This is a small project that I have been working on for fun; I know we're not to expect any more patches for AoM:TT nor another expansion. I mean no disrespect to the Chinese religion by ransacking their pantheon. I am only posting this for feedback and out of a love for mythology in general and AoM in particular.
THE CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
CIVILIZATION ATTRIBUTES
• Starting in the Classical Age, players may call forth two Heroes per Age, and these heroes not only complement each other with their unique powers but often fight better along side each other.
• Starting in the Heroic Age, the Chinese do not build fortresses but instead their own Town Centers. These are more expensive than usual, however, as first the builders must build the foundation, then the actual Town Center.
• Chinese citizens can shore fish, where appropriate, and can take their bounty to either Granaries or Docks.
• The Chinese Temple unit, the Sage, summons mythological units, very much like the Set Egyptian Pharoah. However, more Sages can complement the summoning, and not only speed the build time of the Myth Unit, but defrays the Favor cost slightly.
• Favor is determined by the amount of Sages built. While Sages are not naturally heroes, they get a small combat bonus vs Myth Units. In the Heroic Age, the Transcendance tech can be researched. Thereafter, Sages can be converted into Heroes for a fee, much like the Atlanteans.
• In addition to Mythic Myth Units, each God has at its disposal a unique Dragon , a very expensive but powerful creation. Once summoned, another Dragon cannot be summoned.
• Some Chinese Heroes and the Mythic barracks unit, the Captain, provide combat bonuses to their brethren or surrounding troops, based on their proximity.
• The two Chinese siege units, the Fire Dragon and the Rocketeer, make use of gunpowder. However, early gunpowder was extremely volatile, and there is a chance on each discharge that a gunpowder unit may be blown up by his weapon!THE PANTHEON
P’an Ku Ti-tsang Wang (Cavalry/Towers)Ts’ai Shen (Market)T’u Ti(Gunpowder/Buildings)
Lu Pan (Buildings)Nu Kua (Cavalry)Pa Ch’a (Cavalry)Shang TiLei Tsu (Farm techs/Archers)Lei Chen-tzu (Infantry) Yen-lo Wang (MUs)
Ti-tsang Wang (Cavalry/Towers)Ts’ai Shen (Market)T’u Ti (Gunpowder/Buildings)
Kuan YinLu Pan (Buildings)Nu Kua (Cavalry)Pa Ch’a (Cavalry)
Lei Tsu (Farm techs/Archers)Lei Chen-tzu (Infantry)Yen-lo Wang (MUs) Major GodsP’an Ku, Architect of the Universe, is credited with chiseling the universe out of the void and becoming one with his creation. P’an Ku offers his followers a range of benefits:• Animals, no matter how savage, will not attack followers of P’an Ku.
• Gunpowder units are cheaper and build faster.
• Cavalry move and build more swiftly.
• Dock units train more quickly.P’an Ku’s God Power is Sinkhole, which can be used twice during the game. This God Power creates a large pond in a designated area, destroying or damaging any buildings already there. In each pond there will be one school of fish. If Sinkhole is used twice in adjacent locations, it will join the ponds to create a small lake.
P’an Ku’s Improvement is Pyrotechnics, making his gunpowder units more powerful and more reliable, and his Dragon, summoned in the Mythic Age, is Lung Wang, the Dragon King of Water.Shang Ti, Lord on High, is the god of vegetation and the sky. He grants his followers the following improvements:• Farmers work 10% more quickly.
• Shang Ti causes mist to descend from the clouds in an area surrounding any of his buildings, cutting down on enemy LOS.
• Sages are cheaper, gather favor faster, are naturally stronger vs Myth Units, and once the Transcendance tech is researched in the Heroic Age, may be converted to Heroes for less.
• Walls, Towers, and Town Centers are cheaper.Shang Ti’s God Power is Blackberries. Casting this God Power causes a clump of potent blackberry bushes to arise, there to be gathered by villagers.
Shang Ti’s Improvement is Fattening. Once researched, herd animals will fatten more quickly and to greater limits. Shang Ti owns the Golden Dragon.Kuan Yin, Goddess of Light, is the bestower of compassion and selflessness. Her ministers have access to the following benefits:• Heroes are cheaper to produce.
• Kuan Yin’s partisans can research two unique but related techs: Jade Pagoda and Suits of Jade. Researched in the Heroic Age, the first allows garrisoned human units to heal slowly when garrisoned in temples or Town Centers. The second technology, researched in the Mythic Age, adds both a small amount of hitpoints and resistance to Myth Unit attacks for her soldiers.
