An Unexpectedly Green Journey (orc life-simulator) [1.5+ Million Words] OUT NOW!

[NumberedEntity]

Hi @Herdy and @Patrick_Cody02

Quite a few have mentioned an interest in adding a romantic layer to this game. Although the way you have laid it out does, indeed, make it sound like a very interesting exploration, the orcs of this era are not emotionally ripe enough for such experiences.

If you bear with me, I want to go into a little detail.

WARNING- VERY WAFFLY, I’M NOT TOO WELL AND JUST WENT ON A BIT… DON’T HAVE THE ENERGY TO CHECK THROUGH MY RIGHTEN

Using the spore-birth of orcs from Warhammer as a starting point, I decided to make my orcs plantoid and give them a lore-backed reason for shunning, indeed being incapable of, the emotional depth of other fantasy races. This, in my mind, made them different from other races/species on more than just a superficial level.

Orcs can respect and admire other creatures. They can appreciate beauty and distinguish it from disgusting things though this forms no basis for physical attraction. An orc may find a lithe elf’s figure pleasing and may marvel at how the sinews help in the performance of graceful acrobatics and agile feats of combat. An orc may gaze in awe at a blubbery ogre, impressed by how much of the world the git could stuff into its stomach and the sheer, decades-long devotion it would take to grow so large. An orc might wish that they possessed such agility of appetite. This may prompt them to want to kill that elf or ogre or hang around them out of curiosity. Or grumble about life not being fair and wander away.

The general emotional pools that fill the average orc spring from the wells of jealousy, greed, anger or fear. Much of an orc’s behaviour is based on banishing that fear and wallowing in gluttony to bury it. Tribal society is built around avoiding the fear too; the fear of looking foolish, weak, stupid, too clever, missing out on funny happenings or, basically, anything.

Everything else, that is not grown from a baborc (with the exception of boars and, sometimes, goblins) is just a weed which may need to be pulled up at some point. Orcs are less worried about exposing fear to a non-orcs, which is why they can often relax around them and happily commit carefree violence without mocking gits checking to see if they are holding their axe the right way or ‘swinging like a halfling.’

Any future Enlightenment, in a world of magic where all things may be possible, is distant. Your own orc may get to touch on the edges of emotions which are unfamiliar to his kin but will lack the mental, emotional and cultural tools to unpick and explore them.

Now, perhaps some of the few orcs living in the Imperial Provinces have deliberately tried to cultivate the romantic feelings they have read about in tomes of human myths. Yet, it would be the synthetic pretence of a hack actor.

As for now, orcs understand ‘mates’ and ‘brothers.’ To these folks, orcs can develop loyalty and, rarely, compassion. This will not be based on physical attraction or even personality, but primarily on deeds. Orcs are emotionally stunted and live a life limited by this outlook.

This does not mean that others, for whatever reason, won’t learn to love an orc. An orc would be amused by this, perhaps. Or annoyed.

If the orc’s admirer is an impressive being, in terms of physical prowess and/or magical/divine powers, the orc may wish to bestow the greatest honour he knows; to fight by their side and then get pissed on grog together afterwards. That is the height of the orc’s affection.

If the time comes when the weight of tradition and expectations fundamentally shifts, a whole new world may open up for the orcs. A new age, for new experiences and new stories.

If you stuck with all that, thanks!

Cheers for playing and showing interest!

[Patrick_Cody02]

I don’t know how to process that… But if all of that is true, then there should be a romance tradition by strength. If one finds love from an orc, then to prove and affirm their love, they need the chieftain’s approval to offficialy recgonize their love and approve marriage. But I doubt that you code all that.

BTW, the process works is that the lover of the orc must undergo a trial by strength through combat. If the lover wins the trial, then the Chieftain’s Approval is guranteed

[NumberedEntity]

This might well be the way a romance tradition begins in the orc lands. However, this has not happened yet, in Arbit.

‘Romantic Love’ is not talked about by the chiefs. It is not even considered to be a factor. The orcs lack the traditions and emotional tools to consider these things as anything but a waste of time. No mating rituals have ever been established since orcs don’t need them. Pair bonding is just not on the minds of the orcs.

Although the orc will happily fight by the side of an impressive admirer, the orc would not consider that ‘love’ or anything to do with being a ‘lover’ or anything to do with ‘romance.’ More of a worthy battle brother/sister.

Consider Gim and Jym, the orc and dwarven proprietors of The Green Gentleman Tavern. They started as enemies but teamed up to protect themselves against cursed former allies. Due to the bravery of the dwarf, and his battle-proven ferocity, the orc went out of his way to stick up for the walking beard. After later adventures, where a battle-brother bond was cemented and reinforced, the two opened a tavern. The bond between them had developed into something familial, born of platonic respect and lacking romance.

However, this does not mean that a romantic dalliance is impossible. The world does have magic and cruel, experimental gods. It is just, as of yet, unheard of.

EDIT: To clarify. If your average orc ever felt something similar to that which we humans call romantic love, he would assume he was very unwell and likely possessed. He would immediately make an appointment with the clan shaman to have holes drilled into his skull and chest and filled with potent grog until every semblance of feeling was blitzed into numbness.

[denton27]

I have a few questions about magic in Arbit

Can orcs become wizards
as in arcane magic without the worship of Krog?

Could a orc use both arcane and divine magic to get a more powerfull effect?

how does Krog feel about wizards?

