Temple Termagant
Posts: 5
Joined: Saturday, 24th May 2014, 07:04
Saturday, 24th May 2014, 08:33
Proposal: Rexa, the Gladiator God
Maybe I'm alone in this one, but I find the "pure" melee gods to both be kind of boring. They both revolve around toggling on a skill that increases your killing power with little to no thought input, and while effective, don't really add much depth or unique gameplay. I'd like to see a melee god centered around passive abilities, resource management, and less static strength increases, so here's what I dreamed up in a fever haze. Keep in mind that this is a rough draft, so while I'd definitely love to hear feedback about specifics, I'm more shooting to get a cohesive but unique gameplay pattern established. The idea I'm aiming for here is a god that rewards an upbeat and aggressive playstyle with abilities that make you stronger in dangerous situations, but also compel you to engage in dangerous situations in the first place.
---
Appreciates:
- A good fight! This is similar to a typical piety-on-kill system, but modulated by your percent health when you landed the killing blow. Near death encounters are likely to award hefty chunks of piety.
Depreciates:
- Inactivity.
- Cheating. Stabbing, confusing, or paralyzing enemies are all disallowed because it’s neither fair nor entertaining to watch. Rexa also disallows allies: enslavement and summoning spells are explicitly banned, and items which would generate allies (i.e. elemental evokers) instead give neutrals. Gladiators gotta go it alone.
- Turning away from the cheers of the crowd (abandonment).
Given Abilities:
0: Applause (passive)
The crowd cheers you on after kills, which generates noise and positively modulates Rexa's other given abilities. Like with piety, low health kills grant larger amounts of applause. This effect is cumulative up to a maximum value, wherein the crowd gives you a standing ovation, which can trigger certain abilities to activate. High levels of applause decay quickly without kills to fuel it, but you can always maintain at least medium level of applause so long as you actively stay in combat.
Applause is kind of like a variable and more flexible berserk. You're rewarded for daring all-in behavior, but you can choose just how hard you want to commit to a situation in advance. After a point, though, the applause will grow loud enough to attract unwanted attention from around the map, so you can't necessarily just withdraw yourself from combat after the fact unless you want to lose your passive buffs and potentially leave yourself in an even worse position. The noise can even be beneficial, too, attracting mobs to kill so you can keep the applause coming. This is meant to be the double edged sword mechanic that Rexa is built upon.
*: Adrenaline Rush (passive)
The sound of the crowd in your ears rouses an animal instinct inside you, increasing your attack speed and health regeneration as the cheering grows louder. Kills restore health when the crowd is giving a standing ovation.
Pretty straightforward. Killdudes gives you extra killdudes power and also some notdie power. Getting to a standing ovation grants you a big boost to your survivability, so even at low health, staying and fighting is encouraged if large amounts of applause are within reach.
**: Blood for Blood (active, self, small piety)
Rexa helps accelerate fights towards a thrilling finish, causing your attacks to drain a portion of your HP in exchange for dealing bonus damage. Stays on indefinitely and can be toggled off at no cost.
Blood for Blood has two main uses. First, it's Rexa's big damage skill, which puts your damage output on par with a Trog/Oka buffed melee character, or maybe even more so due to its fundamentally dangerous nature. Second, it's a means of letting you actively manage your applause generation, introducing another interesting tactical decision in fights. Do you slowly build applause but risk getting overwhelmed before your regeneration bonuses start to kick in, or do you try to beat the health drain clock and get to a standing ovation for the HP on kills bonus? What's more, do you turn off Blood for Blood once you get the ovation and facetank with impunity, or use that extra healing to continuously fuel Blood for Blood but stay at low health? Contingent on the assumption that all the numbers are balanced well, I think this skill offers a lot of interesting choices.
***: Force of Presence (passive)
The acclaim you receive from on high can be intimidating, and enemies may hesitate to attack you when the crowd begins to roar. A standing ovation may even cause enemies to flee in fear for their lives. Potentially works on any intelligent creatures.
A nice little defensive buff to help ensure that Rexa's antics aren't completely suicidal.
****: Duel (active, smite target, medium piety)
Single out an enemy for one on one combat. You become mesmerized by the enemy, but gain slaying bonuses against them, and will garner much applause for a victory. Can only be used on an enemy who is at(/near?) full health.
Tactical all-in. I feel like this skill might be just a wee bit redundant, but I also think that it's a cool mechanic and fits thematically. Basically, the point of Duel is to work as a means of quickly generating a bunch of applause, but requires commitment and a little bit of faith on the part of the player that they can kill the enemy quick enough that the mesmerize doesn't become a death trap.
*****: No new skills.
******: Razor's Edge (passive, exhaustion, massive piety, massive hunger)
A standing ovation from your adoring fans can overpower even death itself. Your HP goes into the negatives and external healing is disallowed, but so long as you have health enough to survive once the ovation ends, you'll remain alive.
Auto Death's Door. Rexa abhors the thought of a good fight ending prematurely, and will give you a nice get-out-of-death-free card if you can prove that you still have enough fight left in your veins. While it can save your hide from 50/50 matchups, you'll still be taking damage, so it won't make you invincible to poorly picked fights.
Penance:
- Rexa summons a swarm of Spectral Warriors. In addition, killing warrior type enemies while under penance always has a percent chance to spawn hostile Spectral Warriors.
