New Race: Centaur

[Danjor]

Backstory/Lore

Hailing from the Malean peninsula in southern Laconia, the Centaur are a mighty race, born of the Gods. These liminal beings carry with them the intelligence of man and the strength of the Horse. Their fortitude makes them a difficult foe to vanquish in battle, often inflicting more damage than they receive. Their strength is well known, and even the fearsome Dragons tread lightly in the presence of the gallant Centaur. Like most crossbreeds, the Centaur is not ailed by the diseases of its ancestors, however they are afflicted by their own plague in the form of a high rate of sterility. Their size is also a limiting factor for how stealthy they can be, but in no way hinders their magical studies.



Centaur

Bonuses

Immune to Dragon Effects and Plague

+3 Defensive Specialist Strength

+10% Enemy Casualties when Defending

-15% Military Casualties

Penalties

Cannot Use War Horses

-10% Birth Rate

-5% Thievery Effectiveness (TPA)


Spellbook: Aggression, Trample (Single Use Spell: +10% Battle Gains, +10% Attack Speed, -15% Enemy Casualties, -100% Military Casualties if Ambushed)

Elite: 11/6, 1100gc, 11NW

[natebane]

I really like your lore, but the specifics don't really add anything new to the game besides a spell.

I've suggested the race of Centaur in the past and have worked on it to make it more playable yet dynamic. Here's my current version of the Centaur race:

Centaur
Horses can attack without troops
0.5% of peasants convert to Horses each day
-15% resources lost when attacked

Penalties
No access to Stables
Horses take up population space
-10% BE

Horses--> 5/5 , 3NW
Elite (Centabra): 12/3, (16,000 bushels), 10NW
O-specs--> Pegasi
D-specs--> Unicorns
Spellbook: Quickfeet

Special Mechanic: Horses can be released back into peasantry

It offers a unique playstyle addition to the attacking races in that horses can attack on their own. It would be along the lines of a sustain attacker with the free offense and turtle qualities. The biggest obstacles would be population management for econ since conversion is constant, and building space issues with minus BE and wanting more than normal food to train elites. Half-horses can't really use ladders and such to build elaborate buildings so that penalty seemed to make the most sense, as well as the bonus it'd be hard to outrun the centaur with more goods on your person.

[The Moon of Earth]

Centaur sounds like a good pick for a new race ... give the numbers a tweak or two and its workable...

[Avenger]

11/9 armies, reduced losses and a broken spell? Seems a bit overbudgeted.

[BoBDuDe]

First thing:
Spell Book - Split that into:
1 spell (+ attack speed, -losses on ambush)

Modify Racial to:
-15% Military Casualties (On Attack) (Both You and Target)
+15% Military Casualties (On Defense) (Both You And Attacker)

-15% Birthrate
-15% TPA

Elite: 10/6, 1100gc, 11NW

[Nanka]

Sounds like you are suggesting a spell based race, that relies on a one time attack to deal massive damage. Might work around like utilizing major powers in the elder scrolls game, whereby you gain access to a unique spell or attack once per day. Additionally you can also implement it through KD technology and projects, concepts not new but require balancing.

[brandonc204]

...

[Danjor]

@ Avenger/Nanka

I just put together everything I thought would sync with the idea of the Centaur race, and didn't edit down to make it immediately playable, so yeah, some of the details should be edited. The spell should probably have 1 of the bonuses and 1 penalty to be more balanced. For this age I would lower elite O by 1-2 and maybe give them a Gen bonus of 2.5%. Their high D specs would be pretty vulnerable to NS, so I think it's not too imbalanced in that perspective. But editing is always important.

@natebane

I don't think it is necessary for a new race to bring a unique unit or even unique spells to make their addition a good one, at least in terms of making the overall game more dynamic. New races should fill a void in the options for how to play the game, as far as player role and province design go. I do like your idea of unique units and such, but OP horses would create an imbalance if T/M's could steal them and they retain 5/5 value. If one race gets a unique unit, then the others should get unique stuff as well IMO.


Overall, I'm sure there are much better ideas floating in the heads of much more experienced players. I think the new owners are sincere in their desire to hear more ideas from the community and to generate active discussion/excitement around where the game could be going, so I appreciate the feedback!

[BoBDuDe]

Secondly: ( I was trying to find a short way of doing it to to no avail)
If you were to implement Immune To Dragon as a racial bonus - I would say that dwarves would get it.
For that they would lose speed/free building.
That bonus would go to some personality I think.