Be my guest...

[Deeth Irteen]

here's a problem I have with guests party members: Almost every single time, the character has abilities that greatly outrank you normal party members. After one, maybe 2 quests, they leave. forever.

Now, I get the whole "they're important to the story" thing, but here's my alternative: When a guest party member frist joins the party, they're in a specific dungeon for a specific part of the story. Once they leave, later in the game, when you're returning to the dungeon to plum some recently unexplored depths of the dungeon (I.E., optional), the guest party member returns. You have the option of putting them back in the party for this dungeon, but once you leave the dungeon, they leave the party again.

Furthermore, the guest party member has weapons and armor that cannot be removed from them, but the equipment can be bought at a shop later in the game. Also, the abilities they start out with can eventually be learned byyou regular party members.

[Ωbright]

Re: Be my guest...

In a way I think that's cool, but in another way I might resent it, as a player, a little bit. Honestly I don't know, though! Depending on how you do it, I might be able to go along with that. I'd have to look at it as basically a 3-person party, with a 4th person that depended on the area you were in, rather than looking at it as "OMG WHY are you forcing me to have this person in here when I could have anybody else!"

So if I understanding you right, you're saying you would have 3 permanent members in your party, and a 4th that depends on what area you're in?

You'd just have to basically design the game as a 3-person party, and bump up the enemies or their numbers in the dungeons/towns/maps where you can have a 4th.

If you're NOT saying that, and you want a 4-person game where one person is let go before another one can be added, then how are you going to get your 4th person back? I mean it can be done, but there are several things to think about.

Oh yeah, and I don't think you can make equipment non-removable. You can make it un-sellable and un-dropable (although doing that in a game where all party members can only hold 10 items is kinda dastardly), but not un-removable unless I'm just totally forgetting something. You're also going to have to have 2 copies of each piece of equipment...one that costs nothing, and one that will cost _______ when it becomes available later. If that region-specific bonus character gets handed the sword that LOOKS just like his, things could get crazy. What if you made a BETTER set of equips for him that were available later? You could do it in an event rather than a default shop, and simply remove tho old equips and replace them with the new ones. That boost could be a reward for something (it would be annoying but possible to buy it with gold), and it could be great for re-visiting dungeons when the new areas are tougher.

[Wavelength]

Re: Be my guest...

I like this idea and I don't think it will be TOO hard to pull off, especially if you already have more than 4 possible "normal" PC characters and are thus tracking how many you have active at a given time.

Additionally, you could make them all available anywhere in the world in a "New Game Plus" playthrough or in the "postgame" (if you allow the player to keep running around the world after beating the game, which is something I really like).

However, I think Obi's right about the equipment troubles. Just give them better stats and skills (and possibly a lower experience curve); give them normal equipment or no equipment instead, or give them special equipment that only they can use.

[Ωbright]

Re: Be my guest...

It's kinda like this:

If I have 4 people in my party, I don't want to keep constantly figuring out who I'll have to leave behind every time I go into a dungeon. And when that dungeon is finished, will the person be waiting right outside the dungeon for our return? No. No they won't. I'll have to go hunt that character down and re-join them unless you work around that with an auto event. And even if you do that, I'll still feel like I'm LOSING something, rather than gaining an extra character in a dungeon.

And in a game where there's no party item bag, you're asking for trouble when you make people kick someone out over and over. It's inevitable...you're going to have players going "CRAP, THAT GUY HAD MY HEALING STONE!" or whatever.

[Wavelength]

Re: Be my guest...

It's kinda like this:

If I have 4 people in my party, I don't want to keep constantly figuring out who I'll have to leave behind every time I go into a dungeon. And when that dungeon is finished, will the person be waiting right outside the dungeon for our return? No. No they won't. I'll have to go hunt that character down and re-join them unless you work around that with an auto event. In that case I'll feel like I'm LOSING something, rather than gaining an extra character in a dungeon.

And in a game where there's no party item bag, you're asking for trouble when you make people kick someone out over and over. It's inevitable...you're going to have players going "CRAP, THAT GUY HAD MY HEALING STONE!" or whatever.

Well, let me explain how the party switching works in my game, since it's somewhat compatible with what D is describing.

In every town in the game, and at points in some of the dungeons as well, is a "character switching point" that warps you to a room where all of your party members are. There, you can freely switch your permanent party members, as well as any temporary party members that are available, in and out of your party. Generally, when someone leaves your party, there is going to be a character switching point very nearby.

The temporary party members (which is a feature I may remove for various reasons) tend to help you multiple times throughout the game, and all will be available in the postgame, so while you may lose an item temporarily, it will certainly be available for you at some point later on.

(Additionally, to speed up the battles and add to the strategy, you're limited to three party members. I'm still tabling whether to make temporary characters count towards that limit. Currently, they do. But I'm considering making them into the "4th" party member who doesn't count against the limit, and also can't be removed, except for where they appear in the endgame.)

[Deeth Irteen]

Re: Be my guest...

What I posted above was just a generic "template" idea for an RPGM3 game.

Here's how it'll work in First Fairy Tale....

First of all, each character has only 1, permanent weapon that cannot be sold (why would you want to, anyway?). There is no Armor, Shields, or Accessories (Although I may change my mind about the latter later on).


Basically, there are 3 kinds of party members: Normal, Esper, and Guest.

Normals can have their statistics freely upgraded, and their skills (Magitechs) customized.
Espers are the equivalent of summons: they can only be added to the party if A) the character Julinda (the Evoker, aka Summoner character) is already in the party, and B) if there's less than 4 party members.

For a good portion of the game, you cannot change your party members; they join and leave the party according to the story (this allows for seamless Guest character joining/leaving). eventually, though, when you get the airship, you'll be able to enter a special room that allows you to change your party members (sans Guests).
You can use the airship to warp to various towns and dungeons you've visited earlier in the game. if the Guest character wasn't permanently killed during the story, they'll be waiting in the dungeons.

Lastly, since Guests cannot be customized, they'll start out with statistics superior to your normal characters. When they show up again later, they'll receive enhanced stats, which make them only slightly superior to your characters.

Oh, and don't worry, I've already figured out all the variable settings I'll need to make this all possible.