Manual CoE 5

The player that is last left standing wins the game, or in team games, the team that is last left standing.

A player is eliminated if he either loses all his citadels near Elysium (the Elysium, Sky or Agartha planes) or if he loses all his commanders. The elimination happens instantly, so if you only have a single citadel, make sure to guard it properly.

The Start New Game option begins a new game of CoE5. Usually this is the first thing you want to do.

This function loads a previously saved game. Saving the game is done from the File Menu (press F10 / F11 / F12 in game to open the file menu).

This section deals with instructions mainly on how to set up your own game server for Conquest of Elysium 5 and connect to it. If you just want to play an online game the easy way you should use the Game Lobby.

The Preferences menu governs the general game settings of CoE5. There are four tabs: gameplay, graphics 1, graphics 2 and sound.

Here you choose which mods you want enabled and you can also enter the Map Editor from here.

Mods can be found on the Steam Workshop. After subscribing to a mod on the CoE 5 Steam Workshop it will be shown here after it has finished downloading. Restarting the game and Steam might be required for it to show up in some cases.

The map editor can be used to make custom maps.

In the upper left corner of the menu there is a symbol that denotes the season (spring, summer, fall or winter). Mousing over the symbol brings a popup to the bottom of the main screen that tells the exact season (Mid Summer, Late Winter etc.). All games start in the season of Mid Summer.

By pressing this button or the ‘y’ key you will end the current turn and advance to the next one.

The player’s current gold, iron, trade points and special resources as well as the monthly income for gold, iron and special resources are found next to the season icon.

Clicking the symbols on the menu gives more detailed information on the sources of each type of income. Some types of income vary by temperature and season, e.g. gold income from sources other than mines is reduced by 50% in snowy terrain. Some special resources may have production boosts during specific seasons.

The globe shaped buttons can be used to select which plane you are viewing. At the start of the game usually only Elysium is known, and there will be no other plane to look at. Once more planes are discovered, they can be selected here.

Selects the next commander with unused Action Points who has not been set in Sentry mode.

Open the recruitment menu. You can also open this menu by holding down right click on a recruitment location. This way you will have the clicked on location selected by default.

The Trade Administration menu allows trading gold, iron and special resources in a limited manner. Trade between players is not possible.

The amount of resources the player can trade is determined by the number of trade points he controls, indicated by the icon of the cart of goods. Trade points are acquired from towns, cities, certain types of citadels and certain other special structures.

If a type of trade is selected, the player automatically makes the maximum possible number of selected trades when the turn ends.

The trade options are:

Trading prices for special resources in gold are listed in the table below. Trading a resource costs trade points equal to the buying or selling cost of the resource. If there are insufficient trade points to make a trade, there is a percentage chance to succeed proportional to the points required. This means that it requires 2 trade points to trade 1 gem or sacrifice and 3 trade points to trade 1 hand of glory or relic.

The player can also buy resources at overprice or sell at underprice, controlled by a checkbox toggle. Buying at overprice means the player buys twice the normal amount of the resource and at double the normal price per unit. Selling at underprice means you will get twice as much gold, but it will require four times as many resources.

The messages menu is automatically shown at the beginning of turn if there are any messages. Usually messages appear as the result of random events, recruitment offers or when the season changes.

The F1 key opens the Unit Overview list. The overview lists all commanders and the units under their command by type. The Action Points that commanders and their units have left are also displayed.

Commanders in sentry mode are grayed out in the list. Left-clicking on a commander set to sentry activates the commander and cancels sentry mode. Insane commanders are shown in light red. After the commanders and their armies are listed, units stationed in various map locations (forests, farms, cities, villages etc.) are displayed. The garrison units are listed starting from the north of the map and moving southwards.

Left-clicking on a commander or units centers the map on the square they are located in and makes the commander active. Right-clicking on a commander displays commander stats. Right-clicking on a unit type displays the stats of one of the units in the stack. For more information on commanders and units, see Chapter Commanders and Chapter Units.

The F2 key opens the Player Overview screen. The overview lists all players by color and name. Computer controlled players are marked with the notation AI controlled. Eliminated players are marked as Eliminated.

This link opens the description of the character class of the player. See Chapter Classes for the actual descriptions.

If the game was started with score graphs enabled this button can be used to open the score graph screen. If score graphs are not enabled, they cannot be viewed until the end of the game.

On the top row of the score graph screen there are the symbols for the various resources as well as the player colors. Click on a player color to select or deselect a player whose graphs to view. All players are selected for viewing by default. Deselected player colors are faded out. Click on a resource symbol to view the income for that resource.

The F10 – F12 keys open the File Menu. Exit the menu by clicking Ok or pressing Esc. Here you can change preferences, resign or save and quit the game.

You can move one square on the map by pressing q,w,e / a,s,d / z,x,c. Pressing shift + a movement key will give information on the adjacent square in that direction. The s key in the middle is not used for movement, but will instead sentry the active commander. If you have a Number Pad on your computer, the NumPad keys can be used for movement instead of these keys.

Map keys are used to move the player’s view around the Map Screen. Hold down shift as well to increase the speed. Ctrl + up/down can also be used to zoom in and out.

The keyboard shortcuts available from the main interface (Map Screen) are the following.

The main view of the game is the Map Screen, or the world map. At the start of the game the world map is centered on the player’s home citadel. In addition to the home citadel, the player often controls some other structure or terrain, which provides some needed gold, iron or special resources.

Surrounding the home citadel is the visible, explored area. Outside the explored area is the dark, unexplored area, the shroud. The shroud is removed from a square whenever a commander moves to a square adjacent to the shroud.

Once the shroud has been removed from an area of the map, that area will either be fully visible or covered by the Fog of War (FoW). Areas covered by the fog are visible, but slightly darkened as if under a shadow. The player cannot see any units moving in the fog, whether independents or other players. Only squares adjacent to armies or resources owned by the player or an allied player are fully visible. Everything else is covered by the fog of war. However forests, swamps and similar terrains will not remove the fog of war in adjacent squares.

Squares owned by a player will be bracketed at the corners with the player’s color. Moving into a square switches ownership of the square to the player who moved into it (also known as flagging a square). If the square produces a resource that the player can gather or can otherwise be owned long term, it will stay in the player’s possession until conquered by another player (including independent monsters). When a square owned by a player is conquered by another player or an independent army, a large minus sign will be displayed over it during the next turn.

Armies appear as a colored token (square) displaying the most important unit in the army. Hold down the TAB key to hide armies on the world map and show only terrain.

Each game turn is one month long. As the game progresses, the seasons change and can help or hinder the conquest by affecting the speed of armies and the availability of resources. The game begins in the season of Mid Summer.

Snowy terrain makes movement slower and more difficult, but frozen rivers and lakes can be crossed. In addition to snowy terrain, the seasons can also affect resource gathering. Snowy terrain extends somewhat further south from the tundra in spring and autumn and covers everything except the south during winter. Cold temperature and seasons affects the following resources:

The world map contains many different terrains and structures that the player can move through and/or conquer to add to their domain. Farms, villages, towns, cities, castles, mines and more are there for the taking, though often defended fiercely by their original Independent inhabitants. Different player classes have different needs on what to conquer, so some of them seek areas that are useless for others.

Moving the mouse pointer over a square brings a terrain information popup to the bottom edge of the screen. The popup lists the properties of the terrain or structure. In general, map structures provide resources of some kind or another. The following list can be considered a rough, incomplete guideline:

Other map structures may provide special powers such as scrying or other functions that an active commander can use. On the world map you can press ‘i’ while holding the mouse over a square to view detailed info on that terrain, including all the resources that it can give you. Map structures may possess some of the following special attributes:

Farms, settlements and other locations with a white cross on the tile indicate that the square has been converted to the worship of El. One third of the gold income for that square is always diverted to the coffers of the Church of El. Squares owned by the Celestial faction are exempt from paying to the Church of El.

When a new game is created, the map is populated with independent monsters. Some of them will be guarding map features like mines and will not move. Others are randomly distributed in unpopulated squares. These independents will move around the map and may attack players or independents from other factions.

Different independent monsters have different preferences that determine where they like to wander, e.g. deer & moose like to keep close to forests, brigands are likely to raid settlements and dwarves will wander around until they find a nice mine to settle in.

