# Main Quest Draft

### Meeting 4.12

#### **Start the Run - First Run**

- **Nightmare**: Subjective and cryptic introduction to the story.
- **Tutorial**: Introduce combat mechanics through an early encounter.

#### **Main Quest Overview**

- Collect 3 artifact links.
- Stop the coven from linking the 4th artifact. 
    - Break the curse and end the nightmares.

## Quest:  


#### **Artifact Discovery**

- **How do players find artifacts?**
    - Exploration-focused gameplay.
    - **Merchant leads**: Gain hints after haggling.
    - **Sub-quests**: 
        - Escort someone to a shrine.
        - Retrieve magical knowledge.
    - **Anti-Magic Faction Quests**: 
        - Gain rumors by completing tasks (e.g., a training grounds quest).
    - **Combat/Hidden Nodes**: Unlock hidden artifact locations through battles or exploration.

- **What are the artifacts?**
    
    
    - Players can identify them visually.
    - Additional quest elements include: 
        - Coven involvement.
        - Dream offering guidance.
        - Corrupt personalities of those near them.
        - Found close to thorny brambles

##### **Player Awareness**

- How do players figure out their purpose? 
    - Trial and error.
    - Nightmares.
    - Coven encounters.
    - Merchant interactions.

### **Merchant Mechanics**

- **Core Idea**: Artifact wander between every run
- **Details**: 
    - Artifacts are tied to leaders as jewelry.
    - Protect the leader to earn link or buy it 
        - failure forces players to buy them.
    - **Artifact Effect**: Grants a speed buff.

### **Anti-Magic Faction**

- **Core Idea**:
    
    
    - Artifact known to be in a cave, once activated, caused deaths.
    - City records indicate artifact-related events (weapons, classes, etc.).
- **Combat Mechanics**:
    
    
    - Soldiers guard the artifact.
    - The faction's strong/weak no fight against Soldiers
    - **Enemy Summons**: 
        - Artifact summons various enemy types.
        - enemies tailored to counter the player’s group?
    - **Objective**: Survive for a set time limit or defeat a certain number of enemies.
    - Visual indicators for progress

### **Magic Faction**

- **Faction Quests**: 
    - Provide better path to the artefact.
- Artefact is in a sanctuary surrounded by admires
- **Combat Mechanics**: 
    - Enemies are buffed until death.
    - Strategies: 
        - Outrun enemies.
        - Use crowd control.
        - Tank through damage.
    - **Objective**: Acquire thorns link and escape.
    - **Ability Buff**: Enhances attack power.

### **Coven Mechanics**

- **Main Quest**: Stop the coven from completing their artifact links.
- **Side Elements**:
    
    
    - Coven lairs serve as key locations.
    - Quests include: 
        - Interrupting rituals.
        - Raiding their hideouts.
- **Encounters**:
    
    
    - Stop rituals during specific quests.
    - Random encounters after completing objectives.
    - Optional mini-boss fights with coven generals tied to individual artifacts.

### **Ending**

- **Progression Control**:
    
    
    - Early access to the final area triggers warnings. 
        - Ignoring warnings results in failure or death.
    - or
    - No path to the end
- **Final Boss Mechanics**:
    
    
    - **Allies**: Players fight alongside NPC allies against the coven.
    - **4 Generals**: Players must defeat artifact-bound generals before the main boss. 
        - Boss stronger than any individual player.
        - Mixed class mechanics (e.g., healer, DPS, tank).