Final Fantasy 12 had this epic system where you could combine multiple character classes for each character. It was a nice compromise between systems where you can make everyone max level in every class and systems where everyone has one class locked in.
Fire Emblem could pull that off with Skills representing Class Modifiers. Inspired by the Heavy Blade skill and the Rings/Scrolls that adjust Stats and Growths, these make meaningful changes to the character’s current Class and capabilities. Could also add items or Combat Arts or Spells as part of the script. Could even change the Class’s name using a script based on what combination of Class Modifier Skills were chosen. I should make a game with this system. Has anyone else done that already?
Creating one custom menu is difficult and tedious (eg. it generally takes wizards days or even weeks to do). Creating or editing several menus for a new feature is this multiplied by the amount of places it shows up as the amount of work. The only time I recall making several menus for one feature was for moves in pokemblem eg. learnset, replace move, reorder moves, move relearner, etc.
The scope of your ideas sound like a fully custom game, not a romhack. So I don’t see them being implemented.
From a gameplay standpoint (going beyond a mechanical and development standpoint, which others have underlined why this is a fairly complicated concept), this is going to run into a couple issues - at least that’s how I see it.
Like we can begin with the concept that if you do have a very solid class that can outshine many others - every unit with flock into it whenever possible with minor exceptions - centralizing all your army (and their uniqueness born from their own class as well as how their personal skills interact with their base kit) to twenty seven wyvern knights or paladins with a different coating.
On this line within gameplay, we have time constraints. Is this reclassing taking away all your levels so you need to relevel once more? Are stats going to heavily decrease in exchange and then suffer against enemies whose stats don’t go down, or will they just remain the same? You talk about leveling classes over and over - but would a standard fangame have the time to allow this, or would this step into a different type of experience that would remove the main constraint of time?
Do also note that this “freely aim towards X class” will make map design based towards what units you currently have worse - you can’t design around the fact that you gave them a fighter, a mage and no fliers to create a map regarding those specifics if I can switch out and alter how it plays entirely.
This idea on its own can easily rupture (up to 15 potency, 3 count) a standard campaign, so what exactly is the game you’re spinning around for this?
The only fangame I saw do this type of thing was Code of the Burger King, and even that one is somewhat limited (most characters have a set of classes they can change into like in FE11 and FE12, and they can only change class in sort of a clock wise way instead of being able to choose which one they can change into).
Like others said here, it would be difficult to not only implement this, but also being able to properly balance around it. If official FE had trouble with this type of thing, what guarantees it won’t happen to a mere person doing a fangame?
I mean if you really want to, you could try doing it anyway. Keep in mind tho all of the difficulties it will bring about.
Maybe a compromise that could be “easier” to impliment is make multiple classes with different weapons. Think of the Cavaliers in PoR. Say you have a lance Cav. You promote him to a paladin but you pick which weapon they gain (axe, sword or bow) rinse and repeat for all classes. So in a way you can “multiclass” by picking a secondary weapon upon premotion. Outside of that, I dont fully see anything like that available.
I’m aware Dungeons And Dragons has multiclassing, but multiclassing in video games… I don’t see that often. Final Fantasy 12 did it. Dragon Quest Sentinels of the Starry Skies sorta did it too, in the sense that you retain your benefits from pouring Skill Points into the Warrior Class’s skill even if you reclass to Mage.
An easier compromise than that would be to have a Script detect when you’ve reclassed into a class, then run a script to let the player pick which level Skill the Class gets, with each Skill unlocking a different useable weapon. But I’m not sure if that would update the class’s map sprite and battle animations to compensate. I don’t know if a Class Skill in LT-Maker can change a unit’s map sprite but I think a Script can.
Come to think of it, we could do the World of Warcraft Talent Trees thing.
Reclass into a Warrior? Decide whether you’re an Arms, Fury, or Protection Warrior, and that changes what Class Skills you get, and the first Class Skill chosen can influence stats and Growths.
FFXII arbitrarily shoved it in because some suit or other didn’t like the peak game design that is the License board, and I definitely feel more constrained by it, I’m not able to make a time magick-wielder who’s primary weapon is a greatsword that also steals shit unless I specifically do that with Vaan, Fran, or Balthier, and I certainly can’t add Black Magic to it, save by the RNG substitute that is Shades of Black. Absolutely not the first thing that pops into my brain when I think of multiclassing since it’s a clear downgrade from the previous system- that would be the Numerous CRPGs explicitly based on various editions of Dungeons and Dragons and fuckin’ Final Fantasy Five, or Tactics Advance, or Tactics A2, letting you take skills you mastered from previous classes.
I was kinda thinking of bringing up FFV. Like, maybe make skills tied to characters, but you gain skills as you level up in a class. And if you change class, you keep the skills you got. Prolly would need a way to “forget” or manage character skills freely.
I recall you could freely change your class around in FFV, but the game doesn’t force you to use certain classes like FFIII did, so you could spec however you wanted. Meanwhile, Fire Emblem is definitely more catered to your party, or at least it’d be the other way around. You’d have to make sure you build the right class composition for the map, which might not be so bad if you can freely change (either in preps only or in the field). Prolly needs an actual project to really workshop how the idea would work out.