by The three kinds of Agents
Scouts: The design of this unit is that of a sneaky, weaselly individual with a slow and gravelly voice. They display a mild hunch and always wear a hooded cape. They have lines such as "Sabotage, I love that word," "I will end them," "I like wrecking things," and "I am the knife in the dark."
Scouts, like the other agents, can attach to friendly armies to provide buffs. The scout's buff is to increase the friendly army's "Movement Range," which determines how far an army can move on the world map within one turn.
The exact numbers for the effects mentioned here are not important since we will not be using them at all. This description of the agent's possible actions is just to distill an archetype.
Actions against armies:
"Ruin provisions": Enemy soldiers get tired faster.
"Gather intelligence": Reveals a previously unseen enemy army.
"Misdirection": Reduces the army's movement range.
Actions against settlements:
"Ruin stores": Reduces available food and increases the chance of disease.
"Bribery": Slows down construction projects.
"Exploit corruption": Gain money based on the amount of corruption.
Actions against other agents and generals:
"Murder": Tries to kill the target, with the graphic implying the use of poison. This action can be used on both agents and generals.
"Coercion": Converts the target agent to the player's faction.
"Deceive": Wastes the target agent's next turn.
Action affecting the whole territory:
"Investigate corruption": Reduces corruption in friendly area.
"Corruption": Raises corruption in the target area.
+++++
Champions: In contrast to the scouts, the champion is loud and assertive. They are dressed as a soldier, wearing expensive armor and wielding a weapon. They have lines such as "I am the Wild Rover," "Fear is as powerful as a sword," "I will feed the earth with blood," and "I'll pick off a few of the weak ones."
When a champion is attached to an army, it provides a passive gain of experience to all units in the army.
Actions against armies:
"Assault unit": Targets a particular group of soldiers in an army, causing damage to them.
"Harass army": Targets several groups of soldiers, causing mild damage to each.
"Sabotage army": Reduces the following values of all units in an army: armor, ammunition, and damage.
Actions against settlements:
"Raid settlement": Inflicts minor damage to multiple buildings.
"Sabotage walls": Creates a hole in the settlement wall.
"Sabotage building": Inflicts major damage to the target building.
Actions against agents and generals:
"Assault": Tries to murder the target, with the graphic implying personal combat. This action can be used on both agents and generals.
"Trap": Wastes the target agent's next turn.
"Oppress": Converts the target agent to the player's faction.
Action affecting the whole territory:
"Call to arms": Raises recruitment capacity in friendly areas.
"Guerrilla activity": Reduces recruitment capacity in the target area.
+++++
Priests: As befitting a game set between the years 400-500 AD, the person taking on the role of a priest is steeped in mysticism and vagaries, often speaking of "the gods are _."
Actions against armies:
"Preach doom": Lowers the morale of all units in an army.
"Encourage mutiny": Lowers a stat called "integrity" that is tracked per-army. Lowering this stat decreases morale, and reaching zero results in the army seceding from their faction.
"Compromise command": Lowers the attributes of a general, reducing any benefits the army might have received from them.
Actions against settlements:
"Preach intolerance": Increases any penalties from religious differences.
"Compromise security": Reduces the stats of a settlement, making follow-up actions more likely to succeed.
"Encourage dissent": Decreases "public order," a stat that needs to reach -100 for the people to start rebelling.
Actions against agents and generals:
"Betray": Tries to murder the target, with the graphic implying sudden violence. This action can be used on both agents and generals.
"Distract": Wastes the target agent's next turn.
"Persuade": Converts the target agent to the player's faction.
Action affecting the whole territory:
"Inspire populace": Raises public order in the target area.
"Discourage populace": Decreases public order in the target area.
+++++
Narrative Motivation: Each of the agents listed above acts in service of the state. It is very much a military role, even if the commanding faction does not have a "standing army" as such.
+++++
What This Means for My Game
It's worth mentioning that all the actions listed above are not immediately available to recruited agents; they need to level up before accessing the first set of actions.
Games like Attila and others in the Total War series use a Class System to differentiate agent types, with moderate overlap and distinct roles for each agent.
At this stage, I'm inclined towards a free-form system in which agents gain skills and abilities as they progress, allowing for minimal or no overlap of options as determined by the player's choices.
However, examining what agents and their archetypes are capable of in other games provides a useful reference for determining the potential abilities of our agents. Is there a difference between backstabbing someone and challenging them to a duel? According to Total War, both actions use the same skill called "Zeal," which I avoided mentioning because numerical values like "10 Zeal" or "100 authority" hold no meaning outside the game's context. Of course, we won't be using their specific numerical values.
In terms of gameplay impact, the utilization of agents is crucial for strategic decision-making, primarily due to their ability to provide vision on the world map and their far-reaching effects.
An issue that arises is whether the agents in my game should be highly capable individuals or groups of people, similar to the D&D approach versus the James Bond approach. In Attila, the agents are highly capable individuals with some factual and presumed assistance. Factual assistance comes from "households," essentially an equipment system consisting of three slots per agent, each with different potential items and no overlap. In one of the slots, the agent can have a person who offers tangible bonuses. Presumed assistance mostly stems from the Champion, as the extent of damage he's capable of suggests he must have a small war band accompanying him, although this is never explicitly mentioned.
