Hey everyone,

I thought of a very promising system for an RPG, however I am experiencing a bit of a block when it comes to story and terrain. I am a forum lurker and don't post much, but I have had this battle system in mind for quite some time now...and after reading Vrael's suggestion in qPirateKing's topic, I thought yeah, it would be better to bounce ideas off people than work alone if you're stuck

Here are the specifics for those who can lend a helping hand:

1) The main thing I hope to accomplish in this map is to recreate the feel of a jRPG. This means that it's going to be a jRPG in spirit though the story is original, though feel free to use tropes and themes that are common within the genre.


2) Map will be set in jungle terrain, and the setting would be fantasy with some sci-fi thrown in (much like FF).
I will definitely use extended terrain and each area would have it's own 'theme' and be highly distinguishable from each other:

Towns:
- Port Town
- Capital city
- Hideout deep in the forest
- Rural, riverside town
- Industrial mining town

Dungeons:
- Cave
- Shore/Swamp
- Forest
- Farmland overrun by monsters
- Valley
- Highlands
- Ruins
- Decaying Forest
- Crystal Caves

Story progression will dictate terrain. Also, please try to weave these areas into the story and lore as much as possible.


3) There are 4 main characters:
- Knight (Zeratul)
- Thief (Zealot)
- Mage (High Templar)
- Ranger (Kerrigan)

jRPGs usually create personal motives and backstories for why their characters are fighting against the evil. This is something I want to come through in the story. It would be a good plus if the characters can come across as believable and likeable.

One restriction I would like to set is: the map should contain as little abstraction as possible. Meaning for example, the Sarah Kerrigan unit uses a gun, so that means in this RPG she would most likely be a technological soldier of some sort. She cannot be an elven archer. However, you can use what exists in the Starcraft graphics as inspiration: for example, Zeratul and the High Templars portraits are shrouded in darkness, what does it say about their characters?


So if anyone is interested in providing a story or story ideas, feel free to post ideas here or send a pm to me. You will be given credit, and I am willing to do everything else, terrain and triggering, I just need a direction. Also if there is anything you wish to ask or clarify, post it here as well.

Please bear in mind that I might be rather picky with ideas, but in general what I am looking for is:
- Good plot, not too complicated but with enough suspense to keep players going.
- Clever dialogue
- Interesting characters

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on Aug 25 2009, 1:30 pm by MalFunkShun.

Well, I have some suggestions for what you have so far:
-Come up with more original names for the Towns. They are either already used immensely, or are ridiculously generic. I beleive when making an RPG (Or jRPG), every little detail that the players see counts.
-It would help others give you some pointers if you give them what battle system you plan on using.
-TBH, I don't like jRPGs, so I won't really be able to help you out on a story. If you decide to re-format to a regular RPG, I can write out a story, dialogue, or basic plot line. Do bear in mind, though, that the more detailed you want me to go, the longer it'll take.
-Your Heroes are rather Over-Used, which is a fault I see in many RPGs of the day.

-A good "un-stucker" for me is always joining a DnD game, and then seeing what the DMs come up with. It may be a small Dialogue line or quest that may be just enough to inspire you. It really helps with writer's block.

What's a jRPG?

What is this system? You might want to post it: I find that coming up with a story idea is much easier once I know all the systems I'll be using.

Also:
This.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=jrpg

Then it wouldn't be a jRPG.

But seriously, what makes an RPG a jRPG is mostly graphical. SC limits you too much for you to produce anything that could be implicitly recognized as an RPG subtype. I'm suprised pyro didn't point this out.

Ingenious. I don't do anything close close to RPing, but I think I might just do this next time I'm stuck for material.

I played a shit ton of jRPG's in my day, so perhaps you can PM me and we can discuss this in greater detail. If you have any basic themes or plot points you want to include in your story, that'd be helpful. Also, let's create some more jrpg ish characters =). (Expecting a PM)

Well, I thought it was kind of understood, since all a jRPG is is visuals. That's one of the things you can't customize in SC, (save for modding).

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Aug 29 2009, 5:18 am by Pyro682. Reason: Grammar