Overhaul Concept - The Dreadlords Convene

[Khazmo]

The Dreadlords Convene is a short, interesting cutscene that raises a possibility of being fleshed out into a combat mission. This has the exciting prospect of being the first time and only time you control a Dreadlord in the Undead campaigns, but also of fleshing out a plot hole in the story - how did Tichondrius travel to meet his Nathrezim brothers on a demon world?

We see very few Demon Gates used during Reign of Chaos. We meet Blackrock Clan orcs that attempt to open one but are defeated by Arthas, and later we meet a large Blackrock encampment that succeeded in doing so. But how did they manage to open it? Most times we see a Demon Gate in WC3, Tichondrius features on the map. He passes through one in this chapter, and he also controls several during the Night Elf campaign. This seems to suggest that he is capable of summoning such portals.

I suggest fleshing out the cutscene into a mission. Tichondrius needs to communicate with his brothers at the Dreadlords Citadel, and the Blackrock Orcs need a functional gate for the mission Blackrock and Roll. So, how would this play out?

Prelude - New

A new mission requires new dialogue, but as we do not have the ability to record new dialogue for Tichondrius, we have to be clever if we want to give him new content. Fortunately, the lore surrounding Dreadlords provides the perfect opportunity to give him new lines, and any others can be filled in by loyal Necromancers under the players control.

A key part of the Dreadlord lore is that they can assume the guise of other individuals, and this is how we open the mission (as per usual, this is a basic script):

[This prologue would begin with TICHONDRIUS disguised as an Orcish warlock commanding JUBEI'THOS from Blackrock & Roll, Too! to sacrifice the nearby villages. As he is posing as an Orc, potentially one of the spellcaster heroes from the latter mission, he wouldn't need to use his natural voice. After the orders are given, this is what could be said]

JUBEI'THOS: "I hear and obey." (Blademaster unit quote)

[TICHONDRIUS and JUBEI'THOS part ways. TICHONDRIUS walks towards a hidden area where his Undead forces are waiting and transforms from the Orc Warlock into his true Dreadlord form. Waiting for him there is a SHADE that serves as the primary narrator for the mission]

TICHONDRIUS: "Insufferable lout." (Tichondrius unit quote)
SHADE: "Master, the cursed orcs are weak. These lands are held in an iron grip by the living and they won't give it up easily."
TICHONDRIUS: "I grow tired of waiting." (Tichondrius unit quote)
SHADE: "Then we must act! The dead can go unseen. Let us pave their way to victory by crippling the defences of the living."
TICHONDRIUS: "That may work. I'll play along." (Tichondrius unit quotes)

[A beat]

TICHONDRIUS: "For now." (Tichondrius unit quote)

[Scene ends]

With that the mission is started, and the story is pushed forward under the direction of the nameless Shade who exists purely to keep the mission moving. By introducing the Orc Warlock and the Shade, we avoid needing to give Tichondrius new dialogue. By showing Jubei'Thos, we set up the villain that Arthas hunts down later in this campaign while not needing to give him any new lines.

Map - Expand & Update

I imagine that Re-Reforged will look at remaking the Blackrock & Roll, Too! map, so my suggestion is that this map should utilise the same layout as that map but with changes. First, as this is set earlier in the story, the terrain could show less ice and snow and more of a "Fall" theme, perhaps a Fall theme with snowy areas to show that winter is approaching high in the mountains.

Instead of depicting a whole bunch of Orc strongholds, my suggestion is to have this area as a stronghold of the Syndicate and villages falling under their protection. This would prove to be a pay off for earlier teases of the Syndicate from the Scourge of Lordaeron campaign, with one Orc encampment. The most built up town would be the one furthest from the Orc camp, with the rest shown as villages. The story depicted in this mission would explain why the Orcs control this region in Blackrock & Roll, Too!.

Somewhere in this area should be added a cavern or nest for Red Dragons.

Additionally, it should be pointed out that somewhere hidden would be the terrain ported over from the vanilla The Dreadlords Convene map. Doing this allows the gameplay to flow into the final cutscene.

