Chaos - Dominions meets Battle Royale and then you Disbelieve it all!
So, I have a working theory on how the game mechanics work. This was originally a board game, and I believe every action is based on a d10 roll. All of this is educated guessing - feel free to speculate otherwise.
Attacking - Attacker rolls a d10 and adds attack value (or ranged attack value if using a ranged attack). Target rolls a d10 and adds defence. If the attacker's roll is higher, the target dies. Otherwise, nothing happens.
Evasion - Roll a d10 when moving a creature adjacent to an enemy. If it beats manoeuvre, then you must stay put and fight.
Spell ability - Spells have an invisible "difficulty" value ranging from 0 to 9, and this is modified by the arena's chaos/law alignment. Illusion spells always have difficulty of 0. Roll a d10 when casting a spell and add your ability score - it must beat the spell's difficulty value to succeed.
Magic resistance - Roll a d10 when successfully casting a resistible spell. If it beats the target's magic resistance, the spell takes effect.
Do you know which boardgame?
One of GW's earliest boardgames in 1980 was arena duel game called Warlock which had some similarity (alignments etc) but also some differences. I think Warlock hails back to the Larry Niven novels and possibly earlier games. The earliest wizard duel in my collection is the old TSR 1975 War of Wizards, cool Tekumel-based game with loads of spells, but that was two wizards on a linear track.
It was a nameless, unreleased prototype, based to some extent on Warlock.
CHOSEN VIEWERS! ONWARD!
The situation is tense, with Scribe's Bestial Menagerie growing in size, while Porkus' sizeable entourage is useless against the long-living Ghost of Ahab. The spells are cast aaaand.....
Ahab's Lion is blasted into nothing! Or it was nothing! And the recording did not tell me if Porkus used a Disbelieve or another spell, but the Crazy Orc still has some tricks under his hood. That's the reason, they tell me, of his success with the fairer sex.
AAAND AHAB BLASTS THE VAMPIRE! UNBELIEVABLE VIEWERS, THE VAMPIRE WASN'T REAL!
Mad Porkus survives his duel with the Ghost, the undead creature failing to kill another Wizard. But we do have another turn, thanks to the inhuman speed of our players!
Not much in the spell phase, Porkus fails to summon a Magic Castle, Scribe gets a Magilla Gorilla and Ahab disbelieves Porku's Bear!
The army size of the Republican Wizard is indeed worrisome.
Mad Porkus survives another ghostly attempt on his life and moves his last two creatures against Ahab! The Scribewave is too coming.... but Ahab has still a sizeable number of spells, having Disbelieved most of his opponents! The game is still undecided....
"Dear diary, today these bullies told me to go hug a tree. So I did. And you know what, it worked!"
VIEWERS! It has been a long time, but as you know the Republicans are a lazy lot, doing things like "vacations" instead of working 80 hours each week as the Pantokrator intended. But now we're back, and the fight is desperate as it should be!
Mad Porkus focuses his magical powers on himself and grows wings, for sure added mobility. But will it be useful so late in the game?
His summons aren't so lucky. Both his opponents Disbelieve, and the dis-Honest Hydra is the victim. Porkus is down to a single Faun!
Instead of going for the kill, Ahab retreats his Ghost and murders the treacherous Faun, his poetry failing to hold against the undead might. This means however that Porkus is free to flee, while the Scribewave is crashing towards Ahab!
Faster than usual!
Mad Porkus praises the Law in an attempt, I presume, to use the last of his depleted spell book....
Ahab and Scribe are more proactive, summoning Orcs and Ogres to prepare for the fight. The Clerk is given a gift by his Otherwordly Patron and gains a new spell from the Shadow Woods!
Alas, the movement phase is rather boring with Ahab shielding himself with his creations, the Scribewall advancing inesorably and Porkus flying around. I fear for our Porcine champion!
Based on how this match has progressed I think the best way to describe the situation is by this quote:
The age of the freebooter was gone. The age of the bureaucrat had begun.
