[Event Concept] Rise Of Baphomet

[Cptcuddlybuns]

Note: I have permission from the original creator of Baphomet (the wonderful Silverbones, you can check out the concept here: baphomet).

Edit: The titles were off-center. That's annoying. I also tried to spoiler everything for easy reading, but couldn't get it to work right. Sorry about that. Also, thanks to some help form Suibeieni, it's properly spoiler-ed away. 

 

While perusing the new HUD design in the Design Council, I noticed that their placeholder for “current objective” was “destroy Warframe cryopod.” Naturally, I disregarded DE’s statement that they would never be cruel enough to have us destroy the cryopod, and settled down to think of why we would destroy the cryopod. This is what I came up with:

 

                                                                                        The Rise of Baphomet 

 

 

The event is three-tiered: The Defense, the Corruption, and the Revenge. At the start, the event takes place on standard defense maps, but switches to a heavily infested tileset, with almost the entire surface of the level covered in writhing, goopy infestation, Orokin and Tenno architecture barely visible beneath the surface. (Or whatever the eventual infested tileset will be)

 

---------

 

The Defense

 

“Something has happened. The infested are becoming even stronger. Someone...something, is guiding them to the hiding places of the Tenno. Our sleeping brothers and sisters are under attack. You must protect them while we track this new threat. Be prepared, the first teams we sent in have not returned.” -Message from the Lotus

 

The defense phase is a semi-standard defense mission, consisting of defending a Cryopod from waves of infested, with the last wave being a boss-fight with a Corrupted: ancient Tenno corrupted by Baphomet’s influence, who served as his lieutenants during his reign of terror. (Possible other explanation: these are the Tenno who were sent in first, who came face-to-face with baphomet, and we unprepared). Corrupted act like the Stalker, but do not attack the cryopod, preferring to hunt down the players defending it. After a period of time, or after enough missions have been completed, the next phase starts:

 

The Corruption. 

 

“Good work, Tenno. You have saved many though your actions. But we were not fast enough. The Bet-The leader of these infested has already spread his influence too far. Tenno, you must destroy these corrupted cryopods. I am sorry.” -Message from the Lotus.

 

Missions during the Corrupted phase are similar to sabotage missions, in which the players must travel through a mission, and destroy an object at the end. The way these missions differ from the normal sabotage missions, is that there are two ways to complete them. A quick blow-everything-up way, and a try-to-not-blow-everything-up way. The two win conditions are shown below. 

Destruction path: Fight through to the Pod, shoot it until it blows up in a reverse of the usual defense (pod has the same health and shields as the normal pod, but you’re the one shooting it this time). Weaker versions of the Corrupted will spawn periodically. When the pod is finally destroyed, there is a small chance that the Cryopod fail-safe will activate, releasing the Corrupted Warframe within. This Corrupted would be a random warframe, using the conclave-version of the powers. (E.g., If a Frost was in the pod when the fail-safe activated, it would be like fighting a Frost in the conclave with the Stalker AI). 

Salvation path: One of three challenges is placed on the map: A parkour challenge, an endurance challenge, or a timing challenge.

 

The parkour challenge is similar to the one in the dojo, but with more possible versions.

 

The endurance challenge tasks the players to escape from an, (almost) invincible enemy by taking advantage of the terrain (flipping off walls, sliding under debris, etc.) for a period of time, activating the traps spread around the room to finally whittle him down (I'd say three hits, thirty-second cooldown on the trap). Note: the endurance challenge scales the speed of the enemy to the speed stat of the Warframe.

 

The timing challenge has players move through a corridor, avoiding traps. At the end of each of these challenges is a corruption node, which the player must destroy. Destroying the node will end Baphomet’s ability to corrupt the warframe in the cryopod. (The purpose of this path was to offer an alternative to the old kill-everything-and-leave formula, and take advantage of the more innovative of the game’s mechanics). 

 

This phase would end after enough pods have been destroyed/saved. This starts the final phase: 

 

The Revenge/the Return.

“It is done, Tenno. Our corrupted brothers have found peace. There is no time to mourn their loss, the leader of these infested has been found. It is as we feared: Baphomet has returned. A traitor of the old war, thought to have been killed by the Orokin long ago. Now, Tenno, finish the job.” -Message from the Lotus, if the Destruction path was taken by more people.

 

“Tenno, you have done the impossible. Some of our brothers were too far gone, but more have survived than we dared hope. Now, it is time to destroy the one that thought to enslave us. We have tracked the leader of these attacks. It is as we feared: Baphomet has returned. A traitor of the old war, thought to have been killed by the Orokin long ago. Now, Tenno, finish the job.” -Message from the Lotus, if the Salvation path was taken by more players. 

