Number of Main Characters?

[Anonymous]

Two/Three main (playable) characters (you lose one near the beginning of the game and making certian choices can result in her not returning), later on you can get more people to do helpful things like increasing/lowering the encounte rate or healing or making items. (eg. If you have a bard tag along with you there's a good chance all your enemies will start off with a sleep status, an apothecary can be left at the main base and will make potions depending on the ingredients they have around them). These characters have their own relationshps between each other depending on who you have working together etc., but there are huge inequalities in amounts of backstory given (I'm not all that fond of huge amounts of horrendously sad backstory anyway) and the amount of character development between the main and secondary characters. The reason for this is pretty simple - you see the main characters more.

 

[LegACy]

Hmm...
I dunno, let's count:
> hero
> his male friend
> female friend of hero's friend
> a betraying guy (I mean betrays from his first group, then join hero's)
> a runoff criminal
> an early villain
that's the main party, however, there'll be another party, that will met hero's party at some point, so
> secondary hero
> his female friend
> his mentor
> I haven't decided this one yet...
So there's 10 people total in game, but there's still around 3 more that is playable, yet they only appear in an episode or two...

 

[OdioOmnus]

There are 4 main characters and several additional supporting characters in my current project. I'm making a trilogy of games, and in the last chapter of the last game all 12 main characters will meet for the decisive battle.

 

[Arathe]

And for some reason, a game with 20 playable character's won't have as developed as a game with 8? I disagree. Each character requires more effort, but that doesn't mean the characters will not be developed.

I'm not saying they CAN'T be well developed, just that they tend not to be. You generally have your core group that's important to the story, and then all the extras who are just kinda...there. If someone wants to make a large group of good, strong characters, I'm all for it. I just notice the higher the number, the less people tend to put into their development.

Of course, I haven't played every RPG out there, so there could be tons of games with a huge cast and great characters that I haven't come across.

 

[Volrath]

For my part, I've kept the focus of Master of the Wind primarily on Shroud and Stoic, the two lead characters. There are other playable characters who are explored in depth, but the core is always the two main heroes.

What I feel is very important to an RPG's storyline is a solid network of supporting characters. They help convey exposition gracefully and bring out all different sides of the main characters. Multiple villains is always a nice touch too..especially with varying degrees of effect on the story.

 

[RavenTDA]

Hmm it depends what you mean by "main" character. If you mean by the characters the story is focused on most times you'll probably have 1 or 2 (including or not including villian) then supporting characters (playable or not).

If you're talking playable characters then you kinda have think what kind of game it is. If you want to focus more on the story and characters then a smaller number would be better. If you are working on strategy you'll probably want a larger number so you can choose what type of character and skills would be best during battle.

I usually like a happy medium. So 5-10 no larger than 20 or it starts to get crazy. I mean if you have too many characters it forces the game to be longer if you want to fully devolope them all. Not to mention there are only so many classes of characters and combination of skills you can make without repeating yourself or having some really useless ones. That and you'll have a hard time leveling them all up without spending a ton of time. But on the flip side if you don't have enough characters it gets boring not being able to choose a party for stratgey. I really dislike not being able to swap characters in and out of my party (like with FFx-2). I am unhappy being "stuck" with them all the time in a battle. Too little doesn't allow for variety and an interest in battle.

In the game I'm making I've got 7. Each with unique ablities and personlaities (as in differnt from eachother). 3 of them are strongly devoloped and with you the longest while 2 out of the 3 have a romantic interest and 1 of the 3the main focous of the entire story (without that character their really isn't much of a story).

Something I'd like to point out though is that you don't always have to have playable as main/supportive and NPC as story progressors (the king giving you a mission) and decoration (the villagers walking around saying stuff). You can have main/supportive NPC. Like with Xenogears Sigurd was a main/supportive character that was devoloped and in the game for a large period of time as well as serving a role but was never playable. He was actually more devoloped than some of the later playable characters you get, which I find is a nice touch and breaks some things up as well as it helps devolop your world out side of just the playable characters and villans.

So don't forget about the NPC too. Having NPC throughout the story is okay too. Main characters don't always have to playable. And also keep in mind that all characters need a role. Don't just plop in more characters just because you want to have a variety in the party. They all need a purpose even if it's a tiny one. Because if they don't, then what's the point of them? I mean you could easily toss out a character if they're really usless. And when doing so you help place a better focous on the story.