Most independents in Elysium belong to the standard independent faction with a grey colored tile, but there are others as well. These different factions will fight with each other if they enter the same square.

Spawning of new independents can only occur on special tiles when they are not player owned, or by special monsters that have the ability to reproduce or spawn other units. New units will never appear for no reason, but sometimes it might look like that, as certain events might enable some units to move between planes, making them appear in an otherwise peaceful area.

Normal independent units are shown on grey tiles.

The abode of angels and celestial powers is unattainable to mere mortals. However, the priests of El claim that those who die free of sin will be brought here to live in eternal bliss. According to old prophecies a war between the angelic and infernal forces will one day take place in Elysium. Should infernal forces find their way into Elysium a heavenly gate will open and angels will enter Elysium and the righteous will be able to flee into Heaven.

Far above the surface of Elysium is the sky. Here the clouds are thriving, new clouds are formed all the time while the old clouds drift away and slowly dissolve. The sky is also the home of mystical air beings of various kinds and some have even formed cities and citadels among the clouds.

The Sky is not far away enough from Elysium to be an actual plane and the planar immortality ability regards the Sky, Elysium and Agartha as being the same plane. Not being that far away, the sky is influenced by Elysium and the dry deserts in Elysium will prevent the forming of clouds above them.

Elysium is the principal world where all the player factions in the game vie for power, it is also here that most, but not all classes have their home. Elysium is full of riches and anyone, even those that need very exotic resources are likely to prosper if they are successful in the Conquest of Elysium.

Under the surface of Elysium lies a vast cavernous realm. This is Agartha, rich in gold and gems. Here dwell the deep ones, blind olms and strange cave cows. While these caverns are vast, they are not all connected and most of them don’t have any means of access. Some burrowing monstrosities might be able to dig tunnels to connect the caverns, but for the most part Agartha is inaccessible to all but the Elemental Kings of Earth and their servants.

Agartha is said to lie between Elysium and Inferno, where demons dwell. While most scholars reject the idea, there are those who claim that it would be possible to dig down into the infernal realm to liberate sinners from eternal torment. If this would be morally acceptable is a popular discussion in some magic academies. More so than the discussion on how to embark on such an endeavor.

Inferno is the realm of the Demon Lords, beings of godlike powers. Here sinners are tortured and forced to work in endless mines and ashen fields.

There are four regions in Inferno. One is the fiery realm from which the entire plane has been named. On the opposite side of the plane lies Kokytos, an icy realm where sinners are half buried in ice and snow. Between them lies the ashen fields of Pandemonium, where constant war is waged between the dukes and lords of hell. Here lies the capital of Belial, Lord of corruption. The entire plane is surrounded by the Abyss, dark chasms and caverns inhabited by sun-fearing demons, shades and fiends of darkness. Somewhere in the perpetual darkness lies the dark abode of the Arch Devil Abbadon.

Hades, the Underworld, is the realm of the dead. It is a pale and dark reflection of Elysium with towns, forests and castles, only distorted, dark and fearsome. The spirits of those who have died will cross the veil separating Hades from Elysium and find themselves bound to live out their last days for eternity. Somewhere in Hades lies the Citadel of the Dead, where Orcus reigns supreme.

Skilled Necromancers have mastered the means to travel the stygian paths of Hades to move great distances. Hades is the realm of the dead and is detrimental to all living beings. Each month a living being staying in Hades, it will suffer some damage that can’t be healed until it leaves the Underworld.

Aztlan is the mythical home of the Aztlan demon gods. In the heavenly serpent lies six realms, each ruled by a dark and hungry god. The Aztlani claim that they return to one of these realms when they die, to live in their afterlife according to their conduct in life. The six realms are connected and it is said that the celestial serpent swallows the sky and that its tail reaches all the way down to other even darker realms.

At the Dawn of Time, Elysium was part of what is called the Primal World. This was a time when the barriers between worlds were thin and there was no clear distinction between planes. During this time animals, monsters, giants and demons roamed the lands.

But by some unknown force, or a divine decree, the worlds were suddenly separated and anchored in Time. Demons were imprisoned in the depths of Inferno and the dead were forbidden to walk among the living, banished forever to the Underworld. The Primal Plane from whence all beasts come, was set apart and only there were animals and monsters allowed to grow in size and power.

But not all inhabitants of the Primal Plane are animals. When mankind arrived in Elysium and the Planar Gates begun to close, the first men of Elysium, the Sidhe and the Tuatha, left for the Land of the Ever-Young beyond the gates, never to be seen again.

Being in the primal world has a mystic effect on animals and they will become larger, stronger and more intelligent if they are there long enough. This effect is permanent and the animal will not diminish in power if they leave again.

The Elemental Planes of Air, Earth, Fire and Water form a single realm of power, unified in its role as the home of primal elemental energies and forever divided against itself in an eternal war for dominance between its four parts. The Elemental Planes are ruled by the Kings of Earth and Fire and the Queens of Air and Water.

Separating the Elemental Realms is the Nexus, a site of tremendous magical knowledge and power. It is said that the Nexus was created by the powerful warlocks aided by beings from another world. The purpose of the Nexus was probably to channel power from the elemental planes into unimaginably powerful rituals. However, some say they were tricked into creating it by the strange beings in an attempt to destroy the world. The Elemental Planes are both difficult to reach and perilous in the extreme, the Nexus even more so.

The Void is a vast emptiness that does not resemble anything. In the rare cases that something can be seen in the void, it is fleeting in time and made up of strange geometry that is impossible to understand. Just being in this place will drive any sane being into insanity.

But the void is not uninhabited, horrors and other strange beings that are mostly unknown to Elysium thrive in the void and if we are lucky they will never enter Elysium. Care has to be taken, as certain buildings designed to manipulate the power of the void, e.g. pyramids, have been known to close the gap and enable void creatures to enter Elysium.

You can enable auto recruitment of units by holding down Control and clicking on a unit. A green dot will appear to indicate that auto recruitment is enabled for that unit type. At the end of each turn that unit type will be recruited if it is possible. If multiple units are enabled for auto recruitment at a single location, a random one will be recruited each turn.

Mercenary offers and commanders can also be set to auto recruit. If set to auto recruit they will always be bought when an recruitment offer and enough resources are available.

Recruitment may be done in any citadel owned by the player. Select the desired citadel from the top of the menu.

Right-click on a citadel in the list to center the map on it. It is also possible to directly select something other than the home citadel by pressing and holding down the right mouse button over a citadel on the world map until the recruitment menu opens. This long right click is the best way to recruit where you want when you have got more than just a few citadels to choose from. Troops cannot be recruited in the citadels of an allied player.

Each class has a basic recruitment list that is available at all times. All basic recruitment units appear in black text. You can recruit one group of basic units in each citadel per turn.

In addition to the basic recruitment list, other, normally unavailable units may appear for special recruitment from turn to turn. The availability of such units usually generates a Recruitment offer message at the beginning of the turn.

Special recruitment offers must be acted on immediately. They will no longer be available for recruitment on the next turn. The price of special offers may vary widely and some of them are very expensive. Hoarding gold for special recruitment may therefore be advisable.

Units that appear in green text are called mercenaries and can only be recruited once per offer, however they will not prevent other units from being recruited in that same citadel on the same turn. Commanders are also shown as green or blue text, meaning that they also can only be recruited once and will not prevent recruitment of other troops.

Commanders who appear in blue text are capable of gathering a special resource, meaning they are probably extra important. Their recruitment works just like commanders with the green text.

Some locations offer special units that can only be recruited at that location. One of the most common ones is the Castle. In the Castle Catapults and Heavy Infantries can be recruited, even for classes that usually cannot recruit those units.

However some classes like the Dryad Queen and the Kobold King are unable to take advantage of the human-like recruitment offers at special locations. Other classes like the Dwarf Queen must pay extra to use them.

Other locations with special recruitment are the Desert Palace, the Old Castle, the Citadels found in the Sky and citadels on foreign planes.

The Dwarf Queen class has a recruitment system that differs from all the other classes. Each Dwarf Queen, or Dvala, produces one or more Dwarf Workers per month.

