User Tools

Site Tools


dom6:man-la

LA Man, Towers of Chelms

Lore

"Man is one of the first nations conceived in the Dominions universe. The nation is a conglomerate of medieval English and Arthurian concepts spiced with some fantasy elements from Ars Magica and the books of Robert Jordan. The Irish/Northumbrian monastic tradition, Anglo-Saxon society, and Welsh longbowmen are all inspirational sources. Later on, the nation turns towards scholarship paired with dark tidings. The mood in the movie Sleepy Hollow is a nice comparison.
In Dominions 4 steps has been taken to accentuate the influence of invading barbarians reminiscent of the Angles and Saxons. It is not difficult to see an early Ulm or a similar nation in the Logrian backstory."
-Illwinter

The realm of Man is a feudal kingdom. Their kingdom was established by conquering a race of tall and magically powerful beings known as the Tuatha. When the Tuatha were destroyed, their magic was taken by the Witches of Man. They helped Man to grow in power and influence, but with the great magic came a great Curse and the Witches dwindled in number and magic left the kingdom. To contain the Curse, the Old Magic was banned and a scholarly order of Magisters replaced the Witches of Avalon and their wild ways. The infantry of Man has evolved since the Age of Avalon and the crossbow is common, but knights and longbowmen still make up a large part of the armies. The Wardens of Avalon have escaped the Curse and are the only remnant of the Old Ways.

Overview

Late Man is a somewhat-rough nation to play, quite set against its beginner-friendly middle incarnation. It has fairly decent soldiers, pony-riders, tier-5 forts, and studious mages who might not even know anything useful.

To start with, Man has a wide spectrum of troops: terrible ones, mediocre ones, and elites. There are varieties of the independent "heavy" infantry who wear green pants instead of red ones, from the previous age. There are stealthy men who wear glorified plainclothes and dual-wield, also from the previous age. There are axemen who wouldn't be out of place in Midgård, though they at least have enough Strength to penetrate armor with their risky weapon choice. There are archers, crossbowmen, and longbowmen, all of which narrowly outdo the projectile spam of most other nations with their extra point or two of Precision. There are even fellows who perform decently well both in melee combat and at range: the Tower Guard, the Defender, and the Sacred Warden. Last-but-not-least, there are the Tower Knights, who would much rather not fight alongside Man's crossbowmen. Simply picking what to use can be overwhelming.

Man can (and generally should) take decent Scales, to print money and men. Man's mages don't really mind Drain, given how they ignore it in their Research and typically use spells that don't operate off Magic Resistance. Drain3 means getting Order2Productivity1 (or Order1Productivity2) without affecting your Dominion strength or your Bless, for just that many more of whichever troops or commanders you want. The penalty to your starting Research points is fixed, something that having more forts will more than make up for.

As for the mages themselves, they are distinctly inconsistent, befitting a nation that essentially restarted from scratch fifty years ago. There are two official mages: the Lord Warden (who's priced as one of those "do-anything" commanders, like a Vanherse), and the "dedicated" Magister Arcane. The Magister Arcane is priced as a mid-tier combat mage, and essentially is one 90% of the time; he also has the problem of being vulnerable to an Astral war of attrition, but fortunately this is the Age where initiating one is the most expensive. There are also two "minor mages" for Research, but these aren't guaranteed to have any magic paths, though the one with the lowest chance of having any is balanced by costing only 1 Commander Point and not needing a lab. Those without magic levels still have at least one use, whether it's espionage, fort-popping, Citadel-improving, or Unrest-reducing.

National Features

Magic Access Alt. Access Unit Summary Core Abilities Buildings
air 33
earth 22
astral 22
fire 11
death 11
glamour 11
holy 22
Heroes
death 11blood 22
Infantry
Longbowmen
Crossbow Heavy Infantry
Knights
Wardens of Avalon
Stealthy
Spy
Mason
Unhindered Researcher
Starts with a Grand Citadel
Standard Forts
Magisters can build better forts.

Capitol Gems: 1airgem1earthgem1naturegem1glamourgem
Drain Limit + 1

The humans of Man are completely all-over-the-place, statistically speaking. The two biggest groups are the average "men" and the Logrians; those of the latter group generally have 12 HP and 11 Strength, and 1 additional point of Attack Skill and Morale over what their station or training would suggest.

