Final Fantasy is a series near and dear to my heart. The earliest one I actually played was FF10 on the PS2. I loved it and made sure to buy FF12, 13, and 15 as they came out. Eventually, though, I realized that to get the full experience, I would have to go back and play the classics. Everyone always says that FF7 and 6 are some of the greatest games of all time, and in my very unbiased opinion they are.
One of the fun things about FF is that it has repeating motifs, but each game is it's own unique style. In terms of gameplay, setting, story, and so on. There are always summons, crystals, a fight to save the world, Biggs and Wedge (from Star Wars), and so on. But outside of that every game is its own adventure
We have an outsider breaking the chains of dogma suffocating their world, we have a master of war washing away their sins to protect the world as a paladin, we have ecoterrorists going on to save the world they love so much from a much greater threat, and we have the plot of Star Wars. But with like, airships and stuff.
That flexibility is part of what I love about Final Fantasy and it also presented a bit of a problem. Picking just one world, one game to pull from would be agonizing.
So I didn't do that. Instead, I made my own. The Shattered World.
Setting Details: The Shattered World
This quest takes place after the many worlds of Final Fantasy are put on a collision course. There's no shortage of events that could have caused this, Time Compression, the World Crystals being shattered, Chaos, or even the acts of a Mad God. As for which one caused this particular event?
We'll get to that later.
The Shattered World is an amalgamation of many worlds. Kingdoms, towns, monsters, and entire landmasses placed together without reason. A vast desert could be placed next to a sprawling grassland, a frozen wasteland next to a jungle. But the world is not entirely without reason.
Edit: Everyone managed to guess what the Nations were long before they appeared. I'll go ahead and put their names in.
A kingdom that once sat square between two empires and was embroiled in a war they didn't ask for. Following the war's end, they were placed under the bootheel of one such empire, and the royal family was removed from power. Ironically, being transferred to another world made Dalmasca freer now than they were for years back in their world. With their long lost princess returning to the throne, this kingdom seeks to maintain the freedom it once thirsted for.
Faction Holdings
City of Rabanastre [Capital]
Faction Traits
Lowtown (Capital Only): The capital city of Rabanster has an incredible history and a sprawling undercity and waterway beneath the uppermost layer in which most people live. This chaotic web of tunnels is confusing to navigate and hides dozens of secret passages used by spies, criminals, and even the royal family. [Dalmasca natives receive a +10 bonus to Intrigue checks within Rabanstre. Outsiders receive a -10 malus to Intrigue checks within Rabanstre. This malus can be reduced or eliminated through familiarity, or acquiring and studying maps] Proud Traders: The Dalmascan people pride themselves on their resourcefulness and trading acumen. Even seemingly useless bits and bobs may be precious in the right light. They once sat at the crossroads of continents and nations as the beating heart of trade across the world. Though that location has changed, their skill has not wavered. [Trade routes involving Dalmasca will provide +1 Funds to both participants.] Hunter Clans: Hunter Clans exist to take care of troublesome beasts and handle problems too small or esoteric for the military to get involved. Although they're technically contract workers and mercenaries, Hunter Clans are highly respected by the general populace. Hunting marks is a lucrative, but dangerous, profession. [Faction receives a +10 Martial bonus when hunting monsters.] Airship Fleet: The empire did not allow Dalmasca to use military-grade airships while it occupied them, but it did allow them to use commercial-grade ones. These airships are useless in aerial battles, but are perfectly capable of crossing vast distances without any heed for obstacles. [Dalmasca begins play with a fleet of airships. These ships cannot be used for Martial Actions, but can allow safe travel between Dalmascan-controlled cities for a small fee, and enables trade routes to cross dangerous terrain or the ocean without any penalty.] Remnants of Occupation: Dalmasca suffered through years of being controlled and hollowed out by an occupying force, after being soundly defeated militarily by that same force. Although the nation is recovering, renewing its army and repairing the damage done will take time. [Damasca begins play without an army, and must spend several turns and actions rebuilding said army]
You haven't met this nation yet...
You haven't met this nation yet
A massive company that operates from a city called Midgar. Despite the title of "company" Shinra is closer to a city-state oligarchy where the directors of Shinra stand in for government officials. They have little interest in protecting and supporting their people, instead turning all their attention to acquiring more resources, more money, more efficient means of control, and more powerful weapons.
