SP - Player, NPCs & Troops New 'Bandit' Faction Suggestion: Wild Beasts

[LeonDionathon]

Okay, so first I'll preface this by saying that I agree with a lot of the sentiments regarding bandit spawn rate, especially for desert bandits in my opinion. But anyway, here's an idea I think would be neat to implement as an eventuality to spice up the 'bandit' assortment. Four new 'bandit' factions: Wolves, Bears, Boars, and Leopards. Each faction would simply represent packs of wild animals - you figure there's a character creation option to taking down a wild animal, why not have them, right?

-Wolf Faction-
Wolves appear all around Central and Northern Calradia (Battania, Sturgia, and Empire regions).
Description:

• Small body, making it hard to hit.
• Fast, roughly the speed of a level 150 athletics.
• Moderate 'armor' to mitigate damage from their hide.
• Low HP - around 30-50
• 'Bite' Attack is fast, but relatively weak like a 25 pierce damage attack. [Thrust]

Loot:
Wolves drop fur and meat.

'Troop' Tree:
Wolf Pup -> Beta Wolf -> Alpha Wolf

-Bear Faction-
Bears appear all around Western, Central and Northern Calradia (Battania, Sturgia, and Empire regions, some in Vlandia).
Description:

• Large body, making it easy to hit.
• Slow, like a heavily encumbered warrior.
• High 'armor' to mitigate damage from their hide.
• High HP - around 150.
• 'Swat' Attack is slow, but relatively powerful like a 60 pierce damage attack. [Swing]

Loot:
Bears drop fur and meat.

'Troop' Tree:
Bear Cub -> Mikra Bear -> Megale Bear

-Boar Faction-
Boars appear in Western, Eastern, and sometimes in Central Calradia (Vlandia and Khuzaits, and limited Empire regions).
Description:

• Small body, making it hard to hit.
• Medium speed, like a mix between Wolf and Bear.
• Medium armor, higher than wolfe, but lower than bear.
• Moderate HP - higher than wolf, but lower than bear.
• 'Tusk' Attack is slow, and relatively weak like a 20 pierce damage attack. [Thrust]
• Boars can charge and turn Tusk into a 'couched' attack, doing 20 pierce damage - plus couching bonus.

Loot:
Boars drop hide and meat.

'Troop' Tree:
Wild Piglet -> Wild Pig -> Wild Boar

-Leopard Faction-
Leopards appear in the Nahasa desert and sometimes in Khuzait Stepps (Aserai and Khuzait regions).
Description:

• Medium-sized body, mix between wolf and bear.
• High speed, moving like a low-level horse.
• Moderate armor; about the same damage mitigation from hide as a wolf.
• Moderate HP - comparable to a boar.
• 'Claw' attack is a fast and moderately powered attack doing 40 cut damage. [Swing]

Loot:
Leopards drop hide and meat.

'Troop' Tree:
Leopard Cub -> Leopard -> Panther

This also creates the option to have 'eliminate wolf/bear/boar/leopard lair' quests from village headmen.

An interesting addition, too, would be the chance to capture the animals just like normal prisoners, but require a high 'comformity' level to recruit them and possibly even a perk from the Tactics/Leadership skill list of like 'Animal Tamer: Allows one to recruit beasts to their army'.

With the option of being able to capture them, that also creates the option for a new Lord quest: 'Get me a *this animal* for my menagerie'. The goal of the quest being to capture one of the animals alive and deliver it to the requesting lord.

The whole idea would certainly break up the monotony of fighting the same types of bandits over, and over again. And in small numbers these could be good for letting the player develop early in the game since they wouldn't have ranged counter-attack abilities (though Wolf and Leopard would be able to catch up to your little sumpter horse and give you a bad time, I'd imagine). But at the same time, if they mass - it would be a fun experience for the poor sod who blunders into a group of fifteen bears or twelve leopards. Interesting fights, it would create, I'd think. And with the ability to capture and tame them, I would be delighted to see an 'animal tamer' build where someone makes an army almost entirely of wild animals - haha.