Ideas for a KR RPG

[SilasLock]

Okay, I made a first draft of this game. Special thanks to XStarGaming for the inspiration! Here goes:

You start out on a screen that gives you many a choice about what happens in your early life, with accompanying pictures. Each choice you make will change your stats and abilities, which I will explain later in detail. If I put a ‘’*’’ into the script, it shows that the rest of the stuff afterward is a choice. Two ‘’/’’es mean that anything in between is a comment. Before any of these modifications to your stats, your character starts with:
50 HP
5 Power
10 Dexterity
5 Speed
0 Defense

Your fellow party members, before stat modification, have these stats:
60 HP
10 Power
15 Dexterity
7 Speed
1 Defense

As an example, the starting set of choices about your character could say this:

I was born into the world crying and screaming, little knowing the destiny I would have in this new world. I was born in
*Choice
‘’A big fancy house, a clear sign of one of noble birth.’’ +2% gold after every battle
‘’A cozy hideaway in the village, where I lived a content life in the middle-class.’’ +10 HP
‘’A small and cramped house meant for the poorest of the poor, but I was happy.’’ +2 Defense

My parents named me

*Choice
‘’(Type in name here).’’ Changes your name to whatever you specify.

I lived in Pagras, a racially diverse village south of Lineria. I was a
*Choice
‘’Human.’’ +5 HP, change race to Human.
‘’Elf.’’ +5 Speed, change race to Elf.
‘’Dwarf.’’ +5 Power, change race to Dwarf.

/Here is where our choice path diverges before returning to normal. It changes depending on what your race is./

I grew up to love the world around me. Everything interested me, and my thirst for knowledge and understanding continued to grow throughout the years. However, the thing that interested me most was
*Choice(Human)
‘’Swordfighting. I dreamed of becoming a militia in the King’s army.’’ Change starting equipment to that of Militia.
‘’Archery. I developed a natural skill with arrows and how to use them.’’ Change starting equipment to that of Archer.
‘’Magic. Something deep and mysterious in the arcane and divine arts had always fascinated me, but I didn’t know why.’’ Change starting equipment to that of Mage.

*Choice(Elf)
‘’Swordfighting. I had a natural talent with the blade exceeding the usual ability of my race.’’ Change starting equipment to that of Militia.
‘’Archery. I loved the open air and always practiced my deadly sharpshooting skills whenever I had the chance.’’ Change starting equipment to that of Archer.
‘’Magic. I had an incredible ability to manipulate the energy around me, marking me as one of those touched by forces unknown.’’ Change starting equipment to that of Mage.

*Choice(Dwarf)
‘’Technology. I loved to tinker with things, and create something new out of them. I eventually became interested in applying this talent to war.’’ Change starting equipment to that of Tinkerer.
‘’Combat. I loved listening to the tales of our warrior brethren in the Emberspike mountains, and took after them in both body and spirit.’’ Change starting equipment to that of Warrior.

I liked to fight with my own unique style, where I relied on

*Choice(Militia)
‘’Strength. I crushed any who stood in my way.’’ +30 Power.
‘’Speed. I was nimble and quick, and struck faster than any.’’ +30 Speed.

*Choice(Archer)
‘’A fast rate of fire. I could loose an arrow farther and faster than any in the land.’’ +30 Speed.
‘’A steady aim. I could hit a target from more than 80 feet away with pinpoint accuracy.’’ +45 Dexterity.

*Choice(Mage)
‘’My raw talent. I could perform magic beyond the ken of any ordinary individual.’’ +32 Power.
‘’My cleverness. I created spells and wards that could barely be unraveled by any other magician in my village, making me super resilient to attack.’’ +29 Defense.
‘’My stamina. I could continue to cast spells without fail when most ordinary magicians would have collapsed from exhaustion.’’ +30 HP.

*Choice(Tinkerer)
‘’Intelligence. I created explosives and machines with functions and abilities more creative than most.’’ +35 Dexterity.
‘’Big explosions. I had learned long ago that bigger was better when it came to bombs.’’ +30 Power.

*Choice(Warrior)
‘’My strength. I could lift loads far greater than the average Dwarf, and people jokingly referred to me as a ‘giant bowling ball.’ ‘’ +38 Power.
‘’My constitution. It seemed that even though I was hit by many a heavy object, I shouldered the pain and kept on going. For some time people thought my bones were made of rock.’’ +20 Defense, +10 HP.

