Do you plan your character around available companions?

[rusty_shackleford]

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)

[Xenich]

I only plan with games that have starting parties. Past that, I kind of see it as cheating so I just play what I want and deal with what comes.

As for if they should tell you? Only if they plan on making the game difficulty on balancing according to that knowledge. If not, nope.

[Oyster Sauce]

Applicable only to RPGs that have companions, do you create your character with them in mind?

It's low on the list of things that make me decide how to build a character. Lower than "the coolest portrait is holding a sword and shield and it would bother me if I used a crossbow instead" for example.

If you've never played the game before, do you look up what companions are available?

Companions are typically a large part of the marketing/discussion online even if you want to go in blind.

What do you do if your favorite companion has the same class(and/or skills) as your character?

Depends on loot and class flexibility. I'm ok with being a warrior alongside Alistair because there are different roles within the class. If we were both forced to use two handed swords he might be sitting in camp the entire game. Were it that rigid I'd say it's a symptom of a bad game.

Do you think RPGs should telegraph what companions will be available somehow so you know?

I expect a good game to have a range of companions that cover every class or at least every generic archetype if there are too many classes, ideally with a couple gimmick ones unavailable to the player along the way (droids, dogs, etc). They should also not be black women. BG3 really needed that werewolf bard, not two druids.

[DecadeRiptide]

Usually I'll go in blind and then if I get really into the game I might look up what the best equipment is for those characters. I'm probably halfway through the game by that point.

[Bhaalspawn Jr]

The less I know about a game before the first playthrough, the better.

After beating BG3 for the first time, I do check out who I'll recruit for further playthroughs.

[Maledict]

No. I plan my companions around me.

[TKVNC]

I plan my character as a male human fighter

[Godjjjita]

I usually try to get the basics of the world lore (without spoilers), see the classes of possible companions, plan my character class and then create a good backstory.
For my next character in pathfinder wotr I have done that and created a backstory alongside my leveling guide (build).

► Show Spoiler

Character Lore: Born in Kalsgard in the Land of the Linnorm Kings from a warrior father and a cleric mother who fought the tyrant rulers of cheliax for the order of the glorious reclamation. He was in his late teenage years when they went south to help the order and witnessed its defeat.
Well educated, he learned wizard spells to help in the war and after the defeat, he and his parents went to mendev to fight for good once more in old Sarkoris. His parents remained in Nerosyan; his mother a priestess of Iomedae in on of her many temples and his father, an instructor in the military. Seeking to help the good cause, Yrian goes to kenabres to help however he can and maybe learn more about magic from a capable master.

It makes it easier for me to roleplay the character and the decisions he would made based on his background.

[J1M]

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)

I just assume the companions will be unlikable because of who will be writing them. Never used to do that.

Additionally, I feel pressured to create my character to pass speech checks. Fortunately, in 5e nearly every spell is cast with charisma so there's some flexibility.

[rusty_shackleford]

I liked that deadfire lets you pick from 2-3 possible classes for companions when they join(usually 2 classes + dual-class), it gives you more flexibility

[Vaako]

Generally not a fan of companions in games at least not in singleplayer games like fallout/skyrim. The amount of hate I develope when they run in my crosshair or block my way is unmeassurable and bad for my blood pressure.

Also I cant really think of many games where a follower/companion would be build defining. Maybe Diablo2 with the right runewords tho.

[DemoGraph]

Only if I can pimp them.

In all seriousness, sometimes. E.g. there's really little point playing fighter in BG1, because character roster is limited, meatshields are aplenty while good mages are seriously underrepresented.

[Roguey]

No, I always make either a fighter or a rogue the first time I play a party-based RPG.

[Norfleet]

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?

Not specifically, but I generally won't even be bothered to play a game unless I already know a lot about it. There are games that I have never actually played before that I can pass as a bittervet of.

[wndrbr]

In party-based rpgs I prefer not to invest into the various lockpicking/disarm/lore type of skills on my main guy because I know I'll meet a skill-monkey party member at some point.

[rusty_shackleford]

In party-based rpgs I prefer not to invest into the various lockpicking/disarm/lore type of skills on my main guy because I know I'll meet a skill-monkey party member at some point.

I've really soured on skill-based party RPGs tbh, always ends up feeling like I'm just ticking checkboxes to get a 'full' party

[WhiteShark]

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.

[rusty_shackleford]

I've really soured on skill-based party RPGs tbh, always ends up feeling like I'm just ticking checkboxes to get a 'full' party

A major advantage of classes is they often accomplish the same thing but in very different ways with different styles/tone. Two classes may both act as a 'tough guy' class but express it in a completely different way.