Greed, thy name is Shinra
Faction Holdings
Midgar [Capital]
Faction Traits
SOLDIER Program: Shinra's pride and joy, the SOLDIER program takes normal fighters and imbues them with superhuman strength, toughness, and skill. The process is costly, and Shinra doesn't have that many SOLDIERs, but each one is an elite fighter for sure. [Shinra SOLDIERs will lead lesser footsoldier squads in battle. A 3rd class has a Martial & Magic bonus of +5. A 2nd class has a Martial & Magic bonus of +10. A 1st class is a hero character with their own stat block.] Turks: Despite their unimposing title of "Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department", the Turks are one part intelligence agents, one part assassins, and one part black ops agents. They complete the mission, no matter what. [-10 Malus to Intrigue Actions within Shinra's territory. Failure may invite conflict with the Turks] Mako Power: The secret to Shinra's success. In exchange for poisoning the land and creating an ever-expanding ring of death and decay, Mako Reactors create enough energy to power entire cities and still make Materia on the side. That's worth the cost, right? [Shinra holdings may construct Mako Reactors, which produce direct profit for Shinra, in exchange for causing the land beneath it to wither and die. Midgar begins play with several actors operational] Materia Creation: Another part of Shinra's success is the ability to create material. By condensing Mako into small crystaline spheres, they can produce Materia. Materia can be slotted into weapons and armor to enable the casting of spells, and enhancement of equipment [Shinra SOLDIERs and Turks may cast magic, even if they are not native magic users. Shinra-controlled cities may also sell materia.] Breeding Resentment: To put it bluntly, Shinra only displays the barest hint of care for the people under their wing. While the people on the upper plate of Midgar live pampered lives, those living below the plate and in remote corners of Shinra's empire aren't so lucky. [Automatic -10 opinion to lower Midgar dwellers and those living outside Midgar, but within Shinra territory. Increased chance of rebellion.] Budget Cuts: Urban Development is the most chronically underfunded part of Shinra's organization, with the potential exception of the Space Program. As a result, response to disasters is slow, rebuilding is slower, and some lesser places under Shinra's control may even wither. [Shinra territory has a -20 malus to resist natural disasters or build/repair non-commercial buildings and expansions.]
You haven't met this nation yet...
Note: A location being within a nation's territory does not necessarily mean it "belongs" to them. The map will start blank, and fill in with more detail as the players go out and find things
This Quest's mechanics are modified from other CK2 style quests I've seen before, including my earlier quest, Valkyria Chronicles 5: Imperial Heart, To Be the Very Best: Rocket Quest, and Bound to Earth: A CK2 Earthbound Quest
Turn Mechanics
Each turn represents an entire month of activity from yourself, allies, and enemies. After 12 turns a year will pass.
Some actions will be open at all times while others must be unlocked, are only temporarily available, or may be temporarily locked due to outside influence or circumstance. These circumstances will arise through random events as well as actions from entities in the world.
A Faction Action is the combined effort of an entire group. Some examples might be a unified monster hunt, the production and sale of weapons, refurbishing a building into an HQ, or researching the powers of a crystal.
Faction Actions are rolled on a D100+ any modifiers against a set DC. The DC will be based on the difficulty of the cation, and will usually be stated plainly beforehand. The calculations for a Faction action are as follows.
1d100+Relevant stat of the PC + Relevant stat of Assigned Hero + Traits of Assigned Hero and PC + Loyalty Bonus + Omake Bonus.
The direct mechanical benefits and cost are listed in the action description, but there may be narrative effects as well depending on the PC and or the assigned Hero. It may be worth considering things like the knowledge base of a hero and their talents in addition to their stats when assigning them to certain actions.
Character's stats can improve by training, leveling up, or over time.
Each turn you will be able to take five Faction Actions, one for each of the five main categories. Martial, Diplomacy, Stewardship, Intrigue, and Learning.
This quest also has the 6th category, Magic. Magic can appear in place of the other stats in certain events and actions, say replacing Martial in a battle against a magically inclined foe, or replacing Learning when the object of research is magical in nature. At the start there will be no dedicated Faction action for Magic, but maybe that will change if your faction develops a strong enough magical presence.
Now, here's a short section dedicated to each stat, what they mean, and a rough estimate of how good someone is based on their stats
Magic
Magic represents someone's power and skill in magic, as well as their ability to use equipment like Manadrives, Materia, and Magicite. Someone with great raw power can have a lower Magic stat than someone who has great skill. It represents not only how powerful someone is, but how skilled they are and the variety of their magic. Someone with a 0 in Magic is incapable of casting magic by any means.
0: Completely incapable of casting magic
1-5: Has latent magical potential but has never cast magic before.