• Kuan Yin’s mercy is such that part of the resource cost of her destroyed buildings is returned to the owner’s stockpile.
• Kuan Yin may also create a unique version of the temple, the Fairy Pavilion. From this luminous edifice, Fox Spirits may be created. These Myth Units may not be harmed by human units as they appear as inhumanly beautiful women. At rest, they transform into typical forest trees, depending on the topography, with greatly enhanced LOS. Near temples, when at rest they drain favor away and give it to the worshipper of Kuan Yin. They may only be discovered by heroes, and when discovered can be slain only by them or by Myth Units. Mortal men will not harm them.Kuan Yin’s God Power is Hare In the Moon, which is a global healing spell that expires after a time. When cast, all human units in the game are slowly healed, except that, much like Ra’s Rain God Power, Kuan Yin’s followers benefit far more than do her enemies. In this way even Kuan Yin’s opponents find it hard to curse her.
Kuan Yin’s Improvement is Benevolence, allowing human soldiers and villagers to garrison in Chinese Temples. Pai Lung, the White Dragon, obeys her every command.Minor GodsClassical Lei Tsu, Ancestor of Thunder, patron of seed crops, has as his God Power Cultivation, which creates a square of farms that slowly sprout from the soil around a Town Center. His Myth Unit is a Black Unicorn, and his Heroes are the Brothers Kao, demons who when mortally injured mutate into peach and pomegranate trees, during which time they heal as their bark helps protect them from attacks. If the trees have not been destroyed and they heal to full health, they regain their former shape and mobility. Lei Tsu’s Impovements include Blood of the Unicorn, which adds hit points and speed to the Myth Unit, Cloudburst, making farm techs cheaper, and Rain of Arrows, allowing Chinese archers to fire more quickly.Ti-tsang Wang, Earth Womb King, can create a Wine Lake as his God Power. Very much like Poseidon’s Lure God Power, this Wine Lake lures enemy soldiers to its edge. When a determined amount of soldiers are drawn to the lake, it slowly dries up, after which the soldiers are released from the spell. The soldiers will react if attacked or move a short distance away if under bow fire, but will always return as long as the Lake exists. Ti-tsang Wang’s Myth Unit is a Giant Centipede, and his Heroes are Wu-ch’ang Kuei, the Ghosts of Impermanence, one painted black, the other painted white, with red, protruding tongues. His Improvements aid Cavalry and Towers: Dragon Standard increases cavalry hit-points, Hire Barbarians reduces the pop cost for cavalry in exchange for a toll of gold, and Towers on the Wall increases the hack & crush resistance for towers.Lu Pan, patron deity of carpenters, can instantly create a squad of wooden soldiers with his God Power Mu-jen. The number of men is determined by wood spent from supply. These creatures last until they are killed and, being wood, are pierce resistant. Lu Pan’s Myth Unit is the Home Guardian, a statue armed with a hammer that, while average in combat, auto-repairs damaged buildings. Lu Pan’s Hero is actually two people in one unit: Chang Hsien, the old, double-eyed archer, and a Boy, eating peaches, a sign of immortality. When Chang Hsien and Boy are at rest, the Boy eats and replenishes their hit points. Lu Pan’s Improvements benefit military buildings and his Myth Unit: Lu Pan’s Saw makes barracks, stables, siege ranges, and archery ranges more sturdy, Lu Pan’s Hammer increases Home Guardian hit points and speed, and Lu Pan’s Adze increases the Myth Unit’s fighting and repairing ability.HeroicLei Chen-tzu, son of Thunder, can cast a thunderous Storm as his God Power. This storm does not harm or kill, but it slows movement, gathering and production dramatically where it is cast until it dies out. Lei Chen-tzu’s Myth Unit is the Storm Crow, a flying unit that can attack ground and water units and be attacked by them. His Heroes are Heng & Ha, two sword-wielding marshals known as the Snorter and the Blower, both of whom have ranged breath attacks. Lei Chen-tzu’s Improvements concern spearmen and archers: Wushu gives a combat bonus for spearmen against the swordsmen line, With the Wind causes spearmen to move more quickly, and Rain of Death gives archers greater range.Ts’ai Shen, god of wealth, delights his worshippers with his Wealth Tree God Power. When cast, a marvelous but short-lived tree appears with golden fruit. The tree contains