Dwarf Workers can be converted to more powerful and specialized dwarves by spending iron and sometimes a little gold. Usually the conversion is done in batches of 5 workers. Partial batches can be converted if you have less than 5 dwarf workers, but the price will be the same as for 5, so it is not recommended.

Thus the Dwarf Queen’s recruitment is restricted not by the available gold but by the number of workers present at the recruitment location and the amount of iron in the treasury. The Dwarf Queen is also the only class that can gain commanders through normal recruitment, but even she is restricted to one Dwarf Commander per turn regardless of how many citadels she has.

Dwarven Rune Smiths can convert the upgraded dwarves to different types of magically equipped elite dwarves by using gems.

Owning Temples, Libraries and Towns usually increase the chance of receiving recruitment offers from priests, wizards and Mercenaries. The number of special buildings owned as well as what bonus it results in is shown in the recruitment screen. The player must possess one or more libraries, temples or towns in order to see these icons in the recruitment screen.

The bonus for each structure is small and varies both by class and by the type of commander. For example, the bonus to recruit an Old Wizard is less than the bonus to recruit a Pyromancer and these bonuses may be greater for one class than for another. E.g. A Witch receives an increased chance to recruit apprentices from temples and increased chance to recruit wizards from libraries. A Necromancer receives an increased chance to recruit both apprentices and wizards from libraries, but no effect from temples.

The town points gives an increased chance of receiving offers from mercenaries and also more offers from merchants willing to sell magic items.

On the upper left corner of the world map view are one or more commander tiles, if a square containing commanders has been selected. When a square containing only one commander is selected, that commander is automatically selected as the active commander. When a square containing multiple commanders is selected, the first one in the list is automatically selected as the active commander.

Clicking a different commander makes him the active commander. Commanders may be selected individually or grouped together. Ctrl-click allows adding commanders to a group with the active commander or removing them from the group.

The background of each commander tile gives information on the commander in question. The background of the selected (active) commander is highlighted in white. If multiple commanders are grouped together, the active commander’s name appears in black and the names of the others in the group are grayed out. Black background means a commander set to sentry status and must be manually selected to activate him again. Pink background (or red, if not active) means the commander is suffering from insanity and refuses to accept any orders during the current turn.

Each player (except the Troll King) starts with two commanders: The main class player character and an apprentice or other type of lesser follower. There are different ways of acquiring more commanders: Random events (very rare), special recruitment, magical summons and charm spells.

By default this is impossible. But if Conquest of Elysium is started with the command line option --rename (see Chapter Command Line Options for more information), it is possible to rename most commanders by viewing their statistics and pressing the n key. The main commander and some other special commanders cannot be renamed.

A commander is not automatically a leader. Most commanders can lead troops, but some of them cannot. Commanders who cannot lead troops often have special abilities that benefit the entire army if that commander is with them. Some commanders are fighting heroes or spellcasters, but they act as individual warriors and mages, not leaders of soldiers and thus others must lead the rank and file troops. Leaders with troops under their command have a sword icon on their commander tile. Non-leader commanders have a red X.

All units in the game have Action Points (AP), which determine how much or little they can do on a given turn. Action Points are used for everything from movement to magic rituals or using the special powers of a map structure. A normal unit has 3 AP. A slow unit has 2 AP and a fast unit has 4 AP. Slow (icon: snail) and Fast (icon: moose) as unit special abilities only have meaning on the world map and in relation to Action Points. They have no effect in combat.

The Action Points available to a commander are shown on the commander tile as diamonds. Light gray means AP available for actions. Dark gray means that the commander has not used up that AP, but he is leading troops who have already used some AP or are slower than him and cannot move anymore that turn. The dark gray AP can be used for other things such as special powers, though. Black diamonds denote used AP

Group slow units with a slow commander and fast units with a fast commander to get the maximum benefit out of the available AP. Transferring units from a commander who has already moved to a commander who hasn’t restricts the second commander by the amount of AP the transferred units have already used up. Some non-movement actions may require more AP than a commander has, in which case the commander may perform that action if he has at least one AP left, the AP that go over the limit will be deducted from their AP allowance the next turn.

The Orders dialogue box appears on the upper right corner of the world map whenever a commander is selected. The following (and other) commands may appear in the Orders box:

Sentry sets the selected commander to sentry mode, removing him from the list of commanders selected by choosing next commander (n). Commanders in sentry mode also lose their colored background, making them less visible on the world map. To remove a commander from sentry mode, select him manually from the map or from the Unit Overview (F1) screen. Note that setting an active commander to sentry when he is grouped with other commanders sets ALL of the grouped commanders to sentry mode.

Transfer Units opens up the unit transfer screen. This order does not appear for commanders who cannot command troops (e.g. Old Weapon Master or Unexpected Hero).

Use Special Power opens up the menu for the special power specific to the commander. This command only appears for the commanders who possess special powers. See section Use Special Power.

Use Location’s Special Power activates the possible special power of the map location the commander is standing in, if it has one.

Burn Forest is a command available to armies with Pyromancers or Warlocks of Fire, some fire breathing units or commanders who carry some suitable magic item and units who know certain fire spells (e.g. Combustion). The burn forest command requires one AP and sets the forest on fire.

Forest fires can also spread to adjacent forest squares. Burning a forest transforms it to a dead forest once the fire has burned out. Forests cannot be burned in winter. Any army that contains units possessing the Fire Aura special ability at a strength of 5 or more will automatically set a forest or jungle on fire upon entering the square.

Hunt for Slaves is a command available to Priest King and Tribal King commanders of the Priest King class. The command requires 3 Action Points and summons a number of Slaves (very weak infantry units). The command can only be performed in a settlement the size of a hamlet or larger.

The Transfer Units menu (t) governs army management. It displays the commanders and units in the square and how the units are divided among the commanders. Simply right clicking on an army opens up the Army Screen, which is otherwise similar to the Transfer Units menu, but does not give any information on what units are assigned to which commander.

The active commander is indicated by his flashing token. Other commanders are marked by a triangle at the bottom right of their token. To change the active commander, exit the screen, select the desired commander from the commander list and go back to the transfer screen. Units assigned to the active commander are shown in the player’s color. Units assigned to other commanders have black tiles. Units not assigned to anyone are shown as having transparent tokens.

Unit assignment works in the following manner:

Left-click on a unit to assign it to (or remove it from) the active commander.

Left-click on a unit assigned to a non-active commander to move it from that commander to the active commander.

Double-click on a unit to select/deselect that unit and all identical units (e.g. all spearmen or all archers).

Right-click on a unit to display its stats.

Left-click on a non-active commander to place him under the command of the active commander. The commander is removed from the commander list on the world map and will move with the active commander as if he were a unit in the active commander’s army. Any units assigned to the commander are reassigned to the active commander. Left-click on him again to return him to active status in the commander list. This will not return his previous units to him, however. This is useful for managing multiple commanders, especially when one of them is assigned to permanently provide some kind of benefit for the entire army.

The Use Special Power menu (p) is primarily only available for the player’s main character and his or her possible apprentices or specific commander types. The Use Special Power menu is different for each class. For more specifics, see Chapter Classes.

The Treasury section displays current reserves of gold, iron and special resources as well as their monthly growth rate.

Special Options contain possible class specific options on the use of special resources or other arcana. This section varies by class and does not appear for all classes or commanders.

The Rituals section lists the rituals available for that commander. Performing a ritual usually requires 1 Action Point from the commander, but some time consuming rituals require more Action Points. Rituals are usually fueled by the special resource specific to the class. The rituals that do not require a special resource usually have other prerequisites and possible penalties.

Most rituals summon monsters or other allies to serve the player. Rituals of Mastery upgrade the character, making them more powerful and possibly opening up new abilities and spells. Some classes have the option to control how much special resources they are willing to put into the ritual, thereby increasing or decreasing the chances of success. Using less resources may be outright hazardous.

Other rituals or special powers allow for things like upgrading the walls and gates of a fortress, entering other planes of existence or modifying existing map structures.

Some rituals may only be performed in certain map locations, or they may be more effective at certain locations. Performing some rituals may make it impossible for that commander to use other rituals (for example, a Necromancer who turns himself to a Vampire will no longer be able to use the Lichcraft ritual even if knows it).

