+/- resistance to each damage type

added ability with a given element (raise/lower mana cost in certain elements, or spells mroe effective)

Higher/lower liklihood of getting random techs (filling the tech tree)

Higher/lower liklihood of getting a "red" or "yellow" tech after getting a research rank

Higher/lower chance of getting a freebie "grey" tech (if grey techs are still planned)

Maybe some of these would be more appropriate racial/faction adjustments rather than specific to your channeler.

I agree with both of the above posters, especially pidgeonpidgeon.  If you want a great idea of how to customize soveriegn take a look at tropico 3 customization of the el presidente.  That system is both fun and actually custom.  Forcing real positives and negatives if much better than the generic options in the OP.

I am also in favor of having a bunch of perks instead of just a bunch of +/- modifiers as in GalCiv2.

But nothing prevent you from having more or less "mundane" perks, examples :

• Fast walker : +1 move on the strategic map
• Strong : +2 strength.
• Large build : +1 strength, +10 health, -1 speed.

And some more fancy suggestions :

• Frugal : Only cost 3 essence to create a new city, but the city doesn't start with any population.
• Scary : -1 morale to any enemy in a battle where the sovereign is present.

A few other Sovereign Trait-Abilities

Burning Blood: activatable Rage ability, can strengthen rage upon level up (increases speed, attack, and attack speed, blitz through opponents at the cost of a slow mana burn)

StoneSkinned(StoneWarrior): earth-based activatable mode, no mana burn. Defense doubled, movement halfed, mana cost for spells increased 30%.

Nature's Fury: Sovereign Mutates into a writhing tree, man-eating Vines shoot forwards across the ground. Occasionally the vines will form pods which spew forward large mutated tigers. This abililty only unlocks at level 10, (level X), uses 30% of mana (or X% of mana) ... and the Power of the Vines, length the vines grow, and the duration of the ability is based upon total mana/essence of the sovereign, plus total attack, plus ability in earth magic.

i'll think of others later

I agree with most/all of the above comments.  I'm just a bit disappointed that the initial proposal for the sovereign is so basic.  MOM is supposedly a major influence on this game and your channeler customization options there are much more varied and interesting (artificer, warlord, spell bonuses, etc).  I was looking for something at least as good as that.

I think a set of unique powers--costly, but useful--would be nice.  I'm less inclined to go with damage-dealing special abilities, and more for "soft" benefits, such as:

• +10% to all interactions with animals (charm spells, negotiations with intelligent bunnies, taming bears for cavalry, etc.)
• Ability to automatically spot a random enemy Sovereign every turn (perhaps only if within own territory)
• Ability to add +10% morale to an army that doesn't belong to that Sovereign
• Ability to remain undetectable by magical means so long as the Sovereign is in a forest, or in a city completely surrounded by forest

I like Wintersong's Background idea  lot more.

Unlike some of the others I don't think starting bonuses should mean a lot in the endgame. I'd like to see things that are minor or fade away. However, I wouldn't mind seeing more bonuses that could be earned during quests. Basically I'd like to see something like a RPG setup for the Sovereign rather than the way leaders were setup in Galciv.

What you need to think about are the unique aspects of the game which i would say are economy/cities, military, magic, and diplomacy. Unique bonuses to each of these such as otherwise unaccesible spells units and heroes would be much better than any point system. For me this is similar to how in Age of Mythology (RTS i know) what myth units you could build were entirely dependent on the Gods you chose.

Trying this back onto the Frog's original topic. [sarc](Despite his habit of bashing Stardock employees and telling them they'll have to take their journal entries away    ) [/sarc]

I'm not sure what all effects Essence is going to have in the Magic system. Right now it is only usable for founding cities and 1 or 2 points makes no difference. Being able to found an entirely extra city in the early game seems too huge.

Likewise movement speed is too important in my opinion to give away as a bonus. Sight range would be a nice bonus that I don't think would be overpowered in the early game.

Combat bonuses are certainly good for the early game. It seems like the Sovereign is going to be weaker than a lot of random monsters like Trolls wandering around.

I would like to see some carefully crafted economy bonuses. It could be as simple as

+ starting gold

+ goodie hut gold

Maybe advantages versus certain monsters types?

Honestly there is so much about the game that I've not even seen I'm not sure I could tell you what a quarter of the good advantages are going to be really. I think you should go with your instincts and we can tell you which ones are a bad idea.

It looks like some people who have replied thus far have failed to notice that you are only asking about how would you customize the sovereign and not the whole civilization.

----

Customizing my soveriegn:
-I would like to have some spells that I could cast at will, but are minor enough to not require mana or essence in any form.
-I would like to have the option to select some equipment that my soveriegn might start out with. Maybe have this stuff bought using starting cash instead of whatever point system is used to create the soveriegn.

