Search the Community

Am re-reading Oathbringer and can't help but want a Total war game based off the Kholin conquest of Alethkar. They'd need to add new mechanics for the regeneration of shardplate, and for equipment and customization for more than just the army's general so you could have multiple shards in a single army (and ideally make the unit pathing less stupid but let's be honest that's just how Total War works). Extreme High Storm attrition would make places other than cities important to hold, and of course, capturing enemy shards and enhancing your own shardbearers would be a central mechanic. The Thrill would prevent armies from breaking when they fight near it and it would move to battles with high casualties, berserking units that are winning. Potential problems: The Blackthorn in full shards at max rank and accompanied by the Thrill could singlehandedly destroy the standard 2000 men most total war games allow armies to max out at. solution? smaller maps, but larger max army sizes with a 'reserve' mechanic that allows troops to be held back off the map until sent in. It would also be the first total war game to have a reasonable explanation for why your armies don't need supply lines because of soulcasters

In one of Dalinar's early flashbacks (the one when he recruits Taleb), Sadeas says they need to get him some shardplate, not to protect Dalinar since he's "not sure a rock slide could kill [Dalinar]" but because it's embarrassing the others how much havoc he can cause without shards. Years later, Dalinar and Sadeas are sent to subdue Rathelas after Gavilar has failed to do so politically. Evie prevails upon Dalinar to try negotiating one last time so he can avoid slaughtering all those "innocents." During the talks, Tanelon reveals that a high prince supposedly loyal to Gavilar has been helping him but won't name him because he won't be believed without Dalinar discovering it for himself...and shortly afterward evidence is presented that Sadeas is the culprit. Dalinar goes off to meet that threat, Tanelon betrays him, Sadeas arrives at the Rift, and the situation with Evie is set in motion. Dalinar comes to the conclusion that Tanelon was framing Sadeas to sow discord in the king's supporters...but what if it wasn't a frame job? It's fairly obvious that Sadeas has been crafty for years and he's married to Ialai, another crafty, tricky, sneaky person. They are ambitious and power hungry. Sadeas may have been happy to have Gavilar as king and be the power behind the throne, but as long as Dalinar was around he wasn't the only power behind the throne. He was the political power, but Dalinar was the brute, military power, and Gavilar would turn to Dalinar instead of Sadeas at least part of the time. Dalinar on the other hand is very straight-forward and not likely to see through a convoluted plot. Sadeas could very well have been encouraging revolt at the rift, essentially playing both sides. He didn't want Tanelon to actually succeed, but he did want him to eliminate Dalinar. It would be far easier for Sadeas to make it look like he was supporting Tanelon (if this thought process is true), than for Tanelon to set up the framing himself. The appearance of evidence at just the right time would lure Dalinar away from the rift and there could only be two outcomes. Dalinar survives and returns to find Sadeas ready to attack Rathelas, confirming for Dalinar that Sadeas had been framed (even though he wasn't), or Dalinar dies, eliminating a threat to Sadeas, and Sadeas uses that as an excuse to destroy Rathelas anyway (double-crossing Tanelon who he never actually wanted to succeed), further cementing his influence with Gavilar. Sure I've strung this together on less than a shoestring, but the trap for Dalinar used the very thing Sadeas mentioned as one of the only possibilities for killing him - a landslide. What do you think? Did Sadeas betray Dalinar MANY years before Gavilar's death, or was it their rivalry and different approaches to warfare on the Shattered Plains that finally pushed him into betrayal for the first time?