Scarlet Flames

Roleplaying Games are full of these - Stereotypes of RPG Classes that we have all heard of and seen of before a million times - Knights that use Swords, Mages that cast Elemental Magic, Elves that are Archers. I am looking into breaking these stereotypes in one of my games. I want to hear Unique ideas from various people on Character Classes or Archetypes or whatever you would like to call them, While still remaining faithful to the default RTP Resources as much as possible (What i mean is nothing too weird and surreal that the Imagined "Character Class" can't be made in RPG Maker with default RTP Resources). Any of your Ideas are welcome. Mention your idea in this Example format : Class : Pirate Brawler Weapon : Cursed Gauntlets Passive : The Pirate Brawler being an Agile Fighter punches 2 times for every Basic Attack Ability : His special Ability is releasing the energy sealed up in his Cursed Gauntlets to Curse a Random Enemy with an Extremely Powerful Bleeding Status Ailment that bleeds the enemy to death in 2 ~ 3 Turns. He also gains Increased Critical Rate for a few turns when this Ability is triggered. Unique Gear : He uses a Chain Mail Armor meant to defend against Melee and Ranged attacks. He also wears a Magic Amulet that he won from another Pirate, That grants him Immunity to Water elemental Spells while granting him Bonus Attack.

Well, Everyone prefer to do things differently. Here are the 5 Step I would recommend : Step 1 -> Plan Main Aspects of your Game -> Plan the Story Let's say, You want to make a simple game based on Medieval Theme where a Heroic Knight who goes on an Adventure to slay a Dragon -> Main Characters Hero 1 : A Human Knight Hero 2 : An Elf Mage Now expand further on their Skills, Traits, Goals and Life Story as and when you wish. -> Plan the "Flow of Game" Knight starts at Town -> Heads to Inn -> Finds Elf Mage -> Knight & Elf Mage Wander through Forests -> Find Weapon Upgrades -> Reach Dragon Mountain -> Slays the Dragon -> Return to Town as Heroes Plan elements within each of these Sub-Aspects if necessary. Knight starts at Town -> What kind of Town ? What are NPCs in Town ? How is the Knight treated by NPC around him ? Heads to Inn -> Is there anything Interesting in Inn ? What will Knight do at Inn ? How will Knight find the Elf Mage ? Knight & Elf Mage wander through Forests -> Why do they head to Forests ? Is there anything blocking their path ? What Monsters do they encounter ? Find Weapon Upgrades -> Will these be at Beginning or End of Forests ? What Bonus do they offer ? How will they help in Future Battles ? Reach Dragon Mountain -> What makes Dragon Mountain unique ? Do they encounter anything else before the Dragon ? Are there secret treasures hidden ? Slays the Dragon -> Will Dragon transform Mid Battle ? How will the Dragon Battle offer a unique Challenge ? Should it focus more on Battle or Story ? Returns to Town as Heroes -> How is the Knight treated now compared to earlier ? Does this require a Cut Scene or a Screen ? Should a Credit Screen follow ? Step 2 -> Have all the Maps ready Don't be shy to use Pre-made Maps if its you first game. You can start linking the Pathways of all the "Entry" and "Exit" points of the Maps. Also make sure to plan any Roadblocks on any Maps. The reason I tell you to work on the Maps first before Database is because many Players feel exhausted by the time they finish planning the Database and totally abandon the Project when they realize how hard Mapping really is. So you finish the Hard things first. Step 3 -> Start working on the Database You can work with very small numbers in single or double digits for all Stats, or go with the Pre-made values, Whatever you wish. Now go ahead and fill up the Database. Keep the Database contents count Minimal but simple. Even if you have made just 2 Skills for each Character, 3 Weapons, 5 Armor, 5 Items, 3 Enemies and a Boss that are Unique in your Database, Be proud of it !!! Its way better than making 10 times as many and ending up not finishing them or ending up giving them boring or identical stats. Step 4 -> Eventing, Play Testing & Bug-Fixing At this point, You should have all the Maps and Database sections completed. Finish off the Maps with any Eventing, like giving the NPCs any dialogue, Setting up Shops, Eventing any Roadblocks that requires key items, Setting up Treasure Chests, Setting up Cutscenes etc. Also, This is the right time to go back and re-check your Database and Balance your Battles (By repeated battles with various Gear against various enemies), If your Game uses a Battle system. Once you feel your whole game is set, You can start Play-testing your game, Which means Playing your Game from Start to End. Don't be shy to have a Notepad around and take quick notes on anything you forgot to include or Bugged aspects of your game that you encounter while play-testing. This process is harder than it seems, Will take up most of your time. Its your Game so its only fair that you play test it first, Before letting others try it. Step 5 -> Improve Aspects of your Game, Get Feedback Share your game with others and get feedback, Reduce Resources and remove any Content you deem unnecessary in your Game at his point. Even the Smallest games that have made and has been thoroughly playtested will mostly likely still have many Bugs, So share and get feedback from others on what you did wrong, What you could have done better, Before releasing the Game in its original form. This is how i approach making my Games. Remember, Quality > Quantity. A Game with just a single map and a Functional and Interesting Story & Gameplay and Minimal Content is Infinitely superior to a Game with 100 Maps and a Boring Story and Imbalanced Gameplay with a ton of Content.

If you mean Drawbacks, I would restrict them only to Gear (Armor, Weapons and Accessories) and try my best not to make Skills that have Drawbacks. Most of your examples seem like you are adding a Drawback just for the sake of it. Instead, Try thinking of reasons to add them for a reason and make them more rewardng for the Player. Also, Think of ways so that Player can negate the Drawback. Example of a Badly planned Drawback on a Buff Skill : Convert 50% Defense to 50% Attack. This Buff is bad !!! Why ? Because it makes Player lose Defense for Attack and grants nothing else in return. Attack alone isn't much of a reward, You need a Greater Reward to use this Buff. Also, Knowing balance in RPG Maker Games, Players would end up dying or come close to dying. This is not a good feature. Rework to make it a more Fun and Rewarding Skill : Convert 50% Defense to 50% Attack. Unique Feature : Your Attacks always Critically Strike and you regenerate 5% HP every Turn. This Buff is good !!! Why ? It not only makes the Loss of 50% Defense seem like its nothing, It also offers Crazy damage potential with its "Criticallt strike always" Feature and at the same time, address the problem of Lost defense by regenerating some of your HP. This would mean Player is tempted to use this Buff more, Even if they have to lose the defense. Further, You can even design armor based on granting 50% Bonus Defense for that specific character to completely negate this effect when using the Skill. Remember, Drawbacks should be fun for the Player and should make their experience great, Not feel like a pain. You can also look up things like Skill Warmups, Cooldown Reduction and Restricting skills to few times in Battle to set limitations on Powerful skills. So use your Imagination, Make your skills Fun, Extremely Rewarding and force your Player to actually use these skills and feel Glad, Not Ragequit out of frustration because of Drawbacks !

Thanks, I am going to try this and see how it goes

The Battles.. I'm a great fan of Battle systems and Skills. These 2 are the first thing i notice in any game. If the Battle system is good, Even there isn't a good story line, I would be willing to give it a try.

Log Horizon + Sword Art Online.. That will keep you occupied for a Lifetime