Sorry if this is a tease, but it is only an idea: an Angband variant in
which you create your character, et cetera, and then hire on some other
characters at the tavern or in the dungeon as you go about your quest.
It could be like ToME, but with various NPCs you can hire in the
various towns and dungeons. The "NPC" members of your party would be
pretty much on borg control, but would stay near your character and
mostly be interested in maintaining party integrity (they would not
squelch, buy or sell stuff, usually). If you want to take control of a
member of your party for a moment, during your turn you can hit the
'O'rder hireling button and give your target NPC(s) a single command
(as well as go through their inventories and equipment lists).
Pete Mack told me I might get more response on this here, as he recalls
reading of a very similar idea some time ago.
>> Stay informed about: Partyband -- A party-based Roguelike variant