Aron Times Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 Your character is a perfectly ordinary person with no special powers and no relevance to the plot. However, your possible companions are all special in some way, and it's up to you to resolve their internal and external issues before going back to your village/shop/mansion/old life. Example companions... Companion 1: A godlike with reality warping powers that she isn't aware of. Companion 2: A cipher who's part of a benevolent conspiracy. Companion 3: A time traveling rogue whose boss is secretly her future self. Companion 4: An animat wizard who looks completely human. Cookies for those who got the reference. Okay, so the companions ate a joke. But the main idea still stands. It'd be a massive RPG subversion for your toon to be completely ordinary, 3
Katarack21 Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) A one-off animancy experiment whose like a cipher, except instead of a focus pool he has a mana pool that slowly regenerates over time and some unique powers. That would be an awesome companions for PoE 2. Edited April 7, 2015 by Katarack21
Katarack21 Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 Pillars of Eternity 2: Farming edition. Svef: Where To Grow It and How To Process It 1
Fearabbit Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 A godlike with reality warping power could be anybody. Completely lost here. Companion 2 reminds me of The Incrementalists, which probably isn't what you're referring to. Companion 3... I got that reference, yay! Companion 4 sounds like R. Daneel Olivaw but he would probably be a Cipher instead of a wizard, so... again, probably not what you're referring to. (So what are the references? I'm curious now.) As for a normal protagonist - yes, please! There are too many CRPGs where your main character is somehow special. The worst ones are those where you're special because you're the reincarnation of someone special. That basically just lessens anything you do in the game, it makes me feel less special actually. (Haven't finished PoE yet, so no spoilers please. If it turns out that this reincarnation thing is part of the protagonist's story in PoE, I'll definitely furrow my brow a bit. But so far my main character is defined by his actions and not by his soul, and that is something I like.)
Katarack21 Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 Companion 2 reminds me of The Incrementalists, Great ****ing book. 1
evensong Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) I dunno man, I prefer universes where I start off as a completely normal dude that turns out to be special in some way. You just never know where those end up! Will I be humble and return to my farming/blacksmithing roots, or become a benevolent king? Maybe I'll even win The Hunger Games? The choices are virtually endless. Edited April 7, 2015 by evensong "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." -Marcus Aurelius
Aron Times Posted April 7, 2015 Author Posted April 7, 2015 A godlike with reality warping power could be anybody. Completely lost here. Companion 2 reminds me of The Incrementalists, which probably isn't what you're referring to. Companion 3... I got that reference, yay! Companion 4 sounds like R. Daneel Olivaw but he would probably be a Cipher instead of a wizard, so... again, probably not what you're referring to. (So what are the references? I'm curious now.) As for a normal protagonist - yes, please! There are too many CRPGs where your main character is somehow special. The worst ones are those where you're special because you're the reincarnation of someone special. That basically just lessens anything you do in the game, it makes me feel less special actually. (Haven't finished PoE yet, so no spoilers please. If it turns out that this reincarnation thing is part of the protagonist's story in PoE, I'll definitely furrow my brow a bit. But so far my main character is defined by his actions and not by his soul, and that is something I like.) From left to right: Companion 4 - Yuki Nagato. Actually an alien in a human shell. Stoic. Rational. Main Character - Kyon. Real name unknown, the only normal person in the main cast. Maybe. The sole viewpoint character of the novels, which are written entirely in first person perspective. Everything that happens in the books happens before him. Clever. Rational. Companion 1 - Haruhi Suzumiya. A teenage girl with literal godlike powers that she is completely unaware of (her human mind is willfully blind towards the weirdness that her powers causes). Essentially a Mary Sue. Reality revolves around her subconscious whims. Aggressive. Passionate. Before meeting Kyon, Cruel. Companion 2 - Itsuki Koizumi. A powerful psychic and founder of a grand conspiracy whose goal is to monitor Haruhi and keep her from destroying reality. Ambiguous age. Deceptive. Diplomatic. Companion 3 - Mikuru Asahina. A time traveler sent on a mission to the past (present day Japan). Unbeknownst to her, she is taking orders from her older self, who possibly brainwashed her into loyalty to keep her from revealing "Classified Information." "Present" Mikuru is Benevolent and Honest (maybe). "Future" Mikuru is Deceptive and Rational (maybe). Ambiguous age as well.