/This next choice allows you to make three separate selections before pressing the confirm button, instead of just one. Before you select these three you will have to fill in their name space and select a race (Elven or Human) from the drop down box./

I had three good friends who lived nearby in my village. We were inseparable, and did everything together. They were

*Choice
‘’A (Race) mage named (Name).’’
‘’A (Race) archer named (Name).’’
‘’A (Race) militia named (Name).’’
‘’A Dwarven warrior named (Name).’’
‘’A Dwarven tinkerer named (Name).’’

*Choice
‘’The four of us lived a happy, simple life together in our tiny village, but adventuring had always captured our imagination.’’ +2 Dexterity to all party members.
‘’Our village was always under attack by marauding goblin bands, and the four of us dreamed of striking back in some way. To become adventurers seemed the easiest way to do this.’’ +2 Speed to all party members.
‘’We would have laughed and played the days away until the end of time, but then our respective parents kicked us out the door to become adventurers.’’ +1 Defense to all party members, -2 Speed to all party members.

A united team, we began adventuring together, and this is where our story begins.


And that’s how the entry scene could go. As you can see, your own party member receives the majority of the stat boosts from the start, making them the strongest character in your party. Throughout the game, your party will not change, and you will have to mold your other party members as you see fit into their individual roles. Now it’s time to clarify the stats in this game.

First off, all stats in this game are class neutral. Power for a fighter will essentially equal strength, and will equal magical power for a mage. The game will try very hard not to shoehorn your characters into pre-defined roles, and lets you mold them as you see fit. Here is a basic rundown of stats to help everyone understand.

HP
This is pretty self-explanatory. HP stands for Hit Points. You take too much damage, you die. This is how much damage you can take before that happens.

Power
Power is a stat that governs the amount of damage you do in a hit. High Power characters will deal lots of damage in a hit, low Power characters do little damage in a hit. Simple as that. There is no individual Power stat for mages or warriors; rather, they work the same way for all classes, but more on that later. To calculate the amount of damage you do, subtract the target’s Defense stat from your Power stat to determine the actual damage of the hit.

Dexterity
This is your accuracy and dodge stat. If your Dexterity is lower than your target’s, you are more likely to miss with your attack, and vice versa. The more Dexterity you have in comparison to an attacking enemy, the more likely you are to dodge. If your Dexterity is much, much higher than your opponent’s, you will score critical hits. Critical hits ignore Defense and deal double damage. Basically, this is an all-around stat that just makes life easier for you.

Speed
More Speed equals more hits in a single attack. A party member with high Speed and low Power will perform many rapid hits with low damage, while a party member with low Speed and high Power will probably perform one super powerful hit. Both are effective styles of play, but feel and work differently.

Defense
Your Defense lessens the damage done to you by individual enemy hits. Subtract your Defense from an attacking opponent’s Power to determine the damage you take. This is an all-around stat that helps you in practically every situation. Some attacks, like critical hits, ignore Defense entirely. If your Defense is higher than your attacker’s attack, then it automatically defaults the hit to deal 1 damage.


Now onto classes. There are no ‘’classes’’ in this game, but there are emblems. Equipping an emblem to a character gives them a distinct upgrade tree. Each emblem is different, and can be equipped and unequipped at any time just like all other equipment. For example, equipping one of your party members with your Militia emblem would give you access to the Militia skill tree, which you can upgrade with stars that are stockpiled in each character individually, not as a group pot. You get one star every time you level up, and you can always reset your skill tree like you would in Kingdom Rush. You cannot unequip an emblem until all stars have been removed from it. Generally, you will unlock better emblems farther into the game, but sometimes earlier emblems can prove themselves superior in late game. It all depends on your style of play. Many emblems will reuse similar passive bonuses or skills from other emblems, and some may be entirely unique.

Here are some example emblems:
Militia Emblem
Footman Emblem
Knight Emblem
Paladin Emblem
Barbarian Emblem
Assassin Emblem
Templar Emblem
Ninja Emblem
Archer Emblem
Marksman Emblem
Sharpshooter Emblem
Ranger Emblem
Musketeer Emblem
Crossbowman Emblem
Windwalker Emblem
Longbowman Emblem
Mage Emblem
Adept Emblem
Wizard Emblem
Arcane Emblem
Sorcerer Emblem
Archmage Emblem
Necromancer Emblem
Pyromancer Emblem
Tinkerer Emblem
Mechanic Emblem
Engineer Emblem
Warrior Emblem
Fighter Emblem
Guard Emblem
Berserker Emblem


The emblems that are adapted from Kingdom Rush’s level 1 through 3 towers are largely the same thing, but with added areas of the same skill tree at the top. The others are specialization emblems, such as the Paladin emblem, and are more unique in nature. Some emblems give you negative or positive stat bonuses right off the bat; for example, the Mage emblem gives you minus 5 Defense when equipped.

