I see the balancing between guards and inmates is a planned feature, but it's something I could get excited about. Really expanding on the characters' psyches, possibly a "Trust" mechanic. Guards would have a higher initial trust of other guards, same with inmates. If trust is positive, the characters in the same room would receive a teamwork buff (defense, cooldown reduction, etc., buff could depend on relationship). Negative trust would provide a debuff if fighting in same room.



Trust would be increased for each enemy killed while fighting with other characters, and trust would gradually decline if not fighting together. Keeping one character isolated from the rest of the party would make the others suspicious of him while he likewise begins to distrust them, and trying to build the trust of a guard and inmate would mean they would have to fight together and overcome a debuff to do so. That, my friends, is beautiful, delicious FLAVOR.

Someone mentioned a similar thing in one of the GDD's, nevertheless its an interesting mechanic as it creates diversities in games.

I agree that having a relationship-based debuff that could gradually be corrected through player action would be a compelling mechanic.