#homm4

[zlo-sovs-lifeboat]

HoMM4 classes if they had individual models.

[might-to-my-magic]

continuing my yearly tradition of drawing Gauldoth

[faneposting-my-beloved]

What

do

you

mean

that

I

have

a 

“type”?!?!??!

[fraubrandstifter]

[aoeability]

My (highly overthought) Idea For My First D&D Character (and how an obsession over an old video game inspired me to make them): Part 1

Several months ago, @martuline had introduced me to D&D, and I became obsessed with it. I got myself the player handbook, watched a ton of videos related to the subject, and as a result, started getting a ton of ideas for characters, even though I haven't even joined a campaign yet. I had tons of interesting ideas for characters, all coming from some sort of question I asked myself about pop culture, (has this idea been done yet?), or a cool concept (i.e. a warlock more directly inspired by H. P. Lovecraft's works), but only one of them actually became my first completed character. It took me quite a while to make him, but I'm really proud. Now, by standards of first-ever characters, this one is quite complex, dare I say it, a bit overthought. So strap in - It'll be quite a ride.

Before I get on with my idea, I have some stuff to share. You see, there is this video game series I remember playing a lot, which, despite being released before I was even born, I feel very nostalgic for - Heroes of Might and Magic.

Never heard, huh? Well, who can blame ya - it's an European game. And it's not really that popular outside of Eastern Europe.

Anyways, titles in the HOMM cycle are widely considered to be among the best in my favorite video game genre - turn-based strategy. They have neat music, engaging gameplay, and many, many factions of fantasy creatures to command and build strategies on. No wonder the series became one of my all-time favorites, inspiring me even today.

Now, for those who have played the games, you'll hate me for this, but my favorite installment of the series is not the 3rd one. I agree that H3 is the best installment, but I distinctly remember growing up with the 4th game.

Big shocker, considering it's the most divisive entry in the franchise. I, for one, consider the playable and highly customizable heroes as one of the game's best aspects. In addition, I like how the game deviates from conventional fantasy, in which the rest of the series is rooted, as well as from the series itself.

Now, you might be asking - what does this niche series have to do with the subject of matter? Well, hold your damn horses, I'm gonna get there.

So, one thing to note is how the factions are built. Instead of representing groups of related fantasy creatures, like in Heroes 3, the factions in Heroes 4 embody concepts: Life, Order, Death, Chaos, Nature, and Might, all together forming a wheel which shows the relationships between them.

Now, I have a question for you:

DOES. THIS. SEEM. FAMILIAR???

To be fair, I actually didn't notice the glaring similarities between Heroes 4 factions and the Magic: The Gathering Color Pie until I actually began playing the latter. MTG predates H4 by about 9 years, so, I assume it was an inspiration - and a pretty damn good one at that. I think the Magic Color Pie could act as an interesting alignment chart. The colors, however, don't represent morality, but philosophy and values. No color on the wheel is inherently good or evil, not even Black or White - they all just have conflicting worldviews. Now, how does the Heroes of Might and Magic handle a system like this...?

It misses the entire goddamn point.

As much as I like Heroes of Might and Magic as a whole, and especially the 4th game, I have to admit that the series is deeply rooted in black-and-white morality. Not even going into the irony of all the previous games encouraging combination of creatures and heroes of various, even opposing factions, The entire idea of portraying some factions as "good" and "evil" in this balanced faction lineup is infuriating to say the least. At the very least, I am kinda willing to forgive the Death faction being the bad guys, as, being a faction of the undead and demons, it is sorta understandable. But I'm never gonna forgive the creators for making the Chaos faction evil, especially when we consider the implications of that faction being a parallel to the Red magic from MTG. Some positive aspects of the color in its source game include its emphasis on individuality, passion, and freedom, and it really stings that the creators threw it all out of the window. Even when I was a kid playing the game, I didn't see them as the bad guys. All this leaves a bad taste in my mouth...

...and thus, my idea sparks.

I thought that D&D could be my way of "redeeming" the Chaos faction from its supposed "villainy", and showing it from a more positive angle. I started reading into the in-game lore to find out about the faction, and most of what I stated about Red magic applies to Chaos faction as well - they value freedom, independence, as well as might making right, and despise conformity, self-righteousness, and structure of any kind - all of which are hallmarks of the Chaotic alignments. I eventually settled for Chaotic Good as an alignment for the character.

Then, I had to pick a class. I looked at what the game had to offer - there were two hero classes associated with the Chaos faction - Sorcerer and Thief. After some careful consideration, I picked Sorcerer, as I wanted to utilize the faction's most prominent mechanic - powerful damaging spells.

After coming up with this outline to build on, though, I began thinking that I need some more ideas to make the character in question interesting. So, I began looking for inspiration elsewhere...

End of Part 1

[sirgarrowman]

Sometimes I just really like to draw Elwin from Heroes of Might and Magic IV. Brings back all the good teenage memories✨

[natevaelle]

Heroes of Might and Magic IV - Zanfas’ Challenge

When playing Heroes IV, I usually take on an explorer behavior and take my time with the quest. I made up some silly little stories while I played too. Behind the second screenshot was an epic story about five heroes and a haven that all fell to an efreet lich and his three black dragons. There was another story about a dejected thief who was ordered to man a necropolis, but I had no screenshot for it. 

[marianhellequin]

When you understand you need MOAR gold for your Rampart. Me as Jenova the ranger of HoMM3 Ulkerei as Tawni Balfour, pirate’s daughter of HoMM4