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Basically what I mean is something like if you were in a medieval monster-infested dungeon with 4 characters, what classes would they be?

I would have a...

Knight
Male
Age: 16
Weapon: Swords, Spears
Body: Armor
Ability(s): Auras, sword skills
Stats: High HP, Stength, medium Defense, Magic Def, Luck, low MP, Magic, Agility, Accuracy, Evasion

Sorceress
Female
Age: 16
Weapon: Staves, Rods, etc.
Body: Robes
Ability(s): Offensive magic
Stats: High MP, Magic, medium Magic Def, Agility, Evasion, low HP, Stength, Defense, Accuracy, Evasion, Luck

Cleric
Male
Age: 24
Weapon: Maces, Hammers
Body: Plates
Ability(s): Healing magic, buffs
Stats: High MP, Magic, Magic Def, medium HP, Strength, Defense, Accuracy, low Agility, Evasion, Luck

Fighter
Female
Age: 21
Weapon: Fists, Claws
Body: Hides
Ability(s): Steal, Mug, Monk skills
Stats: High Strength, Agility, Accuracy, Evasion, Luck, medium HP, MP, low Defense, Magic Def

This post has been edited by Blizzard_Wizard8 on 27th March 2005 18:53

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Yunalesca: "Hope is...comforting. It allows us to accept fate, however tragic it might be. "

Yunalesca: "Poor creature. You would throw away hope. Well... I will free you before you can drown in your sorrow. It is better for you to die in hope than to live in despair. Let me be your liberator. "

Hmm... interesting topic I suppose. I just hope it doesn't get too fantasy/fanboy.

Knight
Male, early twenties
Weapon: halberd
Armor: heavy armor
Ability: spear techs and stat breakers
Stats: high strength, stamina, HP, medium agility, SP, will, low arcane, evade, MP

Priest
male, late twenties, early thirties
Weapon: guns
Armor: robes
Ability: healing and some support magic
Stats: high will, MP, SP, medium arcane, strength, stamina, agility, HP, low evade

Mage
Female, early twenties
Weapon: just magic, maybe a book or a ring or something
Armor: cloaks
Ability: offense and some support magic
Stats: high arcane, will, MP, medium evade, agility, low strength, stamina, HP, SP

Rogue
Female, early twenties or late teens
Weapon: whip
Armor: light armor
Ability: battle items
Stats: high evade, agility, MP, SP, medium arcane, will, strength, low stamina, HP

Edit

No swords? NO SWORDS?!?! yup.

Edit

For stats. SP indicates the speed at which their Special meter fills up (seperate from Magic), and Arcane and will are essentially magic attack and magic defense

This post has been edited by laszlow on 26th March 2005 16:41

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

Your Creations? Not sure why. Moving to GenGame for lack of a better option.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Quote (laszlow @ 25th March 2005 17:45)

No swords?  NO SWORDS?!?!  yup.

Somewhere, Fighter is crying and Brian Clevenger would be spinning in his grave (if he were, you know, dead).

Well, in order to avoid your vanilla "two fighters+two magic users" and "1 fighter, 1 thief, and 2 magic users" party, I'm going to go with something slightly more unusual:

knight/paladin
Male, young (20s)
Heavy weapons and armor (Takes the role of the walking tank)

monk/martial artist
Male, older (30s-40s to master the arts)
Fists and light armor only (watches the flanks and mops up, also can administer some traditional healing with herbs and pressure points)

Thief/ninja
female, young (20s)
concealable weapons and light armor (does the sneaky-sneak)

Red mage/general magic user
Male, older (40s or even older)
some short range weaponry (knife, dagger, staff, etc) and light armor (uses both black and white magic)

This post has been edited by bahamut0013 on 26th March 2005 06:22

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M777: lightweight 155mm howitzer
3/11 rules over all artillery!

As this is a general gaming chat, I am assuming we can draw from pretty much any gaming concepts. Hell's yeah. Time to take heads and bust names or sumsuchsumthingerother:


Spirit Mage
Female, age 30
Summons elemental spirits to attack and protect the party. These spirits can be used to find hidden passages, detect traps, and power sources.
Uses a revolver and a staff.

Beast Mage
Male, age 27
A half-beast who utilizes the special attacks of monsters. Skilled at sensing monsters before they arrive, and able to talk to some monsters to avoid fights or gain some help.
Uses clawed gauntlets.

Ghost Knight
Female, 32
Expert swordsman, skilled in locating treasures and disarming traps. Possesses ghost magic, which can heal or kill a target, or create status ailments.
Uses a scimitar and pistol.

War Golem
Living Machine
Possesses incredible strength, and rechargeable energy weapons, capable of transforming into two or three different modes for alternate terrain types.
Uses fists and lasers for primary attacks.

Maybe that's a bit beyond the norm, but screw it. Works for me.

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And behold, I saw a Pale Gaming System, and the name of he who rode it was Squaresoft, and Enix followed him.

