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Equipment Focused RPG Class System

Easily one of my most famous assignments from school.  I was challenged to come up with a unique class system that was different from the normal systems found in most RPGs.  We are talking like the class system of having a warrior, a mage, or a thief.  What I came up with was kind of the same as the existing system, but it was focused more on weapons and equipment.  The weapons would determine how the player would attack. You'll see what I mean below.  So the class system was mainly trying to think about weapons users.  The player could deem what kind of class they are from there.  

  Just before turning this in, one of the other students had made another weapons based class system.  I was furious thinking that he beat me to the punch.  I submitted my concept anyway, because I had developing it in my mind all week.

 

So here it is!

Games Core Structure

 

This game is an action/RPG that is heavy on the action. That's right, players' timing will take a large roll in being successful like traditional action games. However, the RPG elements will be very important to pay attention to as well. The players will not be too successful if they take their character at level three and go up against a huge dragon who is at level 18. The game will be in the third person, because it is always fun to see your avatar as you battle beasts. Being a different king of MMORPG, the game will be played best with a gamepad instead of a keyboard and mouse. The players will be able to split into small parties of four or five as they embark on quests.

 

The System

 

This progression will be centered around the weapons that the player chooses to use. So the player class will be the type of weapon(s) they choose like sword master or superior bow user. Players will not be leveling up weapons that they use, but the proficiency level for a certain type of weapon. That proficiency level will always stay with the player, even if he changes weapons. Players will maintain the skills they have developed for a certain weapon type also. Players will have a regular attack

and a special attack for each weapon. When the proficiency level for that weapon is leveled up then the regular attack and special attack will branch into two skills each, starting a skill tree for each. The player can use both skills, but the player must select from one branch for regular and one for special to master. The player will be able to return and level up the other branches later as well if they desire. That way they can learn all of the skills for the weapon type. The player will level up when they learn a skill in the skill tree.

   That's just for one weapon though. The player is able to do this for as many weapons as he or she likes. There will be different weapons classes such as: swords, axes, light staffs, dark staffs, maces, bows, guns (simple ones, not automatic), books. The books and staffs will have more magic like attacks and less melee like attacks. Now the player will also have their own personal level along side the weapon proficiency levels for each weapon the player chooses to work on. However, the purpose for the personal level is to put a cap on how many skills the player can learn and how many weapons levels they can achieve over all. The personal level will allow enough leveling up to max out all levels and skills for one weapon type if the player truly chooses to master one weapon. But if the player wants to branch out and learn skills from other weapons then they may do so. They just won't be able to learn all skills for one weapon type. There will be advantages and disadvantages in stats for each decision.

   Speaking of stats, these will largely be handled by the equipment that the player equips on his character. When creating the avatar, the player will be able allocate some points to certain attributes like dexterity, agility, etc. But stats will not level up to much without the player's consent. For each skill the player chooses will have a few stat raises tagged onto it like dexterity +1 or strength + 2, for example. These attributes are awarded when the player has completely mastered the technique and has moved onto the next level. To tell the player this the attributes will be grayed out until the player masters the skill. Then the text will be black.

   But I talked about the equipment being the key to raising stats. It is the weapons that will increase the attack power and agility, but the armor will raise things like HP, MP, and defense. Certain armor will also not be able to be equipped unless a player reaches a certain weapon proficiency level. For example, the player's character may not be able to equip a steel breast plate until he has reached sword or ax level five.

   Now I want to talk about how the game controls, because this will show the action side of the game. The player will be able to attack, defend, lock onto enemies, and jump/dodge, and use items for healing and such. Just like a full fledged action game. Because there will be some players that will want to have more than one weapon type to level up they will be able to have three weapons to select from with directions on the d-pad. So if a player uses a sword a lot but wants to cast spells, and can only do so with a staff, then the player can quickly switch and cast the spell. The weapon must be used at least once to gain experience though. The skills for melee attacks will be executed in input sequences or in button presses with directions. So one skill learned would be a three hit combo with three unique button presses where as another skill would require the player to thrust the analog stick forward, back, forward, and then the special button to execute a skill. The magic casting will work differently. The player will press the special button, a glyph will appear on the screen, and the player will input a chain sequence of directions with the right analog stick, and then press the special button again. The directions the player moves the analog stick will light up and chime with each direction input. The player is then able to take aim and unleash the spell. The more powerful the spell, the more complex the input chain for the glyph. All these skills for melee and magic will be listed in a skill list for players to reference the input patterns. Practice is key for mastering skills. There will be input skills for long range weapons like bows and guns, and these will be similar to melee inputs.

The Reasons why

 

I will show this by providing a question for each of the things above.

    1. Why the weapon focus?

      • Because so many weapons can be equipped only because the player has chosen a class. I wanted to somewhat go the opposite way. I also thought that if people who learn skills and weapons they would decide on their own what class they are. They might even come up with their own names.

    2. Why make this game more action focused?

      • Because I love action games. I also felt that if the player really wants to learn how to use a weapon, he should actually feel what it handles like. Pure RPGs really don't do this justice I believe.

    3. Why put a cap on how much the player can gain?

      • Really it's for the challenge of the decisions the player needs to make when developing their character. Do they want the supreme archer guru, or do they want a swordsman who can cast some terrifying spells? It's up to the player to decide. I feel it also provides the opportunity to create more characters and adds replay value. There is also the balance factor. If the character can learn everything, then that player is invincible. That could be unfair if I include PvP.

    4. Why no stat raises with personal level?

      • Pretty much the same reason as the question above. To have players choose their gear and weapon proficiency wisely. And just for the record. The majority of the life will be tact on to the armor. So when a player buys armor they will see that a helmet will add 300 HP to the players life for example.

    5. How soon can the player pick up a second weapon?

      • Each player is able to choose one free weapon to start with. After that the player can buy any other weapon at any time. So pretty much as soon as the player gets enough money to get another weapon.

    6. Why did you include the controls?

      • Because I'm an over achiever and I have been thinking about this a lot today, trying to figure out how to make it all work. I also wanted to show that this game is truly action focused in combat. Like I said, the player does need to concentrate on leveling up or will not get very far, but the success in combat involves the player to react quickly. I also like the way I imagined the magic being cast. Could you imagine your friend, who uses magic, cry for some support so they can concentrate on putting in the proper input sequence in the glyph? Could be pretty hard to concentrate if enemies are hacking away at you.

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