Here's an idea...

Say the ruined town that Canter enters at the game's beginning is not his home, but rather the secret hideout of the Veritas Order. It would mean jumping right into the action of the game and having a variety of characters to choose from right away.

What do you think? Dumb idea? Should we stick with what we were going with before?

Nah, I'm guessing that he should discover his home is destroyed, leave, find Gabriel, they travel a bit and then come across Dartz and Mithra in a big scuffle or something and then we can have party formation from that point... All before they even get to the Guild Hub. Something close to this idea, but we should have a little bit of story just to set the ground up.

Actually, we can play off the little drama bit for Dartz' theme music.
Canter and Gabriel soon become outnumbered by baddies, a thugs head explodes from a bullet and Dartz walks in, gives his lines and then starts killing dudes with his gun, runs out of ammo and continues with his sword, part way through he'll call in for backup and at this point, party selection will come up and we can choose the party from there.

What about Khroma, Vic, and the rest? I think we could keep Canter's town somewhat a mystery - but keep that it was destroyed. But we could totally tie in later that the leader of the Veritas Order originated from there, or later built a hideout there - maybe because it was such a tragedy, they built a hideout there to build up some hope. ... Maybe? Haha. Thoughts?

This could just be me, but I think since everyone poured themselves into these characters, and since we HAVE agreed since day 1 (I'm assuming) that Canter will be the main character, perhaps he should make the journey to the Veritas Order alone? It would also give us a chance to know Canter before he is in social situations, and we could totally do some "tutorials" or something to teach about the battle system or whatnot before before he reaches the city/town/Order. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we HAVE to do this - I just think if we introduce 3 other characters right off the bat, who would want to switch up the characters? It makes it feel pre-decided and I dislike that, that's all. :p

Other than that, these are all good ideas.

This was where I was going with things, game-wise.

Starting a new game will begin with Canter entering his destroyed hometown upon the completion of a long journey. It will be revealed through journal entries that the player has access to right away that Canter's journey involved traveling around the countryside in search of a fellow adept. He never found any adepts in an entire year of searching, so he headed back home. Canter gathers what supplies he can from the ruins and then proceeds on foot to the neighbouring settlement looking for answers.

It is here that Canter meets Gabriel; an adept who can not only use magic but use it proficiently enough to heal people and defend himself in combat, which is exceedingly rare. Most adepts can only cure small wounds or summon a tiny flame before they are exhausted. The two get in a fight with some monsters, and Gabriel teaches Canter how to use magic more effectively. After the battle is won, Gabriel is impressed that Canter was able to grasp the use of exponentially stronger magic so easily. Gabriel reveals that there is an entire Guild of people who are working to uncover the secrets of magic. Canter enthusiastically wants to join. The two travel across the sea and Canter is introduced to the other guild members.

We can leave the ruined village out of it for a while if you like, but that was how I planned to open the game. I'll try and show you footage of what I've got later, if you like.

Ah OK! That makes more sense to me. When you word it that way, I am definitely OK introducing characters in that way. I just don't think ALL characters should be introduced along the way. In the settlement with the guild, or actually IN the guild, others are introduced then, I think that's cool. I dunno. I may be sounding crazy. I just really like the idea of having the player exercise their freedom in choosing whatever characters they want for their party. That's all. :p I guess whatever makes the most sense is fine with me. :p

And YES!! I would LOVE to see what you've put together so far.

I agree that I want a majority of the characters to be introduced all at once when you enter the guild. There'll be a few characters you can recruit on the way but most of them are with you from the start.