Miscreant Mash | The Mind of Jay

Miscreant Mash

Genre: Turn Based / RPG / Monster Battler

Team Size: 7 members

Development Time: 1 Month

Tools: Unity - Content implementation

Google Docs - Write Character Sheets

Responsibilities

Design all character classes, archetypes and attributes
Write attack move descriptions for battles
Hold team meetings to discuss character balancing and reworking

Game Download:

PC Download

Character Design:

Initial Problem

The deadline for the project was not doable for the scope and the gameplay systems for a monster battler was a huge workload for the coders

Solution

I took on the task of creating every miscreant. I let my mind run wild with no constraints just to get something for the team to work on.
The team agreed the game would be purposely chaotic. We balanced and reworked the characters after a foundation was established, even post launch.

Miscreant Character Breakdowns

Painter Pooch

Inspirations

I liked the idea of Sif from Dark Souls being in a monster battler. I also noticed not many mediums use paint as a main weapon like Splatoon

Thought Process

I planned for a risk reward system where moves render him useless for several turns in exchange for high damage output, meaning you become a glass cannon or a sitting duck.

Final Outcome

He's a fighter with no unusual gimmicks and a moveset that is balanced and mostly damage based

Crustaceous Crab

Inspirations

I liked the irony of a crab being a chef for comedic effect, drawing inspiration from Mr. Krabs from Spongebob. From there I looked to games with chef characters as enemies

Thought Process

I felt giving him cooking moves based off the chef archetype would be interesting. I planned to give him moves for attack setups and relying on timing to achieve big payoff.

Final Outcome

He still has chef related moves and puns (I'm happy), but now his playstyle makes him a tank that severely relies on luck and strength level

Psykitty

Inspirations

I drew inspiration almost entirely from Blair from Soul Eater as she's technically a magic cat. She's a sly and dubious archetype that would inspire Psykitty's kit

Thought Process

I wanted to make a trickster character, so I came up with ideas such as copying opponent's attacks or stat manipulation.

Final Outcome

The final product still has PK rely on opponent input, but her fighting style is defensive and heavily reliant on speed

Chunky Monkey

Inspirations

I wanted more personality in the mix of miscreants, so I thought of Chunky Monkey with a surfer bro mentality and a very chill vibe. Funky Kong was a great base aesthetically

Thought Process

My goal was to have a character with moves based on a banana ammo system, The banana count affects attack stats and damage output

Final Outcome

The final product is a playstyle with effects that indiscriminately buffs and harms both battlers, leading to a one for all dynamic

Pacific Pecker

Inspirations

I decided to add an elemental miscreant and realized most are mammals, so Pacific Pecker was born. Her moveset was influenced by Articuno

Thought Process

Parrots are known for having sassy and/or derpy personalities, so its moveset has puncture based attacks with status effects designed to frustrate the opponent.

Final Outcome

The final product keeps the exact archetype I imagined with damage based moves that have a chance to apply a status effect.

Vexatious Vulpine

Inspirations

Originally named "Fox from Beyond", I wanted to add a supernatural element to a character. Foxes in folklore are spiritual beings with unnatural connections between worlds.

Thought Process

I wanted to have moves revolve around ghostly activities including possession, different ghostly forms and psychological damage (stat effects).

Final Outcome

The final product gives Vulpine the most dangerously chaotic moveset in the game, borderline self sabotaging with immense glass cannon potential the closer to death he is

Escala

Inspirations

I wanted to do something different and sabotage the usual stoic presence of dragons by having it fight is a missing limb as a youngling. Toothless came to mind first

Thought Process

Since it's a baby by dragon standards, it's moves reflect that of a baby and will hinder both parties actions in favor of Escala.

Final Outcome

The final product reflects a baby's instincts to learn and inability to sustain energy, affecting stats and having multiple moves force Escala to recharge.

Cyonara

Inspirations

I wanted a creature that was not bound to nature like the other characters. Sandman gave me a random thought: Cyanide and explosives was not something I had seen utilized before