In celebration of NE Warband coming out, I'm going to start another of my extremely unpopular attempts at turning M&B into a roguelike, by making it frustratingly difficult (but also exponentially increasing the replay value of this awesome game). If anyone else has gotten bored with vanilla M&B or wants to try out something extremely challenging, please do some runs with me and see how you fare! In a nutshell: This is a play style adapted around Native Expansion/WB intended to make the game very difficult, very challenging and very rewarding.
Note: I am changing my copy of NE WB slightly by giving Scarred Bandits access to bows. I further will not allow myself to endlessly kite scores of enemies who have no ranged attack.
Here is the basic ruleset I'm using for my first attempt at NE Warband challenge. Anyone giving it a first try, I encourage you to try these rules:
Rule 1) Being taken prisoner ends your game. You have lost. Assume you were executed by your captors. (This includes sneaking into cities, breaking into prisons, etc.)
Rule 2) Once you have designated a capital city, losing your capital ends your game.
Rule 3) You may never recruit from territory you are not friendly with(+10 rep or better), nor may you purchase mercenaries.
Rule 4) You must choose between the Surgery skill or the Training skill; you may not have both, and you may not use companions with these skills (1-2 points doesn't matter. 3+ and you cant recruit them.)
Rule 5) Companions may not be given fiefs. Further, Lords are limited to 1 city or 2 castles each, plus any attached villages
To extend the fun and extend the pain even further, I'm adding an additional 5 rules onto myself to make it even more interesting:
Rule 6) I may never recruit from territories I do not own personally. I may recruit prisoners, rescued prisoners or from rescued garrisons. I call it my "peasant army".
Rule 7) I must hold a castle before the Dark Knight invasion. Further, on the day of the invasion, I must select one territory as my 'home'. If I ever lose this territory, I lose the game.
Rule
My character must be a non-noble female (meaning I will not be given a fief if I swear vassalage)
Rule 9) I may never flee from any battle, even if given the choice. I stay until the last man falls. 'Leaving' an enemy that has not yet initiated a fight is fine. (offensive sieges are an exception; I may leave those)
Rule 10) I must limit my party composition to a maximum of 33% calvary and 5% companions (of maximum party size, not current party size).
ex: If my max party size is 100, I can have up to 33 mounted units. This means I must choose my calvary units carefully.
If you are a true masochist, here's an even further extended ruleset I intend to use in my next game. This is only for those who have absolutely nothing better to do and love getting their asses kicked:
Rule 11) The surgery skill is prohibited! You may, however, use the training skill.
Rule 12) You may have ONE non-noble, non-elite companion! This companion must not have Surgery. You may, however, recruit Lords to your side.
Rule 13) You may not ever swear vassalage, nor may you be a mercenary company. Further, once you are at war with a nation, you may never return to a state of peace.
Rule 14) You must own a castle or city by day 150 - and by day 250 you MUST own a city designated as your capital. If you lose this city, you lose the game.
Rule 15) You must have conquered another nation by day 365, and again the goal of world domination by day 500 stands.
Addendum: Due to the added savagery of rules 11-16, some perks are added:
* You may ONCE and ONLY once hire Mercenaries from a tavern. Choose wisely.
* You may have up to 50% of your maximum party size as Cavalry
* You may recruit one extra companion to serve as your minister, but you may not burn through companions just to gain right to rule.
* If you lose the castle or city you took by day 150, that is acceptable - you must merely own one on day 150. Day 250 is when it's 'now-or-never'.
The goal: World Domination by game day 500.
You might ask yourself what the point of these arbitrary restrictions is. Simple: To extend the sandbox gameplay elements even further, and stretch your playing skills to the limit. To stretch your creativity and see what sort of solutions you come up to the various problems you encounter as a result. Trust me, it can be a very rewarding way to play - and make you try skills/playstyles you never considered before. If you don't like it, no problem - it's a sandbox game, make of it what you will.
Note: I am changing my copy of NE WB slightly by giving Scarred Bandits access to bows. I further will not allow myself to endlessly kite scores of enemies who have no ranged attack.
Here is the basic ruleset I'm using for my first attempt at NE Warband challenge. Anyone giving it a first try, I encourage you to try these rules:
Rule 1) Being taken prisoner ends your game. You have lost. Assume you were executed by your captors. (This includes sneaking into cities, breaking into prisons, etc.)
Rule 2) Once you have designated a capital city, losing your capital ends your game.
Rule 3) You may never recruit from territory you are not friendly with(+10 rep or better), nor may you purchase mercenaries.
Rule 4) You must choose between the Surgery skill or the Training skill; you may not have both, and you may not use companions with these skills (1-2 points doesn't matter. 3+ and you cant recruit them.)
Rule 5) Companions may not be given fiefs. Further, Lords are limited to 1 city or 2 castles each, plus any attached villages
To extend the fun and extend the pain even further, I'm adding an additional 5 rules onto myself to make it even more interesting:
Rule 6) I may never recruit from territories I do not own personally. I may recruit prisoners, rescued prisoners or from rescued garrisons. I call it my "peasant army".
Rule 7) I must hold a castle before the Dark Knight invasion. Further, on the day of the invasion, I must select one territory as my 'home'. If I ever lose this territory, I lose the game.
Rule
My character must be a non-noble female (meaning I will not be given a fief if I swear vassalage)Rule 9) I may never flee from any battle, even if given the choice. I stay until the last man falls. 'Leaving' an enemy that has not yet initiated a fight is fine. (offensive sieges are an exception; I may leave those)
Rule 10) I must limit my party composition to a maximum of 33% calvary and 5% companions (of maximum party size, not current party size).
ex: If my max party size is 100, I can have up to 33 mounted units. This means I must choose my calvary units carefully.
If you are a true masochist, here's an even further extended ruleset I intend to use in my next game. This is only for those who have absolutely nothing better to do and love getting their asses kicked:
Rule 11) The surgery skill is prohibited! You may, however, use the training skill.
Rule 12) You may have ONE non-noble, non-elite companion! This companion must not have Surgery. You may, however, recruit Lords to your side.
Rule 13) You may not ever swear vassalage, nor may you be a mercenary company. Further, once you are at war with a nation, you may never return to a state of peace.
Rule 14) You must own a castle or city by day 150 - and by day 250 you MUST own a city designated as your capital. If you lose this city, you lose the game.
Rule 15) You must have conquered another nation by day 365, and again the goal of world domination by day 500 stands.
Addendum: Due to the added savagery of rules 11-16, some perks are added:
* You may ONCE and ONLY once hire Mercenaries from a tavern. Choose wisely.
* You may have up to 50% of your maximum party size as Cavalry
* You may recruit one extra companion to serve as your minister, but you may not burn through companions just to gain right to rule.
* If you lose the castle or city you took by day 150, that is acceptable - you must merely own one on day 150. Day 250 is when it's 'now-or-never'.
The goal: World Domination by game day 500.
You might ask yourself what the point of these arbitrary restrictions is. Simple: To extend the sandbox gameplay elements even further, and stretch your playing skills to the limit. To stretch your creativity and see what sort of solutions you come up to the various problems you encounter as a result. Trust me, it can be a very rewarding way to play - and make you try skills/playstyles you never considered before. If you don't like it, no problem - it's a sandbox game, make of it what you will.
