MV - Vanguard Redemption

The kingdom of Terhys has a long and proud military history, spearheaded by its elite squads: the Vanguard.

When the chamberlain reveals his alliance with the dark goddess Ixasis, murdering the king and slaughtering the Vanguard, only a handful of those elite soldiers are able to flee the city.

You are tasked with gathering your strength by recruiting soldiers, honing your skills, and finding a way to strike back against the goddess' profane might in order to save your kingdom - and the world.
Vanguard Redemption is a fantasy JRPG drawing inspiration from titles such as Final Fantasy V and Suikoden. The focus is on tactical battles that encourage varied skill use in response to the enemies at hand; and on character building using skills purchased from a series of classes in a branching tree.

Ilnaris is an elf archer and an experienced member of the Vanguard. She serves as your advisor and second in command. She's coolheaded and precise, unless her prejudices get in the way. Also, totally blonde.


Caltua is a priest of Aeyar and a valuable healer. Despite his time spent serving in the Vanguard, he tends to be somewhat squeamish when exposed to situations outside of his comfort zone.


Kearik is a stoic knight. While she's cool and unflappable in battle, she's not the most creative strategist. She is, however, happy to follow the main character and defend them with her life.


Blonun is jovial, aggressive, and fearless. He has a tendency to solve problems with his axe, but his fierce loyalty is boundless. Or his desire to exact vengeance...one or the other.


Hyuh is a monk, part of an order that expresses their devotion to Aeyar through physical perfection. He's somewhat less intense in his devotion than Caltua, but similarly his healing and support effectiveness is less powerful. Because he can also punch through walls.


Fahn is the youngest member of the Vanguard, but her magical abilities outstrip her years. Her youthful exuberance almost makes up for her inexperience, and she's dedicated to following the main character's example.

Your character starts off in the middle of their training to become a commanding officer of the Vanguard of Terhys. Taking command of the investigation into a series of local bandit attacks serves as your final examination.

Upon routing the bandits and being confirmed in your office, you discover undead creations are spilling from the tombs of fallen Vanguard members and raiding the town. When you take the rest of your squad to determine the source, the chamberlain reveals his devotion to Ixasis and uses her bestowed powers and his undead minions to slay the king and his guard.

You take what surviving Vanguard members you can and flee to the neighboring kingdom of Bressea. From there, you begin to gather more allies, explore how to break Ixasis' power, and plan to take back the kingdom of Terhys.

I'll tweak this section as necessary, but here's my initial attempt to organize my thoughts in terms of game goals.

• Building your character(s) should have interesting and varied choices. I want the branches within each class to have different play styles, and for it to be a thoughtful decision whether to stay in a class to learn the highest skills or progress to the next tier.
• Combat should be challenging and a meaningful length. However, the challenge should be mitigated (sometimes significantly) by choosing the appropriate skill to counter particular enemies/attacks.
• Resource management (MP/SP) should be thoughtful. Ideally, one should be able to fight through a dungeon long enough to level up and restore all resources if they are maximally efficient/strategic. Less efficient choices will result in needing to retreat to an inn and/or replenish consumables.
• The companions should be interesting. The plan is to have chapter-based conversation options à la BioWare games that progress storylines, unlock quests, and at high enough approval ratings can grant the player access to classes outside their class tree's progression. This will be necessary in order to unlock some classes that have requirements from two trees.
• Choosing which companions to include in your party should be an interesting decision, given the above with classes having different playstyles and their skills having different uses. I won't try to force the player to use specific characters in specific dungeons, but I envision it being a part of optimal play.
• The story should, at minimum, be coherent and not suck.