Duffman
07-06-2005, 06:56 AM
Background
--
Many said Praestigiae were just elaborate street performers. Which wasn't entirely untrue as many started off as just illusionists. However the Praestigiae, known for their self amusing pranks were far more talented than anyone ever cared to realise. The Praestigiae could, in the blink of an eye, duplicate their physical appearance into a self controlled, identical copy of themselves. Usually they would duplicate themselves on top of an unsuspecting victims head, which was why they tended to be outcasted from society.
Shortly after they developed their skill to duplicate themselves they also learnt how to uncreate themselves and after some horrifying trial and error, recreate themselves some distance away. Which to them was simply just another way to pull practical jokes.
Although society never bothered them, soon came the event that affected everyone, The Cataclysm. Gods unleashed their fury on the whole world bringing death and destruction to every village. All the races were fighting over some of the only precious habitable land left. Their whole world became a free-for-all.
The Praestigiae, not warriors by any means soon had to fight for their lives. All they had was their magical pranks to defend themselves. But what a skill it was. Used properly the Praestigiae could duplicate themselves, surrounding their opponent and using sheer numbers to overpower them. When in danger they would just disappear and reappear behind their foe. Indeed it became very hard to kill a Praestigiae. After years of war and skirmishes they, simple street performers were now heralded war heroes, as they flanked, confused and evaded their way to victory time and time again.
--
Praestigiae
HP: 35
Power: 21 - x
Armour: 15
Range: 2/4
Movement: 4
Recovery: 2
Blocking: 50%
Movement Pattern
Teleport up to 4 spaces away.
Attack Pattern
The first attack the Praestigiae must do is summon 2 duplicates of itself. These duplicates can be summoned on any empty tile 4 spaces away from the real Praestigiae and can be done only once per game. After that all 3 units have the same attack pattern which is a blockable energy bolt with a range of 2.
The power of the attack of the duplications is determined by how many tiles away the real Praestigiae is, whereas the power of the Praestigiae is determined by how many tiles the furthest duplication is away. The formula is 21 - x where x is the amount of tiles.
For example, when the real unit and one of the duplications are in adjacent tiles then the power of the duplications attack is 20 (21 - 1), which is it's maximum power.
Special Attributes
Recovery linkage - When one Praestigiae unit moves all three must wait their recovery time.
Invisibility - When the Praestigiae is selected to move it becomes invisible and only reveals itself when it attacks or at the end of the controller's turn.
Loss of creator - Any remaining duplicates are destroyed if the real Praestigiae is killed.
Counts as 1 unit
---
Notes
It is important to note that this unit is not 3 units but is just the threat of three units. However because of the power determined by distance it takes a very skilful player to maintain this threat without giving away the real identity of the Praestigiae. Essentially you cannot attack with any of the Praestigiae and not give away who the real one is unless all units are equidistant.
It takes a smart player to position them and use them slyly, it takes a smart player to determine duplicates from real and it takes an alert player to keep tabs on them.
Moreover if a duplicate is killed then it is impossible to tell using distance which one is real out of the remaining two so if you aren't smart and blindly guess which unit to kill you really can dig yourself a hole.
--
Some Reasoning
The unit needs expert maneuvering as to not give away identity. Thus it has a high movement and teleport. Even though only one more attack range than a melee unit this drastically improves the amount of possibilities for the units when working as 3.
I tried to keep the power formula very simple. Ideally it would be exponential so that when it's far away, say 7 spaces it has an extremely low attack to promote the 3 units working together with close flanking abilities. However if the formula is too complicated the harder it gets mathematically to work out the real unit and damage dealt when they aren't equidistant. With armour factors to take into account it's difficult already.
The reason for invisibility is in the summoning stage. If the unit just stays there and summons two replicas of himself there is no mystery as to which one is real. With the invisibility, you move and then summon the replicas in places where you could have also moved so it's impossible to tell what is what for certain.
--
Should also note this is not my return. This is a unit I had cooked up but never finished. Thought you guys deserved to be able to read it :p. Also thanks LT for testing it with me a while ago. Hope you like.