6-9: Awakened magical power, first cast of magic.
10-14: Capable of basic magic, Soldier 3rd Class
15-19: Some magical training or experience.
20-25: Trained mage, Soldier 2nd Class
25-35: Seasoned Black Mage/White Mage
36-40: World-class Mage
41-50: Soldier 1st Class
51-60: Fully accomplished Sage
61-70: Awakened Sorceress
70+ God of Magic
Martial
Martial represents a combination of physical power, combat skill, and tactical acumen. Martial actions are based on fighting enemies, either in single combat or massed combat, hunting monsters, completing in duels, and so on.
0: physically paralyzed
1-5: a weakling, sickly, infirm or particularly incompetent
6-9: an average human being
10-14: Some combat training, karate classes, has been in a few scraps
15-19: Trained soldier
20-25: Expert veteran of combat, 3rd Grade Soldier
25-35: respected military leader
36-40: Competent superhuman, 2nd Grade Soldier
41-50: World class fighter, capable of throwing down with most supers and mutants
51-60: Incomparable fighter, legendary, once in an era general, 1st Grade Soldier
61-70: High-level superhuman powers paired with natural skill and years of experience
70+: Unstoppable juggernaut of destruction
Diplomacy
The ability to communicate, negotiate, and make your viewpoint known. Diplomacy actions usually involve communicating with people, negotiating deals, and most importantly, making people like you.
0: deeply, personally repulsive
1-5: Annoying, obnoxious, grating
6-9: An average human being
10-15: Moderate charisma and basic social skills
16-20: trained negotiator or corporate dealmaker
21-25: Highly skilled professional diplomat
26-35: Magnetic personality, liked by all they meet
36-45: Cream of the crop, natural born politician, brilliant dealmaker
46-55: Literally superhuman persuasive power, preternatural understanding of human psychology
55-70: Could trade a castle for a piece of string
70+: Social Deity
Stewardship
Stewardship represents a character's ability to manage resources, make business deals, and generally be prosperous. Stewardship actions involve purchasing high-quality equipment, managing workers, making deals, and other forms of making money
0: Does not understand the concept of trade
1-5: Bad with money, scatterbrained, unable to lead others
6-10: Standard human
11-15: basic organizational skills and time management
16-20: Professional Project Manager
21-25: High ranking corporate worker skilled at their job
26-35: Experienced CEO or governor, capable of managing massive interlocking projects at the same time
36-45: Financial Wizard, can predict the stock market with some accuracy, can sketch out plans for an entire business venture in a week
46-55: Supernatural management skills, capable of leading entire countries without apparent effort
56-70: Multiple simultaneous thoughtstreams, could amass a fortune bigger than Wily's if they put their mind to it.
71+: owns you already, you just don't know it yet
Intrigue
The subtle arts, thievery, deception, spywork, information gathering. Intrigue actions can include information gathering, sneaking into restricted areas, active attempts at deception, and any action under the broad umbrella of "we don't want to be caught." It also serves as a defense for enemy Intrigue actions.
0: Incapable of lying
1-6: Credible, easy to fool, has trouble remembering to keep secrets
7-10: average human mind
11-15: petty criminal, amateur sleuth
16-20: junior spy; professional thief
21-25: secret agent
26-35: criminal mastermind
36-45: Master of disguise, intricate webweaver, conceals true intentions unconsciously
46-55: World's Greatest Detective, Infamous phantom thief, can hide in plain sight
56-70: superpower assisted stealth, could convince a person their entire life was a lie in an afternoon
71+: They've already won, you just haven't noticed yet.
Learning
Learning represents a character's education and or store of useful knowledge. Actions related to research, engineering, and so on are usually Learning actions.
0: non-sapient
1-6: simpleminded, dim, uneducated
7-10: High School Diploma, average intelligence
11-13: Slightly smarter than average; some college
14-20: college graduate in sciences, trivia champion
21-30: Doctorate in technical field, Cash Wheel National Champion
30-35: Factotum
36-40: Leading expert in their field, photographic memory
41-50: World's greatest expert on their subject
51-60: Smartest human alive, perfect recall of every fact they have ever learned
61-70: Inhuman intellect
71+: Appears omniscient
Critical Rolls
A Critical Success is when an action going as well as it possibly could have, and may grand extra benefits or have unexpected boons.
A Critical Failure is when an action goes as poorly as it possibly could have, and may lead to unexpected consequences and setbacks.
