[FE8] [Complete] Fire Emblem: The Phantom King

[RandomMercenary]

Hello, wonderful people of FEUniverse!

I hereby present to you a project that I have been working on. This project is called: Fire Emblem: The Phantom King.

This hack is being made with the help of FebuilderGBA and has a total of 25 chapters.

What this romhack has to offer:

• A new story in which you take control of two different parties. The two parties are at opposing sides of the war and you will switch between them every chapter.

Story details

571 years after Dark King Nymen’s fall, the continent of Reglis is in relative peace. But this changed when the crown prince of Lerce suddenly murders the king of Garleanne in front of everyone to see. Garleanne took this as a declaration of war and starts to mobilize their army. According to the nobles of Lerce, this was never meant to happen.
Lerce will have to try their best to convince Garleanne of their innocence and prepare for an invasion.

The story of ‘The Phantom King’ begins two weeks after this incident.
You will take control of two main characters: Lennard and Kathleen.

Lennard Gluster is the crown prince of Garleanne. He gathers his army and marches for Lerce. His goal? Justice for the murder on his father, the king of Garleanne.

Kathleen Fortoine is the eldest princess of Lerce. She is forced to lead an army to defend her country instead of her brother the crown prince, who is locked up for his crimes. Can she defend Lerce and prove her country’s innocence?

You control both sides of the war. Who is right? Who is wrong? Or is there something else going on behind the scenes?

• A large cast of characters (A grand total of 124 portraits all made by me).

Cast

50 playable characters and 74 bosses, NPC’s and background characters. It’s way too much
to keep track of and I know that. Many are related in some way to each other. I understand that it
can be hard to keep track of every character, who they are, who they are related to, which kingdom
they’re from or how high they stand in the feudal hierarchy. That is why I created a character chart
of all existing characters sorted by kingdom and house.

The kingdom of Garleanne:

The kingdom of Lerce:

The kingdom of Dagnea:

The kingdom of Myrin:

The kingdom of Sountaine:

Note that a lot of these characters aren’t playable but are just enemies, bosses, npc or background characters.

Character recrtuitments are explained in the guide.

• New classes have been added.

Class promotion

Promotions are largely the same as vanilla. Some characters however are in the lord class. Lords have different promotions from the normal classes. Below is a chart of the promotion branches.

• Special or family weapons.

What can these weapons do?

There are a few special weapons in this hack that you can unlock by keeping units alive. These weapons deal bonus damage against bonewalkers, as well as the final boss. The weapons can only be equipped by characters that belong to a noble house. Commoners will not be able to hold them.

More on these weapons in the guide.

• Banners.

What do banners do?

A fun little addition is the use of banners.

It’s mostly a graphical/lore thing and it doesn’t do
anything gameplaywise. All units will show the banners of the houses they serve.
Anyone belonging to a noble house displays his banner.

The generics:

As well as playable and boss units:

There are a total of 61 different houses with each their own heraldic charge. You can find out which people belong to which house and where their castle is located in the character charts.

I hope some of these things managed to catch your interests.

Screenshots

Some screenshots:

Guides

Character recruitment

Prologue:
Richard, Stephen, Claye, Thina, Jennica, Roderick, Automatically from the start.

Chapter 1
Kathleen, Vehrt, Eduard, Allia, Automatically from the start.
Kianne, Talk with Kathleen.

Chapter 2
Marya, Automatically joins on turn 3.
Gerrar, Talk with Jennica. He tries to escape on turn 5.
Lennard, Ramund, After clearing chapter.

Chapter 3
Jiara, Talk with Kathleen.
Elena, Dorjan, Automatically join on turn 8
Quinten, Talk with Kathleen.

Chapter 4
Henric, Aaron, Lyle, Automatically join at the start of the chapter.

Chapter 5
Brian, Elisha, Ingrid, Automatically join at the start of the chapter.

