Dogs/ Wolfs as Party members

[kovak]

Why would you want them and how to make them interesting in terms of combat mechanics? I'm struggling with it right now cuz i can only think about Barbarian-like gameplay with fear, stuns, extra hits...all of this sounds generic and fit for mobs and not so much for an actor who may have over 6 skills on his list, right?


How would you try to overcome this?

 

[BloodletterQ]

Surprisingly they can be just as varied as their human counterparts.

• Red XIII was pretty balanced, leaning more towards magic, but fast.
  
• The Mabari in Dragon Age: Origins and Etrian Odyssey 2 were fairy tanky.
  
• Dog-like Pokemon come with all sorts of different abilities.
  
• Goofy is the tank in Kingdom Hearts. Of course he's anthropomorphic and some people think he's a hippo...
  

I really think you're limited by your worldbuilding in the end when it comes to your canine unit.

 

[kovak]

Yeah, i wanted something to do with genetics and maybe earth elemental stuff but i'm working on a sci-fi game :/

 

[Oddball]

Yeah, i wanted something to do with genetics and maybe earth elemental stuff but i'm working on a sci-fi game :/

sci-fi? maybe the dogs could be equiped with different collars that change the elements of there attacks


or maybe there collars can allow them to change the element of there attacks

 

[Euphony]

Assuming there's some kind of magic in your universe, you can always make a magical dog who casts spells. Or, for something more sci-fi themed, a dog who was experimented on/injected with something that gave it supernatural powers. It would be a good way to include a cute little dog like a terrier or beagle who wouldn't be very good at physical attacks - definitely an inversion of the same old wolf-like tank character.


Tales of Vesperia had an interesting dog character who fought more like a rogue than a tank. He equipped daggers, which he held in his mouth, and was very acrobatic. Dark Souls did something similar with a wolf boss who held a sword in her mouth. So having your dog equip a weapon instead of relying on biting and howling is also an option to shake things up a bit.

 

[Harosata]

This is an interesting topic.  I am also planning a cat and spider for my game, with the cat being an agile DPS that can be buffed with treats.


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Why not give the dog some dog commands?  For example, Dig has a chance to gain an item, Play Dead applies Hide, Fetch is a ranged attack, and Roll Over increases Dodge.  With some common events and forced action, it might also be possible that these skills will increase the chance your own attacks can get a follow up from the dog (Shield Toss is like a game of Fetch...)


Also, if you want a dog with genetics and earth elements, there's also cloning via fossils gone wrong.  You know, the kind of cloning Jurassic Park does, and fossils are technically genetic and earth-related.  Hm, that's an idea:  your mutated dog's skills has a chance to apply or remove Bone Spurt/Rock Spurt, which increases the power of related skills but applies a bit of damage-per-turn to the dog.

 

[BloodletterQ]

Assuming there's some kind of magic in your universe, you can always make a magical dog who casts spells. Or, for something more sci-fi themed, a dog who was experimented on/injected with something that gave it supernatural powers. It would be a good way to include a cute little dog like a terrier or beagle who wouldn't be very good at physical attacks - definitely an inversion of the same old wolf-like tank character.


Tales of Vesperia had an interesting dog character who fought more like a rogue than a tank. He equipped daggers, which he held in his mouth, and was very acrobatic. Dark Souls did something similar with a wolf boss who held a sword in her mouth. So having your dog equip a weapon instead of relying on biting and howling is also an option to shake things up a bit.

Can't believe I forgot Repede.


You're limited by your imagination. Maybe it could be the Blue Mage?

 

[Rogue Milk]

C'mon, no mention to Repede? The most bad-ass dog ever, from Tales of Vesperia?

 

[kovak]

Seems that this is going to be really fantastic from my POV with crazy animations with important negative buffs.


I think that i'll need to rely on tech, gens and elements to make it smoother then since it will be hard to make 8 skills for it that are not weird.

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

Thing is: Is the dog really a character by itself, independant and with its own agenda or is it meant to be someone's dog?


If someone's dog, maybe a cool mechanics could be interacting skills between the dog and its master.


For example a "mark" skill from the owner could cause the dog to deal more damage to the marked target.


And combo skills too.

 

[Euphony]

Tales of Vesperia had an interesting dog character who fought more like a rogue than a tank. He equipped daggers, which he held in his mouth, and was very acrobatic.

Can't believe I forgot Repede.

C'mon, no mention to Repede? The most bad-ass dog ever, from Tales of Vesperia?

 

[Kes]

Picking up on @Niten Ichi Ryu's point, I had a dog (a Dog of War named Havoc as a little Easter Egg for those who know their Shakespeare) and master in my last game.  One of the things I did was that once the dog was a certain level then some of the Master's skills included the automatic ability to call on it to do an extra attack.  I also gave it a 'Perception' skill which increased in level so that it could 'sniff out' extra items to find and places to go, as those seemed very dog-like things for it to do.