Your chance of a critical success is 1/10th of your success chance, rounded to the nearest percent. Your chance of a critical filure is 1/10th of your chance to fail, rounded to the nearest percent.
So for example, a 50% chance of success would give a 5% chance for a critical success or failure. A critical success on a 96+ and a critical failure on a 5- An 80% success chance would give you an 8% chance at a critical success, and a 2% at a critical failure.
Personal Actions
Personal actions are small scale actions undertaken by individual Hero units. Talking to people, listening to rumors, training, improving relationships, or even mundane actions like taking a stroll or visiting the market. Although these actions are smaller in scale, they may be important for developing skills, loyalty, and other bonuses.
Every turn a Hero Unit gets one Personal action, and can be assigned to a Faction Action, adding their relevant stat value to the roll.
The player character will get a total of four Personal actions to spend as they wish. You can also spend all but one of them to give an action "special attention" meaning the roll for that action will be rolled twice and then the better roll will be taken.
For personal actions a 1d100 will be rolled with no modifiers. There is no defined DC or rate of success, but a very high or very low roll can still affect the results of those actions.
Note: At the start of this quest, the PC will not have a faction. Until the PC has gained control of or started a faction, they will not have the free time to engage in personal actions.
Hero Units
Hero Units are the individuals who stand out in your faction as a cut above the rest. You might employ clerks, soldiers, and engineers, but these Heroes are the ones you know and trust for the difficult jobs.
At the start of the game, you will not have any Hero Units other than the MC. But no doubt there are some like minded individuals somewhere out in the world. Some might be attracted by ideology, or recruited by doing them a favor. Some might just need some money and be willing to work for it.
Of course, these Heroes have their own things going on, their own feelings, priorities, and worries. Taking time to be kind to them may open up additional traits and benefits, while treating them poorly or being neglectful might be enough to get them to abandon you.
Opinion
Opinion is a measure of how much your Heroes like you. Or how little. This usually starts at 0 and can go between -100 and 100.
0 to -25 is nothing serious, but indicates that perhaps you rub them the wrong way have have given them a minor slight in the past. Below -25 however, these negative feelings grow to active dislike and antagonism. Around -75 or so and they hate you to the point of actively attempting to block you, or even kill you if it gets bad enough.
On the positive scale, 0 to 25 is a positive, if somewhat distant relationship. Above 25 is when you're acquainteces, above 50 is a good friend, and above 75 is when you have tight bonds of trust.
Even an extremely high opinion won't make a Hero totally loyal. No matter how much you like someone, if they ask you to betray your beliefs or put yourself in undue risk, most people are going to say no.
There are many modifiers which can affect a Hero's opinion on you. Someone you help out of a tight situation will obviously start on the right foot, while someone who's faction you have opposed in the past might have lingering resentment against you. Some of these factors may ease over time, others might require active effort to change.
Keep your Heroes' preferences in mind. Cultivating a healthy relationship with your Heroes is just good business, letting them get disgruntled and angry is a bad idea.
There is a gameplay benefit to keeping your heroes happy. When making a roll, their opinion will be reflected in a bonus modifier. A rating of -25 to 0 or 0 to 25 gives you an additional 10% of their relevant stat for that roll either subtracted or added, respectively. 25-49 will give you 15%, 50-74 20%, and 75-100 25%. Numbers will be rounded down to the nearest whole.
Traits
There are two kinds of traits, Innate and Class.
Innate Traits represent traits which are semi-permanent facets of that character. They may be mental, physical, magical, or something else entirely. Some examples may include the blessings of a summon, a bloodline trait, or lingering guilt
Class Traits represent traits and abilities that are the result of a Class's influence or training. For example, someone who has no innate magical talent, but learned to cast as part of the Black Mage class.
Funds and Income
Normally in Final Fantasy, you'd make all your money by killing monsters and carving gil out of their stomachs. But that isn't really an option here. For the sake of simplicity, Funds will be kept low and nebulous. I'd rather not be calculating the cost of million gil purchases.
Once you have a faction, you won't be in any danger of going bankrupt even if your funds are at 0. Even without a faction, you'll never have to worry about going homeless or hungry, this isn't that kind of game.
However, you will need funds for big purchases, projects, or just cutting a sweet deal with another faction. Keeping some funds on hand is always a good idea.
Items and Equipment
Items are limited use tools such as healing items and attack items which can be expended to grant bonuses.
Equipment is long-term items which provide a passive benefit. As much as I'm sure everyone would love me to keep track of every sword, knife, set of armor, and shield we pick up, I'll only be keeping track of Equipment that has unique effects or some real value. An iron dagger is just another knife, but a Dancing Dagger might be worth something.
