Today I updated the servers with quite a few improvements to missions and they work properly now. This means I need to take some time to explain the Game Board a bit more.
First though, read the Epic faq in case you haven’t already.
This is a very early version of the game board provided by Gaeron:Â http://hom.creative-realms.net/valrei/
We haven’t produced any graphics yet since we just released this information and our artists are working with 3D models at the moment. We also thought some of you might like to be creative. If you feel like making a better looking version or provide graphics, please post in this forum thread.
Deities:
On the Game Board you see some things you recognize, and some things you don’t. Most players will recognize the names Fo, Vynora, Magranon and Libila since they are the deities that players pray to.
Moving around
Deities move around the board looking for collectibles, usually taking one step every three real life days unless they receive help from the spirits since some of the spirits can travel between Valrei and the game world. The spirits in turn need the players to help them in various ways.
The players help the spirits by performing the in-game missions that now have started appearing. When the required number of missions have been done for a deity he or she is considered to have received help. This usually means that the minimum time the deity stays in the square is 12 hours unless it’s stuck in a labyrinth square where the minimum time is longer. It will move immediately if it has already stayed the minimum time.
The required number of missions in order to help your deity move is one per wild server and one per home server belonging to your kingdom template. Only missions completed on the Epic servers count – missions on Freedom servers are for fun only and don’t contribute.
When a deity takes a step he or she conveys the favor of the spirits who helped it to its followers. When this is active you will see it in the spell effect window.
Immortals:
There are actually quite a lot of other creatures on Valrei. The ones beside the deities that you see on the board are immortal for various reasons. They could be called demigods but they can never become true deities and have no religions. They always stay in their square.
Below is a short reference for the other immortals:
Nogump the Dirty, a fairly friendly giant whose stupidity makes him a bit dangerous. Friend of Vynora.
Jackal is the ally of Magranon. He’s a trickster and apparently looks quite a bit like a Jackal. Jackal is also a moon you can see from ingame.
The Deathcrawler is an undead creature who looks like a giant crayfish with a mummified human-like head.
The Dirtmaw Giant is a slobbering, aggressive giant whos main goal in life is to trample things and keep his plains flat.
Walnut is also called the Treekeeper. His home holds a cherrytree whose berries give the power of immortality, which is what gives him his nickname.
Pharmakos, aka The Expelled, is the ally of Libila. He is a tall, pale creature with parchment-like skin who spends his time with alchemy and mystical experiments.
The Scavenger is a black beast who roams the Wintertree Hills, searching for and devouring any sort of living or dead meat that enters the region.
When a deity enters their square these immortals will attack unless it’s their ally. The Immortal who survives gains all the tokens on the square. The other one respawns at his start square when it is empty. A deity may sometimes take control of another deity’s ally at the end of a scenario.
Tokens
There are also some items on the board, or tokens. These are the things that the deities hunt for.
Collectibles are the items that the scenario is about. When one deity has collected the amount required and returned to the target square with them the scenario ends. The winner gains bonuses or may even punish the other side, for instance with some terraforming event. When a scenario ends everyone respawns in their home squares and new collectibles are generated.
Source tokens give a bonus to their carriers attack roll when fighting with other immortals. If something on the map is called “Source feather” or “Source harp” it’s a source token and not a collectible.
Other markers
It’s possible that new markers may appear. Who knows what will pop up?
Player immortality
When a deity wins a scenario there’s a chance that he receives cherries that the spirits have stolen from the Treekeeper. This means that a player may receive the possibility to become immortal.
First the player becomes a demigod. He will become an ally to his deity and protect a random square.
If the demigod survives long enough for the same deity to win again and have the luck to receive more cherries, he will become a full deity with a religion of his own for other players to join. The religion receives a totally random set of spells from the existing ones. Also, when that happens the deity will start moving around freely on Valrei in the hunt for collectibles.