 

The last phase acts like any other boss mission, and follows the layout in the Baphomet post. The boss level is an infested Dojo, from the long-dead clan Baphomet used to call home, with the boss room being an un-infested Grandest hall. The aesthetic is slightly different from the original, befitting a clan from the time of the Orokin. Even so, it is run-down and dilapidated. Tattered banners hang from broken rods, the emblem that used to stand proudly upon them now faded into an inscrutable blur. Pillars that used to glow with with energy now flicker lazily, the reactors of the dojo having long ground to a halt. Baphomet stands on the central catwalk, looking out at the decayed splendor, his faithful pet lying on the cracked ground below. The fights starts, Baphomet greeting the assassins before him before sliding over the railing to land on his Pet. Then ratatatatata bullets and fire. Once this phase ends, the event is over. 

 

Rewards:

 

Emblems:

 

Destruction emblem: The ancient sign of Baphomet’s clan, the name having long been lost to history, struck from the records of the orokin. The sign is broken and scratched. In the center is a set of symbols, an old Tenno prayer for the lost. 

 

Salvation emblem: The ancient sign of Baphomet’s clan, the name having long been lost to history, struck from the records of the orokin. The sign is pristine, showing that nothing is beyond repair. In the center is a set of symbols, and old Tenno victory song. 

Tangible rewards:

 

Destruction Rewards: Ancient Tenno weapons and blueprints recovered from the ruined labs of Baphomet’s dojo. Over the millennia, infestation has changed these weapons of war. (Half-infested versions of Tenno weapons). 

 

Salvation Rewards: Though the minds of the corrupted Tenno remained intact, their bodies were forever changed by Baphomet’s influence. Infested skin mingled with the nanites of their Warframes. No one knows what lies under that writhing mass, but the destructive effects of these hybrids is irrefutable. Thankfully, Baphomet failed at twisting their minds. They follow the creed of the Tenno, rather than the broken will of the Betrayer. For now. (Adds an infested Warframe). 

 

Lasting effects: Adds hybrid objective/boss fight missions, as well as multi-target sabotage with heavier parkour elements. Infested tileset is added in the form of The Broken Dojos. 

 

 

 

OTHER VARIANT:

 

                                                                              Fall of the Low Guardians

 

 

This version of the event was a fallback in case I was not allowed to use Baphomet. It focuses on the Stalker and the rest of the “Low Guardians.” It follows closely to the first variant, with three phases: Loss of the Ancients, Assault on the Dark Worlds, and Reckoning of the Tenno. 

 

LotA-

 

“Tenno, the Orokin towers have begun to open. Corrupted are storming into the solar system, hunting down our brothers. You must find what has caused this breach and close it, before these twisted souls assimilate the solar system.” -Message from the Lotus. 

 

LotA is an invasion-style fight between different factions and the Corrupted of the Towers. These invasions differ in that both factions are hostile, and the level changes half-way through to an orokin tower, entering through a massive portal. On the other side, a generator must be overloaded by way of a Device crafted in the foundry. During the overload, it must be protected. When the generator explodes, the Tenno have to rush back through the portal before it closes.

 

Second Phase, AotDW:

 

“Good work, Tenno. With the breaches closed, we can-Target down. Assassination contract...complete.” -Message from the Lotus.

 

“You did not think it would be that easy, did you? Did you think that you could destroy the orokin a second time? No. Your Lotus has been silenced, and soon, all of your murdering kind will be lost to the void. Buried, beneath the souls of those you destroyed. They are out there, in the dark worlds beyond the void. My brothers. We will come for you. We will find you. We will end your reign of terror once and for all, Tenno.” -Message from the Stalker.

 

These missions have no opening message from the Lotus, only a blank image. The community has to find out how to open the path to the Dark Worlds. (Well, or Darvo will stick his buck-teeth into the situation again, given his experience with the stalker. He had to get those weapons somehwere, and why not at the Stalker’s home base?) When the Tenno get to the Dark Worlds, a twisted hellscape of black crystal and Orokin architecture (a far more utilitarian and dull version), they must destroy the Cryopods of the Low Guardians before they can open. As before, there is a chance for the failsafe to activate. Also, the Stalker has a massively elevated chance to appear in the mission, but is weaker. His aim is less perfect. He’s scared. Getting to the pods involves running a gauntlet similar to the challenges of the other version of the event, but this time with new Orokin traps instead. This is a high-security area meant to only be accessible by the highest of the Guardians, and it shows. 

 

Lines from the Stalker when he appears:

 

“(player name) You should not be here. No matter, you have only accelerated your death.”