The point of this system is to make sure that no character is set in stone. You can have them grow in any way you want to, instead of forcing them into a specific warrior class you might not want.


Equipment
Equipment will work differently than it does in most RPGs. First off, once you get a piece of equipment, you technically have infinite of them. You can apply the equipment to as many party members as you like, and you can never find the same equipment twice. Second, there is no selling of equipment. This makes equipment more like a collectathon rather than a quest to get stronger. All equipment is visually represented on the character. Thirdly, equipment has VERY minimal stat bonuses. It’s almost entirely for character customization, not powering up your character. Sure, armor is capable of giving you a small defense bonus, but a player should be able to get from the beginning to the end of the game without ever changing equipment. Lastly, equipment is all premade by the developers. There is no randomly generated equipment in the game, and no two pieces of equipment look the same. They are all unique and customization based. Here are some examples, along with the KR characters they were taken from:

Lineria Knight Helmet (from the KR knight)
Aszare Bandana (from the KRF machete reinforcement)
Machete (from the KRF machete reinforcement)
Paladin Armor (from the Paladin)
Imperial Guard Helmet (from the Imperial Guard)
Aszare Knight Helmet (from the KRF knight)
Lineria Militia Hair (from the KR militia)
Gold Ring (from no one in particular)
Aszare Knight Shield (from the KRF knight)

… etc. etc. This equipment is placed into slots on your party members, allowing you to customize them however you wish. Your slots are the:

Head slot = for hair, hats and helmets
Armor slot = for robes and armor, covers both the torso and legs of the player
Weapon slot = for bows, wands, and swords
Shield slot = for shields and rings

The actual character models without anything on them are really quite similar. Humans are taller, Dwarves have beards, and Elves have pointy ears. Most, if not practically all, customization is done through items. Heck, even gender is done through items! You can equip long hair to make yourself into a girl character, and short hair for boys. These characters don’t have eyes, so not much effort is required on the part of gender for characters.

Leveling
Your party gains experience at the same rate. If a player dies mid battle they still earn experience from it. Instead of each character having an individual experience bar, your whole party shares a single bar, and when it fills you level up. Leveling up gives each player one star to spend in their skill tree, ups all their stats by 1 except HP, which gets a 10 point increase, and gives you 1 stat point for each party member to place where you wish.

Skill trees can be reset at any time by the player, and are changeable by way of emblems. Some upgrades in the skill tree cost more than others, and while some are passive upgrades others are abilities for you to use in combat alongside your standard attack. For more information on how what you gain in skill trees affects combat, see the combat section later on in this post.


Combat
Okay, here’s the big part. First, there are no random encounters in this game. Like Pokemon, you only encounter enemies when you specifically challenge them to duel, or when you are walking through tall grass (or in this case, forests). Once you enter combat, the real fun begins.

Party members and enemies take turns attacking. There is a fifty percent chance that the player’s side will go first at the beginning of each battle. In order to attack, the player selects from a list of attacks they have learned and performs it, targeting either one or many enemies depending on the attack. Different classes attack differently, and here’s how.

Any melee class
Melee classes attack by selecting from a set of attacks they have learned through their skill tree. Some attacks do more damage than others, but every single one has a unique ‘’minigame’’ you have to play in order to pull them off. These are very quick and simple. For example, to perform an attack called Quick Slash, you have to click at the very moment your character strikes an opponent with their sword. The closer you are to the moment of contact, the more damage you do.

Any arrow class
Same as melee.

Any magic class
Same as melee, except your attacks are all spells and some drain your HP to cast them. Sometimes, if you should fail the minigame, you lose more health than normal, and this can sometimes kill you.

Any dwarven artillery class
Many attacks deal damage to the entire enemy party, but very few of them actually have minigames. This class fights as more of a constant for the player; if everyone fails their minigame then at least this guy will still deal damage. This is the only class with attacks that don’t have minigames.

Defense is another part of this. One attack certain enemies can do is to target two of your party at a time with a single attack. The game pauses before they unleash the attack and asks you to select two party members to defend. If you chose the two that were being attacked, those party members avoid all damage, or at least take highly reduced damage. This is another example of minigames in combat; they are fast and simple, but have a very meaningful impact on the battle.

