be in the right context, and there are a few points that need clarifying, but it seems promising. We're going to meet one or both brothers, right?

Ah yes, I might should have mentioned this was intended to be a part of the story which happened before the actual game play. Like a 'prehistory' if that is a word lol.
Both brothers are meant to be dead, so is the king, since this has happened hundreds of years ago.

The sins are more akin to elemental

Do you suggest they will be more of an independent element?
In this case, what are the demons essentially then? Just a race or an abomination of humans turned?

How's this for the hierarchy (with units as an approximate idea of power level):

You refer a lot to Warcraft characters. Are these just the models you mean?
I have a bunch of downloaded models for demons, but I haven't really thought of a hierarchy. I think I will try to keep it simple by just having the human lords, the Sin Demons and then just a bunch of demon minions with a variety of difficulty. Don't you think all these ranks would be too complex for the player?
 
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Sounded more like a creation myth, to explain why this world had sins. So you could end up finding the younger brother's soul and see whether he's remorseful for what he unleashed, or find the older brother's soul and see if he's forgiven his brother.

Regarding the demons, my idea is something like 40K's take where a sin is the sum total of all that emotion felt by humanity: whenever humans approach a situation, they either react positively (virtue) or negatively (sin). Due to overwhelmingly negative responses (humans are such flawed and weak-willed creatures), the sins have the upper hand. So demons were human once, but abandoned their humanity through their evil behavior so long ago they're no longer recognizable as human.

For the ranks, sure, it's just to have an idea of what kind of threat they represent, what they look like is up to you. A low-level demon can be autoattacked without effort (such as a Felguard), a higher-level one needs spells and some microing to avoid getting killed (such as a Doom Guard).
 
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creation myth

If that is the term, then yes. :D

like 40K's

What does this mean?

So demons were human once, but abandoned their humanity through their evil behavior so long ago they're no longer recognizable as human.

Ye these were my intentions of the story. I think it will be a nice way to have the outcome be both ways, since you will be able to create a kind of understanding or pity for the demons in a way.

So you could end up finding the younger brother's soul and see whether he's remorseful for what he unleashed, or find the older brother's soul and see if he's forgiven his brother.

Interesting point. How would you do this though? I have planned some sort of undead act with a lore about 3 revenants I haven't really finished yet. Something about them calling upon the dead. Why I have not yet made a reason for.
 
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Have the demons live on their own plane, with two places that they avoid or treat as sacred. Inside one is the younger brother, in the other are the older one and his wife.

Would you think this would be an ideal story? Are there any potential in these elements we've developed as a whole?
I like it, but I want to make sure it's not just me and it ends up being kind of lame you know. It's not meant to be some faerie tale. :)

I have updated the main thread. Try read it if you like. I have recreated the story, fitting most of our aspects in so far.
 
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Some ideas for the sin-to-virtue fights. The main mechanic is that simply attacking has negative effects, so you need to find the right trick. All sins summon demons during the fight (both their own specialized demons and the low-level ones).

Sloth has ridiculously high HP and is at the bottom of a sloping pit. He actually damages himself when he chases you to the edge before falling back down (lazy bastard). Attacking Sloth casts Sleep on the player.

Gluttony has several pits that continuously spawn demons with timed life, some of which he eats to regain health and mana. Shutting these down causes him to lose health regen until defeated. Attacking Gluttony gives the player negative HP regen.

Wrath periodically rushes at the player, who needs to dodge or take huge damage and knockback (dodging causes Wrath to smash into an obstacle, damaging himself). Attacking Wrath gives him an attackspeed buff that stacks with every attack made.

Pride channels extremely destructive spells, the longer the player waits to interrupt him the more damage he takes (though as he takes damage channel time is reduced). Attacking Pride instantly casts the spell.

Envy summons several doppelgangers of the MC with boosted stats, damaging Envy when defeated. Attacking Envy increases his damage, total health and other stats.
 
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I like your ideas mate. So far I have only thought of stuff for how to personalize them and how their area might be like, so this might be useful. :)
 
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Some ideas for each sin's realm (probably better to make each an individual map): In addition to the demons, each realm is massively populated with neutral passive humans (villager and peasant models), representing humans who fell to sin but lacked the willpower to become true demons:

Pride: Lots of oversized buildings and vertically-stretched damaged towers that tend to crumble and fall on the player if he gets close (use to take out groups of enemies and make bridges). The damned are constantly building new towers and then being told to interrupt construction.

Greed: Lots of food doodads but many of them swarming with flies and rats to emphasize the wasteful nature of sin. Vast herds of sheep and pigs are constantly being slaughtered by the damned to satify an unceasing hunger.