--
Many said Praestigiae were just elaborate street performers. Which wasn't entirely untrue as many started off as just illusionists. However the Praestigiae, known for their self amusing pranks were far more talented than anyone ever cared to realise. The Praestigiae could, in the blink of an eye, duplicate their physical appearance into a self controlled, identical copy of themselves. Usually they would duplicate themselves on top of an unsuspecting victims head, which was why they tended to be outcasted from society.
Shortly after they developed their skill to duplicate themselves they also learnt how to uncreate themselves and after some horrifying trial and error, recreate themselves some distance away. Which to them was simply just another way to pull practical jokes.
Although society never bothered them, soon came the event that affected everyone, The Cataclysm. Gods unleashed their fury on the whole world bringing death and destruction to every village. All the races were fighting over some of the only precious habitable land left. Their whole world became a free-for-all.
The Praestigiae, not warriors by any means soon had to fight for their lives. All they had was their magical pranks to defend themselves. But what a skill it was. Used properly the Praestigiae could duplicate themselves, surrounding their opponent and using sheer numbers to overpower them. When in danger they would just disappear and reappear behind their foe. Indeed it became very hard to kill a Praestigiae. After years of war and skirmishes they, simple street performers were now heralded war heroes, as they flanked, confused and evaded their way to victory time and time again.
--
Praestigiae
HP: 35
Power: 21 - x
Armour: 15
Range: 2/4
Movement: 4
Recovery: 2
Blocking: 50%
Movement Pattern
Teleport up to 4 spaces away.
Attack Pattern
The first attack the Praestigiae must do is summon 2 duplicates of itself. These duplicates can be summoned on any empty tile 4 spaces away from the real Praestigiae and can be done only once per game. After that all 3 units have the same attack pattern which is a blockable energy bolt with a range of 2.
The power of the attack of the duplications is determined by how many tiles away the real Praestigiae is, whereas the power of the Praestigiae is determined by how many tiles the furthest duplication is away. The formula is 21 - x where x is the amount of tiles.
For example, when the real unit and one of the duplications are in adjacent tiles then the power of the duplications attack is 20 (21 - 1), which is it's maximum power.
Special Attributes
Recovery linkage - When one Praestigiae unit moves all three must wait their recovery time.
Invisibility - When the Praestigiae is selected to move it becomes invisible and only reveals itself when it attacks or at the end of the controller's turn.
Loss of creator - Any remaining duplicates are destroyed if the real Praestigiae is killed.
Counts as 1 unit
---
Notes
It is important to note that this unit is not 3 units but is just the threat of three units. However because of the power determined by distance it takes a very skilful player to maintain this threat without giving away the real identity of the Praestigiae. Essentially you cannot attack with any of the Praestigiae and not give away who the real one is unless all units are equidistant.
It takes a smart player to position them and use them slyly, it takes a smart player to determine duplicates from real and it takes an alert player to keep tabs on them.
Moreover if a duplicate is killed then it is impossible to tell using distance which one is real out of the remaining two so if you aren't smart and blindly guess which unit to kill you really can dig yourself a hole.
--
Some Reasoning
The unit needs expert maneuvering as to not give away identity. Thus it has a high movement and teleport. Even though only one more attack range than a melee unit this drastically improves the amount of possibilities for the units when working as 3.
I tried to keep the power formula very simple. Ideally it would be exponential so that when it's far away, say 7 spaces it has an extremely low attack to promote the 3 units working together with close flanking abilities. However if the formula is too complicated the harder it gets mathematically to work out the real unit and damage dealt when they aren't equidistant. With armour factors to take into account it's difficult already.
The reason for invisibility is in the summoning stage. If the unit just stays there and summons two replicas of himself there is no mystery as to which one is real. With the invisibility, you move and then summon the replicas in places where you could have also moved so it's impossible to tell what is what for certain.
--
Should also note this is not my return. This is a unit I had cooked up but never finished. Thought you guys deserved to be able to read it :p. Also thanks LT for testing it with me a while ago. Hope you like.