Chapter 6
Rauss, Thywell, Phelip, Automatically join at the start of the chapter.

Chapter 7
Harlan, Gavin, Jaike, Talk with Kathleen to Harlan or Gavin. Or talk with Quinten to Gavin.
Clint, Visit the house at the centre of the village.
Sharra, Talk with Clint.
Billy, Talk with Sharra.

Chapter 8
Gyles, Visit top left house.
Evelyn, Banyu, Automatically join at the end of chapter.

Chapter 9
Eyrma, Charles, Talk with Kathleen.

Chapter 10
Teya, Tancred, Automatically join at the start of the chapter.

Chapter 11
Hannah, Automatically joins on turn 7
Dareth, Anne, Talk to Dareth with Kathleen, Harlan, Gavin or Jaik

Chapter 13
Roger, Joins automatically at the start of the chapter.

Chapter 16
Kayrin, Serwin, Joins automatically at the start of the chapter.
Ellara, Talk to Ellara with Kayrin.

Chapter 21
Felton, joins automatically at the start of the chapter.

Chapter 22
Theran, joins automatically at the start of the chapter.

Character growths

Special weapons

• House Termonne’s weapon: Grief
  
  Automatically when Teya joins at the start of chapter 10.

• House Lennington’s weapon: Defiler
  
  Ramund must be alive at the end of chapter 16.

• House Robatt’s weapon: Bloodnight
  
  Brian and Elisha must be alive at the end of chapter 16.

• House Idendore’s weapon: Charge
  
  Elena must be alive at the end of chapter 16.

• House Harlax’s weapon: Howling wind
  
  Phelip must be alive at the start of chapter 22.

Patch

Dropbox - FE The Phantom King - Simplify your life

Family trees, promotion charts and worldmap are all included in the zip file.

Known issues

These are some things that I’m trying to improve but am unable to solve right now. If you know how to help please, be my guest.

• There is a slight graphic error when recruiting Jiara on chapter 3. Looking at character inventories solves this.

• Sometimes when healing on a fort, some tiles get scrambled. Looking at character inventories solves this.

Credits

I used some free to use assets, ofcourse. They are mostly battle animations. I want to thank the following amazing people for their amazing animations.

• Pikmin1211, Maiser6, MK404 for fe9 fighter.
• Xenith for Eliwoodlonghair.
• Yazuki for Ephraim - alice.
• St Jack, Mycahel for Master Knight.
• Nuramon for Gold Knight.
• Nuramon for Wyvern lord (armored).
• Nuramon, ZoramineFae, Mysterious Dancer for Ephraim Infantry.
• Primefusion for Dark knight (Great knight-style).
• Eldrich abomination for Mage Lord.
• TBA for Female mercenary.
• PrincessKilvas, SD9K for Axe mercenary.
• Leo_link, Nuramon, Iscaneus for Baron cape + weapons.
• St jack for Ballista.
• Temp, Black Mage, Wan for Fem Rogue.
• Temp, helmfried for Female Warrior.
• Alusq for Cleric sassy.
• Fem Assassin: FPZero, Moocavo, Riku
• Natserker: Serif, eCut, Skitty, Pikmin1211
• Bonewalker portrait: L95
• Female Warrior: Temp
• King Zephiel + weapons: IS, Hairyblob, Maiser6
• Wight: Teraspark, Wan

Some things to know before playing

• Hard mode has NOT been tested yet. Play at your own risk!
  Normal mode is the recommended difficulty.
• Supports are working but conversations have not yet been added.
• All stats cap at 20.
• All bows have a brave effect and reduced mt.
• The two parties are sharing the convoy. I know it is possible to create two separates ones, but I don’t understand how to actually get it to work.
• Changing the window color crashes the game.
• Don’t promote a unit while holding a shield. It crashes the game. Be especially careful when the unit is still in a trainee class. It will soft lock your game.

Everyone is free to criticise everything. The gameplay, balance, story, grammar, level design, units, everything. Any bug reports are appreciated. Tell me if there is anything wrong.
Have fun! (I hope)

Thanks for reading and your attention!

[knabepicer]

A convoy split is possible with this code by Tequila:

Teq's Minor Assembly Shenanigans

Here’s a hack that allows you to split your convoy into partitions, as well as combine items when adding them to the convoy. Download here. Please read the README very carefully. This hack allows you to expand the convoy, but does NOT save it. It should work with EMS (expanded modular save), but I don’t know if it works with other things like aera’s BreakSave patch.

[Vesly]

This looks interesting. Gl with the project.

[Merpin]

It’s always cool to see a new project here! I haven’t started playing yet, but I think I now how to fix one of the issues you have.

@RandomMercenary

The status screen always shows Lennard as your army commander. Even when you are playing with Kathleen’s army. It’s not a huge deal, but still.

There should be a patch called ‘Autocursor fix’ that also changes the commander on the status screen to be the first deployed unit.

[Ribombee]

quick question, characters may go through 1/2 promotion to noble class (example: axe lord in the chart, can directly go warrior lord or go hero then hero lord)
does that gives a huge advantage of more level up + promotional bonuses?

also, in the later levels, which will happen ?
1: noble classes sweeps the whole map without even injuring much
2:units that’s don’t have noble classes nor good stats will fall off and end up doing nothing even if you invested exp in them
3: the difference between 3rd tier classes and 2nd tier classes isn’t as great, and 3rd tier class level being limited (say, 10), so that all units are viable to use?

Bugs for now: (spelling erros not included)
iron sword’s desc is lord’s seal
iron bow being a brave weapon
you can talk to the thief more than once with same scripts

[knabepicer]

Bows are brave, per the hack OP. I don’t think that’s a bug.

[RandomMercenary]

@knabepicer

A convoy split is possible with this code by Tequila:

Good to know. Thanks alot!

@Merpin

There should be a patch called ‘Autocursor fix’ that also changes the commander on the status screen to be the first deployed unit

Aha! Thank you, that is very helpful!

@Ribombee

quick question, characters may go through 1/2 promotion to noble class (example: axe lord in the chart, can directly go warrior lord or go hero then hero lord)
does that gives a huge advantage of more level up + promotional bonuses?

The noble class bonuses:

• Warrior lord.
  Has the ability to use swords.
  High promotion bonuses.

• Hero lord.
  Has full weapon triangle.
  Low promotion bonuses.
  Has 7 movement.

• Ranger lord.
  Has the ability to use Lance and sword.
  Low promotion bonuses.
  Has 10 movement.

• Baron.
  Has full weapon triangle + bows.
  High promotion bonuses.
  Has 6 movement.

• Gold Knight.
  Has full weapon triangle.
  Does not have armor and cavalier weaknesses. (armor slayer and zanbato damage)
  Has 7 movement.

• Master knight.
  Has full weapon triangle + bows.

• Archsage.
  Has full magic triangle + staves.
  Ignores terrain.

• Wyvern master.
  Has the ability to use lance, sword and bow.
  Low promotion bonuses.
  Has 9 movement.

• Holy knight.
  Has the ability to use light mag, anima mag and staves.
  Low promotion bonuses.
  Has 8 movement.

(Low promotion bonuses mean small increase in 1 or 2 stats. High means slightly more than an avarage promotion bonus. If I did not say anything about bonuses it means avarage promotion bonus.)

A character in the axe lord class (as an example) can choose between two routes:

1. He can go: straight to Warrior lord with only using a Lord’s seal and gain this class’ bonuses quickly.

2. He can go: axe lord > Hero > Hero lord. This means that you have to use both a Lord’s seal and a Noble seal (which are very rare). Taking this route also takes a long time.
   This game will be around 25 chapters long. These 25 chapters are shared between two character rosters, so both rosters only have about 13 chapters to grow. Basically you are playing two shorter games at the same time. It will be tough to promote a unit 2 times within 13 chapters. You have to decide for yourself if this route is worth it.

(There are only two Noble seals on each route, so choose carefully who you want to use it on. You won’t be having a whole team of noble classes by the endgame.)

@Ribombee

also, in the later levels, which will happen ?
1: noble classes sweeps the whole map without even injuring much
2:units that’s don’t have noble classes nor good stats will fall off and end up doing nothing even if you invested exp in them
3: the difference between 3rd tier classes and 2nd tier classes isn’t as great, and 3rd tier class level being limited (say, 10), so that all units are viable to use?

I am not quite sure yet how the later levels will look. I am not far enough into developement to say anything about it. But, I will try to make it so that noble classes won’t be able to sweep the whole map.
So, I am aiming for this:

@Ribombee

3: the difference between 3rd tier classes and 2nd tier classes isn’t as great, and 3rd tier class level being limited (say, 10), so that all units are viable to use?

@Ribombee

Bugs for now: (spelling erros not included)
iron sword’s desc is lord’s seal
iron bow being a brave weapon
you can talk to the thief more than once with same scripts

All bows are 2-3 range and have a brave effect. Bow MT is also reduced. This is not a bug.
Thanks a lot for reporting the other bugs though!
I hope I answered your questions.

[Ribombee]

thanks for the explanation,
I guess I could go the long promotional path if I want to invest a ton of exp into 1 noble unit (I don’t think a bigger promotion gain will be worth 20 levels of stat growths
btw would you mind to add the brave effect into the desc? thina died to an archer once lol
(I think bow would be really op, 2-3 range + brave although I"m only in ch3 for now)

more bugs: a chest that contains speedwing can be opened repeatedly
in the chapter that a mage joins, the javelin soldier’s AI acting weird and won’t attack (couldn’t see for sure, turned off animations, but that soldier did attack on second turn on contact)
how to know that which units can be promoted to noble class? the second archer seems like a noble but archers can’t promote into a noble calss in the chart

is the convoy sharing currently? feels it woiuld be more convinient tho cuz the money seems to be sharing, and I don’t want one path to be poorly armed when i spent most money on another path

Thywel’s base stats are being too low for a prepromote unit
also, I think there are female fighter’s map sprite in FEU

[RandomMercenary]

@Ribombee

how to know that which units can be promoted to noble class? the second archer seems like a noble but archers can’t promote into a noble calss in the chart

The character charts show which characters are nobles and which are not. The people displayed under the title ‘peasants and people of common birth’ are not able to become noble classes.

Archers don’t become noble classes because I currently have no plans for a character who is both an archer and a noble. That is why I left archers without noble class options. Creating a new class that nobody in the roster can turn into is a bit pointless.

Aaron (I think with second archer you meant Aaron?) is a special case. Because story reasons. (He is a half noble. His father is noble while his mother wasn’t. He was born outside of marriage and therefore not viewed by some nobles as a true noble. I thought it would be fun to reflect that in gameplay.)

@Ribombee

is the convoy sharing currently? feels it woiuld be more convinient tho cuz the money seems to be sharing, and I don’t want one path to be poorly armed when i spent most money on another path

Yes, the convoy is currently sharing. I do plan to implement a second convoy. However, I was not able to figure out how yet.

@Ribombee

btw would you mind to add the brave effect into the desc? thina died to an archer once lol

@Ribombee

more bugs: a chest that contains speedwing can be opened repeatedly
in the chapter that a mage joins, the javelin soldier’s AI acting weird and won’t attack (couldn’t see for sure, turned off animations, but that soldier did attack on second turn on contact)

Thanks, I will look into this.

@Ribombee

Thywel’s base stats are being too low for a prepromote unit

His low bases are intentional. He was able to solo some maps in earlier stages of the hack. Think of him as a second jagen character. While his bases aren’t that great, he can really make a difference in some early maps. He has a mount, staff utility and decent combat. I think he’s a pretty solid unit. But maybe that is just my personal opinion. I’ll keep it in mind.

Thanks a lot for actually taking the time to test this hack btw. It’s very helpful.

[ChrobinCormillaLover]

Hmm, this seems quite interesting.

[Ribombee]

(actually I am treating this as a playable and completed hack more than a playtest phase hack (the first 3 hacks I played are simply posted here completed and doesn’t have a demo phase) so my comments might be a bit biased and harsh on balances and clarity of the objective)
maybe you should add a reminder on the escape chapter, that you had to escape on that tile with all other units, then lennard
plus I have no idea where the gate is in the billy and sharra recruit chapter

[RandomMercenary]

@Ribombee

maybe you should add a reminder on the escape chapter, that you had to escape on that tile with all other units, then lennard

Will do!

@Ribombee

I have no idea where the gate is in the billy and sharra recruit chapter

It’s the control post just above to the bridge. The cursor higlights it and Kathleen tells you to capture this at the start of the chapter. Maybe you accidently skipped it?

[Ribombee]

oof
I too clint’s words seriously (I think he said he can go close the bridge or sth)
maybe you can programme it so that every units can seize the post

[RandomMercenary]

Now that you mention it, that was the original idea. To make everyone able to seize that chapter. I guess I kinda forgot about it. oops…
I will make it so that everyone can seize that chapter in a future update.

[Imdumb]

Do you intend on finishing this or is it dead

[RandomMercenary]

Nope, it’s still alive and well! I know I’m not really frequently posting updates. That’s mostly because I don’t really know what to post about. That’s why this might seem dead. And it takes a while to finish things because this is a one man project.

But yeah, I can assure you It’s not dead.

[RandomMercenary]

Update time!!!

Hello, it has been a while since the last post. I’ve been working on this for quite a while now and I’m getting closer to finishing this project.

What’s new?

• Chapters

9 new chapters have been added. The hack is now playable up to chapter 20. The planned amount of chapters is 26, so we’re nearing the end!

• Promotions

The promotion system has dramaticly changed since the last version. No third tier promotions anymore, sadly. Here is the new promotion chart.

As you can see, no classes have been scrapped. Only the promotion branches have changed.

• Banners

A fun little addition in the update is the use of banners. It’s mostly a graphical thing and it doesn’t do anything gameplaywise. All units will now show the banners of the houses they serve.

Anyone belonging to a noble house displays his banner.

The generics:

As well as playable and boss units:

• Characters

Unfortunately I had to cut a playable character named Theonell due to reaching the limit for playable units. I had to remove him from the roster in favor of a more important character to the plot. He will still appear in cutscenes though!

• New character charts

Below are the new character charts of the other kingdoms.

Sountaine:

Myrin:

Dagnea:

The charts for Garleanne and Lerce are also updated.

• Supports

Supports have been worked on. Supports are changed to be gained faster than in vanilla fe8. Most support conversations have not been written yet. For now the supports are working, but they are without conversations.

• Other things

-Bugs from the last version have been removed.
If you find any other bugs, please report them. Thank you.

-Some changes were made for balancing reasons.

-All classes cap their stats at 20 now.

-Worldmap has some small changes.

-The convoy is still sharing. I’m sorry, I still haven’t really figured out how to code this.

Any old saves you may have of the previous patch are NOT compatible with the current version sadly. Too many changes have been made for that.

That’s it for now. I’m still open to any critique you might have about this hack.
Have a good day!

[JrpgAddict]

Amazing work!! already bookmarked it for when its done

[Zheraccuz]

Not playing it til its fully done too but no pressure on finishing it right away good work
(~￣³￣)~

[Radiant_Wyvern]

Is there a patch file for it now or will we all have to wait until it’s finished for one to be posted?