Sei-Hek

From Time of War
Jump to: navigation, search

Sei-Hek

And lo, we have a name for this project, and it is "Sei-Hek: Into The West".

An RPG set during China's exploration of the west in the 130s BCE. Play as Zhang Qian! set out with your own motley crew, and try and find allies against the fearsome northern horsemen! recruit Northern and Yuezhi women, put them into your crew to fight!

  • Part 1 - find the path from China to Bactria
  • Part 1a - break our way out from Xiongnu territory and find the Kushans
  • Part 2 - find the Kushans, end the game.

Business progress, roadmap

Step 1: master GODOT.

Unity's messing up PR means there are people running around looking for GODOT packages. Now would be a good time to strike, and prepare for Sei-Hek and WTCQ.

  • Volcanic Forge Miniatures is being roped in to develop assets we cannot craft on our own, they owe us money and prototypes.
  • A prop sword allegedly has been created for putting in a diorama.

Mehanics

Resources

  • Tools, Food, Manpower (Army), Tribute, and Gems are all there like most Clarus Victoria Titles
    • Shamans get favour/Qi, which can be gathered only in different methods.


Exploration

While your character and retinue heroes can freely move around the map, the expedition will consume Food as it moves around, so make sure you plan wisely before you go. The first leg goes up to the main Han stronghold, thereafter it becomes more and more difficult to traverse.

  • Followers - these are the lifeblood of your expedition and are the "Worker" unit of the game. Unlike most other Clarus Victoria games, you will start off NOT with a single Follower, but several. You will lose the game if you ever run out of followers. Keep a large stock of food in order to maintain your Followers.
  • Retinue - hero characters. Ganfu is your first one and can be levelled up as in any RPG. Note that Retinue will consume Manpower on the march unless they are told to encamp at a site. Depending on other factors, they too will consume either Food, Tools, Tribute, Gems ....or even Qi if they are Shamans. by default Retinue cost manpower to recruit and they have a steep, steep ramp cost as they are created. Ganfu is your first retinue member, others will hae to be recruited through various means.

As for resources.........

  • Manpower is your may resource and is expended in autoresolve battles. You get to select how much manp0wer to dedicate to a single battle. Followers re recruited from your Manpower pool while you re in China, but this eventually switches over, to Tribute or Gems (in Xinjiang and Tibet) or Food (once you have cities to build). Manpower is also required asw an upkeep for your Retinue.
  • Food is consumed by each Follower you use in upkeep.
  • Tools, while not very useful in the beginning, is required to build structures in towns. But at the beginning they can be used, for instance, either for trade, or fulfilling quests - they can be used to drastically reduce exploration time and other things besides.
  • Tribute, Gems - self-excplantory.

Areas are locked and can be explored only after Retinue or Followers spend time in one or more areas.

Plains areas are easier to scout and mountains are infinitely harder.

  • Manpower/Military cannot be gathered in China, for obvious reasons.
  • In Xinjiang/Mongolia you cannot recruit Military directly. Rather, you have to convince characters to join your cause.
  • In Zhanghung, you have to recruit Military from cleared sites (trade Valuables for Military)
  • Only in Bactria can you obtain Military for free, by increasing the population sliders back and forth.
    • Each Bactrian city has a population limit determined by the fertility of the land and other factors (water supply and so forth). We use Mikhail's Bronze Age and replicate his game many times across all of Bactria until we have six different cities to manage.

In addition:

  • Your character has a base manpower of 50.
  • Warriors have a base manpower of 20.
  • Other chracters can produce a base of 10.
  • Each level increases your manpower by 10, meaning that at level 8, you can have as many as 120 Manpower in an autoresolve battle.
  • Each grade of fortification (we use Wildermyth's 3) provides a Manpower score of 10.
  • AT the end of a battle, Manpower must be deducted from your main stockpile, if you autoresolved a battle.

Combatr

  • Combat is turn-based but isn't a simple paper panel unlike Wildermyth / The Bund.
  • Sites should b erandomised. One problem with Wildermyth is how Opportunity Combat scenarios are all the same. But on the other hand, combat involving sieges are all too often different.

