FE15: Pitch the Plot!

[Moblin Major General]

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages, welcome to the continent of Nadeyatsya. I am here to tell you a story of conquerers, of heroes, of villains, of (possibly) love, and, above all, of war.

"Will there be dragons?"

Get the fuck out.

Anyway, I suppose some background is needed, is it not? Very well, then. It all started when the Emperor of the Empire of Sjeavaria, Waldemar III, died. Now, normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but, you see, his only heir was his 1 year old daughter, Augusta. His wife, Empress regent Sybilla, tried her hardest to hold the Empire together, but, unfortunately, the nobility were completely unwilling to support a woman for the throne, and an infant at that! Add vulturous neighbors in the form of Fiore, renowned for its magic wielding nobility, Turania, with its infamous Wyvern cavalry and Jannissary units, and Rhomaia, with its huge peasant levies, all of which supported the nobles, and, when the dust settled, Sjeavaria was only 1/4th of its former size. And so, Augusta was raised into a conquerer by her mother, determined that, one day, she would reunite her Empire. After that, the time will come to retake the land stolen from her Empire by Fiore, Turania, and Rhomaia.

That is not to say the other nations did not have problems. Fiore, for example, was plagued by a decadent nobility and a powerless King. Revolution, ultimately, was inevitable. That Revolution would come in the form of a young army officer named Lucien Petit, a visionary. You see, Lucien has been incorporating a little known technology called gunpowder into his armies. With his cannons and muskets, Lucien may be able to finally defeat the mage aristocracy oppressing his countrymen. After that, who knows? With this revolutionary new weapon, why, he could conquer the world!

Meanwhile, distant Turania, a nation that worships a different god from the other nations, has been ruled by her Jannissary corps as a de facto military dictatorship for centuries. However, they have grown complacent. They have forgotten that they can only rule the Empire through a puppet Badshah if that Badshah is willing to be a puppet. And the young Badshah Iskander is most certainly not a puppet. He escapes from his gilded cage in the middle of the night, determined to take back his Empire, with the help of the long disempowered Wyvern Riders. And yet, he must also be wary of a revanchinistic northern neighbor, and that Revolutionary Lucien is a clear threat to his hold on power. Augusta may pose a threat as well, but Iskander believes he can reason with her...

Speaking of those northern neighbors, lets talk about Rhomaia. You see, Ibrahim's ancestors conquered the holy city of Congrade from the Empire of Rhomaia. Now, Rhomaia's Empress, Eirena, is determined to retake the city. First, though, she must reform her Empire against the wishes of the decrepit Senate, who wish to keep their serfs in bondage. After that, well, she really is keen to defeat that bastard usurper Lucien. And yet, that upstart wench Augusta concerns her too...

Four rulers. Augusta. Lucien. Iskander. Eirena. What happens, you ask? Well, that is for you to decide. Who will history favor? Who will go down in history as "The Great?" Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Fire Emblem: ​blah the Prussian wanting his Great Man view of history Empires! Pick a side. Win the war.

You can't expect IntSys to do this sort of thing justice. They would tack on a needless manipulator religious villain that forces all 4 of them to work together against trope evil dragon.

Here is what I think:

You are the lord. You have served your kingdom faithfully, and have been asked to be apart of an international policing group. You are shadowed by a member of that group. You and your friends travel to a dig site, where a hostile race of beings show up out of nowhere. While investigating, your handler is killed by another member. You find an artifact that foretells of a great cataclysm, knocking you out. Once you recover, your group goes to the capital to explain the situation. You then play some political intrigue until you find the evidence that your overseer's killer is in fact corrupt. You are then accepted into said highly acclaimed group and can now hunt for the traitor. Once you find the information you need, you find out that he worships a dragon statue that turns out to be a real dragon. Not only that, but dragons will arrive in droves from the Outrealms, razing the continent. You tell the capital, but they stonewall you, until you and your posse escape the city and find the dragon shrine. The villain sneaks into the capital just as his army is attacking outside. The capital is barely defensible until your country's army flanks the enemy. You find the villain attempting to complete a ritual to open the Outrealm, but you stop him, that is until the dragon possesses him while at the same time fighting against capital forces. You fight the possessed villain, defeat him, and then the dragon itself dies. Your country is then allowed to be a member of the central governing body. I don't care if it's ME1 FE.