I'll add some more thoughts later.

When i think Soverin specliazation i ask Early  - Mid - Late ?  what bonuses can we give that come into effect in each time period.

Early : 

All the ones mentioned by frogboy, except diplomacy and possibly fertility.

also included any combat related skills.

Midgame: 

If there is a population cap / city, before building XYZ ,  something that boosts that,
Fertility, diplomacy,

Spell casting range,

Spell casting effecency *uses only 80% of listed mana for all spells*

Carismatic, more people in town willing to take up arms for your cause,

build time/cost decreases

and Late:

Military Mind,  costs associated with large armies decreased, all heros have higher command ablilty,
Broad minded  broad intersts, can unlock spells from another school of magic.
Hyperfocus, lower list of avalible spells, but all do double effect, or can be cast 2 for 1, after a certain level.


In short I want to look at the options list and wieght late game stuff vrs early game stuff.   But perhaps that's just me

Robbie

I can think of quite a few options that would be nice here. A lot of them would require balancing and testing of course. I've gone a step further and split these up into "Positive" and "Negative" Attributes. Positive Attributes have at least one bonus but also have at least one negative effect. Negative Attributes have at least one negative effect but also have a small bonus of some kind.

Attribute Cost/Creation Points: Each Positive Attribute should have a cost in "Attribute/Creation Points" or "AP's" . Choosing a Negative Attribute will Give you "AP's" so you may pick a extra Positive Attribute at creation. The amount of Attributes, both Positive and Negative, should be limited by the amount of "AP's" given at creation. 

Positive Attributes:

• Expert Channeler: Expert Channelers have learned to draw more power from the lands. They cast spells faster then other Sovereigns by pulling more Essence from the world. Increased magical power comes at a cost though as this Sovereigns mines must produce more Magic Crystals to keep up with the needs of the Kingdom. (-5% Essence cost for All spells, +10% Mana Generation, - 10% Magic Crystal Production from Mining Elemental Nodes) Cost: - 1 Attribute Points

• Summoner: The Summoner relies heavily on calling Magical Beasts to his aid. By specializing in these magics the Summoner is able to call more creatures to his side then other Sovereigns can. Summoners do not need to expel as much energy to keep magical beings alive as non-summoners do. (-10% Cost to Summon Magical Units, -10% Upkeep on Magical Units, +10% Essence cost to learn Summoning Spells) Cost: - 1 Attribute Points

• Archmage: The Archmage specializes in Non-Summing magics. Preferring to study the powers of destruction and the flows of magical energies the Archmage is a true power to contend with. As with the Expert Channeler though, the Archmage's Kingdom must use more Magical Crystals to meet the needs of the Sovereign and the Kingdom. (-10% Essence Cost to Learn Non-Summoning Spells, -10% Mana Cost to Cast Non-Summoning Spells, -10% Magic Crystal Production from Mining Elemental Nodes) Cost: - 1 Attribute Points

• Artificer: The Artificer makes powerful artifacts to give his heroes the edge on the battlefield and in adventuring. Items made by a Artificer are far superior to normal magical items and can also be sold at a far higher price on the black-market, but would you risk selling such items that could give your enemy the upper hand? (-10% Mana Cost to Create Magical Items, +10% Power of Magical Items, +10% Essence Cost to Learn Creation Formulas) *Every Magical Item should have a Formula or Pattern that should need to be learned at least once per item type. I.E. one for swords, one for axes, etc etc* Cost: - 1 Attribute Points

• Warlord: The Warlord raises large armies to crush all those who oppose him. By carefully managing his resources he is able to train better men and support longer supply lines then other Sovereigns. Superior training and better skills come at a cost though as the Warlord's armies consume more food. (-10% Upkeep Cost for all Non-Summoned Units, +10% Strength/Health for all Non-Summoned Units, +5% Food Consumed by Units) Cost: - 1 Attribute Points

• Node Mastery: The Node Master can harvest more Magical Crystals then other Sovereigns. They achieve this by building specialized extraction machines that are far better then standard mining practices, though they are a little more expensive. (+10% Magic Crystal Production from Elemental Nodes, +10% Cost to Build on Elemental Nodes) Cost: - 1 Attribute Points

Negative Attributes:

• Magic Drain: Sovereigns afflicted with Magic Drain have a harder time then others when casting spells. Their spells cost more to cast. their items cost more to make, and they must study longer hours to be as magically adept as others. Magic Drain does have a upside though as with increased demand comes increased production of Magical Crystals. (+10% Mana Cost to casting spells, +5% Essence Cost for making Items, +15% Magic Crystals from Mining Elemental Nodes) Returns: + 1 Attribute Points

