I'm not as happy with these interpretations of Crag Hack and Axsis as I am with Solmyr and Mandigal. Which is fine, I suppose. They're not supposed to be exactly the same characters, because Elemental Fantasy X isn't supposed to be a conversion of Heroes of Might and Magic III, it's just meant to be somewhat inspired by at least some elements of HOMM3. That said, I may yet redo them. We'll see. I actually like Axsis in particular for how he turned out, but I don't think he turned out looking that much like Axsis. Here's their original portraits.
ensrick remade them for his portrait pack, and as usual, his portrait pack is the best alternate... that said, I think Crag Hack is best as is without modification. It's already one of the best portraits in the original game.
I didn't really pay enough attention, but the upsized image of Axsis, at least the ensrick alternate portrait, doesn't have red skin at all, and arguably, even the original isn't really that red. I made my version of him pretty red, because overall that was my impression of the image. Curious. EDIT: As an aside, look at how the AI totally fubared the horns, though. The ensrick portrait looks worse when you upscale it and can see better exactly what it did.
Anyway, here's my Hero Forge Axsis and Crag Hack. I tried to interpret ensrick's brow ridges and horns as a flaming crown. I'm also not necessarily thrilled with how that turned out either.
So anyway, what do I want to do with EFX exactly? I like my ruleset too much to consider making significant changes, but there are three things in particular where some changes will be required:
1) Races
These are, mostly, the races of Heroes from Heroes of Might and Magic III. I might be missing one or two that have a singleton character here or there (Mutare Drake on purpose), but I'm not going to use all of these races as EFX races anyway. Again, I want to get the feel of HOMM3 a bit, but I'm not trying to convert HOMM3 exactly. Bolded race names I'm planning on using, italicized ones I'm thinking of using, but am not sure.
When I say that I'm going to use them, I mean I'm going to adapt them somehow. I'm not quite sure how to adapt lich and vampire, for instance, into being PC races, but I'll think of something.
Human
Elemental (air/storm, water/ice, earth/magma, fire/energy, and psychic/magic)
Elf (including Gelu, the half-elf, who's also half Vori snow elf rather than the typical forest elf)
Dwarf
Genie (likely to be merged with air/storm elementals)
Demon
Efreeti (pet peeve; efreeti is plural. Efreet is what it should be. Also, may be merged with fire/energy elementals)
Lich
Vampire
Troglodyte
Minotaur
Goblin
Ogre (although I will probably sub in Orc instead)
Gnoll
Lizardman
Tark (just use lizardman)
Nymph (possibly what I'll call water/ice elementals)
I also just installed the latest Horn of the Abyss update, so I now have the Factory faction. I'm unclear if I'm interested in mining it for material or not, but just for the heckuvit, let's note what races they add. They were already all in the game as creatures.
Gremlin
Halfling
At minimum, that means 12 races, although I can use the stats (or other alternatives)
2. Classes
Of course, DFX doesn't have any classes. I like the way that this works; I had made all of the classes so modular and a la carte, that it didn't make sense to actually define them anymore. That said, Heroes3 has a lot of classes; each faction (and now there are 11) has a Might and a Magic class. My first thought was that if I wanted to replicate that, I could come up with some little mechanical gimmick that was martial or magical, and just have two. But now I think, if I'm just going to make it a little mechanical gimmick, like a free spell for a magic class or a free "stunt" for a martial character, then why not make a bigger list of them and have one for each class in the HOMM3 game?
Here's the list of each class, by faction. I'm trying to figure out exactly how to handle this from a metagame perspective (do they need to come from the right country originally to take a class, etc.?) but I'll probably err on the side of not making restrictions and not addressing it to allow for greater freedom. Let me archive a few points that might be useful for me to do this.
Castle: Castles are home to the Cleric and Knight hero classes. Castle armies are primarily composed of human men-at-arms, though these towns have also formed an alliance with the griffins and are under the protection of angels. With two types of ranged attack units and two flying unit types available, Castle-based armies are well equipped to quickly engage and defeat their enemies.
Knight: Knights are brave and noble warriors dedicated to good and righteousness. While they can learn magic skills, they are by far more dedicated to the pursuit of martial knowledge. Might Hero; always start with Leadership
Cleric: Clerics are members of the fighting forces of their holy orders. They pursue a range of knowledge, both martial and mystical. Magic Hero; likely to learn First Aid and Diplomacy
Rampart: The Druid and Ranger hero classes are native to Ramparts, which are built by creatures in allied defense of unspoiled wilderness regions. With two slow unit types, Dwarves and Dendroids, Rampart armies may be best suited to defensive tactics. Most of these creatures, however, have enemy hampering abilities that can be used to turn the tide against many opponents — especially those dependent on magical attacks.
