The Commander

[LoonyChris]

Hello everyone! this is my first post here and seeing how active the community is and how the devs are politely going around taking in considerations, i’ve decided to start throwing in ideas in the Idea Box, so here’s my first idea, and please bear with me.
The Commander!

As we start the game, we’re told that we, the player, are a Mercenary who fought in the shieldwall for a long time, earning just enough coins to eventually start our own Mercenary company and thus our amazing quest in Battle Brothers begin, but then that got me thinking, we ourselves were a badass guy going around killing everyone, we might even have had a title along with our name, but now all we do is direct our Battle Brothers around fighting humans, greenskins and even ungodly abominations. I find it kinda weird that we ourselves are a Battle Brother but we don’t do much battling. So i thought that maybe the Player could have the option to take the field and fight along with your brothers like a true leader of medieval times. The Player Character, or the Commander, should be, right off the bat, a relatively better all around character early game, but not too much better that he can one man everything. There should be measures to prevent reckless or unbalanced use of the Commander, like his defeat could either cause a massive debuff to all your units in the battle, end the game, or have him be unconscious for several battles, He could also suffer some sort of “scar” that would effectively cause some of his stats to drop, this would promote careful use of the Commander while still having a powerful unit on the field. Again, The Commander fighting should be optional, a tactician always has the choice to either get stuck in or not.

The Commander should also be unique in his abilities and leveling, giving the player who prefers not to put himself at risk by giving the Commander perks that passively boost your Battle Brother’s abilities. I was thinking that the commander could have two leveling systems, Tactician and Commander (or Warlord).

The tactician leveling would give you access to the tactician tree, which is meant to boost the effectiveness of your Battle Brothers, like lets say “+5 Melee Skill to all Battle Brothers” and also maybe even having some active abilities like “Rally the Troops”. The Tactician Leveling can still give you a stat point, but not as much, i dont know if the leveling system will change but one option is rather than 3 points, you get 1 point, this way you can consider having your Commander take the field in late game despite not having fought too much, good armor alone will only get you so far :P. This EXP could be gained by the performance of your battle brothers and could be scaled down to maybe half or less while the Commander is on the field.

The Commander (Warlord) leveling would increase the character’s own prowess, the perks on this tree should reflect this, either being the same perks available to battle brothers, maybe even more beefed up versions or unique abilities. The Warlord inspires his men through deeds on the battlefield, so not only should he have combat proficiency, but some perks could affect other Battle Brothers, something like maybe “nearby units get +5 melee defense” or “when The Warlord strikes down an enemy it is a sight to behold, inspiring nearby battle brothers and giving them additional 4AP”. The Warlord leveling will give you a skill point for the Warlord Tree and give you the natural 3+ stat point upgrade, or even more.

The Commander should also have a unique background, it could begin like “Not much is really known about the background of [player name], all that is known is that in his mercenary days, he was the backbone of the shieldwall, pushing back any and every attacker. He’s traveled more than any man in the company, probably more than anyone ever, and after many years of combat, he’s raised his own banner to lead his own company of men. Though little is known of this man, everyone knows that he will fight to the very end for his Battle Brothers”. This Background could give him the Edge compared to other characters.

I feel like a system like this could get players more immersed in the game (im very immersed already XD) and make for much more interesting AARs and walkthroughs. The Commander is also balanced (i hope, if not, we can fix this) so that he doesn’t overshadow the rest of your company and is still very much dependent on a good company in order to be properly effective. If anything needs to be elaborated a bit more please ask me. Oh and forgive any spelling mistakes.

Im having a blast with this game so far! If this system gets implemented or not, im still going to continue having a blast, i just hope that this suggestion sparks any ideas to make the game even more interesting and fun!

[GOD]

Yo. :)

The devs seem to be working on some ways to customise the player character, but it’s still unclear what they’ve got planned and how extensive it’ll be. Judging by what they’ve said though, the PC will not take part in the actual fighting.

[Sekata]

My only worry about the commander suggestion is the departure from the all chips in feel of the game. A character that gets special treatment would remove a quality that I think bb has, especially in the early game which is that of mercenaries desperately fighting to make a living and keep each other alive. It’s not all that desperate a fight if there’s a plot armored character in the mix.