[blah the Prussian]

Actually another idea I had was a continuation of Awakening in the modern day. Grima has 1000 years before he is reborn, right? That gives time for the Renniassance, the Industrial Revolution, colonialism, and the age of information to take hold. I think a modern day magitech FE would be really interesting.

[eclipse]

Actually another idea I had was a continuation of Awakening in the modern day. Grima has 1000 years before he is reborn, right? That gives time for the Renniassance, the Industrial Revolution, colonialism, and the age of information to take hold. I think a modern day magitech FE would be really interesting.

There's a 2000-year-gap or something like that between FE1/3 and FE13. Look how far technology progressed between the two games. ;/

[joshcja]

There's a 2000-year-gap or something like that between FE1/3 and FE13. Look how far technology progressed between the two games. ;/

To be fair they discovered dank memes, the inverse clothing law, and a 3rd grader's lab book.

That's a lot of progress yo, it took us at least 4000-10000 years to hit dank memes.

Edited April 2, 2016 by joshcja

[blah the Prussian]

There's a 2000-year-gap or something like that between FE1/3 and FE13. Look how far technology progressed between the two games. ;/

In the 2,000 years between the founding of the Kingdom of Rome and the end of the Dark ages, technology progressed, and then regressed. I just think a modern age Fire Emblem would be interesting.

[Sentacotus]

How about something a little smaller in scale kinda along the lines of FE7. Say you control an elite group of mercenaries (with your MU being the leader) and make choices based on who you recruit and what missions you take on and they dictate the story that way? There you can a have either something a little more grey, good, or even evil. Might be interesting.

Edited April 3, 2016 by LordTaco42

[thetiger39]

Taking a page from Starcraft for this plot of mine. Just a rough outline.

Rough Outline

There is an evil country oppressing the continent with monsters and dragons and other abominations blah blah blah....

The Main Lord is a female axe user called Ruby and yes she is a redhead, assisted by a playable avatar as her assistant, living in a colony of said country, in charge of the colony's defenses, basically a couple of small villages. You have your obligatory beginning bandit missions then ordered to sit tight while a village is under attack by whatever, Ruby disobeys and helps said village, destroys property belonging to said evil country for whatever reason and gets arrested.

It will be the first time a main lord is not present in a battle as the Avatar is left out to hang while monsters attack. Then Mr. Idealistic Rebel Crusader as I will call him, contacts the Avatar or Jeigan if there is no playable Avatar and offers relief aid and evacuation with the Avatar accepting, knowing the consequences.

After, Ruby is freed by the Rebels, The Avatar and her boss join the rebels, doing obligatory Rebel Crusader Things

Then we find out that the Idealistic Rebel Crusader is getting a little morally dubious as he lets in Former Enemy General into the Rebel ARmy, promisiong a position of power.

After that the army is ordered to plant something, a crystal or a magical circle in an enemy encampment, which lures monsters and other abominations. Mr. Idealistic Rebel Crusader is called into question once again as this goes over the line of generic war atrocities. Mr. Idealistic Crusader says that anything should be done to defeat the evil counttry and defending humanity

Fast forward and the enemy general recruited earlier is playable. He is very powerful but only used for one chapter. We are now in the enemy territory Do the mission and dialouge commences saying that the "Lure" has been deployed. Avatar and Ruby Angrily call out Mr. Idealistic Rebel Crusader for unleashing uncontrollable abominations on entire populations

After more twists and turns, the last straw has been drawn. Ruby and The Avatar leave, takes half of the rebel army and even elements of the devasted Evil Country Army who are Camuses, forming a new rebel army, opposing Mr. Idealistic Rebel Crusdader who has now become the law, and escape. Mr Idealistic Rebel Crusader is just as bad as the regime they are fighting against.

