Expeditions: Rome - Dev Diary #15 - Companions

In today's dev diary, Logic Artists are presenting the companions.

DevDiary 15 - Companions

Ave! Welcome to DevDiary 15, and boy do we have a doozy for you this week. It's companion week! Every day starting today, we'll be releasing a new video about one of our five companion characters, introducing the role they play in the story as well as in combat, and hinting at the personal problems they're saddled with, which you will hopefully help them deal with throughout your adventures together.

We have a lot to get through today, so let's get started. Companions are a staple of the roleplaying genre. Originally an attempt to emulate the dynamics of a tabletop RPG group, they have become one of the most beloved and distinct aspects of the genre, and we daresay its greatest storytelling asset. With a sufficiently compelling set of main characters, a story can really tug on the player's heartstrings - and one of the keys to making a group of characters appealing is to give them enough screen time for the player to get to know them. RPG-style companion characters are perfectly suited for this, as they typically follow the protagonist everywhere, participating in every scene and every crisis. […]

More information.

Those who played the demo should find something interesting in that picture above

Originally Posted by Redglyph
Those who played the demo should find something interesting in that picture above

I think that this "surprise" was pretty clear . At least most players should be suspicious.

Originally Posted by Farflame
I think that this "surprise" was pretty clear . At least most players should be suspicious.

I went as far as searching for written proof that there were females disguised as men in the military back then, but couldn't find any. Opinions from historians said that it was unlikely to find any such testimony from Romans, given their patriarchal orientation. So I convinced myself it was a perfectly natural voice for a young male who hadn't broken his voice yet

Ah, it's like a spoiler, they shouldn't have revealed that so soon.

And here is the first one:

Meet Caeso Quinctius Aquilinus, the Centurion.

A veteran of many wars, Caeso is the consummate Roman legionary and loyal to a fault. He will hold off an army of barbarians alone if his Legatus commands it.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
Those who played the demo should find something interesting in that picture above

Originally Posted by purpleblob1

Spoiler

I called it - its she

Yep, you were right, so much for my theory. We were just discussing about that 1 hour ago on Discord, and Fasih (dev) said among other things that

speculators are like a cross between special forces and spies.. most of the time their missions required them to blend in
there are records of female speculators (that's where the word speculatrix comes from)

We decided to promote our four starting characters to “companion� status, making them functionally immortal in that their deaths would result in a game over

Ooof - so, if there is no option to create mercs, then we practically can't lose any members during the combat because it will be a game over?

Originally Posted by purpleblob1
Ooof - so, if there is no option to create mercs, then we practically can't lose any members during the combat because it will be a game over?

It will probably only be game over if all your party members fall. IIRC how it worked in previous Expeditions games is a party member gets an injury after they fall in battle. Then their injury has to be treated in camp. If you failed to treat them (i.e., because you lacked medicine) then their condition could worsen and they could eventually die.

In Viking, an injury gave stat penalties, but I think for Rome they've also said you probably won't be able to bring a seriously injured party member into battle at all until their injury gets treated.

Originally Posted by daveyd
It will probably only be game over if all your party members fall. IIRC how it worked in previous Expeditions games is a party member gets an injury after they fall in battle. Then their injury has to be treated in camp. If you failed to treat them (i.e., because you lacked medicine) then their condition could worsen and they could eventually die.

In Viking, an injury gave stat penalties, but I think for Rome they've also said you probably won't be able to bring a seriously injured party member into battle at all until their injury gets treated.

Hmmm maybe they aren't talking about death in combat only? I'm guessing maybe its a game over if any of companion die for the story reason since the devs quoted "making them functionally immortal in that their deaths would result in a game over"?

Originally Posted by purpleblob1
Hmmm maybe they aren't talking about death in combat only? I'm guessing maybe its a game over if any of companion die for the story reason since the devs quoted "making them functionally immortal in that their deaths would result in a game over"?

