Why does there need to be a distinction between all these different abilities? Just have one ability, let's take Improve. Instead of it saying things that share a race/class (which I believe is the point of the distinction above) just have it be Improve: X: Y. X=Champion Identifier, Y=Stat to buff. As an example maybe Tomb Lord gets Improve: Skeleton: Damage which yeilds a +2 DMG bonus (which would be detailed in the ability text).
- Protective or improve currently don't need text to distinguish who this works for. It's built into matching itself with race of champion using it.
I'm aware of that (which I say in my post), I'm saying to scrap all of those abilities and make one ability that works like I described.
FW has that little Undead problem where if you give any champ a 'shares a race' mechanic, it basically works on the whole faction (though this is not the solution I would use). Removing undead as a race and using Boon of the Undead as the identifier for the abilities that distinguish between the living and dead would solve this. By doing this, Skeletons, Spirits, Zombies, Vampires, and the like can have 'shares a race' mechanics that are properly limited in scope. And you can still have things that work on all undead as well.
- As it goes full circle... undead is the problem.... for everything imo. I agree tho time to remove this silly generic race. It would be like dwarves having the race "Living AND dwarf" dumb ...there is no boon of the living.
I don't agree with you, but you didn't provide a rebuttal for me to respond to. You're suggesting we nest all of the abilities inside the "category" Improve. I don't think this is the way to go as it makes it much harder to distinguish the difference between them all. You would have just as many abilities/ranks, but they would all be named: Improved: CLASS/RACE: STAT (RANK)
I don't know about changing Boost into Improve: X. It depends on individual ideas how it works... do you mean every theme should have certain Improve: X and Improve: Ys? If that's the case, it really limits design space for a racial BG. Anything without Improve: X or Y is cut off straight from the deck while as expansion goes we just include anything with Improve: X or Y, especially since some are cross-racials like [Beast + Skeleton], [Beast + Moga], [Dwarf + Skeezick], [Garu + Draksar], [Elf + Beast], etc. I just think Boost might be a bit too prevalent given the current revamp state. 1) Maybe tone it down a bit? Or... Range 3 would be a bit too harsh for champs like Fae who is super squishy to AoE ... I think each Boost should be specified to support each racials ... 2) as for the aforementioned idea by Gorebucket is WAY WAY better... Each race would have different racial boosts. Garu can get enrage, Skeezs can maybe get I donno... Skellies can get Splintering? ... something unique and not a bland +stats bonus. I vote for 2.
Custom racial/class/ability benefits are still possible, they just would be unique abilities. Think Nature's Connections, Greater Vampirism, Zombie Herder. When you have something unique, you make the name unique. Using Improve: X and Enhance: X just covers all instances of a simple stat bonus based on a shared race or class within proximity to the unit providing the bonus, and does so without creating a specially named ability with each reuse. Some themes may have one or several Improve abilities, others will be based on or supplemented by other synergy (which is exactly how it is now). If slightly higher complexity is tolerable, it could be Improve: Stat (Rank) and Enhance Stat (Rank) where Rank is the radius of the boost. This allows some additional control over the coverage and some upgrade choices. I would imagine that ranks 3, 4, and 5 would be the norm. Once you get under 3, things get cramped and unwieldy (Defender for example).
I agree with this, but it prevents units with non-matching Classes/Races from using those abilities. Boost: Beast from Lonx in ST wouldn't work anymore if converted to Improve: STAT. This is why I expanded the thought to account for both situations.
This is a good point, since occasionally champs support a racial theme without being a member of the race themselves. One thought is that these champions would be good bearers for those unique abilities rather than the 'shares a race with' ones. It is something new to consider though, so I'll be doing that...
Why, ST beasts are pretty crazy too. Same with cyclops, but that might be an issue of tribal hut/war and not boost.
There would be as many but there would only be one ability name and the details of X and Y would indicate exactly what it does. It's easier to understand what it does based on the ability name and covers all of the same effects. The end result is all of the functionality that you're trying to lump into 3 different abilities consolidated into one ability. My point is that it seems needless to have all these different abilities when they could easily be consolidated.
- well commanders cannot benefit from the ability themselves even if from a seperate source...for good or for bad
Right, but it's more a matter that runes like Beast Tamer or Skeezick Herder couldn't "boost" beasts using the suggestions that use "shares a race" rather than specifying a target race. Though Skeezick Herder and Fleshweaver Witch show how giving these units the unique abilities and coincidental synergy instead allows them support the target race despite this.
I like this. Let commander abilities be the ones that boost hp. Adds a more strategic element to where you need more Challis out to achieve full boost, and in a pinch, makes you decide which is more valuable to deploy at the moment.