 

“So, you found your way to our refuge. You will not leave it alive”

 

“That fool Darvo will pay for leading you here, Tenno. But first, you must die.”

 

“Your Lotus is gone, (player name), you are next.”

 

“I remember (clan name). They were just as weak before the fall as they are now.”

 

“Why are you here, Tenno? Was the slaughter of before not enough? Must you destroy these last few as well?”

 

Stalker defeated lines: 

 

“No! I must protect them!”

 

“So be it, Tenno. Even if you succeed here, you cannot defeat us all.”

 

“I...fail. Just as I failed so long ago…”

 

“The dust of this world has seen more blood than you know, Tenno. Mine shall not be the last it drinks.”

 

Third Phase RotT:

 

“Tenno, I have returned. There is no time to explain, we have found the refuge of the low Guardians. You did not destroy them all on the Dark Worlds. Go to their Dojos, end their madness.” -Message from the Lotus. 

 

The last phase Takes place in the Dojo tileset, changed slightly to reflect the ancient nature of it, and the denizens within. The technocyte trees have been replaced with Dark-world crystal. Koi ponds with pits of black acid, unseen creatures slithering below. Where the tenno put monuments to serenity, The Stalker has put a focus for hatred. Now, he waits, behind legions of Corrupted, with the last few of his Brothers in arms. The Low Guardians await their final stand. The boss fight changes depending on the players that enter. In the final boss room, A twisted version of the Obstacle course-with death traps instead of feats of grace-is the Stalker, along with up to three other Low Guardians, depending on the amount of players that enter. Each of the four enemies levels to one of the players (e.g., if one player has a conclave of 2, and the other 2000, there will be one terrible Enemy and one godlike enemy). There is a minimum of 500 conclave on each enemy, however. The three non-stalker enemies have gear and tactics that counter those of the one they’ve levelled to (e.g., If the player has a shotgun, they stay at range. A sniper, they have hardened armor that only lets a certain amount of damage through with each shot). This forces players to set their team accordingly, and pick a target to take down, rather than just spray-and-praying everything. The other enemies die, but the stalker, escapes into the black ooze that fills the spaces between platforms. Dang that was a big textblock. 

 

When this phase is over, the event ends, with an explanation that the stalker didn’t actually manage to kill Lotus, but jammed the signal (to try and scare the Tenno). I would write it out right now, but it’s like 4 AM and I would probably start talking about Tacos halfway through (sort of like what’s going on right now). 

 

Rewards:

 

Emblem: The symbol of the Low Guardians, essentially a front-view of the Stalker’s helmet, but with the top folds replaced with the symbol of the Lotus (which, come to think of it, they look a lot alike. CONSPIRACY!). 

 

Actual Loot:

 

Low Tier: Misa Syandana (makes sense, as it’s the scarf of the temple guards)

 

Mid tier: Blueprints for an old weapon of the Low Guard, a ceremonial broadsword, made from the crystal of the Dark Worlds.

 

Top Tier: A Weapon recovered from the Vaults of the Stalker’s dojo. Possibly a more interesting Boltor. Super charged!

 

Lasting effects: The Towers have a chance to spawn a portal to the Dark Worlds at extraction. Only activates once the objective has been completed. Entering the portal ends the mission, and immediately starts a new one with a random objective in the Dark world. Finishing a dark world mission would give a high-tier reward (possibly parts for a Low-Guardian warframe, or the Stalker’s helmet for an Excalibur). 

 

Thanks for reading! And thanks again to Silverbones for Letting me put Baphomet in here. Be sure to check out my own Warframe concepts, and hit the little green arrow in the corner! (You know you want to).

Edited January 1, 2014 by Cptcuddlybuns

[Anatolius]

It seems like it could be good but it's so long it'd take some time to read

Consider dividing your sections into "spoilers" so it's not so long at first glance

[Siubijeni]

Spoiler sectioning is a great idea that I must second.

 

Overall though, the idea is great. I especially like your destruction/salvation approach to the event duality.

[Cptcuddlybuns]

I try to spoiler it off, it ends up putting some of it in the spoiler box and some of it not. By the time It's done, it looks like just a twisted mess. 

Edited December 31, 2013 by Cptcuddlybuns

[Leetium]

Killing infested Tenno seem canon as even the Ether Sword says that its considered a "humane weapon to 'cleanse' infested allies"

[Siubijeni]

I try to spoiler it off, it ends up putting some of it in the spoiler box and some of it not. By the time It's done, it looks like just a twisted mess. 

Are you sure you're nesting the tags right?