If it was a deal where you chose a character in the roster to promote to the level of commander then that would make some sense, considering that the other factions have a clear sort of “leader” character in their roster. I’d argue that those exist for the player currently though, in the form of ‘captains’ with inspire or rally. I’d love the idea if it could be done without making the player’s band seem “special”. If the tactician can die like everybody else, then fantastic.

[LoonyChris]

Well like i said, the Commander doesn’t need to be plot armored, he could very well die. Depending on which game mode (Iron Man or such) it could either mean the end or a penalty. It doesnt need to be a combat role, and despite the Commander having somewhat better stats than your battle brothers, he could still get isolated and killed easily enough like any other battle brother.
Also taking the Commander out to battle would be totally optional, maybe you are in a battle where EVERYONE needs to get stuck in or maybe you were ambushed and thus you find yourself in the thick of things with your brothers, Also with there being a player character, Duels could more directly concern you. Maybe a guy is accusing your company of something and thus you must subject yourself to a trial by combat in order to clear the name of your brothers and yourself or something along those lines.
However i totally understand your point, if this system is not implemented well, it could take from the importance of other characters, as such it should be implemented in a way in which The Commander is still heavily reliant on the other battle brothers in order to be effective/survive.
Another thing would be that when i thought of this, it should be implemented in the game later on, when the map is bigger and there are more factions, as of now, the whole desperate band of mercenaries is a valid point, but it eventually devolves into a quest to level up your company and buy the best armor for your brothers. Having a Commander could make the game have more depth and immersion, it opens up new quests and ideas, but it needs to be done well. Oh and no Import/Export Commander feature, THAT would totally break things if i just Import a SUPER COMMANDER that can One-Man everything from early to mid game.

Anyways i hope i could clarify somewhat unto my idea and forgive me if i did not, this is my first time ever suggesting ideas for the forums.

[LoonyChris]

Oh and to GOD. Yeah that’s also an idea, the Commander not having a combat role but just Support/utility, like in Conquistador. Im totally okay with that, but part of me when playing sometimes wishes to get stuck in with my battle brothers when fighting, pretty immersive game eh?

[ManaSeed]

>> My only worry about the commander suggestion is the departure from the all chips in feel of the game. A character that gets special treatment would remove a quality that I think bb has, especially in the early game which is that of mercenaries desperately fighting to make a living and keep each other alive.

Depends on the ability of commander, it might change the game entirely. The skill tree, the formation, everything.

>> If the tactician can die like everybody else, then fantastic.
Even if he can die like everybody else…… everybody will actually die for protecting him when necessary. The weight of lives are not the same. There is a dilemma here. If the commander has far more importance than everyone else, they are just pawns. He would steal all the spotlight. I think I won’t love other brothers anymore, not like how I treat my brothers now. If the commander is only slightly more important than everyone else, there is no good reason to have him on the team.

I prefer a star team, rather than a star player on the team.

Still, commander concept is nice. I would prefer it happen in expansion or DLC, but not under the current settings of BB where we play as a team. There has to be a leader in the team, right? The leader could be a spiritual leader that works as a fence-straddler, not necessary a battlefield leader which issue absolute order. The brothers fight according to agreed plan, and will signal or communicate with other brothers when different situation arises. So we can have Battle Brothers, rather than Battle Commander.

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I find that character customization is not enough. You can’t tell the difference between archer A , B, C or remember them as separate individual (even if they have different traits and slightly different stats). Hereby I suggest “Brotherhood Traits”. These traits are absolutely unique as they cannot be shared by two brothers (unlike common traits, Brave, Optimist etc), and they have noticeable impact in battle. Each brother can only have one Brotherhood Trait, it is first acquired at lv 4 and can be replaced at lv 7 & 10.

Here are some examples of Brotherhood Traits:

Rivalship ==> Increases your damage & chance to hit by 15% when an ally next to you has defeated an enemy.

