Party
The party refers to a set of playable characters that carry out the progress of a game. Originally introduced in Dragon Quest II, and made customizable in Dragon Quest III, it has become a staple of the Dragon Quest series.
Appearances
Dragon Quest II
Dragon Quest II did not offer any customization of party members. Instead, the hero must recruit his two cousins, the Prince of Cannock and the Princess of Moonbrooke.
Dragon Quest III
DQIII introduced the concept of a totally customizable party to the series. The vocation, sex, and personality (in all remakes) of a party member can be controlled by the player when a character is created at Patty's Party Planning Place (a bar) in Aliahan. While only four characters (including the hero) may be in the party, extra characters will stay in the bar.
Dragon Quest IV
With the series shifting focus to character-driven narratives, the act of character creation has been removed. The party line up can be changed on the fly, and even in battle, thanks to the addition of the wagon. In addition, all characters in the wagon recieve experience points at the end of battle.
Dragon Quest V
The abundance of recruitable monsters saw the necessity of Monty, the monster monitor. The veteran veterinarian will care for all creatures not in the active party of the wagon. V also saw return of Patty, to manage the human cast when not in battle.
Dragon Quest VI
Patty has taken up monster monitoring in addition to her usual services in VI, located in Alltrades Abbey. In the Super Famicom version, 15 of the 20 recruitable monsters can be kept at the bar, where as all slime buddies can be recruited in the remakes.
Mechanics
Lineup
Some Dragon Quest games offer the position of party members in battle to be customized. The position of each member affects how often an enemy will target them. Note that this does not affect the success or failure of said attacks, simply whom they're directed at.
The base formula for calculating party position targeting in most games is:
| Lineup Position | Targeting Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1st | 40% |
| 2nd | 30% |
| 3rd | 20% |
| 4th | 10% |
In Dragon Quest VIII it is:
| Lineup Position | Targeting Percentage |
|---|---|
| 1st | 35% |
| 2nd | 35% |
| 3rd | 20% |
| 4th | 10% |
Wagon
The wagon was implemented in IV to accommodate the larger cast of playable characters. Characters (even deceased ones) and be switched in and out of battle as a free action that doesn't eat up the player's turn. As mentioned above, characters sitting in the wagon will receive experience points even if they did not participate in battle. Unfortunately, characters will not regain HP or MP while riding. Template:Game Mechanics
