Apologies ahead of time for a long post. My name’s Eric. been a long time Fire Emblem fan since learning of the series via playing as Marth and Roy in Super Smash Bros Melee as a kid. Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones wound up being my first Fire Emblem when an older cousin from my Dad’s family who also played SSBM bought it for me as a Christmas Eve gift out of the blue!
Loved the series ever since. I played every mainline title except for Engage but haven’t beaten all of the games and need to get around to finishing the ones I haven’t beat.
And now I’m seriously considering learning FE Builder to make a major Rom Hack. Either using The Sacred Stones or maybe an existing Hack of said game as a base if that’s possibly more convenient for certain features I want to do.
I have a general plot idea in mind and know everything I’d want out of it depending on what’s possible.
It would involve me being Isekaied into another world that is original to this hack (but will act as an alternate universe of Fire Emblem for my own canon) My class would be a variant of Tactician and Grandmaster from Fire Emblem Awakening.
But for design I would wear something similar to what the Mercenary and Myrmidon wear in FE Echoes Shadows of Valentia with a Blue Cape and Headband, and I would use a sort of Dark Souls Crest Shield or Hylian Shield shaped heater shield in my animations.
And my version of Grandmaster would essentially be a Master Knight from Genealogy of the Holy War.
At first I would meet with and get saved by a rag tag band of Mercenaries and help them along the way while I’m stuck there.
But then soon into it we would meet with one of the Lord characters. a young orphan woman who as a kid was adopted by a King and she and said King’s Son that’s her age would later fall in love and marry. (also she would be a Mage Fighter style Lord similar to Celica. But perhaps gets either a Horse or Pegasus mount on promotion.
Still thinking of whether she would use Swords as her main signature weapon or if she’ll use Lances/Spears to be a sort of Female version of Ephraim but with Magic, Maybe be able to use both on Promotion.
Prior to the playable events of this hack this King would be stealthily assassinated days before a full on invasion occurs. And she would then lose her love as well during the escape.
She goes into hiding with a very scant few surviving knights of this kingdom. Preparing and hoping for when she can gather up a new army and set out to get her revenge.
She would see a fortune teller at some point where she is told that she will meet a budding tactician from another world and the rag tag band of mercenaries he accompanies who would become her light of hope.
The other Lord character will be one of the Princes of the opposing kingdom that was responsible for everything the Female Lord has lost and he will have defected feeling that something isn’t right about what’s going on. Some of his family will possibly defect too
Depending on the Female Lord’s main signature weapon either he’d use Swords and Bows or Lances and Bows. And would have access to the rest of the physical weapon categories on Promotion like a FE4 General and gain a Horse on promotion.
One of the things I have in mind is FE Gaiden/Echoes style learnt magic which thankfully we already know is possible from The Sacred Echoes! Possibly mixing that with separate Tomes and Staves as a way to supplement a magic user’s arsenal with spells they don’t normally learn. And maybe they would be made infinite use with HP cost like learnt spells.
And with the learnt spells I might consider having the Male Lord be able to learn a scant bit of healing/utility magic after Promotion but not be able to use tomes and staves otherwise if separate magic sources are put in too.
Monsters would be in the game and a full on world map like in vanilla Sacred Stones.
Other features would include
If possible a Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War and Three Houses style repairing mechanic where weapons can be repaired at Armories and broken weapons don’t disappear. S Rank weapons and maybe lesser enchanted weapons would either be infinite or be especially durable.
If possible The ability for Cavalry and Fliers to be able to dismount like in the og Mystery of the Emblem, Thracia 776 and Three Houses.
Shields and Accessories. Maybe if possible classes that use a shield in animations would get a passive +1 to defense to simulate a “basic” shield and this would not take up an inventory slot. Equipping a better Shield would replace this bonus instead of stacking it.
Gaiden/Echoes style bow and spell ranges.
Free roaming for towns and dungeons like in Gaiden/Echoes which I have seen in at least Sacred Stones Reforged for town districts.
Proper melee animations for throwable axes if possible where they’re used to strike instead of thrown at 1 range
Whatever the creator of Sacred Echoes did that allows characters to counterattack with whatever they have in their inventories without having to actively equip them whatever is in range of the enemy.
Allow for Strength to play a part in mitigating weapon weight if possible. And there would be a Strength/Magic Split
There would be a variety of Regalia S Rank weapons that are made for certain classes (idk if I could actually give all of them class locks aside from Myrmidon/Swordmaster but descriptions would say who they’re meant for).
On top of anything me and the Lords would get. Which would be two Swords and a Throwable Lance
My Ideas for the Regalias are.
A 1 Range Sword made for Knightly classes (whether Cavalry or Generals) and Heroes etc etc. It would be a straight bladed bastard sword. Or maybe you could have a Flier class use this too if you want
A 1-2 Range Sword for Swordmasters. A single edged straight blade. I’d imagine it to be a cross between a Falchion or Messer and a Katana. This being made straight up locked for Myrmidon/Swordmaster is a very easy basic function thankfully.
A Short Sword for Thief tree classes. This would possibly be a throwable weapon. Maybe there will be mundane Daggers as a common place 1-2 range option for Thief tree classes too. Pondering the idea of Swords giving Thief tree classes a longer blade for animations too.
A Recurved Longbow/Warbow meant for Snipers but maybe usable by other infantry Bow users. would be up to 5 or even 6 range.
A standard sized Recurved Bow made for Cavalry Archers. Good range but not as much as the Recurved Longbow/Warbow Regalia.
The Lances would all be throwable. One made for Fliers, one made for Cavalry, and One made for infantry lance users like Generals and Halberdiers. Maybe one them would have 1-3 range but not be as heavy hitting as the others.
and for the Axes. a 1 Range Axe meant for Warriors who can use Bows anyway, and a 1-2 Range throwable one for Berserkers and this would be larger than what throwable axes usually are. Maybe another 1 range Axe meant for Generals, Heroes, and Cavalry (especially Great Knights) too idk
Also pondering the Idea of Warriors also being able to use Swords.
Pondering the idea of Thracia 776 and Shadow Dragon DS style supports in place of conversations. And in this case romances would just be tied in with specified combos of characters having paired endings if they both survive like FE Gaiden/Echoes. The idea of coming up with dialog for a bunch of optional support conversations on top of thinking what to make for dialog in the story itself is daunting for me lol.