more gold than a normal mine, but must be picked rather than mined, so mining techs do not speed the gathering process. Ts’ai Shen offers two Myth Units to his worshippers: a Sea Tortoise and a Were-tiger, the latter a gnarled, tattooed wrestler who in combat turns into a ferocious tiger. There is a chance that the death bite from the Were-tiger may cause the fallen enemy to rise as a ghost and fight for his killer. Ho and Ho are Ts’ai Shen’s Heroes: fat, happy monks armed with qiangs, staves topped by a mace-heads. Ts’ai Shen’s Improvements aid his Myth Units and the use of markets: Strength of Wisdom increases the crush damage of the Sea Tortoise, Man-Meat increases the Were-tiger’s attack, and Merchant’s Blessing allows a greater return on the market.Nu Kua, the Naga Goddess, patroness of marriage, can deploy Clay & Mud as her God Power. This God Power creates a group of normal villagers (mud) and a few Hero villagers (clay), outside of pop constraints. Her Myth Unit is a glaive-bearing Naga, and her Heroes are Ch’iung Hsiao & T’ai Sui, patron of natural disasters; the former being a female hero who fights with golden shears, and the latter fights with a golden battleaxe and a club. Nu Kua’s Improvements amplify her Naga and Chinese cavalry: Water Naga allows her Naga Myth Units to swim and fight in water, Naga Lore increases their hit points and attack, and Skin of the Naga adds pierce armor to cavalry archers and lancers.MythicYen-lo Wang, Ruler of the Dead, grants his followers the Power to open the very Gates of Hell. Every one of the player’s villagers that has fallen in battle through raiding, combat, or by enemy God Powers (but not through Tower, Fortress, or Town Center fire) returns, ascending a staircase from the infernal regions bathed in a ghastly red light, to fight for vengeance. Appropriately, Yen-lo Wang’s Myth Unit is a Vampire, a creature that steals life from opponents in combat and adds their hit points to its own. The Ministers of Hell are Yen-lo Wang’s Heroes, Ma Mien, Horse-face & Niu T’ou, Ox-head. Yen-lo Wang’s Improvements aid Myth Units: Armies of Hell gives every Myth Unit 10% more hit points, Dark Favor opens the Favor cap to 150 from 100, and Cthonic Embrace increases the Vampire’s speed and special attack re-charge time.T’u Ti, God of the Earth, displays his formidable power with Raise Mountain, a God Power that creates a mountain in the specified area. Units in that area are thrown off the new-born mountain and buildings are destroyed (except for Town Centers). T’u Ti makes a monstrous, amphibious Snake available to his worshippers, and the demonic aspects of Chung K’uei, Recorder of Hell and Li No-Cha, on his Wind-Fire Wheel, are his Heroes. T’u Ti’s Improvements concern buildings and the use of gunpowder: The Wall gives Town Centers, Walls and Towers 10% more hit points, Fire Towers allows Towers to fire rockets like the rocketeers, and Naptha helps Gunpowder units have increased accuracy and damage.Pa Ch’a is the god of crops and abundance, and his God Power is Joy On Earth, which incites every citizen and trade cart to a frenzy of activity for a limited amount of time. Pa Ch’a can curse his opponents with the very pests he loathes: a Giant Grasshopper and the amphibious Giant Toad. His Heroes are the Monkey King and Chu Pa-chiai, his porcine companion. Pa Ch’a’s Improvements bolster Cavalry and his own Myth Units: Pa Ch’a’s Curse grants both the Giant Toad and the Giant Grasshopper increased attack and hit points, Sow the Wind magnifies the hack damage for Chinese Chariots, and Pa Ch’a’s Pastures increases cavalry speed and attack.THE UNITS
Town Centers Mythic: Crossbowmen
TemplesArchaic: Sages
Classical: Sages, Classical Heroes
Heroic: Sages, Classical & Heroic Heroes
Mythic: Sages, Classical, Heroic, & Mythic Heroes
**Sages summon all Myth Units (save Fox Spirits) including Dragons **BarracksClassical: Spearmen
Heroic:Spearmen
Mythic:Spearmen, Officer
StablesClassical:Lancers
Heroic:Lancers, Cavalry Archers
Mythic:Lancers, Cavalry Archers, Chariots
Archery RangeClassical:Archers
Heroic:Archers, Cavalry Archers
Mythic:Archers, Cavalry Archers
Siege RangeHeroic:Dragon Gun
Mythic:Dragon Gun, Rocketeers
DockArchaic:Fishing Ship
Classical:Fishing Ship, Transport, Arrow Ship
Heroic:Fishing Ship, Transport, Arrow Ship, Fire Ship,
Dragon Gunship
Mythic:Fishing Ship, Transport, Arrow Ship, Fire Ship,
Dragon Gunship
Comments? Criticism?
[This message has been edited by Natus (edited 09-25-2004 @ 00:52 AM).]