Terracotta Emperor – Tien’Chi Class

In an age long past the people of the Celestial Empire reigned unmatched in Elysium – however a great conflict culminating in an unforeseen cataclysm forced them to flee this land – embarking to worlds unknown upon mystic sea routes. Now, millennia later, the Imperial Scions have returned to reclaim their ancient homeland and unseal the tomb of the First Emperor, uncovering the secrets of immortality. Once more shall Elysium tremble at the march of the Terracotta Warriors, awakened from their timeless slumber – the Terracotta Emperor shall be restored to his rightful place, with peace and harmony brought to this land of eternal turmoil.

The Terracotta Emperor is a class loosely based on Tien’Chi from Dominions. Begin the game with small coastal colonial efforts, slowly expanding your influence in the land while struggling to survive against the harsh environment. Your army is unreliable – reinforcements from the homeland arrive sparsely and mercenaries do not come cheaply, but as you expand your blossoming trade network you will uncover ancient tombs left by the ancestors, filled with armies of Terracotta Warriors ready to fulfill their duty once more in your service. Your true goal is to locate the tomb of the First Emperor, awaken him from his ancient slumber and crush those who stand in your way.

The mod has been extensively tested almost exclusively on the following settings and is intended to be played on them as a baseline:

Map Size: Enormous
Era: Any [preferably one with more ports]
# of AI: 8-16 (teams of 1-3)
AI Difficulty: Knight
Wilder: Enabled
Multiplayer: Co-op (optional/encouraged) [Never Tested in Versus, YMMV]

(The Unit Descriptions for this mod were graciously written by Glacier, who has done an excellent job conveying the tone of the class to the players.)

Summary

70+ Units
– Imperial Reinforcements sent from the Homeland to assist your efforts
– A relatively cheap naval force
– Numerous mercenaries from other classes
– Terracotta Warriors & Sculptures
– Celestial Beings
– Explorers, Ministers, Eunuchs & other Bureaucrats
– A wide variety of mages, from Alchemists & Geomancers to Masters of the Five Elements & Terracotta Craftsmen
– Pretender God level end game summons

Robust Event Systems:
– Tribute & Objectives
– Yearly Reinforcements
– Random Events

45+ Rituals
– Expanding Trade Network & Colonial Ports
– Tribute & Objectives
– Discover Tombs & Craft Terracotta Armies
– Summon Celestial Beings
– Divine Ascension & Four Cardinal Beasts
– Mandate of Heaven – endgame global enchantment

Tribute, Objective & Imperial Reinforcement System – [semi-coop mechanic]
The central mechanic of the class is Tribute. As the Imperial Scions expand their colonial efforts along the coastline you must exploit the natural resources of Elysium, often sending the various goods available to you as Tribute to the Imperial Bureaucracy. The more Tribute you send the greater level of support you will receive each year, providing you with much needed armies and reinforcements to your beleaguered forces.

Akin to classes like the Voice of El, every Imperial Scion player on the map, whether friend or competitor, contributes to the global Tribute Level through sending Tribute & completing Objectives – the more successful and prosperous the Scions collectively become the greater the size & frequency of support from the homeland will be.

Silk Road & Great Wall
You expand your trade network in Elysium by establishing Silk Road Nodes. These nodes will be administrated by the Imperial Ministry and will grow slowly over time from minor trading outposts into massive trade hubs. Later in the game Trade will be vital to your efforts of restoring your once grand empire. After discovering the Imperial Tomb and awakening the Terracotta armies in earnest, Terracotta Generals will be able to begin work constructing the Great Wall in the vicinity of your Silk Road nodes. Patrolled & garrisoned by Terracotta Warriors, the Great Wall can grow to become a continent-spanning defensive network.

Archeology & The Imperial Tomb
As your trade network grows and you push further inland your priorities will shift to discovering more of the Ancestral Tombs scattered across Elysium. Within the resting places of your forebears awaits legions of Terracotta Warriors with which to supplement your forces as you continue your search for the Imperial Tomb, resting place of the First Emperor. The Imperial Scion who claims the Imperial Tomb will receive the secrets of immortality & the means to craft new armies of Terracotta Warriors.

Mandate of Heaven
The ancients possessed the means to commune with and call upon the aid of the beings of the celestial realms. With the awakening of the Terracotta Emperor, and return to his rightful place as ruler of Elysium, these lost arts can be renewed, and the armies of the celestial sphere able to march upon Elysium once more. With his eyes set on greater things than mere immortality, if the Terracotta Emperor is to ascend to divinity he must seek out and gain the aid of the Four Cardinal Beasts. Upon ascension he may muster the forces of the heavenly realms in full, raising hosts of celestial soldiers, bureaucrats, dragons & other lesser deities throughout his realm as they descend from the heavens.

This mod uses an excessive number of Terrains, Terrain Groups & Event Variables – while it is compatible with my other mods, of all of them it is the one most likely to conflict with other peoples’ mods. The most likely conflicts will be custom terrain numbers. Use with caution.

If there is a compatibility issue it is probably related to conflicting numbers being used, if that is the case simply find the conflicting numbers and alter them in the c5m of this or the other mod. The following are the relevant numbers used in the mod:

Custom Terrains 880 to 898
Terrain Groups -1095 to -1104 & -1063/-1055
Variables 7790 to 7881

Also note that this mod is quite old, I began making it years ago not long after publishing the Ashen Emperor & Raise the Levies, it is much more rough around the edges under the hood in terms of coding than my more recent mods, please report any issues you encounter.

Join My Discord[discord.gg] – I’ve set up a discord where you can get info & updates on my current & upcoming projects, this is also the easiest way to get in touch with me. I plan on expanding into modding Dominions & other games in the future, I hope you’ll look forward to playing those as I am.

If you like what I do and want to throw a few bucks my way I’ve opened a ko-fi account: https://ko-fi.com/hsmasher.

I take mod commissions – if you’ve got a mod you’d like me to make for you, or you’d like an extra pair of hands for your own, get in touch, if I like it and feel it’s something within my ability to make I’d be happy to do so.