This devlog will cover the first of the four non-demo gods, Mammon, and discusses the various mechanics introduced by this deity. Mammon was designed around the gold and wealth mechanic, and is now approaching a playable level of completion, although still subject to change following some more playtesting.
Mammon is the spirit of human greed, a being made from our sins. It makes its home in The Mountain, a mythical place which the humans tell each other about in songs and legends, recounting the vast hoards of gold and treasures it holds. The desire for this gold gives Mammon his power, as human greed lets him into their souls.
All four of the non-demo Gods play off human (NPC AI) psychology in one way or another, and Mammon's power affect them by driving conflict and by inflicting a specific form of madness. Mammon manipulates the world by taking certain areas under his influence. These locations then either grow decadent or greedy. If the prosperity of the place is low, the people will envy those with gold, and gain greedy. If the prosperity is high, Mammon's influence drives them to decadence. The greedy hate and envy the decadent, and so Mammon allows you to slowly set up wars between nations or between dukes and kings as you gift wealth to the one while withholding it from the other. Even decadence by itself, once Mammon's power has grown, is deadly enough, as Mammon is able to cause plutomania, the obsession with wealth, in human rulers. This drives them to take dangerous and short-sighted actions in pursuit of gold, often taxing their citizens to the point of rebellion, or refusing to fund their heroes adequately.
To grow influence, unlock abilities and ultimately win a unique victory, Mammon must feed. Mammon feeds off his own worshippers, whom he calls to the Mountain from the villages and cities. They travel in crowds across the map, slowly, continuing towards their doom in the Mountain. While they travel more worshippers can join them, or heroes can try to talk them out of their ill-fated expedition. Heroes will rescue a proportion of the crowd based on their skills in command and lore, saving a few. Once the crowd reaches The Mountain they are devoured. This grants Mammon the ability to increase his influence further, and to unlock new powers.
As influence expands, and as crowds are drawn to The Mountain, it will gain both profile (as its legend becomes known far and wide with growing influence) and menace (as humans begin to mount expeditions to avenge, rescue or loot the lost crowds deep in the Mountain's caverns). Heroes can raid the hoard, and escape with gold taken from Mammon's wealth. If they loot it completely, the Mountain will lose all allure, and Mammon will be undone. Careful attention must be paid to the Mountain, but if carefully managed, wealth can be donated to agents, to aid them in their work. Bribery is a core tool of Mammon's worshippers, and they rarely find themselves unable to recruit mercenaries.
To defend against the hero raids, Mammon's Mountain has dangers all of its own. Danger is a new mechanic, which adds potential damage to quests. As heroes perform them, they first take damage, and will potentially be killed, and thus fail. Alternatively, they could be injured, and their minions killed, thus slowing them greatly as they rest, heal and recruit once again. Danger is for now only available via Mammon's defensive power, but soon hopefully there will be a range of ways to add danger to quests. Bandits could be armed, enshadowed regions haunted, the dead could lie in wait buried in shallow graves, or the cultists themselves in infiltrated locations could risk their secrecy in exchange for attacking unsuspecting heroes.
