willholton1
Recruit
Here's the collection of ideas I had for Bandits and Looters. Obviously the suggestions can be taken piecemeal. The hope is to expand on and give depth to Bandits and Looters.
Rogue Factions: Calradia should be inhabited by criminal factions, trying to spread their influence from city to city, expanding out using hideouts and conducting wars with one another -- like ants. On top of a steady income from each city they are active in (dependent on the prosperity of the city, and how many other Rogue Factions exist there), they should also gain wealth whenever they rob villagers, caravans, or lords, harass workshops for protection, extort/raid a fief, or trade prisoners into slavery. They should use this income to increase the strength and number of their patrols, spawn new hideouts, and fight other Rogue Factions for territory (removing them from a city they are sharing, taking their hideouts, and setting up shop in new cities).
Patrols: Patrols should be sized and equipped based on their goal (attacking villagers or caravans, fief raiders, or slavers with blunt weapons). They should be slower than a trained warband ("rabble" modifier to movement, -.2). They should fluctuate in size and number based on the prosperity of their "base", and should deteriorate if they aren't able to earn enough for their upkeep. Larger groups should preferably be led by named leaders ("Timmy Blood Drinker", "Dastardly Dan", "Nasty Nate"). They should return to their base at times, and not just be a permanent fixture on the map after spawning.
City Bandits: Rogue Factions within cities should harass workshops (unless the owner is on good terms with the leader), leaching on their profit. If you're on bad terms with a leader, theirs a chance to get jumped in their city, and they will start to target your businesses more. There should be quests added where artisans ask for help getting out from underneath a Rogue Faction's protectionism, or a city guard asks for help raiding their den. The current quests related to Gang Leaders fighting should help the Rogue Faction in their goal to remove opposing factions from a shared city. Removing a Rogue Faction should be a more drawn out process for ones which have been in a city longer, while newer factions should be relatively easy to snuff out.
Hideout Bandits: Their goal should be to rob villagers, caravans, and lords, capture slaves, and extort/raid fiefs for supplies. In addition, they should occasionally try to expand into nearby cities (a tug of war with any existing factions there, with it being harder to move into cities with many factions, or wealthy factions) or war with nearby hideouts. For players to deal with a hideout, it should be an option to either sneak attack (small group skirmish battle, meant to "cut the head off the snake", using the same mechanics as it does now, but you only face a small portion of the hideouts numbers), or all out attack (siege battle with the entire hideout, at their main fortification, which should have more troops now). There should be quests around these hideouts to deal with their named leaders, free captured slaves, and end extortion.
Marauders: These are bandits with no "base". However, they should spawn under specific conditions instead of being a random feature of the map. They should not spawn immediately after the event, but after some time should appear around the area. If they are not dealt with by a warband, they should disperse over time -- villagers returning to their homes after the "raided" effect ends, deserters joining local Bandits. Fighting them shouldn't be your only option. If they are heavily outnumbered, they should attempt to run, or surrender if they can't outrun you. It should be an option to pay them a sum to dissipate immediately, as they have enough money to go on with their lives (again, the idea is they are an unorganized group with a singular goal: wealth). They should also have a chance to fight each other (including with bandits). Those of the same type should have a chance to consolidate into a larger group.
Looters: Should spawn from displaced villagers when a village is raided, or if it has low wealth/moral/food.
Deserters: Should spawn from soldiers being routed from battles between warbands or deserters from low morale.
Revolutionaries: Should spawn when a kingdom starts to get too large, from settlements which they have captured from other nations. Should focus their attacks on the large faction's resources. The chance to spawn revolutionaries should go down the longer the settlement is held.
Raiders: Prosperous areas on the edges of the map should be afflicted by forces from "outside" Calradia, to make up for the fact that they are not surrounded by enemies. Sea Raiders across the Western and Northern edge of the map, mysterious troops from unknown factions to the South and East (Chinese or Indian vibes maybe?).
Fighting Back: Once the population of looters or bandits in an area gets to a threshold, settlements should expend resources to spawn patrols to fight them. Lords should also give some priority to going back to their lands to deal with brigand issues. They should have a quest available to help deal with brigands in their lands. Once the brigand population dies down for a set amount of time, the patrols should cease (saving that settlement money) and the lord should prioritize other things.
Man Hunters: Factionless man-hunters should spawn in areas with high population of brigands, as this will help deal with brigands in places heavily contested during wars. They should deteriorate as the brigand population does. They should only be hostile to the player if they are seen as a criminal in the area (for doing quests which break the law, like smuggling). If they capture the player, they should take them to the city in question for justice. Serving time in the city dungeon should remove the player's criminal rating.
