Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

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Kel-the-Oblivious
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Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by Kel-the-Oblivious » #371011

I believe there is huge potential for Lavaland to be used as the basis for a new gamemode, to get more crew to interact with it outside of the occasional megafauna making its way onto the station, while giving the ashwalkers a more entertaining and powerful ghost role. Golems get the only omni protolathe, Lifebringers get super botany. Ashwalkers get... fairly lack luster versions of stuff a greyshirt can get

Rework

Ashwalkers, outside of being the only default antag ghost role, are seriously limited in their abilities, and for good reason. However, without RNGesus smiling and providing them several close by tendrils to farm, rarely get off the ground, or are killed off early game because they spawned near the omnicidial miners and get their tendril destroyed before they achieve any real power. Or worse, some idiot ashligger spawns, and runs around killing all the tendrils the tribe relies on for that sweet sweet loot chest.

The tribal crafting is pretty lackluster. Anything with good damage is two handed, they have no ranged weapons outside of hurling weapons, and their armor simply is inferior to anything miners have access to. Their only weapon is overwhelming numbers, which relies on both a fruitful area to hunt in, and a lot of ghosts to want to join the tribe. There is also the constant problem of members working hard, and never getting any equipment, because new spawns show up and use all the resources while they are away getting more material.

Instead of the tendril just being an egg generator, instead it can serve as a crafting and equipment generator. Like the mining vendor, you feed it materials in exchange for various pieces of equipment. Either individually like miners claiming points from an ORM, or communally, with a dedicated "Chief" having sole control of the tendril. The chief is elected by the other ashwalkers, and only after the tribe reaches a certain size. Items from tribal crafting, as well as a few ashwalker unique items, to put them on a more even footing with the crew. To offset the upgrade in weaponry, spawning eggs will cost resources as well, forcing the tribe to decide between equipment or numbers.


Game Mode Concept
Blob meets Nuke Ops meets cult

Last shift, a miner dug too deep, killed too many tendrils and megafauna, and managed to open the door Legion guards. Inside, he found an ancient being, and woke it. Consuming the poor fool, the being learned of the station, and how its wretched inhabitants have been using it for their petty gains. Long dormant, the Will of the Necropolis has awoken, and it seeks to strike back at those who would foolishly seek to exploit its treasures. It has many ways to achieve this goal, but in the end, all that matters is that all flesh be under its control.

System

The Will gains power by consuming flesh, and relies early on for its ashwalkers to bring it corpses to eat, letting it provide the ashwalkers with upgrades and using its powers. Its primary goal is taking control of the various tendrils all across lavaland to gather more resources. It can sense where other tendrils are, and either manually expand to them like a blob, or have the ashwalkers work towards it and spread the corruption for them. Corrupted tendrils are incredibly difficult to destroy, and are a dead give away that it's a Necropolis round. To ensure the tendril isn't starved for resources, a Necropolis mode will ensure the tendril amount is no lower than 60% maximum spawn. Nothing suspicious. You'll still have metagaming miners calling out "Possible Necropolis" whenever there are a lot of signals on their GPS, but not like the nuke disc spawning only during nuke op rounds.


Variety

To keep this from being just "So it's like (Blank)" it's "So it's blank and blank". The Necropolis have multiple ways to destroy the station, each with its own style of play, while still being based around the same basis.

Strike Team: Build up your ashwalkers into forces capable of taking down the crew, and have them bring your onto the station to corrupt and destroy it. Spend time gathering resources and spawning ashwalkers, then either attack the mining outpost and overtaking it, or launching your own fleshy dropship. The fleshpod is slow, and the crew gets a warning after you launch, but allows you to land where ever you want. After you get onto the station, you get the option to take root. Like the bloodcult, the crew gets a warning of your location, and you need a few minutes to fully take root.

