[Theorycraft] Call of Cthulhu AOS

I've been thinking on some ideas for alternate-themed DOTA maps - like an AVP theme, or Star Wars, or along such lines - and I came upon the idea of a HP Lovecraft, Cthulhu-related map.

The basic idea follows along similar lines as DOTA: two opposing teams - Investigators vs Cultists -, two opposing bases, and some pawn alleys between them. However, where my idea differs significantly from DOTA is on the victory/loss conditions. The map will have a number of portals - I was thinking between 5 and 7 - which start out as Inactive, as well as a visible but unreachable island containing the tomb of one of the evil Gods that HPL mentioned - something like Cthulhu, or Yog-Sothoth, or Dagon, etc. The main goal for the Cultist would be to activate as many of the portals as they can, each Activated portal then spawning more pawns to attack the Investigators' base. Once a certain number of portals have been Activated, a count-down timer is activated, at the end of which the tomb on the island opens and the Creature emerges to wreak havoc upon the Investigator team. Any hero killed by the Creature is not respawned, but remains only as an invisible shade to observe the remainder of the action.

The Investigators however, are tasked with closing as many portals as they can find, but can only Close a portal once it has been Activated. The Investigators win once all the portals have been Closed, and the Cultists win once the Creature has been released and it has killed all the Investigator heroes. If the Investigators Close the last portal while the timer is running to open the tomb, the Creature is not summoned, but a Sudden Death mode is activated. In Sudden Death, heroes no longer respawn, and the winning team is the one that manages to wipe out the other team.

For hero design, I was thinking along the lines of the host of characters created by and named in HPL's work - people like Randolph Carter and Richard Upton Pickman, all the various professors and researchers, the various cultists and madmen, and all the rest. Each character's abilities would then correspond to what he/she did in the story they were created for - eg Dr. West would be able to reanimate bodies, while Thomas F. Malone (Horror at Red Hook) would be a stolid police detective, capable of sneaking around and investigating dark secrets.

The map itself would be a large, rundown metropolis, and could as base use one of the many, many cities created by HPL. Arkham is of course a favourite, as is Innsmouth and Kingsport. Shops would sell basic items like medicine, alchohol and firearms, while "magic" shops - churches and occult emporiums - would sell spells and enchanted items. Scattered through the wilder regions of the map would be darker shops - Mi-Go merchants selling technology from Yuggoth, wandering strangers with strange tomes and manuscripts, and even maybe someone like Nyarlathotep, lurking in some remote corner and selling treachery.

Any ideas on the feasibility of the idea? I have read most of HPL's work (so the characters are covered), so I just need help with models and terrain at the moment.

Don't you mean HPL themed AoS? I hope you do. Because a "DotA" is not a genre.

And I've never personally read an HPL story, but I'm not sure how well you can make full ability sets for humans, unless they do some pretty crazy stuff. (The reanimating bodies guy sounds cool, but that "stolid police officer" frankly sounds boring)

Ah, thank you for pointing that out to me. I'm not too familiar with all the genre definitions, didn't know what to call it. AoS sounds better.

You have a valid point - designing the Investigators could be tricky, especially giving the wide variety of characters HPL created. The Cultists will have a wider scope, having abilities linked to whatever deity they worship - amphibious locomotion, summoning of alien creatures, the ability to disguise themselves, cannibalism, etc. I will try to post two example heroes by Saturday.

My thought is that you could play a bit loose with the source material and add a bit of Pulp-adventure influence to the investigators. Less soticism, more revolvers. Less science, more SCIENCE! etc.

Here's a rough draft for one of the Investigators. Based on 'Herbert West - Reanimator'.

