MEWD'S PROFILE

Fine by me. Does anyone object?

Uhh. We're still just discussing the plot and play mechanics. I think we're closer to having a solid idea of what's going on, but no actual production chief.

The KOTOR style seems to be a reasonable compromise between defined classes and completely open ended blank slates.

Though I would recommend that, if we follow this format, we replace the 'scout' class with a 'mage' class. Magic users seem much more distinct and interesting and it seems silly to hold magic out on the player until mid-game when it's such a conventional element of RPGs.

Or I just dislike scouts. They seemed like such a LAME class in KOTOR. We probably don't need a balanced class when we start with four party members we get to define from the start.

Not that we can't have a 'turning point' in the game where more skills and options are open to the player. I like that. We could have plenty of quests that open up additional skill branches for the characters to pursue. Maybe have quests that define them as a specialized role depending on how they spent their points and what sort of alignment/reputation/charisma they've got going for them.

Question: Would the player be putting points into stat growth/boosts, or skills exclusively?



This is what I've got in mind plot wise for the moment:

The game starts off after the deceive battle between the villain and the world at large. Maybe having a whole introduction and the 'faux party' confrontation with the demon. But not TOO elaborate.

The good guys were crushed and the world is under the complete control of our bad guy. The world is a desolate, ruthless place as a result. The people may depend upon supplies from the demon king in order to continue living (This could keep them from rebelling,) but at large live under the police state authority of the villain's minions.

I'm not sure whether the game would take place immediately after the battle or not. Mainly because I want this new world order to already be established, and taking place right after the battle might be too soon for that. So I suggest this: The villain put many of the survivors of the war into concentration camps. Many under the pretense of persuading the veterans either to serve him or die. (Brainwashing could be involved to some degree.)

Your party manages to escape, maybe after a couple months (Having strong enough wills that they hadn't broken yet.) You could maybe show some other people who are escaping with you getting killed as your party escapes. You'd maybe have a few shoddy weapons and equipment you had managed to steal from the guards but would be pretty weak overall.

Maybe they remember, or hear about a place where the army had tried to regroup in order to fight back against the villain. This would lead to a sort of early goal that turns out to be a red herring, when they arrive to find the base completely decimated. Maybe with a survivor among the wreckage to explain what happened and to offer a place to rest. But from this point on the game would basically leave the player to wander with no real defined hope of fighting back against the villain.

I don't think they party should be tied down by a plot of events, though. The above red herring quest probably ought to be optional. From here on, though, I think the player would be adrift trying to survive in this harsh new world. The stories and plot threads you do encounter for most of the early game would just be like dealing with the people you encounter on a personal basis. Not world spanning at all, but just people trying to make a living in this world. Some of whom wouldn't be against taking advantage of YOU to do so.

A few early threads I've considered:

The minions of the villain are not bringing the supplies a village needs desperately. They are hoarding it to themselves, and trying to sell it at inflated prices. You have an option of going to confront the minions about this, inevitably ending starting a fight (unless maybe you have the persuade ability). After winning, you have the option of either try to sell the food in a manner not unlike the minions, or return it to the villagers no strings attached to be nice.

On that note, it may be interesting if we have a variable (Maybe tied with reputation) that defines how much the party is interfering with the villain. If they are doing a lot of quests that outright oppose the villain, this may drive up the attention he might pay them, maybe make him send stronger enemies against them as they prove to be nuisance, and raise bounties on their head, but also have the people more eager to help you as you prove your ability to fight back and inspire hope.

I thought that maybe the party encounters a group of the villains low ranking minions, like goblins or kobolds or something. They were pretty much abandoned by the villain after he gained control and are pushed around by the higher ranking minions. Helping them deal with the higher ranking monsters that bully them might score you an early ally who is more apt to support you against the villain.

There's a lot of plot threads we can dream up for this type of game. I'll try and keep a record of the ideas that occur to me. But that's about all I've got now for early plot threads.

Down the road, I'm considering that we have something like a quest to weaken the villain. Like, from the start of the game, you have the option to just march into the enemy's castle and muscle your way into his enter sanctum to thrash him, but the enemies in that area are so strong and the villain himself is so powerful that you don't stand a chance. It's still an option just to grind with a group of all warriors or something and try to beat the game that way, but following some odd plot thread, you might find something or someone(s) who will distract the monsters in the villains castle, or finding an item, spell or machine that handicaps the villain in the final boss. Maybe having several ways to go about attacking him.

Request: Let's PLEASE not have a 'bigger villain' waiting to be unleashed. This gets so tired, and with this story, the villain has already won. Any ulterior motives he may have had would be quite simple for him to achieve now. Having a bigger demon to unleash really distracts from what we could possibly do with the villain as a character. We can contemplate WHY he wanted to rule so much, what he is doing with the world now, and just what he thinks is best for the world. He needs to be fleshed out. Giving him a bigger villain to serve just sort of keeps us from having a look of what happens when a villain actually gets their way.

If you are changing class and your character is retaining skills you don't want them to have, you can manually remove them using the 'Change skill' event.

If that doesn't help, tell us exactly what you are telling the event editor to do. That is liable to clear things up to where we can help you.

Changing the character graphic won't change the class, mind. You can also change class without changing the character graphic.

You had to get us warmed up with the asspear, Kar. It isn't a race!