I am working on an RPG engine for the PC in my spare time at work and at home. You can read a little more about the general project here.

I have some design decisions I'd like to pose to the community to help me select the direction I should go in.

1) How do you feel about creating your own party in an RPG, you set the names and classes and possibly even get to tweak the starting stats and their growth areas?

I am leaning towards a limited customization system maybe naming/classing one or two starting characters but having additional characters be predetermined.

2) Should characters awaken and be cured of poison automatically after battle?

If I had designed this game before Lost Odyssey I would have said of course not, there is nothing more tense then being stuck out in the wild without an antidote and losing HP every couple steps. However with those concerns gone it allows the general pace of the game to speed up, which in an RPG is sometimes appreciated.

3) Should characters automatically become rested whenever they enter a town?

Again before Lost Odyssey I would have said no you must go to the obligatory Inn and pay 30gil in order to rest of the days troubles. But realistically if you get to anywhere in the town you would be able to rest and not having to sit through two or three loading screens and a repetitive dialogue box is something not to be taken lightly.