 

[kovak]

Actually the dog has its own behaviour, personality. He's owned by one of the protagonists but it doesn't mean that's need to be a pet or backup for him.

 

[Doktor_Q]

Mother 3 is another one with a dog, he was even the longest-running party member, being the family dog. That said I don't think he actually got many skills other than an "analyze" ability, he was most useful for always having the time to use an item when everyone else had psychic powers or thief tools they had to be using.

 

[Dr. Delibird]

Well considering sci-fi is the theme you can do a lot imo.


Maybe they can equip mechanical devices that give them more things they can do. Sort of like a cyborg pup only it isn't replacing body parts. Like the doggo could have a mounted laser on it's back to burn the enemies. There are a lot of possibilities tbh.

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

mutated dog, with really bad temper?


joke aside, if the dog is a pc with personality, I would give it skills in combat that synergize with its master, then maybe give it some field related abilities, like sniff for items or being able to create diversion in some scripted scenes.

 

[kovak]

That's another issue, he has no master. We are changing him, shaping him to the point where his origin became a kind of elemental dog with personality who was a "shapeshifter alien" who got stuck with the dog form because of trauma who eats like us and behave like humans but acts like a dog...i'm not even sure about how i should describe the character anymore but it led us to a new lore stuff to be integrated to the game.


Dog still the major aspect, tech and elemental powers can be in the build. Dog has class who changes based on element so far.

• Tankish elemental
  
• Caster elemental
  
• Support/ hexer elemental
  

I think we are spending more time with how he is as a character than thinking about how he is as a battler yet D:

 

[Diretooth]

Any time there's a wolf or werewolf character you control in a video game, it is instantly my favorite unless the game is utter crap. That being said, in my very first project, which I lovingly named Mountain Story, one of the main characters is a wolf named Argo. While he speaks as well as any Human, due to him being a Guardian to a goddess, he has his own characterization and place in the overall theme and story of the game.
That being said, his primary purpose is as a sort of balance between the other characters, and the first mage of the group. The main character, Marco, is purely melee oriented without any magic in him due to not learning how to tap into it. Argo, while he uses magic, does have melee abilities that allow him to attack multiple times, as well as some more rogueish moves such as howling to demoralize enemies and strengthen his team. Storyline-wise, he is the keeper and protector of the shaman, Terra, who is purely magic-oriented. Terra is a Human raised by wolves, and thus can speak wolf. They use more healing magic than Argo due to their role as a spiritual healer. Another member, Grantz, is the rogue, and is purely more for debuffs and subverting the enemy. A fourth character, who is kind of a spoiler character, acts like the black to Terra's white. Argo is their balance, taking on any role as the battle needs.


Storyline-wise, he's also the fettered, bound by his duty to the Goddess Amaranth, and serves as the Mr. Exposition of the group regarding anything spiritual or relating to deities or Hellions. This is reflected in how, barring certain instances, he never changes, or is able to change, his equipment because it is bound to him by oath to Amaranth.


All of that aside, there are other instances of wolf or wolflike characters in my games. They all act as a natural counterpart to most characters' divide with nature, In and out of combat, they're loyal and help their allies more than themselves and rarely do well by themselves. They often serve as an aid to other characters, and can streamline an attack so that one or more characters can attack together for massive damage. One thing I want to implement with wolf characters is a single-character multi-tech system, similar to Chrono Trigger, where the wolf and other characters attack simultaneously, with an ultimate tech being all of them attacking or casting a spell or what-have-you for a 100% accurate attack. (Which would bypass certain immunities, which would be handy for a boss.) Sadly, I haven't found a reliable method of doing this yet. Feel free to use that particular idea, and if my words have inspire you, well thank you, it feels nice to inspire people. :3

 

[Hoppy]

Poochi (and the other dogs from Metal Max and it's far less popular spinoff series Metal Saga) had some interesting mechanics and it's own weapons and armor as well.  The one thing I didn't like is that the dogs were on permanent auto (the dogs sometimes didn't attack at all and opted for digging which sometimes netted you an item and even peeing with the animation and all), don't do this and have them controllable with their own skills.

 

[emelian65]

Maybe you could add something like Blanca form Shadow Hearts.


He was the quickest character, had a lot of good buffs based on things like the cold and the moon(althoug his element was wind to signify his free spirit) his most powerfull attack was a mutlihit wind attack that grew with power each time you completepart of his side quest.which involved participating in a wolf tournament.


http://shadowhearts.wikia.com/wiki/Blanca