Possible Future Cultures (Speculations and Ideas)

[Nerdfish]

Each affinity has three paths of three tiers. So nine tomes the possibilities are even bigger than we thought

More than that, I think, because a tome can have multiple affinities.

 

[Gyor]

When I imagine Order + Chaos, my first thought is actually, maybe influenced by the Tome of Revelry I glanced as Chaos-aligned, a Republic type of structure. Laws that exist to preserve freedom, stuff like that.

Something very Greco-Roman in feeling.

 

[ERICdb]

Thank you everyone for your nice words! I'm happy that so many people liked my chart.

As we slowly learn more about other aspects of the game then of course this chart will feel less relevant. Still the idea behind each culture probably has to be as generalist as possible, as we've seen how affinities can be interpreted in a more positive or negative light. Once we start getting info on more tomes and the different Empire tree affinity branches, then we'll be able to really start making good predictions.

Something very Greco-Roman in feeling.

That could could be interesting as well!

 

[Holiness]

Something very Greco-Roman in feeling.

That could could be interesting as well!

I'm a weeb. If chaos and order makes harmonious and Asian themed, that be great.

I can see a republic/oligarchy being what mercantile is on the chart. Just my 2 cents though.

 

[Gyor]

I'm a weeb. If chaos and order makes harmonious and Asian themed, that be great.

I can see a republic/oligarchy being what mercantile is on the chart. Just my 2 cents though.

Too chaotic, Roman Greece liked well organized system. I'm thinking Theocractic/Republic GrecoRoman inspired (Order Astral).

For Merctile I think a bit of Wild West flavour could be fun, chaotic, but also focused on gold and resource accumuliation.

 

[FerrokenFibrous]

Each affinity has three paths of three tiers. So nine tomes the possibilities are even bigger than we thought

More like four tiers with two Tomes each, then a fifth tier with one Tome. The screenshot for the Baron's Palace tooltip in Dev Diary #2 happened to also capture a bunch of Tomes to the left side and one of them is a T5. (I cropped the screenshot and increased brightness/contrast on the bit showing Tome tier for relative clarity)

 

[Holiness]

Tome of the God Emperor... OF MANKIND!

Away you xeno SCUM!...

Yes... 40k fans be everywhere.

 

[Vibromaster]

More like four tiers with two Tomes each, then a fifth tier with one Tome. The screenshot for the Baron's Palace tooltip in Dev Diary #2 happened to also capture a bunch of Tomes to the left side and one of them is a T5. (I cropped the screenshot and increased brightness/contrast on the bit showing Tome tier for relative clarity)

Oh my god emperor…

 

[Kelben]

Tome of the God Emperor... OF MANKIND!

Away you xeno SCUM!...

Yes... 40k fans be everywhere.

God Emperor to me evoke more Dune with a book of the same name.

 

[Vibromaster]

God Emperor to me evoke more Dune with a book of the same name.

Fun trivia :40k got it from Dune

 

[Nerdfish]

Fun trivia :40k got it from Dune

And both of them got it from Ancient Egypt and Japan.

 

[Gyor]

And both of them got it from Ancient Egypt and Japan.

And Rome, honestly mostly from Rome, especially in Warhammer 40k's case, outside of Necrons not alot of Egyptian influence on 40k, even less Japanese influences.

 

[Vibromaster]

And Rome, honestly mostly from Rome, especially in Warhammer 40k's case, outside of Necrons not alot of Egyptian influence on 40k, even less Japanese influences.

Actually quite a lot! Thousand sons for once, and tau that were initially a mix of Japanese and Egyptian.

but it’s because one of the creators was an history major in Persia’s antiquity, Egypt main rival at the time.

that’s why a lot of baddies have historical demon names from this region like abbadon, arhiman, Baal and such.

 

[Nerdfish]

Harmonious (Order + Chaos) - Following the Gray Guard specialisation of AoW3, this would be a society that focuses on universal balance and the cleansing of magic. Would excel in dispelling magic, and get bonuses for staying in a neutral path. Probably skewed towards melee and defensive strategies. Could be Buddhist monk/ascetic themed.

Would like to expand on this idea:
How about making Harmonious an Eastern inspired culture, with strong focus on dueling and protection, and have Warrior Monks and Samurai as their culture units ?
This would fit the eastern philosophy of Yin and Yan / moral relativism very well.

 

[ERICdb]

Would like to expand on this idea:
How about making Harmonious an Eastern inspired culture, with strong focus on dueling and protection, and have Warrior Monks and Samurai as their culture units ?
This would fit the eastern philosophy of Yin and Yan / moral relativism very well.

Sure, that's basically the essence of the idea. You can give it many different possible flavours, but it would taste something like that.
Adding the visual style of as many different historical human cultures would probably enrich the game overall.

 

[Nerdfish]

Sure, that's basically the essence of the idea. You can give it many different possible flavours, but it would taste something like that.
Adding the visual style of as many different historical human cultures would probably enrich the game overall.

I posted this idea back on Triumph forums back during the AOW3 era, but their forum no longer exist so I can't link to it
The main features were mixed physical/spiritual damage and melee units capable of ranged attacks, and vise versa.

I imagined samurai being their main cavalry unit, they are as powerful as knights, and has a ranged attack instead of charge.
Warrior monks are considerably more powerful than common spear units and has a ranged attack.
Their support unit, the Miko, use a bow and does a mix of physical/spiritual rather than pure magical damage of other support units.

Perhaps a culture that focus on fewer and more powerful units, and rely on tome units to pad their numbers ?

 

[Kevin Ross Brown]

Can we get Three Kingdoms-themed things?

I am unabashedly on a Three Kingdoms kick right now. Yes, Three Kingdoms Total War has something to do with it (as shamefully as the rug was pulled out from under that franchise).