Fanart and Omakes
I will be hugely flattered if anything I write inspires someone enough to make fanart or write a side story. It's one of the things that makes me feel like I'm heard and appreciated.
As a reward for Fanart and Omakes, the person who wrote it will get Quest Points. I know that in most Quests these are called EXP, but EXP is already a term that exists in Final Fantasy and I might use it for something else later, so I'm sticking with QP.
The minimum reward for an Omake is 1 QP, but longer and more well-thought-out work will earn more points. QP can be exchanged to boost a roll by 1 point per QP spent to a max of +10. I might implement other ways of using QP later, but for now, that's all I've got.
Once we get going and the setting has been more established, I may set up a Bounty Board of Omakes with specific rewards, but if any of you get the urge to write one just cause, I'd really appreciate it.
Adventuring Rules
I have noticed that focusing on Combat is something that can really drag a quest down. Fights done turn by turn can last weeks at a time, and any failed roll can extend the combat by another vote. That's not to say there won't be any Boss Fights later down the line, but for simpler adventures, I'll be using these rules instead. As these rules are a little untested, they may be subject to change.
Starting an Adventure
An Adventure can be started as a Personal Action by the MC or a Hero, with up to 5 total Heroes joining in on the adventure. (Note: If 5 proves to be too many, I may lower this cap later) Every Hero who goes on an adventure will be unable to perform any other Personal Actions for that turn, but will still provide bonuses to Faction Actions they are assigned towards.
This phase is also when the Destination is decided. The Destination is where the adventure will be headed. It's uh... not that complicated.
Just like with Faction Actions, I'll take care to list out the potential rewards for different Destinations, as well as list out some potential risks. Once you've selected the Destination it's time for the Preparation phase.
Preparation
During the Prep phase we need to decide what Supplies to take, and the Strategy for the party.
Supplies is when we decide how much equipment and supplies to take. Obviously, the team can only take so much equipment, and some of it may or may not be useful depending on the trials faced. Items you already own may be pulled from the faction stocks, while others may have to be purchased.
Strategy should be pretty obvious. This is when you'll decide how sparing or aggressive to be with HP, MP, and Items. Should the party Go All Out to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible? Fight Sparingly to preserve MP and Items? Have certain party members focus on specific roles? It's up to you.
Once done with Preparation, we move on to the actual Adventure.
Adventuring
The Questers won't have that much influence over the adventure once it's actually started. The party will move forward and get closer to their destination, denoted by their Progress. As they advance I will roll dice on an Event table for various events to happen. Fights with monsters, traps, discovering treasure, and so on. Some events will deal damage, some events will delay your progress, and if you're lucky you may have good events too.
As the party explores, their HP will drain bit by bit, with the drain increasing from battles and traps. Once their HP gets low enough (as decided by your strategy) they will either use a tent or similar item to rest or retreat.
The vast majority of these events will play out automatically, based on the skills, traits, and abilities of the Heroes you sent on this adventure. Thieves will pick locks, Warriors will leverage their physical strength, Mages will leverage their magical strength, and so on.
That's not to say that the Questers won't get a chance to influence adventures. Some more complicated Events may require your input, and if the Heroes become wounded or find a particularly dangerous opportunity a vote may be called for if the risk is worth it.
Combat
As I said before, Combat is something that can severely weigh down a Quest if it takes too long. As such, normal Combat will be automated and somewhat abstracted. The player's party will fight according to the battle strategy you set up beforehand.
Each combatant will be making opposed Martial checks to attack physically and opposed Magic checks to attack magically. They may also use spells and abilities as described by their Innate and Class Traits.
If the party wins, they will gain EXP and potentially loot based on the enemy they fought. If the party loses, they retreat with injuries. Depending on how severe they were, the adventure may end early. But there's no way that a random rabble can kill a Hero.
There is, of course, one exception to this rule of Combat being automated.
Boss Fights
You know them, you love them, Boss Fights. When the party is fighting a particularly powerful or tricky enemy or group of enemies, one that can't be simply overpowered and has to be engaged strategically, it's time for a boss fight.
Boss Fights are done with turn-based combat. Each Hero in the party who's fighting fit gets to participate, and this time the questers get to choose what everyone does turn by turn. If that proves too slow, I may have it so that each "turn" is 2 rounds of combat, or perhaps do "flash votes" where each vote is called within a day.
