So, during game setup, which you could already see
here, I chose an Enormous map (72x50 squares), Interregnum society and allied play. I did NOT include Common Cause or Clustered Start, since the story here requires that each player survive on his own even if they work toward (at least somewhat) common goals.
I set all AI at Knight level (4/10) to provide some challenge and to increase their chances of surviving the early game.
So these are the classes and teams.
Next, we shall take a look at the Player Overview screen provided by F2 once game has started:
This lists the player names and controller (human or AI), but nothing else so as to not give away too much. Of course, in this instance we know what classes each of them are, but in a random game, we would not. The names can give some clues, though.
*****
Greetings! I am Barras, a Necromancer lately of some renown.
It is time to begin my bid for immortality. I had managed to squirrel away enough gold and other resources to hire a workers to construct a citadel when the time is ripe. Built out of black granite, it offers a commanding view over the countryside.
(The Dark Citadel has the
Vision attribute, which allows the player to see 2 squares in all directions instead of the standard 1 square, but only if there are troops in the square.)
Directly to the west there is a farm that has been taken over by a rabble of bandits and poachers and a little to the north is a village guarded by more substantial troops.
The village must be my first priority, because in settlements of that size there are always enough altercations and mayhem going on that one can reliably expect at least one person to be hanged for murder each month. And the left hands of hanged murders can be turned into Hands of Glory, which is precisely what I need for my rituals.
To the southeast there is a gallows, which serves as the common execution site for miles around and provides me with more hands of glory. Of course, since the place is under my control, any rabble that strays into my territory without invitation is liable to be hanged for murder. They are ALL guilty of it anyway, or would be, sooner or later, so this makes things expedient. And if a person has been hung for murder, their hands can be used since the requirements of the netherworld spirits are fulfilled.
Now, I should start making plans for conquering the village, but several problems present themselves (as if I didn't have enough already!):
- The bandit and slinger at the farm are certainly not going to stay there. They are liable to wander, so they must be eliminated at once. Otherwise I might find uninvited guests at my citadel, which would be intolerable. Equally intolerable would be if they went and vandalized my gallows.
- The lookout at the top of the citadel reported that to the south there is a sounder of Great Boars and that a bear has been spotted in the forest. They pose a hazard and should be eliminated, but all of them are powerful beasts and can easily maim many of my men. So I must let them be. For now.
I think I shall send my apprentice to the Gallows to reanimate what longdead and soulless he can coax out of the boot hill next to it, though that is likely to exhaust the dead. And it's slim pickings anyway, not like a proper graveyard or battlefield.
Oh, and here is my apprentice, Arnulf:
He is rather a weakling and knows little, but he can summon a longdead in battle and scare away the more easily frightened creatures. As long as he has some troops to prevent enemies from getting into close contact with him, he should do adequately.
Now Arnulf has reached the Gallows and is preparing to reanimate the dead. He can feel the presence of the dead, which means there are about a dozen to twenty dead here. Hopefully he manages to reanimate the lot, since I cannot spare him any human troops.
Fortunately, he seems to have gotten the hang of it:
Six longdead and five soulless should be enough to let him keep the situation at home under control while I shall go and inform the villagers who their master is. Arnulf can deal with the bandit and his stone-slinging coward of a companion next month, though he must do it without the soulless. Those are needed to guard the gallows. Hopefully the bear goes elsewhere in search of food. The poor thing might get food poisoning from eating rotten meat if it tries to snack on the soulless.
Now, in order to attack a village guarded by six spearmen, I would ordinarily need more troops than just ten spearmen of my own and three crossbowmen. Fortunately magic will tip the odds in my favor. As you can see earlier, I have memorized
Summon Longdead,
Banefire and
Dark Power.
I did not memorize
Decay, because it kills over time and is best used in long battles with much more participants. Summoning longdead is always good, because if the enemy uses its efforts on summoned things, my own troops will be spared. However, that is the weakest of my spells.
This is what Banefire does:
The star icon indicates that Banefire does magical damage. It is almost guaranteed to kill any spearman it hits. Their shields are no protection either and if they should survive, they are likely to rot to death in the space of minutes. Dark Power is similar, but does not cause decay. It hits three random targets and drains their life force, bestowing it on me to heal damage or augment my health beyond what I could normally experience.
Now, it is time for my first conquest.