Units

Commanders

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Royal Forester
55
8
1
Stealthy (55)
Ambidextrous (1)
Patrol Bonus (5)
Forest Survival
A small premium on a scout
who can ferry troops about.
He's also a bit stealthier than
the average Scout, which is nice.
Castellan
95
22
1
Your standard milquetoast Leader.
Judge
100
1
1
random125%
25%

Patrol Bonus (20)
Unhindered Researcher
Does not need a lab.
On average, 3-in-8 have a level.
(That means rp 33.1875 per guy.)
The patrol bonus alone is useful, however,
such as when trying to bootstrap blood.
Magister of Theology
85
1
1
holy 11
Sacred
Inquisitor
More expensive than indie holy 11's,
but not without reason.
They're holy 22's for the purpose of
beating off enemy Dominion,
Bishop
100
1
2
holy 22
Sacred
Old Age (55/50)
It's just 15 dollars for another level.
Why not get one, if you care at all?
Sermon of Courage is nice.
So are lvl-2 Banishments.
Magister
135
1
2
random150%
50%
25%
rp 77
Stealthy (40)
Siege Bonus (15)
Castle Defence (15)
Spy
Unhindered Researcher
Mason
DOES require a lab.
On average, 13-in-16 have a level.
(That means rp 66.5625 per guy.)
Their biggest perk is one not seen
since early Arcoscephale;
popping and propping (up) forts in mobs
while still having other uses.
Magister Arcane
240
1
2
air 22earth 11astral 11random150%rp 1313
Old Age (63/50)
Unhindered Researcher
Honestly not a bad mage.
Any 10-percent-er is nice;
astral 11glamour 11's can block Magic Duel, for instance,
while air 33's need no explanation.
Lord Warden
200
31
2
Capital Only
glamour 11holy 11rp 77
Sacred
Stealthy (40)
Forest Survival
Combat Caster
An Unseen One without trickery.
(Unless being good at fighting is trickery.)
He blesses your Wardens,
maybe leads them on escapades,
and does a little Site-Searching.
glamour 11's an interesting thug path, too.

Troops

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Spearman
10
9
9
Commentary here.
Longspear
10
13
9
Commentary here.
Axeman
10
11
9
Commentary here.
Heavy Axeman
10
19
9
Commentary here.
Light Archer
10
4
9
Commentary here.
Crossbowman
10
9
9
Commentary here.
Tower Guard
12
23
14
Castle Defence (1) Commentary here.
Forester
12
7
14
Forest Recruit
Stealthy (55)
Ambidextrous (1)
Patrol Bonus (1)
Forest Survival
Commentary here.
Longbowman
12
11
14
Commentary here.
Defender
16
27
23
Castle Defence (2) Commentary here.
Tower Knight
45
58
45
Skilled Rider (2) Commentary here.
Destrier Animal Commentary here.
Warden
26
31
31
Capital Only
Sacred
Stealthy (40)
Forest Survival
Commentary here.

Heroes

Sprite Unit Name Special Attributes Comments
Bernlad - Green Knight Sacred
Regeneration (10%)
Stealthy (40)
Skilled Rider (4)
Forest Survival
Recuperation
Can discover another Vale of Unicorns. It is hidden and will only be discovered if Bernlad is in the province. Provides another site to recruit Knight of Avalon and Commander of Avalon. (Event ID: 1421)
May also recruit up to three free Knight Commanders from provinces with recruitable Knights.
Armored Unicorn Sacred
Poison Resistance (10)
Disease Resistance (100%)
Stealthy (40)
Smart Mount (100)
Animal
True Sight
Forest Survival
Recuperation
Commentary here.
Vampire Lord
Earliest Arrival Turn (5)
death 11blood 22rp 1111
Unique
Fire Vulnerability
Cold Resistance (15)
Poison Resistance (25)
Darkvision (100)
Stealthy (40)
Invulnerability (25)
Cause Unrest (.5 per month)
Seduction (Morale vs. 9)
Population Killer (10 per Month)
Immortal (1 Month Reform Time)
Underwater Damage (100)
Reforming Flesh (10%)
Slash Resistant
Blunt Resistant
Undead
Flying
Cannot Cross River
Need Not Eat
Commentary here.

National Spells

Summons

Ritual

Summon Spell Unit Special Attributes Comments
Summon Black Dogs
(Conjuration 2)
death 22 and 5deathgem

Black Dog x 20
Dark Vision (100%)
Stealthy (+60)
Dark Power (2)
Iron Vulnerability (1)
Animal
Commentary here.
Summon Cu Sidhe
(Conjuration 3)
glamour 22 and 5glamourgem

Cu Sidhe x 10
Sacred
Dark Vision (50%)
Stealthy (+40)
Iron Vulnerability (1)
Animal
Forest Survival
Commentary here.
Summon Barghests
(Conjuration 4)
death 22 and 7deathgem

