The Five Pillars
From The Five Pillars
The Five Pillars (T5P) is the name of a MMORPG. The game takes place in a fictitious world where Magic plays a large role.
In the game there are besides magic also (fictitious) beings to be found, mostly originating from Western mythology.
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The Five Pillars of Magic
The name of the game refers to the five different types of magic. These types of magic correspond with five different elements and five colours. Every magician must choose a type of magic at the start of a game. This choice cannot be altered anymore afterwards and greatly influences how the magician will have to play the game, by providing access to different combat units, spells, etc..
| Types of Magic | Element | Colour | Short Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Magic | Mountains | Red | Aggressive colour with a lot of destructive spells |
| Old Magic | Swamps | Black | Evil colour with undeads, insects and poison |
| Elemental Magic | Glaciers | Blue | Pure, emotionless magic, aimed at magical predominance |
| Desert Magic | Deserts | White | Defensive colour, aimed at technology |
| Natural Magic | Forests | Green | Natural colour with growth, healing and protection |
Goal of the Game
Seen historically there was always disagreement about the goal of the game. Some factions hold on to the original goal, namely the gathering of as much 'power' as possible. Those that have the most power at the end of a reset (game round, lasting 2-3 months) win and their names will be placed in the Hall of Fame (HoF) for all eternity. The last years there seems to be a change towards playing for fun, irrespective of the quantity of gathered power. Strictly seen the game still rewards the gathering of power. This shows of in the Hall of Fame, but also in the renaming of heroes, free donation status, etc..
Advancement and Extension
Every magician begins with a little kingdom. This kingdom begins very modest and can be extended by exploring land or by attacking other kingdoms and annexing parts of their land. Also the use of a certain rare artifact or a powerfull (green magic) spell can give extra land. The player must decide what needs to be build or spelled on a piece of land. As regular buildings there are houses, barracks, forts, magical barriers, etc.. Empty lands (wilderness) can also be spelled into magical nodes. These nodes can be found in the five different elements and generate magical spell power, associated to each type of magic.
Research, Magic and Spells
As a magician is active and gets more experience, he/she will rise in strength. New spells will become available to research, more nodes will need to be created for the use of stronger spells and the power of the magician will increase. The spells that can be researched are stipulated by the chosen type of magic. That's why a red magician will not be able to learn the most evil black spells, and will an elemental magician never be able to call upon the green spell that gives new land. Every magician can use only the most powerfull spells and creatures that are linked to their own colour.
Guilds and Wonders
A group of magicians can also form a guild. Besides the social aspect of a guild it is game technically wise to join one. So can guild members support each other in battle, are able to see who attacked one of them, can see each others armies and if any guild members are suffering from hostile spells by a possible enemy. A guild can also decide to build a wonder. A wonder gives a small advantage for the guild at a certain sort of actian (attacking, bidding at the marketplace, spelling, etc..) Some miracles are stronger if there is only one of them in existence on the entire server. The building of a second wonder of that type often leads to a war between both guilds (that want it to be unique and theirs).
The end
A magician is killed when his last fort is destroyed. This will result in the falling apart of his kingdom and the magician will die. This is irreversible. The player is able to create a new magician again, but he will have to start over and build up from zero again. 'The Five Pillars' is played in resets or game rounds. Every reset has a fixed duration, dependent on witch server it plays. Resets can last from two to three months. At the end of every reset there is a '24 hour period' of total anarchy (called HAVOC) in which everyone can attack everyone, regardless of power or protection. After these 24 hours the universe will cease to exist and the game will be over. The magicians that have the most power at the end of HAVOC will be shown in the Hall of Fame for all eternity. A new reset mostly begins a few days after the end of a reset. All players can start from the beginning again with a new choice of colour. New guilds, new friends, new enemies!
