User:Sunjammer/Abrigand's Arena of Agony

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Abrigand's Arena of Agony is a collaborative Dragon Age Origins module which will extend the Single Player campaign and will provide a framework for a series of strongly themed Community Contests.

Background

Once you've acquired more power and wealth than an average empire; once you've seen rulers rise and fall, nations wax and wane, Blights come and go; and once you've bent the power of the Fade to extending you life far beyond its natural limits; what is a girl to do for entertainment?

Well, this girl created the Arena of Agony so she could encourage, entice and extort the most fearless, fearsome and downright ferocious combatants that Thedas can offer to challenge each other in a fight to the death, or worse, all for our amusement.

Some fight for fame and some for fortune; some fight honour and some for revenge; some fight because they want to and some because they have to. But when all is said and done, the dust settled and the blood dried what do we care about their motivation as long as they put on a bloody good show?

Abigail Abrigand
Blessed Age 8:44

Overview

The "Arena" consists of a central "hub" located in the Fade which is linked to several "spokes" scattered throughout Thedas.

The hub, which most people think of when talking about the Arena, exists in a small area of the Fade over which Abigail can exert her influence. It consists of various levels, some public and others private; some currently accessible and others inaccessible: from the bland back office, through the lavish private quarters to the opulent, some might say garish, extravagance of the public foyer, lounge and portal room.

The location of the hub within the Fade is no accident. It was constructed on a Fade nexus point which Abigail identified after years of research. A nexus point is an extremely rare phenomenon where the Veil is badly distorted and very weak: qualities that create many potential connections across the length and breadth of Thedas.

Some of the spokes are secret and carefully guarded locations where contestants and special guests can, with a little magical assistance, gain admittance to the hub. Other spokes are access points to the various arenas where the bloody entertainment is performed and enjoyed. Others still are, well if you ever go looking for your nightmares during the day you would likely find them here!

Apart from a few special (and extremely wealthy) guests that are allowed to travel through the nexus point, the majority of spectators (where appropriate) are either resident at a spoke's location or willing travel to it by more mundane means.

It should be noted that the ever-changing nature of the Fade affects both Abigail and the Arena. For, as much as Abigail has influence over the Fade, the alien nature of the Fade has influence over Abigail and it is slowly eroding at her sanity. Similarly while some spokes appear to be immutable, the exact configuration and location of others changes over time. Occasionally the portal to a spoke will dissolve, which can be difficult for guests, and a new one coalesce opening up new opportunities and possibilities.

Characters

Abigail Abrigand

  • aoa_000cr_abigail
  • Female, human
  • Bored, impossibly rich, human noble and slightly insane apostate mage
  • Owner and mistress of ceremonies of Abrigand's Arena of Agony
  • Wears crazy makeup (or tattoos) and has eccentric dress sense

[Wrangler]

  • aoa_000cr_?
  • Male, human
  • Grizzled Nevarran former dragon hunter (retired)
  • Now employed to acquire the wild and the exotic creatures to fight

[Healer]

  • aoa_000cr_?
  • [Male/female] [elven/human]
  • Healer

Marisanna

  • aoa_000cr_marisanna
  • Female, elven
  • Merchant

Gimble Locke

  • aoa_000cr_gimble
  • Male, dwarven
  • Banker (Player storage)
  • Locke's Lock Boxes (guaranteed unpickable (by a below average rogue))

Areas

Hub: Upper Level

A really bad sketch
  • aoa_000ar_upper
  • A large circular room which either contains various portals or has arches out to the fade where the portals are located (the latter is sketched)
  • Competitors (the well-behaved ones at least) depart from and return to here
  • Special guests can also arrive and depart here

Hub: Middle

  • aoa_001ar_middle
  • back office, private quarters

Hub: Lower

  • aoa_002ar_lower
  • The lower level(s) of the hub do not form part of this module but could be created for a second or subsequent module.

Spoke: Proving

  • aoa_100ar_proving
  • Based on the "Orzammar Commons: The Proving" (orz500d) area layout

Spoke: Clearing

  • aoa_101ar_clearing
  • Based on the "Encounter: Kadan-Fe Camp" (brc504d) area layout

Spoke: Mountain

  • aoa_101ar_mountain
  • Based on the "Ruined Temple: Mountain Peak" (lak403d) area layout

Spoke: Contest Entries

  • aoa_200ar_? to aoa_990ar_?
  • Entries should reserve something from the aoa_200ar to aoa_990ar range.

Contests

Morph+

  • Create a male or female human head morph with some unique custom element(s) (hair, eyes, skin, tattoo, etc.).
  • Bonus prize: the best morphs may be chosen to become the face of the major characters.

Modelling

  • Create a new noble or mage outfit (hat, clothes, gloves and boots).
  • Bonus prize: the winning entry will dress the arena owner and [wrangler] (or the winner can create a unique version especially for the module).

Sound set

  • Create a new male or female companion sound set.
  • Bonus prize: winner will have the opportunity to provide the voice of the arena owner's and side-kick.

Music

  • Compose a new piece of music with the appropriate FMOD event variactions (main, combat, death)
  • Bonus prize: the best compositions will be used in the various arenas in the player package.

Item Ability

  • Create a new item ability (that doesn't replicate an existing player or companion power) which might just make the difference in a challenging encounter.
  • Can be single use or multi-use but must be balanced (i.e. depletes mana, stamina or health; has suitable cooldown (if appropriate), etc.)

Level

  • Create an arena level or a large level containing an arena.
  • Can be an interior or an exterior; can be a traditional arena or something exotic.
  • Bonus prize: the best levels will be used as arenas in the player package.

Encounter

  • Create an interesting and challenging encounter.
  • Can be a single "boss" creature; a mini-boss creatures with minions or a horde!
  • Must be some element(s) that raise it above "hack and slash" and require the player to think
  • Bonus prize: the best encounters will be used as challenges in the player package.

Cutscene

  • Produce a dramatic reusable mini-cutscene.
  • Can be an "encounter intro" (like the ogre at the top of the Tower of Ishall), or a "finishing move" (like killing the Archdemon)
  • Judged on animation realism, technical seamlessness, VFX usage, audio implementation and camera angle effects, cutting coolness and continuity
  • Bonus prize: the best cutscenes will be scripted into in the player package's encounters.

Additional Task

  • Publicise what we're doing: we've not really had a "master plan" before so let the builders and players know what we're planning and convince them it's worth the wait. Co-ordinate announcements with the DA Podcast schedule. Perhaps make it a regular slot, perhaps get someone to go on the show.
  • More and different contests: not every contest in a "chain" has to be dependant on all of the ones that precede it. A creature contest might depend on a morph and an armour contest but not so much on a level contest. Creating a more but shorter chains should mean more opportunities for people go get involved.
  • Greater concurrency: previously we only ran one or two contests at a time so there was a lot of down time for anyone not participating on in a particular contest. The longer contests could be started earlier and left running while shorter one can start later and finish earlier.

Resources