Event Types
Stories in Wildermyth are applied procedurally. When the player is in a situation that calls for a story, the game searches the database of events for all the stories that could fit the situation, and then picks one randomly. Different situations come with different storytelling constraints.
A Note on Branching: Branching events are currently pretty awkward in our system, and so most of our stories currently revolve around a single choice. If this is too limiting, let's talk about it! We have some ideas for how to improve it but really it depends on what you want to write.
Another thing is that we're trying to avoid hard-and-fast rules here. In particular, any time is a good time to tell a more involved story, if that's what the story wants. The guidelines here are just guidelines.
Exploration Oriented Stories
Exploration is a core feature of our game. We want a wide variety of stories here, and they can be somewhat involved.
Wilderness Scouting
When you scout a new tile, and there are no enemies, there might be something else interesting to interact with.
| How many stories | A fairly large number! Scouting is a common activity, so we expect the player to see 12-20 of these per game. |
|---|---|
| Suggested Complexity | Medium. They're a bread and butter event. If they get too involved, consider splitting off as a Delving or Personal Quest? |
| Special Input | Tile, Party |
| Suggested Output | Station, Delving, Character Development, Recruit |
| Example Content | search for "wilderness". Silences, Witchstone, The Gambler... |
Arrive at Hostile Site
When you arrive at a hostile site for the first time, it's scary! There might be interesting site features, or a relationship story to tell, a prisoner to decide whether to rescue, or a novel tactic to consider. These can establish details about the site and the combat to come.
| How many stories | A large number! Attacking a hostile site is a dramatic focus and we want a big variety of stories. |
|---|---|
| Suggested Complexity | Medium. Want to maintain a sense of danger and unease. |
| Special Input | Site, Party, Foes |
| Suggested Output | Combat advantage/disadvantage, Character Development, Delving, Additional Story (mid-mission or victory), Recruit |
| Example Content | search for "heroesArriveAtSite". "One False Step", "Splinter", "Troygan" |
Tactical Stories
Like ArriveAtSite events, these events set up fights. Tactical Stories are stories that carry tactics, but not Exploration. Defense missions, ambush/escape missions, and retaking a site all call for tactical events that are more about the action and less about the mystery of the place.
Ambushed
So you're scouting, right? But this is a dangerous place, and sometimes the Scouter becomes the Scouted, and then you might be AMBUSHED! Now you might have a few minutes to prepare, or a split second to make a key decision, and then you'll most likely be fighting.
| How many stories | Probably a small number. Ambush is a necessary risk, but it's not super fun and it's ok for it to be basically a generic situation. |
|---|---|
| Suggested Complexity | Low. We don't want people farming ambush events, or feeling like they need to be ambushed to see all the content. |
| Special Input | Tile, Site, Party, Foes |
| Suggested Output | Combat advantage/disadvantage, Character Development, Recruit |
| Example Content | doesn't exist yet, but search defend_camp for some similar ideas. |
Tactical Defense
Monsters attack you sometimes, and you need to make some choices about how the fight should go.
| How many stories | A small number? We think the player will spend most of their time on offense. |
|---|---|
| Suggested Complexity | Low to medium. We don't want defense missions to feel like a "reward." |
| Special Input | Tile, Site, Party, Foes |
| Suggested Output | Combat advantage/disadvantage, Character Development |
| Example Content | encounter_heroesArriveAtSite_returnAssault_song BUT, it's probably more specific and memorable than we really need. |
Attack Site (subsequent)
Maybe you tried to attack this place once and failed. Or maybe you held it for a while and then left, and the monsters have moved back in. Either way we gotta set up the fight.
| How many stories | A small. We don't expect this situation to be common and it's not particularly epic. |
|---|---|
| Suggested Complexity | Low. |
| Special Input | Site, Party, Foes |
| Suggested Output | Combat advantage/disadvantage, Character Development |
| Example Content | encounter_heroesArriveAtSite_returnAssault_song BUT, it's probably more specific and memorable than we really need. |
Combat-Oriented Stories
Ok so, you've made some choices, and the battle starts. This part of the game is what we call the Mission, where everything is a 2D square grid and you hop around hitting foes. There could be stories here! I mean, definitely we want at least some.
Mortal Choice
When a hero falls to zero HP for the first time, they get a Mortal Choice, of whether to take a Heroic Death or fall back with some kind of maiming. Heroic Deaths are generally fairly powerful and can swing the combat in your favor, and we want them to be a valid choice, especially on higher difficulties.
Mid-mission story
We've only played around with this a little, but the idea is that under some conditions a little story can pop up in the middle of the action, and give you an interesting choice. This is experimental stuff but if you have an idea for a story that makes the most sense to live here, let's do it! Could work well as a way to establish site details, to start/continue/end another story, etc..
Mission Victory
You win! Celebrate a bit! Maybe also mourn your friends who died or were wounded.
Mission Defeat
You lose. Bad times. Probably one or more of your heroes is still alive, but wounded and retreating. But in general, bad times.
