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Anything Under the Sky Characters
Main Characters
Feet
The main character, who the player will be controlling. The name "feet" is just a working name, and will no doubt be changed before the game is actually made, though using it as a codename or something as an in-joke might be neat.
Feet is very clever and dextrous, and has skills comparable to those of a thief, such as stealing, hiding, and sneak attacks. Damage dealing ability is small, but the ability to avoid damage or enemy attention should be great.
Though Feet is incredibly smart, Feet is not very well educated in terms of classic academia. Though Feet isn't great with numbers, Feet has an excellent memory and a quick mind, is charamsatic, and has a natural talent for understanding how people think, both individually and in groups. Basically, a born salesman and confidence trickster.
Feet has been partnered with Brains for some time at the beginning of the game. They were very nearly caught recently, and Feet has reluctantly gone along with Brains' plan to lay low for a while by running the Shop.
For some reason, Feet strikes me as female. Couldn't tell you why.
~Shadowtext
I had actually pictured Feet as male, but the romance sidestory might be interesting. We don't want to bog the story down too much, though.
Also, while Feet might not be the sharpest knife in the belt most of the time, every so often, he has one of those "Feet, you're a genius!" moments. I see the game opening with this, that Brains asks semi-rhetorically "A shop! You know what we could do with that?" "Uh... sell stuff?" "N-.... actually, I was going to say torch it for the insurance money, but that might be a better idea."
-Yan
Brains
Feet's partner, Brains is a genius when it comes to money, inventory, and managing resources, but has nowhere near Feet's skill at managing people. They have formed a stable partnership that works quite well for both of them, though recently he has developed a bit of a fear about being caught. It is Brains' idea to start running the Shop to make some "semi-legitimate money," and Feet has reluctantly agreed.
In addition to knowing economy, Brains has a talent for recognizing things that could turn a profit. Brains is very happy with the partnership with Feet, despite the trouble they might get into, because without Feet's help, Brains would never be able to make use of his skills.
I'm thinking Brains might have some sort of social anxiety, too. Feet would be one of the few people he can deal with. Brains strikes me as male, as well....and possibly crushing on Feet, though we don't necessarily need to explore that. It's also possible that they're established as partners in more than just business at the beginning of the game....again, we don't necessarily have to explore that avenue. Not every game has to have romance.
~Shadowtext
I could also see Brains a bit stuck in the rut of being a crook, and occasionally coming up with less than legal plans. While Feet's been a conman just because it never occured to him to be anything else, Brains obviously chose a life of crime. At which point the player could go along, or protest, which leads to a harder mission for the same result, but a better overall ending.
-Yan
Major Characters
We haven't discussed the following characters, but I'm adding them because they seem like characters that might need to exist. I don't know about their personalities yet, but their "archetypes" seem like something of a necessity. Obviously we don't have to hit all of them, but they might be a good start for coming up with our individual quests and missions and what not, so be thinking about them as potential characters.
~Shadowtext
The Detective
The Detective doesn't trust Brains or Feet in the least, and is out to prove what they really are. May or may not be a sympathetic character who becomes friendly with them by the end.
But then again, being sympathetic might make him/her too "Zenigata"ish. Still, Zenigata's the first person I think of when I think of the Detective.
~Shadowtext
I like it. Give the players a bit of law enforcement, while not making it the huge faceless watch.
EDIT: Funny side idea. Inbetween missions, you can walk around town, and maybe do a bit of sneaking around in people's homes and such. (Hey, other RPG characters do it, just with less sneaking.) And one of the places you can sneak into is the guardhouse/police station/whatever, and in there you can find your dossier, and find out how much or how little he trusts you. (Kind of like the girls' diaries in Harvest Moon, though tracking how WANTED you are instead of how wanted you are.)
-Yan
The Tycoon
The Tycoon is the owner of a competitor business to Brains' and Feet's Shop. It is much, much more successful than the Shop at the beginning of the game, and the Tycoon does not like the upstarts coming around and causing trouble for him. Probably corrupt and breaking antitrust and labor laws or something.
I don't think he should be Reacher Gilt, though.
~Shadowtext
The Tycoon shouldn't appear until a bit into the story though, as when they're still getting started, they aren't a threat, and give the players a span of time to get acquainted with the game before they start facing real challenges.
The Tycoon also obviously needs some standard villian henchmen of varying degrees of sneakiness, evilness, and intelligence.
EDIT: Henchman idea #1 - The other ex-con: Another smalltime thief and conman like Feet and Brains, who also got into the shopbusiness, but not quite so legit. Went from Chaotic Evil to Corporate Evil. He works for the Tycoon to undermine competition. Having met Feet and Brains before, he knows of their criminal past, and will attempt to use it to discredit them and turn the village against them.
-Yan
The Sponsor
Someone is sponsoring Brains' and Feet's Shop. Possibly as a major investor or something. It will be important to keep the Sponsor happy. Note that a blacksmith or wizard who does the repairs / forging / magicking of sales items could fulfill this role, as well.
The Don
The Don is basically the organized crime kingpin in the area, and doesn't appreciate independent conmen. There doesn't necessarily have to be a mafia per se mind you, this guy could just be a major criminal who is understood to be dirty, but no one can do anything about.
Could be an ally or a villain, depending on the circumstances, and I'd suggest playing both angles if we go with him.
~Shadowtext
Working for/with or against the local crime groups should probably be a choice. Helping them might get you some bonuses and help, but at the cost of going down a darker path.
-Yan
Minor Characters
The Heroes
A party of RPG-type Heroes. These are the ones that we'll play as the ones who are most likely to defeat whatever it is they're fighting. They'll be rich and high level, so good targets for late-game sales and missions. Basically, good marks for Feet when the game's nearing the end.
Lesser Heroes
Lesser parties of RPG-type heroes....probably there needs to be quite a few. These heroes will be in dungeons (and sometimes town) where Feet can try to sell them things or get them to do things. Like the Bigtime heroes, only Smalltime heroes would probably appear at random and might be randomly generated.
Adventurers
Solo adventurers doing similar things to the Heroes and Lesser Heroes, but on their own. Though they won't buy as much as the parties, adventurers are probably going to have more obscure needs and offer different quests, and probably even buy different items than the hero parties.
The Villains
The enemies of the Heroes. Surely they need items, too! Same role as the Heroes, except the sorts of items they'll be wanting will likely be different. Maybe a chance to play both sides against the middle.
Those are just thoughts for now. I'm sure there'll be more later, I'm just brainstorming still.
~Shadowtext
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