Can a orc worship another god and if so can they become clerics?

Also this is one of best high fantasy games I have ever played.

[NumberedEntity]

Hi Denton,

Thanks for taking the time to paint the world green and for your very supportive and kind comments and great query.

Due to the regular insanity, and chaotic methods, of orc shamans, much of their magic can come from the accidental triggering of arcane energy. Also, due to their insanity, some shamans’ methods can pick at the attention of gods and goddesses other than Krog- gods/goddesses of chance, fate, insanity and mischief, for example. However, most of their powers do, indeed, come from Krog.

Orcs can devote themselves to any diety, though not all deities will favour orcs. Krog, being the creator of orcs, may also choose to bestow curses upon his wayward creations. During the current age in Arbit, very few orcs have even considered thinking about other deities. Some of the Imperial orcs have surely diverted their worship away from the Green God, though. In The Plains, such orcs would be killed, usually in a ritual sacrifice to appease Krog.

Your orc is generally stuck with Krog worship, though he doesn’t have to take it seriously. In extreme cases, your orc may choose to worship demons and stray from Krog’s path.

Krog’s opinion on mages, who wield the arcane through academic pursuit, is negative unless the practitioner gives him most of the credit- even if that is untrue. He is a jealous god who prizes martial feats over mental agility. Although he would never admit it, he fears the most powerful mages, concerned that they know more about the mysteries of creation than he does.

As to orcs becoming practitioners of arcane (as opposed to divine) magic, it would be extremely uncommon. This kind of magic is most often academic, involving intense study and loads of reading- things orcs do not readily gel with. That is not to say that a particularly clever orc, if that cleverness is fostered from a young age, cannot enroll in the Ether Steeples are become a formidable mage, it is just a very difficult path which doesn’t come naturally to them. This goes triple for Plains’ orcs (the vast majority of all orcs).

A caveat to this. If certain things are sprinkled in the soil of a baborc crop then the sprouted orcs might be more gifted in terms of arcane ability. During the current age, orcs have not dabbled with flavouring the crop. since the baborc populations struggle in poor soil and no one wants to experiment and, inadvertently, kill off a whole generation.

If you become an Emperor, you might get a chance to add some flavourings to orc crops, which could wake abilities in your descendants.

Hope this answers your question. Feel free to query anything else. I might pop this answer up on tumblr in a few days as part of a series of posts expanding and explaining some of the lore.

Cheers!

[denton27]

couple more questions

If a orc on the ruler path where to slay the dragon and then chose either the diplomacy or culture path and helped the farland queen
what would happen to the royal Crop if two dragon scales where added to it?
would they create two dragon-orc hybrids possibly leading to a civil war or would they merge to create a even more Powerful dragon-orc hybrid or would something else entirely happen?

How would the Farland queen react if she where to meet a dragon-orc hybrid ruler?

also really great lore can’t wait for the finished game!

[NumberedEntity]

Interesting thoughts!

I would say that combing a stereotypical dragon’s solitary nature, high intelligence and gold lust with the communal, competitive, brutal and greedy nature of an orc can turn out in many ways. Saying this, the outcome of having more than one dragon scale in a single crop would likely follow a narrow chain of events.

Two dragon scale, planted in the baborc crop, are likely to result in only one dragon orc, since dragon-orc baborcs take the lion’s share of the nutrients in the soil. One of the dragon-orc baborcs will probably wither, or the whole baborc crop may go bad.

If two dragon orcs do successfully sprout, it is more than likely that one will kill the other in order to be the alpha orc of the new crop. If they both survive and grow into adults they will likely gather a following and, as you say, engage in a civil war.

As for if you have the ashes of many dragon-orc’s planted in a new baborc crop… Who knows? Maybe a scholar will one day unleash such a thing upon the world.

I think the Farland Queen, if she has a high opinion of orcs, will make diplomatic efforts to court good relations. However, she would be suspicious too and have spies keep an eye on him. She would, of course, be open to having such an orc swear fealty to her and may even encourage this through gifts, flattery and appeals to her affinity towards those of dragon blood.

However, she would not want an unaffiliated dragon spawn near her borders; half-way across the world is fine. Or, she would have to deal with the problem with merciless hostility.

Really insightful probing of the lore! Perhaps the foundations of many future stories.

Cheers!

[Biwa_man]

Hi Numbered Entity, Your game Is fantastic and Intense It will even become more Intense when you are a fan of Lord Of the Ring or Hobbit because I feel like Im the antagonist of this game, my question Is, Is It possible to become Morgorc Heir If you have a good relationship with him and Is It possible to become Slappa Right hand man when Morgorc dies and Slappa became the next chief?. Overall your game Is five over five!

[NumberedEntity]

Hi Biwa,

Haha, yes, anything with orcs must bow before the font of fantasy that is LoTR. Knowing that you’re a fan of traditional fantasy and enjoy my game is a massive compliment. It shows that I’ve been able to scratch that particular itch, at least for some people!

Generally, chiefs are usurped by younger, tougher orcs (as you can do to Morgorc). Or, on a chief’s death, the toughest ocs fight it out afterwards.

Morgorc never actually picked a successor- Slappa is just a git and a bully who may have helped Morgorc on his way!

My current plan is that, if you win many raiding battles, your rank within the tribe can go up. So, in theory, you can become a right-hand orc to Slappa. I haven’t implemented this yet but, hopefully, the raiding warband battles will be on the next update.

Cheers!

