[IDEA] yume city (tentative title)

[megaMasquerain]

So a while ago MRSKELETON recommended I tackle a smaller project before I do any more for Hieros Gamos, and recently this idea popped into my head, so I figure I'll post a topic and see where it goes.

Story
You are a child born to the leader of one of Olympus City's twelve tribes. When a boy in your tribe turns 13, they are expected to go out and make their own destiny, only returning to the tribe after a year of surviving alone in the post-apocalyptic city.

On your 13th birthday, your father gives you a sword and a suit of armor and kicks you out into the city, as per tradition. Though the city is filled with monsters, the fighting skills your father taught you allow you to defeat them and survive another day.

Life in the city is rough, however. Though your people know there was once a catastrophe of some sort, they know little of what caused it, for none of the 12 Tribes can communicate through spoken or written language, which was lost long ago. You must make your way through the city for a year, uncovering the secrets of its past, and use your status as the future leader of the Zeun Tribe to cultivate alliances, friendships, and maybe make a few enemies along the way...

Gameplay and shit
The game itself is heavily inspired by Yume Nikki and spinoffs (obviously). The graphics, audio, and atmosphere will be similar to Yume 2kki, though a little more subdued.

As said in the story, verbal and written communication were lost long ago. The only text would be status messages, etc.

Your character walks around a city with large, open spaces, deserted buildings, old mechanical contraptions, tribal villages and the like. The city has obviously been through a lot - some parts of it are even flooded!

Some stuff you might see while walking around:

Monsters: This is an RPG, so there are enemies. The encounter system is similar to Earthbound, you see a monster on the overworld and can choose to try and escape it or beat the crap out of it. Battles will probably be realtime turnbased, though I'm not quite sure yet.

Items: You can collect healing/buffing consumables, weapons and armor to help you kill monsters. They're usually scattered around but you can buy/make your own (more on that later). In particular, there are many "special swords" with overworld abilities that help you advance (think the Effects in YN).

Neutral NPCs: Members of the other Tribes, usually, though there might also be unaligned NPCs. Though neutral NPCs won't attack you normally, you can press a certain key to draw your sword and go into "aggressive" mode. Aggressive mode isn't required to fight monsters and Enemy NPCs, but you can use it to attack Neutral (or even Allied, maybe) NPCs.
The other tribes each have different things they like and dislike, and by doing things that match up with these likes/dislikes you can make a tribe your Ally or Enemy. Allies will open their shops, craftsman, and "Inns" to you, while Enemies will not, and some may even attack you on sight (though there will be ways to repair your "reputation).

Material: Items you can use to make other items or sell to vendors. Some of the tribes have craftsman who can create items from materials, but if you don't have access to a certain type of craftsman, you can just sell materials to a store.

Tablets: Tablets are the key to "beating" the game. There are a finite number of tablets scattered around the city in hard to get to (possibly random) places. They contain pictures, hieroglyph-type script, and words in English. These serve as a sort of Rosetta stone to teach your character the lost language of his people (though they're readable by the player of course). When put together, they tell the story of how the apocalypse happened and the Tribes came to be. Collecting all of them and returning home will trigger the ending (signaling that a year has passed in Olympus City).


Alignment and Tribal Reputation

There are two facets to alignment - the usual "law/neutral/chaos" Alignment, and Tribal Reputation, which is your allies/enemies among the different tribes. Both affect each other - for example, certain tribes might be less willing to ally with you if you have a Chaotic alignment, and allying with a certain tribe might give a boost to your Lawful alignment. Your basic Alignment (but not your tribal reputation) determines the ending of the game.

The Twelve Tribes

The 12 tribes are based on the Greek Pantheon. Each tribe has a specialization or two - some are focused on combat and will give you warriors to aid you in battle (IE new party members), whereas some are focused on crafting or transportation and will aid you in noncombat ways. Some do both!

Combat Tribes:
Zeus (Tank, player's tribe)
Artemis (Beastmaster/Archer)
Athena (Mage)
Aphrodite (Healer)

Noncombat Tribes:
Hera (Weapon/Armor upgrades. You're automatically allied with them in the beginning so you have a healing/shopping spot, though you can become Neutral or Enemies as the game goes on).
Poseidon (Water transportation)
Dionysus (Skill Upgrades)
Demeter (Buff-giving food)

Tribes that provide both:
Hermes (Rogue class, land transportation)
Hephaestus (Mechanic, armor forging)
Ares (Melee Fighter, weapon forging)
Apollo (Bard, healing potions)


Feedback Wanted

This is still in the planning stages, so if you have anything that might help the design of this, please tell me

Probably going to make this in RPG Maker VX.