[Fire Emblem] The Gathering Storm

[PhoenixFlame]

Hello boys and girls! I've been wanting to run a Fire Emblem table RPG game on NPF for some time now, and only recently managed to get a working mapgen and statistic calculator to make that a reality. Before continuing, note that this game, should it run, will be a relatively unforgiving tactical wargame based on the Fire Emblem series of games, particularly during the mechanical era of Geneology of the Holy War and Thracia 776. Having played the english GBA games or the Tellius series is not required, but would be beneficial, though I will be giving a relatively expansive intro for players new to the series. And now, for the curtains...

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Nadorian Calendar, Year 398AW-

The Continent of Nadoria has been completely rebuilt in the nearly four centuries since the great war between the original seven holy crusaders and the dark lord Rachesis and his army of sorcerors. In the years after the war, each of the warriors went their seperate ways, returning to their homelands in triumph to rebuild and, in most cases, rule. From these sprung the current six nations of Nadoria, the main power-players on the world stage.

In the north, the republic of Welas was founded by the hero Saxon, a loose hedgemony of independant states, the various dukes and dutchesses of Welas have, in peacetime, taken to bickering and power-plays amongst one another, particularly since the republic relies heavily on trade along it's border with the northern sea, and piracy is an excellent and wholly deniable way to hamper the income of your detractors. The Wels as a whole are a free-spirited people, and excellent sailors and mercenaries.

Bordering Welas' east, and the eastern sea, lies the Empire of Vendalior, named so after it's founder Vendalior, the Black Knight. By far the largest and most militarially potent of the nations of Nadoria, it has in the past been seen as a warlike and imperialistic society by many. Currently ruled by Emperor Vidgar, considered by many to be an enlightened man, Vendalior has seen a recent resurgency of diplomatic relations with it's neighbors, whom in the past have been tenuous. Vendalior's mountains are home to wyverns, and the nation in general boasts the best armored units and wyvern riders on the continent.

To the south, bordering Vendalior and the southern seaboard, is the Magocracy of Cenia, founded by the beautiful Lady Seline, the greatest sage of the original crusaders after the war. Cenia is unique, in that it's nobility and ruling class are entirely formed of magi, a phenomenon originally due to selection and more modernly, through bloodlines. Cenia is moderately reclusive, content to remain inside it's borders and practice it's arts among it's own people. Currently, Cenia is undergoing a period of strife after the presiding archmage died of disease without naming an heir. Naturally, they produce excellent mages.

The southwest of the continent is home to the desert of winds, and home of the nomadic tribes that spawned the crusader A'tuad, also known as the wind lance. They have few cities, and a poorly understood system of goverment from the point of view of outsiders, being primarially clan-based and jointly ruled by the warlords of the major clans. The nomads of the winds have few cavalry units, but those they have are of infamous quality. Their dancers and bards are also highly respected.

The Kingdom of Makeen borders the desert's north and the western edge of Nadoria, and is a verdant land home to the Crusader Malvina, the first pegasus knight. Makeen is a traditionally stalwart heartland nation, producing an excess of food (Some of which is exported to the southern desert tribes in exchange for the rich deposits of metal found there) and in general being one of the more stable nations of the continent. It is home to it's native Pegasi, which are unique to Makeen.

Last but not least, central of the other five nations is the Kingdom of Caledonia, and the starting point of our story. King Athas has ruled excellently for the last fourty years, solidifying Caledonia's borders and securing peace with neighboring Vendalior and Welas via miltary alliance with Makeen, and academic trade with Cenia. The kingdom has not seen war for decades thanks to Athas' charismatic personality and shrewd demenour, but now he ages, and it comes time for him to name his son as successor to his throne.

Yet, unknown to all of them, a force of ancient times threatens to plunge the continent into a war it has not seen for centuries.

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Required Characters-

The Prince and Princess of Caledonia, whom will serve as the campaign's lords.
At least one of the Prince's knights.

Suggested Characters-

One of the prince's childhood friends, perhaps a Duke, Margrave, or Marquess of one of Caledonia's provinces.

An emissary from Cenia, probably a magic class, maybe with room for his/her bodyguard.

The prince (or princess, likely a pegasus knight) of Makeen, come to witness his friend's coronation.

Various wellwishers from Caledonia's common classes, milita units, or other soldiery-types or Welasan mercenaries whom will inevitably get drawn into the obvious attack on the capital city.