[--FHDL--Bael]

Holy shiet this is sooo good

[Cptcuddlybuns]

Are you sure you're nesting the tags right?

it's just [ spoiler ] blahblah [ /spoiler ] Right?

 

Edit: it set it as a spoiler when I typed that, so that works, at least. But when I try to spoiler more than one paragraph is where ti screws up.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Cptcuddlybuns

[Siubijeni]

it's just [ spoiler ] blahblah [ /spoiler ] Right?

 

Edit: it set it as a spoiler when I typed that, so that works, at least. But when I try to spoiler more than one paragraph is where ti screws up.

I generally put the spoiler tags on seperate lines, as that seems to minimize errors. For an example, if I were doing an explanation with multiple parts:

GRAND AND DANDY EXPLANATION PART ONE

{spoiler}

This is the first part of my explanation. Here I will usually introduce the idea and realize that it should be broken down a bit further, as well as ramble needlessly, just a bit. I tend to want to over-explain things. But wait, a wild subthought appears! Or maybe I just have several points to make?

{spoiler}

And this is where I explain whatever it was that I realized needed to be clarified. It's nested!

{/spoiler}

{spoiler}

If I had other points, they would go here. But I don't, of course, cause this is just an example.

{/spoiler}

Oh and now the Grand and Dandy Explanation Part One is finished!

{/spoiler}

 

GRAND AND DANDY EXPLANATION PART TWO

{spoiler}

Yeah, anyway, so on, so on. Having separate lines for your spoiler tags doesn't seem to actually change them, visually. So it's alright to do so, even if it can make your typing a bit incoherent for you, when you're actually typing it and before it's converted. I know a lot of people don't like to do the separate lines, but I find it minimizes issues and keeps things nice and tidy.

{/spoiler}

 

EDIT: And here's all that with the tags actually in place:

GRAND AND DANDY EXPLANATION PART ONE

This is the first part of my explanation. Here I will usually introduce the idea and realize that it should be broken down a bit further, as well as ramble needlessly, just a bit. I tend to want to over-explain things. But wait, a wild subthought appears! Or maybe I just have several points to make?

And this is where I explain whatever it was that I realized needed to be clarified. It's nested!

If I had other points, they would go here. But I don't, of course, cause this is just an example.

Oh and new the Grand and Dandy Explanation Part One is finished!

 

GRAND AND DANDY EXPLANATION PART TWO

Yeah, anyway, so on, so on. Having separate lines for your spoiler tags doesn't seem to actually change them, visually. So it's alright to do so, even if it can make your typing a bit incoherent for you, when you're actually typing it and before it's converted. I know a lot of people don't like to do the separate lines, but I find it minimizes issues and keeps things nice and tidy.

 

So yeah, you just gotta make sure you nest the tags right.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Siubijeni

[Cptcuddlybuns]

Ha! Figured it out! I had to put the tag ABOVE the line, not NEXT to the line. Thank you sir, for all of your help.

[Siubijeni]

No problem-o, glad to be of service. Apologies if my odd sense of humor made that hard to read. In hindsight, "The Grand and Dandy Explanation" was probably not the best thing to label it, even if it made me chuckle.

[Cptcuddlybuns]

No problem-o, glad to be of service. Apologies if my odd sense of humor made that hard to read. In hindsight, "The Grand and Dandy Explanation" was probably not the best thing to label it, even if it made me chuckle.

don't worry, bad jokes are best jokes.

[Madotsuki]

Seems like an interesting concept. Still, in practice it would still get awfully grindy doing the same mission repeatedly.

While little can be done to ease the grind of Phase 1's defense farm, and Phase 3 is basically a special boss fight, PHASE 2 has a lot of potential.

For one, I think in Phase 2, the "Salvation" path should be the mandatory one (otherwise the vast majority would choose Destruction as it's a lot simpler to farm) and instead of having EVERY mission have three challenges, each mission should have ONE of these three challenges randomly chosen, with some additional variety within each challenge such as trap placement, like how there are multiple different layouts for the void parkour rooms. That would make the phase stay fresh for longer by utilizing RNG done RIGHT.

For the Parkour challenge, it could just be some altered versions of the Void parkour vaults, without the time limit but a bit longer.

For the Endurance challenge, it could be something like Deathrun (Death's side) except the triggers are on the track itself and the runners are chasing death. Imagine REALLY high level Infested chasing the players along the map, only spawning from a room near the start so the Infested only come from behind. There are inactive traps laid throughout the map, such as spike traps, lasers, shock barriers, flamethrowers etc., and players can activate panels near the traps to activate the trap, stalling the Infested horde until the trap runs out of juice. Clever timing can insta-gib any Infested caught within for added effect, such as wiping out the enemy front lines.

