Captains & Kings
From WorkCDN
Contents |
UNIQUE FEATURES
TIME: For every real day, there are four years in the game. That means over 1400 years in the game for every year in real life. Civilizations will rise and fall. Cities that were prospering one real-life year may be explorable ruins the next year.
DEATH: It's not a question of IF a character dies--they WILL die. NPC characters die. When a player-created character dies, the player can create an entirely new character, or an heir, who inherits some of the assets and experience of the old character.
CONTENT: Most of the content in the game will be player-created. For instance, within certain and obvious limitations, all the monsters will be created by Mage players, who will also be able to commission dungeons. See "Captains & Kings: the Classes" for details. Players (and NPCs) can send other players on quests. If there's a "Holy Grail" quest, and that Grail is taken to a city, it will remain there until somebody else grabs it or destroys it. There won't be a thousand players completing the exact same quest, although there may well be a thousand players failing the exact same quest (for instance, if there's a very hungry and powerful player-created dragon guarding that Grail).
IMMEDIATELY COOL CHARACTERS: Each attribute and asset is limited in level, so while a new player may not have the diversity of a veteran, he can easily equally any veteran in at least one attribute, such as strength or swordsmanship. Thus new players do not have to be easy prey in PvP. Further, players won't have to wait ages and ages to get a ride-able horse. Indeed, that would be impractical, considering the player-character will be aging four years a day.
KINGDOMS: Those players who are able to establish or take over a kingdom will be able to govern that region and change the laws, thereby affecting that nation's religion/s, art, economy, industry, agriculture, military, etc.
GAME DEVELOPER INVOLVEMENT: To keep history moving along, and to enforce the cosmic code of ethics, the developers will function as "Game Angels," and be able to appoint certain players to be Paladins, Prophets, or Pilgrims, to warn, judge or bless players, peoples or nations. They will also be able to give powerful, unique items to such players. Game Angels will also be able to cause catastrophes, such as plagues, locusts, earthquakes, famine, etc.
THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND MAGIC: While having the option to follow false gods or get involved with dark powers, such players will suffer the logical consequences of that. But not even the followers of the Shepherd will be necessarily good men. It is possible to follow a false god in a true way, and the true God in a false way. Almost equal to governing a nation is the ability of a Cleric Player to establish a religion or a sect. He will have many options, but all choices will have consequences for any player or NPC following that religion. Religions and sects may die out, or flourish, as time passes, and may be persecuted for a while, then persecute others. There are 18 false gods in the game, the Nephilim, the children of fallen angels and mortal women. Their forefathers, the Old Ones are locked in the Abyss. A third external force for evil is the Hireling, formerly the brightest angel in service of the Shepherd, whose goal in life is to drag everyone down to hell with him when his time comes. These three forces are entirely at odds with one another. The Nephilim have no desire to give up their power base (their worshipers), whom the Old Ones would consume and the Hireling would destroy. The fourth (internal) force for evil are the players themselves--there will be greedy, bloodthirsty players. One player may set up a simple religion serving the Shepherd, which another player may corrupt into an oppressive empire.
The Zones
Initially, for the Beta, the plan is to have just seven zones on one server, which will represent the Middle East. The zones will be the fantasy equivalents of Israel/Lebanon, Syria, Assyria/Armenia/George/Azerbaijan/Eastern Turkey, Mesopotamia, the Arabian Peninsula, the Sinai and Cyprus. One special thing about this game, at the beginning, is that there ARE NO cities or towns. The maps are completely devoid of civilization. Nor are there monsters. There are plenty of plants and animals, and natural resources, but NO beginning monsters. Don't worry. I'll explain why in a moment.
CHARACTER CREATION
Gender: Male or Female. Appearance: A simple but effective customization of a character's physical appearance.
CULTURES: Each race has different strengths and weaknesses, including how long they will live. See "Captains & Kings: Cultures" for further details. Race: Human, Elf, or Dwarf. Culture: (Human) European, African, Asian; (Elf) Wood, Sun, Sea; (Dwarf) Western, Southern, Eastern. Culture selection affects general placement of a player's first character in the game. Sub-Culture: (Human-European) Celtic, Nordic, Latin; (Human-African) Egyptian/Ethiopian; Nigerian, Zulu; (Human-Asian) Arabian, Indian, Chinese/Japanese; (Elven-Wood) Snow Elf, High Elf, Green Elf; (Elven-Sun) Golden Elf, Sand Elf, Jungle Elf; (Elven-Sea) Elf of the Isles, Dark Elf, Red Elf; (Dwarven-West) Halfling, Iron Dwarf, Black Dwarf; (Dwarven-South) Diamond Dwarf, Gold Dwarf, Red Dwarf; (Dwarven-East) White Dwarf, Gnome, Green Dwarf. Sub-Cultural selection further defines where a new player will start in the game.
