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Pet/Mount/Companion obtaining Quest Idea + some mechanics related to it
So, as most of you probably know, when you get a pet/mount in other MMO's it's basically <em>"Okay, here, the game will spit you out a random beast that has come out of the preverbial code ether."</em> which, regardless of how cool the mount looks, is pretty boring, especially to people who are more lore invested, especially those who want to roleplay.
Would it be possible for Pet/Mount/Companion obtaining quests to be something like this(for the example I will use obtaining a dragon): Gaining favor with a person(scientist or mage) dedicated to studying dragons, leads him to the conclusion that you would be a fitting person to raise a specimen for study. So, said NPC gives you a list of various dragon species that you can chose from.
(examples:
Subspecies: Drake(4 legs, no wings), Wyvern(2 wings, 2 legs), Serpent(No legs), Flying Serpent(2 wings, no legs), Dragon(4 legs, 2 wings)
and then you can make various categories of each species, based on elements[eg. Earth Drake, Fire Wyvern, Dark Dragon])
You pick what you would like to raise, and you get a quest to find an egg of said species.
Now, here you can introduce a <strong>Morality Mechanic </strong>for your character, that can be used for anything in the game, which unlocks certain paths, diplomatic options, or other stuff based on how your character interacts with the world(similar to the Blood and Tears system in Heroes Of Might And Magic 6).
For example, if your character is a lawful good type of person, they will receive marker locations of abandoned nests of the species they have chosen, or camps of bandits(or other hostiles) that have stolen eggs.
But, if they are a more sinister person with no issues about killing, they receive locations of known dens, lairs or areas inhabited by the species they chose, so they go out, find a nest and slay the parent for the egg.
After that, they bring it back to said NPC, who helps incubate it, which will take a while. In the mean time the player can go do other quests and stuff, and eventually he will get a notification from the NPC that the egg is about to hatch. Then they go back to them, just in time for the hatching(insert small cutscene of the creature hatching and seeing the player character as the first thing they lay eyes on, forming a bond of sorts). After that you take the dragon with you, and you raise it, by feeding it, providing it with time for rest and playing with it to keep it happy and energized. A mechanic like the one implemented in School of Dragons, where the more rested and happy your per is, the more effective it will be.
Here you can make a mechanic where <strong>Pet - Mount - Companion Combine</strong>. The dragon will go around with you and will level up separately from you, growing in size with each level and changing its appearance at certain level points(akin to the change of dragons in Lineage II). And that way you can combine pets, mounts and companions into one whole. In its early levels, or <em>hatchling</em> state, it will mostly follow you around, it will rely on the player for food and rest. That will be the <em>Pet Phase</em>, where it and your character bond. Then at a certain level it has grown big enough to carry the player, you will get the option to mount it and use it to travel around. The <em>Mount Phase</em>, where it can also possibly help in fights that are not too overwhelming. And close to/at its maximum level, the dragon will have grown into an adult specimen, entering the <em>Companion Phase</em>, where you can still use it as a mount, but it has also learned combat skills and can be used to fight in the thickest of battles side by side with the player character, due to the trust it has built with them throughout their life.
This also brings up a couple of other mechanics regarding combat.
<em>First</em> - <strong>Mounted Combat</strong> - where the player character can fight, along with their creature sidekick, while mounted on them.
<em>First.1</em> - This will also make the choice of creature important. For example, Dragons will be able to both fly and run on the ground, with average speed; Drakes, while being unable to fly, will be the fastest runners on land out of all the species; Wyverns fly faster than Dragons, but are slower than them on the ground, due to having two less legs; Serpents will be faster on the ground than Dragons, slower than Drakes, but they will be the fastest swimmers out of all of the species, or can be the quickest on rough terrain(say climbing up rocks or between crevices); Flying Serpents will be slightly slower than normal Serpents on the ground and int the water, but they will be the fastest fliers out of all the species.
<em>Second</em> - <strong>Armor Lacing</strong> - where the type of creature has special bonuses. For example, a Black/Dark Dragon will have a very high resistance or complete immunity to Dark based magic and attacks. And the player character can lace/cover their armor with scales from various Dragons, which will give them bonuses to resistance of said type. And this also works with the <em>Blood and Tears</em> mechanic, where if they decide going for Blood, they go around killing said type of Dragons to take their scales, which will quickly give them the necessary amount, and for Tears, where players can scavenge dens of the beasts for the materials, without killing any and adding the <em>Shedding</em> mechanic, where as they grow, your pets/mount/companion creature will shed its scales(example) and you can collect them to lace over your armor. The Tears process will be significantly slower than the Blood in this case, but it will boost your reputation with more peaceful factions, and allow for more immersion. (Bonus, the <em>Lacing</em> can have a cosmetic effect on the player character's look.)
