BEFORE YOU READ, GET COZY BECAUSE IT'S A LONG READ
Hello again! Before I get into this, I would like to thank the SoT community for all the upvotes and views/comments on my writeup of Sea of Thieves: Black Isle. I am also awed that It was added to the master list! Huge wow and thank you again!!!
So lets get into it!
Many of you enjoyed Black Isle, a lost region with a dark past and sinister presence; ruling the region in search of Athena's Torch. A story that gives the lore of SoT a new perspective. In the title and intro I listed an upcoming idea that is finally finished. So without further adue, I present the storm of the century, Colossus.
Sea of Thieves: Colossus
Like Black Isle, players will be submerged into an indepth, intense game mode following a beggining and an end. Though this is a rather different mode, this will test your faith to your crew and your captainship, your skill and your anxiety! For all sea worthy pirates are challenged to face off against each other and the mighty Colossus in a server wide game mode that is an epic race against time and mother nature, but first...who or what is Colossus? Well, if you haven't guessed it already, it's a storm, but not just any storm. It's THE storm!
Colossus, a lethal force of mother nature comes every 500 years upont the alignment of the planets on the last day of the last 100th year at exactly 11:59pm, turnover onto the final hour. It's happened only a handful of times in the course of known history. And players are about to experience that last day of the 100th year as theyre put to the ultimate test to try and survive the Poseidon fueled Hurricane.
In this mode, players will need to work together to the best of their ability in order to survive the long race. Upon spawning in the tavern, players will see Duke and ''whomever'' the bar keeper is; depending on what outpost you spawn at, boarding up the tavern and the mysterious man in the corner is gone. Alike, shop keepers will be boarding up their shops and in a state of panic, much like how they were in the cursed sails dlc. Only this time they're boarding themselves in and players have a small window of time to buy anything and stock their ships before theyre on their own. To start the story automatically, a rather excited Duke will approach you upon your spawn and tell you to seek safety at your own misfortune for the mighty colossus was brewing it's wrath. As you converse more about the sudden panic of the village and Duke's ecstatic excitement, he tells you the 500 year story and how Colossus was a historic storm that only a few sailors ever survived and ever since it was a challenge to race other across the sea in it! He then begins to tell you that he and some of his mates have been waiting to face off against the mighty storm and how past Bilgeratters literally died waiting their whole life to uptake the greatest challenge their ancestors ever faced.
Duke then tells you the goal for many bold sailors was to race the against Colossus, even if it meant sinking others to survive, to a sanctioned, cavern like outpost in a far east region past the Devil's Roar called ''Helmsman's Rest'' The ''Shipwreck Cove'' Of SoT. He then bestows upon you a goodluck phrase as he tells he's off to race the storm with his mates and he'll hope to see you at Helmsmans Rest upon the dawn of the new year, when Colossus wares itself down and eventually fizzles out until the next 500 years, by which that time you'll be dead, very very dead.
Heres how it will work:
Prime Example is explaining one server to fully understand the mode, even though there will be multiple servers happening at different IRL times.
Players will be locked into their servers with a 5 minute hold to allow maximum player compatibility. "Locked'' is only to coin the term ''claiming your spot'' you CAN leave at any time during the mode but you will need to start the mode over in a new server should you leave midway.
Players will be pooled into their servers with the option to create an alliance or sail seperate from everyone else, though the less help you have the more difficult the voyage will be. Players can utilize all (3) three ship variants together, seperate OR alliance together on ONE single ship, which is definitely easier but a harder challenge. There will be an 8 person limit per galleon, a 6 person limit per brig and a 4 person limit per sloop.
The mode will start players off (5) in game days from the arrival of Colossus, this should give players plenty of time to talk to duke, stock their ships, get any last minute items before the shops close down for the duration of the mode and then sail to their designated starting point.
After the 3rd day marks, each crew will be given a message in a bottle with one of the (4) Islands listed below. Players will then be given exactly (2) in game days, starting from the 3rd through the 4th to sail to their designated starting point marked on thier maps which will be the (4) islands farthest West:
*SAILOR'S BOUNTY
*CRESCENT ISLE
*SEA DOG'S REST
*MERMAIDS HIDEAWAY
Helmsman's Rest is located to the far east past Devil's Roar, as stated by Duke. A classic point A to point B race, players will need to mark it on the map and someone will need to be on constant navigation watch for sailing in a straight line is not possible in this scenario!