[anon12679161]

I’ve been away for a while but all that means is I have quite a few updates to catch up with. General thoughts: I like that the fighter and adventurer guild paths seem less, I guess, dire than the other paths we’ve seen so far. Sure, you get bigger quests towards the end of the adventurers guild and the fighter path ties into the demon incursion but it’s less world ending stakes and more personal to your orc.

A few typos and thoughts:

Fighter path

I don’t know if it’s intentional but you only get tells during the fights half the time. Like the little lines that says what your opponent is about to do don’t show up if your previous action was “correct” and scored a hit.

Also, slightly along the lines of that, the quick hit SEEMS to always be the correct choice. It either hits the opponent, or misses, but it only very rarely seems to result in you getting hit. I may just have had weird luck but I got through the entire fighter path (less the fights where you have specific goals like the ogre and the stone woman) just spamming quick attack. I am using the testing orc, so it may just be that they have a broken amount of speed.

The following are going to be a lot of issues with apostrophes. I’ve listed the instances I’ve found but you may want to do a pass to see if there’s any I didn’t see. Issues are either spaces before apostrophes or double apostrophes. (I got sick of listing them eventually when I realised they were coded in and just swapping out names. I probably could have just left one example of each).

With speed, you jab your axe head into Noodle’'s face, just a fraction quicker than she can.

*Noodle’s

With speed, you jab your axe head into Ughar’'s face, just a fraction quicker than he can.

*Ughar’s

Your blow rings harmlessly off of Ughar 's spiked club.

*Ughar’s

With a clang, your quick strike is deflected on the side of Ughar 's spiked club.

*Ughar’s

With speed, you jab your axe head into Wutagroc 's face, well before his blow lands.

*Wutagroc’s

Gibber skips across the muddy planks, scowling as he sizes you up. With a dashing flourish, he swishes his rapier in a figure eight.

The bout is arranged. Both you and Noodle head to the wooden planks, with an audience of a half-dozen gamblers.

This is when I was fighting Gibber, but there is a line about Noodle in the middle.

With speed, you jab your axe head into Gibber’'s face, just a fraction quicker than he can.

*Gibber’s

With speed, you jab your axe head into Harron 's face, well before his blow lands.

*Harron’s

With speed, you jab your axe head into Harron’'s face, just a fraction quicker than he can.

*Harron’s

With a clang, your quick strike is deflected on the side of Harron 's maul.

*Harron’s

With speed, you jab your axe head into Rosegrace 's face, well before her blow lands.

*Rosegrace’s

With speed, you jab your axe head into Redfriend’'s face, just a fraction quicker than he can.

*Redfriend’s

With speed, you jab your axe head into Calithan’'s face, just a fraction quicker than he can.

*Calithan’s

With a clang, your quick strike is deflected on the side of Calithan 's poignard.

*Calithan’s

With speed, you jab your axe head into Calithan 's face, well before his blow lands.

*Calithan’s

With a clang, your quick strike is deflected on the side of Siora 's dagger.

*Siora’s

Ashera pulls back her hood, revealing a face crossed with scars. The darkness under her eyes speaks of torment and suffering. This one will give no mercy and will expect nothing less.

FIGHT!

On her tip-toes, Siora suddenly springs forward.

Ashera turns into Siora. This continues throughout the fight. It’s only after I choose to kill her does she get referred to as Ashera again.

With a clang, your quick strike is deflected on the side of Grojax 's war hammer.

*Grojax’s

With speed, you jab your axe head into Grojax 's face, well before his blow lands.

Grojax’s

“Here’s your 4,00 shiny bits of loot. Great fight!”

*4,000 (It adds the correct number of loot to your stats, just incorrect in the text). This continues at the end of all the western hills fights.

With a clang, your quick strike is deflected on the side of Artos 's broadsword.

*Artos’s (Though I think generally possessive on a name that ends in s should just be Artos’ but I don’t know if that would mess with your coding)

With speed, you jab your axe head into Artos’'s face, just a fraction quicker than he can.

*Artos’s

Putting her whole weight into his strike, Mildrith throws her body after her morning star as it cuts through the air.

Mildrith changes gender mid sentence.

Your blow rings harmlessly off of Mildrith 's morning star.

*Mildrith’s

With speed, you jab your axe head into Mildrith’'s face, just a fraction quicker than she can.

*Mildrith’s

Arranging a few stools around a table, with a jar of grog and a few tankards in the centre, Shufle prepares a welcome for Gregor in his hut beside the Scab Hole.

*Shufla

Over the coming days, you travel down the scenic Royal Road, where sparse patches of dry scrub give way to greener shoots, then thick, flourishing grassland as you enter the very edge of Grandardgrad province.

*Grandardgard

Launching another assault at Lucian, you to land a precise blow which cracks against something within his.

*extra word “to”
*Missing word at the end “something within his *******”

With a clang, your quick strike is deflected on the side of Lucian 's halberd.

*Lucian’s

With a clang, your quick strike is deflected on the side of Crackerjack 's axe.

*Crackerjack’s

With a clang, your quick strike is deflected on the side of Soft Touch 's sword.

*Soft Touch’s

Wood, reeds and refined cloth have been raised to create tents lacking that lack the authentic rough, lived-in feel of true plains settlements.

*Extra word “lacking”

With a clang, your quick strike is deflected on the side of Gore 's club.

Gore’s

Your blow rings harmlessly off of Thumpy 's axe.