Mr. Idealistic Rebel Crusader proclaims himself Emperor of new Empire yadda yadda. Thus begins an escape chapter.

After, we can have a cliffhanger for the next game, a second generation 20 years later, or continue with the current cast. The New Regime of Mr. Idealistic Rebel Crusader is just as oppresive and arguably more worse then the previous one.

I may write more later. Anyone else is welcome to add or change my formula above.

Edited April 2, 2016 by thetiger39

[Levin's Scarf]

One interesting thing is to have the game take place in the middle of a vicious civil war, where various atrocities are being committed on both sides of the conflict- I like the idea of not having a clear "good" side. The game would start out with the first generation- the generation that watches the country crumble into the aforementioned civil war. The entire generation spends the beginning of the game on the side of the incumbent regime in an effort to restore order, but after some time some of those who were on your side defect to the rebels after seeing the lengths the government goes to to ensure order (mass suppression of rights, political assassinations, etc.). Towards the endgame you are forced to fight these characters you once called allies. If you S-ranked one of them before they defected, you have to fight them too. At the end of the first generation story, you yourself are betrayed by a character you recruit earlier in the game and end up being murdered.

After that, rather than blasting through professional armies with an overpowered protagonist (or two) and a band of misfits, you're not as powerful and perhaps spend a portion of the game essentially running for your life and/or trying not to get your shit kicked in.

2nd Generation: None of the children units start out particularly powerful and they did not take sides. The civil war has devolved further and there's rampant crimes against humanity from both sides of the conflict, as well as civilians who took up the mentality of "kill or be killed". These kids are just trying to survive at this point, and they're up against incredible odds. You eventually resort to guerrilla warfare in an effort to fight both sides. Not sure how to approach the endgame, though.

This may or may not be a subpar (or even terrible) idea, but I think the story of "Country 1 invades Country 2. Country 2 is obviously the benevolent country. You, an overpowered lord, and a band of misfits get to somehow slaughter professional armies and win everything" has been overdone at this point.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Levin's Scarf

[Jayvee94]

How about something a little smaller in scale kinda along the lines of FE7. Say you control an elite group of mercenaries (with your MU being the leader) and make choices based on who you recruit and what missions you take on and they dictate the story that way? There you can a have either something a little more grey, good, or even evil. Might be interesting.

This is actually one of the best plot ideas that could make Fire Emblem's current game mechanics work with the story.

[solrocknroll]

My idea:

There's a cluster of four or five countries on a small-ish continent. Tensions between some of countries are high. One country, who's military has a ton of Wyvern Riders and Cavaliers, goes to invade the other countries with the help of an ally.

The Lord is naive and his country is attacked, forcing him out. He takes up his sword and goes with his Tactician the Avatar and his older Paladin assistant. Maybe his sister can also be involved.

He begins to meet some people around the countryside such as a siblings who are red and green cavaliers or a youthful archer. He also meets some people from villages and maybe even a sell sword Myrmidon. He eventually goes to his neighbor and asks for support, which he receives. From there, he moves into the third neutral country and ends up befriending it. There might be some slight trials and tribulations, but he then moves to the fourth country who is helping the big fifth country. After dealing with the fourth country, he then goes to his home and liberates it.

Our main lord also makes friends with the resident loli dragon. Her evil species are occasionally enemies fighting our protagonist. She is very helpful.

