Runemaster Developer Diaries, Continued
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It's time to check in on a 20th and 21st developer diary for Paradox's mythology-based RPG Runemaster, with the former covering the world of Jotunheim and the latter sharing the first information we've seen on the Giants race. Here we go:
The Climate and Creatures of Jotunheim
This world of Jotunheim is a cold and barren landscape, with mountains, plains of snow and large forests of pine and spruce trees. The Giants are not the only large beings in this world, but they are among the greatest. Summers in Jotunheim are usually brief, but spring and autumn tend to linger a bit longer. Winter is often grim, with blizzards keeping the inhabitants from leaving their homes. When your Runemaster hero explores Jotunheim, winter has just put its cold, icy hands around the world and painted it with white frost and blue ice. The mountain tops are covered with snow, which may cause avalanches, hurling snow down the sides of the mountain. Even in summer, the snow never leaves the mountain peaks of Jotunheim, and some of the deeper valleys are never touched by the warmth of sunlight.
Jotunheim shares a lot of fauna and flora with Midgard; boars, wolves, stags and goats are plentiful, while the plants that thrive in Jotunheim are larger and sturdier than the ones in Midgard. Creatures of legends, like dragons and beings made of ice and snow, might be seen in Jotunheim, although they are more elusive than the common critters.
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The Units of Giants
Every race has six different units, three standard units and three unique units. The Giant's three standard units are melee, assault and armored. We are working with the names for these units and haven't made decision on what they will be called yet. All three standard units are grouped in teams of two. The melee units have a decent amount of armor and damage. The assault units do more damage than the melee units, but are more vulnerable. The armored units have a lot of armor but do little damage.
The three unique Giant units are Storm Giants, Frost Giants and Eagles. The Frost Giant is a female Giant whose control over wind and water can be a great asset in battles. Her abilities are mostly defensive or offensive, with no focus on healing. The Storm Giant has similar abilities, and he can also command lightning, which might aggravate Thor, god of Thunder, since this is his turf. It is said that in the beginning there were Giants who could shapeshift into eagles. How much truth there is to that legend, we do not know. However, the Giants have always bred eagles, and used them in battle. These are magical beings, larger than ordinary eagles, and with abilities that can be more than useful on the battlefield.