*Thumpy’s

Your blow rings harmlessly off of Big Nut 's battle axe.

*Big Nut’s

Your blow rings harmlessly off of Raganhilda 's great hammer.

*Raganhilda’s

Raganhilda bleeds out on the snow, her blood staining the kicked-up flurry from your fight. Her breath grates as she stares up at you. “End me,” she hisses.

Spare him.
Kill him.

Should be female pronouns in the choices.

A peak runner, one of the Dawn Scouts of the Yonderfolde garrison renowned for his speed and endurance, is ready to accept your challenge.

This option was still available after I killed Valjofr.

Displaying incredible agility, you jab with your axe head into Jory’s face. There’s a loud crack followed by the sound of splintering bone. Blood drips from his nose as he stumbles back. Jory slumps onto the floor, bleeding profusely and unable to go on.

A rasping, dying form in the snow, Valjofr mutters his final prayers and stares into the sky.

In the Jory fight I suddenly get transported back to fighting Valjofr. Once I decide the fight continues back with the sailors.

With the moon high, it’s pale light brings out the full intensity of the colours of the coral fish.

*its

You brace yourself for the impending impact, ready to exploit any opening presented by Sterren’s desperate strike. She overcommits , leaving themselves wide open to counterattack. You dart in and deliver a crushing blow that catches them off-guard. Sterren slumps onto the floor, bleeding profusely and unable to go on.

A rasping, dying form in the snow, Valjofr mutters his final prayers and stares into the sky.

Back with Valjofr again, this time during Sterren’s fight.

A true celebratory at the Nest of Battlers, you the prized fighter of all the prize fighters.

Not sure on this sentence. “A true celebration”? “with you”?

Now, at the top level of the game, you’ll have to give all your time and energy to this arena fighting business. There’ll be no time for distractions and won;t be able to go back to the Dust Clan, unless you retire for good.

*you won’t

Simmering stew bots fill the areas with spice.

*pots

"Yes, yes. That Alexius. Ser Alexius of Flhyteclap, ex-captain of the Granardgard city guard, ex-Grand Champion of the arena and, dare I say, new champion of this Good Sport tournament.

*Grandardgard

Parade through Grandardgard, with the lads from the Nest of Battlers and some of the horde boys, muttering disparaging things about theGgrand Champion.

*the Grand Champion

The plan is to wave banners embroidered with images of Bahlatair, all arranged by Shufla. With this, you and the lads will parade around Garndardgard, stirring up the locals to make the champion a laughing stock.

*Bhaltair
*Grandardgard

Call in your boys to fill the streets of Grandardgard and besmirch Bhlatair’s name.

*Bhaltair’s

Your green banners wave proud and high, depicting a caricature of a Bhlatair-halfling kissing an orc’s backside.

*Bhaltair

Shufla leads your massive mob of Dust CLan boys, waving another banner embroidered with a ferocious representation of your face above the word ‘CHAMPION’.

*Clan

Maybe just enough for him to risk Bhlatair fighting you, just to kill you and shut you up!

*Bhaltair

After a day’s of hard training in the Nest of Battlers, you slouch on your bunk and tear through a half-dozen pounds of steak.

*day

Shufla bounds it, waving a piece of parchment, his eyes burning with green fire.

*in

After a day’s of hard training in the Nest of Battlers, you slouch on your bunk and tear through a half-dozen pounds of steak. Shufla bounds it, waving a piece of parchment, his eyes burning with green fire. “We’re all going to Grandardgard! You’ve done it, poked and prodded the dragon hard enough to get the fight! Such is the excitement in the city, that the Grand Arena will be packed full of the nobles of the land and, Emperor Callistus V himself. Morcdred, it’s time to become a legend!”

“It is time,” says Shufla, beckoning for you to follow. You work your way through the underworks and towards the challenger’s gates. A chorus of cheers and boos reverberate against the solid stone walls and around the stadium. Electric tension sparks from the stands, filled to capacity with the high and low born of the Empire.

It’s a little jarring to go from one place to another immediately without any transition. One second we are in the Nest and the next second we are walking into the arena.

Bhlatair’s body steams next to you, it cracks and warps into a crimson demon, headless and dead.

*Bhaltair’s

[anon12679161]

One thing I will say about both the fighter and adventurer paths is that a lot of loot gets thrown your way with no way to do anything with it. I’d like there to be a way to directly exchange loot for stats in case your orc needs a boost to get past certain challenges. Maybe the epilogue of these paths could change depending on how successful you’ve been on the path as well as how much loot you have left over at the end.

Perhaps you can be not particularly famous (i.e - failed at some quests/fights), but hugely wealthy (saved a lot of loot) and fund your own retirement. Or you can be incredibly famous (think unbeaten fighter, or hugely successful adventuring party) but poor (you had to spend a lot of loot on training and gear) so you have to rely on the kindness of your tribe to support you in your old age. Or hell, maybe you are BOTH incredibly successful and unimaginably rich and you get the best of both worlds.

Adventurer

Inside a small, richly decorated room, a young, armoured warrior and a stuffy old mage swing back and forth on rocking chairs around a fire. On seeing you, the warrior slowly gets to his feet greet you. “Welcome. Haver you lost your way? This is no tavern.”

There is a picture at the top of this screen that isn’t loading
*“slowly gets to his feet to greet you.”
*Have

“It is unusual for those of The Plains to pay us a visit,” says the made. “I am Olradore and my young friend is Brassus.”

