Omegaprism

Holy hell, I am sorry! I had to wait for so long for my stupid wrist to heal I forgot about my own thread. Okay, last time I promised plot and character stuff. I haven't been working on this idea for a while, so I admit the characters are still a little sparse. Here's what I have so far: Frey – Our first lord, the Black Dragon Princess. She feels the heavy burden of seeing the end of her homeland and her people. Generally serious, but a little bit arrogant. In battle she is a force to be reckoned with, and she knows it. Doesn’t understand why so many people want to stay and die. Happiest in the company of her best friend and closest confidant, Veronica. In humanoid form she uses tomes, and starts with a prf weapon called, “Terra.” The attack animation shows a swirling black hole sucking up rocks and debris centered on the enemy. Dragon form has two weapons: Bite (physical) and breath (magical). Has two promotion options: Mage Knight (human form can use swords and gains soulstone bonuses) and Dragon Queen (Gains Tellius Royal-style formshift ability). Veronica – A hawk swordmaster of the Suzaku tribe. Frey’s best friend and bodyguard, trained from birth to protect her. Typically more diplomatic than her liege, and thus is often the voice of reason. She is our first prepromote, and as such is a bit sturdier and more well-balanced in her base stats than other hawks will be starting out. Her speed and skill growths are excellent, but her defense and HP growths are mediocre at best. Has earned the nickname “Cerulean Gale,” for her lightning quick sword strikes and blue plumage. Starts with a silver sword. Barash – Green-furred cat and half of the requisite Christmas cavalier pair (though, once again, not actually a mounted unit). Acts like he has something to prove and will readily jump into a fight over imagined slights to his fighting prowess or his devotion to serving Frey. Personal saying is, “Don’t think I won’t cut you!” Tends to have a little more speed and resistance than Dorgo. Dorgo – Red-furred tiger and the other (mountless) Christmas cavalier. Doesn’t believe in doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Often has to talk Barash out of starting pointless fights. One of his ancestors was saved by Frey’s grandfather, and ever since then his family has held the Seiryu dragons in high regard. Tends to be a little stronger and more skilled than Barash. Ruganel – A golden lion and the current chieftain of the Byakko after his father dies defending their home from brigands. Burly and proud, but hesitant to make decisions he knows will end the lives of his people. Secretly admires Frey’s conviction, and that is why, even though many believe he should challenge her for leadership of the Vilcoorian army, he does not. Good defense and HP, decent Mag. He joins at level 12. Other characters I wrote down vague descriptions for: twitchy frilled-lizard mage who everyone assumes is always up to something, proud wolf mercenary-type couple with a ton of kids, cynical ancient red dragon knight looking for a last chance at redemption, annoyingly genki fairy dragon boy, token heron stereotype (super thin, graceful, pale, physically wimpy, etc.), and macabre weirdo salamander healer/doctor. I also wrote, and I quote, "Turtle lord?" True literary genius at work here. Thankfully the plot outline I made is much more complete. I'll post it soon.

I got Flying. Which makes very little sense if you ever get a good look at me. The only flying-type move I might manage is bounce. My favorite type is Dragon. All my "some day I hope this type appears" pokemon are or have been dragon mixed with another type. They hit like freight trains and generally have enough beef to survive a hit (unless faced with the new overpowered type, Fairy. Bleagh). Honorable mentions to go Fighting for its offensive potential, Water because of Greninja, Electric for always having interesting and/or cool looking mons, and Ghost, though I haven7t really fallen in love with a ghost type except for Gengar and Giratina. Giratina is a boss in my book based on looks and types alone. Too bad the cool type combinations for dragons are mostly banned from tourneys for one reason or another.

1. Pidgeys. They're everywhere! 2. DRAGONITE. The game just hit Japan this past week and already there's a gym near my apartment with a dragonite guarding it. If I was going to get a pokemon tattoo, it would be of dragonite. 3. I think I'm sitting on, like, 20% accuracy right now. 4. On my way home from work I spotted a butterfree. It's the only one I've seen yet, and it shook off no less than four pokeballs, dodged like twenty more, and finally disappeared. If we're only counting pokemon we've caught, then a gastly in the subway was a real mofo to catch. it appeared at like the maximum catchable range, and I wasn't going to cross the tracks to the other platform. I did eventually get that one. 5. I've got a pidgeot from all those darned pidgeys, a raticate, a beedrill, a tentacruel, and a golbat. I also caught a poliwhirl, but didn't evolve it myself. I honestly wonder where I have to go to find starters. My poor Charmander has been stuck ever since I started. Pyronator needs to grow!