SO.........

  • A gamebook approach should be provided, not just the simple "pick-an-approach" method you see in Wildermyth - rather, try a Lone Wolf / Six Ages approach.
  • The Banner Saga probably represents the best chance for this.
  • Some battles can be autoresolved, using just your Army/Manpower score. Or they can be resolved, calling for a duel among heroes.

Infestations

Occassionally, you will find areas infested:

  • In China, Huns, deserters and bandits form the main infestations. These people can move into areas that are not properly developed - or other reasons - and gradually infest areas.
  • The same goes for Hunnic armies too.
  • In Zhangzhung, you don't just find deserters, but hostile tribes as well.
  • Cities in Bactria/Kusha can become hostile and when they do, they start infesting areas with scouts and rai=-=ders.

Tactical grids?

Humans cover 4 spaces. Horses cover 9 spaces. Elephants cover 16.

Issues

  • Health is wealth
  • Play it slow and safe...or play it quickly, then die? if you skip Pt 1a you will be young but untested.
  • Patriots - at what cost?
  • Racism v Cosmopolitanism
  • Loyalty vs "loyalty" - how long can friendship and love last?
  • Religion - Chinese, Buddhist, Tengrist - which one?
  • Homosexuality Ideal as some sort of side quest but dunno what. Either way it matters not, we will leave this one out.
  • What is love?

Gender bias (?)

  • Gender bias is real, and harassment, rape, and discrimination are very much frequent. Alas.
  • See #Sex??? above for more info.

Historic events covered

  • Han-Xiongnu War - once you leave China, the Han-Xiongnu War will break out, leaving you vulnerable to either capture or death, unless you have managed to infiltrate the Xiongnu.
  • Yuezhi-Saka-Persian War - Because the Yuezhi and the Parthians are at war with one another, you can play both sides against one another in a Great Game of sorts.

You can still try to bypass the Xiongnu, by using the Himalaya-Hindu Kush route but it will not be easy.

Stats

Primary

  1. Strength (how much you hit)
  2. Dexterity (how fast you dodge),
  3. Mental (your luck and sanity, essentially. Mental stat can drain when travelling outside towns)
  4. Health (your health - no health = death)
  5. Lore - the main objective. Useful in certain encounters, but results in an instant win if you have 50 or more out Lore and are in China.

As your character ages over the game, its Strength, Dexterity, Mental and Health stats will diminish. Frequent levelling is thus necessary in order to maintain an edge, otherwise your character will be underpowered, and can even become sick and die.

Secondary

These skills cannot be upgaded, they must be increased by levelling up your 5 primary stats.

  1. Strength + Dex = Accuracy. Determines if you can hit in combat or not.
  2. dexterity + Mental = Horsemanship. Increases speed of cavalry units, and success chance of cavalry-based skills.
  3. mental + health = Endurance. Lower stat drain when travelling. Higher Endurance thus prevents you from being debuffed if you are fighting, or facing skill checks after having broken camp or left town for a long time ago.
  4. Health + Lore = Herbology
  5. Lore + Strength = Charisma. Useful in interacting with other characters, Charisma can make the difference between getting caught or killed. Charisma is useful if you return to China to restock, and reduces the cost of hiring new NPCs. Your personal Charisma also lowers the chance of low-loyalty characters running away from your party.
  6. Lore_Mental = Negotiation (Latin, "Trading"). Trading allows you to buy or sell in markets to your advantage. Higher levels incur higher probability o getting discounts and freebies, and also help in determining the size of your party stash.
  7. Lore_dex = Perception. Spots treasure dropped from battle, and also used to disarm traps.
  8. health_dex = Agility. Ability to surpass obstacles, and so forth. high agility is desirable especially if you choose to travel across mountains. Agility also affects Crit chance - Accuracy determines how often you can hit, Strength determines how much you damage but Agility determines if you can Crit or not.
  9. dstr + men = Huntmastery. A Camping skill. Useful in making your rations last longer.
  10. health_strength = Vitality. How fast you can regenerate your health over time, and resist disease - the longer your game progresses, the lower your Natural Immunity.
    • Wounds, if left untreated, have a high chance of getting infected which will result in a skill check - The lower your HP level, the more likely your wounds will get infected. At some point, you will fall sick and eventually die.
    • Vitality also affects your stat gain -- the lower your vitality goes the less XP you get from non-quest, non-random event sources (ie combat, exploration, resource extraction, the works).