Timing challenge is like the Runner's end of Deathrun, except the traps are automatic and continuous. It's like the Parkour vaults with less parkour and more traps.

Either way, a concept with some good potential, though I highly doubt DE will ever make an event that actually requires significant effort to make.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Madotsuki

[arch111]

This has POTENTIAL.

Phases in Event, stages, new Lore and Bosses and good use of

game mechanics.

All I can say is, all my Yes.

[Cptcuddlybuns]

-snip-

You're right, the first phase might need some work to make it more interesting. But I want to keep phase 2 (somewhat) how it is. Changing it to one path with variable challenges is a good idea, though, I'll make sure to do that. The idea was that you could take the easier, parkour-and-fleeing path, or you could go into a really hard pod fight. Maybe, I could make it so that the pod was coated in infested goop, or something along those lines. Made it more durable. That way, the pod fight is really hard, but gives a good fighting challenge, and the parkour path is equally hard, but in a different way. 

 

As for the tweaks to the missions themselves, here's the thoughts:

 

Parkour: Never actually ran those vaults. At least, I never realized if I was. I'll take your word for it.

 

Endurance: I saw this as less of a "run through a hallway with dudes chasing you" and more "Run around a big room with a big dude chasing you." The inspiration came from my love of fighting infested in big rooms, you can run, jump, slide, flip all over the place to avoid them, all while spitting bullets. Maybe we could meet in the middle: There's one super-heavy sweetbabyjesuswhy enemy. The way you kill him is by activating traps around the room, but you have to wait for their cooldown to finish before activating them again. When the guy is dead (with an increased chance to drop something cool, like a rare mod), the door opens.

 

Edit: Full disclosure, I run a Frost. That's why I wanted to scale the speed. It would be much harder for me to win a race against infested than, say, a Volt. Also, due to the limitations of the engine, the race'd have to be pretty short. No one likes short races.

 

Timing: Never played deathrun. I'll take your word for it again, I guess. But less on the parkour, more on the traps is what I was going for. Not deadly traps, though. Just sends-you-back traps. Don't want people losing an entire mission because they hit the wrong key. So, portals that force you back, panels that drop you, panels that punch you in the head until you fall off, that kind of thing. 

 

And as for the last bit, come on man, give DE a bit of slack. At the very least, yelling about how much they suck in their own forums is probably not the best way to approach the situation. Optimism!

Edited December 31, 2013 by Cptcuddlybuns

[DarknightK]

Haha, I was about to make an event concept named "Rise of the Guardians", then I saw this post.

 

I hope my ideas don't thourghouly clash with yours, however yours looks more thought out (mine simply has the event details, no rewards or anything).

Come to think of it, would you like to review my idea and we may possibly merge our brains for a (possible) future Stalker-themed update?!

 

:D!!!!

[Dat_Krawg]

i must say well thought out nice and lore friendly concept  with a lot of gameplay potential and rewards wise well thought out i would gladly play this event

[arch111]

I like it more and more. The future of the Infested?

[Cptcuddlybuns]

Haha, I was about to make an event concept named "Rise of the Guardians", then I saw this post.

 

I hope my ideas don't thourghouly clash with yours, however yours looks more thought out (mine simply has the event details, no rewards or anything).

Come to think of it, would you like to review my idea and we may possibly merge our brains for a (possible) future Stalker-themed update?!

 

:D!!!!

I think we can work something out. I like the concept you sent me.

 

i must say well thought out nice and lore friendly concept  with a lot of gameplay potential and rewards wise well thought out i would gladly play this event

I gladly accept that you would gladly play it :D

 

I like it more and more. The future of the Infested?

Thank ye' for your support, my friend. 

[SilverBones]

Great work, sir! I'm glad you liked the idea of Baphomet so much to add him into this.

 

+1 - Would Buy with Plat.

[Celiex]

I threw money at my screen but nothing happened. :(

On a more serious note though,about the endurance challenge,what would you make of say,nova's worm hole,loki's switch teleport,etc? Apart from that,really loving this concept.

[Cptcuddlybuns]

I threw money at my screen but nothing happened. :(

On a more serious note though,about the endurance challenge,what would you make of say,nova's worm hole,Loki's switch teleport,etc? Apart from that,really loving this concept.

They'd probably be pretty useful. Switching with the bug baddie, and Wormhole could be a quick escape/get to the button move. Be the same thing in the parkour, challenge, really. But not much you could do there, except maybe entering the room disables powers. Also: you gave me a second page! I FEEL SPECIAL!