Alright, I am turning to you, my fellow Serenes Forest Dwellers, in a time of need. As you know, there is currently an awesome promotion going all year for event pokemon that people have missed in the past. Starting next month (August 2016), Arceus, the pokemon I have always missed due to not living in my home country is coming up... only in Gamestop across the US. I live in Japan. I have a US 3ds, so no japanese promotions for me. I have a pretty good collection of legendaries (not totally comprehensive, mind you, but pretty good) and all I want is a goddamned Arceus. If you have two copies of X//Y/OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire, or just feel generous, I would be eternally grateful. I've already missed out on Arceus twice, and who knows how long before another opportunity will arrive? I can't pretend to have some sick shiny ultra-rare pokemon to trade in exchange (nintendo and the pokemon company continue to baffle me with their refusal to release promotional pokemon via wi-fi most of the time), but if you're willing and able, let's trade. I have a subscription to pokemon bank and nearly a lifetime of regular old pokemon traded from old generations forward. If you don't want for anything, a good deed for an old fan of the series who has rekindled his interest after having a baby has got to earn you some good karma for the next life. EDIT FROM THE FUTURE: 4613-7639-6605 is my friend code. Regardless of anyone helping, I guess I can put it up here for the database. Serenes Forest gym will grow by one trainer!

Lord taco, I can relate, though the main reason I don't have time to game anymore is because I recently started a family. Also, I see each year about a hundred new games just flying out of the woodwork, and when I was younger and had all the time in the world video games just didn't come out sat the same rate. Exercise, a full time job, being a parent, whatever it is, it definitely cuts down on your ability to, say, finish all the side content in Final Fantasy 7 over a week. Being a productive member of society and playing video games at the same time is hard. On the other hand, you might find like many others do that your gaming waxes and wanes like the phases in a lunar cycle. For example, I started staying up a little later than I should playing the Witcher games recently. It has led to a few rough mornings, but I can't help but be jazzed to boot up steam as soon as my wife and kid go to bed each night. In about a month, though, my soft, aging body will come to collect on its sleep debt, and it'll be back to early bedtimes for me.

I'm getting it for sure. Already got muh ps4 for this, Star Ocean 5, and Bloodborne. In fact, one of the very first community message boards I used to haunt was a Europe-based forum called Orochinagi. Good times. Oh, and I'll probably be maining my old standby team of Terry, Ryo, and a rotation of others (K', Maxima, Mai, Kyo, Joe, some new char that looks cool). I hope Terry got over whatever mediocrity sickness plagued him in XIII, and I am glad that so far it looks like Hwa Jai is gone again (Eff that guy and his "All my moves are safe and do a ton of damage," BS. I mean why even put Joe in the game at that point?). Also, here's hoping the netcode is better than the last few games, because after moving away from all my fighting game friends I essentially had to hang up my stick, because the online was so terrible.

Morgan, Morgan, a thousand times Morgan。Loveably offbeat and weird will always beat mama-mama-mama-love-mama-mama-me-so-moe in my book. As a dad I actually resented Kanna.　Get a hobby or something, kid!

This thread was starting to collect dust and cobwebs, so today I type with a brace on my wrist! It turns out tendon sheath injuries take a long time to heal (boo) but I can still type one-handed. So, let's talk about weapons, weapon ranks, and transforming. So first I'll tackle transforming. It works with a heavy influence from the Tellius games (gauge) and a little bit of the other games (stones can be equipped to change stat boosts). First, the gauge is a little different. It goes up to 10. Transforming can be done at the beginning or the end of a unit's action, but not both (barring a skill). Every turn they spend as a humanoid increases the gauge by 1. Every battle they participate in as a humanoid increases the gauge by 1. Every turn they spend transformed decreases their gauge by 1. It does not decrease due to battles. There are also a couple of spell-songs that affect transformation gauges. As long as a unit has at least 1 in their transformation gauge they can take their beast form. Each type of unit has specific stat boosts in beast form that can change depending on if they have a soul stone equipped. Stones add various effects (Reverse weapon triangle, target res or def instead of the other way around, add element for weakness purposes, etc.) and change how stats are affected, like beaststones versus beastrunes or beaststones+ in Fates. Transformation stones are NOT weapons, but accessories, and should be relatively uncommon. Each unit type has a set starting point for their gauge, and some promoted units can even start a battle with their gauge maxed out. As for weapons, all the classics are back: Swords, lances, axes, bows, tomes, and shuriken (admittedly not a classic, but it makes the ranged weapon triangle complete). Back from Tellius is striking, with the tweak that you can now actively attack bare-handed (or taloned, or clawed, or what-have-you) on your turn, even as a humanoid. Every Vilcoorian in the game starts with a strike proficiency and a more conventional weapon proficiency. Your strike rank affects what transformation stones you can equip as well as the strength of your beast form's attacks. Each unit can choose either to embrace their more humanlike side when they promote, becoming more like traditional units and focusing on the weapons of those classes, or their primal side, in which case they will largely focus on their natural weapons, which are represented by striking. A quick note about shuriken: They are a touch too good in Fates, so I'm trying to think of a way to balance them with the rest of the weapons. No luck so far, but I admit I've been busy. Next time, characters and plot stuff!