I'm going to be sparing with these, they'll only crop up every so often and only against foes that deserve the screen time.
EXP and Leveling Up
Final Fantasy is an RPG series, and of course, leveling up plays a big part in it. But leveling up is much harder to do in a Quest, so I've come up with a bit of a compromise.
The only way to gain EXP is by spending Personal Actions training, certain Martial and Magical actions that involve fighting, and going on Adventures. When a character's EXP fills up, they Level up.
Leveling up does not directly increase a character's stats aside from HP and MP. Instead, upon leveling up a character may gain class traits to represent increased experience. On certain levels, a character may choose to Internalize one of their class traits, turning it into an innate trait they can use regardless of their current class.
Think of it like mastering a skill in the class-based FF games. At first, you may only possess an ability because of your class, but later once you've mastered it, you can use it even when outside of that class.
Natural Spellcaster: You should be able to cast magic naturally, it's part of why Shinra was so fascinated with you. Materia helps you shape it, but the magic comes from you. Unfortunately, while you have a lot of power and natural talent, you've never had formal training of any kind. Right now, you need Materia to pull off complex magic. [Aerith may learn magic permanently through training and repeated use of Materia or other magic items.] Flower of the Slums: The slums of Midgar weren't the kindest place, but you dealt with all of it with as much sun and kindness as you could muster, and a little kick sometimes when people got rowdy. You know how to deal with people who aren't cruel-natured, just down on their luck. [+10 to Diplomacy and Intrigue when dealing with "slum" type areas] Whispers of the Planet: It's hard to explain. You don't 'hear' them exactly, the same way you hear other people talk. But you can tell that the planet is trying to talk to you. Sounds and images float by. But it's hard to really connect with it. [Occasionally messages from the planet will come to you, though that doesn't guarantee the messages will make sense.] Doomed: You're supposed to be dead. Actually… didn't you die? You can remember the blade piercing your back… Best not to think about it. [Aerith has a -20 malus to resist instant death effects] Fated Foe: JENOVA: ??? Ice Attunement [From Ice Magicite]: Your bond with the Ice Magicite has given you a degree of resistance to extreme temperatures, as well as Ice and Water magic. Although, you've also noticed an increased vulnerability to fire... [Resistant to Ice and Water elemental attacks. Weak to Fire elemental attacks.] Star Performer [From Achievement]: Despite your inexperience, you have a serious talent for performing. Maybe you could pursue this talent? [+10 to rolls involving performances such as plays, and songs]
Class Traits (Self-Taught Cetra)
You have an intrinsic connection to the planet and magic which is supposed to give you an edge in all kinds of things. Sadly, without anyone to teach you these Cetra tricks, you had to try and discover them on your own. You did your best Equipment Proficiency: As a dedicated spellcaster class, Cetra only equip rods and staves. Their armor is limited to the lightest variety. Ruin: A basic non-elemental magic attack conjured from a staff or rod. It ignores elemental resistance and weaknesses. [Allows the user to use their Magic stat in place of their Martial stat when attacking. Ability is disabled when silenced, out of MP, or magic is otherwise sealed. Costs 0 MP] Soul Drain: A technique in which the Cetra drains magic from an enemy target to fuel their own spells. Though similar to the Osmose spell, this technique requires no MP. [Allows the user to make a Magic roll to drain MP from an enemy. A minimum of 1 MP will be restored, even if the technique fails/the enemy has no MP.] Manawalk: There's magic in the earth, in the air, the water, all around you. It's not hard to restore your own magic when there's so much to be had. [Restores 1 MP per event when traveling or adventuring. This effect may not work in areas of decay or corruption.] Attunement: Some equipment is enchanted, enhanced, or attuned with the elements. These enhancements aren't quite the same as Materia, but they aren't too different either. [Allows the user to treat enchanted equipment as if they have a Level 1 Materia equipped.] Lustrous Shield: A shining barrier appears in front of Aerith to deflect attacks. [Passive: Aerith can now defend against physical attacks and projectiles using Magic instead of Martial. This effect is blocked if she is silenced or out of MP. On a successful deflect, the enemy takes a single, unresistable point of damage]
Cure: A White Magic spell that heals HP [Costs 2 MP. Base Healing: 2] Blizzard: A Black Magic spell that inflicts ice damage. [Costs 1 MP. Base Damage: 2]
Bio: A Black Magic spell that deals poison damage and has a chance to inflict poison [Costs 1 MP. Base Damage: 1] Water: A Black Magic spell that inflicts water damage. [Costs 1 MP. Base Damage: 2] Diamond Dust: A powerful Ice Spell that can only be cast with Shiva's assistance. [Costs 5 MP. Base Damage: 10. Can only be used once per adventure. Hits all enemies.]
