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The game will involve a Necromancer who has achieved Lichdom. You are the first Lich to exist in the world, so naturally no one will be able to tell what you are from merely looking at you. To them, in your undeath form, you will appear like just another zombie.
I am still a LONG way away from getting anything concrete done. But the plans for this game is:
Free - I'm an amateur, and this is my first game. Plus I dunno how to give something a proper price tag, and I'm going to be using Plugins and some of the plugin creators might not allow me to sell my work, so figured "eh, screw it, it is my first game after all".
Synthesis Plugin - I'll use this plugin to make material combinations that will allow for spell unlocks, ability unlocks, building unlocks, etc.
Immortal but Brutal difficulty - You will be playing a being that cannot be killed permanently (you'll never see a game over screen, unless I make an event that can cause you to die in game), and to compensate, the difficulty of the game will be at first be really brutal. So this game is not for those prone to breaking their computers if they lose.
Solo Journey - For the most part, the game will be focused on your character and he does in the world. You will encounter POTENTIAL allies, but it will be dependent on what you say to them, and if you do manage to get them to join you, it will be temporary, not permanent (If you miss them, then oh well).
Classes - After the beginning portion, you'll encounter 2 NPCs who will get killed by you in a scripted event. Afterwards your character will unintentionally absorb their knowledge and you will gain access to the classes they had. I haven' decided what to call them, but you'll start with 4 starter classes, of which you can switch between anytime (outside of combat), and you will have a 5th class, but that one will be intentionally grayed out and you won't be able to switch to it. As you level them up, you will unlock more classes which will open up more opportunities later.
Disguised - You will take on the form of the living. After encountering those 2 NPCs and absorbing them, you'll be able to take on the appearance that you are "living" when you're not. You will be given the option to turn it off, but don't expect people to just accept that an undead corpse is standing near them. Anyways, this is the only way you'll be able to enter towns and cities. If you take off the disguise, even if you kill everyone (yes you will be able to do that), you'll be barred from re-entering if they saw you take off your disguise. I will of course add in a "are you sure?" dialogue in case you didn't mean to.
Story Progression - The world will be affected by the choices you make, specifically those done in quests you complete. You won't be able to finish all available quests in one go though (thats intentional). Every quest you take will have paths to completion (every single one will have different endings, even the most typical fetch quests). I want your choices to really have meaning (sick of those games that promise "choice matters" when it doesn't), and so there will be options you can take that CAN fail the quest, but will still have some effect. Say for instance you were tasked with getting some herbs, the person needs those herbs to make a new potion, you get the herbs and later you can choose to keep the herbs for yourself or deliver them - if you keep them, you'll get to unlock something, but the "new potion" will never be made, but if deliver it, you will miss out on that unlock, but the potion will be made and the potion maker will later mass produce it. Everything you do will affect the world in subtle an sometimes huge ways.
Intermissions - Now the "why you can't finish all available quests". The world will change after you have gone back to your phylactery, meditated with it for a long period of time (50+ years), and then when you come out of it, new quests will be available and whatever quests you did and the choices you did will take effect after you have completed the meditation. If you did quests for store owner and screwed him over, well he's now out of business. But if you helped them, then the business owner will still be around and flourishing. Destroy a town? Well that town will stay destroyed, at least for a while. Help a country win a war? Well, you'll get to see if you chose the right side of that war. You won't know what will happen til after each intermission of the game.
Big Bads - Yup, there will be Over-Arching Villains, but you will see them very rarely and they WILL be a helluva fight if you try to fight them. Yeah, I said "them". They will be a mystery at least for a while. But, eventually you'll start becoming quite the prick they won't be able to remove from their boots.
Undead - Yes, you will get to have undead minions. But that won't be for a while. I'm intending it to be somewhere around mid-game where you'll begin to start amassing undead minions. You won't however just "know" straight off the bat how to make them. I'm intending to add options for how you make them, but they will be "final", as in once you decide on how they are designed, they will stay that way throughout the entirety of the game. You will get to make more advanced ones later of course, like you'll start with Skeletons, then move onto Zombies, etc. And they will of course serve a purpose beyond simply going "muahahaha look at my legions of undead", they will play a part in the optional parts as well as the main game.
Temporary Allies - These characters will mostly be adventurers who have their own goals. They will make some parts of the game a lot easier, and if you finish their story quests, you will unlock specials (like abilities, classes, powers, etc). However, IF you die even once during any combat encounter, then to them you are dead, you won't be able to continue/finish their story quest if you die.
Death in Game for You - As a Lich, you cannot die permanently. But you can still "die" in combat. How this intended: When your HP reaches 0, your character will visually disintegrate, battle will be over, and you'll appear next to your phylactery. Any creatures/enemies your character killed during that combat prior to your character's "death" will still be gained, though only after you've either been beaten or if you beat them.
Personal Morality - You WILL be given some hard choices. They may not seem clear at first, but given that your character is basically immortal, you will see the results of your choices. Others will be more obvious. And just a note, even if you play as "Mostly Good" or "Mostly Evil", you will still get choices that will steer you in either direction. Some will be small hits to your morality, others will be big hits, with the rare huge hits. This will play a part too. Though for now, its mostly a concept idea.
There is quite a lot of plans for this game. I know that I've set the bar pretty bloody high, especially for my 1st ever game, but I want my 1st to be a worth while one.
This RPG Maker game will of course not be "small", it will likely be several gigs, maybe more. But it won't cost anything. And no, I am not accepting donations either, even if/when I do finish it.
I do not have a set date either. But I will post screens and progress so far of the game. I am just one guy. I'm no wizard.
But fair warning, this game will not be for those looking for "safe space" entertainment. It WILL have some touchy subjects in it. But definitely nothing "extreme". And while you will be playing as a Lich, I will add in multiple choices that will clearly define your character in terms of morality (Good, Neutral, or Evil).
If you have any suggestions, tips, maybe you want something else added, well, let me know. Just remember that I am just one guy, there is no "team" working on this.