A commander can also be set to repeat a ritual as long as there are enough resources to cover the cost. This reduces the need to micromanage every commander who is performing minor summonings, for example, or performing other actions that only require few resources or Action Points. A ritual will be removed from repeat if the resources available at the end of the turn would not enable the ritual to be cast again.

This section covers movement on the world map and the inputs used to give movement orders as well as the limitations of army movement.

Below the unit name are the primary statistics, which are explained below.

The weapons of a unit are listed after the primary statistics. Some units may have the same weapon more than once, indicating that they are skilled enough to make multiple attacks in one round with the same weapon. Barbarian Leaders and High Lords are examples of such units.

There are several weapon types. See Chapter Weapons Damage and Death for more detailed information on weapons and damage. Usually weapons with range 1 are melee weapons that can only be used in melee and those with longer range are missile weapons that cannot be used in melee. Spells only have a small chance of being used if the caster is engaged in melee combat. If a spell is cast no other type of attacks will be done that round. However sometimes the attack name is followed by a special marker (e.g. two stars or a hashtag) that indicates that it can be used in other circumstances than usual.

Some magic items are weapons and grant the unit wielding the weapon a new one to replace the weapon they would normally have. For example, giving a spearman a Sword of Heroes will replace his normal Spear (1d5 piercing damage) with a Magic Sword (1d10 slashing damage). Many units have natural weapons like claws and bite, which cannot be replaced. Usually the only weapons which can be replaced by a weapon from a magic item are weapons that could be wielded by hand. Most units who do not have such weapons do not have an item slot for weapons either.

Both commanders and normal units may have spellcasting skills in some path of magic. There are a total of almost 100 different disciplines of magic with a wide variety of spells. Magic skills are listed by discipline below the weapons.

The various units in the game have a wide variety of special abilities that affect their performance in combat, how quickly they move and how quickly they heal (if at all), among other things. Special abilities are shown as a row of small icons below the attacks (or in the case of spellcasters, below the spells) of the unit. Some of the significant and most common special abilities are listed here. The list contains some of the more common special abilities in the game, but there are a lot more of them, too many to describe in the manual.

As they spend time traveling and fighting battles, the player’s troops gain experience. Experience points (XP) are displayed in the primary statistics of a unit and accumulate at the rate of 1 XP per turn plus 1 XP per battle. The only other source of XP is a commander with the Army Trainer special ability. Mindless units do not gain experience at all. Once a unit gains a sufficient amount of experience, it becomes experienced and gains bonuses.

Experience bonuses are denoted by star icons on the row of special abilities. The maximum experience level is four stars. Experience bonuses are listed in the table below.

Units have three placement ranks, which determine where the unit is placed in the army organization and on the battlefield. Back rank units are usually “pure” mages or non-combatant leaders and are always placed in the rearmost rows of an army or on top of walls or towers. Middle rank units are units that (usually) possess a ranged weapon or a spell as their primary mode of attack, but also include commanders who do not lead from the front. They are placed behind the front line units in the army. Front rank units are units whose primary attack is a hand to hand weapon. These units are placed in the front rows of the army.

Battle afflictions are permanent injuries and disabilities that the unit has suffered as a result of being wounded in combat. Battle afflictions cause the unit to have various penalties to primary statistics or otherwise hinder its performance. Battle afflictions do not heal over time like regular wounds unless the unit has a special ability that allows healing afflictions as well (e.g. Fast Heal, Regeneration or Immortal). There are no spells or rituals that heal battle afflictions. See Chapter Healing for more on healing. Cursed units have a greatly increased chance of suffering battle afflictions when wounded.

Battle afflictions appear as red hearts on the row of special abilities, one heart for each affliction, except for disease, which has its own icon. Right click on the icon to get a description of what penalties it gives.

The affliction of Temporary Insanity is kind of special, it renders the unit 100% insane until it heals. There is a chance to heal from Temporary Insanity every turn and this is the only affliction that will heal by itself. Note that it is possible for regenerating or immortal units afflicted with temporary insanity to heal from the affliction immediately on the next turn, but they will still be unable to move. This is because at the beginning of the turn the unit is insane and will refuse to accept orders during that turn. Healing checks for afflictions occur after the insanity check, so the unit is still recovering even though the affliction disappears. It will be able to move normally the next turn. This means that normal units will also lose one turn when they finally heal from this affliction.

Armies on the world map appear as colored squares containing a graphic of one of the units in it. These colored squares are called army tokens. The graphic may be of one of the commanders leading the army, an especially powerful monster in the army or of the unit that makes up the greatest portion of the army. Larger armies are shown as a pile of multiple tokens stacked on top of each other, the more the larger the army. The color of the army corresponds to that of the controlling player. The armies of Independents have a light gray color. The armies of Special Monsters have a very dark gray color. The armies of Horrors have a very dark red color.

Right click on an army token to open the Army Screen. This screen displays all the units in the army that the player can see. Right-clicking on a unit will display its stats. For more information, see Chapter Units.

Hold down TAB to hide all armies on the world map so you can see the underlying terrain.

Units in CoE5 armies have three primary placement ranks: Back, Middle and Front.

Back rank units are usually “pure” mages or non-combatant leaders and are always placed in the rearmost rows of an army.

Middle rank units are units that (usually) possess a ranged weapon or a spell as their primary mode of attack, but also include commanders who do not lead from the front. They are placed behind the front line units in the army.

Front rank units are units whose primary attack is a hand to hand weapon. These units are placed in the front rows of the army.

Front- rank units are melee units who will be placed in the rear rows of the front rank units if there are more than one row’s worth of front rank units. Otherwise they are placed in the front. Pikemen have this designation because they can attack targets from a range of 2 squares.

The placement ranks are independent of the presence of spellcasting ability, ranged weapons or melee attacks available to the unit. A unit with nothing more than melee attacks can belong to the Middle placement rank and will thus be placed in the middle rows with the ranged units (e.g. Captain or Centurion, who do not lead from the front line). Similarly, Front rank units may possess ranged attacks or spellcasting ability, but they are still placed among the front lines and will only use ranged weapons or spells according to the restrictions governing those weapon types.

The order of units of the same rank (front, middle, back) is usually determined by its HP. Highest current HP units are placed in the center of the rank. Wounded units are moved towards the flanks or to rows behind the first one.

Magic items and battle afflictions can change where a unit is deployed. E.g. giving a wand to a unit will make it deploy one rank further back. Getting the Battle Fright combat affliction will also make a unit deploy one rank further back, but non-commanders will not deploy in the rear rank, as that might invite disciplinary actions from the commanders.

Normal armies are visible on explored areas of the map in the immediate vicinity of armies or structures owned by the player. Explored areas farther away are shrouded by the Fog of War and it is impossible to see armies moving there.

Some armies may have units with the special abilities Stealth, Forest Stealth or Invisibility in them. Such units remain undetected even when viewing the enemy army in the Army Screen (unless you are the owner of that army). It is also possible that an entire army is composed of units with these properties, effectively rendering them invisible to enemies until they attack or the enemy blunders into them by accident.

To counter stealthy units and armies, most armies (or at least competently led armies) employ scouts. Scouts are specialist units who possess both Stealth and Acute Senses, allowing them to detect stealthy armies while remaining hidden at the same time. Scouts are available through special recruitment. Units with Spirit Sight are far less common and the means of acquiring them vary more widely. Most often they are summoned.

In CoE5, combat is initiated whenever two armies that are not allied move into the same square. Whoever moves into the square occupied by the army of another player, independent or special monsters is the attacker. Initiating combat uses up all of the army’s remaining Action Points.

A special case of initiating combat is when more than two different factions are involved. The armies of allied players can move through the same squares and stay in the same square and will defend the square against enemy attacks as a single force. In single player games and hotseat games you can defend together with your ally but you cannot attack together. In network multiplayer games it is possible to attack together with your ally.

Combat can be initiated unintentionally if an army moves into a square containing stealthy or invisible units that it cannot see. When this happens, the combat begins as an Ambush. For this reason keeping scouts or other units with Acute Senses or Spirit Sight in an army is important. Whenever an army enters combat, a symbol of crossed swords is placed over the square until the end of the player’s turn when combat is resolved. This makes it possible to move several armies to attack a single enemy army simultaneously.

