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Three Hopesifying the Series - Jugdral


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So here's a fun thought experiment. We're going to do what Three Hopes did - change one pivotal element of a story - to create new Warriors alternate timelines for every game in the series. From there, describe how this new timeline would unfold, provide your roster and their preferred classes, and describe any new mechanics.

 

We'll get to SD/NM next month, but we're starting with the Jugdral duology since I have more to say about it, it's technically first in the main timeline, it's arguably more likely to get a musou, and there's a really obvious event to change. After that, it's one game each month till we get through all of them, culminating in how we'd handle the full series crossover.

 

Plot:

Spoiler

Obviously, my change is that the Battle of Belhalla does not end with Sigurd falling for Arvis' trap. An intense battle breaks out, the party is split up, and Lewyn holds back the enemy for the others to escape and Briggid sacrifices herself so Quan and Ethyln can survive Travant's ambush (only to enter pacts with their gods.)

 

Deirdre doesn't get separated from Sigurd and the two also have a blue-haired Julia in addition to Seliph (you will be able to choose her classic look as an outfit, and Seliph will even have a silver-haired look to match). And this Julia falls for Saias later on in the Thracia part of the plot, their baby being kidnapped by the Loptyr Cult, resulting in the final showdown.

 

Roster

Spoiler

1st generation - everyone makes it, because it's needed for inheritance. They also all get new timeskip appearances in their middle age.

 

2nd generation - all canon children make it. All substitute children do not.

 

Thracia - Leif, Finn, Altenna, Orsin, Tanya, Mareeta, Olwen, Reinhardt, Saias, Shannan

 

Inheritance

Spoiler

The new mechanic on top of all of the Three Hopes mechanics. Children do not have unique skills of their own, but will have the opportunity to inherit the unique action of one parent and the unique support skill of the other. You get to pick which is inherited for each as you recruit them.

 

Classes

Spoiler

Lord Knight - unique to Sigurd. Combines a mounted sword moveset with holy magic. Dismounts to Lord.

Great Lord - unique to Seliph. An infantry sword class that swaps stances to mix up elegant fencing strikes with heavy finishers.

Master Knight - unique to Leif. Plays like the twins from FEW with an added plethora of magic.

Bard - unique to Lewyn. Combines playful wind magic akin to Avatar the Last Airbender with area buffs through songs.

Raider - unique to Briggid/Evayle. Switches between sword and bow.

Druid - unique to Deirdre.

Savior - unique to Julia. Utilizes dragon magic via its Naga tome.

Paladin - a mounted lance moveset that dismounts to Halberdier.

Forrest Knight - a mounted sword moveset, dismounts to Hero or Swordmaster.

Great Knight - a heavy mounted axe moveset. Dismounts to Warrior or Armor Knight.

Blade Dancer - combines the rogue class with traditional dancers, swappinf stances to switch styles.

Blade Master - combines the swordmaster and rogue classes, swapping stances to switch styles.

Bow Knight - a mounted bow moveset. Dismounts to sniper.

Falcon Knight - a flying sword moveset. Dismounts to Hero or Swordmaster.

Dragon Knight - a flying lance moveset. Dismounts to Halberdier.

Mage Knight - a mounted mage moveset. Dismounts to Sage.

Holy Knight - a mounted light magic user. Dismounts to Bishop.

 

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Personally, I feel a better idea for a Jugdral Warriors game to be simply adapting the First Holy War. The Twelve Crusaders mowing down countless enemies with their Holy Weapons fits like a glove the hack-and-slash style of Warriors, heh.

As otherwise, while interesting, it would start to feel repetitive if it was always "take the original events and branch off".

Edited by Acacia Sgt
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19 minutes ago, Fabulously Olivier said:

We'll get to SD/NM next month, but we're starting with the Jugdral duology since I have more to say about it, it's technically first in the main timeline, it's arguably more likely to get a musou, and there's a really obvious event to change.

The obvious answer would indeed be the Battle of Belhalla, but all because it's obvious doesn't make it interesting. We have to go back further. I say Jugdral Warriors picks up in alternate version of Jugdral where Cigyun never returns to Verdane. Perhaps some other, even earlier events around Arvis and Dierdre are changed instead. You don't necessarily want to say one of them doesn't exist, but you do want something which would allow for some drastic changes so that you're not retreading the same ground as a large number of fanfictions already have.