Hero: Herbert West, Maverick Doctor
Max level: 30
Hero Abilities:
1-7] Reanimaton - Raise Dead spell, gives progressively stronger temporary undead unit
1-7] Vitality Infusion - Rejuvenation spell, long duration; non-combat
1-7] Chemical Revival - Reanimate spell, creates vulnerable undead with increasing duration; at level 7, the undead is permanent
1-4 Ulti] Manic Focus - triggered; reset all abilities and restore increasing amount of mana; deals damage to caster
1-12] Attribute Bonus - +2 all attributes per level

Dr. West is manic about his work, and is forever searching for a way to reanimate dead bodies to their full, living capabilities. His spells, especially the ultimate (@ lvls 6, 12, 18 & 24) reflect this. Mainly a support hero who becomes stronger late-game. His unit abilities include 'Dissect' (destroy corpse for XP bonus and % chance of random organ item), 'Illicit Grave' (ward that generates random corpses), 'Amphibian Culture' (upgrade that increases duration of Reanimatons) and others.

Well you can use a simmillar theme as HPl stories.

You can have simmilar characters, aliens etc.
But for the sake of creativity and variety, you dont have to rip things directly off the Hpl lore.

Hint:"Alien gods versus other alien gods"

Ah, so for the sake of creativity, an AVP map shouldn't include either Aliens or Predators, because that would be ripping directly from AVP lore? I thought that was the whole idea of a 'themed' map! Play with units from the theme!

Another rough draft, this time for Thomas F. Malone, the detective from 'The Horror at Red Hook'.

Hero: Thomas F. Malone, Ardent Detective
Max level: 30
Hero abilities:
1-7] Arrest - stuns target unit and gives % chance that targeted unit drops an item from its inventory
1-7] Resolution Aura - boosts armor of friendly units. Every time a unit affected by Resolution is attacked, it also has a % chance of gaining temporary invulnerability
1-7] Shoot to Kill - autocast ability that increases damage dealt
1-4 Ulti] Call for Backup - summons a permanent Police Officer unit to assist the caster. Variety of summoned unit increases with level of ability
1-12] Attribute Bonus - +2 for all attributes per level

Malone is one of the few frontline brawlers/tanks available to the Investigators. Strong hero early in the game, and becomes a pawn farmer quite quickly. Could struggle late-game if unsupported and facing magicians. His unit abilities include 'Police Whistle' (call nearby neutral police units to his assistance), 'Wiretap' (invisible watcher ward that can be placed near phone booths), 'Arrest Record' (casting 'Arrest' gives bonus XP dependent on level of target) and others.

What i meant was the "Outer Gods" versus "Elder Gods' etc.

since it would leave alot more room for creativity.

I'm not sure I like the idea of wining only after the Creature has killed all of the opposing team.
Having to wait till the portals are activated before they can be closed doesn't sound like a good idea either.
Both of them could cause problems if players were jerks.

The final arrangements for the win/loss conditions are still open for change, will finalize that aspect more towards the end of the project.

As for the Portals:
1) Start as Inactive
2) Cultists can change Inactive to Active to generate more pawns for their team
3) Investigators can change Inactive to Locked, and Active to Inactive

Will post more Portal info later, tad busy. Have two more characters as well - Richard Upton Pickman, Ghoulish Artist (from 'Pickman's Model') and Charles D. Ward, Malevolent Alchemist (from 'The Case of Charles Dexter Ward').

Just a thought, but make the game all about the portals and just scrap the whole AoS concept.

Yesss... That's a thought, but the AoS style provides a steady source of XP in the form of pawn waves. Removing the pawn waves leaves a gap where there should be a source of XP.

The heroes are currently divided along two rough groups - fighters who gain XP by killing things (hence AoS preference), and mystics who gain XP by casting spells and doing research (research provides item components that combine into artifacts that can open/close Portals). Removing the pawns jeopardizes the fighters, and removes the motivation behind the Cultists' desire to open Portals (beyond the obvious need to free the Creature). Any suggestions?

(AoS = Aeon of Strife. Originates from StarCraft.)

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That's a pretty cool take for a map. It seems a little too downhilly though; as in, once someone wins a little piece of the map, their chances of a victory increase exponentially.

"Spawnies" are not exclusive to the "AoS" genre, you can work them in somewhere. The point is to get the emphasis on the whole portals gameplay, and off two armies with bases fighting eachother. Simple creeps for additional xp would suffice, but i dont really think even that is nescesary. Just make your lvl 1 heros worth their while and make them go up a level for a kill. BOO-YAH!