 

[Sol_Fury]

Of course, NPCs are important too. Where would Batman be without Alfred and Commisioner Gordon? It's the same for the main characters and their supporting cast. If a character, NPC playable or villain, is important to the plot then they need some sort of characterisation if nothing else to explain away their motives, the whys and the why nots.
Basically, what Volrath and Raven said. I also think its cool to see some villains who aren't necessarily involved in the main plot but just capitalising on the situation to carve out their own niche.

 

[Daniel]

No offense Legacy, but that just looks like a long list of clichés.

I agree. I was thinking this too, but I didn't feel like mentioning it. (I feel like I criticize too many storylines.)

 

[Jstreet]

1 in FotT
4 in AoV

150 something in Suikoden!

 

[Lockheart]

1 in FotT
4 in AoV

150 something in Suikoden!

Hate to be a nag, but theres only 108 in the Suikoden series, each game has 108, not 150.

For me I like having no less then 8 characters, that way you can have at least two partys at a time(once they're all obtained) and that doesn't count secret or hidden and opional characters as well as NPCs and such.

 

[Jstreet]

It was hyperbole Lockheart :P
I tend to like 1-4 characters, because I hate leveling up the rest of the people...

 

[MagicMagor]

Generally the more people you have, the less complex the leveling of these people are. Therefore i like less character with a more complex leveling-mechanism.
In my game the "party" consists of only one character. This makes it easier for me to have a character-based storyline and a more complex character-system (which is based on a custom pen&paper-rulesystem).
But i would say there are 3 main characters in my game. Two of them are playable (seperate storylines) and the third is an important npc.

 

[Puffy]

Since I can't stand playing as characters I don't like, I made sure to have enough so there's at least more than one possible party. Six permanent PCs, and a handful that are situational. That said, I have no idea whether to count playable characters, or actual main characters storyline-wise.

I've got some PCs that aren't central to the plot at all, and I've got a lot of heavy-hitting NPCs. Being considered "main" is kind of hard for my game, because lots of characters are absolutely inconsequential to the main goal, but are the center of their own little worlds. Every world has it's own little problems, so on average, it's at least three central characters per world. How many worlds? Don't wanna think about it!

In any case, I'm trying to make sure that although no PC is superfluous in battle, they overlap enough that there's no "staple" character...except Lucille, but she's in a whole 'nother league. By the end of the game, anyway, you've got two tanks by completely different methods, up to three multi-elemental mages, five healers, and no matter how you slice it, three extremely flexible characters. If you just can't stand Jan, my wimpy little healer-boy, you don't have to use him, and won't suffer that much. Everybody's still got their own little perks.

...However, the game is geared towards taking a party and sticking with it. Since Lucille, Jan, and Sieg are the most permanent, not to mention the first three, I expect them to be used more. The other three are set up so that you won't have to play catch-up, though.

 

[nellshini]

There's 6 hero's in the party in my current project. All have fleshed out backgrounds and such though some are more in depth than others. There's also important family members and the villians, so I'm working with quite a few.

As for the people with 'overlapping skills', there's a Warrior, Preist, and Paladin in the party. I solved the overlapping with the game's engine itself, and the story (ie. Priest disappears before you get the Paladin, etc)

 

[Despain v.1]

Main characters or playable heroes? I'll assume you mean the playables.

In DJ Erg I only have one hero, DJ Erg himself. Sandfall only has one hero, too: Serren Kraye. Flat Earth has three: Dorothy, Jask Frosk and Doctor Iron. The Middle World has three as well: Ionem, Peardrop and Barkley.

 

[froznkamui]

well,my character at least, the main character is 26, and some others so maybe 30+,but in the end of story, half of them will die

 

[kisepiki]

I think i'll have 20+, but depending on your choices you'll use different combinations, so each playthrough will use up to 8 or 10 maybe less.

 

[darkiewonder]

If I ever get to writing the storyline and whatnot, I'll end up having 1. But I might have to scrap the whole idea. and think of a new system. But for right now, it's just 1 :D. But will have other playable characters that don't stay with the party and probably won't be considered "main" in any way. Just a filler I guess.

 

[Durastik]

I think 1 and 20 are the magic numbers, why? Because with one character, the player wll develop both a relationship and their skills with just that one player. While with say, 5 or 6, the player will still be doing that same thing, only developing 3 characters at the most and usually the story will be so watered down that they won't really 'get to know' the main characters.

Meanwhile, having 20 characters is a managable enough number so that every character is different but each character can be played by the player and still have a good team developed off them.

Personally, my current game has 1 character, but that's because it's primarily an action game.

Peace

 

[Chronic]

If i made a game, i would have 4-5 main characters in it. Because it's annoying to level up others and it would all get too complicated. Four characters is usually enough, it's easier that way too, cause the battle system suits best for four battlers.