Base Defense: A much slower method involves you trying to gain enough resources to build a ground to orbit weapon, and shoot down the station. Takes a massive amount of resources to build, and the crew gets a warning the moment you begin construction, forcing them to assault you in lavaland. To slow them down, once you begin building the cannon, you assume control of the entire lavaland, turning the stone into flesh. It doesn't take a lot of damage to destroy the walls, but it will prevent a single advanced plasma cutter from making a direct beeline to you. This mode requires a huge amount of resources to achieve, giving you a weaker tribe, but an environment you can control. Creating lavatiles, spawning mobs, or triggering ash storms, you are trying to delay the crew from reaching you before you can destroy the station.

Mass invasion: Go loud, announce your intentions, and give the crew time to prepare for an assortment of hell. Gives a massive initial resource supply, and teleports your tendril to the center of the map, in a fortified base. Once the timer is finished, the fortress and all contents teleport to the station, killing anyone who doesn't flee when it warning bubbles appear. After that, the goal is to kill as many people as possible, killing at least 90% of the crew. If the crew manages to kill your tendril, you fail. You can even bring megafauna, but they are hostile to everything, even you, so a crafty crew member could lure one into your inner chamber and use it to kill you.

New Gear

Speaking Bone: An ashwalker radio.

Bone crossbow: Good damage ranged weapon with a reload channel, forcing them to stand still after each shot for a moment. Can be loaded with bone bolts, crafted at the tendril, or loaded with bone spears, dealing massive damage and embedding

Goliath Fullplate: Ash proof armor with good brute and burn defense. Slows the wearer

Legion Symbiote: "armor" that provides no defense and a weak shield. Has limited charges, but can be recharged by feeding it fresh legion souls

Watcher wings: A backpack that allows the ashwalker to fly at a walking speed, allowing them to safely move over chasms and lava, and move freely in zero gravity

Watcher Eyes: Goggles that provide X-ray night vision, but rapidly lowers the wearer's temperature

Controlling Talisman: A sapience potion for watchers

Megafauna provide extra powerful gear, at the cost of their usual loot. Need to provide whatever is in the chest as well as the corpse for the gear

Ash Drake Flightsuit: Allows the wearer to fly freely, spit a fireball, and makes them ash/lava proof

Blood Thirsty Axe: High damage, two handed weapon, that lets them leap around like a cult bastard sword, and provides a forcefield, recharged with kills

Voice of the Necropolis: Regular fauna ignore you (megas still want to kill you) allowing you to kill them with impunity. You also become ash and lava proof.

Legion Hardsuit: Good armor, and causes attack against you to spawn legion souls, based on how hard you were hit. Also disguises you as a legion


Necropolis Power

Tame: Makes target fauna passive around ashwalkers, allowing them to be killed easily, or herded into chokepoints

Empower: Target fauna becomes twice as quick, moving and using abilities at double speed

Possess: Assume direct control of a fauna, allowing you to fight with it. Locks other powers while controlling

Erupt: Causes a stone tile to explode into a pool of lava after a short delay and visual/audio warning. Deals a lot of damage to anyone close to it.

Summon: Any tame monster moves to the targetted area at best speed, cleaving through stone if needed. Rally the forces, but create paths.

Embody: Turn the tendril into a lesser ash drake, allowing you to fight at the cost of locked powers and reduced health pool.

tl;dr


Make the Necropolis great again, and have the station pay for it.
The master splicer, the bitch queen of mining, and some crazy ligger peddling you medicinal marijuana.
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kevinz000
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by kevinz000 » #371017

So planetstation?
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letshavecake
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by letshavecake » #371023

If ashwalkers are reworked, I think the primary focus should be on giving them better goals or outlets to put their time towards rather than just making them the antags of the entire round
Also, there's a lot of ways you could give ranged attacks to a tribal society that worships what is essentially a literally magic elder god, so "just let them make crossbows out of bones" seems kind of lazy in comparison

Kinda mad I lost a design doc for them I was working on now
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Kel-the-Oblivious
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by Kel-the-Oblivious » #371025

