lonequeso

^^ Yeah, that's essentially my worry. I do think it's possible to make an RPG with no leveling or at least so far from the traditional method it feels unique to the player. The simplest, most straightforward, method would be more a dungeon crawl. Here's your characters and their abilities. Figure out how to use them to progress through the dungeon. Enemies wouldn't really get stronger in terms of stats, but would require more planning and strategy to defeat. That would be a good jumping off point.

Interesting concept. I see lots of god ideas on how to implement. I like the idea of ability swapping though you may want to have some limits or cost on how often the player can do so. Tinkering around with different combos is great and should be encouraged as strategy is the obvious focal point. However if the player has basically unlimited, unhindered access to a huge move pool, it can make the game a little too easy. It would be hard to develop skills and enemies in such a way that multiple combinations wouldn't be just as effective. One exception would be puzzle bosses where only one or maybe two very specific strategies are the only way to beat them. If you're ditching levels, personally, I'd also ditch a lot of gear, too. Or at least their stats. I'd make them focus more on passive bonuses. Having the player work to get better and better gear would be tant amount to level grinding. There can still be tiers that give larger and/or more bonuses, but not to jack up the player's defense stats. If that's the route you go, enemies wouldn't really get stronger stat-wise as the player progresses. If they did, the stat difference could easily become so skewed that strategy becomes irrelevant and the player dies horrible, horrible deaths. I'm a huge fan of customizable stats so I'm always okay with it being a feature. However, if the player earns them throughout the game, that to is tant amount to leveling up. One solution would be to let the distribute stat points at the beginning and never or very seldom get additional points. There should also be a way to redistribute them in case the player does a terrible job and ends up with characters that are doomed from the start. Then again, if you're game is really, really well balanced, there would be a winnable strategy with any type of stat distribution. Actually being able to achieve that would be a tall order though. There's lots of things to tinker around with especially with abilities. My only advice would be if you're trying to make a game truly devoid of character levels, stay away from features that would serve as leveling by proxy.

Multiple playthroughs. For starters, it just makes more sense from a realism point of view. More importantly, it put a lot more value on the choices the player makes. That will give the player a better overall experience. You should give the player at least some idea of what the rewards are so they're not just blindly picking one, and of course, each guilds challenges and rewards should be as unique as possible.

Interesting idea, but far more complex than I want to make things especially considering I have zero talent for scripting. I'm not trying to shift paradigms here. I just want to make something fun to play. The Party Meter and basic battle system do what you're describing anyway though it doesn't drive theme home as much.Well balanced skills and classes naturally create harmony.

Thanks, Shiggy! This one is going to be developed in MV. I browsed around, and there's plug ins that will be able to do everything I want. Yanfly has a unique Party Limit script that I'm going to use in place of TP. Same concept as I laid out, different method.

I added in some details on the characters. Pretty basic so far, but a solid foundation. Characters The player’s party consists of four members throughout the entirety of the game. They are childhood friends from the starting town, Hanover. They are as close to family as one can be without being blood related. More so, this group of friends represents a four piece band. One of those bands that survives the test of time and overcome every challenge that comes their way. Friends, family, comrades, brothers, and sisters. They are all of these. Actor 1: Name: Cory Class: Singer: Normal attacks are based on MAT stat. Nature and Ethereal elements. Bio: Kindhearted, but bullheaded and quick to anger. He prefers to solve his problems with force whether it be fists or just yelling really really loud. He has an abrasive personality, but once you get past that steel exterior you will find him to be incredibly caring, compassionate, and fiercely loyal. He is the type pf person that will take a bullet for you without hesitation. Actor 2: Name: Brian Class: Guitarist: Normal attacks are based on ATK stat. Lightning and Wind elements Bio: No one will ever say he lacks confidence. He is fearless and often cavalier when confronted with just about any problem. He loves to dress flashy and be the center of attention. His intense bravado usually backfires, and people don’t take him seriously. He can often hear people talking and snickering behind his back yet he is determined to walk his own path and do it in style. Actor 3 Name: Melissa Class: Bassist: Normal attacks are based on ATK stat. Ice and Entropy elements Bio: Most people think she’s a total weirdo, her friends included. Maybe it has something to do with her fascination with death. She is a poster child for emo chicks everywhere. She has naturally pale skin, dark black hair, and dark, liquored eyes. She loves to dress in black and has a very dark, often morose sense of humor. Once you get past the weirdness, she is one of the most kind and compassionate people you’ll ever meet. She cares deeply about her friends, but good luck getting her to admit it. Actor 4: Name: Dave Class: Drummer: Normal attacks are based on MAT stat. Fire and Physical elements Bio: He doesn’t talk much. Most things don’t interest him enough to bother. His indifference makes cats blush. He always seems distant and unengaged. Just another face in the crowd, but every so often he’ll catch you off guard with a deep insight just when you think he has you completely tuned out. Even his friends don’t really know exactly what his interests are. Except for pizza. He loves pizza.

I'd say probably 20-30. It depends on how long the game is, how unique the skills are, and how they're acquired and organized. 100 seems pretty steep even if the player can ever unlock a fraction of them in a single play through. With 100 skills, some are bound to be redundant. You don't need three different Fire spells with similar damage and targeting. You also don't need skills that become obsolete as the player levels and gains better ones. Good scaling with the damage formula and skill cost can allow those early skills to still be effective. Less power, but still can do enough damage e to be worth it as well as having a lower cost. Perfect for those situations where the player needs to manage skill points as well as when the job can be done with a bullet instead of a nuclear missile. That scaling alone will make it unnecessary to have a multitude of skills. There is such a thing as too much micromanagement. Having little wrinkles in skill effects and targeting can be useful, but at some point you just end of with a bunch of skills that are basically the same, and there's really no clear tactical advantage between them. If you're using a skill tree ,newer RPG players may also become frustrated when they realize they've wasted skill points on a clone. Finally, how cluttered are the menus going to be? Say there's 100 skills per actor, and the player can only ever access 50 of them through a single playthrough. So far it sounds like you have just two menus. That's 25 skills in each. That's seems like it'd be overwhelming for a lot of people. I love RPGs for the strategies and customization, but realistically, I'm only using a handful of those based on my play style and everything else is just clutter. I was actually playing a game like that. One of the actors had a Blue Mage type skill where she could learn both other party members and monster skills. Her skill menus are pretty cluttered and I usually only use a handful of those skills. Adding more menus can make things too complex, too. It's very wishy washy with that many skills, and, again, you probably could get by with a lot less of them.