- The crowd boos you loud enough to wake up an entire map.
- Enemies may challenge you to duels, wherein you become mesmerized but the enemies gain slaying bonuses against you. Rexa's Spectral Warriors are especially likely to do so.
---
Patron of all mortal combatants, Rexa is the lord of a cosmic arena where the spirits of fallen warriors congregate to watch the battles of the still living. Desiring nothing more than fantastic entertainment and the thrill of a life-or-death struggle, Rexa intervenes upon followers’ fights and always makes sure to even the odds - for better or for worse. Devotees are mandated to entertain the arena, and those who prove themselves worthy will be rewarded with the rapturous applause of the crowd.
Appreciates:
- A good fight! This is similar to a typical piety-on-kill system, but modulated by your percent health when you landed the killing blow. Near death encounters are likely to award hefty chunks of piety.
Depreciates:
- Inactivity.
- Cheating. Stabbing, confusing, or paralyzing enemies are all disallowed because it’s neither fair nor entertaining to watch. Rexa also disallows allies: enslavement and summoning spells are explicitly banned, and items which would generate allies (i.e. elemental evokers) instead give neutrals. Gladiators gotta go it alone.
- Turning away from the cheers of the crowd (abandonment).
Given Abilities:
0: Applause (passive)
The crowd cheers you on after kills, which generates noise and positively modulates Rexa's other given abilities. Like with piety, low health kills grant larger amounts of applause. This effect is cumulative up to a maximum value, wherein the crowd gives you a standing ovation, which can trigger certain abilities to activate. High levels of applause decay quickly without kills to fuel it, but you can always maintain at least medium level of applause so long as you actively stay in combat.
Applause is kind of like a variable and more flexible berserk. You're rewarded for daring all-in behavior, but you can choose just how hard you want to commit to a situation in advance. After a point, though, the applause will grow loud enough to attract unwanted attention from around the map, so you can't necessarily just withdraw yourself from combat after the fact unless you want to lose your passive buffs and potentially leave yourself in an even worse position. The noise can even be beneficial, too, attracting mobs to kill so you can keep the applause coming. This is meant to be the double edged sword mechanic that Rexa is built upon.
*: Adrenaline Rush (passive)
The sound of the crowd in your ears rouses an animal instinct inside you, increasing your attack speed and health regeneration as the cheering grows louder. Kills restore health when the crowd is giving a standing ovation.
Pretty straightforward. Killdudes gives you extra killdudes power and also some notdie power. Getting to a standing ovation grants you a big boost to your survivability, so even at low health, staying and fighting is encouraged if large amounts of applause are within reach.
**: Blood for Blood (active, self, small piety)
Rexa helps accelerate fights towards a thrilling finish, causing your attacks to drain a portion of your HP in exchange for dealing bonus damage. Stays on indefinitely and can be toggled off at no cost.
Blood for Blood has two main uses. First, it's Rexa's big damage skill, which puts your damage output on par with a Trog/Oka buffed melee character, or maybe even more so due to its fundamentally dangerous nature. Second, it's a means of letting you actively manage your applause generation, introducing another interesting tactical decision in fights. Do you slowly build applause but risk getting overwhelmed before your regeneration bonuses start to kick in, or do you try to beat the health drain clock and get to a standing ovation for the HP on kills bonus? What's more, do you turn off Blood for Blood once you get the ovation and facetank with impunity, or use that extra healing to continuously fuel Blood for Blood but stay at low health? Contingent on the assumption that all the numbers are balanced well, I think this skill offers a lot of interesting choices.
***: Force of Presence (passive)
The acclaim you receive from on high can be intimidating, and enemies may hesitate to attack you when the crowd begins to roar. A standing ovation may even cause enemies to flee in fear for their lives. Potentially works on any intelligent creatures.
A nice little defensive buff to help ensure that Rexa's antics aren't completely suicidal.
****: Duel (active, smite target, medium piety)
Single out an enemy for one on one combat. You become mesmerized by the enemy, but gain slaying bonuses against them, and will garner much applause for a victory. Can only be used on an enemy who is at(/near?) full health.
Tactical all-in. I feel like this skill might be just a wee bit redundant, but I also think that it's a cool mechanic and fits thematically. Basically, the point of Duel is to work as a means of quickly generating a bunch of applause, but requires commitment and a little bit of faith on the part of the player that they can kill the enemy quick enough that the mesmerize doesn't become a death trap.
*****: No new skills.
******: Razor's Edge (passive, exhaustion, massive piety, massive hunger)
A standing ovation from your adoring fans can overpower even death itself. Your HP goes into the negatives and external healing is disallowed, but so long as you have health enough to survive once the ovation ends, you'll remain alive.
Auto Death's Door. Rexa abhors the thought of a good fight ending prematurely, and will give you a nice get-out-of-death-free card if you can prove that you still have enough fight left in your veins. While it can save your hide from 50/50 matchups, you'll still be taking damage, so it won't make you invincible to poorly picked fights.
Penance:
- Rexa summons a swarm of Spectral Warriors. In addition, killing warrior type enemies while under penance always has a percent chance to spawn hostile Spectral Warriors.
- The crowd boos you loud enough to wake up an entire map.
- Enemies may challenge you to duels, wherein you become mesmerized but the enemies gain slaying bonuses against you. Rexa's Spectral Warriors are especially likely to do so.
)
