I'm a fan of the players being freelancers who have decided to stick together. Safety in numbers and all. In every game since Demon's Souls the goal of the protagonist has always been to discover the source of the curse/disease in the setting and stop it, so I imagine our characters start off with similar goals... although due to changing circumstances that could easily change.
And I think that something else should be impacting the kind of enemies that we face as well. Dark Souls had demons and dragons running amok alongside the undead while Bloodborne has witches, old ones, and all sorts of other bizarre creatures. Just to keep the types of enemies we face a little more diverse, y'know?
I would suggest robots in the spirit of steampunk but that sounds a lot goofier said out loud. That's not to say that haywire machinery couldn't be a relentless problem to the protagonists, of course.
Robots~
And yeah, I think there may be some Hunters who are purely freelancers (only working alone) while others may travel in groups (3+) and some are just duos (2), but they ultimately wind up together in Estoic with the 'pretense' of 'saving' the City. It could allow mental corruption to manifest in interesting ways if some of the Hunters don't know each other.
Already handled, the the 3 Cities will have a wide array of enemies for you to fuck with......you need only unravel its mystery......but wheres an outsider like yourself to begin?
What I last said leads perfectly into this topic......I personally believe that the lore would be much better experienced as if the OC and Player were both foreign to the story, as if a character was even a week fresh to the madness, they would have a significant advantage over anyone new to the city. While I'm sure the allure of being a defined Harvester is extremely tempting, it'd make out for a significantly better experience if everyone was on the same level, and fresh bait. Not to say that the char can't be a Veteran warrior, or have some personal vendetta against the city...but having a high amount of experience with it would cause troubles. You'll have to simply trust me on this one unfortunately, but that's my two-cents on the matter(as someone working behind the lore).
PS.
Not only that, but considering this is souls inspired, shouldn't we stick to at least the origins and have the OC's fresh to the world? As every character in those line of games had little to no clue what they're getting into.
I think most of the OCs just need to be fresh to Estoic, with a few reasonable exceptions and leniency given.
I'm biased, but robots would be fun to have XD though, judging from the state of magic and the whole industrial revolution thing, I think I had an idea on how we could make it work.
Alchemic Automata
Basically using alchemy and steam technology at the time, people create either full on robots or robots with many biological parts stolen or donated from injured or killed workers. So these machines could be around the city, doing jobs they were designed to do, or also under the effects of the curse by affecting the bological componants.
I like this a lot, and I was going to suggest the same thing xD
So... You're taking away character freedom? Whose to say an experienced harvester is any better off? The corruption already present in their mind could have a plethora of negatives in order to cancel out their experience. Working behind the lore is also nothing to do with the actual rules and character creation. Besides, why would the lore be better experienced if everyone was knew? Whose to say an experienced hunter/harvester knows more than the rest? They may have never left the lower level of the city. This is Souls inspired, yes. But this doesn't mean everyone has to go in blind, as in those games there was a SINGLE character. That mechanic changes now there are multiple.
Besides, it's hardly fair for you to make a decision for everyone involved based on your own opinion. I'd be interested in hearing the problems a more experienced character would bring, since all I see is a higher level of freedom and diversity with having player characters new to the city, and who're already in the city. Much like me and Grif want.
I'm not taking away character freedom, I'm tossing in my opinion. I personally have just as much say in the char creation as you do.
I will admit though, I didn't take into account a character that's an experienced harvester/hunter yet unaware of the going on's of the city, but that still leaves the core of my concern.
By having an OC that is wise to the workings of the city, you take away from some of the mystery of the world, no mater how little. It is(in my opinion) much better to witness than to be told. The purpose of lore isn't to be magnificent in concept(not that it should/shouldn't), but to provide the cast with a magnificent backdrop. I am merely worried that by giving some OC's a experience, it would result in deflating that backdrop.
I'm sorry for not making that clear before-hand, if I didn't.
Think of it like a hunt or a rodeo - you have a general idea of what needs to be done, but with each hunt/bull, unforeseen things could occur because they're naturally different. I genuinely believe there can be a Veteran Hunter who enters the city with the ability to handle the monsters of the city, but unable to cope with
the city. While there
may be other places like Estoic in the world, at the end of the day, Estoic is still Estoic and some may not be prepared for it. I, personally, would find it intriguing to see an Experienced Hunter/Harvester go into the City with the intention of just cleaning it up, only to gradually learn he/she
wasn't prepared for Estoic and what it has in store.
I think it'd be possible for an OC to have lived in the City without knowing some of the deeper, darker history and secrets that plague it. While they may know all the backroads, they may not know what all has happened
in those backroads.
If you think that is for the best i will take the advice and make something fitting more for a character who is new. Still i find it troublesome to picture a character who is pretty new at this, more on the fact that i´d have to go into detail about their former training and not depend so much on the experience to justify his prowess. I am still pretty clueless what kind of training could hunters undergo.
Just take some liberties. I don't think
all Hunters have to fight or be trained the same way. Some could have just taken up a weapon and, through grueling experience, learned how to handle monsters all on their own, compared to others who may have been taught by other hunters. At the end of the day, I think it'd be best if we left some freedom for people to formulate a background they're comfortable with.