Pets
Pets can be found after you complete a certain sidequest where you return a beastmaster’s favorite squirrel. He will give you the ability to tame pets as a given, no stars or stats required. Should you find a pet in the wild, you can tame it if your entire party’s Dexterity is higher than the pet’s ‘’taming value.’’ Like equipment, each pet can only be found once and can be applied to as many party members as you want. They cannot be sold. Pets provide both positive and negative bonuses to your stats, making them less of a power-up and more of a stylistic touch to your character. Pets are completely optional. You don’t have to equip them if you don’t want to. When in combat with a pet, they appear next to the party member you equipped them to. Some pets are mounts, and appear under your character, not next to them. Some examples:

Direwolf: +5 Power, -2 Defense.
Raven: +5 Defense, -2 HP.
Serpent: +5 Dexterity, -2 Power.
Shadowcat: +5 Dexterity, -2 Power.
Hawk: +5 Speed, -2 HP.
Giant Spider: +5 Defense, -2 Dexterity.
Small Bear: +5 Defense, -2 Dexterity.
Owl: +5 Power, -2 Defense.
Weasel: +5 Dexterity, -2 Defense.


And some mounts:

Horse: +10 Speed.
Stag: +10 Speed.
Giant Mole: +2 Speed, +2 Defense.


------------------------------

So there are my ideas for a Kingdom Rush RPG. I have no actual coding, concept art, story, or quest methodology yet; this game is far from done. I also don’t think this is the definitive way for Ironhide to go about making an RPG. I’m just trying to give an idea of how Ironhide COULD make an RPG with the same level of awesome as Kingdom Rush. Of course, this could only be done after Ironhide does all the projects currently on the table, but think about it. Seriously.

I think the first reason this idea would work is because it engages the player. When playing Kingdom Rush, I never wanted for a fast-forward button because I was too busy placing reinforcements to need one. I think the attacking minigames are a good way to replicate this effect in an RPG. It keeps the players engaged in the action so that skill is always a factor, not just stats. If anyone has ever played Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga, they know what I’m talking about. The ability to jump or hammer in defense made it possible to avoid damage completely if you never made any mistakes. This ensured that the player always paid attention and had plenty of fun even though it was a turn based battle.

So, what do you guys think? I don’t have any ideas for enemies, later story, concept art, gameplay outside of combat, area design, a world map, or anything else that a game needs. If you guys want to help, post your ideas below and I can add them into the original post.


((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((
New ideas section
These ideas are ones that I haven’t added into the original post yet, but might once I find a way to fit them in. Status of ideas are listed next to the ideas themselves.
___________________________

Pets: Added.

Meeting heroes over the course of the story-Good idea, would definitely add a feeling of extra lore and involvement to the game.

Hiring mercenaries-I like it, but there needs to be some incentive to use them over your ordinary characters.
))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[mastermoo123]

Pets we NEED DEM this will come with a new class : Beastmaster for the dwarf and elf this also comes with a new stat Taming I would love to have my pet Jungle spider murder my opponents and lay eggs in them GIVING ME SPIDERLING .

[Cheesecake]

Very awesome so far

[kevin32]

I like that the stats are few. It's a good idea for this game to follow KR's foundation of being simplistic in nature.

[SilasLock]

I like that the stats are few. It's a good idea for this game to follow KR's foundation of being simplistic in nature.

Very awesome so far

Thanks, guys! Kevin, my thoughts exactly.

Pets we NEED DEM this will come with a new class : Beastmaster for the dwarf and elf this also comes with a new stat Taming I would love to have my pet Jungle spider murder my opponents and lay eggs in them GIVING ME SPIDERLING .

I'll add it into the new possible ideas section in the original post.

[Cheesecake]

I like that the stats are few. It's a good idea for this game to follow KR's foundation of being simplistic in nature.

Very awesome so far

Thanks, guys! Kevin, my thoughts exactly.

Pets we NEED DEM this will come with a new class : Beastmaster for the dwarf and elf this also comes with a new stat Taming I would love to have my pet Jungle spider murder my opponents and lay eggs in them GIVING ME SPIDERLING .

I'll add it into the new possible ideas section in the original post.

I'd have pets come in a bit later in the game. Or alternatively they could be at the start with something like:


My family owned a pet that most other villagers tried to avoid. Probably because the ____ that we owned wasn't the kind of animal people would keep as a household pet...


And then you have a choice between a few dangerous animals as a pet. Most likely a baby because otherwise the whole thing wouldn't work. Animals like a wolf, maybe.

[SilasLock]

I'd have pets come in a bit later in the game. Or alternatively they could be at the start with something like:


My family owned a pet that most other villagers tried to avoid. Probably because the ____ that we owned wasn't the kind of animal people would keep as a household pet...


And then you have a choice between a few dangerous animals as a pet. Most likely a baby because otherwise the whole thing wouldn't work. Animals like a wolf, maybe.