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Of course, anything works, provided it can be drawn into the story. You're probably asking, how does this system work? What classes are there? How do I build my character?

Glad you asked. I'll upload the PDF of the tabletop ruleset for FERPG in my next post, but basically, I'll run this as the videogames would, there'll be bits of roleplaying and mingling between tactical maps and combat that will, in theroy, unfold into a relatively expected, but entertaining storyline. I will handle dicerolls and statistics, so you technically don't even need to know what you're doing, but are encouraged to do so that your character might survive long enough to be interesting.

In the tradition of Fire Emblem, there are no character sheilds. Anyone can, and likely will, die if they find themselves in a situation where being killed is a likely outcome. This is of course, a tactical roleplaying game. To alleviate this somewhat, characters reduced to 0hp for the first time will be severely wounded and removed from the field, but appear in the next chapter. Subsequent wounds are fatal, except in case-by-case circumstances.

Any interest before I go dumping my plans in detail?

[DanteFalcon]

I have more interest than I can begin to express. Wait I just.....

Damnit.

Yes I'm interested.

[PhoenixFlame]

Yay!

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GU5V5CZQ

The Primer for the ruleset can be found here. There will be some modifications. Reading this will give you a general overview of the statistics, what they do, and what the basic classes are. However, I'll go into a little further detail here. Characters will be built at 26 points, and 300% growth rates. Lords have 31 points, and 320%. As a slight balancing point for online play, Lords will not gain their personal skill until promotion. (That skill will probably be Nihil, anyway.)

NOTE: All characters possess strength and magic, but you are not *required* to allocate points to the skill you do not use (Magic, in the case of physical classes). Note that some classes may benefit from both skills (Such as Troubadors), or any class that utilises magic swords.

Personal skills will show up in the next post. Each character gets one, but not all personal skills are created equal. Some of them will reduce your total growth percentages (Such as Elite).

You should also choose your character's affinity, which is the element of creation they are most closely related to. Normally, this reflects on their personality or class. Available elements are Fire, Thunder, Wind, Ice, Light, Darkness, Anima, Water, Heaven, and Earth. Affinities are primarially part of the support system, and determine which statistics are improved when you fight alongside someone you hold a personal bond with. Certain statistics suit certain classes better than others, but they are all effective. Lone wolf characters can expect to die alone and unloved.

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The Weapon Triangle (Now with Magic!): Or "How I knew the Black Knight was going to defeat Greil in FE10"

There are three primary melee weapon classes in Fire Emblem, and three associated magic tome types. They are Swords (Light), Lances (Anima), and Axes (Dark). Swords have an advantage agaisnt axes, whom in turn have an advantage agaisnt lances, which also have an advantage agaisnt swords.

The advantage is not harrowing, but it is extremely important in the early levels. A weapon with an advantage will have 15% more accuracy and 1 more damage, wheras an ineffective weapon will lose 15% accuracy and 1 damage, resulting in a 2-damage, 30% accuracy gulf between them. In effect, you would need 7-8 speed and skill, and 1 defense and strength advantage over an enemy to break even with him when fighting at a disadvantage. Conversely, it is an excellent way to deal with enemies much higher level than you.

Certain classes focus in a single weapon type, becoming very potent with it, while other classes focus on mastery of the weapon triangle. While a swordmaster and paladin of equal level fighting with swords would favor the swordsman, the paladin can use lances, which would put him at an advantage. These are guidelines however, as there exist weapons and skills that put even the most overpowered and statistically superior characters at risk should they haplessly blunder into an enemy column with as few as one enemy designed to counter them. (Give the paladin a swordslayer and the swordmaster a longsword and see what happens.)

That said, on to the classes!

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Infantry units, Swordfighters- (Myrmidons, Mercenaries)

Foot infantry units make up the anvil of an army, having few glaring weaknesses besides their middling movement speed. Mercenaries and Myrmidons weild swords, giving them excellent accuracy in exchange for low damage. Mercenaries take a holistic view on stats, being well-rounded, while Myrmidons focus on skill and speed at the cost of strength and defense, focusing on the sword's advantages.

Lancers- (Soldiers, Knights)

Foot lancers are arguably the most anvilicious infantry unit, boasting high defense and a balanced weapon, as the lance takes the middle of the road between accuracy and damage. Soldiers take balanced stats with a favoring for speed and skill, while knights lay on the defense, but are armored units, vulnerable to anti-armor weapons such as the armorslayer, heavy lance, and hammer.