This is why it's an idea. What would you give them? I figure a crossbow would be a simple dormant tendril weapon, since their god is asleep still, but plenty of options after it wakes up.
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by letshavecake » #371028

Well, for the purposes of this discussion, I would go the shaman route with them, let them make staffs with lavaland materials and stuff from the tendril that can shoot moderately damaging projectiles and use large amounts of blood from the corpses they bring back as a resource
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by SpaceInaba » #371052

I don't know about making ash walkers a full on game mode but giving them new toys I am all for as long as they are still tribal themed (especially because I love the primitive lavaland aesthetic). While golems may have an omnilathe and plantpeople have extreme dispensers, ash walkers are the only antagonist ghost roll on lavaland (and kind of in general).

I DO want a purpose for the necropolis (cough ss13 raid seasons cough) though so this is still a cool idea.
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Okand37
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by Okand37 » #371145

Maybe consider trying to relate this to the existing Planetstation idea for the Corruption
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by Selea » #371296

1.more craft recipies. Possibly allow for ashwalkers farming and construction of simple smelter. To produce metal.
2. Tendril should enchant things in exchange of feedi g points. So yeah, let's give ashwalkers magic.
3.necropolis rework. Possibly, necropolis should be one giant creature. So,when one tendril is destroyed, it means,that it just retracted into ground. And can show up in another place.
Maybe this creature should be like AI on station. But for lavalend.
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by Hatfish » #371328

Why not make this Will be Legion? They're more or less the same concept, an ancient creature slumbering in the Necropolis that is immensely powerful but physically confined to the city. I can even see an alternate end goal where the ashwalkers need to gather enough sacrifices to open the necropolis gate and let Legion loose, with the objective of bringing it to the station.
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Kel-the-Oblivious
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by Kel-the-Oblivious » #371342

letshavecake wrote:Well, for the purposes of this discussion, I would go the shaman route with them, let them make staffs with lavaland materials and stuff from the tendril that can shoot moderately damaging projectiles and use large amounts of blood from the corpses they bring back as a resource
I'd reserve magic for an awakened Necropolis. Small charms with high cost, like the watcher sapience potion, should be the most their magic can achieve without a Will. With the Will, sure, add in magic. Staves that shoot legion skulls, swords that can be activated to wield itself for a short period and the like. Reason I say a magazine fed crossbow is because it'd be easy enough to code. I had though a bow with quiver, but then I remember the insanity of the energy bow, and decided not.
SpaceInaba wrote:I don't know about making ash walkers a full on game mode but giving them new toys I am all for as long as they are still tribal themed (especially because I love the primitive lavaland aesthetic). While golems may have an omnilathe and plantpeople have extreme dispensers, ash walkers are the only antagonist ghost roll on lavaland (and kind of in general).

I DO want a purpose for the necropolis (cough ss13 raid seasons cough) though so this is still a cool idea.
As a miner, I can tell you the Lifebringers can be much, MUCH worse. Running into a swarm of super strong killer tomatoes is certainly worse than a couple of ashwalkers. And why not make the Necropolis into a possible antag? We have this huge potential enemy just sitting there with snippets of lore and a great theme, just sitting there to be used by three crew and a few possible ghosts.
Okand37 wrote:Maybe consider trying to relate this to the existing Planetstation idea for the Corruption
If you find something interesting here, by all means use it. This is just something that has been rattling around in my brain, and when I saw an admin tried to run a Necropolis event, I figured why not expand on it?
Selea wrote:1.more craft recipies. Possibly allow for ashwalkers farming and construction of simple smelter. To produce metal.
2. Tendril should enchant things in exchange of feedi g points. So yeah, let's give ashwalkers magic.
3.necropolis rework. Possibly, necropolis should be one giant creature. So,when one tendril is destroyed, it means,that it just retracted into ground. And can show up in another place.
Maybe this creature should be like AI on station. But for lavalend.
1: Don't give them metal. Their entire theme has always been as a hunter/gatherer society. They need more recipes for sure, but keep it based around using the various things they kill. I'd love to get a goliath hide tent that could be used as a tiny bit of shelter during ash storms.
2: Leave full blown magic for an awakened tendril. As an antag ghost role, they don't need that much power unless the game mode revolves around them.
3: The Will would be like an AI/Eminence, but it's area of control would be restricted to corrupted tiles, like a Blob. Allow it to spawn new tendrils to increase its resource output, but leave the option to slaughter tendrils to weaken it.
Hatfish wrote:Why not make this Will be Legion? They're more or less the same concept, an ancient creature slumbering in the Necropolis that is immensely powerful but physically confined to the city. I can even see an alternate end goal where the ashwalkers need to gather enough sacrifices to open the necropolis gate and let Legion loose, with the objective of bringing it to the station.
I do not believe any player should have control of megafauna. They are very powerful with their simple AI, and having one directly controlled by a player would just be insane. They have 2000 HP, deal something like 40 brute a hit with 100% armor pen. The Lesser Ash Drake is the strongest I am willing to go with them, because that is something a wizard can get. Maybe give them some variety, a lesser colossus or bubblegum.
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by Selea » #371381