Equipment
Master's Staff[Weapon/Staff]: A staff made of blue wood with a curved head and a faint magical aura. It was made to enhance the power of White Magic, specifically healing spells, and can be used to cast Cura in a pinch [+3 Magic to the Wielder. Increases the power of healing spells by 1. Allows the user to cast Cura for free once per Adventure] Starter Bangle [Armor/Bangle]: A bangle from your old adventure. It's worn down and has lost most of its defensive properties, but the material slot still works. [Provides no bonuses or penalties. Currently holds Poison Materia] Orrachea Armlet [Accessory]: Increase max HP by 2 when equipped. Shiva Magicite [Magicite]: A large crystal with a tall, hexagonal shape. It serves as a focus for Shiva, Mistress of Ice. [Increases the wielder's Magic stat by 5. Teaches Ice & Water Magic. Grants the bonded hero the "Ice Attunement" Trait. Once per adventure, the bonded her may summon Shiva.]
Heroes
Alfyn Greengrass
An apothecary from the small town of Clearbrooke. When given a chance to travel the world to hone his craft and heal the sick, Alfyn took off like a shot. He's friendly and kind to the core, but strong-bodied and surprisingly hot-blooded.
Gender: Male
Class: Apothecary
Age: 21
Opinion: 35 (+15% to all stats) [+15: base opinion. +20 A Lot Alike] Stats Magic: 10 (11) Martial: 20 (21) Diplomacy: 24 (27) Stewardship: 8 (9) Intrigue: 11 (12) Learning: 18 (20)
Level: 3
EXP: 7/9
HP: 14/14
MP: 6/6
Physical Attack: +4
Magical Attack: +1
Innate Traits
Dedicated Apothecary: Alfyn's true calling always has been and always will be as an Apothecary. [Alfyn will always be an Apothecary. Even if an event or item would normally allow him to change his class, Apothecary will remain his primary class. The most he can do is borrow abilities from other classes.] Master of Herb Lore: Alfyn knows all about plants, specifically where they grow, how to harvest them, and what they can be used for. Even if he doesn't, he carries a big tome which holds the collective info of the Apothecary's guild back home. [+20 to Learning checks to identify any herb based medicine, locate ingredients, or understand the properties of a plant relating to medicine.] Inquire: Sometimes when it comes to acquiring information, a pleasant smile and an open conversation can be better than any investigation. [Alfyn can substitute Diplomacy for intrigue for any intrigue actions that involve obtaining information from neutral or friendly parties though conversation.] Humanitarian: Fighting monsters is fine, but people feel wrong to fight. An apothecary is supposed to help people after all. [Unable to willingly initiate Martial actions against people. If forced to fight people, lower Martial by 15% This effect is canceled if Alfyn is under a mental status effect, like confusion, berserk, or fury.]
Class Traits (Apothecary)
Equipment Proficiency: Although not intended to fight, sometimes an apothecary must do battle. Apothecaries can only equip axes as weapons, as well as light to medium armor Concoct: Mixing together medicines is an apothecary's bread and butter. While traveling, a good apothecary will gather whatever materials they need to make good medicine, and in a pinch can combine it to produce amazing effects [Chance to produce random healing items at camp. In combat, can combine 2 healing items to produce a potent combination. For example, combining a potion and eye drops to heal and cure blindness at the same time. They can also use a harming agent to reverse the effect, creating an attack item.] First Aid: Although mundane in comparison to a healing spell, an apothecary can dull pain, prevent further damage, and allow for swift recovery. [Passive: Increase healing while in camp by 20% for free. Active: Restore 5 HP for 1 MP] Icicle: Although it can be used as an attack spell in a pinch, that's not its real purpose. The reason apothecaries learn ice magic is so they can produce pure water to use in medicine, as well as cool water to sooth burns. [Passive: Prevent increased HP drain by acting in a desert or during a drought. Allows Concocting even without a source of water. Active: Spend 1 MP to unleash a simple ice elemental attack. Base Damage: 4] Rehabilitate: Curing a single instance of a disease or injury is good, but preventing disease and injury is even better. [Passive: cure status effects at the end of battles during Adventures. Active: Costs 2 MP. Cure one status effect on one ally. That ally gains increased resistance to status effects for the rest of the battle. Does not work against certain magical status effects] Vivify: It's best to try and prevent a person from falling in the first place, but any good apothecary knows how to care for the fallen too. [Costs 3 MP. Revives a single fallen ally with a quarter of their max HP.]