I do, but typing it up one-handed will be such a monumental pain that I'm waiting for my doctor's go-ahead to use my left hand again. He said if things go well it could be okay by next Tuesday.

For what it's worth, MoA Mozu is a decently sturdy tank with good speed and fantastic damage potential in Birthright, and tanky units are at a premium on that route. It is also commonly known as the easiest route of the three, though, so, y'know, your mileage may vary. In my experience though if you like using Mozu it's easy to make her a great unit no matter what promotion you choose. Also, the animations are excellent.

Update: yesterday I went to a doctor about a persistent pain in my hand and the doctor told me no videogames and one-handed typing only. So for a day or two this will be the only typing I do.

Yes indeed! Happy birthday!

Hm, that's actually not too far off. I imagined less spiky protrusions and wielding massive 2-handed weapons instead of sword and board, but yeah, not too bad.

As to the "learns spells" bit, sorry, that was a bit vague. I just don't know what to call the staves in this game since they aren't staves anymore. the player would still find them and they would function almost exactly like staves do, but now the healer-type units do something else (sing? chant? play guitar?). Of course there are some spell effects that require higher "staff" rank than others, thus as your rank gets better you can cast more spells. You still have to have them in your inventory and what-have-you, and unless I can find an alternative that doesn't break the game's balance they still have limited charges. Yes indeed! But only on the most basic, pop-culture awareness level. :P

Yes! Right! Here we go! Back from important work stuff! Suzaku Tribe: All of these units can fly. What a surprise! Falcon - Pegasus knights. Uses lances in human form. Can gain swords or spellsongs upon promotion. Eagle - Archer. Uses bows in human form. Can gain spears or double down on bows after promotion. Owl - Rogue, minus the stealing. Uses shuriken in human form and picks locks. High skill. Can steal after promotion. Condor - Wyvern rider. Flying tanks! Uses axes in human form. Can uses lances after promotion. Hawk - Myrmidon. Proficient with swords in human form. Very fast, relies on avoid and luck. Not overly strong or sturdy. Raven - More traditional thief. Uses bows in human form. More speed focused than owls. Heron - Cleric/monk. Sings different songs that act like healing and buffing staves do in other games. Can use tomes after promotion. Byakko Tribe: If you're looking for mounted units, these are the closest analogues you'll find, minus the actual mounts. Many of them have exceptional ground mobility. Cat - Cavalier! Uses swords in human form. Can use lances, axes, or staves after promotion. Tiger - Cavalier! Good move, decent defense and res. Uses lances in human form. Can promote for swords or axes. Lion - Cavalier! This one uses axes. Can learn lances or swords after promotion. Wolf - Mercenary. High skill. Well-rounded. Human form uses swords. Fox - Sneaky mage! Uses tomes in human form. Can pick locks in both forms. Can use shuriken after promotion. Bear - Axe fighter. High HP and strength. Low res. Uses axes as a human. Genbu Tribe: The weirdo scaly ones! Yay! These guys have far and away the best aquatic mobility with the exception of the tortoise. They also have an eclectic selection of roles. Tortoise - Armor Knight. Uses axes. Can use lances and axes after promotion. Turtle - Pirate! Yar! Uses axes as a human. Frilled lizard - Mage. Uses tomes. Can learn spells that function like debuff staves (sleep, weakened, etc.) in other games after promotion. Toad - Another pirate! Yo ho ho! Uses axes and can steal. Can use swords after promotion. Snake - Aquatic thief. Uses shuriken, picks locks, and steals. Promotion can give lance proficiency. Salamander - Another cleric/monk. Proficient with all the staff-like magics. Can learn to use swords after promotion. Seiryu Tribe: These folks earn their reputation as legendary beasts. You can only recruit one of each. Thinking of giving them 40 levels with no promotion, but not sure. Black - Dragon Lord. Our first lord unit. Dragon form can fly. Uses tomes as a human, mainly a prf tome called Earth. Can learn to use swords after promotion. Red - Dragon Knight. Human form counts as armored, uses axes and lances. Tremendous HP. Tremendous str, def, and skill as a dragon. Low luck and speed. Moderate res. White - Dragon Mage. Human form can use all kinds of magic. Both forms can move over deserts and in water tiles with ease. Tremendous Mag and res. Moderate HP, skill, and speed. Low luck and def. Purple - Fairy Dragon. Human form can use bows, shuriken, and tomes. Dragon form has no attacks, but can refresh units like a bard or a dancer. Both forms fly. Tremendous luck. High speed. Moderate mag and res. Low HP, str, skill, and def. EDIT: And wow, that took longer to finish than I'd have liked.