Rogue Factions: Calradia should be inhabited by criminal factions, trying to spread their influence from city to city, expanding out using hideouts and conducting wars with one another -- like ants. On top of a steady income from each city they are active in (dependent on the prosperity of the city, and how many other Rogue Factions exist there), they should also gain wealth whenever they rob villagers, caravans, or lords, harass workshops for protection, extort/raid a fief, or trade prisoners into slavery. They should use this income to increase the strength and number of their patrols, spawn new hideouts, and fight other Rogue Factions for territory (removing them from a city they are sharing, taking their hideouts, and setting up shop in new cities).
Patrols: Patrols should be sized and equipped based on their goal (attacking villagers or caravans, fief raiders, or slavers with blunt weapons). They should be slower than a trained warband ("rabble" modifier to movement, -.2). They should fluctuate in size and number based on the prosperity of their "base", and should deteriorate if they aren't able to earn enough for their upkeep. Larger groups should preferably be led by named leaders ("Timmy Blood Drinker", "Dastardly Dan", "Nasty Nate"). They should return to their base at times, and not just be a permanent fixture on the map after spawning.
City Bandits: Rogue Factions within cities should harass workshops (unless the owner is on good terms with the leader), leaching on their profit. If you're on bad terms with a leader, theirs a chance to get jumped in their city, and they will start to target your businesses more. There should be quests added where artisans ask for help getting out from underneath a Rogue Faction's protectionism, or a city guard asks for help raiding their den. The current quests related to Gang Leaders fighting should help the Rogue Faction in their goal to remove opposing factions from a shared city. Removing a Rogue Faction should be a more drawn out process for ones which have been in a city longer, while newer factions should be relatively easy to snuff out.
Hideout Bandits: Their goal should be to rob villagers, caravans, and lords, capture slaves, and extort/raid fiefs for supplies. In addition, they should occasionally try to expand into nearby cities (a tug of war with any existing factions there, with it being harder to move into cities with many factions, or wealthy factions) or war with nearby hideouts. For players to deal with a hideout, it should be an option to either sneak attack (small group skirmish battle, meant to "cut the head off the snake", using the same mechanics as it does now, but you only face a small portion of the hideouts numbers), or all out attack (siege battle with the entire hideout, at their main fortification, which should have more troops now). There should be quests around these hideouts to deal with their named leaders, free captured slaves, and end extortion.
Marauders: These are bandits with no "base". However, they should spawn under specific conditions instead of being a random feature of the map. They should not spawn immediately after the event, but after some time should appear around the area. If they are not dealt with by a warband, they should disperse over time -- villagers returning to their homes after the "raided" effect ends, deserters joining local Bandits. Fighting them shouldn't be your only option. If they are heavily outnumbered, they should attempt to run, or surrender if they can't outrun you. It should be an option to pay them a sum to dissipate immediately, as they have enough money to go on with their lives (again, the idea is they are an unorganized group with a singular goal: wealth). They should also have a chance to fight each other (including with bandits). Those of the same type should have a chance to consolidate into a larger group.
Looters: Should spawn from displaced villagers when a village is raided, or if it has low wealth/moral/food.
Deserters: Should spawn from soldiers being routed from battles between warbands or deserters from low morale.
Revolutionaries: Should spawn when a kingdom starts to get too large, from settlements which they have captured from other nations. Should focus their attacks on the large faction's resources. The chance to spawn revolutionaries should go down the longer the settlement is held.
Raiders: Prosperous areas on the edges of the map should be afflicted by forces from "outside" Calradia, to make up for the fact that they are not surrounded by enemies. Sea Raiders across the Western and Northern edge of the map, mysterious troops from unknown factions to the South and East (Chinese or Indian vibes maybe?).
Fighting Back: Once the population of looters or bandits in an area gets to a threshold, settlements should expend resources to spawn patrols to fight them. Lords should also give some priority to going back to their lands to deal with brigand issues. They should have a quest available to help deal with brigands in their lands. Once the brigand population dies down for a set amount of time, the patrols should cease (saving that settlement money) and the lord should prioritize other things.
Man Hunters: Factionless man-hunters should spawn in areas with high population of brigands, as this will help deal with brigands in places heavily contested during wars. They should deteriorate as the brigand population does. They should only be hostile to the player if they are seen as a criminal in the area (for doing quests which break the law, like smuggling). If they capture the player, they should take them to the city in question for justice. Serving time in the city dungeon should remove the player's criminal rating.
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