And now to blatantly rip off characters from the game I'm designing:

Team #1

Glenn
blue/red mage
staff/longsword
offensive and healing techniques; Bide, Lore, X-Command
stats: average special and below-average physical and speed, high HP

Meredith
light mage/psychic
spear
sacred/light-based offensive techniques
stats: very high special and speed, low physical

Jenna
magic knight
longsword
offensive and healing techniques; Rune; MagicSword
stats: about average stats all over

Matt
brawler
gloves (fights with fists, of course)
darkness-based offensive techniques; various fist-/punch-based skills
stats: higher physical, below-average special

Team #2

Jareth
ninja
shortswords (+ ninja stars)
fire-based offensive and healing techniques; Smoke, Image, Dart, Revive
stats: above-average physical, below-average special

Chris
bard
bow+arrows
sound-based offensive and healing techniques; Sing
stats: good with MP and special, below average in much of everything else, average speed

Erica
samurai
katana
rock-based and flying-based offensive techniques; KatanaSkill
stats: (don't know yet)

Ruth
alchemist
(weapon: don't know yet)
(don't know about techniques yet); Blast, Converge Rays, Force Shot, Ray Splash, Grand Shock)
stats: (don't know yet)

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Quote (bahamut0013 @ 26th March 2005 01:14)

Quote (laszlow @ 25th March 2005 17:45)

No swords?  NO SWORDS?!?!  yup.

...
Somewhere, Fighter is crying and Brian Clevenger would be spinning in his grave (if he were, you know, dead)

Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 26th March 2005 05:14)

And now to blatantly rip off characters from the game I'm designing...

I tried to be original by using four of the eight characters from my game that don't use swordlike weapons. If I were to list all eight, there would be three sword-users, but I chose four that I thought would be effective in a typical dungeon crawling (also I haven't worked out all of the kinks in stats and magic for two of the other four). But yeah, I may as well edit the stats in my first post, forgot about those.

I tried to be original by using four of the eight characters from my game that don't use swordlike weapons. If I were to list all eight, there would be three sword-users, but I chose four that I thought would be effective in a typical dungeon crawling (also I haven't worked out all of the kinks in stats and magic for two of the other four). But yeah, I may as well edit the stats in my first post, forgot about those.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
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It's sort-of hard to believe that there would be living golems, ghost warriors and such in a medieval setting. And then of course there's the ancient race which invented robots, etc. that was lost somewhere. It's all so bland, but whatever... Now you can post things like specific abilities. For example...

Knight
Abilities
MP Buster: Damage boosted by using MP
Battle Taunt: Draws enemy attacks to user
Cover: Takes damage in place of an ally
Stunning Strike: Delays foe with attack(passive)
Critical Hits: Increases chance of getting critical damage
Damage Increase: Increases Knight's damage output w/attack
Special: Doubles damage output

Sorceress
Abilities
Fire Damage: Causes fire damage to foe/s
Ice Damage: Causes ice damage to foe/s
Lightning Damage: Causes lightning damage to foe/s
Group Haste: Decreases party's recovery time
Summoning: Summons a spirit to fight for party
Status Effect: Causes a status effect on target
Special: Double spell damage/1/2 MP costs

Cleric
Abilities
Direct Healing: Restores an ally's HP
Group Healing: Restores entire party's HP
Group Protection: Decreases damage caused by enemy
Reviving: Restores an ally from KO
Restoration: Removes negative statuses from an ally
Divine Aura: Boosts entire party's damage output(passive)
Special: Doubles potency of healing spells

Fighter
Abilities
Mug: Steals and damages a foe
Gold Steal: Steals gold and items at same time
Critical Hits: Increases chance of getting critical damage
Damage Increase: Increases Knight's damage output w/attack
Lucky Strike: Increases battle spoils like EXP, Gold, and items
Frenzy: Boosts damage at cost of defense
Special: Increased chance of stealing rare items, more agility

This post has been edited by Blizzard_Wizard8 on 27th March 2005 15:31

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Yunalesca: "Hope is...comforting. It allows us to accept fate, however tragic it might be. "

Yunalesca: "Poor creature. You would throw away hope. Well... I will free you before you can drown in your sorrow. It is better for you to die in hope than to live in despair. Let me be your liberator. "

Whatever. I may as well follow up and show off my characters to people besides my friends.

(mind that Special and Magic are two seperate abilities; Special uses SP that accumulates each turn, while Magic uses a more tradtional MP system. Supers are attacks that use the entire SP gauge, one Super per character. Element weaknesses are Fire > Ice > Wind > Earth > Lightning > Water > Fire, Holy <> Shadow.

Lancer
Magic: stat breakers, some lightning and wind magic
Special: Powerful physical attacks, cover stances
Super: Massive multi-hit lightning attack based on strength + arcane

Priest
Magic: Recovery magic, protection support magic (Safe or Shell equivalents), some holy attack magic
Special: Gun-mod attacks, usually status-inflicting or area-affecting
Super: Grants invulernability and boosted stats to the entire party for one turn.

Wizard
Magic: Fire, ice, and lightning and some shadow magic, some augmentation support magic (Haste or Might equivalents)
Special: powerful elemental attacks, with a wide variety of elements
Super: Massive multi-hit multi-elemental attack based on 2x arcane

Rogue
Magic: Wind and Fire magic plus a ton of status-inflicting techniques.
Special: use weapons in the inventory for a variety of powerful spells (virtually the same as "Draw Out" but with any type of weapon)
Super: Hades/Bad Breath-esque powerful non-elemental attack that inflicts multiple status affects (based on strength + arcane)

I know that several magic elements and whatnot aren't represented, but there are eight characters, two of which aren't anywhere near completion outside of storyline.

Edit

spelling/syntax

This post has been edited by laszlow on 26th March 2005 23:07

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

Quote (Blizzard_Wizard8 @ 26th March 2005 13:49)

It's sort-of hard to believe that there would be living golems, ghost warriors and such in a medieval setting. And then of course there's the ancient race which invented robots, etc. that was lost somewhere. It's all so bland, but whatever... Now you can post things like specific abilities. For example...

Tell that to SquareEnix. Taking the medieval setting and bolstering it with all sorts of out of place characters and concepts is the best part of Final Fantasy.

I mean, really, I find it hard to believe that there would actually be honest to god magic users, working alchemy, actual psychics, guys that can kill dragons with their bare hands, and Asian warrior types in an actual Medieval European setting, either. But that's Final Fantasy for you. Simply having the standard four of fighter, mage, cleric, and thief, is a bit boring in my opinion.

But, I tend to get over-creative with my stuff anyway.


Anyway a more toned down team would be just as good, assuming we didn't run into a Hidden Super Boss. For the sake of efficiency, assume everyone has physical combat experience whatever their occupation. When I refer to guns, I mean the old flintlock type.

Alchemist
Uses natural herbs and chemicals for a wide range of uses, be it healing potions, acids, poisons, and explosives. Comes along to examine rare treasures and their secrets.
Uses a rifle and a knife.

Merchant
Miserly gold-hunter who assess the value and usefulness of all that junk that's found in the chests. Comes along to fill his pockets.
Uses pistols and a rapier.

Gladiator
Good armor and high strength make this guy ideal for fighting bigger creatures. Comes along cuz we're paying him and he likes to fight things. Its what he does.
Uses a claymore and heavy guantlets.

Rogue ("Ninja")
Stealthy, used to working in the dark, and has experience exploring the unknown, so he's basically the field leader.
Throwing knives and daggers.

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And behold, I saw a Pale Gaming System, and the name of he who rode it was Squaresoft, and Enix followed him.

*cracks knuckles* Yep, got a truckload just waiting for exposure. I try to balance each character, so I gave pros and cons across the board. I'm not sure if it's mandatory that the team be medievel, though the first one *is* an alien after all.

Maoa
Alien Super Space Commando - frontline offensive
Needs no weapons, cybernetic melee is all she needs
*Gung-ho: Attack-all at 5% HP cost
*Crush: 2x power attack and bind single target for 3 turns
*Commando-Strangle: Guess what this does
*Mangle: Censorship black boxes protect your eyes from what she does to target
Stats: No magic, great attack/defense, good speed

Kyp
String Magician - prediction is his game
Equips spool containing any stringlike composition: rope, yarn, lanyard, cable, etc
*Thread Barrier: Draws many threads to absorb next round of energy attacks on party
*Knot: 90% chance of finding enemy weakness
*Ball of Yarn: Setup auto-counter traps, auto-counter trigger conditions increase and compound with Kyp's level
*Tripwire: Draw razor-sharp threads, random auto-damage rest of round on target
Stats: Good magic, average all else

Nail
Demon Prince - a one-shot-attack class
Equips fans, orbs, jiwaras, seals
*Warrior: Convert all MP to attack power for rest of battle
*Vision: Enable 360 degree vision, doubles chance of evasion to everything, works once a battle, lasts 5 enemy turns
*Earth: Draw constant energy from ground, auto-heal 5% rest of battle
*Will: Control enemy 60% of own level and below
*Heaven: Convert all MP into one guaranteed, single hit
Stats: Great magic, poor attack/defense, average speed

Kijou
Saboteur - gradually wears down opponent in long battle
Equips files, rails, and pagodas
*Grind: Rail-only, dull enemy weapon, lowers enemy attack power greatly
*Edge-catch: File-only, auto-parry enemy weapon attacks, lowers enemy attack power slightly
*Trap-guard: Returns applied force manyfold, 50% auto-counter and destroy enemy attack power for 2 turns, if failed, own attack power is nothing for 2 turns
*Konsou-Nyoi: Attack-all at 2x power, costs 1/4 own HP
Stats: Poor magic, good attack, great defense, average speed

Shitashi
Star-Hand Kid - can only support party
Equips glass objects
*Luck: Auto-skill, random chance allies dodge any attack
*Amplify: Boosts ally stats, wears off in 2 turns
*Friendship: Heal party HP at no cost
*Morale: Restore party status at no cost
Stats: Average magic, poor all else

I don't mean to be a bit bossy, but how and why would some futuristic "heroes" be stuck in a medieval dungeon? It just seems really unlikely. This is anime, isn't it? I guess I should make it mandatory that the party be medieval, but guns seem to be in numerous games so I'll let that slide. I don't know wtf a "Star-Hand kid" is.

This post has been edited by Blizzard_Wizard8 on 27th March 2005 18:58

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Yunalesca: "Hope is...comforting. It allows us to accept fate, however tragic it might be. "

Yunalesca: "Poor creature. You would throw away hope. Well... I will free you before you can drown in your sorrow. It is better for you to die in hope than to live in despair. Let me be your liberator. "

Way to edit your first post and make it medieval. So maybe he's going a little Phantasy Star/Star Ocean instead of Final Fantasy/Dragon Warrior. He's doing what more than half of the posters here are doing: showing off characters he's designed. Why so "bossy?"

Edit

Read Sharkerbob's post below. The first three paragraphs are absolutely correct in the spirit of what I want to say.

This post has been edited by laszlow on 27th March 2005 20:04

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

I'm not trying to be difficult, either, but I don't think you specified a medieval setting from the beginning (but maybe I missed it, if so, sorry); simply saying dungeon crawler can cover anything from a medieval setting of swordsmen fighting skeletons to a caveman fighting off dinosaurs to psychic kid fighting off aliens to a Terminator fighting off Predators.

Plus, people's ideas of Medieval can vary. Are we talking medieval Europe? Medieval Japan? A post apocolyptic future where society has forced to revert back to a medieval/feudal society in order to survive? And either way, I think guns and explosives were at least on their way to development during Medieval times... it depends on where you think the cut off point lies between Medieval times and the Industrial Revolution.

And anyway, aren't demons and angels and golems and spirits considered part of medieval mythology? If you include magic, there's no reason not to use other concepts of the time. Why not have a demon, an angel, a ghostly warrior, and a magically animated suit of armor on your team? You know you would have little to worry about with them on your team. And if it is post-apocolyptic medieval, even things like aliens could be natural (I mean, if you can have monsters on your team, why not aliens?). And even if it was simply medieval Europe, think of all the stories involving time travel and dimensional shifts and otherworldly influence; you could still have machines and aliens running around, but the local townfolk, not understanding what they were seeing, could simply mistake them for some kind of monster species. Even simply saying "medieval" only clues us in on the structure of the society itself, not necesarily what kinds of creatures or warrior classes or the full extent of weapon technology of the time. There's still tons of ways to let your mind soar. So why not have fun with it?

On the other, things for people to consider:
Keep in mind, guys that if you're dungeon crawling, there's gunna be more things to worry about than simlpy fighting monsters (unless that's all your in it for). Your finding treasures, but likely can't carry them all with you. There's gunna be traps and trips and hidden passageways and such to worry about. So aside from simple combat powers, think of their practical uses during exploration. What kinds of "Map" abilities might they have? (Look to Wild ARMs and Breath of Fire series to see what I mean)


Ah, and Saint Weapon, your ideas are as crazy as my original group was going to be! I was gunna put down a Demon Warrior, an Angel Knight, a Superhero, and an alien Android... but I thought that was too far fetched.

Anyway, I'm not trying to be a prick, Blizzard_Wizard8, just that, I mean, its a fictional universe, you can basically come up with any excuse for any sort of character to exist, and people are gunna take advantage of that.

Now, if you were to say something to the effect of "If you were going to create a dungeon crawler party in a Final Fantasy 1 or Lord of the Rings type of world," that would probably be more on the lines of what you meant.

Okay, I'm zipping it now.

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And behold, I saw a Pale Gaming System, and the name of he who rode it was Squaresoft, and Enix followed him.

Yeah, I got carried off a little. Anyways, yeah I guess that guns are a little off, but tell that to Square(Chrono Trigger and Tactics). Aliens is a little too far ahead, but guns and such are okay for medieval. Angels, demons, spirits are good for fantasy, but when plundering dungeons? It's sortof a Dungeons and Dragons world, with a little Final Fantasy in it mostly.

This post has been edited by Blizzard_Wizard8 on 27th March 2005 23:47

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Yunalesca: "Hope is...comforting. It allows us to accept fate, however tragic it might be. "

Yunalesca: "Poor creature. You would throw away hope. Well... I will free you before you can drown in your sorrow. It is better for you to die in hope than to live in despair. Let me be your liberator. "

Here goes...

Knight
Swords, sheilds, and heavy armor
Sword skills: both magic-offensive sword attacks and equipment destroying and stat-reducing abilities
Stats: High HP/life power, above average physical attack and defense, and below-average magic power and defense

Sorcerer
Staves, swords (limited use), robes, and mantles
Pure magic for offense, defense, healing, and misc.
Stats: High MP/magic (or spirit) energy, above average magic power and defense, and below average HP/life power and physical attack and defense

Archer, Ranger, Sharpshooter (or something similar)
Bows and arrows or crossbows
Dead-on shooting accuracy and/or abilities similar to the Knight's skills but with a bow or a crossbow.
Stats: Average in all except above average in accuracy/dexterity/agility and below average in physical defense

Demon: A demon spawned from the abyss with the blessing of the angels to serve with the heroes/heroines. I picture a gigantic winged-demon using claws, physical strength, and magic powers in battle. As far as mingling with the crowd, he'll disappear, only to appear when the party either does battle, or randomly appear if not summoned by the Sorceror or from a magical artifact in possession of one of the other characters.
Stats: Above average in all stats.

To make it similar to most other posts, I'd replace my Demon with an Alchemist instead:

Alchemist
Daggers or throwing weapons and light or medium armor
Item: Uses items of restoration, reviving, and attacking items that have the effects of certain magic attacks.
Stats: Average in all.

My characters would be in their mid-to-late twenties-early-to-mid thirties or even late thrities or early forties. Names are drawing a blank for me right now.

This post has been edited by FabulousFreebird on 30th March 2005 06:03

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"Thought I was dead, eh? Not until I fulfill my dream!"
Seifer Almasy


"The most important part of the story is the ending."
Secret Window


"Peace is but a shadow of death."
Kuja

Note: This post contains rant. It's recommended the entire post be read before calling me on technicalities or misconduct. I'm not trying to be offensive, I'm trying to be thought-provoking. First is the rant, after which I treat you to a more thorough explanation of my team, why they should fit in to the Medieval setting, and humor (I hope you all share my sense of it anyway).

I honestly don't understand the hardcore adhesion to FFI/Lord of the Rings (henceforth referred to as D&D for brevity) style of RPG, we already have mermorable and great dungeon-faring parties in them.

I assumed medieval meant no technology, no literacy, no hygiene, feudalism, and a horticultural to peasant society. As soon as Rome fell, Europe fell into the Dark Ages, and in no way was this time period pleasant at all. Catholicism took over as the presiding authority over all Europe, even kings answered to the pope. Gradually things lightened up (less barbarism, chaos) for a while until the Rennaisance, but as my history professor once said "think Monty Python, where everyone is sitting around in shit and suddenly realize 'hey, we're covered in shit!" which made the Rennaisance.

Enough history, my point there was how unglamorous the era was. When you take that reality of how base the setting is, you have to see how much loftier D&D makes it to be. Adding magic is such a huge stretch from having only heresy and paganism. Knights (not crusaders) were supposed to be good, but most were bullies and brutes incapable of anything more than warfare, a far cry from the staple knight in shining armor archetype. Dragons is another huge liberty added into the mix. Originally dragons referred to the devil and his manipulation, so you can see the stretch from "Saint George slew the influence of the devil," to "Saint George slew a dragon." So already your D&D is taking quite a bit of liberties to convey a fantastic setting.

When you work in the realm of fantasy, you've crossed the reality line already. If you go this far, why can't you go further? It's not of the question for sorcery and dragons, but it's out of the question for demons and foreigners. Is that statement so true? You wish to base a setting on Medieval Europe, but you're not willing to include Africa and the Middle East as being neighbors. Heaven forbid Asia is thrown in there. Why isolate a pocket of the world? To maintain a single strain o fmythos? Ah, having a foreign traveler upsets the local balance. What happened to the Greco-Roman mythos then? Clearly they were first to make Europe a happening place, but no, it's taboo to include them in this isolated pocket of the world. The fact is, this Medieval Europe was, is, and always will be the same, untouchable setting that lasts 1000 years, 2000 years, and more, because folks thought that way without having to reject an entire pre-existing culture to define themselves as "not Roman." Is this wrong? No, it's just my take on making the pro-D&D argument.

Alright, I've established that we some sort of ground to base D&D off of, which included omission and story-retelling. This is where I have an issue. It's been done. You want something like it? something that's it? something the same? News flash, just go back to D&D. You cannot, absolutely cannot, ask everyone to adhere to that specification and come up with a party and expect everyone to come up with a party that is not knight-mage-healer-thief. You can't, because the moment someone does something different, it's not D&D anymore. "Whoa SaintWeapon, calm down, you don't need to attack Blizzard_Wizard!" are what all of you are thinking right now. I'm not attacking anyone, I'm attacking a specific half-logic. This entire thread isn't about making a custom party at all, it's about making an existing party more coherent to a dungeon. You can only agree to the party itself, and disagree on the mechanics of each character's ability is.

Granted there was misunderstanding, but this thread is now limited to discussing what this knight does, and what that healer can do. I'm sorry, but many of us have a hard time taking the Knight-Mage-Healer-Thief to the next level, guys that quit their jobs to dwell on this stuff have already taken that to the next level and beyond. Many of us do, however, have good ideas that are our own, not Gary Gygax's. Do you want to hear our own ideas on parties, or do you want to hear our ideas on Gary Gygax's party, Richard Garriot's party, or Hironobu Sakaguchi's party? Personally, I want to hear our own ideas on parties. I can just play FF or read D&D manuals for the latter ideas. This thread could just end up a bunch of guys sitting around going "Yep." because it's targeted toward something we may or may not meditate on as a science.

When I posted my party, I spent a good hour trying to balance the team. I also picked characters I felt were original. What do I mean by balance? In a game where several playable characters exist, it's easy for one character to be given too many or too little advantage. Just as Fighter can't stand alone against physically immune enemies, my characters can't last long solo. I had dungeon-crawling in mind, I really did. I pictured a team that spends months in the wilderness, underground, on mountains, and in deserts without any form of civilization. They all depend on survival, not flashiness, to overcome a variety of dangers. Beforehand, I decided to keep character declaration to a minimum. Allow me now to explain how each one contributes to the good of the team, as well as answer a few gripes on character design.

First let's take a good long look at Maoa. She, yes she, is labeled Alien Super Space Commando. How would she end up on Medieval-land? Who says intergalactic aliens of advanced technology don't monitor primitive worlds? Think Star Trek, or Star Wars, you end up with a few species that are technology backwards or total gatherer hunters much like our own world has modern and gathering-hunting societies. By sheer accident, she ends up in swords and sorcery territory. "But SaintWeapon, you said cyborg." Easy there Jimmy, I'm on it. See, if you must know, Maoa lost her arms and legs in war. She has cybernetics, and hides them with clothes, not pseudoskin. "But SaintWeapon, how alien does she look?" Well Jimmy, she fits right into swords and sorcery world because she looks like a draconian. When peasants see her, they don't think "alien" or "cyborg" they think "dragon." She doesn't have to, and is obliged not to, reveal her personal information to the party and us so readily. We're supposed to find that out in the ending.

Alright, I've rationalized the alien, now on to what she does. As you all can see, she's the physical powerhouse. No magic whatsoever, so already she's weak to half of the adventure's enemies. There, we got a pro and con. Her skills emphasize getting the job done ASAP, which means big damage in short time; a pro. In along-drawn out battle, her HP will eventually burn out; another con. She uses no equipment, and saves the team money; a pro. Without gear, she can't get stronger except by sheer experience; a con. Her cybernetic limbs are expendable; pro. Her cybernetic limbs are permanently lost if destroyed, as no repair exists; con. Her pure physical might can break rocks and steel; pro. Her cybernetics can short-circuit under extreme voltage; con.

Now we look at Kyp. Kyp is your weird role. He has little no stat advantage, so he's the average joe. However, a quick look at his skills means you're playing a game of exploitation, survival, and indirect offense. In high level play, it's hard for him to die; pro. His means of dealing damage and healing are quite small; con. He's a tactical bonus against long, wily battles; pro. He equips relatively cheap household items, pro. His equipment expends itself; con. He's handy in mountain climbing; pro. Sharp weapons and objects cut his strings a bit short; con.

To quickly put it, Nail comes from the demon world to scout out the human world, in this case the Medieval world. "But he's a demon prince!" Yes I know, demons are the bad guys to the lot of you, but this isn't an issue of good and evil. His kingdom is just like any other kingdom, and he opted to perfrom a risky venture, an ambassador almost. Once he's gathered enough research, he goes back home. What better way to gain info on the human world than travel with a bunch of adventurers?

When you osberve Nail, you see a real magic-user. His magic pwns Houdini, and his MP supply surpasses his HP. Alas, his abilities tend to leave him crippled in the long run; con. He can dole out huge damage to magic-weak enemies, roughly the other half of enemies Maoa can't beat; pro. He's a demon prince, but not a real demon (the faker!), so is half-weak to anti-demon attacks; con. His prestige gets him into all the cool places; pro. He doesn't like sunlight, so much that he is powerless in above-ground daylight; con. He's bishounen, sure to attract the ladies; pro. Some political big-shots hire assassins against him constantly; con. Oh, he's also a jerk (con), but the kind of jerk that rubs out other jerks (pro). "Orbs? Fans? Jiwaras? Seals? That's sissy stuff." Well, sissy or not, Nail is pretty... weak like that (lol). Actually, he varies his stats and skill power a little with each type of weapon; considerably useful. Orbs = magic boost, Fans = speed boost, Jiwaras = attacks given stun effect, Seals = attacks given mute status. Sadly, all of these sissy items are found in extravagant, rich people shops; tough con. One last thing, he's a rich blue-blood (doesn't carry money with him), so occassionaly big money falls in the team's lap.

Next up is my battle-favorite, Kijou, whose name literally means "rail." You might think "Oh, track rails?" He gets them from mines, so there . "Wouldn't such equipment slow him down?" It would, if he brandished them like a maniac. No, Kijou is a patient fellow, and has a terrific defensive game. It's just so gosh darn hard to land a hit on him, let alone kill him. Well, you're half right. His skills do cripple and outlast the enemy, but his files and rails only work on weapons, not bareknuckles, claws, or magic; a pro then con respectively. That big smack-em stick he uses has considerable mass, enough to put himself to the bottom of bodies of water; pro for picking up "pennies" and con because he can drown (oops). "What's a pagoda that he weilds?" Oh Jimmy, that's his super-duper weapon he sometimes gets that works like both a rail and file. Speaking of which, his style actually varies depending on his carrying a file or rail. Essentially, he can change his form of defense just from equipment, a valuable pro. However, acquiring two weapons gets very costly (con) and the party can't lug around his unused weapon (con).

Last we have the Star-Hand Kid, Shitashi (literally "friendship"). Why Star-Hand Kid? He was raised by monks and refused to give up his child last name (Shutendoji if you want to know), and got booted out. A little super-hero sounding, yes, but it really adds a popularity contest to the team. Plain and simple, this young dude is a wimp. Very. Wimpy. Add this to his bishy-goodness, and you can see why folks mistake him as being in a b/f-g/f relationship with Nail, though who they think is the g/f I cannot say. Alright, wimp? Con check. Bishy? Pro check. He doesn't suck at magic. Uh... Pro? OK. Where this kid shines is his skills, he's obviously the major healer of the team. Big freakin sweet pro. Too bad he almost can't ever take a hit, about 90% of the time he's hit, he's Dazed, like being KO-ed, but his HP isn't at 0 (con). His auto-skill is a necessity there, as it starts on him, and trickles down on the rest of the team, so frequently attacks on him will whiff out and he's safe; pro. Is he worth it? Dude, he's the only guy with a real team healing move, protect him at all freakish costs. Also, everyone likes him (pro), and he knows how to run from danger so well, enemy encounters are lessened (pro). Unfortunately, he can't travel long distances on foot; con.

As for age, it goes from oldest to youngest: Kijou, Maoa, Nail, Kyp, Shitashi. Kijou is almost middle-aged, so that seems like 35 to us, 28 with Medieval mortality. Maoa, an alien, isn't prone to human Medieval life expectancy, so her age in this world's reckoning is 26, and feels like 32 in our modern reckoning. Nail is 23 (28 to us), Kyp is 20 (25 to us), and the baby of the group, Shitashi, is 17 literally, and 21 to us.

Edit

I'll be honest, I'm sitting here in front of the monitor, and I find myself not changing the browser off of this forum, so I sort of sat at this thread a while. The rant just happens, not a provoked phenomenon, I felt impelled to investigate the subject as I composed the post, which took a good two hours, so responses happen in that time, to which I respond, and you see how I straddle the board today.

This post has been edited by SaintWeapon on 28th March 2005 05:39

Now was that really necessary? I thought your party was interesting, you had obviously put some thought into it and it certainly had a lot of originality. What I don't understand is the need for that long rant. No one was attacking your ideas or originality (unless someone PMed you, I guess) and Blizzard probably felt that because it was his topic he should make the rules (which is horrible logic and he should be reprimanded for it, but I don't feel like going medieval [pun intended] on his cybernetic alias). [sarcasm]The only beef I have with your party is that it's five people instead of four as mentioned in the hypothetical question [/sarcasm]. Come on, it's a net forum, people. Can't we just be friends and not sink to the level of the gamefaqs forae?

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

Yes, let us all forget this ever happened. Go on with your non-existant parties. I really don't give a fart about the futuristic parties anymore. I guess there could be futuristic dungeons/caves/etc. Nevermind... I'm going to close the topic if this happens again...

This post has been edited by Blizzard_Wizard8 on 30th March 2005 03:20

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Yunalesca: "Hope is...comforting. It allows us to accept fate, however tragic it might be. "

Yunalesca: "Poor creature. You would throw away hope. Well... I will free you before you can drown in your sorrow. It is better for you to die in hope than to live in despair. Let me be your liberator. "

Why is it that I end up killing threads?

No, really. Why? Some one else should put forth his ideas and rant, instead of all this hush-hush let's clam up stuff. Honestly, I wasn't angry one bit when I ranted. I just thought a great deal about something, typed it out, and presented reasons for what I said.

What would have happened had I not ranted whatsoever? Just the team elaboration would've been it, would that have produced the same result out of you? I'm surprised you guys let a topic die so easily. Guys, I like this thread, it made me think. Don't you ever get that from a thread?

Alright here does...

Elven Warrior/Mage
Human Paladin
Minotaur Wargod
Human Thief

I'd go into more detail but I'm currently in a class. I will say that all four use swords, the elf and the minotaur use two each. Long live swords! Brain Clevinger's Fighter would be proud of my sword-filled party.

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This is my world: (Got my second chapter up, 3rd Chapter about 80% complete)
http://www3.sympatico.ca/daniel876/homepage.html

Another user shamelessly posts characters from a video game he's working on....

Party #1:

Jack - "Jack of all Trades", the main character, I've decided that he can add another person's ability to one of his own. Got a problem with that? Well, I want the MAIN CHARACTER to be as enjoyable as possible!
Equips: Swords and eventually the Clemensword

(I tried writing a serious game years ago, and looking back on it, I find it silly, and now I'm writing an RPG spoof...in fact, using characters from my old idea! It should be noted there is a HEAVY influence from Star Wars in this. In fact, there's something called "The Power", with a good and evil side, that rules their world)

Why bother telling this? It explains Jack's 2 special abilities....

Light : Jack draws upon his good to fight the enemy, cause positive status effects to help out his allies, and use sword attacks with his magical, Frecnh, talking sword, Clemensword.
Darkness: Jack draws upon his evil to fight the enemy and cause negative status effects. CON: Causes Jack to lose HP, and there will be a Darkness bar..if it gets full, he's consumed with Darkness and fight his allies.

And his third ability can be filled with any other party member's aility that he's learned (part of this is not being able to think up a third ability, and trying to make him more versatile).

Violet - The "Cleric" Without Borders, Jack's girlfriend, stereotypical healer girl.
Equips : Staves

Healing: Just what the name implies, healing magic to aid her allies.
Care : Provides quicky & easy emergency care to allies by healing them with any available potions.
Prayer: Prays to God to increase her healing power.

Steven - "Magician", One of Jack's 2 best friends, the king's nephew who's behind in his studies at magic university.
Equips : Rods, Guitars

Magic: Uses all varities of magic to aid his allies, manipulate elements, and cause status effects to his enemies.
Study: Studies from a textbook to increase his magic power.
Play: Plays a random song on guitar to harm enemies or help himself out.

Linus - "Lynxman", Half lynx/half man and martial arts master, the other of Jack's 2 best friends, comes from a simple family which puts him at odds with Steven.
Equips : Brass knuckles or his fists

Animal Arts: Uses various martial arts moves, each named after an animal.
Enrage : In a state where his defense drops, but each attack he sustains increases his physical attack.
Focus: Focuses his energies into scoring a critical hit.

Party #2 :

Kevin - "Thief" and Merchant who joins after selling the group a phony crystal, pledging to protect them from ever being conned again (by anyone but him!)

Steal: What good theif doesn't steal? Steals an item from an enemy, and from certain enemies, their identity.
Identity: After having stolen an identity from an enemy, you can assume it from there on in other battles. Gives Kevin the enemy's abilities.
Throw: Throws a weapon at the enemy.

Oleander - "Holy Crusader" - a mixture of Obi Wan, Orlandu, Lancelot - and Don Quixote!
Equips : Swords from all over, only character to wield 2 weapons.

Holy Roller - The divine hand of God blesses Oleander's sword with attacks to trump his enemies.
Light Mgc.- God's bleesed magic aids party members with healing and stat increases.
Guardian - Oleander takes damage for a specified character.

Rose - "Scaveneger", Desert woman who fights to protect her people.
Equips : Bows & arrows

Hunt - Targets certain areas of enemies to cause weakness (power break, speed break...)
Concentration - Concentrates mind to increase accuracy with her bow.

Gareth - "Psychic Warrior" and time traveller who once worked for the villians.
Equips : Guns

Telekenisis - One of 2 mind powers. Causes status effects of the mind, and uses powerful, landscape altering mind attacks.
Telpathy - 2nd mind power. Hurls various, random objects at enemy.

I haven't put as much thought into the last 2 as I have the others. I'm open to comments ( unlike others here...) and I'm willing to know what you think. If someone has a good, I might use it!



Trust me...my games all about other people's ideas...

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"I have long enjoyed the friendship and companionship of Republicans because I am by instinct a teacher, and I would like to teach them something." - Woodrow Wilson

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." - JFK

Well, Hamedo might identify with my group setup.

Ranger
Male, early forties
Tracking is as natural as breathing for this character, as does tact. Nature is a mass of systematic balances, and through years of observation and interaction, he can use these balances to his own advantage. His HP/MP aren't the greatest, but the evade and skill worth makes up for it. Can use swords with decent proficiency, but is better with guns.

Gunslinger
Male, early forties
A man who straddles the line between justice and self-loathing, the gunslinger is a dead-eye marksman who has skills that branch out into other fields. HP excels more than MP or magical defence, but the attack and speed are always above ordinary. Guns are used with extraordinary skill, much moreso than any other weapon; however, projectile-type weapons still do more damage than usual due to the keen sense of sight he has.