Before I go further I should place this disclaimer: I know exactly dick about programming, romhacking, spriting, or digital art. This has only ever been a thought exercise, or a, "If I got to be in charge of a game," fantasy. I wish I had the time and the skills to make my own FE, but alas, you know how the world works, gentle reader(s). So with that in mind, let's jam. I like the concept of manaketes, laguz, all the shapeshifting humanoid units. Fire Emblem is a high fantasy series, so why not get a little crazy and have all your units be shapeshifters? Then, as I lay in bed trying to fall asleep as my infant son unconsciously nudged me in the ribs with his tiny little feet, the idea started to spread out and unfold. What if instead of being thought of as saviors and freedom fighters by people, your army was looked upon with horror? What if you were aliens? Or from another world where people evolved in a different direction? Why would you leave that world? What if you had to, because you had no home to go back to? That was the genesis of Dreams in the Dark. This thread will chronicle the ironing out of the story beats, the systems used in the game, and some hurdles I encountered in my game design document (hereafter referred to as GDD). [spoiler=Battle Options]Pair-up is gone, but some of its functions have been absorbed, osmosis-style, into Fates' Attack Stance. When a unit moves adjacent to another one, the wait command is replaced with two new ones, Offense (supports with an extra attack at half-damage, just like Attack stance in Fates) and Defense (builds up a shield meter, but gives NO stat bonuses, and enemy units can attack either defending unit) instead. This should eliminate the "stat-backpack" mentality that became so prevalent in the 3DS games. Rescue, Shove, and ledge mechanics are back. Weapon weight is not. Determining if one unit can be rescued or shoved by another is based on the rescuer/shover's STR and the Rescue/Shovee's DEF. Yes, this means that big, burly physical units are more adept at pushing and carrying their comrades. Doubling is harder to do than in most modern FE games. A minimum SPD difference of at least 10 is required, barring the influence of weapons, soulstones, and skills. Transforming is done manually, like in Tellius, but that is explored in more detail below. [spoiler=Your Army]Here's an overview of the types of units you'll be able to field, and their rough equivalents in a real game. Suzaku Tribe: All of these units can fly. What a surprise! -Falcon - Pegasus knights. Uses lances in human form. Can gain swords or spellsongs upon promotion. -Eagle - Archer. Uses bows in human form. Can gain spears or double down on bows after promotion. -Owl - Rogue, minus the stealing. Uses shuriken in human form and picks locks. High skill. Can steal after promotion. -Condor - Wyvern rider. Flying tanks! Uses axes in human form. Can uses lances after promotion. -Hawk - Myrmidon. Proficient with swords in human form. Very fast, relies on avoid and luck. Not overly strong or sturdy. -Raven - More traditional thief. Uses bows in human form. More speed focused than owls. -Heron - Cleric/monk. Sings different songs that act like healing and buffing staves do in other games. Can use tomes after promotion. Byakko Tribe: If you're looking for mounted units, these are the closest analogues you'll find, minus the actual mounts. Many of them have exceptional ground mobility. -Cat - Cavalier! Uses swords in human form. Can use lances, axes, or staves after promotion. -Tiger - Cavalier! Good move, decent defense and res. Uses lances in human form. Can promote for swords or axes. -Lion - Cavalier! This one uses axes. Can learn lances or swords after promotion. -Wolf - Mercenary. High skill. Well-rounded. Human form uses swords. -Fox - Sneaky mage! Uses tomes in human form. Can pick locks in both forms. Can use shuriken after promotion. -Bear - Axe fighter. High HP and strength. Low res. Uses axes as a human. Genbu Tribe: The weirdo scaly ones! Yay! These guys have far and away the best aquatic mobility with the exception of the tortoise. They also have an eclectic selection of roles. -Tortoise - Armor Knight. Uses axes. Can use lances and axes after promotion. -Turtle - Pirate! Yar! Uses axes as a human. -Frilled lizard - Mage. Uses tomes. Can learn spells that function like debuff staves (sleep, weakened, etc.) in other games after promotion. -Toad - Another pirate! Yo ho ho! Uses axes and can steal. Can use swords after promotion. -Snake - Aquatic thief. Uses shuriken, picks locks, and steals. Promotion can give lance proficiency. -Salamander - Another cleric/monk. Proficient with all the staff-like magics. Can learn to use swords after promotion. Seiryu Tribe: These folks earn their reputation as legendary beasts. You can only recruit one of each. Thinking of giving them 40 levels with no promotion, but not sure. -Black - Dragon Lord. Our first lord unit. Dragon form can fly. Uses tomes as a human, mainly a prf tome called Earth. Can learn to use swords after promotion. -Red - Dragon Knight. Human form counts as armored, uses axes and lances. Tremendous HP. Tremendous str, def, and skill as a dragon. Low luck and speed. Moderate res. -White - Dragon Mage. Human form can use all kinds of magic. Both forms can move over deserts and in water tiles with ease. Tremendous Mag and res. Moderate HP, skill, and speed. Low luck and def. -Purple - Fairy Dragon. Human form can use bows, shuriken, and tomes. Dragon form has no attacks, but can refresh units like a bard or a dancer. Both forms fly. Tremendous luck. High speed. Moderate mag and res. Low HP, str, skill, and def. [spoiler=Movement]You know who wins at Fire Emblem? Fliers. They have among the largest movement ranges in every game, and can blissfully glide right over forests, mountains, water, gaping ravines, and all at no movement penalty. Hell, in some games, they can use some of their rather generous movement stat, act, and then move again. That kind of superior mobility is crazy! Look at every game in the series and you'll notice that fliers are always a highly valued resource. And why not? It doesn't matter what kind of statistical advantage the really slow units like armor knights and generals have. In most maps mobility matters, and you can usually find at least one heavy armor unit at the bottom of most tier lists. I can't claim to have any kind of a perfect solution, but here's my idea: Special terrain that only affects fliers. Clouds that provide avoid bonuses, strong winds that slow airborne movement in one or more directions, and atmospheric turbulence that can't be flown through at all are the basic tiles that I came up with. These don't have to be ubiquitous, but certainly should be sprinkled throughout the game to provide another factor to consider when planning one's tactics. If your game uses skills (mine theoretically does) it even makes special movement skills like acrobat suddenly relevant to more of your army. Also, while we're talking about mobility, let's talk about water tiles! This is probably so uncommon as to be essentially a non-issue with most games, but I planned an entire sub-campaign around aquatic maps and battle on the high seas, so I might as well reinvent the wheel a little bit. Now, making units that are only good in the water is a mad fool's dream, and while I am both mad and foolish, I prefer a more practical approach: Amphibious units, like pirates in the GBA games. The only problem with pirates and berserkers in most FEs is that they only get to swim one space at a time. That is a little counterproductive, don't you think? Take for example Sacred Stones chapter 9a. This is a map that almost looks like it was designed to showcase a pirate's ability to move on water. If, say, you promote Ross to pirate, he can spend 5-6 turns