Axemen- (Fighters, Pirates)

Foot axemen boast high damage with dicey accuracy prospects. Universally focused on strength, they serve as excellent units to break lance lines and defeat heavily armored knights. Fighters take advantage of forest and mountain tiles, while Pirates are capable of moving over water and sea tiles.

Archers- (Archer, Hunter)

Foot archers deal damage at 2 tiles, often behind their melee companions to avoid counterattack. They cannot fight in melee, as they use bows, but are extremely effective agaisnt flying units. Hunters tend to have higher strength, but less defense. They may also operate ballistae found on the map to strike at significant range.

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Mounted units, Swordfighters- (Free Knight, Social Knight)

Like their swordman brethren, sword knights focus on the sword, but ride horses to vastly increase their movement rate on the ground. They also possess the canto skill, as do all riders, allowing them to move after attacking with the remainder of their movement points. Free knights focus on the sword, while Social Knights (known as Caviliers in the recent games) use swords and lances (If you wish to be a Social Knight, you may start with both the sword and lance proficiencies, but at the cost of not gaining another proficiency at promotion, and -2 to your starting stats.)

Mounted units, Lancers- (Lance Knight, Social Knight)

Like soldiers on horseback, lancers gain speed at the cost of their infantry counterpart's solid defense. While still able to hold their own, lance knights have the ability to combine the javelin with their canto ability to strike enemies at range and flee any reprisal, making them excellent skirmishers.

Mounted units, Axemen- (Axe Knight)

Lacking the pirate's ability to move over water or the fighter's reduced movement penalty for forest tiles, Axe Knights gain the speed of a mount while retaining all the power of their infantry counterpart.

Mounted units, Archers- (Nomad, Arch-Knight)

Like their infantry counterpart, but less reliant on melee screens thanks to their movement and ability to skirmish. Cannot operate ballistae, however.

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Magic units, Mages- (Monk, Mage, Druid)

Mages are offensive casters much like archers, but with inferior defense but higher resistance. They can attack at either one OR two squares, and tend to be effective agaisnt many physical units (whom are, in turn, effective agaisnt them.) Monks use light magic, Mages use anima magic, and Druids use dark mage. Each gains a second type of magic and the ability to use staves upon promotion at level 10-20.

Magic units, Support- (Curate, Cleric, Bard, Dancer)

Foot support units that, in the effective sense of the term, do not attack. Curates (Male) and Clerics (Female) heal with staves, and can use swords to defend themselves, but are usually poor at this unless they possess a magic sword such as the Light Brand. Meanwhile, Bards and Dancers cannot use staves but may play music (or dance) to rejuvinate allied units, allowing them to move again after they have ended their turn. They can also use swords for self defense, albeit poorly. (Add E-rank swords to all of the above classes.)

Magic Units, Support, Mounted- (Troubador)

Troubadors are basically mounted clerics, and almost always female. They can use staves and swords, with the usual advantages and disadvantages of mounted units.

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Flying units, Offensive- (Pegasus Knight)

Noblewomen of knightly families of Makai often train to ride Pegasi and weild lances. They function mostly similar to lance knights but can fly, with a great focus on speed and skill and normally anemic strength and defense, with some exceptions. As with all flying units, they are highly vulnerable to archers and wind magic.

Flying units, Defensive- (Wyvern Knight)

Knights of the empire of Vendalior have been known to take the native Wyverns as their mounts, and in general function similar to pegasus knights, but with a greater focus on defense and more balanced statistics. While not vulnerable to wind magic, they are vulnerable to thunder magic.

(All statistic advisories take into account the general intention of the class and it's promotion statistic caps. It's possible to play cross-type, but you might max your primary skill early at a lower cap than a specialist class.)

[Menarker]

Reading up to see if I'm interested any more than I already am. :3

EDIT: Is there a period of delay or a time frame when a player can choose which weapon they have equipped (if someone has more than one weapon of different types)?

And I could use further explanation on growth rate while leveling...

And is there any value to staying unpromoted if one gains an promotion item after level 9 but before level 20 aside from getting 10 extra levels to attempt to level one's stats?

Can an enemy counterattack you for every hit you make? (Such as when you succeed in doing a Double Attack or when you use a weapon with "Two Consectutive Hits" ability for a maximum of 4 hits.) Or do they only counterattack the first hit?