• Flawed Elementalist: A Flawed Elementalist will corrupt shards of magic left throughout the world. These corrupted shards are not as powerful as normal magic shards and more of them must be used to give mana for casting spells. A Flawed Elementalist's Kingdom will generate more gold however to keep up with the demands of a flawed supply source. (-10% Magic Crystals from Mining, +5% Mana Cost to Casting Spells, +10% Gold Income from Mines) Returns: + 1 Attribute Points

• Resource Hog: Resource Hog's have Empires which don't care how much of the land they devour to meet their needs. Everything they make is the best of the best, met to meet the needs of a society that must have the best of all things no matter if they cost more and do less. (All Buildings cost 10% More to build, People Consume +10% More Food, All Farms and Mines Produce 5% More Income)

Passing Down Attributes: All Attributes should have a random chance of being passed down to Offspring for free.

We'll be able to customize how our Sovereigns look as well won't we? I only ask because I don't see it mentioned in the customizations anywhere.

What has been told, has been told and pigeonx2 and wintersong said what had to be said. Just a couple of my opinions:

• No positive & negative traits.
  I really don't like with the +/- perks that end up as mega power-gaming part of the game. It just feels funny that one per is worth 5 pts., while the other 8, but the second one is in fact much worse than the first one. Of course it's a subjective decision, but I remember when I played around with such system in MoO2 - it wasn't that great.
  
  I propose to include 2 types of perks into the system: positive ones & risky ones. Positive ones are the standard "small bonus to something", while the risky ones are perks that can give you a lot, but either under special conditions, or when you sacrifice something for them.
  
  
• No numbers.
  As much as it is possible. there shouldn't be numbers, as with system based on numbers, most of the time, the rewards of choosing one perks to another are meaningless. Also, the non-numeric bonuses seem more interesting, at least most of the time. I understand that there will have to be some percentage (numeral) advantages, but at least make them high: 20%+.
  
  
• Quality, not quantity.
  As there shouldn't be any +/- perks, players should have a limited number of traits that they can choose. I vote for a magical number 3. Imho, this number really forces the player to think about specialization, but leaving a little place for taking feats that you really want. Total number of perks should be about 10.
  
  
• Sovereign & kingdom specialization.
  Apart from sovereign specialization, there should be a system to specialize the kingdom, and how it will be run. In this system there wouldn't be any traits, but a set of (let's say) 5 kingdom 'properties' and 3 options: balanced, one extreme, second extreme. Properties: warfare (rapidly trained units, stronger units, opposed to bigger population growth and mana+research gain), magic (faster development of spells + bigger mana regen for units, or bigger mana regeneration total) and so on.
  

Examples of traits/perks:

Master of rituals: Sovereign can prepare rituals in half the original time.
X mastery: X spells are 50% more potent - they either deal 50% more damage, or they have 50% higher chance of success.
Master of learning: Sovereign and accompanying units gain 200% more (3x normal) experience points.
Beast tamer: Sovereign can tame all beasts (the higher the level of sov., the bigger his chance of taming stronger creatures).
Hero of time: Hero has access to a special ability called "Bend time". This spell can be cast on a unit/city. The next turn (after casting of the spell) the time for the place/unit will flow 3x slower. Unit will move 2x further and have 2x bigger speed in battle, while the city will feel as 10 days has already have passed (units will be ended faster, more gold will be acquired, etc.).
Hero of space: Sovereign can teleport to any place (with army, or not) every several turns. After he chooses a place to teleport, he has to remain stationary for 3 turns, during this time the destination place will be lit (so that enemy can see it). In order to teleport to a place, the destination has to be already visited (can't teleport to the black fog of war).
True leader: In the city that the sovereign resides, population growth, income, materials production, training time is doubled (only half training time in case of unit production & building).
Spell Master: Spells cost 50% less.
Spell Stealer: Sovereign can steal a spell from enemy sovereign. If the spell is not known to the sovereign, he will learn this spell. After stealing the spell, enemy will have to research this spell once more. One spell can be stolen only once. Together with the spell stealing ability, hero will be able to see the spells that the enemy hero possesses.
Hero of sloth: Every several turns, the hero can cast a super curse, which will stop the enemy empire for 1 turn. No units will be able to move/attack (however they can still defend and guard), no money will be gained, no new citizens will be born, no research points will be added to the research pool, unit production/city building will be slowed by 1 turn.
Master of disguise: Sov. (together with his army) can disappear. For 5 turns he will be invisible. If he encounters an enemy forces (two forces on one tile) he can decide to attack or proceed further. He won't be able to be stopped by any barricades/blockades/whatever.

As you can see those perks are game-breaking (and possibly many has to be further balanced), and they should be such. This way the player really feels that his sovereign is special & powerful.