Now or Never ==> Triggers when an enemy has 50% or more chance to kill an ally with broken armor. Increases your damage, chance to hit and fatigue cost to 200% (fatigue can go beyond zero and becomes negative) against that enemy. The target must have sufficient remaining AP to perform the killing blow in the same round. Also, you’re not allowed to take any action (other than attacking the target) in order to trigger this effect. “Everything happens so fast, all you know is your precious person is going to vanish in the next second…”

Teamwork ==> increases chance to hit by 50% when an ally is in the opposite direction next to an enemy in front of you. Also, increases that ally’s chance to hit against the target by 50%.

Lone Wolf ==> the user is a very very shy brother. He lacks the courage and ability for communication and interaction, as much as he desires to be acknowledged by other brothers. Increases all stats by 2% per tile away from the nearest brother, up to a maximum of 30%.

Caretaker ==> Once per round, when an ally leaves a tile which is both enemy and your ZoC(Zone of Control) tile, you have a chance to intercept enemy ZoC attack. Your intercept chance equals to your ZoC’s chance to hit. If successful, your ally can leave safely. If failed, your ally will try to dodge as usual. You must have equipped melee weapon with range 2 to activate this effect.

Trust ==> when a brother performs ranged attack on enemy next to you, increases his chance to hit by 20%. Even a gold medalist archer would hit the target slightly off if you put a very expensive vase next to the target. But if you put someone who believes and acknowledges your skills next to the target, you can fire with full confidence without anxiety. Please don’t bash me on this one, this psychology theory works like a charm in movies and games.

[RusBear]

I just wish that I was allowed to visually configure a portrait of one of the founders – with a beard, bald and Nordic tattoos :). To get started already that would be great. I could just have him present as a commander and not let him die in any case, to give him the best armor and weapons and the best girls in the rescued from the orcs town…

[RusBear]

I support the idea of purchasing traits battle-brothers. Only I think that she should not get out and be assigned depending on the actions performed by this mercenary in combat. Or for example some traits you can choose and some are assigned on the basis of the action. it is very interesting. Is this possible in game engine?

[Holy.Death]

GOD wrote:

, we ourselves were a badass guy going around killing everyone, we might even have had a title along with our name, but now all we do is direct our Battle Brothers around fighting humans, greenskins and even ungodly abominations. I find it kinda weird that we ourselves are a Battle Brother but we don’t do much battling. So i thought that maybe the Player could have the option to take the field and fight

And what happens when you die? Besides, “we” are in the game – just it doesn’t say which one of the three is the player and it doesn’t even matter as all of the founding members can die and game will not end. I would rather have the player to be a figure that is not fighting directly, rather “commanding” the battle brothers themselves. Perhaps there should be a hardcore ironman mode in which you generate a badass battle brother who’s supposed to be the player and when he dies the game ends?

[jaegerdude]

If the commander dies then a new commander could be chosen to lead.

The king is dead.
Long live the king.

Maybe a leader could be chosen from one of the 3 starting brothers. I find it strange from the description that the commander isn’t used in the battle, where the feck is he/her especially when the party is surrounded.

[Yalcrab]

I don’t want a PC that wears PC armor and who can’t be killed, so it’d have to be an AI commander if any such role were to be implemented.

It would be nice to have a commander for flavor, but I don’t know what roles I’d be willing to leave to the AI when it comes to leading the company. It would be interesting to add status affects based on the perks or traits of said leader to the market, as well as the recruitment of additional brothers, but I can’t say I’d jump for joy over those features being implemented.

Basically, at the end of the day, we as the player dictate where the company goes, what contracts the company takes on, and how the fighting goes. For all intents and purposes, we are the commander. Perhaps what we need is some sort of officer mechanic. Again, not sure what this would add, or if it’s even needing, but there’s the suggestion at any rate.

[Zinistar]

Honestly, I wish you could do away with the PC idea all together. I never even take it into account. Once I get my starting guys, one usually stands out above the rest and I imagine him being the “commander”. All story is from his point of view. Once an entourage mechanic is implemented there should be a Promotion mechanic. Insignia that you drag and drop onto your battle brothers that designates them as the “Commander”- The leadership role., “The Hand” – The second in command, “duelist”- your go to martial champion. All mortal and all kill-able, but with a sense of control and order. Depending on that characters background they would give different bonuses and trigger different events. Tell a unique story every time.

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