I think these should come in later game. Perhaps a sidequest where someone is an animal tamer, and he teaches you how pets work. After that you might be able to spend stars on a skill contained in certain emblems that lets you tame pets. This would probably work better than putting it in at the beginning, because some players might not want a pet. I'd rather not force them into that, just have it as an option.

EDIT: I like the dialogue you put in for getting a baby pet, though. Sounds great, but I don't think starting with a pet is the right answer.

[deoxsis12]

What about the heroes like Grawl and Gerald?

[SilasLock]

What about the heroes like Grawl and Gerald?

If you want, you can name, equip, and train your character the same way as a hero, but not play as them yourself. Your player character is an entirely original person.

However, perhaps you can meet heroes over the course of the storyline. I'll try and add that to the post.

[deoxsis12]

I want to learn the art of the Grawl.

[SilasLock]

I want to learn the art of the Grawl.

Grawl would be difficult to play as the way things are now. You can't play as a rock person, but perhaps you could be a Dwarf and then wear a Grawl-themed helmet and armor.

[deoxsis12]

Okay . Maybe a Grawl skill set.

[kevin32]

At some point the issue of towers will need to be addressed. How will the story unfold so that players experience tower-defense? Or is this more of a character-driven game? What kind of battles can we expect to see in this RPG?

[SilasLock]

At some point the issue of towers will need to be addressed. How will the story unfold so that players experience tower-defense? Or is this more of a character-driven game? What kind of battles can we expect to see in this RPG?

There are no towers. You can join different factions and become an archer character, but you don't ever enter a tower and shoot enemies from it. This is a character driven experience, not a tower defense in any way.

As for battles, I wrote up on them in the combat section. Think a cross between Final Fantasy 1 and Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga, with many added twists.

[Daver35]

What about adding mercenaries? You could hire them to join your party for a price. They won't level up and you can't control them. Also, they could join you as a reward for completing a mission. Think about it.

[SilasLock]

What about adding mercenaries? You could hire them to join your party for a price. They won't level up and you can't control them. Also, they could join you as a reward for completing a mission. Think about it.

Addin' it. Its a good idea.

[mastermoo123]

Ysgrildiir my Mighty axe better be a weapon or someone's gonna get a Bovinion fist in there face

[SilasLock]

Ysgrildiir my Mighty axe better be a weapon or someone's gonna get a Bovinion fist in there face

Sure, why not.

[LordoftheShadows]

I like the idea of the pets and I came up with a few suggestions. Perhaps once you reach a certain level there's a quest you can do to pick a pet.
Basically for each race there are 4 pets to choose from, each with positive and negative effects on your stats.

Human:
Direwolf: +5 power, -2 defense
Raven:+5 defense, -2 hp
Giant Snake(?): +5 dexterity, -2 power

Elf:
Shadowcat: +5 dexterity, -2 power
Hawk: +5 hp, -2 hp
Giant Spider: +5 defense, -2 dexterity

Dwarf:
Small Bear: +5 defense, -2 dexterity
Owl: +5 powee, -2 power
Weasel: +5 dexterity, -2 defense

I also came up with an idea for mounts. Each class has a mount that is unlocked after unlocking a certain quest or levelling up. The mounts only boost speed stat by +10.

Human:
Horse

Elf:
Stag

Dwarf:
Giant Mole

Open to any suggestions!

[SilasLock]

I like the idea of the pets and I came up with a few suggestions. Perhaps once you reach a certain level there's a quest you can do to pick a pet.
Basically for each race there are 4 pets to choose from, each with positive and negative effects on your stats.

Human:
Direwolf: +5 power, -2 defense
Raven:+5 defense, -2 hp
Giant Snake(?): +5 dexterity, -2 power

Elf:
Shadowcat: +5 dexterity, -2 power
Hawk: +5 hp, -2 hp
Giant Spider: +5 defense, -2 dexterity

Dwarf:
Small Bear: +5 defense, -2 dexterity
Owl: +5 powee, -2 power
Weasel: +5 dexterity, -2 defense

I also came up with an idea for mounts. Each class has a mount that is unlocked after unlocking a certain quest or levelling up. The mounts only boost speed stat by +10.

Human:
Horse

Elf:
Stag

Dwarf:
Giant Mole

Open to any suggestions!

Perfect! I really like how the pets have both negative AND positive effects on your stats, making them more of a stylistic thing than anything else. I'll add in those specifics and finish up the pet suggestions.

EDIT: I don't like race specific pets, though. That requires more coding and less freedom for the player, a lose - lose situation. I'll make it so they are race-neutral, and that the mounts also give specific bonuses, not just 10 speed. Lastly, I'll make the mounts just a different kind of pet, one that offers a different visual for the player. If any of these modifications aren't to your liking, tell me and I'll change them.