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Game Design: Van the Warrior
hedge1- 11/27/2016 05:27 AM
- 850 views
As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I decided to run through Crystal's massive character list and describe some of their skills and how they fit within the game series as a whole. Note that these are planned setups for each character, and due to technical challenges some of their special abilities may have to be changed. You can access the previous post here:
https://rpgmaker.net/games/5128/blog/17729/
Today’s character is Van. Van originally was one of my least favorite characters due to his uninspired design. However, after fleshing out the battle system more I was able to adapt his kit to better suit his personality, and what he is now is actually among my favorites.
The key alteration to the battle system was giving characters Life Points, like in the Romancing Saga series (or Saga Frontier on the PlayStation). Every time a character runs out of HP, they lose a Life Point. If a character runs out of Life Points, they are permanently dead. In Crystals, this means an instant Game Over. At the same time, characters who have been reduced to zero HP can be revived with regular healing spells or items. There is no need for Phoenix Downs or the Revive spell. Life Points, on the other hand, can only be recovered at towns (though I’m still debating exactly what mechanism will be used for LP recovery).
What I like about the Life Point system is that it allows a game to make running out of HP a very significant problem without making the consequences spill into other aspects of the game (such as cost of Phoenix Downs or Arise spells). A lot of games go the opposite route of making “death” not meaningful, which is an excellent design choice as well (Super Mario RPG is a perfect example of this). But as characters are going to "real life" die in Crystals, I felt it important for there to be an in-game explanation as to how this is possible (no Aeris issues please).
Being able to work with something as precious as Life Points also allowed for some extra game mechanics, which we’ll see happen with Van.
Van the Warrior
Design
According to the original story line (from which Crystals is adapted), Van is a “big stupid guy” and in the game primarily for “comic relief.” Being not particularly gifted with writing either comedy or amusing stupidity, Van functions more as a standard brute character of whom others regularly question the intelligence.
Van is one of two pure tanks in the game, and as such his passives and skills mostly serve this function. Additionally, Van has an extremely strong physical attack and skills centered around boosting his personal stats. He does not use MP, and all of his skills and abilities can be used as many times as desired. He is one of the more simplistic character designs in Crystals, an intentional decision given that he joins early when many of the mechanics of the game engine itself is still being learned by the player.
Van’s strength and free abilities is mitigated by his very slow speed, giving him fewer actions per battle than other characters.
Skills and Abilities
Van has two passives. The first is Iron Will, which gives him a boost to his defensive statistics each time he is damaged. The boost degrades over time and has a maximum benefit.
Van's second passive is Perseverance. When Van is reduced to zero HP, he has a 50% chance to automatically revive himself (though he still loses a Life Point). This revival chance increases if fewer allies are alive, reaching 100% if Van is the last one standing. These two passives combine as a sort of “tutorial mode” for early players, as it will be extremely difficult for an accidental total party wipe with Van as a member.
Van’s active is Cleave. Cleave hits all enemies on the battle field for damage equal to half of Van’s regular attack. Like Alex’s Dark Wave attack, Cleave is intended to give players access to some AOE abilities and strategic variety during the early game. Because it delivers on-hit effects to all enemies (such as poison from a weapon), it remains somewhat useful late game even as its damage falls off.
Van’s second active is Rest. Rest restores a percentage of Van’s missing HP. This provides Van a form of self sustain (useful before the party has a dedicated healer), and it synergizes well with his passives. If he auto-revives from Perseverance, he can then Rest to restore a large portion of his HP. Meanwhile, if he is constantly the target, Iron Will slowly reduces the damage dealt to him while Rest restores what HP he loses. Rest cannot be used outside of battle. Rest's power is also mitigated by Van's slow speed, as every turn of his is precious.
Van’s skill-set is Empower. Each Empower skill improves Van’s stats. Subsequent castings of the same skill are reduced in effectiveness, until eventually no benefit is gained from the usage. A common tactic will be to start off a boss battle with a defensive Empower, followed by an offensive one. Unlike in other games, status effects to not disappear when a character reaches zero HP, but virtually all battle effects (including Van’s Empower) will wear off over time. Later in the game Van will get Empower abilities that will raise the stats of the entire party, though in much smaller amounts than his personal buffs.