Avarice: Lots of gold mines, gold carts, shiny doodads, etc. The damned are working the mines, with far too many workers to a mine.

Wrath: Lots of spikes, rivers of blood, great numbers of damned souls punching each other.

Sloth: Lots of rocks and fog. Damned souls sit in the middle of chokepoints and need to be attacked so they move out of the way, but do so very slowly.

Lust: Fire everywhere, damned souls being tormented or led into fires by succubi.
 
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Some ideas for each sin's realm (probably better to make each an individual map): In addition to the demons, each realm is massively populated with neutral passive humans (villager and peasant models), representing humans who fell to sin but lacked the willpower to become true demons:

Pride: Lots of oversized buildings and vertically-stretched damaged towers that tend to crumble and fall on the player if he gets close (use to take out groups of enemies and make bridges). The damned are constantly building new towers and then being told to interrupt construction.

Greed: Lots of food doodads but many of them swarming with flies and rats to emphasize the wasteful nature of sin. Vast herds of sheep and pigs are constantly being slaughtered by the damned to satify an unceasing hunger.

Avarice: Lots of gold mines, gold carts, shiny doodads, etc. The damned are working the mines, with far too many workers to a mine.

Wrath: Lots of spikes, rivers of blood, great numbers of damned souls punching each other.

Sloth: Lots of rocks and fog. Damned souls sit in the middle of chokepoints and need to be attacked so they move out of the way, but do so very slowly.

Lust: Fire everywhere, damned souls being tormented or led into fires by succubi.

I have actually been working on a few ideas for this. I should be able to fit in your ideas. I actually already sorted out which maps I would use for each level and boss - I even made the start village the map type 'Village' and when you yet again return to it after the siege, it shifts to 'Village Fall', to give another feel to it, with a lot of crumbled houses, corpses and their crops have gone from harvested and fresh to rotten with flies. Some minor details makes the difference you know.

The City:
Demon of Sin: Gluttony, using the model below, a fat noble man, who will transform into a demon when engaged.
(He is brain washing the Land Lord of the City and is the main target of the Warlock).
Fat Nobleman
Map: Dalaran Fall
Events: When you enter, some people are gathered with the focus on a woman. When you are going to leave the City, you will see the town square is left empty with a woman hung in gallows.

The Vault:
Demon of Sin: Greed, with lots of gold and treasures.
Map: Dungeon

The Mines:
Demon of Sin: Sloth, who will be at the bottom of the mines. He will be characterized as being cold and emotionless to the fullest, asking the MC questions about why he feel the lust for his acts. In the eyes of the Sloth, nothing really matters. I choose to put him in the mines, because the environment I have planned inside my head will match his personality.
Map: Village Fall
Note: I could be using your ideas from Sloth here, would be nice.

Demon Plains:
Demon of Sin: Envy, standing in the middle of nowhere. She stands next to a huge tree with a bunch of women hung in gallows.
Map: Lordearon Winter, without the snow tiles, but because the lighting of the tiles will make it more cold and dark compared to the human world. This is the first area you will come to and will make a contrast to the other world.

Forests of Lust:
Demon of Sin: Lust, since she is the sin of temptation and lust, the sin is also defined to be the closest to animals. She will be an attractive model, but as you begin to defy her, she will turn into a horrific beast.
Map: Felwood

Sanctum:
Demon of Sin: Pride, making the sanctums his citadel, Pride, will stand out as what he is opposed to be. Powerful, full of desire and selfish.
Map: Underground
Events: Here the shrines of Sin and Virtue will be, and you will get to choose what shrine to use (not fully planned yet).
Note: I was inspired by your thoughts of letting the humans join in on the demon realm, so I was thinking about letting the humans camp and settle down outside the walls. They are, however, left poor and not taken care of, since they are in the domain of Pride, who is selfish and non-caring of others well-being. It would make a nice scenario for the player upon interaction.

'The Second City': (Not found a name yet)
Demon of Sin: Wrath, he will take his wrath upon a city, in which case you will have to defend. In this scenario, Wrath, will be the last boss of the Demons of Sin, but he will not be the main boss. The choices you've made will determine the outcome of the game.
Map: Cityscape
Events: If you choose to destroy the city, the map will load as Dalaran Fall, with lots of fog and destroyed buildings.
 
Level 8
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Jun 13, 2010
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Interesting story. MC is struggling to find balance between virtue and sin... How about some events that determine the skills or stats for MC? Like if MC choose to make sins, he will gain demonic skills or if he upholds the virtues, he will gain holy skills etc.

Interesting. An option could be, based on his decisions, he gains either a Point of Virtue or a Point of Sin, which he can spend on specific class abilities of the sort. How does that sound?
 
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