DURING THIS PERIOD, PLAYERS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ENGAGE IN COMBAT WITH ONE ANOTHER. A PASSIVE MODE STATE WILL BE PLACED ON ALL PLAYERS AND SHIPS UNTIL 10 MINUTES INTO SAILING THROUGH COLOSSUS TO ALLOW FAIRLY TIMED COMPETITIVE PLAY
As the lore goes, on the last day before the arrival of Colossus, players will experience major weather and atmospheric changes. The entire server will become dark clouded, winds will rock the ship, the water will become very choppy and unstable and lastly the entire western horizon will be pitch black with Colossus's storm head. On the final hour of the last day at 11:55pm, players will receive a 5 minute headstart on colossus before things get absolutely nuts!
12:00am: Colossus cometh.
Players are now going to be mentally and emotionally challenged as theyre utterly hammerd by the brand new weather mods of Colossus!
*DAMAGING WINDS - can tatter the sails causing the ship too go slower and blow players overboard!
*TIDAL FORCE WAVES - can damage the hull, knock players overboard and destroy patchwork!
*WATER SPOUTS - can stall the ship, damage hull, send players flying off the ship, destroy patchwork and can knock the ship off course a complete 360 degrees!
*ENHANCED LIGHTNING - strikes are 3 times more likely to kill!
*ENHANCED RAIN - Rain will fill up the boat twice as much as regular rain, equivalent to having a chest of sorrow on board
*LOW TO ZERO VISABILITY RATIO - use your darn blinkers! Have a lookout or 2 upfront to look for rocks and islands you might jet into, as well as other ships. Light your lamps to let each other know youre there!
*SKELETON SHIPS - What better way to make it all the more difficult than to have a skeleton ship, pull a flying dutchman on you! Skeleton ships will also be affected by the storm, if youre lucky enough it might sink it before it sinks you!
THE WAY THIS IS THOUGHT OUT, YOU'LL BE LUCKY IF YOU CAN MANAGE SOME PVP AND SINK ANOTHER SHIP WITHOUT SINKING YOURSELF
The ''race'' will be totaled from first place to last place winners. Each surviving crew that passes into the safe zone of Helmsman's Rest after 1st place will receive an equal amount of 100 doubloons, 20k Gold, the title ''Conquerer of Colossus'', the accommodation ''Tamer of the Deep'' and lastly a free figurehead showing off a black skeleton emerging from the ships bow, clutching a broken, golden helm wheel. First placers will receive 200 doubloons, 30k Gold, The title and Accomodation, The Figure Head and a complete set of Torn, red/black, stained Sails.
THERE IS ALSO AN ARRAY OF DIFFERENT ACCOMMODATIONS TO UNLOCK- ask for the complete list in the comments if youre interested
SHOULD YOU GET SWEPT OFF THE DECK OR KILLED, THE MERMAID WILL RESPAWN YOU BACK ON THE SHIP. SHOULD THE SHIP SINK, THE PLAYER(s) WILL BE RESPAWNED INTO A NORMAL SERVER AND THEN ASKED IF THEY WANT TO REMATCH THE EVENT WITH THE OPTION TO DECLINE AND STAY IN A NON-EVENT SERVER
I am sorry for the essay! It took 2 hours to write and spell check; TWICE!!! Let me know what you think, pitch some insight or ideas! I definitely hope you enjoyed this despite its length!
If you'd like see a list of elements of gameplay and other accomodations to earn, just ask in the comments
The post's community notes will be updated for all to see when other ideas are commented, be respectful of other peoples thoughts
Also...did anyone notice the potc quote line? From which film? Post it below!!!
NOTED COMMUNITY IDEAS SO FAR:
-Raised water level to hide smaller islands, making them an unknown obstacle
-Keep colossus in the game as a new AI threat that comes every in game year for players to play around in with no more doubloons and gold given after the event ends.
-Add in planetary constellation - new star and astronomical mods
-Mini quest line before the arrival of Colossus - a week ratio tease of astronomic warnings washing ashore in bottles, players must find the source of the bottled warnings before the race
-Special in game timing sequence with weather disruption, letting players know to be prepared for another superstorm
-Spectator Mode option