Barghest x 14
Dark Vision (100%)
Stealthy (+60)
Dark Power (3)
Iron Vulnerability (1)
Curse Attacker (5)
Animal
Commentary here.
Herd of Unicorns
(Conjuration 4)
nature 11glamour 22 and 10glamourgem
in Forest

Unicorn x 10
Sacred
Poison Resistance (10)
Disease Resistance (100%)
Stealthy (+40)
Smart Mount (100)
Animal
True Sight
Forest Survival
Recuperation
Commentary here.
Summon Bean Sidhe
(Conjuration 5)
death 11 and 25deathgem

Bean Sidhe
death 11glamour 11random1100%rp 1111
Sacred
Cold Resistance (15)
Poison Resistance (25)
Stealthy (+60)
Fear (+6)
Assassin (2)
Undead
Ethereal
Glamour
Need Not Eat
Forest Survival
Spirit Sight
Spell Singer
Female
Commentary here.

Magic Access

See Magic Access. These guides supplement the summaries at the top.

General Access

Elements

  • fire 11 on one-in-four Judges
  • air 33 on roughly every tenth Magister Arcane
  • No water magic
  • earth 22 on roughly every tenth Magister Arcane

Sorcery

  • astral 22 on roughly every tenth Magister Arcane
  • death 11 on one-in-four Judges
  • No nature magic
  • glamour 11 on Lord Wardens (capital only), or on roughly every tenth Magister Arcane off-capital

Rites

  • No blood magic (aside from a hero)
  • holy 22 on Bishops

Boosted Access

LA Man, like many Late Age nations, has a wide variety of magical paths, but low levels. For LA Man though, the magical crosspaths it has generally do not lead to many boosters.

Multi-Path Boosters

Although LA Man has the right paths and crosspaths for a Ring of Sorcery, The Staff of Elemental Mastery, and a Ring of Wizardry, the mages' levels are so low it is difficult to get enough boosters for any of them.

Fire

Highest starting: fire 11 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) or Judge (1 in 4)

Skull of Fire fire 11death 11 Judge (1 in 16)

Magister Arcane potentially has the right crosspaths for Staff of the Sun (Unique) or the Forbidden Light (Unique, Unremovable), but they require too many boosters to be practical.

Air

Highest starting: air 33 Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

Tome of High Power Unique air 22astral 22 Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

Water

No national access.

Summon Bean Sidhe?? The hero, death 11 Vampire Lord Bean Sidhe has a 1 in 4 chance of water 11

Summon Spectre The hero, death 11 Vampire Lord + Spectre has a 7 in 16 chance of at least water 11

Earth

Highest starting: earth 22 Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

Summon Bluecap earth 11glamour 11 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) +

Although Magister and Magister Arcane both potentially have the right crosspaths for the Atlantis of Creation (Unique), it takes a ton of boosters.

Astral

Highest starting: astral 22 Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

Coin of Meteoritic Iron earth 11astral 22 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) +

Golem Construction earth 11astral 22 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) + Golem has astral 22

Tome of High Power Unique air 22astral 22 Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

The Magister Arcane has the right crosspaths for The Trapped Dreams of Hruvur, Atlas of Creation, or The Forbidden Light, (all Unique), but the number and type of boosters they require is difficult to get.

Death

Highest starting: death 11 Judge (1 in 4)

The Black Book of Secrets Unique The hero, death 11blood 22 Vampire Lord +

Nature

No national access.

Summon Gnome earth 11glamour 11 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) + Gnome has nature 22.

Glamour

Highest starting: glamour 11 Lord Warden or Magister Arcane (1 in 10)

Mirage Crystal earth 11glamour 11 Magister Arcane (1 in 10) +

The Magister Arcane has the right crosspaths for The Trapped Dreams of Hruvur.

Blood

No recruitable access. The hero, Vampire Lord has blood 22.

The Black Book of Secrets Unique The hero, death 11blood 22 Vampire Lord +

Strategy

Expansion

Different expansion options.

Early Game

Early game options.

Mid Game

Mid game options.

Late Game

Late game options.

Example Pretender Builds

Format for putting a pretender build in.

Chassis: Awake Titan of Crossroads
Paths: astral 44death 55nature 77
Bless: MW/Arcane Finesse, Invuln 10, Regen.
Scales: Dominion strength6Turmoil2Productivity0Heat3Death1Misfortune2Magic3

Format for putting a pretender build in.

Chassis: Awake Titan of Crossroads
Paths: astral 44death 55nature 77
Bless: MW/Arcane Finesse, Invuln 10, Regen.
Scales: Dominion strength6Turmoil2Productivity0Heat3Death1Misfortune2Magic3

Weaknesses

What are the nation's weaknesses?

See More

dom6/man-la.txt · Last modified: 2024/08/01 00:14 by fenrir