Vitality is the most important non-levelled Stat. Each time you travel between areas outside of China you will suffer a Vitality stat debuff.

  • Travelling out of any other area: -5 Vitality.
  • Travelling out of the Himalayas: -10 Vitality.

Pregnancy imposes a -15% Vitality penalty, Postpartum Convalescence imposes only -5%.

Str Dex Men Heal Lore
Str x


Accuracy

Huntmaswtery Vitality Charisma
Dex Accuracy x Horsemanship Agility Perception
Mental Huntmastery Horsemanchip x Endurance Negotiation
Health Vitality Agility Endurance x Herbology
Lore Charima Perception Negotiation Herbology x

Reputation

Other traits?

Virtues: how others perceive you.

  • Benevolence - countered by Order, DRead
  • Propriety - countered by Dread, Cunning
  • Order - countered by Benevolence, cunning
  • Dread - countered by Propriety, Beneveolence
  • Cunning - copuntered by Propriety, Order

Mostly for storytelling purposes.

Loyalty

Not levelled up but can be changed by successful levelling, and your conversation and actions. Low loyalty characters may abscond from your party, if you are in the wilderness, or retreat from combat.

Skills and abilities

Abilities are dependent on what sort of weapon and role your character has. Infantry get 3 abilities. Cavalry lose 1 infantry abilities, but get 2 new skills in return, mostly Second Wind, and Trample.

Skills: These are mostly weapon-based, again reflecting the world of the Han era. Each skill provided gives you a bonus with whatever weapons you use. For instance you can have good Accuracy, but poor Bow or Sling skill, which can impact whether you hit or miss.

Ancestry

there are 8 different family clans, including:

  • Bureaucrat (+2 Perception, +1 Horsemanship) Lower cost of research
  • Peasant (+3 Charisma)
  • Nomad (+2 Horsemanship, +1 Agility)
  • Soldier (+1 Agility, +2 Accuracy)
  • Merchant (+3 Negotiation)
  • Craftsman (+1 Charisma, +1 Negotiation, +1 Agility)
  • Shaman (+2 Herbology, +1 Perception) - can spot positive results of this or that decision. Shamans have access to religion all the time, whereas other characters cannot, and must rely solely on random encounters. Random encounters that provide a religious boon for non-Shamans usually produce Qi for Shamans. Shamans can make sacrifices to the different gods for guidance, who can show the results of this or that decision, but can't fully exploit a dilemma.
  • Hunter (+1 Huntmastery, +2 Endurance)
  • Outcasts (stronger experience gain from non-combat encounters)

When dilemmas appear, these different backgrounds can provide you with insights into what can or cannot happen.

All of these have their own perks and disadvantages when travelling on the road. The bonuses to your stats mentioned here are applied to your base level. A Merchant, for instance, may find it easier to approach other characters (this is Han China after all), like Chinese smugglers in operation in Bactria, but a Bureaucrat may find that position closed.

Jade is the most valuable stone, and confers a +2 Lore bonus.

Ancestry also provides different companions and romantic options (-snort-) Heroes in Sei-Hek all have different abilities.

- Craftsman: increase the Tools output of a region. Some stats unfortunately impede this. - Peasant: speeds up region Food income when resting in a region. - Traders: increase the Gem output of a region. Some stats unfortunately impede this. - Bureaucrat: speeds up construction. Some stats unfortunately impede this. - Hunter: can be used to increase the speed of uncovering new regions. Ability increases with levels, decreases with age. - Soldier: boosts defence. A Warrior

Shamans and Outcasts have no other abilities. However, the Shaman can attempt to remove certain debuffs from characters. The higher a Shaman's stats the easier it is.