Cao Cao is too much of a real life troll (well, according to the novel anyway) not to love.

 

[Liberty_Valance]

After reading the other user's inspiring suggestions, I'd like to input my own speculation about each possible combination, having in mind that most probably, only a handful of new additions will ever be implemented. I think that some would be more interesting than others, benefiting from having a more different potential play style than the base game will offer. Also, there is plenty of room for interpretation on where a specific theme should fall in regard to its composing affinities. This is not a dogmatic, but a speculative chart. Some of this you will recognise form the previous suggestions, which I've shamelessly incorporated.

View attachment 941045

• Harmonious (Order + Chaos) - Following the Gray Guard specialisation of AoW3, this would be a society that focuses on universal balance and the cleansing of magic. Would excel in dispelling magic, and get bonuses for staying in a neutral path. Probably skewed towards melee and defensive strategies. Could be Buddhist monk/ascetic themed.
• Theocractic (Order + Astral) - The Theocrat class made culture. A focus on rigid clerical hierarchy, sacred magic, and good allegiance. Improved support and magic units. Picked if you want to double down on the angelic theme.
• Mechanist (Order + Materium) - The Dreadnought made culture. A focus on machines, steampunk and strong aversion to magic. Improved ranged and tech units. Would need something unique to avoid overlap with Industrious.
• Imperial (Order + Shadow) - The definitive pick for the overlord theme of subjugating everyone else. A focus on vassals, morale control and slave workforce/soldiers. Could benefit from multiracial armies and expendable units.
• Anarchic (Chaos + Chaos) - The most unruly of the combinations, they would focus on extreme aggression, maybe RNG and melee units. Clashes with the city building aspect of the game, so it would probably require too many unique mechanics to be thematically interesting.
• Wild (Chaos + Astral) - Wild Magic specialisation made culture. Probably more viable than anarchic. Focus on the boons and dangers of magic, with a summoning and rng focus. Could benefit from having extremely diverse armies. Themed around creation and destruction. Magical and ranged focused.
• Mercantile (Chaos + Materium) - Gold, gold, gold! A society that focuses on income generation, trade deals and hiring mercenaries, with improved irregular units and sellswords. They could be able to buy allegiances of both neutrals, bandit camps and other empires.
• Erradicator (Chaos + Shadow) - A society that is hellbent on destroying everything by any means possible. War and subterfuge are equally valid. They should be destructive, and not be interested in vassalage. Think the Swarm that consumes. Typical world-ending threat that won't even engage in diplomacy. Probably melee focused.
• Artificer (Astral + Materium) - The magically inclined Mechanist counterpart. Focused on enchantment and creating magical weapons, buildings and Wonders. They see value in the synergy between science and magic. This is the culture you pick if you want the strongest equipment in the game. Emphasis on melee and support. I think of runes, golems and the like.
• Animist (Astral + Nature) - The culture with ancient totemic/spiritist values. They strive to please and coexist with the magical and natural elements of their environment. Focus on magic summoning and support. Could have an easier time requesting help from magically-inclined neutral parties on the map.
• Occult (Astral + Shadow) - The secret society/dark cult culture. Obsessed with strong, ancient and dangerous magic, could have bonuses for research and more events for discovering ancient magic/weapons. With a focus for schemes in the world map, and debuffs and status effects during combat.
• Nomadic (Materium + Nature) - A culture that values material things but not at the expense of freedom and nature. Yet another culture that would require strong investment in mechanics, but would be extremely flexible. Can move cities around and has an easier time exploring and moving on the map. Temporary bonus resources after settling, which diminishes over time and creates incentives for moving again.
• Rogue (Materium + Shadow) - Good old misdirection, lies and schemes. A society where the most cunning sits at the top. A more refined and nuanced version of the barbarian despoilers. Focus on DoTs and ranged during combat. Easier time manipulating others during diplomacy.
• Primal (Nature + Nature) - Classical druid/nature loving society. Focus on animals and evolution, taming neutral beasts, and with bonuses for protecting/allying neutral points of interest on the map. Has a harder time building things, but they are carbon footprint free and 100% organic.
• Corrupted (Nature + Dark) - The evil take on the primal culture. A culture that wants to extend their corruptive influence over the land, and sees such corruption as the natural state instead. Think infections, poison and maybe even mutation, so something like Xenoplague secret tech from Planetfall.

Now, some of this may actually overlap with as of yet unrevealed tomes, but maybe that's fine for the developers, or maybe they could try to make these cultures as generic as possible, to serve only as a framework that gets expanded upon adding new tomes. Regardless, I think that it wouldn't be difficult for them to come up with many new viable combinations of affinities, so I can't wait to see what potential expansions might add.

In any case, I'd love to see the exploration of asymmetric mechanics whenever possible, or ones that shy away from simple % changes, as my ideal would be that each culture pushes you to play a bit differently both on the overworld and during combat maps.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
See you around here.

Edited for improved clarity, and some typos.

This is very well thought out. Id say both Devs and Modders alike with capatilise on this.

I was trying to come up with something similar with a japan syled faction with ying and yang (Order and Dark), Knight Faction (Order and Astral) but seeing a chart and break down def makes my thought process easier.

Be curious if you had any additional unique units, spells, research, hero skills etc you had in mind

 

[Nerdfish]

This is very well thought out. Id say both Devs and Modders alike with capatilise on this.

I was trying to come up with something similar with a japan syled faction with ying and yang (Order and Dark), Knight Faction (Order and Astral) but seeing a chart and break down def makes my thought process easier.

Be curious if you had any additional unique units, spells, research, hero skills etc you had in mind

Beat you to it as Order / Chaos. See about 3 posts above

 

[Liberty_Valance]

Haha yeah indeed, im def excited about the idea of an Orc Samurai.