Ranger: Rangers are warriors born of the woods, skilled at hunting and tracking. Their dedication to the protection of the wilderness leads them to pursue a wide range of knowledge, concentrating on martial and outdoor skills. Might Hero; likely to learn Resistance (to magic). Archery and Armorer.
Druid: Druids are mystics who draw their power from a harmonic relationship with the land. While they pursue their mystical knowledge, their outdoor living causes them to acquire a balance of physical skills. Magic Hero; likely to learn Luck.
Tower: Wizards and Alchemists study their arcane craft in Towers. Tower populations are comprised of creatures bound into service by powerful magic, made on the spot, or allied with the town through ancient pacts. Tower armies have uniformly good morale and some of the best range attack units available.
Alchemist: Alchemists are skilled in physical and chemical magic, particularly so in the building and animation of golems. Working their craft builds muscular strength, which makes Alchemists ready learners of military skills as well. Their armor is composed of rare metal alloys created through their skill in alchemy. Likely to learn Learning and Armorer.
Wizard: Wizards are dedicated pursuers of mystical and magical knowledge. While they may lend little to the direct military aspect of a battle, they are likely to turn the tide in their favor with use of mighty arcane forces. Wizards seldom wear any armor, relying on their control of magic to protect them. Likely to learn Intelligence and Scholar, which increase the amount of spells you can cast and the spells you learn respectively.
Inferno: Inferno towns can be found in regions blighted by the emergence of the underworld on the surface. Demoniac and Heretic heroes stand in uneasy alliance with these towns. Inferno armies have great hand-to-hand attack units and are only slightly hampered at the lower levels by a lack of flying units until the awesome, teleporting devil and arch devil units can be brought into play.
Demoniac: Demoniacs are people (often ex-Heretics) who have been completely possessed by one or more demons. Though they have a natural predisposition to gaining magical power, Demoniacs also acquire balancing military skills as well. Likely to learn Logistics and Offense.
Heretic: Heretics aim to harness demonic forces to their bidding. While they tend to train themselves with warrior skills, they must also know enough magic to control their infernal allies. Heretics can often be recognized by the number of protective wards and markings they wear to ward off demonic attacks. Likely to learn Mysticism (crappiest secondary skill in the game -ed.)
Necropolis: Necropolis towns are overrun and ruled by undead creatures. They are the natural bases for the Necromancer and Death Knight hero types. Necropolis armies have many units with abilities to weaken their opponents. This quickly gives them an edge over equal or even more powerful enemy armies.
Death Knight: Death Knights are knights resurrected as liches. While they maintain their former martial learnings, their new forms open them more freely to the learning of magic. (That description is BS. Plenty of Death Knights are either vampires or simply humans. -ed.)
Necromancer: Necromancers are magic users seduced by the easy power of death magic. The price of their art is its practice slowly drains life from its wielders — eventually transforming them into liches. (Again, there are also plenty of vampires; they're not all liches or humans on the way to become liches. -ed.) Both Death Knights and Necromancers are defined by their likelihood to learn Necromancy, and either can become quite good at it.
Dungeon: Dungeons are built by Warlock and Overlord hero types to act as bases from which to wage campaigns of conquest for wealth and power. Similarly minded creatures are attracted as allies. Other Dungeon creatures are in thrall to their masters. Dungeon armies are possessed of a variety of long range attacks, have effective damage dealing troops, and have the ability to greatly disrupt the strategies of their enemies.
Overlord: Overlords build dungeon lairs to protect their gains acquired through conquest. Ruling through intimidation, they tend to be warriors who know the value of magic. They often wear armor designed to enhance the ferocity of their appearance. Likely to learn a variety of offensive (rather than defensive; that's more the Alchemists; gig.)
Warlock: Warlocks learn magic for the power it gives them to achieve dark and selfish goals. More than any other hero, they focus on the pursuit of magical knowledge over other values. Warlocks often flaunt their power, using magic to alter their features. Most likely to learn sorcery (increase damage from spells.)
Stronghold: Stronghold towns are built by alliances of tribes and are frequented by the Barbarian and Battle Mage hero types. Armies composed of Stronghold-based units have a balanced mix of ranged and hand-to-hand attackers. With the inclusion of the stronger units, these armies are particularly well-equipped to deal with attacks on other towns.
Barbarian: "Barbarians are little concerned with anything outside the pursuit of military might. Consequently, they advance most quickly in attack based skills and slowly in all others. Barbarians wield massive weapons and wear little armor. Known for being the most offense focused class in the game.
Battle Mage: Battle Mages are Barbarians with limited spellcasting abilities. While they advance their ability at magic, they also study the arts of war. Battle Mages often wear trophies, gathered from slain foes, from which they derive additional power. One of the least magic focused magical classes; known for advancing nearly as well in martial skills and having limited use of higher level spells.
Fortress: Fortress towns are built at the edge of swamps and are often used as bases by the Beastmaster and Witch hero classes. Their armies are primarily made up of deadly creatures — born of the swamps, and then subdued and trained for warfare. While among them there is only one ranged attack creature, Fortress units are possessed of many special abilities to offset this deficiency.
