[Bacton Campaign] - The Beggar's Cliff

[green warren]

After them! Don't let them escape!

ATREYOS - Leader of the Speartons

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

OVERVIEW
The Beggar’s Cliff is the second level of the Bacton Campaign, which takes place after The Great Bridge.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Phase I
As per usual in the Bacton Campaign, there is no statue, resource veins, building upgrades, or garrison. That's right. The player makes their income through bounties which are earned through slaying enemy units. Bounties can be increased with bonuses via the Capitalize doctrine. The player also receives a full refund for any friendly unit that has breached the enemy defense point. To complete phase one, the player must breach the enemy defense point with a varying population of 50 / 75 / 100, depending on difficulty. Atreyos is here to assist you, however, if he is defeated thrice, you fail the mission. Random enemies spawn at randomized intervals and increase in number as the battle continues.

The Grand Arbiter
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s74gt778fmUarXKQ_2fJXqf7MwizuxSWBLZtXXX9wWQ/edit?usp=drivesdk

Phase II
||For the boss battle, Atreyos mounts Clicky for the remainder of the battle and the player is introduced to his new ability - Superior Spear - which is a counter to Gore Talon used by the boss. Both abilities are nearly identical, with only statistical differences, and when Atreyos intercepts the boss with Superior Spear during Gore Talon, they lose 15% of their total HP and are forced into a temporary retreat. The boss shortly resumes attacking after recovering. You win once the boss is defeated.||

Inevitability
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gFV8OTqvCwKDduq4L11B9uV0TBdRljvaQub1MGu62x4/edit?usp=drivesdk

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

The Beggar’s Cliff (credit: @tiny kernel)

Atreyos

”The responsibility falls on me!”

STATS
🪪: [Heavy] [General] [Order]
👥: n/a
🗡️: 30 | 40 L
🎯: 23.6/s
❤️: 5,000 (dismounted) / 10,000 (mounted)
🕒: n/a
💰: n/a
💎: n/a
👟: Spearton

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

ABILITIES
Block: Enters a defensive stance that reduces incoming damage but reduces movement and attack speed.
🕒: n/a

Crashdown: Charges in the joystick’s direction, then leaps across the battlefield, slamming down to deal splash damage and knock up enemy units.
🕒: 20s

Mount: Calls Clicky and mounts him.
🕒: n/a

Superior Spear: When mounted, the user charges forward to damage enemies in the way until they hit a boss unit or cancel the charge. Alternatively, the charge can be stopped by receiving 500 damage.
🕒: 15s

PASSIVES
Rally: Everytime Atreyos is defeated, he self-revives and gains 2,500 HP and +5/2 L damage. This effect caps at three rallies.

Way of the Spear: Speartons deal +5 damage.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

LORE
Leader of the Speartons.

Credit: @tiny kernel for the placeholder portrait

THE MAW - Rex

“KYRAAAAAAH!!”

STATS
🪪: [Heavy] [General]
👥: n/a
🗡️: 35
🎯: 38.8/s
❤️: ???
🕒: n/a
💰: n/a
💎: n/a
👟: Riprider

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

ABILITIES
Frustrate: Commands all mounted Riptors to peck nearby enemy units for 5 seconds.
🕒: 20s

PASSIVES
Maw: Picks up and devours enemy units under 70 HP whenever possible, however, cannot peck for the next 3 seconds.

Trample: Pushes and inflicts 10 damage every 2 seconds to nearby enemy units.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

LORE
#fan-fiction message

Credit: @tiny kernel for the portrait and @lapis pivot for breathing life into it

Grand Arbiter Maven

“Civilized? For honest’s sake, let's kill like honest men”

STATS
🪪: [Light] [Mercenary] [General]
👥: n/a
🗡️: 35 | 40 H + 33% s
🎯: 17.5/s
❤️: 15,000 (dismounted) / 20,000 (mounted)
🕒: n/a
💰: n/a
💎: n/a
👟: Swordwrath (dismounted) / Riprider (mounted)

