Mist Of War

A Story by Snitified

This is a storyline surrounding a game design that I have been working on. It is also setup to be a card game and a phone application that works the same style PVP gaming.

Mists of War

The story begins with a blind woman sitting in a room with 5 hero's, one of which you will choose to play as in this story. The woman is telling a tale of the future to all of you, she is telling of a battle yet to come that will beckon the world's greatest warriors. She speaks of the temple of ghosts and its role in this battle that is coming,

Once the player has chosen their hero, everyone in the room freezes except you and the witch. She speaks to you with her eyes wide and staring deep into your own. She speaks of each soldier's death in the room until at last she tells you that none of the 5 will survive in blood but one will rise to live on in legends whispered across the land. Beware the secrets of the world for there are powers that will come against you, whether you are strong enough has yet to be seen.

The concept of this game is that there is a world, and this worlds fate is to be decided by a single battle. The 5 soldiers who sit now in the home of a witch before the outset of their march towards death were brought there by the witches magic. They were brought to that place so that she could look into the souls of each, for each had been named as secret bearers.

The worlds magic is lost to men, taken from them in lifetimes past when the magic had become common place and miss used. Man began to destroy the world with the very gifts it had given to them as they crawled in the dirt fighting for survival. The world tree saw the corruption of the gift's and took them away, sending them back into the world. If man was to rule it would need men of virtue not the men of greed and vileness that had corrupted the world around them.

So it was that the world fell, without the gifts from the world man's weapons of war were turned against them in a surge of nature's fury land fell from beneath their feet and oceans toppled from their resting place. The safest places on earth became the most dangerous and in the end there were so few survivors that civilization was lost.

500 years of turmoil and chaos, generations of the greedy and wicked being slowly worn down by the heavy burden of life. Again man began to rise, towns were being built, roads and trade began to emerge. Then war began to spread across the world once more as man fell into politics and greed, deceit and betrayal hounds loose upon the world. As the world tree watched on in sorrow it saw that at first great men would rise to lead the scattered tribes and they would lead the others in a path towards safety and freedom from the fear's they faced in the open world. Then as generations passed the great men who sat on the throne would slowly be replaced by worms who rotted away all that had been built with their deceit.

It was then that the world tree spoke to those few of man who could still hear its sorrow. "The greatest of man is worthy of this world and its many secrets, but they are too few. The beauty of man is wasted behind men of little vision who rip and tear at the world where they should tend and care for it. I have seen man humbled and rebuilt only to see the chaos begin anew, it is time that the purest of heart once again rule on high in the kingdom of men."

So it was then that the world tree took the magic's of the world and created 12 objects of power known now as the Cair'dom. Each object was placed back into the world in its deepest caves, on its highest mountains, at the bottom of the ocean and in the deepest reaches of the jungle.

The good in man saw these objects as a way to ensure that evil would never rule over man for long. The evil in man saw it as a way to never fall from grace. As our hero's sat in the hut of a blind witch being told of the coming battle that would take place between the best of man and the worst each wondered what their part would be. There were 5 hero's who would stand on the walls of Astrol, would it be enough, what secrets of the world would fight on the side of the light and which would be used against them.

The legion that would come against them would first war amongst themselves, a leader rising. There would be hero's for their side as well, men of great courage in battle but men of little understanding of the words spoken by the world. Men on both sides would follow blindly, guilty of the sin of being a soldier. Generals and soldiers of both sides will mass at the walls, staring at their fellow man so alike and yet so different from themselves.

The leader of the light would not be in question, there could be only one.

Here is the character selection, which ever hero is chosen will now be the leader of the light and its many forces. The leader of the light will be given the opportunity to select two generals from the hero's once his or her own character is picked. These generals will be given orders to raise an army, the player will send them on a path to speak with the people of the cities and gather their support.

Then our leader will once again speak of the blind woman who will tell the location of one of the twelve Cair'dom. You can choose to gather soldiers in the cities with deeds of valor or to face the dangers of the worlds wrath alone in search of the powers granted by its secrets. The fortress of Astrol is the greatest fortress ever built and it stands empty awaiting an army, are we invaders or are we defender?. Do we wield the power of the Cair'dom or do we fight as men against the powers of the world? What path does the Hero of the light choose for his/her kingdom?

There is only one certainty in the world of man, the time had come for a hero to rise. The battle of Astrol marches on, no matter what powers you wield whether it be all or none this battle will be fought to decide the future of mankind. Ten days, not so long a time to raise an army, not so long a time to build a legend.

In cut scene's the world tree speaks into the wind about the end of man and its very real danger. It speaks of a language that man had long since forgotten that would allow him to commune with the world and that without that language man could not feel the pain of the world and so grew cold.The tree is filled with sorrow at what it must do, but man cannot exist alongside the world if he is not willing to listen to the cries of its children.

The Cair'dom

The Cair'dom were created with the magic of the world tree as a balance to the corruption of man. They were cast into the world and guarded with secrets, powerful guardians and with deep magic so that the weak could not reach them. The world tree had seen the corruption of man and hoped that in order to save them from a second reckoning that the balance of power might be swayed.

The powers granted by the Cair'dom are unknown, their existence is known only from the words of the world tree, spoken in the wind for those who had the ability to hear them. It was said then by the world tree only that they would contain the power needed to restore balance if wielded by the light and the power to destroy the world if its powers were held in darkness. In the blindness of each man is the vanity that they are true, that they alone know the way that things should be.

The Cair'dom were sent to the corners of the world in secret places so that no one man could wield them all. Evil searches for them, for the power they represent is too much for them to ignore and in fear of the hero who comes against them wielding the powers they might grant. The light fights to protect from the miss use of the Cair'dom and for the power to fight against the corrupt and deceitful.