Combat resolution is displayed at the end of the turn in the Combat Screen. Unless you are playing a network game, in which case the player gets a message and a chance to view the combat at the beginning of his next turn. Combat resolution is automatically handled by the battle AI. The player has no control over the actions of their troops during combat, but will be shown how the battle progresses.

This section discusses the combat screen interface.

Attacks always hit, unless they are modified by a battle affliction or special ability that makes them miss. Afflictions that can cause attacks to miss are lost eyes and blindness. Special abilities that can cause attacks to miss are e.g. Displacement and Bad Sight.

Preliminary combat actions take place before the start of actual combat between normal units.

The combat sequence section describes what happens once combat begins and in what order. The combat sequence is followed every round until the battle has ended.

This section describes some of the conditions on the battlefield and related mechanics in detail.

The weapons of a unit are listed after the primary statistics. Some units may have the same weapon more than once, indicating that they are skilled enough to make multiple attacks in one round with the same weapon. High Lords and Gladiators are examples of such units. For the purposes of combat and damage mechanics, spells function exactly like weapons and spellcasting is only limited by the restrictions of a particular Cast Spell type weapon.

When the Hit Points of a unit reach 0, it dies. Death is permanent, unless a unit is immortal. Dead units cannot be brought back to life by any means. The only exception is if a regenerating unit on the winning side of a battle is killed but suffered less than 150% of its HP in damage. In this instance the unit has a chance to return from the dead, but it is not guaranteed. Regenerating units on the losing side cannot return from the dead, since the winners make sure they are sufficiently dismembered to prevent any revival.

Damage taken by units in combat is displayed as floating numbers that rise up from the unit and fade away on the battlefield. Damage is normally displayed as floating red numbers. If the unit suffers from special damage as an ongoing effect such as decay or burning or receives damage from striking an enemy with a protective ability such as Fire or Cold Aura, the damage is displayed in a different color. The colors for strikeback and ongoing damage effects depend on what type of damage the unit has suffered. Healing effects are displayed with a plus sign.

Some types of attacks do special damage, whose effects are not immediate or which will have an impact on a unit’s performance. Special damage that causes an effect will produce an icon in the unit’s row of special abilities.

This section explains how resistance rolls work. Effects that can be resisted with more than one attribute check against both attributes, and the target is only affected if both checks fail.

Magic plays a major role in the conquest of the land and using available magical resources correctly can make the difference between glorious victory and ignominious defeat. There are almost 100 different disciplines of magic, e.g. Pyromancy, that excels at burning enemies and Dark Magic that can summon shadow beings and put terror in the foes. Each magic discipline comes with its own strengths and weaknesses.

Many disciplines bear similarities to each other, yet they have a different focus. Different disciplines may share spells, but spells of the same name cast by mages of different disciplines may differ in their efficacy.

Most mages only know the magic of one discipline. Some rare spellcasters may know two, but they are usually limited to the lower levels of knowledge. Certain very rare mages or powerful spellcasting monsters have mastered multiple disciplines of magic and can wreak havoc on the unprepared because there is never a certainty of what they will throw at their enemies.

The land of Elysium is home to powerful wizards, beguiling witches, dangerous monsters and mysterious locations. There are many kinds of treasures to be found for the intrepid explorer and among them are magical items ranging from useful trinkets to artifacts of great power.

Most classes have access to special powers and bonuses. Many of the special powers involve magical rituals and the rituals require special resources to perform. Some classes have no access to magical rituals or special powers at all and some of them do not have access at the beginning of the game. Classes that have ritual powers usually have numerous rituals and they only have access to a few of these at the beginning of the game.
More ritual powers can be acquired through Rituals of Mastery.

Rituals of Mastery are divided into three tiers:

Lesser Ritual of Mastery grants the caster knowledge of a new level 1 ritual.

Ritual of Mastery grants the caster knowledge of a new level 2 ritual. If the caster is not of a sufficient level to perform level 2 rituals, it also upgrades him or her to that level (e.g. a Witch’s Apprentice becomes a Witch with this ritual)

Ritual of Grand Mastery grants the caster knowledge of a new level 3 ritual. If the caster is not of a sufficient level to perform level 3 rituals, it also upgrades him or her to that level. Rituals of Grand Mastery often also have additional requirements, such as being only able to be cast in particular locations.

Each casting of a ritual requires at least one Action Point in addition to its special resource cost. Some rituals require more than one AP. Usually every ritual caster starts by knowing one ritual of each level up to the maximum level that they can perform. In other words, apprentices know one level 1 ritual, masters know one ritual each of level 1 and level 2 and grand masters know one ritual of levels 1, 2 and 3.

Most classes need special resources that most others cannot use. The normal resources are Gold and Iron. These are needed by everyone and often locations that provide one or the other also provide some other special resource.

The special resources that a player collects are determined by what kind of commanders he has. Only resources that one or more of a player’s commanders can use are gathered. If a player does not have a commander required to gather a special resource, he cannot even see what locations would provide that resource and in what quantity.

If a player acquires a commander who can use a special resource normally not accessible to the player’s class, that resource becomes accessible and visible on the map.

Cold temperature affects the following resources:

The world map contains many different terrains and structures that the player can move through and/or conquer to add to his domain. Farms, villages, towns, cities, castles, mines and more are there for the taking, though often defended fiercely by their original inhabitants.

Some rituals have a variable cost that can be increased or decreased in order to influence the chances of success.

The start cost at 100% is the most cost effective option. Increasing over 100% will have a reduced effect. A 50% increased cost will have a 33% greater chance of control, and a 100% increased cost will result in a 50% greater chance of control. Decreasing the cost below the normal amount decreases the chance of control by the same amount.

Lifeforce is a special resource that is only used by the Scourge Lord. It can be extracted from any map tile that is not a desert or a similarly lifeless location.

Special buildings of power are used to accumulate lifeforce from the surrounding terrain. The buildings have different ranges it can absorb from and different maximum amount that it can drain per month. The buildings generate a small amount of lifeforce from the air, regardless of terrain.

Different terrain tiles contain different amounts of lifeforce that can be drained. Highly populated areas as well as areas with thick vegetation can be drained of large amounts of lifeforce. Squares that are closer to the building of power will be drained more quickly than the areas further away.

Inhabited areas that are affected by the lifeforce draining effect will slowly turn the population into ghouls, some of whom will be drawn to the building of power.

The frontiers of the human realm were defended by landowners known as Barons. Some Barons were warlike and restless. As humankind spread over Elysium and became dominant, these barons tried to usurp their masters' powers and waged war on their neighbors. The large, well-trained forces at their disposal made them formidable foes. They were soon in control of large parts of the human territories. However, not all humans were content with this. The sorcerers of Elysium gathered armies of their own and nonhuman warlords called out for vengeance. The Barons must once again subjugate Elysium.

The Baron has a wide variety of human troops and huge siege engines at his disposal. Knights are formidable units who can inflict additional damage by charging enemies in the initial phase of a battle. Heavy infantry units are strong, but move slowly. Fast cavalry units under the leadership of mounted commanders work as highly mobile forces.

The Baron knows how to keep his subjects in line and can cow peasants into obedience. All farms and villages under the Baron’s rule are required to send a levy of soldiers to the Baron each year. This muster consists of simple spearmen from farms and at least one knight from each village. Large towns and cities do not contribute soldiers. The Baron can also form local militias to defend villages and cities. The larger the settlement, the stronger the militia.

Necromancers are sorcerers who are adept at the dark art of Necromancy, the summoning and creation of the living dead. The Necromancer can raise the buried dead or those that have fallen in battle as undead troops to strengthen his army. This practice is forbidden by the gods and Necromancers who are foolish enough to disturb the dead will lose their sanity in the process. Only dead humanoids can be raised as undead and once they are destroyed, they cannot be raised a second time because by that time their bodies are too broken.

The other aspect of Necromancy is the harvest of hands. On stormy nights, darkly robed men collect the left hands of hanged murderers. These are called the Hands of Glory. The burnt flesh of such hands is pleasant to ghosts and evil spirits who can aid the Necromancer in his horrible art. However, the hands can be used in even worse ways. When enough Hands of Glory are burnt, spirits from the darkest realms can be called to instruct the Necromancer how to turn his body into that of a living dead. Some necromancers use the Hands of Glory to rend the veil between worlds to quickly travel through the Underworld.