Can thieves actually fail in stealing items or unlocking doors? There is practically no guide to it. For that matter, can all foes be looted when dead? It's not like items disappear from their corpses if they are killed if the item was not stolen beforehand...

How many characters are we actually making? There seems to be a sub-section on support characters and that seems to be the only purpose for a character's element affinity.

And finally. What does Critical hit actually DO? It is not stated anywhere what it actually does. Does it double damage? Triple? Ignore Defense/Resistance? The closest to an explanation is that certain promotion classes get Improved Crit which increases the damage further by 15% or the assassin style instant kill crit, but that doesn't explain what a normal crit is entitled to!

[PhoenixFlame]

You can choose your weapon type on your turn, but not during the enemy's turn. Presumably because you are already engaged in battle, and do not have time to be rummaging through your inventory!

The exception to this is if one of your weapons breaks, in which case you may choose another from your inventory to continue fighting. Additionally, if you are the designated garrison unit of a castle, you may choose both a ranged and a melee weapon to use should you be attacked. (Using the FE4 rules for castles so boss exploits are more difficult.)

Oh, speaking of that, I'm also going to be using weapon durability instead of the FETT's silly chance-based breakage. However, so that you don't end up never using your silver sword (Bang bang maxwell's silver hammer made sure that he was dead~) because it's too valuable to use, I'll probably be allowing you to repair them at certain towns. For a fee.

Of course, if I do, (we'll have a vote, maybe.) it'll be making rarer weapons... Well, rarer. To ensure people don't end up being able to solo entire maps like Sigurd could.

[Wizardcat]

So tempted...

I notice Thieves aren't listed in your list. Are they not playable? If they are, the caps for Rogues are missing and Thieves are listed as having 5Mov and I've always remembered them having 6Mov.

@Menarker: A growth rate for a stat is the percentage chance that the stat will rise during a level up. A growth rate of 40 for a character's STR stat means there's a 40% chance their strength will increase by 1 during a level up. A growth rate of over 100 means it will always rise by 1 and there's a chance it will rise by 2 (equal to the amount over 100), instead.

[PhoenixFlame]

Oh derp, how did I miss thieves.

Yes, thieves are playable. They steal things and open chests and pick locks and oh god Julian (Er, Colm, Marth gets the Fire Emblem to open chests) is the most important character ever seriously.

Gonna be tricky playing a thief, though, they're not the most... Fighty people in the world.

Edit: Which is the only real problem with them IMO, they're unsuited for combat which makes them fall behind in xp which makes them unsuited for combat... Not because of their class, but because of their bases, really.

Edit2: Yes, Mern... usually. But yet sometimes not... It's a gamble and a character-by-character basis. I usually try to max level 20/20 anyone who can but sometimes you just need your promotion gain to even be passable (Some promotions are really important to a class, like General and Falcon Knight), sometimes you can put it off for a few levels to gain stats, other times the end of the game is close enough you'd never make level 20 in your promotion anyway.

Critical hits triple the final damage. Effective weapons (Using a ridersbane on a mounted unit, for example) triple the weapon's might in damage calculation. Both are /lethal/.

Counterattacks... Can be tricky.

For example, a phase is usually one attack from each character.

A character with 4 more speed than the other gets another attack, the character with less speed *does not*. This means that if the lower-speed attacker attacks, they'll attack, then get two counters. If the higher speed attacker attacks, they'll trade blows first/second/first.

Brave weapons... Change this, and why I didn't go into advanced weapons in the introduction for confusion's sake. They double your attacks, so that each attack you would make is now two attacks. In the earlier example, if the attacker has lower speed and the defender higher, it'd be attacker/defender/defender/defender/defender. In the other example, it'd go attacker/attacker/defender/attacker/attacker.

Some skills change the rules.

The adept/continue skill mimics brave weapons, making you have a skill% chance per attack to attack again, as if you were using a brave weapon. For sanity's sake, you cannot activate adept while also using a brave weapon. Conversely, the vantage skill for example, has a speed% chance of the defender acting before the attacker. Wheras Shooting Star Sword has a 1/2 skill% chance of making you attack five times consecutively, but is the swordmaster occult skill and not available at chargen or possibly even at all.