That could be both actually. You must enable the option "Combat Death" to allow them to die in combat, it's not by default. But some can still die from their injuries no matter what. From the description, it seems this part is only for other characters than the companions.



(EDIT: poor Augustus, what a poor reputation after all he did )

From the 2nd screenshot (codex), anyone can die from bleeding out. Or is that only for non-companions? Or for combat with the "Combat Death" option?

What else I'm wondering is what happens if they are incapacitated during a combat and start to bleed. As I understand it, they won't die from that in combat, but they may bleed so much that they die shortly after, not leaving enough time to treat them? I'm not sure how they're treated, whether it's the same as in Viking (during camp) or differently.

I can ask or put the question in their forums for Wednesday stream Q&A.

I am thinking to start previous two games before this is released and fully patched.

But I have certificate to pass in two weeks.

I am feeling like a schoolboy again.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
(EDIT: poor Augustus, what a poor reputation after all he did )

It's ok, I appreciate Augustus difficulty

From the 2nd screenshot (codex), anyone can die from bleeding out. Or is that only for non-companions? Or for combat with the "Combat Death" option?

What else I'm wondering is what happens if they are incapacitated during a combat and start to bleed. As I understand it, they won't die from that in combat, but they may bleed so much that they die shortly after, not leaving enough time to treat them? I'm not sure how they're treated, whether it's the same as in Viking (during camp) or differently.

Hmm I can't remember whether bleeding to death was a thing in Augustus difficulty or not - I screwed up badly during "set the ships on fire" mission and one of my companion was incapacitated - but I promptly reloaded so can't remember anything much

I don't remember bleeding to death in Viking either (I played on default) - IIRC, they only got injuries which could be treated back at camp.

Originally Posted by purpleblob1
Hmm I can't remember whether bleeding to death was a thing in Augustus difficulty or not

It's an independent switch at the bottom, so I think the difficulty level does not change that, even if you select 'Crassus'. EDIT - or maybe it is for non-story characters? I'm not sure.

Originally Posted by purpleblob1
I screwed up badly during "set the ships on fire" mission and one of my companion was incapacitated - but I promptly reloaded so can't remember anything much

It's a fun mission, offering several approaches. First time I realized after engaging the combat that there was a much better way (in all honesty, any other way was better than what I'd started), so I reloaded too


I had two companions down in the first mission when I played a sagittarius (the choice of class is a difficulty setting in itself), but there was no injury. I think they mentioned something like protecting the fallen companions against further attacks in a stream, but maybe I'm confusing that with another game.

Originally Posted by purpleblob1
Ooof - so, if there is no option to create mercs

Not really. You can hire different praetorians as you wish (you could do that in Viking as well). Its just that there are 5 main companions who are required in some missions. Their story is part of the the main story.

It's time for today's companion.

Meet Julia Calida, the Spy.

This self-sufficient speculatrix fled Rome to join the legion disguised as a man. Her talent for stealth and deception made her a natural for espionage.

Originally Posted by Farflame
Not really. You can hire different praetorians as you wish (you could do that in Viking as well). Its just that there are 5 main companions who are required in some missions. Their story is part of the the main story.

I thought I read that we can't hire mercs but maybe it was incorrect info then

Gotta admit, I really like female companion portraits. They look feminine and strong/built at the same time

So I started Expeditions: Conquistador again and forgot how fun game was. Only thing I hate is locked camera on your hero which makes moving on map frustrating.

@purpleblob1 @Redglyph I found this explanation of combat death from a LA developer on their discord:

"Characters that go down to 0 hp will bleed out if you have Combat Death enabled. After 3 turns they will die if they are not stabilized by a skill (such as Aid, Cure, Bandage). If the character is a companion or the player character; it will prompt a game over.

However after Lesbos; Injury system gets enabled, which means getting damaged/downed can trigger injuries that needs to be treated."

And also:

"We don't have that many quests in the game where you have to bring the companions - and we have lines written for the hired praetorians if you bring them instead."