Story
Van is a good friend of Riyu and Alex. The three are about the same age and grew up in Green Wood together. Van is also a member of the town’s hunting party, and as a result is a bit more familiar with the surrounding landscape than the brothers. Due to this knowledge, I may have him act as the tutorial for the battle system, if I get to the point where I deem a tutorial necessary. Van’s parents are both still alive at the beginning of the game, and were instrumental in helping Riyu and Alex after their father left. It is thus from his parents that Van became friends with the brothers and feels some level of ownership in keeping the brothers safe.
https://rpgmaker.net/games/5128/blog/17729/
Today’s character is Van. Van originally was one of my least favorite characters due to his uninspired design. However, after fleshing out the battle system more I was able to adapt his kit to better suit his personality, and what he is now is actually among my favorites.
The key alteration to the battle system was giving characters Life Points, like in the Romancing Saga series (or Saga Frontier on the PlayStation). Every time a character runs out of HP, they lose a Life Point. If a character runs out of Life Points, they are permanently dead. In Crystals, this means an instant Game Over. At the same time, characters who have been reduced to zero HP can be revived with regular healing spells or items. There is no need for Phoenix Downs or the Revive spell. Life Points, on the other hand, can only be recovered at towns (though I’m still debating exactly what mechanism will be used for LP recovery).
What I like about the Life Point system is that it allows a game to make running out of HP a very significant problem without making the consequences spill into other aspects of the game (such as cost of Phoenix Downs or Arise spells). A lot of games go the opposite route of making “death” not meaningful, which is an excellent design choice as well (Super Mario RPG is a perfect example of this). But as characters are going to "real life" die in Crystals, I felt it important for there to be an in-game explanation as to how this is possible (no Aeris issues please).
Being able to work with something as precious as Life Points also allowed for some extra game mechanics, which we’ll see happen with Van.
Van the Warrior
Design
According to the original story line (from which Crystals is adapted), Van is a “big stupid guy” and in the game primarily for “comic relief.” Being not particularly gifted with writing either comedy or amusing stupidity, Van functions more as a standard brute character of whom others regularly question the intelligence.
Van is one of two pure tanks in the game, and as such his passives and skills mostly serve this function. Additionally, Van has an extremely strong physical attack and skills centered around boosting his personal stats. He does not use MP, and all of his skills and abilities can be used as many times as desired. He is one of the more simplistic character designs in Crystals, an intentional decision given that he joins early when many of the mechanics of the game engine itself is still being learned by the player.
Van’s strength and free abilities is mitigated by his very slow speed, giving him fewer actions per battle than other characters.
Skills and Abilities
Van has two passives. The first is Iron Will, which gives him a boost to his defensive statistics each time he is damaged. The boost degrades over time and has a maximum benefit.
Van's second passive is Perseverance. When Van is reduced to zero HP, he has a 50% chance to automatically revive himself (though he still loses a Life Point). This revival chance increases if fewer allies are alive, reaching 100% if Van is the last one standing. These two passives combine as a sort of “tutorial mode” for early players, as it will be extremely difficult for an accidental total party wipe with Van as a member.
Van’s active is Cleave. Cleave hits all enemies on the battle field for damage equal to half of Van’s regular attack. Like Alex’s Dark Wave attack, Cleave is intended to give players access to some AOE abilities and strategic variety during the early game. Because it delivers on-hit effects to all enemies (such as poison from a weapon), it remains somewhat useful late game even as its damage falls off.
Van’s second active is Rest. Rest restores a percentage of Van’s missing HP. This provides Van a form of self sustain (useful before the party has a dedicated healer), and it synergizes well with his passives. If he auto-revives from Perseverance, he can then Rest to restore a large portion of his HP. Meanwhile, if he is constantly the target, Iron Will slowly reduces the damage dealt to him while Rest restores what HP he loses. Rest cannot be used outside of battle. Rest's power is also mitigated by Van's slow speed, as every turn of his is precious.
Van’s skill-set is Empower. Each Empower skill improves Van’s stats. Subsequent castings of the same skill are reduced in effectiveness, until eventually no benefit is gained from the usage. A common tactic will be to start off a boss battle with a defensive Empower, followed by an offensive one. Unlike in other games, status effects to not disappear when a character reaches zero HP, but virtually all battle effects (including Van’s Empower) will wear off over time. Later in the game Van will get Empower abilities that will raise the stats of the entire party, though in much smaller amounts than his personal buffs.
Story
Van is a good friend of Riyu and Alex. The three are about the same age and grew up in Green Wood together. Van is also a member of the town’s hunting party, and as a result is a bit more familiar with the surrounding landscape than the brothers. Due to this knowledge, I may have him act as the tutorial for the battle system, if I get to the point where I deem a tutorial necessary. Van’s parents are both still alive at the beginning of the game, and were instrumental in helping Riyu and Alex after their father left. It is thus from his parents that Van became friends with the brothers and feels some level of ownership in keeping the brothers safe.