Quote from Operative Lynx on 2 March 2024, 13h48Based on how this match has progressed I think the best way to describe the situation is by this quote:
The age of the freebooter was gone. The age of the bureaucrat had begun.
Your esteemed commentator also asks for mercy, because the last turns have been coming incredibly fast and I'm fighting the Fantasy Basques and Real Life.
I hope I can get the commentary out in time, if I manage to understand what's going on!
Welcome, welcome back! Our fighters have been busy and so have I! Let's see what happened in the bloodsoaked sands of the... CHAOS ARENA!
Mad Porkus casts Magik Armour, becoming a flying, armoured behemoth. Unconfirmed reports also tell us that thanks to the bugs present in the underlying fabric of reality caused by Gollop himself, he's now theoretically capable of killing his opponents with his mind without touching them. He's a gentleman and will not use this power, however.
Apparently Ahab discovered that when you cast Magic Wings you're given the power to snipe your enemies at your leisure. Gollop doing Gollop things.
The Scribe fails to Disbelieve and Ahab summons a.... *check notes* an Ogre!
Movement is boring and adds nothing, so we push forward towards the next Magic Phase, both the Scribe and Porkus fail to Disbelieve Ahab's creations, but what's happ.. AHAB IS CASTING LIGHTING!
The energy blasts melt the courageous Orc's armoured form and Porkus the Mad is no more. This will be a day of grief for many, many ladies in our lands. And even in foreign lands. Pretty much everywhere.
The movement phase is predictable. The Scribewall advances, with Ahab's Ghost trusting his ethereal Undeadness to stall the advance of the more powerful, but sadly living, creatures.
A new turn, and the Scribe summons a Zombie Clerk, ready to do accounting for eternity. Ahab sends his prayers to the Gods of Chaos, to let him star in a Michael Moorcock short story and ease his casting of Chaos Spells.
Annd I'll cover the rest of the turns next time. Ahab and Scribe are fast when they put their energy into it.
So, where were we, right, on the previous turn....
WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU SITTING IN MY PLACE
I'm you from the remaster. The graphics are better, don't you agr... PUT THE KNIFE DOWN PLEASE
.....
Welcome, friends! The Chaos Arena claims another! Last turn the Champion of the People, Mad Porkus, sadly fell, and the title of Champion is now between Ahab and Scribe.
The Scribe starts with a powerful Lighting. Sadly, he didn't read the fine prints on the Scroll and forgot it's a direct target spell, so the SCRIBEWALL is making it impossible to use it. Ahab chooses to... oh no he's RAISING THE DEAD and
JE VIV DE NOVEAU!
The Faun is back!
The battle is brutal, and Scribe's Grud Orc is killed by the ravenous Zombie. The first crack on the Scribewall?
The battle rages on, with Ahab summoning a deadly Hydra. The Clerk Undead win a duel with Ahab's Ghost, and the mauler of several Wizards is at last banished from the realm. Don't ask me how a Ghost can be killed by Zombies.
A brutal and confused melee follows. No one seems to be having the upper hand, but the Scribe is low on spells...he tries to Disbelieve the Hydra and fails. Ahab wastes a bolt of energy on a Zombie, but the Undead survives.
Brute force manages though, and Scribe's Gorilla maules Ahab's Hydra. A victory for the Republic!
A short lived victory, as the Zombie, the only Undead under Scribe, is mauled by the Undead Faun.
The Scribewall has fallen, but the situation is far from decided. Ahab has the clear advantage with his immortal Undead hordes, but the flanking moves of Scribe's living summons are dangerous too... who will win in this contest of undead abominations versus tactical skills?
First, I should start to spoiler stuff, second, I have no idea what the hell happened to the second part of my post.
I blame the Faun and his vile Undead magiks.
My son, why are you not updating?