Companions

Co0mpaions are like workers from Egypt, or the specialists of Marble Age, usually requiring manpower, and this or that resource.

Other character types

Priest, Hoplite, Chirurgeon, Rogue, Warrior

Magic???

No magic, however since we have learnt Jyotish, we now know that gems and metals all have different effects on the human body. Ergo, trinkets such as jade bangles, gold rings and diamonds all have some effect - some of it superstitious. Superstititous characters benefit more from these than anyone else, so a diamond ring may have better results for them than if used by a sceptic. Equally, not all gems affect everyone the same way, diamonds do not have the same effect on Chinese as they would on Greek or Saka characters in your party. Perception, Trading, Endurance and Charisma are all affected by whatever jewellery you wear, and should in an algorithm determine chances of success. For instance, a jade bangle may help a Chinese character who is infected recover faster, or cheat death in certain scenarios.

However, wearing these will increase your chances of being attacked and robbed while travelling, so be careful.

Jade is the most valuable stone, and confers a +2 Lore bonus. Of all gems, only this stone has an explicit explanation for what it does.

Chapters

Travel between areas - Inner China, Outer China, the Steppes, Central Asia, as well as the Himalayas, Persia and India all impose Endurance penalties. The more often you travel between areas, the more likely you will fall sick and die.

Exploration is a major part of the game. You sometimes either have to charm the local nobles into helping you in your quest, or engage in some hard-knuckle interrogation and grifting to get the information you need. Like FTL, once you enter a new area, you cannot return back the way you came.

Inner China

In Chang'an, you need to gather supplies and fetch Ganfu. This is a tutorial level.

  • Unfortunately, Ganfu is being attacked - by mutinous Chinese soldiers.
  • Mysteriously, the stores you obtained were torched. Considering how dangerous the city is, it is best you leave even though you have almost nothing - other than the Emperor's seal.

Outside......

  • Fight your way out of Chang'an to Yunwu (today's Lanzhou). Subdue local bandits, help local officials and merchants along the way, and clear the way for your expedition.
  • Gather supplies to ensure your expedition can continue
  • At Yunwu, you will be betrayed by the marquis of Yunwu who is trying to defect to Xiongnu raiders.His reason - he does not want to become a pawn in Wudi's struggles since Yunwu would be the first place to be hit.

At which point you have two options :

  • Surrender to the Xiongnu who then use you as a slave for ten years. OR
  • Join the Heavenly Mother Cult, or request their aid - but that means your expedition will then go toward Tibet......

Outer China

From Yunwu you will now have to find a means of traversing the Hexi Corridor in order to reach Bactria - your destination. Find a means of convincing the Oasis Kingdoms of Tarim to let you go west, while finding out as much as you can about the Yuezhi, but do not let them know - they pay tribute to the Xiongnu. If you are caught, you will be sent to the Steppes.

Leaving Outer China sparks off the Xiongnu War, preventing your return back to China.

  • Most cities are filled with Chinese traders, hawking silk and tea for jade.
  • The cities are populated by Kushans, who ride camels and harvest jade, and pay tribute to the Xiongnu farther north.

It is up to you to decide if you want to try your luck getting out and surviving being ambushed by the Xiongnu, or whether you want to avoid them by travelling south - tjhrough Tibet to India - before turning north.

Site list:

  • Chang'an - tutorial map, by far the largest of all areas.
  • Cemetery - 4 of them
  • Villages - different versions.
  • Lonely tavern...add Dragon Inn elements here? maybe, maybe not. Need to think.
  • Different merchants
  • Small bandit camp
  • Large bandit camp
  • small shops - shepherds, ranchers, farmers, blacksmith,
  • Great Wall
  • Small Chinese Town - has mud walls, a market, the works.
  • LArge Chinese town - this one has shops, inns, the works.
  • Mines - iron, copper, gold. Jade pits are possible.

The Steppes

On the Steppes, you will now be allowed to lead a small household of your own around the Steppes, while working for the Chanyu of the Xiongnu. Collect his tribute, and he will let you live - but beware: time is ticking. If you lose your tribe, you will be left with no supplies, and you will die. The Steppes are controlled by two powers - the Xiongnu and the Wusun.