Edit3: Thieves always succeed at lockpicking. Stealing can only steal unequipped weapons and items, and no, you cannot loot items off of dead enemies unless they are specifically labelled drops. Argue logic if you want, it's game balance sake. That said, most of the weapons you would /actually want/ do drop.

[Wizardcat]

Pre-Post Edit: Removed all the ones Phoenix already answered...

How many characters are we actually making? There seems to be a sub-section on support characters and that seems to be the only purpose for a character's element affinity.

One. When two characters have had Support conversations with each other, they are considered to be the other's Support character. You can have up to three for each character.

Also, Thieves have to have a higher Spd stat than their victim to steal from them and Thieves and Assassins need Lockpicks to open stuffs. Rogues don't need lockpicks.

[PhoenixFlame]

Oh, right. That's true, thieves generally outspeed everyone, though.

I'm considering multiple characters per player but I'm waiting to see how many players we have before I decide one way or another. As for one, it's oner per person. Supports are relationships between characters, yeah.

It's actually handy for me, as it encourages the players interact/actually like each other in order to get mechanical bonuses.


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AND NOW, FOR PERSONAL SKILLS!

Skills will be described by their name, their alternate name (if any) and their cost in growth percentages to buy. You may only have one personal skill at character generation, but you may acquire more during play. You may only ever have four skills under any circumstance (Including class skills.)

Adept (Continue)
-10%
Upon attacking, there is a skill% chance to immediately attack again, as if the character were using a brave weapon. This skill does not activate on attacks generated by brave weapons or the adept skill itself.

Blossom (Potential)
Free
The character gains only half as much experience as normal. However, upon levelling, failed statistic rolls are rerolled.

Cancel
Free
Upon attacking, your character has a skill% chance to prevent one enemy counterattack. Cancel can only activate once per exchange.

Celerity
-30%
Your character's base movement speed is 2 squares further than normal for his/her class.

Center/Imbue (Class-dependant)
-15%
Physical classes taking this skill regain their magic statistic in hitpoints at the beginning of their phase. Magic classes regain their strength statistic.

Charisma
Free
Characters within 3 squares of you gain a 10% bonus to their accuracy and evasion. You however, do not benefit from your own charismatic presence. Characters may only benefit from one instance of charisma at a time.

Corrosive strike
Free
Upon attacking, there is a skill% chance that your enemy's weapon's durability will be reduced by [strength]. Legendary weapons or weapons without a quality rating are uneffected.

Counter
Free
When you are attacked, and are eligable to counterattack normally, there is a skill% chance the enemy will suffer half of their own attack's damage in addition to your own counterattack.

Daunt
Free
Enemies within 3 squares suffer a reduction of 5% to accuracy and evasion from your daunting presence.

Discipline
Free
You gain twice the normal weapon proficiency experience.

Elite (Paragon)
-30%
You gain double the normal amount of experience points.

Fortune
-15%
You are immune to critical hits.

Gamble
Free
Rather than make a normal attack, you may declare you are performing a gamble attack. Your accuracy is cut in half for this attack, but your critical hit rate is doubled.

Guard
Free
If you are adjacent to a character you possess a support with, you may opt to recieve attacks targetting them on their behalf.

Miracle
Free
If you are struck by an attack that would normally kill you, there is a luck% chance you will suffer half the normal amount of damage instead, and this attack may not kill you. (You will always have at least 1 hp.) This skill does not trigger if you have 1 hp remaining.

Nihil
-10%
Enemy skills do not effect you in combat.

Nullify
-15%
Effective weapons do not deal additional damage to you.

Parity
-5%
Instead of a normal attack, you may declare you are making a parity attack. For such an attack, your own and your enemy's supports, terrain modifiers, skill % modifiers (but not activated skills) are all negated. Raw skills alone are used.

Provoke
Free
Enemies are more likely to target you instead of your comrades.

Renewal
Free
At the start of your turn, you regain 10% of your maximum hitpoints.

Resolve
-20%
At less than half HP, your skill and speed stats are increased by 50%.

Saviour
Free
When rescuing a friendly unit, your speed stat is not modified by their constitution.

Stillness
Free
Unless you are the only unit in range, enemies are far less likely to attack you.

Vantage
Free
When attacked, you have a speed% chance to attack before your assailant.

Wrath
Free
At 30% or lower HP, your critical rate is increased by 40%

[Menarker]

Seems neat. But not making a character until you're finished putting forward all the details like character personal skills and other house-rules. ^^