Brinx Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 So you're proposing Mass Effect 2 without the main plot, right?
Katarack21 Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 So you're proposing Mass Effect 2 without the main plot, right? But with all the sex and violence. So basically Mass Effect 3. 1
sorophx Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 oh, at first it sounded kind of cool, reminded me of Wizard of Oz and Star Wars, but then I saw the anime pic 1 Walsingham said: I was struggling to understand ths until I noticed you are from Finland. And having been educated solely by mkreku in this respect I am convinced that Finland essentially IS the wh40k universe.
Fearabbit Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) Okay, correction: I totally did not get the reference for Companion 3. I thought you were dreaming up a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen type of group with main characters from different fantasy/sci-fi books. Edited April 7, 2015 by Fearabbit
Kimuji Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 Whaaaat, Boogaloo Shrimp will be in PoE 2? Breakin' news.
Kriber22 Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 As long as it includes the title "Electric Boogaloo", I'm on board with anything.
SeekDWay Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) PoE 2: Electric Boogaloo MMO Edition I liked the Haruhi reference, even if I hated the series. Edited April 7, 2015 by SeekDWay Derpdragon of the Obsidian OrderDerpdragons everywhere. I like spears. No sleep for the Watcher... because he was busy playing Pillars of Eternity instead.
Shadow_Arms Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 well im pooping a bit of rules here, but here's my concept for 3 companions Companion 1: The Adra Dragon/Falanroed, Class Paladin, Race: High Elf - a Immortal Dragon who spent her new life learning about the world with her new and young body, that once belonged to a legendary Dragon Hunter, now she is trying to find peace with her former and new self(Lawful Neutral, Chaotic Good or Lawful Evil depending of how do you solve her quest, and how you treat her) Companion 2: Johann Cassitus, Class Priest, Race: Moon Godlike - A Veteran Knight of the Crucible who is traveling around the world in a mission to investigate the Engwithan machines that caused the Waidwen's Legacy and more about his race(Lawful Good) Companion 3: Sydnae, Class Ranger, Race: Human - A Relic Hunter Working for the Valian Republics, her father disappeared after a job when she was young and her mother died a year later at the hands of unknown assassins, years later she discovered that her father was working for the Aedyan Empire who discovered the location of an old Engwhitan superweapon, now Sydnae is trying to discover his fate and the location of this weapon.(Neutral Good)
scrotiemcb Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 Companions can be pretty much anyone as long as they're witty or otherwise interesting - it's a good place for writing staff to dump their best one-liners and short speeches. You don't need these huge backstories or huge goals. Essentially, take the cast of Archer (the cartoon), dress them like a Renaissance fair, maybe add a pinch of pathos and you're good. It is the villains which deserve the extra work. (Potential) villains are the characters that the player tries and sentences in the courtroom of their heads, and thus adding depth to make the trial as interesting as possible is what a good game tends to do. A lot of the appeal of Final Fantasy 7 was forged by a slow exposition on the genesis of its villain, and Bioshock IMHO completely nails it with Andrew Ryan. It is probably no coincidence that the most popular Chrono Trigger companion was one set up to be an adversary, not an ally. So in short: no need to focus on companion or hero backstories so much, focus on villains instead, and Eder is awesome.
WebShaman Posted April 7, 2015 Posted April 7, 2015 The next villian should make Irenicus weep with envy. Spirithold, here we come! Shadows of Eternity! Hehe... Only to culminate in Throne of Spirits! Yup. And in Watcher's Keep, you get to battle the Super-secret God-diety itself! Word.
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