Thoughts on a lord with a criminal record?

[JJ48]

2 minutes ago, Lord Tullus said:

The latter.  He gets punished for the crime, but his reasoning was because of unjust laws and cultures in a strict system.  Having freedom is taken for granted in some areas, and putting the spot light on how rough society can get at a higher level simply due to fear or resentment can show just how valuable the aspect of freedom or choice can be.  But that's more My Idea than anything.  Although Freedom has been explored in FE before, I feel being forced into a situation you don't like being in (controlling an unlikable protagonist in this case) makes the game feel more disheartening, and the game should make you feel on edge if you are controlling a protagonist with shady ambitions.

Whether he gets redemption or not, I believe that Fire Emblem stories do well if they have a huge point of tragety to them.  Not lazily put in, but something that makes the player feel as if his/her or the protagonist's efforts were for nothing, or making the protagonist have some revelation about the reality around them, and how to adapt to the changes.  Does the character lose his/her identity or not?  Will this character accomplish these goals?  If not, how will any impending conflicts be resolved with this character having changed?  I think these aspects make a character interesting, and not neccisarily if they are straight up a horrible person or not.  I'd just like to see a new and somewhat darker take on a protagonist of a Fire Emblem game, because we haven't had a truly good one since Path of Radiance.  ( FE 11 Marth had good writing and dialogue, but everyone thinks he's more bland than a slice of wheat bread, so my opinion does not matter. )

I don't mind tragic elements, but I'm not a big fan of straight-up tragedy.  If I don't like the protagonist, and I don't agree with his motives, I'd probably give the game a pass.

...of course, I'm assuming that I would know about the tragic element ahead of time in making this choice.  Because if a game doesn't let you know that it's a tragedy until the point when you actually find out that all your efforts were for naught, that's just the game developers trolling you.

[Water Mage]

On 24/03/2017 at 6:17 PM, Glaceon Mage said:

Could work in theory, but I'm concerned over how on earth recruitment of non-criminals would even work

That's always the first thing that come to mind when people come up with the idea of a morally questionable lord. One of the bigger parts of Fire Emblem is gathering a army, and I can't see a lot of people joining a criminal's cause. This sort of plot works in RPGs because there are only 6 to 8 party members.

[Tetragrammaton]

2 hours ago, Water Mage said:

That's always the first thing that come to mind when people come up with the idea of a morally questionable lord. One of the bigger parts of Fire Emblem is gathering a army, and I can't see a lot of people joining a criminal's cause. This sort of plot works in RPGs because there are only 6 to 8 party members.

Did you know about Anri and how he built a kingdom?