And of course you can apply this to various other types of creature mounts, giving them both more immersion on a personal level with the player, as well as gameplay value, other than just an extra set of inventory slots or a fancy speed boost.
What do you all think?
Would it be possible for Pet/Mount/Companion obtaining quests to be something like this(for the example I will use obtaining a dragon): Gaining favor with a person(scientist or mage) dedicated to studying dragons, leads him to the conclusion that you would be a fitting person to raise a specimen for study. So, said NPC gives you a list of various dragon species that you can chose from.
(examples:
Subspecies: Drake(4 legs, no wings), Wyvern(2 wings, 2 legs), Serpent(No legs), Flying Serpent(2 wings, no legs), Dragon(4 legs, 2 wings)
and then you can make various categories of each species, based on elements[eg. Earth Drake, Fire Wyvern, Dark Dragon])
You pick what you would like to raise, and you get a quest to find an egg of said species.
Now, here you can introduce a <strong>Morality Mechanic </strong>for your character, that can be used for anything in the game, which unlocks certain paths, diplomatic options, or other stuff based on how your character interacts with the world(similar to the Blood and Tears system in Heroes Of Might And Magic 6).
For example, if your character is a lawful good type of person, they will receive marker locations of abandoned nests of the species they have chosen, or camps of bandits(or other hostiles) that have stolen eggs.
But, if they are a more sinister person with no issues about killing, they receive locations of known dens, lairs or areas inhabited by the species they chose, so they go out, find a nest and slay the parent for the egg.
After that, they bring it back to said NPC, who helps incubate it, which will take a while. In the mean time the player can go do other quests and stuff, and eventually he will get a notification from the NPC that the egg is about to hatch. Then they go back to them, just in time for the hatching(insert small cutscene of the creature hatching and seeing the player character as the first thing they lay eyes on, forming a bond of sorts). After that you take the dragon with you, and you raise it, by feeding it, providing it with time for rest and playing with it to keep it happy and energized. A mechanic like the one implemented in School of Dragons, where the more rested and happy your per is, the more effective it will be.
Here you can make a mechanic where <strong>Pet - Mount - Companion Combine</strong>. The dragon will go around with you and will level up separately from you, growing in size with each level and changing its appearance at certain level points(akin to the change of dragons in Lineage II). And that way you can combine pets, mounts and companions into one whole. In its early levels, or <em>hatchling</em> state, it will mostly follow you around, it will rely on the player for food and rest. That will be the <em>Pet Phase</em>, where it and your character bond. Then at a certain level it has grown big enough to carry the player, you will get the option to mount it and use it to travel around. The <em>Mount Phase</em>, where it can also possibly help in fights that are not too overwhelming. And close to/at its maximum level, the dragon will have grown into an adult specimen, entering the <em>Companion Phase</em>, where you can still use it as a mount, but it has also learned combat skills and can be used to fight in the thickest of battles side by side with the player character, due to the trust it has built with them throughout their life.
This also brings up a couple of other mechanics regarding combat.
<em>First</em> - <strong>Mounted Combat</strong> - where the player character can fight, along with their creature sidekick, while mounted on them.
<em>First.1</em> - This will also make the choice of creature important. For example, Dragons will be able to both fly and run on the ground, with average speed; Drakes, while being unable to fly, will be the fastest runners on land out of all the species; Wyverns fly faster than Dragons, but are slower than them on the ground, due to having two less legs; Serpents will be faster on the ground than Dragons, slower than Drakes, but they will be the fastest swimmers out of all of the species, or can be the quickest on rough terrain(say climbing up rocks or between crevices); Flying Serpents will be slightly slower than normal Serpents on the ground and int the water, but they will be the fastest fliers out of all the species.
<em>Second</em> - <strong>Armor Lacing</strong> - where the type of creature has special bonuses. For example, a Black/Dark Dragon will have a very high resistance or complete immunity to Dark based magic and attacks. And the player character can lace/cover their armor with scales from various Dragons, which will give them bonuses to resistance of said type. And this also works with the <em>Blood and Tears</em> mechanic, where if they decide going for Blood, they go around killing said type of Dragons to take their scales, which will quickly give them the necessary amount, and for Tears, where players can scavenge dens of the beasts for the materials, without killing any and adding the <em>Shedding</em> mechanic, where as they grow, your pets/mount/companion creature will shed its scales(example) and you can collect them to lace over your armor. The Tears process will be significantly slower than the Blood in this case, but it will boost your reputation with more peaceful factions, and allow for more immersion. (Bonus, the <em>Lacing</em> can have a cosmetic effect on the player character's look.)
And of course you can apply this to various other types of creature mounts, giving them both more immersion on a personal level with the player, as well as gameplay value, other than just an extra set of inventory slots or a fancy speed boost.
What do you all think?
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