*mage

Brassus nods, though is tight lipped. His hand rests on the hilt of his sword.

*“he is tight lipped.”

As you are inexperienced, you are only permitted the take the less trifling quests, for now."

I think you mean MORE trifling. A trifling quest is an unimportant one, so a less trifling quest would be more important.

Choose adventurers to join your party. You need 4, including yourself, to go questing.

I really wish it remembered your chosen party and gave you an option to just stick with the same people, rather than having to re-choose your party every time.

You are to travel to Riverlay, on Guild appointed coaches, asses Francis and try to convince his parents to let him join us.

*assess

Rearranging her positions, she continues to read a tome from the Ether Steeples.

*position

Into the varnished wooden facade you go, seeking to asses how Francis Flynn composes himself.

*assess

An old lady is, sitting on a bench, is the sole source of joy, smiling at you and your companions.

Extra word “is”

Once your party has settled, working through a plate honey pear slices, Falidius explains his quest.

*“plate of honey pear slices”

"The important thing to remember is, they need to be gathered them in bundles of eight.

*Extra word “them”

You only need to walk about a day’s north east, so getting there is easy.

*day

Grandardgrad officials have asked the Guild to investigate a small farm, Abel’s Meadow, in the imperial province of Awlencan.

*Grandardgard

Please find out what’s happened to Able and the local residents."

*Abel

Apart from feathers and chicken crap, the house seems empty now, after your battle. You lead your party through the musty hallway and peek into side rooms. Cobwebs hang from chairs, tables and in the corners. A foul rot sours the air. This might be something to do with the druid’s disappearance.

I didn’t fight and talked with the animals but it still references a battle, and acts as if I don’t know what happened to the druid even though the animals told me.

On his right hand, his fingers are clutched in rigour mortis, except for the thumb, forefinger and middle finger, which are stretched open and splayed.

*rigor mortis

You are certain that this is Able the druid. Noting the trail o

*Abel
Cuts off mid sentence

It soon becomes clear that it belonged to Able.

*Abel

Impressing Grandardgrad does wonders for our reputation."

*Grandardgard

“They are magically imbibed to record your kills by lighting the stones,”

*imbued

Trekking into the crevices of the Jagged Divide, your band are swallowed by the low-lying abysses.

*your band is

Every step is watch by elves, daring you to venture, uninvited, into their forest.

*watched

Despite the apparent tranquilly, the elven stares cut notes of suspicion through the air.

*tranquility

The elf recomposes herself and beckons for the follow, walking around the beast as the ground trembles with its every snore

*“for you to follow”

Through an archway layered with gems, gold and silver, you gather the Great Hall, an echoing expanse of robust columns, with a celling so high it appears black.

*“you gather in the Great Hall”?

Sighing and closing her eyes for s moment, Sildriel rubs her face.

*“a moment”

Leave the dials alone.

Turn the dials.

Put something in the empty ovals.

Picture not loading on the screen with these options

A cold wind blasts from bellow, pushing away that uncomfortable humidity to leave you shivering.

*below

When he spurs his horses north, he doesn’t daring to question the events in the jungle.

*“doesn’t dare to question”

[NumberedEntity]

Great to see the Editor-in-Emperor back here, Lance. Hope everything is going well at your end!

I tied in a loose narrative to the arena and adventurer paths, but it isn’t as ‘epic’ as the ruler path. You get to be a successful orc, but not quite as legendary. I think it would devalue the ruler path if your orc got to be the ‘best ever’ all the time.

As for all the loot, I take on board the suggestion to open up new ways to spend it, through training or perhaps artefacts. I would say that if you get to complete the arena or adventure paths, it makes sense to be given piles of loot. A big loot pile is reward enough for most orcs, though it doesn’t add much to the narrative. Keep in mind that the finished game will have your orc able to adventure and fight while building a city and reading, which will involve some opportunities to spend the loot. Also, in old age, your orc will get opportunities to spread and spend their life earnings. Also, having loads of loot may well affect your orc’s ending and how he is remembered. Once all the main content is up, I’ll give this greater thought.

The fighting system takes place in alternate rounds where the enemy acts first, then you get to act. The enemy’s tells won’t show when you make the first move.

As for the problem with quick strikes, the tester orc is overpowered. But, someone else has also stated that the quick strike seems to be too effective. I will try to moderate it slightly in a future update.

Big thanks for all the typos and bug pointers. I’ve ironed them out in the arena section and these will be up in the NEXT update.

Tomorrow I’ll go through the adventurer typos, which will also be available in the next update.

Great suggestions all around. I am new to these coding-heavy sections and learning to get better as I go. The next update will focus on raiding and is insanely coding-heavy (maybe 100k of code). A problem I’m now encountering is that even Quick Tests take at least 5 minutes! Although the end is in sight now.

Cheers!

@Lance_Heyen
EDIT: Corrected the typos for the Adventurers path now. Have added fixes to the farm quest, though this needs a little further testing to make sure.

I agree it would be smoother to not have to select your adventurers for every quest, but the way certain things are tracked requires that they are reset after each conclusion. If played in certain ways, some adventurers will refuse to adventure with you. Also, if the player only chooses to do the odd adventure, it could mess with other options on the mature orc path. Messing with the code might now blow up the whole thing!

At present, I will keep it the way it is for the sake of the integrity of the whole and hope it is not too inconvenient. My coding skills still need work!

