Some suggestions for improving gameplay.

Hey y'all!

While we wait for the new hotfix, I've been pondering a few things about the game, and perusing a number of the threads here.  It's good that we have so many people interested in this game, even if we have to weed through several dozen new posts every time we visit this board!

I actually think the current magic system is pretty cool (balance tweaks notwithstanding), and hate to see it go.  I don't know what the 'global mana pool' is going to do to things, but would like to suggest the following things nonetheless.

Shard Resources

One of the things that has always been a little annoying to me at times is the shard locations.  For example, my sovereign specializes in fire magic, so if I find an air, water, or earth shard it doesn't do me much good in the early game.  I thought about maybe suggesting a 'shard of player's persuasion' is seeded within x squares of your sovereign as a suggestion, but came up with a cooler idea.

If you move one of your summoned elementals (say fire elemental or giant) into the square with said shard resource, you could get the option of sacrificing said elemental on the spot, converting the resource to the type of the elemental being sacrificed.  The 'logic' behind this is that the elementals don't get along, so they like to eliminate 'competing' resources in favor of their own.  I'd suggest that 'x' spell levels or summoning points worth of elementals would be needed to complete the conversion (say a Fire Giant, or a Fire Elemental plus a Familiar for example).

Sovereigns, Summoned Creatures, and Mana

Another thing that I've noticed is that I often have several summoned creatures in my party with mana they don't use.  An interesting idea would be to allow your summoned creatures to channel their mana to your Sovereign during combat, perhaps at the rate of 1 point tranferred per 2 allocated, using 2.0 action points to do so.  This would give your familiar something to do with his mana, making him a little more valuable in the process.

Similarly, if for some reason the Sovereign needed some extra Mana on the spot, perhaps he could sacrifice a summoned creature, returning half of the summoning cost to his mana total.  In this case, summoned creatures with damage would return less mana:  A creature with only 20% of it's HP remaining would be worth, say, only 10% of it's summoning cost in Mana.

Weapons/Armor Smiths

Currently, the game abstracts weapon production.  Yet, in many fantasy novels and such, we read about such and such a weaponsmith forging some weapon of great power, or working overtime to equip an army.  I'd like to propose a new city improvement, the Smithy.  A smithy would produce 'x' attack/defense factors of items per turn, which would be drawn upon whenever units are produced.  Smithies could be improved/upgraded as the technology becomes available (i.e. not automatically).  Thus, you might pick out a particular city to be your weapons manufacturer of choice, with multiple smithies and the best ones available.

Or, perhaps smithies grow along with the city, producing more factors as the city grows.

Purchased Weapons/Armor vs. Unit Weapons/Armor

Since weapons cost more for Sovereigns and NPC's, I'd suggest that they be a little tougher than the 'average' weapon your troops are equipped with.  This would be reflected with a nominal increase in effectiveness (say +1 to the attack factor, or increased weapon speed for example).  After all, not all swords are created equal, and your Sovereign is likely to cherry pick the best out of the lot! 

Similarly, armor purchased through the shop would be more effective (you are paying a premium after all).  Say, 20% better defense factors: A Def 2 shield would actually give 2.4 defense factors.

This would help make those NPC's you shell out the bucks for a little more respectable in combat, and introduce some logic as to why weapons cost more in the shop.

Hit Points Increase With Level

This has been suggested before.  When Sovereigns and NPC's increase with level, generally increasing attack strength, speed, movement, or even essence has a much bigger priority than Constitution.  Thus, the tendency is to have high level (say Level 6+) NPC's with 'starting' HPs.  If the enemy ever reaches them, they have a tendency to die like flies...

I'd suggest that the Base Hit Points increase by 20% every level.  This would mean that a level 6 NPC has double the HP's of a Level 1 NPC.  If 20% is considered too high, then perhaps 15% or 10%, depending on what is deemed 'balanced'.

After all, the monsters keep getting tougher, why can't we?  Also, I like the idea of a level 10 Assassin going toe to toe with large enemy units, just because he/she can!  Our NPCs should be badass!

NPCs as City Administrators

As far as I can tell, currently an NPC gives you his special bonus (+1 Gold, etc), no matter where he is.

Perhaps the bonus should be bigger if he is placed/assigned to one of your cities.  Example.  You recruit a researcher, which gives you +1 tech per turn.  But, if you place him in a city and leave him there, that city produces 10% additional tech points for as long as he is in the city.  And, perhaps higher level researchers give more of a bonus, say an additional 1% per level.

This makes which NPCs you decide to recruit more important.  Plus, they have a reason to adventure for a bit to raise their level - i.e. increase the bonus they provide when they finally are assigned to that desk job!

Those are some of the ideas that have been rattling around in my head.  Just thought I'd share!