Hostile Mob Ideas...

[Thalius]

I have been thinking over potential threats the player would encounter in the world, especially since Luc released his initial background story for the game.  I will put my initial thoughts here for the community to comment on or to ignore, as they see fit.    Looking forward to any feedback...

 

Natural Threats

Bears-

Dangerous but plentiful food supply.  Also provides good skins for clothing, and oil for candles/lanterns.  Hard to kill, and ferocious once provoked.  Hunt with care.  If one could capture a cub and raise it up as a companion... that would be sweet!!

Wolves-

Huge, wild canine animal.  Very dangerous, but only if provoked or encountered in conditions where food is scarce- usually snow bound conditions.  Given they normally travel, hunt and fight in packs, it is best not to bother them unless absolutely necessary.  Captured and domesticated pups make great companions/allies.  Yields leather if killed.

Snakes-

Sneaky, silent little buggers.  Found mostly in wooded conditions, snakes are not good for much other than keeping you on your toes.  Many are venomous and should be avoided.  Yield poison glands if killed, which can be used in the making of poison traps, darts and arrows.

Moose-

Dangerous but plentiful food supply.  Also provides good skins for making leather goods, and strong sinew for the making of strong rope and string for things such as good hunting bows.  Moose are extremely aggressive in the wild, and very strong.  Their very large horns make traveling through dense forest a slow process, but if caught in the open they can close in on a human with amazing speed, crushing armor and bone into the ground with their great antlers.  Approach with caution!!!

Leach Squid-

Squid-like creature that lives in fresh water lakes and rivers.  The critter latches on with great strength and begins to slowly drain the blood of its victim. its slippery skin makes it very hard to get a grip on once attached.  Only way to remove it once it latches on is to get out of the water.  It cannot stand dry air for more than a few moments before dropping off and returning to the lake or river it came from.  Yields squid as a food source if killed.

Supernatural Threats

Trolls- Read an idea on these in another post, but can't remember which.  I really like what I read, so I included them in my list along with a few suggestions...

Large, unintelligent creatures that usually like living alone in caves and under bridges.  They use large boulders and tree trunks as weapons, hurling them with their great strength.  Shields are not much use against a large bolder, and both shields and armor take a beating in a battle with a troll.  They prefer to stay out of the light of the full day, but will venture out in the early mornings or evenings, or on cloudy or rainy days.  Trolls usually do not yield anything when killed, but usually have a treasure stashed somewhere nearby. Some carry leather bags and keep treasure on them.

Orcs -

Ugly critters that live in caves in the mountains of our world.  No one is sure where they came from.  Not overly strong, they  tend to travel in packs and like to use bows and small knives as weapons.  Their strength is in their numbers...  They stay in their mountain caves during the day but hunt on the surface nearby their cave entrance under cover of night, returning to the darkness with the rising sun.  Killing them can yield arrows, some tipped with mysterious concoctions that have various effects against an enemy.  These concoctions can be  understandably problematic for you as well when engaging them..

Drifters- Already used in the game, I would keep the name but make some serious changes.  Ideas included below...

The first to stray into our world from the shadow realm, drifters are a bit of an unknown.  Humanoid in appearance and usually traveling alone or in packs of no more than three, drifters are very intelligent and often carry a weapon of some kind ranging from daggers and bows to swords and more powerful weapons seemingly enhanced through alchemy.  They appear only at night, and seem drawn to human presence.  They can be found at all hours of the day and night deep in the caves and light-less dungeons of our world, or roaming the surface in the night.  When the day dawns however, any drifters caught on the surface begin to quickly dig into the ground.  Once covered by the soil, they mysteriously disappear without a trace.  No one has ever determined how they do this or where they go when they disappear.  Killing them can yield weapons or other items consistent with what they are equipped with when engaged in battle.

Implings-

Pesky little creatures resembling a small orc with wings.  Not very strong, they prefer to assault their enemies with darts fired from blowguns.  The darts are mildly poisonous, and too many hits can render one lethargic and unable to regenerate health for some time.  They are not very good fliers, and therefore prefer the cover of the forest.  When pursued by an enemy they fly for short distances to evade attack, and then land before mounting another assault with their blowguns.  They are not too difficult to chase down, but if encountered in numbers they can pose serious problems, especially if you have to engage a stronger enemy while under the slowing effects of their poison darts.  Killing them is a good way to obtain large quantities of poison darts, useful for hunting and slowing an enemy down before engaging in battle.  When the sun rises, they fly into the early morning sky and vanish from sight.

