Chapter 4.2 Monster Threats and Management

• Types of Impending Threats

  • All impending threats will show en estimated time (approaching) or specific time left (summoned threat) of when a threat will appear

    • Approaching Threat

      • Approaching threats occur when a monster was undefeated has created a nest, and now will target a claim

    • Immediate Threat

      • These threats will summon a monster directly to a claim

• Threat Modifiers

  • Constructions and altars can be created to modify monster threats

  • Uses resources to determine the needed amount of points for a modification to be successful

• Threat Resources

  • Tinder

    • Tinder is used to burn resources. These offerings create a point value that allows players to change the experience of monster attacks. Tinder as a baseline is wood, coal, and other burnable resources, but in Spirit Relics, all crafts, equipment, and livestock have a tinder value (think of this as what items sell value, like gold, in classic games)

  • Spirit

    • Spirit are the traits that certain monsters are attracted to

    • Burning items with a spirit value towards the monster's needs gives bonuses to modifying threats

Impending Threat - Appease
During an impending threat, players can use this time to do the following to manage their options.

• Prepare

  • Players can use this time to prepare for a fight, or set up offerings

• Move Summoning Circle

  • Players can move summoning circles manually, or create constructions that summon monsters in specific areas

  • This allows players with land claims to create arenas, or fields, to strategize the safety of structures within a community

• Slow Summon - Offerings

  • Burn enough tinder value to make the threat appear later

  • Constructions can allow players to slow down a threat based on how much tinder value is burned, or be told how much tinder is needed hit a time window

  • Constructions can allow players to queue up specific threats to be slowed down

• Time Summons

  • Constructions can make cycles appear at certain times each time

• Start Threat Early - Activate

  • Owners of a claim, and allowed players in group claims can, and start the threat early when they are ready

  • Players go to activate radius (around the perimeter of a summoning circle) and interact to activate

  • Animation shows as player lifting their weapon or tool, or hand to open the summoning circle

Before A Threat
When a threat is not impending, and is in a cooldown state. Players can burn tinder in constructions/altars to increase their time of peace. Some constructions will allow players to skip threat cycles if they meet a criteria to appease the monsters that are threatening them.

Where Summoning Circles Appear
Before a player or groups of players can build a monster summoning zone, monsters will summon naturally. They will select a random available area in the outer radius of a land claim. For mobile and self claim players, the summoning circle will move with them, with a summoning circle appearing below them.

Mobile Summoning
When a self-claim player or vehicle/wildlife claim is in a land claim, the threat will pause until they are far enough away, or can be cancelled if they unload what is attracting the monster somewhere else, or destroy them in time.

Fleeing a Threat
If the monster is already summoned, and the target flees somewhere like a land claim, the monster will not attack the land claim, and will wait some time for them to leave. Unclaimed land will be seen as obstacles. After some time the monster is blocked from engaging with the target, it will be considered undefeated, and will leave to create a nest. They are linked to that claim and will try again later, and that player/claim will not summon another one until the current one is defeated.

Building a Summoning Circle
Players will need to build a summoning circle of required size for the threat, or else the threat will revert to selecting a location based on regular logic.

Changing Your Threat
As players encounter monster threats, their current claim keeps a history of past monsters. Players can create written crafts to trade, gift, and sell monster threats to other claims, or to keep a collection to use for a future claim. They can also create constructions that allow them to burn tinder to attract a specific monster instead. However, threat cycles will continue naturally if threats they summon isn't worth enough for the threat cooldown to take place.

Expressing Disfavor Towards a Monster
Players can also create constructions to burn resources to express disfavor towards a monster. Disfavor will make these monsters appear less frequently. They may stop altogether if other threat cycles are strategically used to replace them in threat cycles.

Further Pacifism
Covers and talismans are extensions of protection that can hide the spirit of items from monsters. The game will not count adequately hidden tinder and spirit values. The craft of covers and talismans has to increase in complexity based on how much spirit worth needs to be hidden.