[Yen_Lag]

Jombol the Great

[denton27]

couple questions about the messaging systems of each race

so the humans use carrier pigeons to send there messages

the elves use sparrows

the dwarfs use mountain rats

and the halflings use fleet turkys

do dark elfs and goblins use spiders?

do the people in farland use small dragons?

and do the fish folk use some particular fish or undersea creature to convey there messages particulary to the stone sea or land nations maybe dolphins?

also absolutely love these small pieces of lore really goes to makes the world building that much deeper can’t wait for the next update!

[NumberedEntity]

@Yen_Lag

Jombol will live in legend, forever an inspiration to generations. Never again will the world look down upon the orcs!

@denton27

Great questions, Denton the Lore Master,

Communication by magic is always an option, although this takes a great deal of power to sustain. Using rituals in particular places, warded and runed, messages can be exchanged freely. However, due to the vast amounts of magic and the tampering with the ether, much unwanted attention is drawn to these exchanges. Other magic user, or even demons, can eavesdrop. Magic does not guarantee secrecy. This is way the people of Arbit use home-grown methods for delivering missives.

Goblins most often live with orcs and rely on the use of Plains Bats. Secluded goblin tribes rarely exchange messages far afield, lacking influence and knowledge of the wider world. They would probably use the most fleet-footed of their kin to deliver messages.

Yes, you have convinced me! Dark Elves, few in number and generally hated, don’t usually send messages to others, preferring to scheme within their own disparate groups. They would often use magic to communicate, if needed. Or, they would enchant spiders. These spiders, upon arrival, would weave the message in front of the recipient- probably the most secure way of passing valuable information and playing into their secretive nature.

The fish folk are a mystery and unknown to Arbit, until your adventuring orc finds them. If you manage to forge positive relations with them, I would imagine dolphins to be a good messenger, able to telepathically pass on information to those trained in marine telepathy.

Farland is cut off from the continent of Arbit and communication is impractical. Magic can be used, though dragons would be too valuable to use as mere messengers for all but the most important exchanges of information. Perhaps, if using the vast, mostly untapped power of dragon magic they could relay messages in dreams, though this comes with its own problems of interpretation.

Cheers to both of you!

[denton27]

Couple questions about power scaling

Are the most powerful mages close to gods in terms of power?

Can a orc shaman achieve the same power as the most powerful mages or atleast gain as much knowledge as them?

What can the power of dragon magic do and why has it been untapped?

When a wizard becomes a lich does it increase there power or just make them immortal?

Also really great world building can’t wait to see what new lore is in the future updates!

[anon12679161]

A few typos and possible code errors from the Adventurers Guild quests. Poor Adalbert has his name spelled Adlabert often enough that I’m not 100% sure which one is correct.

AdventureQuest

“He lack balance,” says Caitriona.

*lacks

Swaggering across the halls, you snatch the wooden sword from Francis’s opponent.

*Francis’

Belting the young man across the training hall, he have a bloody good time.

Not sure what this sentence is meant to be. Maybe “you have a bloody good time.”?

When you eventually arrive back at the Adventurers’ Guild, Olradore, the old wizard, is non too pleased.

*none too pleased

Francis lookd at his father. Almost imperceptibly, he shakes his head. Standing and throwing his arms around his son, Flynn Senoir says,

*looks
*Senior

Please find out what’s happened to Able and the local residents

*Abel

Barging a cow out his way with his huge belling, Blubba clubs several beasts into pulp.

*belly?

You are certain that this is Able the druid.

*Abel

It soon becomes clear that it belonged to Able.

*Abel

Before the tome ends, Able states that he is resolved to discuss the issue with his animals.

*Abel

Concealed in the shadows, Adlabert waits on the ground floor for the coming attack.

*Adalbert

Concealed in the shadows, Adlabert waits on the first floor for the coming attack.

*Adalbert

Blubba shurgs and waves his club.

*shrugs

Whipping out fire pellets from his sling, mixed in with a good old-fashioned fireball, Hot Fongers cooks three Shades where they stand.

*Hot Fingers

Bursting from the shadows, Adlabert cuts a Shade ear to ear.

*Adalbert

Bursting from the shadows, Adlabert cuts a Shade ear to ear.

*Adalbert

Bursting from the shadows, Adlabert cuts a Shade ear to ear.

*Adalbert

Bursting from the shadows, Adlabert cuts a Shade ear to ear.

*Adalbert

*if (broup)

Flopping on top of one of the elven intruders, Blubba smothers him to death while beating another into senselessness with his club.
*set shadesleft -2
*set ehptotal -6

Admittedly I’m code diving here and you know your code better than I do, but I’m pretty sure the broup variable refers to Brogorc, not Blubba.

Bursting from the shadows, Adlabert cuts a Shade ear to ear.

*Adalbert

Bursting from the shadows, Adlabert cuts a Shade ear to ear.

*Adalbert

Stumbling, on the verge of exhaustion, fuelled by the lingering thrill of an adrenaline storm, one after another, your band cut down the remaining foe.

*foes

With coordination and precision, the Shades; attack has you and your companions off-balance. You are losing the battle! Exhaustion grips your limbs. Your heart rages for breath

*unnecessary ;
*Full stop needed at the end.

The Green Gentleman Tavern has become a state of desecration as the blood of ${partyname} seeps into the floor.

State sounds weird here. Maybe site?

