So I'm fighting the boss at the end of the Nightfall Bandit Dungeon with his two Sylesti and I couldn't help thinking "What am I doing right now? Am I just sitting back in a corner yelling orders at my Sylesti while they get the snot beaten out of them? While the bad guy at least has the decency to put himself in danger right beside his?" It kinda made me feel like a jerk that despite the fact I apparently have a magic wand, armor, and options for other wepons all I do is sit back and watch my Sylesti fight.

~Actual Suggestion Starts Here!~

My suggestion is that our characters have stats and levels of their own. There's already proof that humanoids can fight alongside and against Sylesti, why don't we? There's a variety of ways this could be done and here are a couple of possibilities:

A) If you want player characters to make only a minor change to the battles:
     - Don't give stats, just have the equipment we wear have skills that we can use every X turns to help out our Sylesti. Maybe a buff skill from a staff, a defense skill from a shield or armor, Attacks from bow or sword, so on.
     - Have a breeder rank that determines our stats, giving maybe 1 level to our character every time we achieve pre-set goals like our first breeding, completing a dungeon, so on.
     - Have special equipment that doesn't show up on the avatar, that can be turned off or that only shows up during battle so we can still dress them however we like.
     - Don't give them hp, just keep them in the background performing skills, running off when all Sylesti are downed.

B) If you want player characters to make a moderate to high difference to battles (Acting like an extra Sylesti):
     - Make them take up a party slot, it's harder to instruct two allies while fighting yourself then when sitting back after all.
     - Give them their own skill trees.
     - Have special equipment that they can wear in battle.
     - Have an option for a position for your character (Back, middle, or front).
     - If your PC gets downed by bandits have them take a % of your money, likely 10% to 25% pretending we're all smart enough to leave our unused items and most of our money in a bank somewhere.
     - Allow users to pick a role (preferably allowing them to change roles for a small fee). Examples of roles could be:
-Supporter, which allows you to be more efficient with items or even use special items (buffs).
-Defender, allowing you to take some hits for your Sylesti at critical moments.
-Scavenger, increases loot from battles. Hunter, increases chance and ability to capture Sylesti.
-Alchemist, allows you to use special items (ailments on enemies) and/or create items (explosives, potions, etc.).
-Blacksmith, allows you to break down and build/improve equipment.
     - You could have separate levels for each role with each role becoming more effective as you level it.

Weather the idea is in A or B is based on how easy it is to make very powerful or overpowered. Obviously each idea could be used in either situation based on how it's coded.     

This is something we've definitely put thought into, but it would be a fairly complicated feature and we aren't sure exactly how we want to do it.

However, lore wise, we assume that as a trainer you are commanding your Sylesties. Much like a pokemon trainer I guess for comparison. It takes special people (you) to be able to command Sylesties. Most Sylesties will just ignore or disobey ordinary people.

You are also using consumables, scanners, and traps while commanding your Sylesties. So you aren't just sitting in a corner reading a newspaper while your pets battle to their death.

That being said, tying Avatars and their items into battle is something we've put thought into and will continue to until we decide to implement something. But as far as just making you a 4th pet in your party, that's probably something we won't do. We'd want the Avatar to be something more unique than just another slot in the party.

Well it's also something that's always bothered me about pokemon to XD I understand I'm not COMPLETELY useless, but I'd feel much better if I could help my pets out more directly. So I look forward to when you finally figure out how you want to go about it ^_^ Until then I guess I'll just keep storing my ideas here in the hopes maybe something clicks with you XD

As a note: Editing something new in to the main post under section B.

Oh, and if anyone else has ideas for possible ways the player could be incorporated into battle feel free to post. Even if nothing gets used at least the ideas were there to be considered.

I definitely like the idea of A or the bolded part of B. xD Gives avatars dimension. c:

I have to say:

The bolded part of B definitely has my attention.

Thank you ^_^ By the way, A and B aren't individual suggestions, they are made up of a number of potential ideas, so please feel free to note which parts you specifically like or dislike ^_^

I like the idea, and I agree about the pokemon argument. Even in Super Smash Bros BRAWL, if you chose to be the pokemon trainer, you just sit and watch and the on really fighting is Squirtle or Charizard or Ivysaur. So yeah, I like the idea and definatly think this should be implemented. However, what if there was a major event in the world of sylestia, such as a volcano going off, and that gave every member at that time to chose a type of magic, and so that we could stop the volcano from erupting and keep our magic to help our sylesties in battle. That solves the 3-4 zone problem AND this one!

What a random plot twist LOL.
I think even if it went off, that's something NPCs and pets would handle huur.

But yeah, SSBB is a great example of how stagnant a trainer is. Just some boy looking constipated in the background, because he's "aggressive" for his Pokemon lolol.

Pretty much! And yeah, I just thought of that on the fly 'cuz I'm random and spaztic like that... 😅


WARNING: MORE RAMDOM STORYLINE IDEAS AHEAD! PLEASE BE WARNED OF WEIRDNESS!

Ok, so what if, instead of the whole volcano thing, the bandits set something/somewhere on fire or flooded a place or, worse yet, got a hold of nukes! *is evil storyline thinker-upper* or... What if... Yes, yes! What if they... Heh heh heh...

Something the pets couldn't handle:
A disease is weakening all the Sylesties all the trainers have to travel to another zone to find the cure. Could also allow for an interesting zone change once the cure is found and the Sylesties are healthy again.

Or opening a pickle jar, as we remain the only things with opposable thumbs.