Xiongnu and Wusun

The Xiongnu are at war with the Wusun, but they will not let you go. And even then, they will NOT tell you where to go or what lies beyond - only the Wusun tribes are willing to tell you where to go, or aid with your Lore skill.

  • Nomad camp - many versions, with different features to create varied maps.
  • Khan village
  • Chinese slave camp
  • Shaman camp
  • Ford
  • Nomad shepherd
  • Nomad trader - some sell food, others sell finished goods
  • Bandits!

We want to distinguish the Wusun from Huns by adding large wooden palaces similar to those built in India.

Bactria

In Bactria, you will need to collect lore while trying to convince the Yuezhi to fight with China (historically they did not until a century or two later).

  • If you manage to escape the Wusun, your alignment will mostly be neutral.
  • If you managed to escape the Xiongnu, your alignment will mostly be

Cities:

  • At least six Afghan cities are planned

Himalayas / Tibet / Zhangzhung

  • Only possible if you can flee from the Wusun.
  • Accessible only by completing a certain quest.

Zhangzhung is the main centre of the Himnalayas, entering here will provide you with Lore, but will not allow you to escape other than returning back to China proper, or west into either India or Bactria. Entering this area will bring you into contact with Zhangzhung and the Qiang. Zhangzhung seems to be heavily Indianised.

  • (possible DLC)
  • Very arid and desert-like, and will result in attrition, just like the Taklamakan (which should be smaller)
  • A lot of merciless raids and stalking as your character crosses the lands, at least until you arive in Zhangzhung.

Trying to move south, your character will say, "We have no time to waste, our errands are elsewhere!" (See https://texts.shanti.virginia.edu/thl/zhangzhung/antiquities/vol1 for more info)

It seems that the Zhangzhung people live in tribes, ekeing out their existence through hunting and nomadism. Climate reconsructions suggest that the whole game world we're exploring was far less arid than it would look today, with plenty of farms and such all around.

The main draw of Zhangzhung is its priests, they know the secrets of the other lands even though they have not visited there for many years. You will need to talk to the priests in order to escape from Zhangzhung and across the Hindu Kush, into Pakistan.

How will you survive this place? Simple - capture or recruit a Qiang into your group.

What sites are associated with Zhangzhung?

  • Tibetan toll bridge poste
  • Tibetan vale
  • Zhangzhung farm village
  • Zhangzhung ranch Village
  • Chinese smuggler nest
  • zhangzhung temple village

India

Represents the southern half of Afghanistan as well as Pakistan. Is essentially ruled by the ageing Menander I, and is in disarray. You can either help to preserve its unity, or refuse to help.

Battle sites?

  • Cistern
  • Throne hall
  • City barbrican
  • Indian street
  • Valley
  • Vale
  • Cliff face
  • Small farm
  • Market

We can recycle some of the smaller maps from other levels!

Persia

More of a lore-based levelling area. Again a possible DLC area. Cities can be conquered here too, since the Parthians are fighting against the Saka and the Yuezhi.

Site list:

  • Scythian camp
  • Scythian trade post
  • Scythian bandit lair
  • Scythian cave
  • Scythian blood shrine - with human body parts.

Ageing

An ageing penalty is imposed the moment you leave a chapter, beyond the first one.

Everything should cap out at 88% to ensure there is room for failure.

Sex???

  • Only one female romanceable character, and that should be Xiongnu.
    • How about a love triangle between you and Ganfu? XD
  • For female characters, we can have them perhaps as foreigners - either a Greek husband, or a Zhangzhungi - but these should incur some sort of social penalty for characters of certain cultural backgrounds - Chinese and Greek, perhaps.
  • Higher vitality for a character = higher fertility. Higher Vitality means better chance of getting a child. Lower Vitality means lower chance of getting a child. And the lower one's Vitality, the more likely one will die especially from childbirth - repeat: this is NOT a fantasy game (that's right, your wife can die in transit too.).
  • Some xenophobia means Mozartian-like sexual tension. Handle this deftly.