The Shades, clean off their silver knives and vanish into the night as if in a dream, leaving behind nothing but death.

No comma needed after Shades.

Brave, even to the end, Hot Fingers doesn’t moan but just stares blankly, his thoughts consumed with memoires, as his breath grows ever fainter.

*memories

Carving intricate symbols, with her scimitar, into his skin, Veigrid enters into a deep meditative trance, haloed with flicker black light.

*flickering

Victory blunted by a cruel twits of fate, you and your companions say their final words to the brave, little mage.

*twist

Searching the many corpses, you share out the various trinkets stuffed in the pockets of the Shades, amount to 500 bits of loot’s worth each.

*bits of loot

Scratching. Shuffling. Are their voices?

*there

Brogorc leaps into the skirmish, determine to spill blood.

*determined

Reacting instantly, they fling a diverse collection of blinking, whirling grenades11 into the human mob.

*grenades

You find Olrdore and Brassus crouched over their desk and scratching away with quills on parchment.

*Olradore

Yet, he just isn’t agile enough to reach them instruments in time.

*the

Adalabert jumps from balcony to balcony, as sure-footed as an alley cat.

*Adalbert

The dark, brooding melody massages into you, and your bands’s, minds.

*band’s

Lunging with your longaxe, you cleave through a wooden leg, sending the golem stumbling, though the consturct kicks back to crack you across the jaw.

*construct

Urius will be please!

*pleased

The maestro is all sparling eyes and teeth.

*sparkling

Never! You’d wouldn’t live it down.

*You

It among those where the Dawn Lamplighters stand, sizing up the competition with cold, haughty confidence.

*It is

“That is a disgusting suggestion. I will be no part of it,” snaps Caitriona."

*Unnecessary quotation mark at the end of sentence.

#Cast appropriate spells to protect your band, if your they are capable of it.

Not sure here. Could be “if you think” or “if you’re sure”

From their flanks and their backs, Adlabert stabs his way through the scabbies.

*Adalbert

Even as your foes falls, others stream in over their corpses.

*foes fall

*if (grocpik)

Positively trembling with excitement, whenever Groc points at a scabbie, it twists and bursts in the grip of a summoned green fist.

This describes Groc killing scabbies but doesn’t add anything to the mosterkills variable

You aim is impeccable, splitting through the scab armour of your foes, dropping them in sprays of viscera.

*Your aim

Through empty streets, echoing with the odd screech of fleeing scabbies, you find little by corruption.

Thinks this is meant to be “little but corruption”

“Made the little gitty signs scared of Krog. They won;t hurt us now.”

*won’t

Red light bursts from the mouth and eyes of the face, wrapping your ban d in a veil of despair.

*band

After this little bit for fortune, you head further into the Jagged Divide to take more scalps.

Not sure what the first part is meant to be. Maybe “little bit of a detour for fortune”?

With whips of flame and s rain of magma burning a smouldering path through the mass of scabbies, you flee with your band.

*flame and a rain of magma

Spinning from a dark pool between an outcropping, Adlabert is a whirl of blades.

*Adalbert

Her eyes blasting the raidant light of Pesta, Urbimora banishes many of the creatures into wisps of black smoke.

*radiant

Weary, you settle for a the night on the battlements, away from the steaming puddle of shadow gore.

*you settle for the night

Perhaps there is more to do. Or. perhaps. that would be pushing your luck.z

*or, perhaps, that

“I’m pretty handy with the ins and outs of traps. Let me have a look at all these cogs,” says Adlabert, crouching by the juddering mechanism.

*Adalbert

Your bracelet, recording your scalps, flashes almost blindingly with the a great number shadow-things corpses, revenge the ancient dwarves would surely applaud.

*with a great number

Brave and righteousm she was an example to us all.

*righteous

[anon12679161]

Few more. Apologies if I repeat some from my “normal” playthrough, couldn’t remember if I’d already pointed some out or not.

AdventureQuest2

Soon you arrive in the pleasant village of Trickldown itself.

*Trickledown

Pulling up his hood, Adlabert whispers.

*Adalbert

Terrified runts run faster, swing harder and duel ever more fiercely to afford his scorn.

Is “afford his scorn” a phrase? It’s not one I’ve heard before. I would think avoid would work better here?

Adalbert, careful to keep his face concealed, has the halfling dig pit traps across the countryside, to lead unlucky stumblers into a drop of spiked death.

*halflings

We won’'t do it right now, since you is a relative from the plains.

*won’t

SOme are caught and executed.

*Some

You get one response, a skin-craved note in the back of a dead halfling just outside Trickledown.

*skin-carved

When rampaging mob descend upon the central square, the guerrillas retreat to join their ranks.

*When the rampaging mob

The subject of this sentence is a little unclear. I immediately hear rampaging mob and think it is referring to the orcs, but if that’s the case why are my guerillas joining them?

Bursting from the ranks of timid halflings, The Green Legions marches, their armour clanking rhythmically.

*Legion

Screaming defiance, Ygannea nooks arrow after arrow into her bow, each shot plunging into the brains of a murderous brute.

*nock

With spears and short swords tearing through their guts, they lose ground

Full stop needed

Fascinated with how the seas might be traversed, she ensures a guiding ball of Pesta’s light hovers above to accompany the Tempest WIsh at all times.

*Wish

Seemingly immune to the ravages of the sloshing ocean, throughout your times at sea, Adlabert scampers across the rigging.

*Adalbert

Blubba does two times during his time at sea, eat and throw up.