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1 minute ago, AnonymousSpeed said:

The obvious answer would indeed be the Battle of Belhalla, but all because it's obvious doesn't make it interesting. We have to go back further. I say Jugdral Warriors picks up in alternate version of Jugdral where Cigyun never returns to Verdane. Perhaps some other, even earlier events around Arvis and Dierdre are changed instead. You don't necessarily want to say one of them doesn't exist, but you do want something which would allow for some drastic changes so that you're not retreading the same ground as a large number of fanfictions already have.

By all means. Elaborate on that plot divergence. That's the whole idea here. There's many points any FE plot can divert.

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I think the Battle of Belhalla is a simple and effective diverging point, and one that should definitely be taken. 

I ALSO think that a diverging point of Sigurd not marrying Deirdre - as was brought up in a Reddit thread earlier this week - could be a good one. (Maybe have a young Finn be the one to meet Deirdre instead?)

The third and final diverging point I can think of is Deirdre and Seliph being taken. Sigurd, heartbroken but in need of an heir, remarries, and now this new kid has to face his/her half siblings in battle. Go ahead and combine it with Sigurd and co being in Part 2 for extra angst. 

 

The good and bad thing about nearly all of these choices is that players still have to worry about pairing up parents and child units. I'm not sure how that would work in a Warriors game. Maybe have the romance be abridged? But then would it be a quick tutorial thing? And then what would it be a tutorial for? A third generation? Would that go and bloat the game? Or could it make sense, if the circumstances were right?

In terms of the substitute units, I think they could still be in the game. Three Hopes had a recruitment mechanic, but each route has its own cast of characters too, with various overlap; why couldn't a Genealogy Warriors game do the same? Introduce the "defeat means friendship" mechanic in Part 1, and then in Part 2 have the Substitute Units be recruitable either in battle or through side-missions. 

 

The plot of this game to me feels something like: 

Part 1 - Prologue up to the Diverging Incident. 

Part 2 - Seliph's story, which has been impacted by the changes. 

Part 3 - A wholly new story, be it the conclusion to the previous parts or a new generation. 

 

Of course, there's always the idea of having a post-game Warriors path based off of Kaga's notes for a Part 3 in his head, but I'd rather have those ideas be included in a remake proper and let the Warriors spin-off do its own thing. 

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On 7/3/2022 at 2:01 PM, Fabulously Olivier said:

By all means. Elaborate on that plot divergence. That's the whole idea here. There's many points any FE plot can divert.

Oh, I don't know if I can do that. I'm not so good at writing AUs, unlike @indigoasis, who already wrote a brilliant Jugdral AU and could probably take even a half-baked idea like mine and make something decent.

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I  h a v e  b e e n  s u m m o n e d .

oh, and thank you for the compliment, i appreciate it 🙂

Yeah, Jugdral could have a lot of diverging points, and the Battle of Belhalla is probably the biggest contender for it, especially since there are plenty of ways it could turn out and lead to an alternate future. I think making an AU is really as easy as asking yourself, "What if?" Change one simple thing in a story, and explore the possibilities of what could happen from there, just like the butterfly effect.

For example, in Three Hopes, instead of the students meeting Byleth, they meet Shez instead, an entirely different character that has no real history or connection to the Church like Byleth does (as far as I know; I'm still making my way through the game myself), which would lend itself to entirely different interactions, decisions, and outcomes to happen, as we can see in the game. Even from the first battle in the game, it can be inferred that in the Three Houses version of events, Byleth killed Shez then and there, whereas in Three Hopes, Shez survives their encounter with the Ashen Demon. That right there is most likely the diverging point.

You can even see it with the Zelda timeline to an extent. Seeing as how OoT was already a diverging point thanks to the existence of the Child and Adult timelines, it wouldn't be too hard to create another point where instead of following the main events, we ask ourselves, "What if this happened instead?" (hence the existence of the downfall timeline, although that was probably more for the sake of fitting in certain games that didn't quite fit in the timelines of the other games).

I'm not gonna get too in-depth, but here are some ideas for diverging points:

  • Edain is rescued before being brought into Verdane (this one is early enough that it's probably the most feasible to break off into a new story rather than going too far into Gen 1)
  • Kurth somehow doesn't get assassinated (what political repercussions would this have on Jugdral?)
  • Deirdre somehow doesn't get kidnapped (how would this change Sigurd's path?)
  • Sigurd doesn't get the Silver Sword from Arvis (that bastard!)
  • Sigurd and co. survive Battle of Belhalla (easiest one to think of)

I don't actually know how any of that could go from there, but those ideas are there!

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