Total War: Mystara, or Let's Play Fantasy Empires

(NOTE: all images have a default resolution of 320x200, but I'm upsizing to 640x400 so they're easier to read. this is being played in Boxer, an amasingly great dosbox front end, under osx 10.5.5)

Fantasy Empires is primarily a turn-based strategy game built with the original Dungeons & Dragons rules. It also has optional arcade sequences for when armies battle. It's a precursor to the Total War series of games, but I'm not sure if it's THE precursor, as something else may have used this formula before it.

Basic gameplay is thus:

You start with some territories under your control. Each territory can build some number of structures, and these structures influence how many of which kinds of troops you can raise, how strong they are, how strong your defenses in that territory are (a mud hut or a fortress), and additionally you can build towers that help you generate magic power for your spells. You cast spells on enemy territories and the units stationed there, and move your own troops from territory to territory in an attempt to conquer all your opponents.

This particular game uses the Mystara game world, which was the implied setting for the original Dungons & Dragons release.

First thing we've got to do is make a character!

Our character is the leader of our forces. Its class, alignment, and stats will influence the heroes and troops and magic we have at our disposal.

The first thing you'll have to do is decide on a face.



I think the game uses pretty much all of these for our opponents; I don't think there're any "unique" in there. So get together and decide what looks best!

We're also going to need a name. No more than eleven (11) characters.

And a short character history! About 160~ characters is good.

The rest of our choices are thus:

Classes

Fighter: basic melee fighter.
Magic User: arcane magic; fireballs and the like. hero unit has a ranged magic attack
Cleric: holy magic; heal, turn and raise undead. at level 9 can become a druid. hero has a ranged magic attack.
Elf: hero is fast, has both a bow and a sword attack.
Dwarf: basic melee fighter.

In addition to normal troops, we'll also be building hero units; these are basically adventurers. Heroes that are the same class as your character get bonuses to both attacks and adventures (more on that later). Additionally, any troops of the same type will get bonuses as well (an elf character will have stronger elf troops, and so on).

It should be noted that ALL character classes generate magic power for spells, but magic users and clerics (and later druids) build power faster than the other classes. On the other hand, there are no regular magic user or cleric troops to benefit from the passive class bonus.

Alignment

Lawful: +10% income, easier to make treaties but very hard to break them, easier to turn undead. If you raise a lot of undead as a Lawful character, or break a lot of treaties, the game will change your alignment.

Neutral: nothing special.

Chaotic: -10% income, difficult to make treaties but can freely break them without penalty, but make more undead when casting Raise Dead.

Attributes

Our character's attributes all affect our territories and troops indirectly. I'll be mashing the "reroll" button to get a good character, but I want you guys to pick 2-3 attributes to emphasise.

Strength: Hero melee damage.
Intelligence: Affects Magic User spells (both hero and realm)
Wisdom: Affects Cleric spells (both hero and realm)
Dexterity: Hero defense.
Constitution: Hero hit points.
Charisma: Territory income.

Our character will start at level 1. As we complete games, we'll gain experience and go up in level. Once we've created our character, I'll post the other level 1 opponents available and we'll decide who we're beatin' up.

For the face, you should choose the metallic head that's third from the right in the second row. Instead of looking at it like a knight's helmet, you have to view the eyeslit as the mouth of some large metallic creature with no eyes.

For the name, I was going to suggest Bob the Destroyer, but that's too many syllables.

Instead: Bobsmash.

I see a skeleton wearing a beret on the right side of the bottom row. Use that.

I propse you name your skeletal avenger... Chauncy.

Furthermore, it's only reasonable that a beret-wearing skeleton would have high stats in Dexterity (for his smooth moves on the dance floor) and Charisma (obviously).

Very important question: how close are Elves & Dwarves to their 1st edition D&D counterparts? If "Elf" is really a Fighter/Magic-User, then I totally vote for an Elf. Hell, even if not, I'd probably still vote Elf.

Focus on Dexterity and either Strength or Intelligence, depending on spellcasting ability or not.

Alignment: Lawful

Elf = ranger, more or less. They might give a small bonus to arcane magic generation, but I wouldn't stand by that. The elf heroes definitely don't have any magic, though, and elf troops are just longbow archers.

I vote for the saucy sister at 4.5, and for her name to be Bride of Blacula.
EDIT: That doesn't fit, so just go with Ample's answer, as we should with all things.

YOU'LL TAKE MY LIFE BUT I'LL TAKE YOURS TOO
YOU'LL FIRE YOUR MUSKET BUT I'LL RUN YOU THROUGH

4th row, 2nd dude. I like his glasses. Elf. Name him Lennon.

Oh, holy crap, when you mentioned Fantasy Empires earlier, I didn't connect it with this game. I thought no one else had ever played it. My brothers and I would get in epic 3 player wars, all around one computer when I was younger.

I say go with Elf for the hero, beret clad skeleton, named Guycot maybe?

I look forward to seeing you go through this, I really should try finding this again.

The other names are good too. I'm torn.

This may make/break the deal - when I think Chauncy, I think Wonder Showzen. What do y'all think about that?

We should totally go for the skeleton with the beret. After all, though we've died, our revolution has not!

Chauncy is a fine name, as well.

We should go with Alan Moore there in 4.2. He can write graphic novels about underage storybook characters fucking when he's not conquering the land. Taking part in something so crass and commercial as a computer game would probably piss him off, too.

I'm seconding the skeleton with a beret as well. I mean, is there even another choice at this point?

Oh, and go as a Chaotic Fighter with an emphasis on Strength and Intelligence. We're going to war here, son - strength is all you really need.

I vote for the blue-skinned elf right above the fighter. I'd like to become a magic user with all my points in INT and CHA.

I like the dude in shades there at 1-4.

You mean the one right above Chauncy? If we go with her, she has to be named Oola.

I'm cool with Oola. That means of course we put all her points into charisma.

Looks like Chauncy the skeletelf is the winner! We still need a short background or character history. We've got space for 160 characters. You can come up with something longer, but the salient details should be able to be summarised in that.

Tell me why I had to be a powerslave
I dont wanna die, Im a god, why cant I live on?
When the life giver dies, all around is laid to waste.
And in my last hour,
Im a slave to the power of death.

Born into an aristocratic family, young Chauncy learned, at a young age that he was skilled at necromancy. He opted to go into business for himself, pillaging other settlements.

I am too late to this party. I was gonna suggest the very last portrait, magical affinities, named Dumbledore.

But Chauncy's awesome, so no worries.

Man, the character history got a lot less interest than I thought it would. =/ Alas and alack! We'll go with a mix of lyric + lichdom.

The verra last thing before we get started in the first game: we need opponents!











Fantasy Empire battles consist of 2-5 characters who initially start in a free-for-all mode but can later make alliances. There are five level 1 character choices, but only 4 slots.. but we also aren't REQUIRED to fill out all slots.

So pick some number of the above guys and we will go a'thrashin'. Remember that even if we lose, we still gain some experience.. just not as much experience as if we'd won.

I vote for the "mentally unstable" dude or the "very ugly person."

I have to say, these opponents are a little more... unique then most other villains in old games.

I want those two and the lost Doobie Brother dwarf.

Let's go with the mentally-unstable religious fanatic and the adventurer who cares not for trivialities. They seem like a fun pair.

I was about to post the same pair, but for different reasons: they have the best names. With a name like Theodosius, no wonder he's lost it. Taz, I assume, has a devastating whirlwind attack.

I think we can beat up that ugly guy.

If he didn't want to get beat up, he shouldn't have been ugly in the eyes of Chauncy!