Stats imapacts

Women get a vitality penalty, but they get some increased xP gain bonuses.

A vitality penaltiy should be rounded up so that it becomes more apparent as you attempt to level up vitality.

City management

At some point in the game, you will need to manage your bases. This evokes a Prehistoric / Bronze Age (talk to Mike of CV plss) game where you're fighting for your life.

  • Your nation does not generate culture, instead, it now generates Tribute. Tribute is used to build buildings - the equivalent of techs in Prehistoric.
  • If your city is attacked, your forces will be used primarily to defend. Failure to defend results in your tribesmen or citizens being killed. When the last one is killed, you lose a tribe or a city. Tribute can be paid, either to the Xiongnu, or to the Yuezhi, to lower the chance of attacks by rival tribes.
  • Cities and tribes cannot be taken the same way there were in Predynastic. You must personally lead your characters to storm the enemy city. If they are felled in battle, you can use your defensive strength to "resurrect" any characters killed during the storming (including yours), but only if you were successful. Think of the defensive strength as the "1UP" required to keep playing.
    • A tribe eliminated this way will add to your food or military strength. Cities when subdued will give you instead food or tribute, depending on which you choose. Pick your bonuses carefully!
    • If you lose the any storming battles, you lose the game.

This is not exhaustive. Because this is just a LOI/SOI, it may not be implemented. In fact, it might never be produced at all to begin with.

  • The first instance of city management appears when you are enslaved by the Xiongnu. You will have to squeeze tribute and work for the Chanyu, or otherwise be prepared to be massacred. The only way to be allowed to escape is either by negotiating with different people to arrange for your escape, or by learning the lay of the land to aid your escape, or to obtain a retinue (military strength of certain size) so that you can then convince the Chanyu to let you go to the west.
    • Talk to characters and level up your character, with or without a wife, in order to prepare a proper means of escape (is dangerous as you might not be prepared sufficiently to escape) OR
    • Find out how to charm and suborn the different tribes on the map, so that the amount of soldiers required to force the Chanyu's hand is sufficiently low as to allow you to leave (allows you to keep your characters)
This mode has only a few buildings, compared to the 2nd version.
  • In Bactria, you can simply just, with enough trickery and deceit, set yourself up as the ruler of a Greek city. The city will then allow you a vast store of resources and such in order to allow you access to more stuff - better heroes, more money (which can be used to buy supplies), being able to create items for free, and so forth.
    • Tribute and Army stats can be used to increase the chances of escaping bad situations while travelling.
    • These are necessary, if you want to visit other places without dying, ie Rma (Tibet) or possibly even Iran.

City management

City management resembles Bronze Age. You already have a Palace district, wharves, and villages, dedicated to either farming, herding or mining. Upgrade the areas with facilities, such as courthouses, shrines, bathhouses, gatehouses, canals, etc to get more benefits - either tribute, rations, or soldiers. Temple districts produce renown and research points to unlock new recipes, while other facilities like the barracks or the smithy help to train your characters.


Battles?

Is turn based, and is limited. You can bring in as many Chinese characters as you want into combat, but the number of foreigners you can bring is always limited to 4. Once the battle is over, you ca then "resurrect" characters who have been stuck down by sacrificing your Manpower/Military Strength. Else, they will linger at 0HP and remain wounded. The longer their HP remains lower than their Immunity, the more likely they will get infected and suffer the consequences.

There is some talk of having Greeks skilled with surgery "heal up" your characters after a fight using chess, if they are not hurt themselves. But Cera says no chess.

See more about items here.

Endings

see here.

Music?

If we can lift traditional Chinese music from WTCCQ we can use them for this game too. But it's also best to purchase the following albums from David Chas:

  • Shaman Territory
  • Land of Dynasties
  • Indian Sounds
  • Shogun
  • Ancient Armies - some.

For example, we can mix Indian Sounds and Shogun to get a Greek / Indian battle soundtrack.

Download files we need from youTube first since not all files are ideal for our ends. Then send a catalogue to Chas to ask for his permission and discuss terms.