Like alot of people, I was unimpressed by the challenges vanilla represented in the seige department, so I had a think of how to increase the difficulty while keeping things as balanced and close to vanilla as possible. The result:
A) The orc mod.
I Modified this in a number of ways:
1) Orcs only have a damblock of 1
2) Orcs only have melee dam of 1:6
3) Orcs have [NOSTUN][NONAUSIA] instead of [NOPAIN]. I want them to hurt!
3) Orcs have their own unqiue weapons, for example:
[ITEM_WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_CHOPPA]
[NAME:choppa:choppas]
[DAMAGE:120:SLASH]
[WEIGHT:150]
[SKILL:SWORD]
[CRIT_BOOST:2]
[TWO_HANDED:7]
[MINIMUM_SIZE:8]
[CAN_STONE]
[MATERIAL_SIZE:5]
[ITEM_WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_CLEAVA]
[NAME:cleava:cleavas]
[DAMAGE:130:SLASH]
[WEIGHT:160]
[SKILL:AXE]
[CRIT_BOOST:1]
[TWO_HANDED:7]
[MINIMUM_SIZE:8]
[CAN_STONE]
[MATERIAL_SIZE:5]
[ITEM_WEAPON:ITEM_WEAPON_MAULA]
[NAME:maula:maulas]
[DAMAGE:40:GORE]
[WEIGHT:120]
[SKILL:WHIP]
[TWO_HANDED:7]
[MINIMUM_SIZE:8]
[MATERIAL_SIZE:4]
[STICK_CHANCE:0]
The general idea is too large for dwarves to use, high crit bonus for limb removal and high damage, balance against heavy weights that slow them down. These weapons will be iron for orc but Steel for black orcs. Their superior damage (along with the greater size/strength of orcs) helps compensate for the crazy ownage of legendary dwarfs)
4) All invader types (goblins, orcs, trogs..) have [LOCKPICKER]. Black Orcs have [BUILDINGDESTROYER:2]. this is because I dont think a locked door should be an infallable defence against invasion. lockpicking for orcs might be more along the 'hack the lock with a huge sword' but the overall effect is that doors are no defence
5) Orcs no longer have trap avoid. this made ithings easier, but there was no good reason for big dumb orcs to have this
6) Black orcs; a subspecies of orc that lives in caves and rarely emerges except to make war. they are bigger, stronger, tougher, immune to pain, capable of destroying buildings, have damblock:3 and use steel.
[CREATURE:BLACK_ORC]
[NAME:black orc:black orcs:black orcish]
[TILE:'O'][COLOR:7:0:0]
[GLOWTILE:'"'][GLOWCOLOR:4:0:1]
[GENPOWER:3]
[EVIL]
[NOFEAR]
[NONAUSEA]
[NOSTUN]
[NOPAIN]
[trANCES]
[MODVALUE:3]
[CAN_LEARN][CAN_CIV][liKES_FIGHTING][WEBIMMUNE]
[CANOPENDOORS]
[BUILDINGDESTROYER:1]
[MAXAGE:60:120]
[NOCTURNAL]
[PREFSTRING:terrifying features]
[PREFSTRING:savagery]
[PREFSTRING:fearlessness]
[BODY:HUMANOID:2EYES:2EARS:NOSE:2LUNGS:HEART:GUTS:ORGANS:HUMANOID_JOINTS:THROAT:NECK:SPINE:BRAIN:5FINGERS:5TOES:MOUTH]
[ATTACK:MAIN:BYTYPE:GRASP:punch:punches:3:6:BLUDGEON][ATTACKFLAG_WITH]
[ATTACK:SECOND:BYTYPE:MOUTH:bite:bites:3:6:GORE][ATTACKFLAG_CANLATCH]
[CHILD:9][BABY:1][liTTERSIZE:1:3]
[SIZE:9]
[SPEED:800]
[DAMBLOCK:3]
[HAMMERMAN_NAME:crusher:Whacka]
[SPEARMAN_NAME:stabber:Stabba]
[AXEMAN_NAME:carver:Hacka]
[SWORDSMAN_NAME:Choppa:Choppa]
[MACEMAN_NAME:mauler:Maula]
[BOWMAN_NAME:Shoota:Shoota]
[FAT:3]
[EQUIPS]
[STANDARD_FLESH]
[HOMEOTHERM:10067]
[LAYERING:10]
[SWIMS_LEARNED][SWIM_SPEED:1500]
[PERSONALITY:ANGER:60:80:100]
[PERSONALITY:IMMODERATION:20:60:100]
[PERSONALITY:EXCITEMENT_SEEKING:80:90:100]
[PERSONALITY:ACTIVITY_LEVEL:90:95:100]
[PERSONALITY:CHEERFULNESS:0:40:90]
[PERSONALITY:ALTRUISM:0:50:100]
[PERSONALITY:SYMPATHY:0:5:10]
[PERSONALITY:VULNERABILITY:0:5:10]
[PERSONALITY:ANXIETY:0:10:20]
[PERSONALITY:FRIENDLINESS:50:75:100]
[PERSONALITY:ASSERTIVENESS:100:100:100]
[PERSONALITY:COOPERATION:70:85:100]
8 ) Invaders of all types are anphibious (although still can drown)- no more hiding behind your moats, fat boy
9) all invader species are capable of enter martial trances, which helps a great deal when the going gets tough
B) Crossbows and Bows only do 20 damage/shot. you might think this was a huuge nerf but in actual fact they still acheive plenty of instakills. however, when they dont, they only peirce a location, not break it. this helps invaders alot more than dwarves since dwarves are likely to be hiding behind fortifications
C) All Invader of all types are active 3 seasons/year
D) orc and Black orc raiding parties are added to wild life. in game terms, this means a groups of orcs appearing on the map, wandering around, and stealing anything they get their hands on
The difficulty this all creates for you is actually unspeakable
any comments or things ive missed?
Im aiming to make the other races challenging without simply giving them op stats- i think this is a pretty decent start