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For a while now, I've wondered about how one could introduce new elements into Fire Emblem's weapon system. It's really quite a closed system that's been balanced and rebalanced countless times; adding a new weapon or type of fighter wouldn't be easy at all, especially with concerns for logical justifications and interaction with other mechanics. So this is a thread for me to throw out a couple of ideas I had about how to integrate new weapons/fighting styles into FE. Anyone can comment on my ideas, expound upon them, or propose alternatives. I just bounced these ideas off of a friend and he suggested I make this thread to get my ideas out there, gather critiques, and just get some thought going. Fists The first idea is about fighters that actually don't use a weapon at all, but prefer straight-up fisticuffs. Brawlers, or what Final Fantasy would call a Monk. -The obvious problem with these units is simple: other units are going to keep obtaining better weapons and grow stronger much faster than a fighter using his same old fists with better stats. -Thankfully, Radiant Dawn offered a rudimentary solution when it's laguz units faced the same issue. Giving all laguz a weapon type "Strike" for unarmed blows, and as the weapon rank increased, so did the Mt and Hit of their fangs, claws, etc. A fist fighter could work on a similar system to this, and logically, it makes sense. By fighting unarmed, this unit would, of course, build muscle and be able to throw punches faster, as represented by their level ups. But, in addition, their fists would probably become calloused, or harden from repeatedly striking things, making the same punches more effective. Thus, rather than upgrading to more effective weapons, this unit's one weapon would become more effective, essentially upgrading itself. -Another idea would be to take the Strike weapon type and, instead of tying it directly to the stats of the fists, make it a traditional weapon type by offering the unit pseudo-armaments like Brass Knuckles, a Cestus, or similar tools for augmenting blunt, unarmed strikes. The logic being that, if you're punching things on a battlefield filled with swordsmen and mages, those hits need to really count, so there's no shame in beefing up your fists with some metal. -One issue that remains is, this Brawler would be meleelocked. Even weapons that are mostly melee have ranged options, like a Levin Sword, Javelin, or Hand Axe, but I don't see any way of giving a fist user this kind of option. Maybe 1 range only would just be the inherent weakness of the fist units. Firearms/Guns That was the easy one, though. The other idea was how, mechanically, one could implement firearms in a balanced way. The FE universe might not want for black powder when they have magic, but not all FE settings are created equal. -First, damage. Obviously, shooting a gun isn't more effective the more physically strong you are, nor does it require a spiritual element like magic does. How much destruction you can cause with a firearm depends on how your aim is, how precisely you can target the vital organs of your enemies, such as the brain, heart, windpipe, etc. As such, the stat that makes the most sense for damage calc would be Skill, the measure of your precision and accuracy. -Would this make Skill too broken? After all, it already determines hit rate and the better part of crit calcs. I don't think so, though. Skill is already considered among the less useful stats by many fans, since often damage output, the ability to double, and durability are far more valuable to a unit in the long run. This would make Skill a very important stat for these Gunners or whatever you might call them, increasing its meaningfulness. -Another consideration for firearms is range. One can shoot a gun much farther than traditional ranged armaments like bows, but they aren't large and unwieldy like ballistae; they are small, light, handheld weapons. Guns should logically have rather large ranges... but how to balance this so they add meaningful depth rather than just being busted? I propose that guns use their full stats at point-blank (1 range, maybe 1-2), and the farther out the unit shoots, the gun starts losing Hit, and perhaps eventually, Mt. It makes logical sense; the farther away the target, the harder it is to take aim and hit reliably. And at very long distances, their target will appear rather small to them, making it difficult to accurately hit the vital points brought up before, which would lessen damage. So, that's my musing on it. If you have anything at all to add, or a critique or criticism of this, feel free to speak up! I like considering how to add new mechanics, but I'll be the first to admit I'm no designer, so I can't tell if my logic flows for game design purposes. I'd love to hear other's opinions, ideas on how to improve this, or alternate implementations, hypothetical or not. Also, this the first thread I've created aside from my introduction thread, so I hope this is the right section and it's formatted well. Just let me know if it's hard to read, and feel free to move it if there's a better board for this.