Party based RPG's shouldn't have non-combat skills.

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Vault Dweller]

and from my memory, that in this game you will only lvlup skills you use

Correct.

How does it work when brainy guy solves a puzzle, do everyone gets better at chess or only said skill monkey? Is potentially skill monkey route viable only for lone wolves?

First, you can't have 2-3 fighters and a "skill monkey". If you want to get as much content as possible, you need a talker, an infiltration specialist (fighter/thief as sneaking is risky and things can turn ugly), a "scientist", and a fighter. It's unlikely that you can have a talker/scientist, but we're early in development and things can change. As for your questions, whoever does the talking, stealing, lockpicking, fixing, hacking, etc gets the points. Playing a single non-combat character will definitely be viable but you won't get as much non-combat content as a party of specialists.

Since it's not a Bioware game, the potential companions won't level up in your absence for your convenience, so any muscle you aren't actively using will "atrophy" in no time. Same goes for non-combat skills, of course.

Wont people just stick to characters they already leveled then?

I have no problem with that as it's not that different from the traditional model where you create a party and stick with it. However, as you progress through the game you'll meet more experienced characters willing to join your party and will be able to swap some party members.

 

[Viata]

I have no problem with that as it's not that different from the traditional model where you create a party and stick with it. However, as you progress through the game you'll meet more experienced characters willing to join your party and will be able to swap some party members.

What happens to the original member that you swapped out to a new one? Will he go back to the place you found him, stays at the place the new guy was or to some place he wanted to go/decided to go? It'd be cool if they have some agency so if you remove then, they are still going to do the thing they wanted before they joined you.

 

[Wysardry]

What happens to the original member that you swapped out to a new one?

They get annoyed at you for dumping them in the middle of nowhere just because you found someone else with a few more skill points. They then form their own party and start completing quests in competition with you. They also screw you over whenever they can.

 

[Incendax]

Removing non-combat skills would be pretty awkward in RPGs with little emphasis on combat.

 

[LordofSyn]

They get annoyed at you for dumping them in the middle of nowhere just because you found someone else with a few more skill points. They then form their own party and start completing quests in competition with you. They also screw you over whenever they can.

Hell yes. But then...have you met the Nemesis system? There are a few others similar. I am damn sure that it could be modified for character arcs like this. Makes player agency even more weighty as you really have to watch what you do around npcs with their own motivations and personality traits that affect their choices.

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[Wysardry]

No, I hadn't heard of the Nemesis system before. I did have a random idea shortly after my post about a type of reputation/faction system that would affect the behaviour of NPCs based on the actions of the player character though.

Basically, most NPCs would have neutral feelings for you at the start of the game, but could potentially evolve into an adoring fan or your arch-nemesis, depending on what you did and said (and how often).

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Non-combat skills are welcome in party based RPGs as long as it can potentially lead to more combat encounters as murderhoboing is the essence of RPGs.

 

[apenney]

Are there any games that have "party XP" and party skills separated from the actual people in the party? I can't imagine it would be good, but it would be a nice way to avoid the whole "making my character a tank but also very charismatic" if the non-combat skills were tied to the party and not the players.

 

[V_K]

Are there any games that have "party XP" and party skills separated from the actual people in the party? I can't imagine it would be good, but it would be a nice way to avoid the whole "making my character a tank but also very charismatic" if the non-combat skills were tied to the party and not the players.

In Vogel's Exile games (not sure about remakes) at least some non-combat skills added up for a check - i.e. having two characters with 1 point in Arcane Lore was the same as having one char with 2 points. I think Deadfire does something similar.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG