Hello Project Eternity,
As this game is being designed to echo classics like Baldur's Gate, it should be safe to speculate about ways to make those games better - thereby making Project Eternity better, should these improvements be realized in game.
Something that always bothered me in the Baldur's Gate series was the highly restrictive party size. But, not in the way you may be thinking. Six adventurers (five companions and the protagonist) is perfect for your standard party. Six gives room for ample banter, mixing and matching of abilities, and tactical combat. But, how about when you and your five friends come upon one additional person in the depths of a dungeon. This person cannot escape without you. In Baldur's Gate, you had to say, "sorry, I just can't take you along right now," or "Sure, but current companion, please stay here." I hated this.
A few examples of this include Xan, in the Nashkell Mines, and Yeslick in the Cloakwood Mines. Xan is left to be eaten by Kobolds and Yeslick will undoubtedly be drowned, if you do not take them along. I would actually leave one of my companions outside of the mines, pick up Xan or Yeslick, drop them off somewhere, and then retrieve my initially dropped companion. Yikes, way too much work.
Here is what I propose: Make the six party limitation a soft cap, as opposed to a hard one. In the case of Xan or Yeslick, allow the party size to expand to 6+1 for the duration of that quest. Upon escaping from the mines, just to continue with those examples, have dialogue initiate forcing you to make a decision regarding who you will keep.
If there is no specific quest related to the NPC, incorporate a +1 that is time based. Maybe, one 30 minutes, real life time – before a triggered dialogue begins. This would give players a chance to see the new person’s skills, learn a bit more about them, and then decide if they would fit into the party. As it stands, one would need to have played through the game beforehand or have read an NPC summary to know if the character would be a good fit. To prevent system abuse, I might have the soft cap restricted to +1 (so no parties of +2, +3, +4, if coordinated to take on a challenging boss, for example).
The flexibility to temporarily take on an additional companion would provide more realistic resolutions for scenarios like I outlined above (with Xan and Yeslick) and would give players the chance to test drive a new companion prior to having them join up.
Please let me know if you agree or disagree! I would love to hear some feedback on this idea.