Scouts: The design of this unit is that of a sneaky, weaselly individual with a slow and gravelly voice. They display a mild hunch and always wear a hooded cape. They have lines such as "Sabotage, I love that word," "I will end them," "I like wrecking things," and "I am the knife in the dark."
Scouts, like the other agents, can attach to friendly armies to provide buffs. The scout's buff is to increase the friendly army's "Movement Range," which determines how far an army can move on the world map within one turn.
The exact numbers for the effects mentioned here are not important since we will not be using them at all. This description of the agent's possible actions is just to distill an archetype.
Actions against armies:
"Ruin provisions": Enemy soldiers get tired faster.
"Gather intelligence": Reveals a previously unseen enemy army.
"Misdirection": Reduces the army's movement range.
Actions against settlements:
"Ruin stores": Reduces available food and increases the chance of disease.
"Bribery": Slows down construction projects.
"Exploit corruption": Gain money based on the amount of corruption.
Actions against other agents and generals:
"Murder": Tries to kill the target, with the graphic implying the use of poison. This action can be used on both agents and generals.
"Coercion": Converts the target agent to the player's faction.
"Deceive": Wastes the target agent's next turn.
Action affecting the whole territory:
"Investigate corruption": Reduces corruption in friendly area.
"Corruption": Raises corruption in the target area.
+++++
Champions: In contrast to the scouts, the champion is loud and assertive. They are dressed as a soldier, wearing expensive armor and wielding a weapon. They have lines such as "I am the Wild Rover," "Fear is as powerful as a sword," "I will feed the earth with blood," and "I'll pick off a few of the weak ones."
When a champion is attached to an army, it provides a passive gain of experience to all units in the army.
Actions against armies:
"Assault unit": Targets a particular group of soldiers in an army, causing damage to them.
"Harass army": Targets several groups of soldiers, causing mild damage to each.
"Sabotage army": Reduces the following values of all units in an army: armor, ammunition, and damage.
Actions against settlements:
"Raid settlement": Inflicts minor damage to multiple buildings.
"Sabotage walls": Creates a hole in the settlement wall.
"Sabotage building": Inflicts major damage to the target building.
Actions against agents and generals:
"Assault": Tries to murder the target, with the graphic implying personal combat. This action can be used on both agents and generals.
"Trap": Wastes the target agent's next turn.
"Oppress": Converts the target agent to the player's faction.
Action affecting the whole territory:
"Call to arms": Raises recruitment capacity in friendly areas.
"Guerrilla activity": Reduces recruitment capacity in the target area.
+++++
Priests: As befitting a game set between the years 400-500 AD, the person taking on the role of a priest is steeped in mysticism and vagaries, often speaking of "the gods are _."
Actions against armies:
"Preach doom": Lowers the morale of all units in an army.
"Encourage mutiny": Lowers a stat called "integrity" that is tracked per-army. Lowering this stat decreases morale, and reaching zero results in the army seceding from their faction.
"Compromise command": Lowers the attributes of a general, reducing any benefits the army might have received from them.
Actions against settlements:
"Preach intolerance": Increases any penalties from religious differences.
"Compromise security": Reduces the stats of a settlement, making follow-up actions more likely to succeed.
"Encourage dissent": Decreases "public order," a stat that needs to reach -100 for the people to start rebelling.
Actions against agents and generals:
"Betray": Tries to murder the target, with the graphic implying sudden violence. This action can be used on both agents and generals.
"Distract": Wastes the target agent's next turn.
"Persuade": Converts the target agent to the player's faction.
Action affecting the whole territory:
"Inspire populace": Raises public order in the target area.
"Discourage populace": Decreases public order in the target area.
+++++
Narrative Motivation: Each of the agents listed above acts in service of the state. It is very much a military role, even if the commanding faction does not have a "standing army" as such.
+++++
What This Means for My Game
It's worth mentioning that all the actions listed above are not immediately available to recruited agents; they need to level up before accessing the first set of actions.
Games like Attila and others in the Total War series use a Class System to differentiate agent types, with moderate overlap and distinct roles for each agent.
At this stage, I'm inclined towards a free-form system in which agents gain skills and abilities as they progress, allowing for minimal or no overlap of options as determined by the player's choices.
However, examining what agents and their archetypes are capable of in other games provides a useful reference for determining the potential abilities of our agents. Is there a difference between backstabbing someone and challenging them to a duel? According to Total War, both actions use the same skill called "Zeal," which I avoided mentioning because numerical values like "10 Zeal" or "100 authority" hold no meaning outside the game's context. Of course, we won't be using their specific numerical values.
In terms of gameplay impact, the utilization of agents is crucial for strategic decision-making, primarily due to their ability to provide vision on the world map and their far-reaching effects.
An issue that arises is whether the agents in my game should be highly capable individuals or groups of people, similar to the D&D approach versus the James Bond approach. In Attila, the agents are highly capable individuals with some factual and presumed assistance. Factual assistance comes from "households," essentially an equipment system consisting of three slots per agent, each with different potential items and no overlap. In one of the slots, the agent can have a person who offers tangible bonuses. Presumed assistance mostly stems from the Champion, as the extent of damage he's capable of suggests he must have a small war band accompanying him, although this is never explicitly mentioned.
