Ideas for castle defenses (H4)

[Osmin]

The title says it all. I would like ideas for castle defenses, with both effectivity and "style". In other words, it should be built around one or two central concepts. It better be hard to beat, but also fill a story-telling purpose and be generally stylish.

An example:

Town: Necropolis

The theme is epic spellcasters and undead creatures, with the different alignments as a twist. The illusionist and the fire diviner will get a -7 to morale, while the dark lord gets a -1. Still, they have access to each of their spell schools through the Tower of Darkness and the annexes of chaos and wizardry, and the whole pack will probably work quite well.

Ground slots, left to right: ghosts, skeletons, bone dragons, vampires.
Left tower: Level 40 illusionist, GM Order+Charm, Tactics+Defense+Offense, Combat+Magic Resistance.
Middle tower: Level 40 dark lord, GM Death+Necromancy, Nobility+Estates+Mining, Combat+Magic Resistance.
Right tower: Level 40 fire diviner, GM Chaos+Sorcery, Scouting+Pathfinding+Stealth, Combat+Magic Resistance.

Any good ideas?

[gravyluvr]

I'd probably give each of the heroes Spirit of Oppression to negate the morale for all

[Osmin]

Well, the morale issue is kinda essential, both a plot point and an exploitable weakness, giving two of the spellcasters a 70 % chance of acting last in a turn.

And i do not know about any H4 artifact named Spirit of Oppression. Is it from another game, maybe?

That aside, I'm happy to get a reply at all x)

[gravyluvr]

I think it's an equilibris extra...

Maybe you can identify each creature with a faction

Order - Vampires
Death - Skellies/Bone Dragons
Chaos - Ghosts

With the four creatures you are using the skellies and Bond Dragons can be grouped together as Skellies and can be signifying death.

Vampires would cause mass hysteria, however they were orderly and follow specific rules and are now depicted as suave and debonair (probably b/c of the suit).

Ghosts would default to chaos and instead of anchoring toward necromancy, soul and spirits you could treat the ghosts as a mass escape (a la ghostbusters) to escape, torment and haunt.

I might do Vamps in front of the left and the Ghost Dragons and Skellies in the middle with Ghosts flanking the fire diviner.

I always thought Order/Chaos would do well to incorporate an genie/efreeti combo but maybe that could be accomplished or tested nearby.

Also, it always helps to know what direction you're leaning anyway. Is it a comedy, action, adventure or serious tale? Will you vampire be more apt to recite poetry, make a joke or just attack?

[Osmin]

I imagine the Dark Lord as the boss, the "Big Bad", and the two other spellcasters a second-in-commands: the military advisor (tactics) and the espionage expert (stealth).

Here's the catch: the two second-in-commands both want the right hand man position. Therefore, they do not like each other very well, and this is the in-story function of the morale penalty.

The creatures are chosen because they can be hired in town, and are undead, which is the most important common factor, as they simply are soldiers under their king (Dark Lord). I did not think of the vampires as "orderly" and the ghosts as "chaotic", but it's an interesting idea.

Also, to answer your genre question, I believe that I will go for the adventure line. The Dark Lord is supposed to be the main villain for a group of adventurers, mostly Life/Nature centered, and the vampires will most likely kill you on sight (if they aren't ordered to take you alive).