Trush'ta

A gem that heals all wounds within its reach, a valuable tool to some, a step towards immortality to others.

Isru

A vial of liquid with varying properties depending on the its use, It can be added to water to create a manic energy in the drinker or it can be vaporized and when breathed in it will grant flight of the soul for a time.

Sarthxe

A blade forged of black metal that reacts to the force of its wielders swing to increase their speed and power.

Pandac

A flower that grows only in places of moisture, its powers are unknown. The only hint the world tree gave of its abilities was to call it brother.

Jesmyn

A globe of air that once released will rip away the lies and deceit of any in its path revealing the truth to those who wish to see it.

Garok

A soldier absolute, unquestioning and relentless its form a mixture of darkness and light it will assume the form its master wishes and due his bidding.

Brism

A ghost of flame who can go anywhere and posses any being forcing them to his will and leaving them in ashes when the command has been fulfilled.

Kore

A rock which grants the power to crumble any structure to dust that it touches.

Eir

A great axe as heavy as a mountain it falls but as a feather it will rise again.

Uomra

An arrow of ice that flies on the winds of a great storm, its path will freeze the world as it shatters its wrath upon those below.

Doawsh

A helm crafted from pure lava that casts its wearer into the realm of shadow increasing speed and strength greatly.

Taekal

Armor that can block any weapon made by man, it is made of light and its power radiates from the wearer allowing no shadow to approach it.

Multiplayer Video Game

The concept of the multiplayer model of this video game is to have it very much a pvp style battle where each champion will control his generals and prepare for a final battle. The first phase is still the same as in single player but time plays differently. Travel would be instant from area to area with the challenges at each city or power more concise in contrast to in single player mode where the puzzles and challenges would be more time consuming and more challenging.

Each battle would then be more a challenge of intelligence versus in single player mode where determination and multiple attempts over time could overcome the challenges to the same overall effect as an intelligent player finishing it in the first attempt with the only sacrafice being time spent.

The final round is the sum of your work in the first, each city captured adds soldiers to your ranks and every power will give you another tool to use in the final battle. The map will be a lane style battle system with a map used as the fortress map. The first general or champion to occupy the fortress will begin the round as the defender and will try to defend the fortress against the coming invasion. As the first round proceeds alerts will come to the commander from his generals when they come into contact with another general or champion as well as when the fortress has been secured by either good or evil.

The fortress will be designed either by the player and saved to be used in battle or by choosing a preset version of the fortress prior to the encounter with each player given one minute to set their generals orders and form a battle plan. The battle will last 10 minutes with victory coming either by successful defense for 10 minutes or the attacker killing all enemy soldiers at once into the resurrection zone or by taking the enemy base.

Taking the enemy base consists of entering the base and securing the enemy flag which takes 6 seconds to pry from its resting place and taking it back to your own base without being killed. If you are killed while carrying the flag it is returned back to the enemy base.

The games default setup is one champion and 2 generals, if you do nothing in round one this will be what you will take into round 2. If you successfully take all of the 6 cities you will go into battle with one champion and 8 generals, each general will have 10 minions under his command. The offset is that you will face 3 vastly superior foes in the enemy champion and his generals who will have surely secured many of the powers of the world.

Mist of War the card game

I had this idea of a card game centered around the Mist of War video game that I started to design above. The concept is that each player would be dealt 9 cards to play the initial game and in the end each would bring 5 or more into battle depending on the attack points they choose. The choices to be made in the outset are very much the same as the video game, where do you send your generals.

If you decide to seek additional aid in one of the six major cities of the world your efforts might grant you additional cards for the final battle. If however you decide to seek the power's of the Cair'dom you will face challenges unknown, if you succeed you will take with you cards of value into the final battle. Choose carefully for in the final battle each players cards will play a vital role in determining a winner and rightful king of Astral.

First round

Seperate out the face cards, ace through jack, and place in a pile in the center of the table. From the remaining cards randomly lay out 12 cards 6 wide one row in front of each player or if 3-4 players are in the game lay 4 or 3 in front of each. Then choose another random draw of 6 cards and place them in lines of three one on each of side of the face card stack. In either case of players you will end up with 12 powers and 6 cities.

Your game table should look something similar to this when the game is setup for stage one

Four Players Two Players

There will be 18 cards left in the deck, spread them evenly between players but do not look at them. 9-9 in 2 player or 4 to each player leaving 2 out if you have 4 players. The cards can be used to "tap" either one of the 6 cities or one of the 12 powers. In two player mode each player has 3 cities and 6 powers that they can tap on their side or once tapped they can challenge the other player for control of the city or power on their side. When there is a challenge only the player challenging will show his top card and the tapped card will be flipped, the highest card wins the city or power.

Each player will keep a stack for city cards and one for power cards.

Once all the cards have been played remove any power or city that was not claimed from the board placing then in the discard pile. Each city card that was won is used to start a new pile, draw face cards equal the amount of cities you control and place on top of your city cards. Count the power cards you control and discard them drawing face cards in equal amount and placing it on the new pile.

Final Round

Now the board should have a pile of face cards in the center known as the fortress. There are 4 spaces on the board, one to each side of the fortress. The discard pile should be shuffled and set to the side in case of breaking ties. The player with the least cards will go first choosing one of the empty places and laying as many cards as they wish in the spot. Similar to the previous round you can challenge for the spot once another player has claimed it but if you lose the other player gets to draw a card.

Final Round Game Table Layout

Discard Pile Fortress Pickup Pile

The game is played until all cards are played by both players, if one player uses all his cards before the other then unless one of his squares are challenged unsuccessfully the game is out of his or her hands.

Majority control wins the game and controls the fortress either 3-1 or 4-0, if the game is tied at 2-2 when the final cards are played draw from the pickup pile in turn to decide the winner using the same scoring system.