The Necromancer has very weak troops at the start of the game. It is essential for him to quickly find a battlefield or a graveyard. The ritual of Dark Knowledge is important in this search. The animated dead are weak and they never heal wounds sustained in battle, which makes them unreliable in the long run.

Use the apprentice to animate undead. Otherwise you will go mad and lose the ability to take rational action. Summoned undead require Hands of Glory, which can be found in villages, towns, cities and gallows. The ultimate goal of most necromancers is to transform into a powerful undead creature and live forever! Transforming into a lich will make you immune to insanity and vampires can cure insanity by eating villages.

The Demonologist is a mage-priest who summons the denizens of the Abyss and the Inferno. The spirits of these realms are powerful and horrible to behold. They crave human flesh and can only be bound to service if they are sated. The greatest of these demons are insatiable and cannot be bound unless the Demonologist is very lucky indeed and the sacrifice is enormous. If the Demonologist fails the binding ritual, the demon will attack and try to devour the weakling human who had the temerity to attempt to rob it of its freedom. Some insane demonologists even try to open gates into the Infernal Realms. Should this happen, the end of the world is near.

The forces at the Demonologist’s disposal are truly powerful. Lesser demons are physically powerful and some of them have magical power the equal of any magic user. Greater demons are even more powerful and the mighty demon lords are practically unequaled in the scope of their magical abilities as well as in physical combat. Many demons use fire to damage their opponents and fire resistant troops in an enemy army may pose a problem for the unwary Demonologist.

In the ages long before the arrival of man, beings of tremendous power roamed Elysium. These beings were the unchallenged lords of the as yet unnamed realm. In time they tired of exploring the land and melded into the earth to sleep. They slumbered for ages and other beings came to the realm. The sounds and laughter of these new inhabitants disturbed the Sleeping Ones and sometimes one of them woke to punish the newcomers. As a result, the Sleeping Ones came to be feared and worshiped by the people of Elysium. The adherents of this old faith are called Witches and are feared by troll and man alike.

Witches collect fungi from the marshes and forests of Elysium and use them to brew a decoction pleasant to the Old Ones. The smell of the cauldron makes them hungry and reminds their slow minds of the Time Before, when all was quiet and the land was theirs. In rage and hunger the Old Ones and their servants follow the Witch to reclaim their lands from the noisy, shortlived interlopers.

The beings at the Witch’s disposal are physically strong and easy to obtain, but most lack ranged attacks. Archers are a crucial supplement. The Witch’s ability to collect fungi from forests and swamps provides her with excellent scouting capabilities. The more fungi she uses for summoning monsters, the greater the chance of controlling the summoned creature. It is prudent to use plenty of fungi when summoning an Old One, for they are very dangerous if angered.

Long ago in the land of Terra the god Ba’al was incarnated into a physical form and made humans taste fear and destruction. The moon turned red as blood and severe heat, drought and famine struck. Giants walked the earth and feasted on the flesh of humans. To placate this horrifying god, men began to sacrifice their fellow men in rites of blood. This pleased the Dark God, who consumed the souls of the sacrificial victims. Ba’al withdrew back into the world from whence he came and feasted upon slaughtered souls. But the giants remained. Ever since, mortals have worshiped the abominable God and sacrificed their own kind to him. From time to time Ba’al has even honored the prayers and sacrifices of his devotees by his very presence.

When the Voice of El came to Terra and called out to the poor and the famished, Ba’al sent his subjects to war against him. The Children of El were hunted down and exterminated and fled to the promised land of Elysium. Ba’al’s interest and hunger was aroused and a High Priestess was sent to hunt down and eradicate the heretics until the entire land of Elysium kneels before the glory of Ba’al Revealed and spills the blood of men in devotion.

The High Priestess of Ba’al performs ritual sacrifices in order to please her God and be rewarded by his favor. The giants and servants of Ba’al, whose service she can receive in return for a large sacrifice, can be nearly as powerful as demons and need not be controlled, for they are loyal to their Dark God even if it means serving a mere mortal. This makes the High Priestess a very powerful and reliable contender for the throne of Elysium. The greatest ritual the High Priestess can perform is to sacrifice her own body so that Ba’al can use it to enter Elysium in all his terrible splendor.

The Bakemono were once slaves of the Oni, demons from the Netherworld of Bakemono legend. The entrance to this Realm was on the top of a great mountain that the Oni made their fortress and where they enslaved the Bakemono. When the gate to the Realm of the Oni was closed through trickery and the last of the Oni kings died, the Bakemono took over the mountain fortress of their masters and set out to carve a kingdom of their own and to make slaves of all lesser creatures.

The Bakemono live in a tribal society ruled by the most powerful of their kind. Usually this is a Bakemono Sorcerer, a powerful spellcaster who is rightfully feared by most others. Powerful Bakemono Sorcerers have been known to make themselves immune to death by hiding their hearts away in secret places.

Bakemono Sorcerers can perform blood sacrifices in order to summon Oni demons and spirits of the wilderness to their aid. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the chance that the being will serve the Bakemono Sorcerer. The summoning can also be performed without any sacrifices, but this will anger the spirit or demon being summoned and the more powerful demons should not be trifled with.

Since ancient times, Barbarian hordes have plundered the lands of Elysium. Of unknown origin, their sudden arrival at the fringes of civilization sends tremors throughout the realms. Some speculate that they hail from small villages in secluded regions while others say they come from the Netherworld. The Barbarian threat is always present and only with a united show of force can the tide be turned.

Barbarians are physically more powerful than normal men, but they are also more vulnerable to magic. The Barbarian Warlord cannot buy advanced weapons like siege engines, but may sometimes recruit werebears or the fierce warriors of the amazon tribes and their magic wielding leaders. Werebears look just like ordinary Barbarians until they reveal themselves in combat, where their strength and rage make them far more powerful than a common Barbarian warrior. Barbarians also have access to Spirit Guides who use magical herbs to contact ancestral spirits and summon them to join the armies of Barbarians again. More powerful Spirit Guides are called Enaries.

During the rise of the Empire, new tactics and troops were developed to crush human dissidents and eliminate the Barbarian threat. These tactics gave birth to the soldiers called legionnaires who were usually equipped with large shields and javelins. Newly recruited legionnaires were placed next to veterans to learn the art of war. This system was very effective against the humans the legions were supposed to fight, but its success against other forces present in Elysium has been more varied.

The legionnaire is a formidable soldier by human standards. Their large shield is more effective than most shields found in Elysium and the javelin can be used from a distance, which is very effective for large squads of legionnaires. The well-disciplined legionnaires can use simple wooden watch towers as citadels in addition to the sturdy stone guard towers used by all other warlords.

The Senator can sometimes buy gladiators or net-wielding retiarii to supplement his legions. Besides the ordinary wizards who may take service with any warlord, the Senator may hire Augurs, priest-diviners of the Empire. Sometimes followers of the various esoteric cults extant in the Empire can also make their services available to bolster the Senator’s forces.

All senators are of noble birth and battle for positions of political influence. Being a senator leaves only one political position left to acquire: Emperor. A Senator who is able to bribe or assassinate his way through the competition can replace the current Emperor and hold a great coronation ceremony held in the capital. But being the Emperor is just the beginning of the Senator’s divine aspirations.

A strange race of one-eyed creatures has evolved in the dark caverns under Elysium. Untouched by the sun, they have become known to humans as the Pale Ones. They dwell in cavernous, intricately carved halls in the depths of the earth. The Pale Ones have gills and also inhabit underground lakes and rivers. Their large single eye has very good night vision and can see well in dark caverns where the only glimmer of light comes from the luminous mushrooms growing there. However, in daylight their vision is abysmal by human standards, the sensitive eyes accustomed to pitch darkness blinded by bright sunlight. Pale Ones never stop growing and ancient ones can be of enormous proportions.

The wisest of the ancient ones are the Oracles, priest-mages of great power. The Oracles gather magical gems found beneath the earth and use them to divine the future and to summon allies in times of war. The leader of the Pale Ones is called the King of the Deep. He is a very old and therefore also a very large Pale One.

