Do you plan your character around available companions?

[Cipher]

Nope. Ran a Paladin in Baldur's Gate and picked up the other paladin Anomen.

You meant Ajantis. Anomen is from BG2 and not a paladin.

[Oyster Sauce]

Nope. Ran a Paladin in Baldur's Gate and picked up the other paladin Anomen.

You meant Ajantis. Anomen is from BG2 and not a paladin.

A fighter/cleric is a paladin and you can't convince me otherwise

[J1M]

Nope. Ran a Paladin in Baldur's Gate and picked up the other paladin Anomen.

You meant Ajantis. Anomen is from BG2 and not a paladin.

A fighter/cleric is a paladin and you can't convince me otherwise

The spell and turn undead progression tells us exactly how many fighter levels.

[Norfleet]

I guess the modern problem is all the VA stuff.
And how ******** they are, of course.

Robots. The answer is to replace them with robots.

[Acrux]

Nope. Ran a Paladin in Baldur's Gate and picked up the other paladin Anomen.

You meant Ajantis. Anomen is from BG2 and not a paladin.

He might be if he passes his test.

[PixiGreen]

I do look them up. Prefer to be prepared, and not only because of the alphabet traps, but a part of the reading about game lore. Does not affect class decision - some games even account for similar classes, or acknowledge with a dialogue line. But I need my character to fit within the narrative. If I am dragging with me some people, there has to be in-character a reason I keep them. It's better to know.

[asf]

imagine planning

[Xenich]

imagine planning

Well, in most of the party games, if you simply pick the default party they often provide, they are already 'planned" for play. I will say that some of the most enjoyable times I have had playing some party games were ones where I just quickly picked my party, took the first stat roll and played. It really does make for some interesting and rather challenging play within the game.

[PixiGreen]

imagine planning

Imagine not. In a party-based game.

Depends on the group size and number of classes, two characters of the same class is doable. But more - often not. (For normal runs) I mean, you need to know who is in your party.

[mercerxiv]

Applicable only to RPGs that have companions, do you create your character with them in mind? If you've never played the game before, do you look up what companions are available? What do you do if your favorite companion has the same class(and/or skills) as your character?

Do you think RPGs should telegraph what companions will be available somehow so you know? (I thought of BG3 after posting, which is one of the benefits of origins I guess)

No.

I make the character I want, and pick companions that fit the composition, or if not possible - make them fit.
I.e. - I wanted to bring Minthara along to see if she has any interactivity at all, but my MC was a pally. So, I just changed her to a rogue. Problem solved. In this specific case it was a good solution because I think the new class still fit and it wasn't something drastic as going from a wizard to a fighter. That said I hate BG3 low party limit.

In other example, WOTR I just bring whoever I want, then fill out the rest with whoever is needed skill-wise. That's how Daeran ends up in 90% of my playthroughs as he's one of the 2 clearics (ok, achtchually oracle, but has access to most the same divine casting, if not arguably better due to it being spontaneous) by default (and we don't talk about gay ****** one), and I'm not making an MC cleric. That or just make a merc, but I prefer to start with making merc wizard and merc ranged bow whoever the ****.

[Rand]

Nope. Ran a Paladin in Baldur's Gate and picked up the other paladin Anomen.

You meant Ajantis. Anomen is from BG2 and not a paladin.

Oops. Well it has been over 25 years, but I am sure you are correct.

[J1M]

imagine planning

Well, in most of the party games, if you simply pick the default party they often provide, they are already 'planned" for play. I will say that some of the most enjoyable times I have had playing some party games were ones where I just quickly picked my party, took the first stat roll and played. It really does make for some interesting and rather challenging play within the game.

Most default parties are only saved by the game ultimately being very low challenge. Characters often seem built around their backstory rather than what is sensible in the game system.

[rusty_shackleford]

Characters often seem built around their backstory rather than what is sensible in the game system.

That's how I make my characters

[J1M]

Characters often seem built around their backstory rather than what is sensible in the game system.

That's how I make my characters

My character's backstory is that they make sensible decisions.

[rusty_shackleford]

Characters often seem built around their backstory rather than what is sensible in the game system.

That's how I make my characters

My character's backstory is that they make sensible decisions.

So they're well-rounded without any glaring flaws or weaknesses?

[J1M]

That's how I make my characters

My character's backstory is that they make sensible decisions.

So they're well-rounded without any glaring flaws or weaknesses?

Highly specialized in something different than their best friend. Like a sniper and a spotter.

[Oyster Sauce]

Characters often seem built around their backstory rather than what is sensible in the game system.

That's how I make my characters

My character's backstory is that they make sensible decisions.

if only every fighter wisely chose to be the strongest person in the world

[Vergil]

It's an extremely small consideration and only if it's a game I've already played before. Even then if it's something like KOTOR where I have one class I exclusively play that wins out above any other class considerations.

[J1M]

That's how I make my characters

My character's backstory is that they make sensible decisions.

if only every fighter wisely chose to be the strongest person in the world

Just the main character.

[Norfleet]

Highly specialized in something different than their best friend. Like a sniper and a spotter.

So, two guys with the same skillset, in other words.

[maidenhaver]

No, and I prefer disposable followers to companions. I don't like letting friends die, so I don't talk to companions much.

[Maledict]

If someone tells me in advance, "You may want X skill because none of the companions specialize in it," I may invest in that, but I try not to look anything before I play except, sometimes, how the mechanics work.

Don't get fire magic if you like dragons.
Don't get electric magic if you want to keep a female companion.
I specced into physical damage and found it quite bad as most challenging enemies are heavily resistant.
If you explore, there is no point to healing magic, because you'll get more potions than you could possibly need.

[TheEmptyRoad]

In an initial playthrough, no. My first characters are usually some kind of self-insertish spellcaster or skill-monkey, though I do look at the background lore of the setting and try to make him fit in. None of my 'favorite' companions have had overlapping skills. Nenio is ludicrous and Gale annoying, every other game I can think of with companions who's skills kind of overlapped didn't do so too much or the overlap didn't matter much, like Mass Effect or KOTOR.

After my initial playthrough though, I create some actual 'Characters' and will take party composition into account. One of my biggest gripes with BG3 is the inane 4-person party limit. As soon as I complete an honor mode run I'm never playing unmodded again for that alone; not to mention all the other stuff mods fix.

[Old One]

In Ultima IV I always used to pick the shepherd for my customized PC because the default companion shepherd NPC was my least favorite of all the companions. Shepherd was also probably the most difficult class to start with, IIRC.

[Eyestabber]

Good games provide you with enough companions to fill all essential functions and ignore the ones who overlap too much with the MC. I really hate it when there's something you really need and none of the companions can provide. Like in JA3 you are really forced to put leadership into your imp guy, otherwise you'll go bankrupt paying Raider's wages. I also dislike how Blackguards kills the elven druggie girl and then doesn't give you another archer to replace her, so you either make an archer or play the rest of the game without one. Otoh, Neverwinter Nights 2 will spoil you with choices for every essential function.

[J1M]

That's why you should be able to hire mercenaries and level them up however you want. Even if a character has a useful skill these days they are saddled with an annoying personality.