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

ABILITIES
Gambit: When dismounted, enters an immobile stance and receives damage. All nearby enemy units receive the stored damage as retaliation.
🕒: 30s

Gore Talon: When mounted, the user charges forward to launch and damage enemies in the way until they hit Atreyos, or are intercepted by Superior Spear. Alternatively, the charge can be stopped by receiving 2,500 damage.
🕒: 30s

Savage Cull: Throws the glaive, dealing either high single target damage or dispersed ricochet damage. Focused on a single target, it delivers a high-impact blow for 250 damage that applies both stun and knockback. Against multiple opponents, it will instead ricochet between up to four targets, dealing 200 damage to the first, with the damage diminishing by 50 for each additional target struck.
🕒: 20s

Glaive Dance: Quickly rotates the glaive, parrying all incoming attacks while striking three times. When mounted, the user is able to move, however, they dash instead when dismounted.
🕒: 15s

PASSIVES
Grand Arbiter: Emits an area of effect where slain units only grant 50% bounties and bonuses.

Malicious Intent: Emits an area of effect where all attacks shorten ability cooldowns for self by 0.5 seconds.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

LORE
As Bacton's right-hand and designated successor, Maven took command following the failed, yet impactful, assassination of Zilaros. She led a mercenary battalion to The Beggar's Cliffs to successfully divert the Order Empire's forces. The victory came at a great cost; Maven was slain in combat by Atreyos. Enraged upon learning of her demise, Bacton sent a decree to every mercenary in Inamorta: join his cause, and a fraction of his interminable wealth would be their reward.

Credit: @timber dirge for the portrait and @lapis pivot for breathing life into it

(Remove this please 🙏)

[tiny kernel]

What bout this bro

[tiny kernel]

You already did

[lapis pivot]

Sigh

Okay there we are

[tiny kernel]

When Will you show it then 😭

[green warren]

You can show it, I just want you to remove the 'Finally'

[tiny kernel]

Oh

[green warren]

Thanks Lali

[tiny kernel]

Had to lock in for cliff

[green warren]

We all did

[tiny kernel]

Yeeeee

[green warren]

Now

We suffer again for Part III

[tiny kernel]

We chill

We throw a party

Whooooo

[tiny kernel]

I'm excited for ppl reaction on this

[tiny kernel]

I cast revive on this post

[green warren]

It's only a few hours old

[tiny kernel]

[covert knot]

One of the pillars kinda looks off
It’s longer but it feels like it should have been shorter and positioned on the northern side of the platform

[grave lynx]

ok what's this is about

we play as atreyos or wat

i wanna be the one who smite atreyos

[green warren]

@grave lynx unfortunately, you can't kill Atreyos

[grave lynx]

ok imma out

👒

[green warren]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1npsLYY6gCHKzwPOoKIKhNNRepfmLXJEeGTkl06jZLaI/edit?usp=drivesdk

Updated Public Document

[echo summit]

Crazy

Me likes the idea

[green warren]

WATERBUUUUUUG

[lapis pivot]

?

[green warren]

Exposing my secrets

[lapis pivot]

Oh

I thought everyone knew that already

[covert knot]

i didnt

[lapis pivot]

🤫

[green warren]

Casting call!

[lapis pivot]

ZILAROS

[wild hornet]

???

VOICE OVER?

[green warren]

OH I'M SO SORRY

[lapis pivot]

You forgot Benjamin Frank too

[green warren]

SPOILERS!!!!

[lapis pivot]

🤔

[green warren]

Updated Atreyos from @tiny kernel

[lapis pivot]

I'll animate that in about 30 mins

Maybe closer to 45

[green warren]

This might be a foreshadowing

[lapis pivot]

@summer gazelle can you run the bot on this? I'm kinda curious...

[summer gazelle]

@vocal egret what do you think of this idea?

