Just started playing, do you keep your members for the game?

Just played once myself, I just kept switching them around on a whim. Made it a point to always have at least one of Leliana or Zevran on the team though, to unlock stuff.

I was playing as a mage though, so eventually Morrigan and Wynne became almost nonexistent on the team, never being taken anywhere.
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Link meets Fire Emblem in CYOA: Tales of Elibe! Come read, and find out what happens! Click below!
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/468480-fire-emblem/65106793

Oh, OH! I think I understand what you mean. You're asking whether your companions/party are permanent, right?

In 'hub locations', you get to switch your party around freely. You can't switch your party in the middle of a dungeon or in places where hostile encounters are possible, etc. Most of the time, the only party choosing you'll be doing will be in your central camp.

Every companion has an approval meter. If that approval meter hits rock-bottom, they'll try to leave you; convincing them to remain is possible but it only works once IIRC, so try to remain in every party character's good graces.

For each character, there are also some extra info:

Alistair: He never leaves you, even when his approval hits -100. However, near the endgame, you have a choice of sparing Loghain's life after defeating him in a duel, and recruiting him. If you spare Loghain, Alistair objects to this and leaves you, no questions asked.

Morrigan: She'll propose a certain dark ritual to you right before the final battle. If you refuse her offer then she immediately leaves.

Dog: His approval is always at +100 and never goes down, so once you recruit him you can be sure he'll stay with you until the end.

Leliana: There's a certain main quest concerning the urn containing the Ashes of Andraste. If you choose to defile the urn, she'll immediately turn hostile and attack you if you have her in the party. Even if you don't have her with you at the time she'll still question you afterwards about it. The only way to keep her while defiling the urn is to pass an extremely hard Intimidation check, and even then, there are some conditions if you want to go this way...

Sten: While investigating a location called The Village of Haven, Sten objects to your leadership and challenges you to a duel unless you have very high approval with him(like +80 or higher). Even if you defeat him in the duel, if you're not careful with what you say to him you risk losing him as a companion.

Oghren: Nothing specific, I recall.

Shale: During the main plot quest Paragon Of Her Kind, you have an option of siding with Caridin and destroying an artifact called the Anvil of the Void, or siding with Branka and preserving the Anvil to use as a weapon. If Shale is in your party at this time, if you side with Branka she'll immediately turn hostile and attack you. Even if you didn't have her with you as a party member, if you chose to side with Branka, afterwards you have to successfully Persuade/Lie to her at the party camp if you want her to stay.

Wynne: She has quite a lot of crisis points where she abandons you.
1) Read Leliana. Precisely the same stuff, except that unlike Leliana, Wynne doesn't give you a chance to Intimidate or lie to her; she'll immediately leave if you do the deed.
2) During the Circle of Magi main quest, where she's a forced party member, if you recruit her then later on decide to purge the tower of mages with the templars she'll immediately turn hostile and attack you.
3) (only applicable if you're playing as a mage) During the Arl of Redcliffe main quest, you can venture into the Fade and meet a Desire Demon. Negotiating with the demon to learn Blood Magic causes Wynne to harshly rebuke you and leave.

Zevran: There's a random map encounter in Denerim late in the game that involves Zevran meeting his old Antivan Crow buddies. If Zevran's approval isn't high enough, he betrays you upon meeting his old friends and you have to kill him.

Everything was written out of memory; if there's something wrong feel free to fix it.
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Link meets Fire Emblem in CYOA: Tales of Elibe! Come read, and find out what happens! Click below!
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/468480-fire-emblem/65106793

joefitts63 posted...

Sounded to me like he was asking if there are situations where the game forces your party. The answer is yes. There are situations where you will be required to take a specific person, and also situations where someone will not be available to accompany you. There is always someone available who can fill every role, though.

Well, in that case... 'Forced' party members are the following according to memory:

Wynne, during the Circle of Magi main quest.

Oghren, during the final parts of the Paragon of Her Kind main quest.

Alistair, while going to the Royal Palace during the Landsmeet main quest.

Various personal quests require the companion in question to accompany you in order to complete it. Notable exceptions are Morrigan's, which requires you to NOT have her in your party in order to proceed(having her in your party results in a bad hit to her approval), and Sten's, which doesn't matter whether you have him in your party or not so long as you give his sword back to him at quest's end.

Such cases are few and far between, though.

I don't particularly recall a situation when someone is NOT available to accompany you; they're all always available if you've recruited them at that point IIRC.
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Link meets Fire Emblem in CYOA: Tales of Elibe! Come read, and find out what happens! Click below!
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/468480-fire-emblem/65106793

JTsyo posted...

Do all members gain exp or just the ones active with you?

From what it looks like, the system is a bit weird.

Only the active ones gain EXP, but the inactive companions suddenly jump in levels if you take them out later on, even if you don't recall using them ever.

Personally, I think that while only the active ones accrue EXP, even the companions who will never see the light of day are coded so they never fall more than 1 or 2 levels behind the main character.

In short... don't worry about your companions' levels, since it's somewhat automatic. Just focus on leveling your main character as much as possible.
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Link meets Fire Emblem in CYOA: Tales of Elibe! Come read, and find out what happens! Click below!
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/468480-fire-emblem/65106793