The Druids like to portray themselves as priests of nature and the saviors of Elysium. Most do not agree with this description, but what is certain is that they have found a way to coerce the beasts of Elysium to do their bidding. However, meddling with the forces of nature is dangerous and it is only a matter of time before the Druid is lured into helping the beasts in their war against humankind. When such beasts attack human settlements, they are backed by the power of the Druid. Helping the beasts is surely an act of evil, but no one can deny that leading the animals is a great feat of magic as the beasts of Elysium have strong souls and are not easily swayed.

Influencing nature requires collecting magical herbs and using them in mystic rituals. Ultimately the Druid may even win the support of powerful beings of legend that can only be contacted through communion with the most ancient forests where the Soul of the Wild runs deep. Most beasts are stronger than humans, but they are usually lacking in ranged attacks and siege abilities.

The Hoburghers are a race of honest and well organized halfmen. They are famous for their skill in farming, their skill in manipulating iron and of course the best beer in Elysium. The wealthiest of the Hoburghers is the Burgmeister who is at the top of the hierarchy and leads the entire Hoburgher society. Hoburghers live in fortified settlements called Hoburgs in which they usually spend all their time as long as they are not farming or hunting. Other noteworthy Hoburghers are the Horticulturist, who most importantly holds the secret of crafting perfect beer, and the Horologist, who is capable of building wondrous beings powered by clockwork mechanisms.

Though generally a peaceful and gentle people, the Hoburghers have a well developed military. They know that fighting is necessary to defend their villages and to secure new resources for their constructs or get more land for farming. Crossbows play a very prominent role in the Hoburgher army, because they enable the Hoburghers to deliver serious damage even to much larger enemies despite their small size.

As a Burgmeister it is important to conquer mines. Mines yield iron, which is necessary to equip higher quality troops. They also produce gems imbued with the powers of the Elements for the Horologist to use. The Burgmeister and the Horticulturist are able to convert regular farms to Hoburg villages for added income and increased production of the enchanted weed.

Warlocks were among the first humans to arrive in Elysium. They discovered Elemental power trapped in the gems found deep in the mountains of the land. By freeing this power, the Warlock can create or attract Elemental spirits to serve him. Rubies contain the blazing power of Fire, diamonds the turbulent power of Air and winds, sapphires the mercurial power of Water and emeralds the enduring power of Earth. When the energies of a large number of gems are released, more powerful feats can be performed.

The Warlock can call upon a number of very strong and powerful beings to serve him. The Kings and Queens of the Elements are almost as powerful as demon lords and can summon and command lesser Elemental beings. Greater Elemental beings are strong, but often lacking in magical abilities.

The Priest Kings of Aztlan have only recently discovered Elysium and arrived there to acquire more slaves and sacrifices for the worship of their six bloodthirsty Gods, the Teotl. Before the discovery of Elysium, the tribes of Aztlan had lived in isolation from other cultures and had not discovered the secrets of metal working, which has resulted in a technologically inferior culture when compared to the other nations found in Elysium. The soldiers of Aztlan use archaic weapons that will undoubtedly have trouble penetrating the armor of modern knights and other heavily armed troops.

The Tribal Kings who serve the Priest King use slaves to form the sword fodder of their armies. Slaves are taken from towns and larger villages and can be very useful against smaller armies despite their low morale and lack of proper equipment. Sacred warriors who serve the temples of the Gods are better equipped and benefit from the blessing of the god, making them more powerful in combat if the Gods hold them in favor.

The Priest King and his fellow Priests who serve the Six Teotl Gods can perform blood sacrifices to gain favors for their sacred warriors or summon creatures beloved of their bloodthirsty masters. These beings are often sacred, which means that they enjoy their god’s protection and gain more powers when more blood is sacrificed.

The Priests of the six Teotl each have Invocations of power to aid them and their followers in battle. The nature of these Invocations is tied to each Teotl’s sphere of influence. Priest Kings serve the Teotl of War and the Sun and can call on the fiery gaze of the sun to burn their enemies.

The Troll King is the most physically powerful warlord of all, capable of conquering entire towns on his own. His hide is very tough, making him almost immune to attacks from weaker beings like Hoburgs or poorly armed humans. Should the Troll King be wounded, his powers of regeneration allow him to heal at an extraordinary rate during battle just like his main companions, the trolls. All trolls have very keen noses and can detect stealthy units like brigands without trouble.

The Troll King’s mother is a very old and magically proficient crone. She and the goblin shamans under her tutelage can use fungi to perform magic rituals. She can also turn ordinary forests into troll forests where the plants and trees themselves will attack anyone foolish enough to enter the woods. Those who die in troll forests become animated by plants and tree roots and these carrion beasts will wander about and kill anything that gets in their way.

The Enchanter has learned the art of making constructs. These constructs are mago-mechanical creations, partly magical, partly mechanical. There are many types of constructs, such as living statues, animated armor and weapons and great golems. The constructs are often huge and can withstand massive amounts of damage before being destroyed. With the help of these enchanted, mechanical giants the Enchanter can crush even the mightiest of armies. However, these titans are extremely expensive to build, requiring entire mines to construct. Lesser constructs are not as costly and are more commonly used when building armies.

The Enchanter will have troops with enormous hit points. Since it costs vast amounts of money to build these constructs, the enchanter often lacks the funds to pay for regular troops. However, even a few golems can crush powerful armies. Constructs do not heal damage suffered in combat, but they have many and varied abilities, making them very powerful.

The High Cultist is the leader of an entire town of worshipers dedicated to the Great Old Ones. However, regular human sacrifices to weed out the unworthy have left the town with only a small but highly dedicated population. There is a special sea water well in the town where women are encouraged to submerge themselves in the hope of being impregnated by a Great Old One. This never happens, but many women find themselves taken by a Deep One instead. The offspring of such a union will be a hideous fish-like humanoid instead of the noble Starchild everyone hopes for. These half-human hybrids are highly devoted to the cause and will help the cultists spread the influence of the Great Old Ones. The cultists build similar sea water wells in all coastal settlements they conquer and subject the population to their rites, thus gaining the services of the resulting hybrids as soldiers for the High Cultist’s armies or as a defensive force for the settlement.

The High Cultist needs to conquer more settlements to gain sacrifices. They are needed to summon Deep Ones from the depths of the sea and convince them to support the High Cultist’s cause. Summoning rituals are always risky and a successful cultist never summons anything that he cannot also kill if things go awry.

Even though his service to the Great Old Ones has changed him, the High Cultist is ultimately human by nature and unable to grasp that which is required to perform the most difficult rituals. To gain access to such magic, the High Cultist must summon an Old One to continue into the realms where he himself cannot go. Starspawn can use astrology to divine the location of enemies and to open pathways for powerful Horrors to attack them. The Queen of the Deep is an Old One who can summon entire armies from the deep.

The dwarves of Elysium live in mines, preferably deep inside the tunnels delved into the mountains. Although they have good trade relations with humans, they rarely let any outsider enter the dwarven cities. Most dwarves are suspicious of the outside world itself and prefer to stay under the mountain as much as possible. However, sometimes dwarves must leave the safety of the mines in order to trade with humans and to locate new mountains suitable for mining.

At the top of dwarven society is the Queen, or Dvala, as she is called among the dwarves. She is the only female dwarf in a mine and her task is mainly to give birth to more dwarves. The birthing of new dwarf workers occupies almost all of her time and thus the actual ruling of the mine is done by a council of elders, which consists of the oldest dwarves and the oldest Rune Smith.

Rune Smiths and Councilors are highly esteemed dwarves. The Rune Smiths create the magical equipment used by the dwarven elite guards and warriors. The councilors have the honor of establishing new colonies by performing the secret rites that bring a new Dvala to an empty mine.

Dwarves are excellent miners and can extract twice the normal amount of gold and iron from mines. On the other hand, they are not very good at administering human settlements or castles and receive reduced income from anything that isn’t a mine.

The Voice of El is an Arch Bishop who is charged with the conversion of Elysium to the proper faith. El should be worshiped at least in all human settlements and everyone shall pay a tithe to the Church. The tithe is distributed yearly among the highest ranking priests. A Cardinal will gain twice the share of an Arch Bishop, a normal Bishop has no right to any tithe and if a Pontiff has been appointed, he will collect the entire tithe to distribute as he sees fit. Because the Church in the new world has large expenses, the tithe is taken thrice in Elysium, meaning that all converted settlements pay a third of their income to the Church. Only the most high ranking priest for each Voice of El counts when the tithe is shared.

