Warlords Battlecry III Diary #1

RPGVault has begun a new designer diary in which Infinite Interactive's Steve Fawkner talks about the upcoming third chapter in the Warlords Battlecry series. In this first installment, Steve talks about fan feedback leading to a new feature in the game's design. Check it out:
It is one thing to have the idea, but the next step is to document it all. Before anyone begins work on any major game system, we plan it out very carefully.

Because our magic items were so unusual and varied, we even wrote short histories about them all that players can read when they find them. Part of the charm of Battlecry III has undoubtedly become trying to find a set of items that complements your hero; for example, you might be playing a Dwarven Warrior, but if you can find the Circlet of Skulls, then you will be able to cast a few Necromancy spells as well, which really rounds out the character.

After everything is documented and coded, we like to test and polish it. We quickly found that actually casting spells from magic items was a little tedious and difficult to do, particularly considering that a player has his own spells, plus a number of magic items, each one potentially able to cast multiple spells (those items are extremely rare though)! Our solution was to have the items cast spells automatically. Swords, for example, have a percentage chance of casting their spell each time you hit something. Shields, on the other hand. have a percentage chance each time you get hit.