or so moving across that relatively small stretch of water in the bay, or you can use Vanessa to cart a whole friggin' squad of your landlocked units straight into the action in the same amount of time. That's barely even a choice! Also, why is it that nobody knows how to ford a river? Long story short, my solution on paper is to use shallow water tiles and deeper water tiles. Shallow tiles have a steep movement penalty, but can be traversed by most units, and deep water tiles are impassable by landbased mounts (or in my game's case landbased quadrupeds) without a special skill, and can be navigated by "infantry" type units at a 3x movement cost (round down). If a unit is amphibious in nature they can move normally through any water tiles. I also toyed with the idea of strong directional currents, but I don't know if that's too much of a gimmick and should be relegated to "That one map" status. Of course, if in the totally crazy and not-at-all reasonable case you aren't looking to make a story centered around maps covered in water, all of this talk of water mobility might be "that one map" material, so whatever. [spoiler=Customization and promotion]Skills are Tellius style. The player will find skill scrolls throughout the game. These will be the main method for units to learn new skills, other than some class-locked skills, such as Avoid +10 or Crit +20. Everyone has a skill capacity. Promoted (or special) units have a bigger cap, and better skills take more to equip. There are also special items that can permanently increase your skill capacity, but they are rare and in limited supply, just like every other stat booster. Also, most classes have a class skill that cannot be removed, but also doesn't eat into their capacity. Several characters also start with skills equipped by default, at no capacity cost. Removing these skills will turn them into scrolls that can be equipped to anyone with the capacity, but the capacity-free benefit is lost. These pre-equipped skills will be referred to as default skills until I can think of a better term for them. Promotion is handled with master seals and leveling past 20, also Tellius-style. Each unit can choose either to embrace their more humanlike side when they promote, becoming more like traditional units and focusing on the weapons of those classes, or their primal side, in which case they will largely focus on their natural weapons, which are represented by striking. There are also a couple of items that give a unit a special promotion, similar to how the Dread Scroll and Wedding Bouquet in Awakening worked. Beyond that, there is no reclassing. This means that, once a special promotion item is used, that unit cannot go back to their regular promotion line. [spoiler=Weapons and equipment]All the classic weapon types are back: Swords, lances, axes, bows, tomes, and shuriken (admittedly not a classic, but it makes the ranged weapon triangle complete). Shuriken and knives no longer grant debuffs, and are restricted to either 1 or 2 range. Some special 1-2 range shuriken exist, but they have the same restrictions that other 1-2 range weapons do in Fates (no doubling, no crits, no battle skills, -5 resistance to enemy doubling). Speaking of which, magic is the only weapon type that by default has no penalties for being effective at 1-2 range, and bows are still awesome at 2 range, but only some special bows can attack at 1 range. The weapon triangle is Fates-style. Transformations work on a separate triangle: Beasts>Birds>Scalies. Dragons remain separate, because they are special snowflakes. Also, the Genbu tribe is a type that replaces Armor types for the purposes of weaknesses. There will be specialized weapons that deal effective damage to the different unit types, like beast lances, deep/dragonslayer swords, all bows against Suzaku, etc. Back from Tellius is striking, with the tweak that you can now actively attack bare-handed (or taloned, or clawed, or what-have-you) on your turn, even as a humanoid. Every Vilcoorian in the game starts with a strike proficiency and a more conventional weapon proficiency. Your strike rank affects what transformation stones you can equip as well as the strength of your beast form's attacks. Weapon durability is more like FE4 than anything else. Most manmade weapons will have limited uses, but can be repaired by a blacksmith. Transformations are only limited by the gauge, and soulstones never run out of uses. Forging is now used to change a weapon into a new one using precious materials (for example, combining an iron lance with a pearl creates a slim lance). [spoiler=Transformation]Transformation works with a heavy influence from the Tellius games (gauge) and a little bit of the other games (stones can be equipped to change stat boosts). First, the gauge is a little different. It goes up to 10. Transforming can be done at the beginning or the end of a unit's action, but not both (barring a skill). Every turn they spend as a humanoid increases the gauge by 1. Every battle they participate in as a humanoid increases the gauge by 1. Every turn they spend transformed decreases their gauge by 1. It does not decrease due to battles. There are also a couple of spell-songs that affect transformation gauges. As long as a unit has at least 1 in their transformation gauge they can take their beast form. Each type of unit has specific stat boosts in beast form that can change depending on if they have a soul stone equipped. Stones add various effects (Reverse weapon triangle, target res or def instead of the other way around, add element for weakness purposes, etc.) and change how stats are affected, like beaststones versus beastrunes or beaststones+ in Fates. Transformation stones are NOT weapons, but accessories, and should be relatively uncommon. Each unit type has a set starting point for their gauge, and some promoted units can even start a battle with their gauge maxed out. [spoiler=Playing House]Every character will have a support pool of roughly 3-5, with the odd outlier who has 6. The player can max out all of them at A rank, if they like. Maxing out a support line will open up a base conversation. Viewing said conversation will give those two characers a paired ending, and unlocks a skill scroll if one or more parties has a default skill equipped. Affinities are back. The types and their associated bonuses are pulled right out of Radiant Dawn. Since pair-up is gone, these bonuses are active so long as the two characters are within 3 spaces of each other, including if one unit is rescuing the other. I don't know if any of the real games ever did this, but any given character can benefit from any and all of their support partners' affinities, as long as they are within support range. This, combined with the lack of pair-up, should encourage formations and strategies other than, "duct tape two units together -> sprint for the boss -> profit!" At least I hope so. There is also a separate rating called, "Authority," which reflects how the refugees from Vilcoor feel about their leader. It starts out with a 'D' rating, and the decisions and accomplishments of Frey or whoever leads the group after she dies will improve it, up to a maximum rating of S, and several things can lower it, such as character deaths, neutral units dying, and, well, that's all I've got for now. Higher authority ratings confer several benefits, such as hit and avoid bonuses, increased shop variety, and the likelihood that a unit who falls in battle will survive their wounds and come back after a battle is finished in Classic mode. There are no 2nd generation units. There is already enough time/space nonsense with the world-hopping gateways, and the homogenization of the support system that they bring has left a bad taste in my mouth. Edited to reflect the changes to the thread so far.

