Recruit anyone

[jinath715]

I think that the game should allow us to recruit anyone we want instead of the small handful of characters we currently have.
It couldn't be that hard to implement this since everyone in the game already has stats and the ability to do combat.
They could max it out at 50 or so. That way we couldn't literally recruit everyone.

[Metallicus]

Do you realize how much time it would take to make all of those characters recruitable? They would need to do dialogue, voice and situational coding for all those characters? It isn’t economically feasible.

[larhtas]

It's like impossible to do (or like very very hard).
Interaction between characters is not only fight statistic. You have to create all possible dialogues between characters, all possibilities of characters meeting events.
All voice acting of every dialogue, it would be a coding nightmare.

I like very much that they perfectly work "some" characters than badly work "all" of them.

[RealDealBreaker]

It is also important to note that most NPCs in d&d do not actually have classes. Not every guard is a fighter, not every old guy in a library/tower is a wizard, not every 'druid' in a druid grove is a druid.
I guess they COULD make it so you can recruit anyone, but most people will be less useful than a level 1 character.

[Runic Tunic]

If you want just blank slates where every companion has very little dialogue or reused dialogue, then yeah it might be doable. But if you want the same level of complexity as other companions you're asking for a lot.

This game is narrative heavy and we're not some general recruiting for an army or something. Companions are meant to be fleshed out. But if it means anything we get more companion at release, modded companions may be a thing, and I believe we can make our own too. So there's that.

[Hobocop]

I'm not seeing what the advantage would be over just being able to hire custom mercenaries who are actually cut out for adventuring.

[jinath715]

Originally posted by Metallicus:

Do you realize how much time it would take to make all of those characters recruitable? They would need to do dialogue, voice and situational coding for all those characters? It isn’t economically feasible.

I think pretty much every NPC in the game already has at least some dialog. It wouldn't be a stretch to add a couple lines for recruitment and party combat roles.
Also, they already programmed every NPC in game with basic combat capability. It wouldn't be impossible to make them a class or sub-class which could join your party. In fact, some NPC's already join you in combat at various points in the EA.

[Runic Tunic]

Originally posted by jinath715:

Originally posted by Metallicus:

Do you realize how much time it would take to make all of those characters recruitable? They would need to do dialogue, voice and situational coding for all those characters? It isn’t economically feasible.

I think pretty much every NPC in the game already has at least some dialog. It wouldn't be a stretch to add a couple lines for recruitment and party combat roles.
Also, they already programmed every NPC in game with basic combat capability. It wouldn't be impossible to make them a class or sub-class which could join your party. In fact, some NPC's already join you in combat at various points in the EA.

But again, dialogue would be severely lacking. Recording, designing code for interactions, narration, etc., is extremely time consuming. Also, there's the issue of breaking quest chains. What you're asking needs to be decided on at the beginning of development, not added in last minute.

Also also, the point of DnD is that everyone is average while PC characters are not. You're not supposed to recruit a random dude to go fight a mindflayer, hag, or demon because most average people are barely level 1, if at all. Just makes little sense to pick a random breadmaker off the street, hand him a sword, and then he solos a bugbear or Ogre.

[larhtas]

Originally posted by jinath715:

Originally posted by Metallicus:

Do you realize how much time it would take to make all of those characters recruitable? They would need to do dialogue, voice and situational coding for all those characters? It isn’t economically feasible.

I think pretty much every NPC in the game already has at least some dialog. It wouldn't be a stretch to add a couple lines for recruitment and party combat roles.
Also, they already programmed every NPC in game with basic combat capability. It wouldn't be impossible to make them a class or sub-class which could join your party. In fact, some NPC's already join you in combat at various points in the EA.

Yes so they would be poorly made to have a reaction with all other events and NPCs in the game.

[Brian Sirith]

Originally posted by Hobocop:

I'm not seeing what the advantage would be over just being able to hire custom mercenaries who are actually cut out for adventuring.

This

[jinath715]

Imagine the replay value of being able to recruit anyone you wanted.

[Brian Sirith]

Originally posted by jinath715:

Imagine the replay value of being able to recruit anyone you wanted.

But they would be just stats and appearance -which you get with henchmen- not fleshed out personalities. So how would that add to the replay value?

Unless you expect each NPC to get a back story and unique lines, which would be great in theory but not possible practically.

[Yojo0o]

Originally posted by jinath715:

Originally posted by Metallicus:

Do you realize how much time it would take to make all of those characters recruitable? They would need to do dialogue, voice and situational coding for all those characters? It isn’t economically feasible.

I think pretty much every NPC in the game already has at least some dialog. It wouldn't be a stretch to add a couple lines for recruitment and party combat roles.
Also, they already programmed every NPC in game with basic combat capability. It wouldn't be impossible to make them a class or sub-class which could join your party. In fact, some NPC's already join you in combat at various points in the EA.

It actually would be a ton of work.

5e DnD isn't designed around PvP, and there's no intention to build PCs and have them fight each other. This means that the creatures and NPCs you meet have stat blocks that aren't designed to the standards of a PC, they're built with their own rules and mechanics. To make any NPC a viable party member, just in terms of mechanics, would mean that every NPC in the game would need to be rebuilt to the rules of PC creation, which in turn would significantly mess with the game's actual balance.

[.Master Jiren, The Strongest]

Originally posted by Metallicus:

Do you realize how much time it would take to make all of those characters recruitable? They would need to do dialogue, voice and situational coding for all those characters? It isn’t economically feasible.

erm...no. nothing you said is accurate.
plenty of games have mods that allow you to recruit any character you want. witcher 3, cyberpunk 2077, skyrim, fallout, and if there isnt one already im sure bg3 will too.

theres no need for voice lines or anything of the sort. if I want to recruit a paladin for some extra muscle, i dont need him to be anything other than extra muscle.

Sometimes people just want to have their own little group, you know, the prince of thieves vibe. You, leading a group of nameless expendable ruffians, on a little adventure who become more heroic because of what they do, not because of what they've already done.

And im sure the option will become available on full release, and if not, mods will absolutely solve this problem as companion mods are probably the most popular g rated mods in existence.

[Yojo0o]

Originally posted by Jiren, The Strongest:

Originally posted by Metallicus:

Do you realize how much time it would take to make all of those characters recruitable? They would need to do dialogue, voice and situational coding for all those characters? It isn’t economically feasible.

erm...no. nothing you said is accurate.
plenty of games have mods that allow you to recruit any character you want. witcher 3, cyberpunk 2077, skyrim, fallout, and if there isnt one already im sure bg3 will too.

theres no need for voice lines or anything of the sort. if I want to recruit a paladin for some extra muscle, i dont need him to be anything other than extra muscle.

Sometimes people just want to have their own little group, you know, the prince of thieves vibe. You, leading a group of nameless expendable ruffians, on a little adventure who become more heroic because of what they do, not because of what they've already done.

And im sure the option will become available on full release, and if not, mods will absolutely solve this problem as companion mods are probably the most popular g rated mods in existence.

Okay, but look at my response. These NPCs most likely are not built with the rules of the PCs. So, how does turning them into PCs actually work, in practice?

[dulany67]

It's a question of whether you want quality or quantity.