The priests of El collect relics to enable them to serve El better. The relics can be used either toward breaking the Seven Seals or to sacrifice them to El in order to gain more favor. There are seven Seals that separate El from the world and they prevent him from punishing the heretics of Elysium in an effective manner. After the breaking of at least one Seal, minions of El will come to assist His church. The breaking of more Seals will bring forth more powerful minions and breaking all Seven Seals will unleash the Apocalypse.

Illusionists are masters of deception and misdirection. Through their arcane study of light, sound and the senses, they have perfected a magic that is designed to confound sight, hearing, smell, taste and even touch. The Crystal Palace of an Illusionist is a place where mirrored walls cast reflection upon reflection upon reflection in an infinite maze of illusion that leaves the unprepared visitor dazzled and disoriented. In an Illusionist’s domain, the border between the real and the unreal is crossed as casually as a peasant crosses his field. One never knows whether the things he sees are real or simply figments of his own (or someone else’s) imagination. The conjurations of an Illusionist are fragile, instantly dispelled when confronted with hard reality. Yet despite their ephemeral nature, they have a very real power to affect living things. That which is seen and believed will have a physical effect upon those who do not realize they are dealing with the unreal and illusionary blades will inflict real, bleeding wounds on their bodies.

Illusionists can use the power of magical gems to store both their spells and illusions in specially constructed mirrors, which will then release the stored contents in battle. Many a warlord has laughed derisively at a small opposing force whose vain commander brings large, fragile mirrors to the field of battle. Most of those warlords have then had to watch in frustration and disbelief as their own ordered ranks turn into a chaotic, snarled mess, their soldiers distracted and confused by bright lights, frightened by visions only they can see and cut down and trampled into the ground by soldiers and fantastical monsters that marched forth from the enchanted mirrors. Those facing an Illusionist are advised to underestimate him at their own peril.

The first Markgraf was once one of the richest persons in a Hoburg, but he was bested to the title of Burgmeister. The Markgraf then decided to withdraw himself from the Hoburgher society altogether, setting up his domain as that of a Graf, modeled on the human Barons. For a few generations, this remote area of the Hoburgher society was more or less self-sufficient, if a bit leaner than their neighbors. The Markgraf managed to live well off of his subjects and no renegades survived to tell the tale. Many Hoburghers of ill repute have found a refuge in the towns of the Markgrafdom as they had already broken with the customs of mainstream Hoburgher society. As the Markgraf’s domains are more barren and worn down than the rest the Hoburg lands, the Markgrafs have tried every means available to improve the lot of their subject and themselves.

The subjects of the Markgraf are a quiet and suspicious people. Strangers who come to visit will find that the doors are closed and no one will speak to them in the tavern. One of the more noteworthy subjects of the Markgraf is the Nekromant, a Hoburgher with an affinity for the necromantic arts. The Markgraf has seen the potential of using necromancy and put him to work on all kinds of projects.

Nekromants collect the left hands of dead criminals that can be found in towns and large villages. These hands are called Hands of Glory and contain power that can be used in necromantic rituals. The Nekromants can raise the dead to create armies, but risk their sanity in the process. However, the most important task for a Nekromant is to ensure eternal life for the Markgraf by transforming him into a vampire.

In the wild forests of Elysium strange half-men roam. Since time immemorial they have lived untamed and free. But when man came to Elysium the old ways changed. The wild half-men were exposed to the gifts of civilization and some of them embraced this new order. Centaurs, once wild and quarrelsome, are now heralds of civilization and try to impose a culture not theirs on their brethren. Scripture, metal working and less useful traits of human culture have diluted the ancient ways of the half-men. Now the Queen of the Wild, a Dryad priestess of remarkable power is gathering her flock, regardless of the wishes of the Centaur Sages, to expel the humans and make Elysium what it once was, beautiful and untamed.

In the sacred groves of Gaia wild half-men appear. They are wild and undisciplined, but they can be armed and trained to fight in an orderly fashion. Most of them are prone to go berserk and centaurs often abandon their bows to fight in melee if wounded. If brought to a castle, citadel or city the wild ones can be educated and equipped with armaments of human manufacture. Thus it is important for the half-men to ensure a steady income of iron and gold. Still, most of the armies of the Dryad Queen is comprised of animals and wild half-men barely able to tell one end of a spear from the other.

The Scourge Lord is the undisputed ruler of the land, as it is he who determines which people should be allowed to live and which should be drained of their life to fuel the Scourge Lord’s power. The Scourge Lords is able to grant great power to his foremost servants. These servants are called Heralds and they enforce the Scourge Lord’s laws and expand his influence by conquering neighboring areas.

For lesser spells the Scourge Lord and his Herald can drain life force from vegetation or living beings in the immediate surroundings. But for powerful rituals, much more life force is needed, and for this purpose great pillars or pyramids are built that can extract life force from the surrounding lands. Anything in the vicinity of such a site of power will soon be turned into barren wastelands as the very life is drained from the land. Some living beings from such areas will be turned into Ghouls and continue to serve the Scourge Lord, but most will simply die as their life force is stolen.

These rituals of the Scourge Lord are very powerful and can be used to summon and control beasts, teleport entire armies or to further enhance the might of the Scourge Lord and his Heralds. The Scourge Lord will not share power and there can only be one master. Only if the Lord becomes a King will he allow his Heralds to advance in power and become Scourge Lords.

The Cloud Lord is the ruler of the Airya, winged humanoids living on solid clouds far above the lands of Elysium. The Airya craft armors and weapons from magical gems and their forces are both swift and deadly. From his lofty abode the Cloud Lord has observed kingdoms rise and fall in Elysium. Now he has decided to rid the lands of incompetent and malicious rulers.

The Cloud Lord can easily be mistaken for a Warlock of the Air, but where the warlock forms a pact with his chosen element, the Cloud Lord commands the beings of the sky through sheer magical power. Birds, elementals and mythical beasts of the skies are his to command as well as giants of thunder and frost; and even the elemental queens might come to his aid if properly called.

Kobolds are small humanoid reptilians that claim draconic ancestry. They thrive in mines and caverns where they build hatcheries and reproduce at a prodigious rate. A Kobold Hatchery will soon flood the countryside with swarming kobolds. Sometimes a Kobold Shaman will establish a stronghold in a hatchery, improving both the defenses and the rate at which eggs are hatched. If a Kobold Prophet or Kobold King would emerge, the power to harness the magic of gems in incubating eggs is further increased and winged elite kobolds known as Dragon Spawn will be available.

Kobolds come in five colors, four of which are affiliated with the powers of a specific gemstone. Red Kobolds are affiliated with the magic of rubies and will create their hatcheries where the fiery power of rubies will enhance and incubate their eggs. All red kobolds are resistant to fire and flames and their shamans bring fiery magic to the battlefield. Green Kobolds gain their powers from emeralds, are resistant to poison, and use poison in combat. Blue Kobolds are affiliated with the icy magic of sapphires. They are resistant to cold and can hide and move unhindered in cold climates. Their shamans use frost magic. White Kobolds are affiliated with the thunderous powers of diamonds. Many white kobolds are gifted with wings and are able to fly. Finally there are the Black Kobolds. Rare and enigmatic they do not found hatcheries as do the other kobolds. They can draw power from all kinds of gems, but at a higher cost. Black Kobolds are masters at stealth and they serve as scouts, murderers and dark mages.

In the jungles of southern Elysimum lives strange breeds of monkey-men gifted with cunning and wisdom far beyond that of ordinary beasts. These monkeys have formed a society where size and strength determins your caste and position in society. Lowest of the low, the markatas are barely more than cunning monkeys. Above them comes the Vanara, monkeys of almost human stature. At the top of society are the Bandar, large and warlike brutes that has dominated their lesser kin for times immemorial. Living apart and in some ways above the other monkeys are the White Ones, white-furred vanaras gifted with profound wisdom and knowledge. The monkey-people are ruled by a Maharaja, a Bandar ape of outstanding stature.

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