Landslayer
Male, early thirties
Using natural, earthen components as shields and spears, the landslayer is a great indirect combat engineer. He can cause upheavals in the ground or erect landforms to deter approaching enemies--and all from one spot. He excels only in speed, luck, and defence, but if he uses his cards right, he won't need anything else. Landslayers use guns and harps when they need arises.

Status Knight
Male, late twenties
Encumbering qualities come and go at the man's beckon call, and the enemies fear him for this reason. An attacker with both presence and ability, the versatile status knight acts as a bodyguard, defending the frontlines as well as preventing those who would reach the backlines. Swords and shields are standard issue for said class, but spears and katanas are used with distinct force. HP and Defence are this man's weapons, with Evade, MP, and Luck rising at a step above mediocre.

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It's gonna be a glorious day
I feel my luck can change

I would have:

Knight
Monk
Dragoon
White Mage

I do not like magic I rather rely on attacks but I just need a White Mage to heal and protect my attackers.

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War is for the participants a test of character; it makes bad men worse and good men better. - Joshua Chamberlain

U sir R a n00b >:-( - Cactuar

All this derives from universe I've been dreaming up for a few years. Everyone has the power to manipulate raw energy and turn it into a powerful, unique attack, called energy-casting. Actually, more complicated than that, but that description will suffice. And it fits most of the medieval settings, though these classes are inherently a lot more powerful than the standard stuff you'd see in "traditional" games. And therefore the monsters/demons in this universe were scaled up accordingly.

Keiran Everlight, Divinity Knight
Age: 25
Weapon: Knight Sword
Armor: Heavy Armor
Natural leader. Well-balanced between offense and defense, swordplay and energy-casting. Less of the "jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none" stereotype and more of powerful fighter or defender specializing in a select few, favorite techniques.

Tyris Basrath, Blade Knight
Age: 27
Weapon: Broad Sword, Knight Sword, any sword, really.
Armor: Heavy Armor
A warrior bred for offensive mastery. Skilled in a variety of sword techniques and close-quarters combat in general, therefore making him the king of melee battles. He makes up for his vulnerabilities to energy-casting and lack of mastery in that field in general by being incredibly agile.

Kara Basrath, Caster Knight
Age: 25
Weapon: Sabers, Rapiers
Armor: Medium Armor
The opposite of a Blade Knight. Capable of using high-level casting techniques in a pinch, and can easily create a formidable energy barrier for defense. Swordplay is only average, though, constituting refined training in the basic forms. Can energy-cast weapons to make them more powerful, but this skill is weakened if not cast on her own weapon.

Dean Crestbearer, Prism Knight
Age: 33
Weapon: Anything
Armor: Light-Medium Armor
Opposite of a Divinity Knight. More of the stereotypical "jack-of-all-trades" warrior. Can use any weapon at all and can energy-cast in a wide-variety of forms and elements. Good analyzer and strategic planner. Can cover the shortcomings of any of the other classes, but cannot function optimally alone. Ideal support member.

I've decided to remake my classes because they seemed too bread-and-butter. I like variety and differencial classes and such.

Knight
Age: 22(M)
Weapons: Swords, Greatswords, Spears, Axes, Greataxes, Maces, Hammers, Pick-axes, Bows
Armor: All except Hide, Bone and Cloth
Stats: High HP, Attack, Strength, Stamina, average Dexterity, Armor, low Mana, Intelligence
Abilities: Flurry, Power Swing, Dual-Wield, Counter-attack, Aura of Valor(+EXP), Aura of Wounds, Shield Bash, Multi-Fire, Critical Shot
Your basic party tank. He can take and absorb damage. Also has some useful bow abilities.

Alchemist
Age: 21(F)
Weapons, Swords, Rods, Staves, Maces, Bows
Armor: All except Hide, Bone, Heavy, and Extreme
Stats: High Mana, Dexterity, Intelligence, average Stamina, low HP, Strength, Damage, Armor
Abilities: Fireball, Chain Lightning, Cone of Cold, Poison Needle, Summon Golem, Throw Potions, Make Potion, Golem Explosion, Tar Slick
Basic party spellcaster. She brings a little more to the table. She turns items into gold at higher price, can throw potions for damage, and create a golem that fights for you.

Berserker
Age: 24(F)
Weapons: Unarmed, Daggers, Throwing Knives/Spears, Claws
Armor: Hide, Bone, Light, Durable, Medium
Stats: High Strength, Dexterity, Damage, average HP, Armor, low Mana, Armor, Intelligence
Abilities: Ravage, Rend(bleeding damage), Sprint(ups running speed), Dual-Wield, Savage Strike(critical+), Call of the Wild(ups party damage)
Although she's another fighter class, she causes the most damage with weapons and throwing weapons as well.

Druid
Age: 26(M)
Weapons: Swords, Greatswords, Spears, Axes, Maces, Hammers, Bows
Armor: Light, Hide, Durable, Medium, Heavy
Stats: High Mana, Intelligence, average HP, Strength, Dexterity, Damage, Armor, Stamina
Abilities: Mend Wounds, Healing Aura, Mana Aura, Clinging Vines, Thorny Decoy, Tempest, Stone Storm, Thunder Strike, Breath of the North, Bee's Sting, Werebear.
Not your average priest/cleric class. He can hold his own in battle with weapons and powerful weapons. He can transform into creatures and summon them, as well.

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Yunalesca: "Hope is...comforting. It allows us to accept fate, however tragic it might be. "

Yunalesca: "Poor creature. You would throw away hope. Well... I will free you before you can drown in your sorrow. It is better for you to die in hope than to live in despair. Let me be your liberator. "