I'm back
first of, welcome back to MU, Tiberius. I'll start from here but I can see there are many new discussions this week, such that I have to reorganize a bit my ideas in order to answer/participate to all the debates.
I support general idea and I really like all skills, wonderful arguments behind them and not generic like "fireball" or something like that.
1) That Smaug is summonable from the beginning and you have to unlock him through the spellbook. That is quite boring for me and it doesn't help to anything. Also I wonder how AI will react.
Thank you, glad you like general idea behind the concept. Let's analyse your points:
1)-3) it could seem boring but since we want him to be really powerful I had to put some limitations. And I thought it was a good one to connect him with the central soul of the faction: goblins are not use to produce richness, nor they are able to upgrade their equipment by their own; for these reasons they are plunderers by definition. Pay attention to the fact that the spell is more general it will affect not only Smaug but also other creatures (usually quite less smart than him
). If you have some other idea in mind, I always like to listen everyone's suggestion here, and maybe change something in the concept outside the main skeleton (substantially his abilities, as well as his leveling system).
Regarding AI, maybe it will have another system for Smaug. Take the Necromancer as an example.
2) It leads me to second thing - levelling. Game is based on levelling. You level heroes, units, buildings ... it has not only strategic but mainly RPG feeling. I would be careful with exceptions and Smaug doesn't seem to me like the best candidate for it. He isn't so ancient ... Sauron is ancient, Galadriel is ancient, wizards-maiar are ancient. They are definitely better candidates to start with full arsenal of powers (I mean on level 10 as you proposed for Smaug)
2) I think Smaug is very suitable for an alternative way of leveling instead. We are not talking about leveling, but rather in which way this happens
. First, Smaug is not ancient as the character you mentioned (relatively speaking), but still is an ancient creature and such a big and mighty Dragon doesn't really need experience to level up, it is quite weird after all. He's born to be a killing machine. My idea is that a creature like him deserves a tribute in order to have him fighting for your side. The more you offer to him, the more he will fight for you. But, he just have all the power to fight without needing further experience on the battlefield.
Still an
important note: I don't mean he will start on level ten anyway, I mean that if you want his full arsenal you have to pay him each of the treasure.
Initially I proposed something based on normal leveling as you suggested, but then I changed my mind ( if I'm not wrong someone here suggest me the old treasure system, I don't rember) and I definely prefer the treasure system. Furthermore, That RPG feeling you are talking about is some that I can see more to other heroes. Smaug does not definely give me that feeling.
To conclude, Smaug is a far more complex and smart character than a Balrog. The Balrog is substantially a really powerful hound of Melkor
A dark maiar of destruction. Maybe Gothmog is the only exception, being him leader of Balrogs. But that's another story