CLASSES: Every class has their own special set of contributions to the game's world and history. This is one of the most interesting and exciting aspects of the game. It's the WoW killer! see "Captains & Kings: the Classes" for more detail. Major Class: Warrior, Demigod, Mage, Cleric, Ranger, Bard. each class has their own special set of contributions to the game. The game developers may appoint certain players at certain times in the game to become Paladins (warriors & demigods), Prophets (mages & clerics) or Pilgrims (rangers & bards), depending on what is required for their purposes. This will grant the player special skills and abilities. Sub-Class: (Warrior) Rider, Barbarian, Soldier; (Demigod) the Strength of Hercules, the Speed of Hermes, the Invincibility of Achilles; (Mage) Alchemist, Necromancer, Enchanter; (Cleric) Monk, Priest, Shaman; (Ranger) Hunter, Sailor, Thief; (Bard) Musician, Magician, Actor.
(in addition to all these things, if a player takes over a kingdom, no matter what his class, he will become a "king," and therefore will have the ability to create laws and govern his nation, to its prosperity or destruction.)
OCCUPATIONS: Every player, as they gain levels, earns life-Points (LP). They can spend this any way they want to, selecting new assets or building up the old ones. Occupations add bonuses to a character's abilities to add to the game world and history. General Occupations: Physical, Mental or Social. Specific Occupations: (Physical) Athletic- bonus to any physical activity, such as warfare or sports; Craftmanship- bonus to any crafted or commissioned gear or item; Construction- bonus to any building built or commissioned. (Mental) Arts- bonus to musical or artistic activity; Education- bonus to learning or teaching languages, literacy or lore; Economy- bonus to trading; (Social) Farming- bonus to agricultural production; Herding- bonus to raising animals; Law- bonus to lawmaking & authority.
ASSETS: Every player can also use their LP to add to their assets, things they can use in the game to help them accomplish an adventure. General Assets: Personal, Status, or Resources. Specific Assets: (Personal) Family- determines size of family and status in an inverse ratio-- the higher the status, the more prestige and therefore immediate influence, but the lower the number of descendants and therefore less future influence; Wealth- determines general income per day (in the game, one minute = one day); Estate- determines the size of one's estate, from nothing or a mere hut to a mansion with many rooms; (Status) Gear- adds a bonus to starting or commissioned gear (gear varies from class to class); Ship/Wagon- the character owns a ship or wagon, the size and quality of which depends on the LP invested; Steed/Pet- the character owns a some sort of pet (dog, cat, owl, eagle, snake, etc) or steed (elephant, horse, camel, or donkey).
ENTOURAGE: Every player can use their LP to create (and improve) their entourage. This will help them attempt to go through adventures solo, and also fight in battle. When a character dies (and that's not IF, but WHEN), the surviving members of the entourage will either disperse or return to the estate of that character. The next player-created character will not only inherit some items and experience points of the previous one, but also any surviving members of the entourage he can find. Even as NPCS, entourage members may die of old age and/or disease. They are also fully customizable. Players can take or leave whichever members of their entourage behind when adventuring. When players team with other players, they will only be served by their own entourage, but each entourage will aid them in battle, according to the abilities of that entourage member. General Entourage Classes: Soldiers, Servants and Scribes. Specific Entourage Classes: (Soldiers): Warriors, Rangers or Thugs; Warriors can function as swordsmen, riders or guards; Rangers can function as archers, scouts and watchmen; Thugs can function as bodyguards or "collectors;" All three types of soldiers can aid in battle. (Servants): Cooks, Smiths, and Sailors; Sailors add a traveling bonus, smiths can repair items, and cooks are in charge of supplies and meals; in warfare, sailors add to the use of ships, smiths to weapons supply and cooks to general supplies. Enemies wishing to destroy an army may reduce that army's effectiveness by attacking the supply lines. (Scribes): Mages, Clerics, and Bards: In battle, mages use magical attacks, and add a strategy bonus. In an entourage, each mage a player has adds an enchantment bonus to any weapon created of commissioned. Clerics add blessings in to items and buildings, as well as healing in adventure and warfare. Bards add to morale and communications in warfare, functioning as heralds, messengers and the cadence corps (the guys who play the music). In adventure, the bards are the ones who not only supply the lore, but also record the adventure. The best way to make your adventures known the rest of the gaming community is to bring along a bard in your entourage, or team up with a player who has a bard character. The Entourage system is very flexible: a Cleric Player with an entourage composed of clerics has a better chance of spreading his faith. A Bard player with a collection of bards forms a troupe of entertainers, earning more money. A Ranger player with a collection of rangers can function as a band of outlaws.
THE BASE LANGUAGE
The Work on the Root Language, from which all others will be developed, is here: RickLingo