[Rand]

Nope. Ran a Paladin in Baldur's Gate and picked up the other paladin Anomen.
Played the same character in BG2 and took Hobbit mini-paladin Mazzy Fentan for the lulz.
Shame about BG2 making me kill Anomen. It didn't make sense. We both had detect evil. Should have been able to see through the illusions.
It was only really well used in Icewind Dale. There's a whole area full of devil worshipping cultists pretending to be a good temple where if you play a paladin, he just says "Nah, this is all ********. I can tell you're all intensely evil." And the fight starts right there at the front door.

[rusty_shackleford]

Shame about BG2 making me kill Anomen. It didn't make sense. We both had detect evil. Should have been able to see through the illusions.

BG2 was really bad about BG1 companions, I was surprised by the lack of care for them in my last playthru.

[Rand]

In party-based rpgs I prefer not to invest into the various lockpicking/disarm/lore type of skills on my main guy because I know I'll meet a skill-monkey party member at some point.

I've really soured on skill-based party RPGs tbh, always ends up feeling like I'm just ticking checkboxes to get a 'full' party

Honestly, you're playing on a ******* computer that sees everything.
Why TF am I having to work this **** out in my head.
The devs should have the game give you the companions with the skills you need and are lacking.
And before you complain, this isn't tabletop where you can do whatever the hell you want whenever. It's on rails even at the best of times. Use the power for good.

[rusty_shackleford]

In party-based rpgs I prefer not to invest into the various lockpicking/disarm/lore type of skills on my main guy because I know I'll meet a skill-monkey party member at some point.

I've really soured on skill-based party RPGs tbh, always ends up feeling like I'm just ticking checkboxes to get a 'full' party

Honestly, you're playing on a ******* computer that sees everything.
Why TF am I having to work this **** out in my head.
The devs should have the game give you the companions with the skills you need and are lacking.
And before you complain, this isn't tabletop where you can do whatever the hell you want whenever. It's on rails even at the best of times. Use the power for good.

I dislike when my companions skills/abilities/class/whatever don't align with what they actually are.

[Rand]

So are we just gonna ignore the latest from games like Avowed, The Outer Worlds (both), The last few Dragon Ages, etc... where they make all possible companions so awful that you want none of them in your party but are usually forced to take them anyway?

[rusty_shackleford]

So are we just gonna ignore the latest from games like Avowed, The Outer Worlds (both), The last few Dragon Ages, etc... where they make all possible companions so awful that you want none of them in your party but are usually forced to take them anyway?

outer worlds had a cool robot

[Rand]

I dislike when my companions skills/abilities/class/whatever don't align with what they actually are.

Sure. But the devs could just make more of them.
I guess the modern problem is all the VA stuff.
And how ******** they are, of course.
Keeping track of potential interactions of 20+ potential companions might take time away from whining about the feds deporting invader criminals on PedoSky...

It's the same problem Starfield had. Hundreds of devs working for the better part of a decade and the ****** in charge never considered "Hey, I should hire like 5 small teams of writers for a year and have them each grind out a POI with a special layout and story every week."
But they have whole HR teams obsessing about how to tell players when starting the game how "diverse" the dev team was and how some characters may have viewpoints they don't agree with and ****...

[Tangerine]

So are we just gonna ignore the latest from games like Avowed, The Outer Worlds (both), The last few Dragon Ages, etc

Yes. Why play trash?

[Rand]

So are we just gonna ignore the latest from games like Avowed, The Outer Worlds (both), The last few Dragon Ages, etc... where they make all possible companions so awful that you want none of them in your party but are usually forced to take them anyway?

****. I forgot about Wrath of the Righteous, where you're on a crusade and you get almost no warriors of any kind and the only Paladin is a female Orc lesbian married to a ******...
And almost every other companion is some variation of the kind of weird and ghey characters Critical Role ******* make up.

[rusty_shackleford]

Owlcat's WH40k game had a bunch of good companions, I was rather happy with my party.

[wndrbr]

In party-based rpgs I prefer not to invest into the various lockpicking/disarm/lore type of skills on my main guy because I know I'll meet a skill-monkey party member at some point.

I've really soured on skill-based party RPGs tbh, always ends up feeling like I'm just ticking checkboxes to get a 'full' party

there should be more skills/niches than the max party size, or perhaps some other way to limit the skills so that the player would be forced to lose on some 'content' and live without a dedicated skill monkey. Tying skills to suboptimal classes would work too - like tying lockpicking to a burglar who is **** at combat, or tying nature knowledge to a druid who suffers debuffs while in a town, or athletics to martial characters only, etc.

[Tangerine]

the only Paladin is a female Orc lesbian married to a ******...

There's also the Niggadin that steals.

Edit: Seelah.