I definitely did not waste evenings in playing Vampire Survivors clones because they're mindless and I was too tired to even type properly. And my Dominions game isn't going well! The Spaniards are refusing to fight me! It's....
The three readers you have here are immensely disappointed. I have not forged this game with blood and toil and bugs to let you not finish your job.
'k. WELCOME BACK VIEWERS TO THE HOPEFULLY LAST UPDATE ON THE CHAAAOS ARENA
We're back with The Scribe and Ahab trying to kill each other, the wall of Scribe summons falling. The Scribe tries to stop the undead tide with a Magic Bolt, but the Zombie laughs at it. Meanwhile Ahab summons a Giant Rat, trusting the Ancient Rules of Rat Diplomacy.
Ahab's Gorilla is taken down and the Scribe seems to be in a good position, as the Undead fail to kill the defending Crocodile.
The Scribe seems out of spells, and Ahab with his typical uncanny precision manages to Disbelieve one of the creatures looming upon him! The movement phase sees little of note, bar the Undead Faun disengaging!
A difficult turn for the Scribe, as he seems to be REALLY out of spells and Ahab blasts the incoming Gorilla with a powerful Justice spell, reducing the threat significantly and transforming it in a... Giant Rat?. The second Crocodile follows short, blasted by powerful magiks! How the hell does Justice even works?!?!?!
Nonetheless, the Scribe pushes on! Ahab survives the scratches of the Gorilla Rat, and far more dangerous creatures are almost upon him!
Ahab goes for a risky play, summoning a Pegasus and personally dispatching the Gorilla Rat with his bare hands. Will the Pegasus survive the Hydra and the Orc? The danger is immense!
Lady Luck is on Ahab's side, and his Pegasus survives everything unscathed. The mage jumps on him, ready to fly away from the Hydra and the Orc. He needs to survive another turn!
And Ahab survives everything, summons an Eagle and flies away, laughing. I can't see this going well for the Scribe....
The Scribe gives up, weakly defending himself against the Undead and letting his summons waste around. Why he's doing so? He knows the time limit for the match is close, doesn't he?
A final Zombie lunge, and the Scribe is no more. Ahab The Idolator is the new CHAMPION OF THE CHAOS ARENA! The crowd goes wild as the new champion is crowned! What about the others? Forgotten, viewers! Only one CHAMPION lives!
Bar in the case we reach the time limit. There's a rematch or something in the case. Here, now, we're done. What's the next game the Scribe is going to recruit us in? Can I have my revenge on Ahab?
Awww, I rooted for Scribe the Environmentalist. All his attempts to plant forests, reintroduce endangered fauna - all in vain! I blame undead for the global warming.
Ahab, congratulations! It was real fun!
And Dayyalu, our indispensable announcer - you were the star of the show!
The crown of chaos is mine, and a fine addition to the trophy room it will make. Eight mages enter, one mage leaves!
I get to leave, right?
Quote from DDG Ahab on 10 March 2024, 22h37
The Tournament is just the first phase, now you need to get to the dungeon and.... and.... kill the Mad Wizard managing the Arena, or it was a Vampire Ninja? Or a NFT reseller clique? Or a bunch of Fantasy Finns? I guess it depends on the franchise or something. Don't ask me, I simply run the commentary.
Quote from Dayyalu on 11 March 2024, 13h01Quote from DDG Ahab on 10 March 2024, 22h37
Wait, there is an NFT reseller clique in Dominions? Because the 3 others I am pretty sure there are there.
Quote from The Wargaming Scribe on 11 March 2024, 16h52
Wait, there is an NFT reseller clique in Dominions? Because the 3 others I am pretty sure there are there.
No.
As you do, I run some random google searches when a game gets my interest. Chaos had some interesting links, but searching for "Chaos Arena" sent me in one of the most 2021-22-era things I've ever seen, some kind of low-tier skinner box mobile game with NFT buzzwords. Hopefully it died in 2022.
I don't even know what I am looking at.