From there, he takes his forces and moves into the big empire. The mad emperor's forces oppose him, but he manages to make it to the emperor. The emperor has an sorcerer assistant. The two of them fall in battle, but an ancient dark dragon arises for the final battle. The dragon is slayed and the prince now gets ready for a peaceful world. We see our ragtag group's future with their spouses and then roll credits.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Ms. Bunch

[GewdTwo]

I do not have a solid plot idea in mind but I have a few ideas I want to bounce around. The first is a drastic overhall of the game play. To me, the FE game play was the way it was due to technological hindrance, they did not have the means to make it what it was truly supposed to be. I'd love to see a game where there are many levels to the game play. The biggest umbrella would be the movement of multiple armies, each with a commander. The characters we meet would have certain skills, and one could be leadership (think like picking the right units in the ending of ME2). Inside each army and under each commander would be squads that they could mobilize to achieve the goals of their general. Each squad would have a captain and those that work under them. the squads would work in the same way the game play works today with a grid and opposing squads that you would have to maneuver around. Once the squads meet up for a battle, however, it would again shrink to a smaller scale where the squad members move freely, i feel the player controlled unit would receive bonuses, and the player could switch between freely, but once one unit is left, then the player cannot switch back. combat in this scenario would have active controls, with players blocking or rolling, and attacking with the press of a button. Predictions based on unit stats would be presented to the player prior to the fight beginning, but not it is reliant on player skill so it may go much worse of much better. players with higher defense and lower speed would be able to block all damage from blocking but could not doge very quickly, and vice versa. Magic units would work in the same way but they have the option for long ranged combat, where the distance would be much more apparent. A closed ranged fighter would have to run a bit before getting close to an archer, and this is where the archer could get their damage in. I feel this style would allow for a new twist but also keep old mechanics with the squad field. The lords would be twins- one with a tactical mind and one with skill in combat. That way all aspects of the game play would be fit in. The story would show their quest as they start together but grow apart both in mind and in literal distance because one becomes a soldier and eventual hero, while the other becomes the one that moves everything and has to work from a device that gives them access to all fronts. In the end, I think it could be cool for them to rebel against each other. This way they can make two separate stories again. One focused more on the tactical aspects of war, the other on combat. I also want to point out that the tactical sibling would not be useless on the field, and the combat sibling would not be a tactical idiot. Once the divide happens they would both do each, but they would focus more on one.
Thoughts?

[X-Naut]

A post-apocalyptic Fire Emblem where the first arc starts off as the usual going to war, but then a huge natural disaster suddenly goes off! Probably a volcanic eruption. There could be foreshadowing of the impending cataclysm (i.e. small earthquakes being more frequent), but nobody pays heed to it because science isn't that advanced and we have a war to fight, damnit.

After the disaster the story shifts to one of survival, trying to preserve as much of humanity as possible while staving off despair, chaos and the people who have fallen to it. Feral dragons dormant beneath the surface being awoken by the cataclysm optional.

[joshcja]

A post-apocalyptic Fire Emblem where the first arc starts off as the usual going to war, but then a huge natural disaster suddenly goes off! Probably a volcanic eruption. There could be foreshadowing of the impending cataclysm (i.e. small earthquakes being more frequent), but nobody pays heed to it because science isn't that advanced and we have a war to fight, damnit.

After the disaster the story shifts to one of survival, trying to preserve as much of humanity as possible while staving off despair, chaos and the people who have fallen to it. Feral dragons dormant beneath the surface being awoken by the cataclysm optional.

Your wish is my command.

Edited April 3, 2016 by joshcja

[Azz]

My idea:

There's a cluster of four or five countries on a small-ish continent. Tensions between some of countries are high. One country, who's military has a ton of Wyvern Riders and Cavaliers, goes to invade the other countries with the help of an ally.

The Lord is naive and his country is attacked, forcing him out. He takes up his sword and goes with his Tactician the Avatar and his older Paladin assistant. Maybe his sister can also be involved.

He begins to meet some people around the countryside such as a siblings who are red and green cavaliers or a youthful archer. He also meets some people from villages and maybe even a sell sword Myrmidon. He eventually goes to his neighbor and asks for support, which he receives. From there, he moves into the third neutral country and ends up befriending it. There might be some slight trials and tribulations, but he then moves to the fourth country who is helping the big fifth country. After dealing with the fourth country, he then goes to his home and liberates it.

Our main lord also makes friends with the resident loli dragon. Her evil species are occasionally enemies fighting our protagonist. She is very helpful.