*“does two things”

Days and nights blur into an endless stream of time until the Tempest Wish is but in a world of water.

Feels like you are missing a word here. “the Tempest wish is but (something) in a world of water.”

The Tempest WIsh remains dead in the water for days.

*Wish

Calm, despite the havoc gripping the Tempest WIsh, Veigird speaks quietly.

*Wish

Looking over t your companions, you see that they do too.

*at

The ground is covered with rotting, some still gulping uselessly.

Missing word. Maybe “rotting corpses”?

    *if (urbimorarpik)
        
        Smashing into the patrol shield-first, Urbirmora follows up with heavy blows.

No change to the fishpatrol variable for Urbimora despite her taking part.

Shadows fitter among the coral lights.

*flitter

Drawing back, Sildriel looks each of you up and down."

Unnecessary quotation at the end of the sentence

Through an archway layered with gems, gold and silver, you gather the Great Hall, an echoing expanse of robust columns, with a celling so high it appears black.

*ceiling

Come, ask what you need to know and then you can asses our situation as you see fit."

*assess

Once, when your predecessor unified, in the event known as The Rise of The Orcs, the Netherwood resisted all attempts at occupation.

*predecessors

"When we settled her, the dwarves to the north hated the influx of more elves.

*here

The elf recomposes herself and beckons for the follow, walking around the beast as the ground trembles with its every snore.

*“for you to follow”

                 >    *if (blubbapik)

                        #Brogorc can batter some of the cooling pipes, hidden behind the engine, to ensure Iron Ire will overheat the next time the engine is activated.
                            
                            While the rest of you block him from view, Blubba times his blows to the clanking of giant cogs, denting the pipes behind the engine. With this done, you slink away and hurry back to the dragon glade in Vovedolu.

This time a blubbapik variable refers to Brogorc.

While the rest of you block him from view, Gobbs jabs a dozen holes in the cooling pipes behind the engine.

*Gobba

Turning his eyes to you, the dwarf scowls. "Our people’s ancient rivalry is a thing of legend, so it with surprise that I come across an orc like you, ${orcname} ${title}.

*“so it is with”

Breathing deeply to composure herself, Sildriel stares at the opals.

*compose

AdventureQuest3

Brassus stand over him and yells at you.

*stands

The guiding plight of Pesta shines from Urbimora’s eyes, repelling the darkness with a beam of bright momentum that pushes your band back towards the crossroads.

*guiding light

With your own hunting knife you cur your own palm before gripping Grimm’s hand.

*cut

[NumberedEntity]

@anon12679161

You are becoming indispensable to me in ironing out these things! I do copy and paste text into Grammarly and give it a once over before reading through it again the next day but I cannot deny how rubbish I am at spotting things. My brain just seems to read over mistakes as if they aren’t there.

All of your corrections have been implemented and will be in the next update, coming soon. I know I say it all the time, but much appreciation for the time you spent helping me test and develop this project.

Krog’s many blessings!

@denton27

It all boils down to power!

Most mages can never hope of achieving the power of a god. Yet, powerful mages can tinker with the grander schemes of deities, which makes them a nuisance. If a deity, or demon, grants their favour upon a mage, then the magic user can become a conduit through which greater power is unleashed- though this mage would be put on a tight leash!

Exceptional mages might be able to transcend the limits of the ether, genius wizards or witches of untapped ambition, though the greater schemes of the gods will seek to manipulate the world to contain and destroy them. However, the threat of an all-powerful mage does give even the gods concern.

The peculiarities of orc shamans tie their powers closely to Krog. If Krog sees fit, in a time of crises, he may choose a particularly faithful and talented shaman to bestow greater powers upon. However, a shaman will never naturally achieve the powers of a master of arcane magic. If Krog chooses a shaman to imbue with great power, it will be temporary and as circumstances dictate. Yet, your average shaman is likely to acquire powers more quickly than the average magic user, though the ceiling of their power is lower.

In the current age, dragons are very rare. They are solitary and reluctant to parley with the peoples of the world, whom they see as petty, squabbling, unworthy creatures. In many creation myths, dragons were instrumental in the forging of the geography and geology of the world. This power of creation and destruction is immense. If one could earn the favour of dragons, through blessed bloodlines, demonic pacts or divine guidance, and endeavour to increase dragon numbers, they would potentially gain access to this power.

However, in the current age, there are simply not enough dragons to wield the power of their ancestors.

The power of a lich will much depend on the ambitions of the mage when they were alive. Lichs, in Arbit, gain no greater power above immortality (not invincibility) at face value. However, this immortal being has all the time in the world to enhance their power through study, knowledge and demonic interactions. A brilliant wizard or witch, given the gift of centuries of unlife, can indeed gain enough power to threaten the gods more than any living magic user, if they have the inclination and dedication.

Love these prompts, really helps to flesh out unexplored questions in the world.

Cheers!

[anon12679161]

My dude, you have written nearly a million words for this project, it would be unreasonable to expect you to catch all the mistakes by yourself.

Be assured of two things. One - the amount of errors I am catching has significantly dropped, and when I do find a few it tends to be one error that has been copy pasted a few times (like poor Adalbert). Two - There is no way in the world I would be doing this if I wasn’t enjoying myself. Even if doing this sort of reading isn’t as “fun” as just reading casually, I’m enjoying deep diving into the world you’ve created and seeing all the different variations you’ve written.