Main Objective - New

The core objective ties to the prelude - Tichondrius needs the Orcs to cull the settlements in this area so that they may open a portal that will let them summon demons, but the Orcs are at an immediate disadvantage. If the player does nothing, then the Syndicate forces will slowly whittle away their defences until they are defeated. As the two Orcs and Humans clash, the player controls TICHONDRIUS as he probes the Syndicates defences. These strikes are used to deprive the Syndicate of vital assets, giving the Orcs a fighting chance to defeat their enemies and wipe out each settlement in turn. As each settlement is destroyed, the Orcs gain access to new units that strengthen their forces.

There would be similarities with a DOTA for this kind of mission, but I don't believe it should follow the standard of one. More that I think that we should see two AI factions fighting for control of a map. As each settlement falls, another cultist steps onto a circle of power and begins casting. Once all the settlements are destroyed, the Demon Gate opens.

To make this mission differ from the Blackrock & Roll, Too!, I feel that it is vital that it isn't a base building mission, otherwise you would get too much of a sense of deja vu when playing as Arthas later in the campaign. A traditional hero-map might not work right either, but perhaps there is some middle ground between the two where your focus is on controlling TICHONDRIUS with some limited ability to recruit new minions to fight at your side.

Side Objective - New

Most missions have side-quests to take part in and this map should be no different, but I think the best thing to do is to use it as a tie-in to one of the stranger parts of the Blackrock Clan forces from Blackrock & Roll, Too! - the fact that the Blackrock Orcs still have access to red dragons long after they had lost control of Alexstrasza, the dragon queen.

My thought is that after dealing with one of the villages, the SHADE speaks to TICHONDRIUS through ambient dialogue, alerting him to a nearby cavern populated by red dragons. At this point you are given the quest:

Dragonspawn

The red dragon [NAME] has been discovered nesting in the mountains of Alterac. If the great wyrm is slain, the rest of her brood can be dominated through dark magic.

The side-quest could be another boss fight like the Re-Reforged Searinox fight, or it could be a traditional hack-and-slash through a bunch of creeps. Either way, once the Red Dragon is slain, the brood are dominated by TICHONDRIUS in a dialogue-less cutscene through the use of dark magic. Tichondrius is rewarded with magic items and a single red dragon, while the Orcs can now spawn Dragons for their battles.

I have taken a look at the loot given by TICHONDRIUS in World of Warcraft and one of them feels quite apt for this mission - Dreadwyrm Shoulderguards. My suggestion is that this item is added as loot/reward for completing the sidequest, but I have no idea what bonus it should provide, only that it would be a nice nod to future content.

Epilogue - Expand & Update

Once all of the Syndicate strongholds are defeated, the gameplay section ends and the final cutscene begins - an expanded version of The Dreadlords Convene cutscene. It is possible that at the end it is made clear that the Orcs have spotted TICHONDRIUS, or he can revert to his disguised form. Either could work:

[The Blackrock Clan are preparing to sacrifice villagers and captured Syndicate forces in their masses. JUBEI'THOS strides forward]

JUBEI'THOS: "The warlocks of the Blackrock clan have spoken! Soon, demons will rain from the sky, and this wretched world will burn!" (Blackrock and Roll)
JUBEI'THOS: "Let this paltry sacrifice appease our demon masters!" (Blackrock and Roll)

[The Orcs begin killing the captives. Each death infuses the Orc Warlocks, including TICHONDRIUS (disguised or not), with dark magic that allows them to open the Demon Gate. Once it is torn open, TICHONDRIUS steps through the Demon Gate]

[This takes the player to the vanilla cutscene for The Dreadlords Convene. Upon arrival on the demon world, TICHONDRIUS dispels his disguise and the cutscene plays out as it always did with no further changes. When the cutscene ends, so does the mission]

Alternatives

There are several ways that the concept could be changed, requiring more or less work depending upon what is wanted:

1) If all of JUBEI'THOS' dialogue in this mission & Blackrock & Roll, Too! was redubbed then we would have a lot more leeway with writing the dialogue for this mission, and could set him up as a more interesting character. This could also allow us to have a scene where he turns into the Fel Orc we see in the latter mission, or at the least could make the dialogue feel more original.

2) The battle between Orcs and Humans could play out like a DOTA, where the Orcs are steadily losing ground to multiple Human camps. As you control take out the defences of the Syndicate, you weaken their forces which allow the Orcs to start gaining ground.

