Rules update 2015
Overview
Over winter of 2014/2015 we have carried out a review of the rules from the second year of Empire. As a result of that review we are implementing some changes to the published rules. We are in the process of updated the wiki to reflect the changes, but will summarize and explain all changes here so that players can identify the changes easily.
We will try to include a section after each rules update to explain the reasoning behind the change.
Venom
We have changed venom so that it reduces your bleed time to 30 seconds rather than zero. Characters with the fortitude skill will now find their bleed time is increased by ten seconds per level while under the venom condition. Your character card will list your bleed time with and without venom separated by a slash. For example a character with one level of fortitude would see "Bleed time: 4 mins/40 secs"
We are in the process of updating a small number of magical items and rituals to make them compatible with the new rules. They will be listed here as they are updated.
- Abraxus Stone
- Bloodfire Periapt
- Curse of Gangrenous Flesh
- Pallid Flesh of the Dead King
- Vitality of Rushing Water
- Unstoppable
Reasoning
Under the previous rules, venom was such a potent call that it was difficult for us to use the call more than sporadically. This conflicted with elements of the campaign since both Druj and Vallorn make extensive use of poisons. A call that is highly lethal but extraordinarily uncommon is also not good rules design. Since characters will rarely encounter it, player knowledge of how it works tends to be limited and it is hard to play balance items and rituals that help to mitigate the effects.
The aim of the rules change for venom is to allow the call to be used more commonly on battles and skirmishes without simply wiping out large numbers of characters. The goal is to ensure that venom remains a dangerous and scary call - but is one that players can protect themselves against through good fighters, good healers, and good military organization.
Fortitude is a relatively uncommon skill perhaps because it is not well valued by players, so the new rules change allows us to make fortitude slightly stronger by allowing it to effect venom. The unstoppable heroic skill is very common, reflecting the fact that it is very popular with players, so we did not see any reason to change the fact that unstoppable cannot be used while under the venom condition.
A few players had expressed concerns that "Venom-Impale" was the call of choice for all assassins working in pairs and represented something of an exploit that went against the spirit of the game. While we didn't agree with that judgement particularly, we aren't unhappy that the new rules make this particular combination significantly less potent as an assassination tool - it will mean that assassination remains difficult and dangerous, a last resort rather than a first option and that assassins will have more choices to consider when planning a carefully executed hit rather than a single optimal strategy.
Roleplaying effects
We have changed the rules for roleplaying effects to remove the option to resist roleplaying effects based on your characterisation being unique to the circumstances. It is now only possible to resist roleplaying effects if your character has some effective defense, such as hero points or magical or spiritual protection.
Reasoning
There are many ways to resist roleplaying effects and having an additional option that was purely subjective and judgement base only served to further reduce the number of people being affected. The new rules are simpler, clearer and easier to follow and underline the fact that roleplaying effects are significant and affect everybody unless they have appropriate protection or spend a hero point.
Mage Blood and Heavenly Lore
These two potions have been improved, so that they provide more mana back to the magician who consumes them. This is part of the changes implemented to improve battle magic.
The Purge spell
A new incantation has been added to the Imperial lexicon - the purge spell is an offensive spell that immediately removes the VENOM, WEAKNESS, ENTANGLE and PARALYSE conditions from the target. It is an improvement of the purify spell, and possesses even more utility, but costs 2 personal mana to cast.