[vocal egret]

that's a really ambitious unit design - 15k/20k hp with those damage numbers is wild. the dismounting mechanic is cool though, having different forms based on whether they're on horseback or not adds tactical depth

the ability set is interesting - "for honor's sake" giving damage reduction when outnumbered fits the mercenary general theme. and that "civilized combat" passive where they get stronger against other generals makes sense lore-wise

35 base damage with 40 heavy seems balanced for the hp pool, though that 33% splash could get nasty in group fights. the 17.5 attack speed keeps it from being too oppressive

feels like a unit that would dominate late game but struggle early when resources are tight. would probably need careful balancing to not just become an auto-win if you get them out

the quote's pretty badass too ngl

[summer gazelle]

any recommendations?

[vocal egret]

maybe cap the "civilized combat" bonus at like 50% extra damage instead of letting it scale infinitely with enemy general count. that way it's still strong but not broken if someone's running multiple generals

the dismount mechanic could have a cooldown after remounting - like 10-15 seconds before they can dismount again. prevents cheesy micro where you constantly swap forms to abuse the hp difference

for "honor's sake" damage reduction, maybe make it scale based on how outnumbered they are? like 10% reduction at 2v1, 20% at 3v1, capped at 30%. gives counterplay where you either commit hard or don't engage at all

could also increase the unit cost or make them require a specific building/upgrade to recruit. that way they're a strategic choice rather than something you rush every game

the splash damage might need to fall off with distance too - full 33% to immediate targets, then 20% to secondary, 10% to tertiary. keeps them strong without completely melting entire armies

those tweaks would keep the unit's identity while making it less of an "i win" button

[lapis pivot]

oh, its a boss

RIIIP

Should've said that if it didn't say she was

[green warren]

What.

[green warren]

WHAT.

Unfortunately, with the way the showcases are laid out, the bot thinks the quotes are abilities 😭

[barren cradle]

halo

seems good

[lapis pivot]

@green warren When's my next job FR

[green warren]

Lali is cooking something for you

[green warren]

Repost: Early in this project's development, everything was being handled by me. It's crazy how much we've progressed overtime, and I'm really happy where this project is going.

This was a drawing made by me of a WIP cutscene, back then, it wasn't going to be animated - it was going to be a slideshow. And with the resources available, not only can we animate... But we can also voice over the cutscenes with our hefty crew of voice actors. I'm excited to see where this goes, and I hope you're all in for a long ride, whether you're a newcomer or a veteran follower of this project.

||FYI, should this project become playable, everyone in the credits will have early access to the project.||

EDIT: ||Unfortunately, this campaign will never be playable, as we've received a conclusion regarding the potential of buying a license to SWS. However, you're more than welcome to ask for behind the scenes work.||

[green warren]

I'm planning on releasing cutscenes "All Debts Deferred" and "The Sword and the Quill" by late December or early January.

Level 38 - The Defense of Castle Iris will release in February for the campaign's anniversary, hopefully.

Until then, we have dozens of filler content lined up, such as brand new portraits for all units (including mercenaries and more) and Generals (with some exclusions)

Given time, this should be a fully fledged (non-playable) campaign that will be finished by roughly July 2026.

[covert knot]

regarding playability

[green warren]

Now... What comes after? Well, we make a new game - from the ground up. I've got very big plans. I hope you'll stay for the long ride.

[covert knot]

Why not just build it from scratch just like many of the stick war ripp-offs

it is mostly original characters after all

[green warren]

The campaign stems from the Order Campaign and pre-existing mechanics

[covert knot]

That didn’t stop the many others from creating their own rip-offs

[green warren]

Hm.

The project also involves characters owned by CJ, which could be grounds for a lawsuit.

I don't want to spend money on a project that I know will be torn down.