From there, he takes his forces and moves into the big empire. The mad emperor's forces oppose him, but he manages to make it to the emperor. The emperor has an sorcerer assistant. The two of them fall in battle, but an ancient dark dragon arises for the final battle. The dragon is slayed and the prince now gets ready for a peaceful world. We see our ragtag group's future with their spouses and then roll credits.

Wow, this idea is so original. 10/10

But seriously, this is what I want too. I like the original formula FE had since I personally don't think it is able to have a deep story with how large a cast it normally tends to have. IMO, FE14 was too ambitious and really fucked up and 13 relied too much on the fact it may have been the final game in the series.

I also would like something like FE9 where instead of facing a dragon God, we face a mad king. I also liked the fact our main character was not a lord and was just a mercenary who was hired by a princess.

[blah the Prussian]

Wow, this idea is so original. 10/10

But seriously, this is what I want too. I like the original formula FE had since I personally don't think it is able to have a deep story with how large a cast it normally tends to have. IMO, FE14 was too ambitious and really fucked up and 13 relied too much on the fact it may have been the final game in the series.

I also would like something like FE9 where instead of facing a dragon God, we face a mad king. I also liked the fact our main character was not a lord and was just a mercenary who was hired by a princess.

From what I've seen of 14 so far it's damn unoriginal TBH. I do quite like Ashnard as a villain, though.

[eclipse]

From what I've seen of 14 so far it's damn unoriginal TBH. I do quite like Ashnard as a villain, though.

You're also pretty early into Conquest. I think you should save overarching series judgments for after you've played through at least one of the routes.

[Soapbar]

A bloody battle between two kingdoms leaves the leadership of both kingdoms dead, causing both to descend into total anarchy, before finally dividing into small clans. Everyone is fighting for resources and local power.

The Lord, [insert Name Here], is tried of all the fighting and decides that the only way to bring peace back is to conquer all the clans and unify them under his/her cause. So he/she gathers his resources and strength and goes off to take everybody's shit and to tell them to STOP FIGHTING ASSHOLES.

simple but new. leaves enough room for that moral grayness people like but also room for campy humor. evil dragons and mustache-twirlers are easily inserted into the setting without causing serious plot problems. it's an almost idiot-proof plot that's hard to fuck up.

[Corrobin]

Alastor, your point is a valid one! I have dreamed up a few ideas to balance out movement types (new terrain tiles, one of the worlds has a ton of water maps, etc.), but since this is a plot thread, I decided to bite my tongue, so to speak, and refrain from making my post any longer than it already was. Maybe when there is a discussion about new systems or level design or something along those lines I'll type out more about the gameplay elements. ;)

I wouldn't mind talking with you about those systems in a different forum.

Let's meet up in Concepts.

[MagicIsOP]

FE15 could be a sequel to both FE3 and FE2 (and lets be real here new mystery is crap so we need another one)

PLOT:

Hardin wins the war, kills Marth and his pals, then is informed of a new continent just over the sea: Valentia.

He sends out his army to conquer this new continent, and encounters little resistance(Due to years of peace after Duma got his ass handed to him)

Alm hears about this, and his kid(s) offer to help repel Hardin's invasion. The opening chapter would be Alm and co. reclaiming a couple of villages, nothing too special or anything. Alm would be a typical Jeigan sword fighter, and his kid(s) would be a magic lord or a lance lord. Along the way, you gain some guys from both Marth's games and Gaiden.

I would not mind seeing this, really.

[Corrobin]

I'd be interested in keeping the basic formula while tweaking all the specifics so much that it's very interesting:

1. The main character isn't a lord, just a mercenary like Ike

2. The evil invading empire is half-sympathetic, with no evil dragon/demon/God thing behind it. They're just trying to get out of the awful place where they live.

3. The loli dragon kid is a shota dragon kid.

4. Mix up the archetypes: Make the Jeigan a old female, the Cain 'n Abel a pair of Mages, the Navarre an Archer, etc.