3) Instead of a full mission, the new Epilogue cutscene is added as an extension to the existing The Dreadlords Convene cutscene with no additional gameplay elements added.

 

[Kam]

I had originally planned to make this a lore mission played as Tichondrius exploring their "underworld", with the existing interlude custscene becoming the intro. You would interact with cultists and demons, and when approaching certain portals gain visions of areas of Azeroth in real time. You would then be able to choose to "jump" into the scene and watch it play out. These were to include various heroes fighting across the lands, armies moving, and hints at content in TFT campaigns. In this way there was no need for new dialogue. It was to wrap up with the player reaching what would be Tichondrius' quarters.

 

[InsaneMonster]

I had originally planned to make this a lore mission played as Tichondrius exploring their "underworld", with the existing interlude custscene becoming the intro. You would interact with cultists and demons, and when approaching certain portals gain visions of areas of Azeroth in real time. You would then be able to choose to "jump" into the scene and watch it play out. These were to include various heroes fighting across the lands, armies moving, and hints at content in TFT campaigns. In this way there was no need for new dialogue. It was to wrap up with the player reaching what would be Tichondrius' quarters.

Yeah please do elaborate, after all is Re-Reforged, I want to know how it was supposed to be reforged the first time

 

[Kam]

• Intro scene plays
• After Tichondrius is left alone he walks forward, opposite the portal on a new path that is not currently there
  • He was meant to walk forward after killing the soup Acolyte
• As he passes down the hall you see a few creative scenes
  • Acolytes in some sort of library, casting incantations
  • Footman being tortured
  • Rats appearing to worship a Acolyte (This is present in the Reforged map)
  • A landscape shot revealing the expansive underground cave system, lava lake, etc
    • Tichondrius should stop here for 5 seconds to contemplate
    • Fade out
  • Player takes control
• From here the player explores a series of hallways in the demonic complex, decorated with corpses, fire, Acolytes wandering the halls, and...
• Vision portals to Azeroth
  • As the player approaches they will see some of the content in in the swirling portal
    • This was to be accomplished with scaled down units and angles of the portals (They would always be oriented North.)
  • Stepping on a glowing platform initiates a cutscene
    • The player can skip the scene, none of them were to be more than 30 seconds
    • There were to be 10
    • Ideas that were slated:
      • Ruins and rebuilding in Stratholme, survivors fighting off bandits
      • Dwarven remnants in Northrend seeking shelter after having lost Muradin, Baelgun is seen
      • King Terenas on his throne with his council (corpses)
      • The Azjol-anak and a glimpse of Hadronox
    • The beautiful part here is that almost anything can be worked in
  • As the player progressed in a linear dungeon the end would be Tichondrius' chambers
    • Upon entering the player can explore
      • I wanted to create a demon bathroom =p
    • A glowing portal is present
    • Upon nearing it the outro scene starts
    • In this the camera passed over his shoulder slowly moving towards the portal, where you see the faint outline of the Skull of Gul'dan before fading out

 

[Khazmo]

That's a really interesting concept. I can probably think of a bunch of things to show in the portals, though I doubt they'd link to WoW too much, but showing more of the events surrounding the invasion would be very cool.

Were there plans for combat in this mission, or was it purely an adventure/exploration map?

 

[Kam]

It was an adventure map. The theme is really around the lore, and allowing the player to soak that up.

I had thought about having a "test range" so you could use his abilities on some prisoners / creatures. His abilities would only be active when in that space.

 

[Khazmo]

I've been looking through the canon to see what could be shown in the portals. The following list includes the four that were brainstormed by you, and the other events I've found after that. These are taken from across the spectrum of lore, as well as some events that are known to happen during this period but with no defined date:

- Ruins and rebuilding in Stratholme, survivors fighting off bandits

- Dwarven remnants in Northrend seeking shelter after having lost Muradin, Baelgun is seen

- King Terenas on his throne with his council (corpses)

- The Azjol-anak and a glimpse of Hadronox

- Many Half-elves join the war in the hope of gaining recognition

- The few remaining human, dwarf, high elf and half elven forces in Northrend establish the port of Valgarde

