SP - General More uses for Companions

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JPA32

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Currently the only good use of Companions is to keep 2 as a Medic/Scout then to send the rest on a 1 way exclusively paid trip to be captured by bandits in a few months so they can generate gold for you. I feel that's pretty lame at the moment and I think it boils down to the main 2 core problems with the current companion system being that all the companions are essentially fully leveled up to start with ripping away the ability for the player to build and grow with them so that a rapport can be created(Also this means they start off prohibitively expensive in terms of wages) and that there really aren't anything else for companions to realistically do.

Part of what makes a Companion Special is that they're a named character that, even if that have an inclination towards a certain profession, can be built, crafted, and molded into something alongside you. Leaving out world and other character interaction at this point is fine since that's an incredibly complicated system with pseudo randomly generated characters that I'm sure is on the docket in the future but having these pre-constructed bots that come pre-crafted too is genuinely just boring, currently I really don't care if my Scouting companion Ooblek of Silent Hill dies in battle if I can walk over to the nearest town and pick up Twooblek of Silent Hill to replace him in a flash ya know?

As for other things Companions could do. First off the easiest one is to create a Manhunter group near your settlement. This would be an easy balance of less money for more town prosperity/security. Other things you could have Scouts go scout an enemy settlement for a week and give you a report sheet on everything/everyone that passed by the area. Rouges could sow discord in enemy cities to lower loyalty/security/food/etc. Charm companions could be sent to lords and increase your relation with them (similar to how the system with sitting them in Towns is right now.)

And what about in-party roles? Where is our Horsemaster? (Horse Riding - Carrying Capacity+Herd Penalty) Trainer? (Highest Combat Skill - Generated XP for units using those weapons) Merchant? (Trade - Trading ability) Just off the top of my head, with some dev time I'm sure there's much more depth there to work with.

Also, limiting how many total Companions you can have rather than how many Companions you can have doing "x" is a missed opportunity. I'd be perfectly fine with only having +1 Trade Route per Clan Level, +1 Manhunter per city, and have Companions riding an ever scaling cost to hire more of them that puts a soft limit on them to a reasonable degree so I can have a few skullbashers in the party for fun rather than having to force optimize them all on trade routes.
 
First off the easiest one is to create a Manhunter group near your settlement
I really like this! Let be a fixed mission like caravanist - not a "real" party. Let AI do it too, but with "Manhunter Leader" leading the party like a Bandit Boss/Caravan Leader.

Honestly, I think companions should not be able to lead a real party. That´s Noble Business.

Agree to this!

Also, limiting how many total Companions you can have rather than how many Companions you can have doing "x" is a missed opportunity.

Yes!

They should instead do all the non-noble part of your business
  1. Trade - Caravan as is
  2. Bountyhunter - Secures a defined area. Is set up and works simelar to an caravan. They operate in the vicinity of the fief they are set up in.
  3. Emissaries - Boosts your relations with a clan and his/her noteables
  4. Governors - as is
  5. Spouce - Marry a companion. They remains a Companion, children becomes clan-members
  6. Pillagers - set up a banditparty. Is set up and works simelar to an caravans. They operate in the vicinity of the town they are set up in.
  7. Workshops - let companions operate workshops. They needs to be more profitable if they consume a companion.
  8. Partymembers - More roles, Allow muliple/companion.
Group 1,2 and 6 as "duty parties" and limit that number by clan-tier
 
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