1.No,instead of gamemode,I suggest to constantly make Will of Necropolis to be player's role. So miners should be prepared to rage of sentient being,when they loots tendrils.
2.I think,that necropolis and ash walkers magical abilities should correlate with sacrifices. Not binary awake/not awake.
To show,that lizards and giant underground creature is living in symbiosis.
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Kel-the-Oblivious
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by Kel-the-Oblivious » #371554

Selea wrote:1.No,instead of gamemode,I suggest to constantly make Will of Necropolis to be player's role. So miners should be prepared to rage of sentient being,when they loots tendrils.
2.I think,that necropolis and ash walkers magical abilities should correlate with sacrifices. Not binary awake/not awake.
To show,that lizards and giant underground creature is living in symbiosis.
1: The lavaland is already hostile enough to miners that we don't need to make the Will a constant threat. While an experienced miner makes it look easy, that's because they have died so many times to the lavaland that they knew how to fight it. Throwing in what would effectively be a hostile AI would just make that learning curve all the steeper. While people may complain about OP miners coming back to the station and ganking everyone with their sweet sweet lavaland loot, it is no different from the skilled chemist hurling hellfire grenades, the botanist who make super charged kudzu and killer tomatoes, or the scientist who bombed 3/4s of the station to oblivion. Add the RNG nature of lavaland loot (yay, a sord) and creature spawn (Three angelic signals, one eerie. Fuck) any increase to the general difficulty would just result in less newbies joining the ranks. Maybe have it be like Blob, where it may randomly spawn during a game, but never be a for sure thing.

2: The ashwalkers and Necropolis really don't live in symbiosis though. All lavaland mobs are hostile to them, they have no resistance to ash storms, and the tendril happily accepts their corpses, rather than providing any assistance outside of spitting out an egg ever few corpses. While it remains dormant, it just continues this endless cycle, indifferent and unaware. Only after it awakens does it take a more active role in the activities. The various things provided by the dormant tendril represent the things the ashwalkers have learned to convince it to make over the years, incomplete parts of beings it normally would spit out aimlessly to perpetuate the cycle. While still a hazard and maybe even a threat, they are still just a bunch of neolithic hunter gatherers. A few crude "magic" items exist, like the radio or taming talisman, but nothing comparable to the magic of the cults or wizard federation.
The master splicer, the bitch queen of mining, and some crazy ligger peddling you medicinal marijuana.
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by Mrhugo13 » #541113

I'm surprised no one here has mentioned dwarfs yet, if they were to get a rework i would hope it would be something akin to that dwarf stuff that goof had prepared because i would fucking love some mountain-dorf themed ashwalker stuff.
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by Cobby » #541175

necros out
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Re: Necropolis Mode: Ashwalker rework + Game mode

Post by TheMidnghtRose » #541178

While this thread seems to be dead, I would enjoy seeing this coded into the game in some form.
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