[covert knot]

like I played a stick war rip-off game that has more levels and a unique catapult unit

[covert knot]

it can be problematic if it weren’t for the ability to make new characters

[green warren]

Alright, so. To make the Bacton Campaign playable without the SWS engine we:

1. Need to make everything from scratch.
2. Somehow port a bunch of game mechanics over (Mythics, Upgrades, Tech, etc.)
3. Animate every single Order Empire unit and make them function.
4. Much more

[covert knot]

Now that is more problematic

[green warren]

Copying SWS 1 to 1 is crazy impressive... But it's grounds for a lawsuit

Hence why I wanted to license the engine

Given the answer, I'm only wrapping up the campaign via showcases and then moving on to my new project

[covert knot]

Best I can think of is threatening the fool into giving it

not sure if that would work depending on laziness

[green warren]

Well.

I have Plan B.

Do nothing.

The chances of that offer actually getting through might work.

I did offer hundreds of dollars, after all.

Desperation might call.

[covert knot]

• _ .

[green warren]

I'm trying to pick up on a pattern

The monetization is getting harsher.

Especially when CJ decided to aim for the Generals, which are able to cause massive meta changes competitively.

It's a smart move - and choosing to remain silent actually worked.

There's no saying when the next monetization will happen, but I feel it would stem from desperation

[brisk quarry]

Hellow

[green warren]

Welcome @brisk quarry to the Bacton Campaign dev team! This absolute god-send just so happened to join the server recently and share samples of his creations in #music

I couldn't help but ask him to come aboard, and we're extremely happy to have him.

Take a look at what he composed for Level 38 - The Defense of Castle Iris!

Any guesses what this could be a remix of?

[lapis pivot]

THUNDER DOME

[green warren]

RING-A-DING-DING!

[lapis pivot]

I cheated

😔

BTW

I wanna animate Magis

can Magis have a custom appearance and new abilities for this campaign

🥺

[brisk quarry]

very good

[green warren]

Magis has his Royal skin!

He does have new and modified abilities, too

All playable/allied Generals will have new or changed mechanics to fit the scale of the campaign

Mount is a modified version of Call Clicky

Rally and Way of the Spear are also modified

Revive --> Rally

[lapis pivot]

WHEN WHEN WHEN WHEN

[green warren]

The difference is the significant boost in stats; and Atreyos revives on the spot where he was defeated

[lapis pivot]

GIVE ME MAGIS PLEASE

MAAAAAAAAAAAGIS

I will animate him like a pro 😎

[green warren]

I know you would 😂

You love Magis

[lapis pivot]

Yes

[covert knot]

wait... Magis doesn't have alternate skins

well, i'm anticipating for his custom appearance and modified abilities

[covert knot]

not sure if they're really moderate

[green warren]

Err...

Well, there's one thing that nobody has guessed yet outside of the inner circle.

It's about the events.

What really goes down.

[green warren]

We also don't usually reveal the music this early

[lapis pivot]

When will they be ready 🥺

[green warren]

@tiny kernel I think he's starving

[lapis pivot]

PLEEEEASE LALI I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED THIS!! MY ASSETS ARE KINDA MAGISLESS

[tiny kernel]

https://tenor.com/view/my-mom-is-kinda-homeless-ishowspeed-speeding-please-speed-i-need-this-ishowspeed-trying-not-to-laugh-gif-16620227105127147208

[brisk quarry]

Dont be quiet

[covert knot]

[lapis pivot]

Revive!!

[green warren]

Official soundtrack for The Beggar's Cliff has been released by @brisk quarry !!

[green warren]

It's been a bit since I've provided any new progress, but I promise - we've been REALLY busy.

We've got a pretty big spotlight rolling in relatively soon.

Credit: athena.0220 for the concept and lalitesh_ssf for the redesign

[brisk quarry]

what gls doin dawg

[echo swan]

Why does gls look so small

[brisk quarry]

That's allied gls

So he turns a bit small

[green warren]

That's not Giantlord Sightless, that's Big King No-Vision

[covert knot]

his body rotted even further resulting in further shrinking

[dark leaf]

He is just bent

[green warren]

It's a mystery tool that will help us later.

[timber dirge]

Ooh, Where's me!!!!!

[lapis pivot]

Maybe

[tiny kernel]

Revive