Beastmaster: Through physical force and intimidation, Beastmasters build their realms by subjugating those dwelling nearby. As a consequence, they are little interested in the pursuit of mystical knowledge. Beastmasters often costume themselves in the likeness of vicious swamp creatures. Kind of a mirror image to the Barbarian, with a defense focus rather than offense.
Witch: Witches are adept at the use of magic powered by rare ingredients gathered from swamplands. Learning this knowledge takes a focus that allows for little advancement of military knowledge. Similarly, a mirror image of sorts to the Battle Mage, with likely Eagle Eye, First Aid, etc. spells. Kind of a healer type mage, if you will.
Conflux: A Conflux is home to the Elementalist and Planeswalker. Composed primarily of elemental creatures, the Conflux also offers home to the Sprites and the elusive Phoenix. What makes Conflux towns unique is their emphasis on creatures of mid-range power. Generals continue to debate if this is the strategic strength or weakness of the town. Regardless, all agree it takes an astute commander to effectively lead a Conflux army. The Conflux was not the original plan for the Armageddon's Blade expansion; rather than Forge was supposed to be in its place, a kind of bizarre cyborg zombie town. Which few fans actually liked, and to NWC's credit at the time, they changed course and made the Conflux instead. That said, it does feel kind of rushed and half-baked in many ways, and it's only grown into being a credible town after time and some modifications to the balance here and there. Using the elementals in general was unusual (and felt kind of lazy, or at least rushed) and they threw in a handful of other creatures that were either leftovers from the old HoMM2 Sorceress faction, but also gave it a kind of "refugees from the Wizard faction" too.
Planeswalker: For whatever reason, Planeswalker lacks a description, at least on the wiki I'm looking at (if I found my old paper manual, it's probably in there. Yes, I've had this that long.) It's the Might hero for the Conflux, and they're a bit more focused on Offense than Defense.
Elementalist: These guys also don't have a description, but they seem like a pretty balanced class between gaining "mana" points and having more power to their spells. In the old HoMM2, Wizards were more the former and Warlocks the latter.
Cove: There is a description, but it's pretty light. Cove is the first "unofficial" town made by a fan mod community long after support for the game was officially over, NWC had been bought by first 3DO, and then after their Chapter 11 bankruptcy, acquired by Ubisoft, and support had moved on to Heroes 5, 6 or even later. It's a pirate-themed faction, with a lot of sea monsters as recruitable troops (using monsters as troops is a defining feature of the game.)
Captain: A pirate-themed might class, focused on archery and artillery, like the pistol-toting pirate class and the cannon as an artillery piece.
Navigator: A spellcaster that's a bit more focused on Offense than most. As you'd expect in a pirate-themed faction, water-type magic is preferred
Factory: The second and very recently released faction developed unofficially yet with "official" quality. It features, again, refugees from the old HoMM2 Wizard and Warlock factions, as well as a few other weirdos like a gremlin Hero, a goblin Hero, etc. It has a kind of steampunk Old West vibe to it which I'm not 100% sold on, but which is a heckuva lot better than the cyborg zombie vibe that the Forge was going to have. It's often seen as possibly reimaging the Forge as maybe it should have been imagined in the first place. The inclusion of this faction at all as a direct source into EFX is debatable. I probably won't actually do so.
Mercenary: Might hero; pretty standard, a little bit of magic, but mostly offense focused. Because the faction is desert-themed, they can't get water magic.
Artificer: A magic hero that, given the faction's vibe, also has some artillery-based skills. Not sure if this translates to RPG or not.
3. Magic
Magic is the only part of the system that I'm thinking of changing. I think that all, or at least most, of the magic class "packages" will come with one spell that your character can start with. I'm also considering toning down the effects of a critical failure on a spellcasting roll, and I may use a more D&D-like spell list as well. I might also make learning spells just a little bit less punitive on failed rolls. But maybe not. I actually quite like my magic system, and I'm not a huge fan of magical characters being too magical. Then again, the whole point of EFX vs DFX is to be more highly fantastical with a more high magic feel. At the very least, I'll almost certainly eliminate the Sanity mechanic, which is mostly there to punish spellcasters if they're too ambitious or greedy for more magic.
4. Conclusions
So, to get a bit of that Heroes 3 flavor, I'm going to create a number of new races, have "class packages" that mostly just give a single on-off modest benefit at character creation, as well as a roleplaying hook. Then, I'll modify slightly how magic works. This may mean that I need to take the DFX document, "save as" and make some modifications as an EFX document that is 90+% the same, but all of what I need for EFX is in one place. There's a decent chance that I'll do a fair bit of modification to the spell and monster lists, although if I do, it'll mostly be copied from some other m20 or OSR source of monsters.
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