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'm still hammering out the details on this, but here goes! The story plays out in a few separate "books." Book 1 is set on a dying world that has been ravaged by war and eldritch abominations, called Vilcoor. It represents what would happen if the bad guys won in a typical Fire Emblem plot. Supernatural storms rake lightning across the landscape. Monsters walk (or fly, or just shamble) freely, killing and devouring anything and anyone they come across. The people of this destroyed world have adapted to become beastlike themselves after many generations of exposure to the wild magic that permeates the air itself (think Laguz, but without the transformation gauge). There are four tribes still alive, each named after its first ruler: Suzaku (the wing tribe), Byakko (Beast tribe), Genbu (the Deep tribe), and Seiryu (the Dragon tribe). Our first protagonist is a young woman (by the standards of her people) of the Seiryu tribe. Her parents, the king and queen of these blasted lands, have recently fallen in a battle to destroy the source of the great evil and stop the apocalypse. With their mission a failure she is faced with an impossible task: Save her kingdom, or at the very least save her people. With her most trusted bodyguard (A swordswoman of the wing tribe) at her side she sets out to gather the scattered clans of survivors and make use of the very same portal that brought the ancient evil to her world, and find a new home. The catch, of course, is that to open this gateway, a sacrifice of sufficient life force is required. Solving this problem will be one of a few important choices the player must make over the course of the game. Once that mission is accomplished the player must choose a new Lord. There are chieftains of a few clans to choose from, each representing a different unit type: The swordfighter bodyguard from Book 1, a reckless lion man, and a tankalicious tortoise. Each of these characters has their own story beyond the dragon's gate in which their people arrive on a new, unfamiliar world and must adapt while fighting off the attacks of that world's natives. Each book will have a complete arc (around 10-15 chapters) and credits will roll. The main themes are sacrifice and choice. Once you have completed every book, another lord becomes available, and in their story, titled Extra Book: Finale, the cast is reunited. There will also be a new ending if you play through the whole game again after beating it, in which some dialogue is changed and a few major events offer new options for the choices you have to make. While you may recruit a few human units in the worlds our heroes explore, the vast majority of your army will be members of the four tribes. Each tribe has several subtypes that will fill in the roles FE veterans would find in your more traditional game. Here's a real quick list: First up we have the Suzaku tribe. They are the fast, light units (possibly except the condors) and the fliers of the Vilcoorian army. Their subtypes are as follows: Falcon - Think like pegasus knights. uses spears in human form. Eagle - Owl - Condor Hawk Raven Heron Next, another tellius callback, the Byakko tribe. These are the closest we will get to mounted units on the ground. Well balanced stats for the most part, though they have shown a distinct lack of resistance to magic. subtypes are: Cat Tiger Lion Wolf Fox Bear Now, for a new addition to playable beasties, the Genbu tribe. Amphibions and Reptiles fall into this group, and most of them have excellent water movement. This group has a more eclectic selection of roles they fill, such as mages, heavy tanks, and even a thief-type. Subtypes are: Tortoise Turtle Frilled lizard Toad Snake Salamander Finally there is the Seiryu tribe, otherwise referred to as the dragon tribe. They are fewer in number than the others, but each one you will recruit is unique. With one exception they are all recruited mid-to-lategame. Their subtypes are: Black/Dragon Lord (great stats all-around. dragon form flies. both forms have 1-2 range.) Red/Dragon Knight (crazy high hp/str/def. heavy armor-style movement) White/Dragon Mage (great res/mag, good water mobility. dragon form has 1-2 range combat) Purple/Faerie Dragon (frail and weak, but nimble and lucky. dragon form has bow range. both forms can fly) As a reflection of the theme of choice, each unit's promotion options represent choosing to embrace their more bestial side (usually meaning they focus on transforming) or choosing to blend in with their new human neighbors and mastering human-style weapons and fighting. I could go into more detail here, but that's more of a technical/systems discussion, and we're talking plot. So that's my word vomit!

