Games that let you recruit and train/level a team up?

[Inhuman One]

I mean more of a sandbox approach and not the typical RPG where you get specific people forced on you. I mean games where you get to mix and match your own team. I don't mind them not having much if any dialogue.
Should be able to pick skills/equipment and such as they level, and customisation is nice too.

I really love these kind of games, but they seem extremely rare.

Gladius is such a game, its an old one for Xbox, PS2 and Gamecube.
Here you run a gladiator school. There's a few story characters that join your team but pretty much all of it exists out of the people you recruit for your school.
Traditional gladiators, barbarians, archers, mages, animals, mythological beasts.. theres a lot to choose from here. Each character has a name, and pretty much all human classes have a male and female version.
Helmets, weapons and shields change when something else is equipped, body armor doesnt but you can choose between four different skins and change the colors of it as well as of hair and skin.
Also get to choose their skills as they level up, and theres a good range of abilities. Enough to have two or three of the same class and give them different advantages.

To a lesser extent, Mount and Blade seems to have this as well, but less so. While you can train and equip various people you meet aside from the common soldiers, in battles they kind of disappear in the big blob that is your army.

But aside from this, I'm drawing blanks. Anyone know any other games with such kind of team building?

[SLN445]

Ive been trying to play Jagged alliance, that seems to allow you to recruit a team from a long list and level them up and all that.
Theres also Fallout Tactics though it has some flaws in that department, whats the point in lots of fresh guys to pick from when your starting team can be leveled up to badarses themselves.

Theres a fair few random games out there that allow you to pick and choose a team to follow and train, generaly in the RPG or tactical based squad games.

[ivan_the_terrible]

There is Icewind Dale, but I'm sure you know about it (you're a fan of NWN, as I recall?)

[PGeo36]

Not really an RPG I guess, but Blood Bowl is like that where you recruit, train, equip, and level up your players.

[Tankfriend]

You can also try out Battle for Wesnoth for turn-based hex strategy. Art style doesn't suit everyones tastes, of course, but it's completely free. Best part about the game is the campaign continuity: Units you use in a battle stay with you throughout an entire campaign and can be re-recruited for each battle. They also gain experience in combat, and level up once they have enough experience accumulated. Level-ups, as usual, make them generally tougher, give them special abilities etc., but also make them more expensive to recruit in subsequent battles. And at some level-up points, you can decide which branch they will develop into. For example, a simple mage apprentice can develop into a white (healing/light magic) or black (cursing/black magic) wizard.

[Inhuman One]

Thanks for the suggestions, more are always welcome though.

Looks like Icewind dale is definatly one to try out. I never really looked much into it so didnt know you get to create an entire party of six and that their race/class and such affect dialogue choices.. sounds pretty neat! Thats really something that should be done more often. If you are going to switch partymembers and all that, why not allow players to create the entire party after all?

Might try jagged alliance too... will look into it.

[Gunfreak]

Not a sandbox but X-com lets you level and upgrade your troops

[the_mango55]

Fallout Tactics is a game like this.

You can recruit iirc humans, ghouls, mutants, robots and deathclaws. And fallout doesn't have classes but they can be specialized as small guns, big guns, melee, stealth, energy weapons, etc.

[Turkeys!]

I would second X-COM as well.

[Comrade_Rory]

Not a sandbox but X-com lets you level and upgrade your troops

I would second X-COM as well.

This ^
I have a guy in my X-COM team who I've had since the very start. He's completely badass. Then 2 of the guys from the first non-tutorial mission, I still have. One has been augmented and the other has had the genetic modification thing.
There's few things more satisfying than having those few characters all the way through a game and seeing them turn into killing machines.

[ivan_the_terrible]

Thanks for the suggestions, more are always welcome though.

Looks like Icewind dale is definatly one to try out. I never really looked much into it so didnt know you get to create an entire party of six and that their race/class and such affect dialogue choices.. sounds pretty neat! Thats really something that should be done more often. If you are going to switch partymembers and all that, why not allow players to create the entire party after all?

The disadvantage for RPGs is that your party/companion characters have no backstory and dialogue, and so no real character.

[SLN445]

Fallout Tactics is a game like this.

You can recruit iirc humans, ghouls, mutants, robots and deathclaws. And fallout doesn't have classes but they can be specialized as small guns, big guns, melee, stealth, energy weapons, etc.

I found it annoying somewhat when your guys remain the rank that you recruited them at despite leveling up with you, i had a badarse sniper whom was ranked a recruit or something similiar when i reached Paladin levels. Pluss some skills do become obsolete quickly and you find cool guns far beyond the point they where useful outside of enjoying the real world versions.

Overall though despite these flaws its a great squad game that i recommend highly

[cupoftea]

What about the Dragon age series?

[eXistenZ]

isnt expeditions: conquistadors also something with that premise.

I'm mainly suggesting it because i wanna find out more about it :p

[Henry X]

I see people have mentioned XCOM already. Seriously OP, just go read some good LPs of XCOM and you'll know what you must do.

[Inhuman One]

This ^
I have a guy in my X-COM team who I've had since the very start. He's completely badass. Then 2 of the guys from the first non-tutorial mission, I still have. One has been augmented and the other has had the genetic modification thing.
There's few things more satisfying than having those few characters all the way through a game and seeing them turn into killing machines.

This is pretty much why I want to play more games like this yes. You choose a team of weaklings and turn them into a powerfull force to be reckoned with. When you can't take your pick of who you want in your team it just isnt the same.
I also just like to try out combinations to make the team that suits me best.

With gladius for example there's many different strategies possible for each gladiator.. the combinations can work very well. Samnites can push everyone around, secutors are great backstabbers, murmillo's have powerfull counters and shield throws, centurions can provide buffs along with some powerfull attacks, with Berserkers you need to be prepared for anything, summoners can summon beasts to help, gunghnirs have powerfull ranged javelin attacks and can transform into beasts, minotaurs are simply raw power, dervishes are agile knife wielders with some controlling abilities and can deal good bleeding damage, legionaires are good stalwarts that work well together and more so with a centurion, etc.

[hellheaven1987]

Lets hope the coming Runemaster is one of such games...

[Gaidin]

If you want a recent one get Wasteland 2.

[Slaytaninc]

I'll second the Wesnoth recommendation. It's got a steep learning curve so I'd recommend starting with the tutorial and then working your way up from there.

[SLN445]

If you want a recent one get Wasteland 2.

Any good? ive been pondering getting it myself but i cant drop that much cash on an early access game with unknown quality levels