- Unable to hold Andorhal after Arthas' attack, the inhabitants burn the city to prevent the Scourge from controlling it

- Calia Menethil, Princess of Lordaeron, escapes the capital city of Lordaeron by hiding in a ditch for three days, before arriving in Southshore weeks/months later. No known lore on what happened between

- Blackrock Orcs led by Jubei’Thos succeed in opening a Demon Gate and summoning demonic allies to their cause

- Lordaeron is torn apart as the nation begins to succumb to the plague. One of armies came under the command of Grand Marshal Garithos in the east, who pledged to protect humanity from the Scourge. This likely starts in Blackwood in the Eastweald

- Someone in Lordaeron sends emissaries to Stormwind, Stromgarde, Gilneas, Ironforge, Quel'thalas and Gnomeregan. Few offer any support

- Magni Bronzebeard learns of Muradin's fate from a letter sent by Prince Arthas

- Alexandros Mograine visits Magni Bronzebeard with a unique crystal of pure light. Having learned of his brothers death at Arthas’ hand, Magni takes up the task of turning the crystal into a weapon and forges the Ashbringer

- Magni Bronzebeard leads an army north to fight the Scourge, but other than some battles in the Wetlands and at Thandol Span, his other battles are unknown

- At an unknown time, the Alliance approach the Gnomes in Gnomeregan for support but they refuse the call but allow their designs to be put to use. Their allies, especially the Ironforge and Wildhammer Dwarfs, are stunned by their decision to withhold troops. None know that they are under attack by the Troggs

- With the battles going so poorly across Lordaeron, other Knights of the Silver Hand begin to follow the example of Prince Arthas and start butchering towns, villages and cities that show signs of the plague. These become the Deathlords seen in TFT campaigns

- Hearing of the plague in the north, the Kingdom of Azeroth spies on Lordaeron so that they can understand the threat of the plague

- Uther's body was recovered after the battle with Arthas by followers of the Alliance and laid to rest in a great tomb

- The Burning Legion is mustering its forces in the Twisting Nether for an assault on Azeroth

- Refugees from Lordaeron flee to the few safe havens that they can find, some journey as far south as the Gilneas Wall but King Genn Greymane refuses to open the gates to his kingdom

- Scholomance in Caer Darrow becomes more actively involved in the war, but it remains a hidden experimental lab and a training site for acolytes

- The Orcs continue to sail across the Great Sea, though potentially at this time they're fighting the Murlocs/Naga in the Darkspear Trolls island home

- It is not known when this happens, but the Ogres, possibly as part of the "Ogre Legion", make their way to Kalimdor as part of a major exodus. This could've happened before Warcraft 3 or during Reign of Chaos. It's never made clear when the bulk of them set sail.

 

[Ardenaso]

He was meant to walk forward after killing the soup Acolyte

may I ask why he kills the acolyte btw?

btw can I post your ideas in mmo-c on what could've been for Reforged?

 

[Kam]

The Acolyte is carrying what could be seen as a bowl of soup. The joke is the soup isn't prepared correctly, and in the demon world this earns you death.

• One additional thought I had was to have a ghost Acolyte present in a later scene with dreadlords as a reference to this culinary faux pas.

This is a public forum, there's no need to ask permission but I do appreciate you asking.

 

[Dagren]

Since dreadlords are the jailers of the Lich King and true commanders of the Scourge at this stage of the campaign, in which the Scourge is basically a pawn of the Burning Legion, it would be cool if all the visions come from Scourge war fronts and/or other valuable targets and assets of the said Legion in Azeroth. Focusing on narrative bridges of the lore between RoC, TFT and WoW and trying not to speak about Kalimdor right now because it's still too early for the campaign.

Here my bets:


- in Andorhal, now a ghost town, just outside we could see Uther body taken to be buried by fellow survivors.
Among the survivors we could see the paladin Magroth the Defender (later seen in TFT held captive near Dalaran during the seventh sentinel mission and then in Lordaeron City in the first Scourge mission where he meets his demise) alongside High priest Thel'danis (from the already released RoC Re-Reforged human missions and also in WoW guarding Uther's Tomb).