Doooooo iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. They come free for anybody that owns more than one path, and they're a finite resource per run. It's not as though they'll break the game.

Okay, so, feedback! Let me first say, wowie zowie bananarang, that was biggity-bomb doodangalang zipzap crackadakka- This is getting away from me- It was good! My favorite bits were easily your expansion on the characterizations of the Nohrian royalty, especially Garon. You managed to make him more interesting and keep to his in-game portrayal as "lolevulz" at the same time. My favorite entry was hands-down the wolfskin incident. Other positive notes include Dakota having an actual personality. Arrogant, calculating, with a humorous smirking quality to his musings, that was all great. Also, I am surprised to say I wouldn't have minded hearing a little more from Shigure. He gave me a chuckle or two. Things I was less thrilled about were most of the bits involving the children, but I will openly admit that probably has more to do with there having been no effort made on Fates' part to make them fit into the story or even the world, and so any attempt to integrate them is going to have some tall hurdles to jump. I generally don't like Kana (a shame since I really liked Morgan) so I didn't like her this time around either. I found myself mostly wanting to hurry through the child paralogues so I could get back to the proper narrative. That said, the bits detailing the awakening trio, Robin, and the time-travel/dimension hopping all had me along for the ride. I like that kind of stuff, though, so maybe I'm not the best critic. I can't wait to see more! TL:DR version I liked: Dakota, the Nohrians, the main plot, transdimensional shenanigans Pleasant surprises: Shigure, Garon backstory I didn't like: The children (Except Shigure. I don't even know why. In-game I find him just as pointless as the others.) Overall: Two thumbs up!