Spider Colonies- Also saw the idea for these in a post somewhere, but can't remember where.  Really like this idea as well, and so included it in my list with some ideas attached.

Creepy, dangerous, unpleasant things!  Spider colonies occur in cave systems and in very dense forest areas with high, dense tree canopies.  Usually there is a very large queen accompanied by many of her smaller offspring.  Feeding all those little ones is not easy, and they love the juicy meat of a human being.  Once aware of your presence, they descend on their silky webs in mass, trying to surround their prey and pin it down with their webs, which are very sticky and which can be fired from a short distance away.  They are particularly vulnerable to damage from fire, and arrows punching holes in them will do the job quickly as well.  Their webbing also burns well.  For all of these reasons, flaming arrows are a must have when you plan to engage one of these obstacles.  Otherwise, run and try to find a better vantage point to engage those that are coming for you.  If they manage to surround you in the open, you are in trouble.   There is a chance of them yielding spider silk when killed- very strong and very rare.  When combined with sinew, among other uses, they make the strongest bow and crossbow strings.

Banshee-

No one quite knows what these beings really are.  They abhor the light, and only come for you in the dark of night on the surface of our world.  For this reason no one has every seen one clearly and lived to tell about it.  A shrieking and grinding cry in the night, and a shadow seen against the starry night sky.  Two dull, pin-points of green-ish yellow light that are its eyes are all that is seen aside from shadow as it comes for you, flying through the air like a wraith.  There is no known way of killing them.  Your only chance against them is to stay in the light...

-------

Will post additional ideas as I have them, assuming what I have shared in this post fits with the desired direction of the game...

 

[Luk]

Definitely some cool ideas here. I like the Banshee a lot. Speaking from a design standpoint, I think the Bear and the Moose are a little too similar. The forest slow is a nice touch, but they both still fill the role of "singular, large, and dangerous enemy." 

[Thalius]

Guess I was going for a bit of variety.   One large, dangerous food source is enough I suppose.  From what I have heard, there will be other larger and more dangerous hostile critters i the game eventually.

Thinking on the bear though, their meat contains a lot of oil which could be used to make candles, an item which  could be placed in a glass lantern for lighting rooms indoors.  If torches where made to burn out after a while, a lamp would burn many times longer in-game and provide better lighting.

[Luk]

Oh, I see. Yeah, you're right in that it's totally fine to have more than one large enemy. Maybe I am being a little too minimalist here, but my line of thinking is, "If the moose and the bear are very similar characteristically, maybe they should just be a reskin of each other instead of two uniquely-programmed objects."

I would just like there to be more seperation between them. Like the oil idea you're suggesting. Also, I wonder which one of those would be more dangerous or tougher to kill? I recognize that moose are absolutely huge, but bears are pretty fierce. It's been a while since I've been in the North, but I'm also wondering which would actually be more aggressive as well? Although I guess there are outside factors such as mating season....

Figuring out some things like that would do a lot to differentiate these enemies.

[Thalius]

Unless you get close, a moose will not bother you.  Happening on one up close to one on accident in dense forest or a thicket is how most hunters/hikers are hurt by them.  Other than that, they avoid people.  Taking one with a sword or similar weapon would be difficult as they could put the hurt on a player quickly, even with armor.  Taking one with a bow would be the best method of harvesting, but it would take a good hunting bow.  Hitting it with an arrow would make it mad as well, obviously, if it could see the player and know there was a person nearby.

A bear would hunt you once it had your scent, and can move through the woods faster over larger distances.  Even climb trees.  A bear would be more of a threat, especially in the wild setting of the game.  A bear in the remote wilderness would be more likely to see a person as a food source, even trying to push the door to your house down if it was hungry and scented food inside.  A good door with a strong latch would be a must, or block the opening during the night time hours when they prefer to hunt.

I would picture the AI for both of these critters being very different.  Also, if bone is a key ingredient for fertile soil and good farming, then a horned moose would provide a bunch of it- they are large animals to begin with, and the horns are absolutely massive and could be ground up for bone meal or used for other things, even decorative uses in a players home.  Moose horn chandelier anyone?   Or just a cool animal head mount for the wall... Why not?

[Luk]

Okay, that sounds better to me.