- In the depths of Caer Darrow lies the academy of Scholomance, a Cult of Damned foothold where we see acolytes and necromancers practicing in the dark arts, summoning undead creatures. Here we could see Kirtonos now feasting on prisoners and Araj performing a dark ritual culminating in his own sacrifice.
Kirtonos became a blood craving vampire flying in and out of Scholomance in WoW and for Araj's ritual, that's a preparation for his later resurrection as a lich in WoW before taking control of all the western plaguelands, and also to show off about their current whereabouts after having seen them as antagonists in the RoC Re-Reforged fourth human mission.

- Stratholme, with now just a fraction of its former population due to the culling, is now getting overrun by the undead, but half of the city is still held tightly by humans, who are defending the Bastion of the Silver Hand.
This could resemble a "softer" look of Stratholme in vanilla WoW, where the undead gradually took control of much of the ruined city apart the Bastion's neighborhood.

- Lordaeron City has been attacked by the Scourge, the ruling body of the kingdom now lies dead in the throne room and the city is in a state of chaos, with humans clashing with the undead in the streets.
Among many, here we can see Halahk the Lifebringer and Dagren the orcslayer battling the undead, later seen near the capital leading the human resistance where they meet their demise at Arthas hands, in the TFT first Scourge mission.

- Hearthglen, now a rallying point of the Silver Hand is full of refugees willing to train and join the ranks of those who still oppose the undead.
We only see this place during the human campaign and then in WoW it's one of the few places left completely unscattered from the plague since vanilla, this place could be perfect to see Lord Garithos enlisting new cannon fodder for the alliance remnants during this time, to see him later in TFT.

- In Dalaran, now full of Lordaeron refugee camps, we can see Jaina and Antonidas receiving small delegations from the surrounding human kingdoms of Kul Tiras, Gilneas and Stromgarde, alongside Duke Lionheart of the Silver Hand discussing important political matters. In a detached area we can also see Kael once again.
Jaina is not departing now, according to the lore that happen right when the Scourge set foot in the outskirts of the city, so it would be cool to have this glance at how the Human Expedition has been formed, and why we can see Stromgarde, Kul Tiras and Gilneas brigades aiding Jaina's troops in the RoC orc campaign third mission set in Kalimdor and also about Duke Lionheart, that appears as Jaina's liutenant in the first mission of the RoC night elf campaign.

- Stromgarde, after receiving ill news from Lordaeron, decided to send almost all of his troops to defend the border, reinforcing Thoradin's Wall to prevent an invasion of the undead, but this left the inner kingdom weak to the raids of the bandits and rampant political instability.
The Scourge never managed to damage Arathi Highlands and Stromgarde, but in WoW is stated that during Third War this kingdom collapsed anyway due to ogre and syndicate-bandit raids and the lack of leadership since the king Thoras Trollbane was murdered by his own son Galen, craving for power, while the rest of Lordaeron was in check of the undead.

- In the Alterac mountains we can see Blackrock orcs sacrificing more villagers to appease the Burning Legion, but those sacrifices wont be enough, not to escape their punishment for their utter failure in the previous years.
Kel'thuzad stated that the blackrocks orcs "hold no favor within the Burning Legion" and must be "scourged from the world" in the sixth mission of the RoC undead campaign. Pretty to say that mission is like a punishment sent to the orcs from the Legion itself.

- In Hillsbrad Foothills the main orc encampments have been completely abandoned, where have those orcs gone? Must investigate further.
In the "Wreckage of Lordaeron" interlude in RoC orc campaign, we can see Tichondrius advising a surprised Mannoroth about their later whereabouts in Kalimdor.

- In Northrend the dwarves are marching through the frozen wastes in search of shelter with Baelgun Flamebeard leading them.
Hopefully we will see him in the RoC human Re-Reforged campaign as a demi-hero, being the second in command of Muradin's Explorer League, and later seen in TFT Scourge campaign residing near the inner entrances of Azjol Nerub.

- In the ruins of Azjol Nerub the nerubian forces of the Scourge, led by Anub'Arak are battling against the scattered living remnants. Their kingdom is now almost totally under the control of the Scourge.
We will meet him again in TFT in the last Scourge missions that are set in Northrend with his fellow brood.

 

[Ethenil]

I love this. It would be amazing if this could be implemented!

Would the mission have any gameplay besides just seeing these scenes?