I planned out three different avatars, one for each path, based on my family. For Birthright I went +Mag(clever)/-Res(excitable) Troubadour, based on my wife the strategist. For Conquest I went +Str(strong)/-Luck(unlucky) Samurai, based on me (Dur hurr S rank swords). I probably should have picked Oni Savage, though. Blacksmith looks cool as hell. For Revelations I'm going +Spd(quick)/-Skl(clumsy) Fighter, based on my son, whose favorite way to interact with my face is to chew on my nose and bang on it with his tiny hands (Berserker seemed like the best fit).

Also, from a practical standpoint, the edge faces up so the samurai doesn't scrape the business end of their katana against their scabbard every time they draw and sheath their weapon.

Agreed! It was as though they had a quota for dead people, and when the lead up for the ice tribe village started they went, "Balls! We're behind! Quick, light that one on fire!"

I personally hope they keep the weapon triangle from Fates, and the weapon buff/debuff system, with the exception of the reviled "every time you swing this weapon you get lamer," effect that most B rank weapons have. Hidden weapons are a nice addition (though after getting negative chained into oblivion I feel like their debuff powers could stand to be reexamined, but maybe that's just me being salty) and magic and bows are much more interesting to use. Intelligent Systems did some good work tweaking the tried-and-true formula of the past few games.

Castle name: Omegapolis castle code: 07606-77833-12275-44860 Difficulty: Easy Resources: Daikon and Coral Units and skills: Angelo (MU): Dragon Fang, Hoshidan Unity, Pavise, Swordfaire, Aptitude Rinkah: Seal Resistance, Locktouch, Salvage Blow, Lancebreaker, Aptitude Hana: Duelist's Blow, Vantage, Astra, Swordfaire, Seal Strength Saizo: Locktouch, Even Keel, Iron Will, Clarity, Aggressor Takumi: Skill +2, Quick Draw, Certain Blow, Bowfaire, Air Superiority Orochi: Speed +2, Relief, Future Sight, Rally Move, Galeforce Mozu: Underdog, Aptitude, Profiteer, Spendthrift, (No 5th skill, sry) Scarlet: Strength +2, Lunge, Rally Def, Bowbreaker, Swordbreaker Ryoma: Vantage, Duelist's Blow, Astra, Swordfaire, Lancebreaker Shura: Move +1, Lucky Seven, Locktouch, Aptitude, (empty skill slot) Edit: Added a little new info. Mostly standard skills, but I did manage to nab Aptitude on a couple units from castle visits (Rinkah, Shura, and MU). On occasion I am on my Nohr file with different everything, but I try to make sure this castle is active most of the time. If you don"t see it when you visit, check back the next day!