Equipment
Old Hatchet [Weapon/Axe]: An old hatchet with no special properties, more of a tool than a weapon [No effect] Buckler [Armor/Shield]: A small, rounded shield that is usually held in a warrior's offhand. Despite its small size it's very versatile. [Increase Evasion by 5%]
Accessory Slot: Empty.
Freya Crescent
A dragoon from Bermecia with ratlike features, but a serious and honorable personality. She seeks the 'eternal sandstorm' for reasons she refuses to divulge.
Gender: Female
Class: Dragoon
Age: 21
Opinion: 35 (+15% to all stats) [Base Opinion: +10. Helped Me: +25] Stats Magic: 13 [14] Martial: 28 [32] Diplomacy: 13 [14] Stewardship: 9 [10] Intrigue: 7 [8] Learning: 11 [12]
Level: 3
EXP: 8/9
HP: 14/14
MP: 6/6
Physical Attack: +6
Magical Attack: +1
Innate Traits
Dragon Killer: There's a bit of a stereotype that Dragoons are trained to kill dragons, which isn't always true. Some dragoons are trained for much more mundane tasks. Not Freya though, she is a dragon slayer through and through. [Increase Martial & Magic by 15% when targeting a dragon-type enemy. All attacks against a dragon deal 1 extra damage.] Clear Headed: As part of her training Freya learned to maintain her mental focus, even in times of crisis. [Freya is immune to berserk and confusion] Preemptive Strike: Strike first and strike hard, don't let the enemy get the drop on you. [Adds 5% chance to trigger an ambush when monster hunting or adventuring. Has a chance to go first in battle, regardless of initiative.] Trance: In times of crisis, when emotions run high… [???]
Class Traits (Dragoon)
Equipment Proficiency: Dragoons can equip all manner of polearms and heavy armor. Long Reach: Due to their weapons of choice, maneuverability, and high precision, Dragoons can target enemies in the backline without much hassle [Nullifies penalty for attacking enemies who are in the backline, or in a defensive formation.] Jump: The signature technique of Dragoons everywhere. The Dragoon leaps into the air before crashing back down with a vicious spear thrust. It also allows them to leap across chasms, small rivers, and other obstructions. [Nullifies penalties for attacking enemies who are flying, in defensive formations, or otherwise out of reach. In battle, becomes temporarily impossible to target by all but the longest-range attacks. After a delay, return to the ground and attack dealing 1.5 times damage damage] Lancer: A special technique designed for fighting mages and magical creatures. This special technique drains the magic from it's targets. [Costs 1 MP. Add half the target's magic to the attack roll. On a hit, in addition to the normal damage, drain 1d4 MP from the target.] Reis's Wind: A healing breeze which slowly but steadily restores the vigor of all inside it. [Costs 5 MP. Grants all allies the Regen status effect.] Counter: Even when on the defensive, take every opportunity to strike back. Allows the user to counterattack. [After taking damage from a physical attack, Freya has a 25% chance to counterstrike for free.]
Equipment
Old Lance [Weapon]: A well-worn lance that has served Freya in many battles. It's strong and sturdy, but wear and tear has rendered it duller than she'd like. [No effect] Traveling Clothes: Tough clothes made specifically to handle the rigors of travel. They provide some minor protection from the elements and monsters, though less than proper armor. [No Effect]
Agnea Bristarni
A lovely dancer you originally met at Cleyra, performing to appease the Wind Crystal. Unbeknownst to you, she was also given a vision of Chaos by the Wind Crystal, and tracked you down to join your efforts against them.
Gender: Female
Class: Dancer
Age: 18
Stats Magic: 13 Martial:18 Diplomacy: 22 Stewardship: 19 Intrigue: 12 Learning: 8
Level: 3
EXP: 0/9
HP: 12/12
MP: 6/6
Physical attack: 3
Magical Attack: 1
Innate Traits
Dedicated Dancer: Dancing is your life, your dream, your calling. You'd never give it up [Agnea will always be a dancer. Even if an event or item would allow her to change classes, she can only gain a subclass] Allure: People have always complimented your looks, and as a dancer, your beauty is one of your greatest assets. You'd be surprised what doors being such a charmer can open. [+10 to diplomacy checks against those swayed by beauty] Entreat: It's honestly kind of amazing what you can do with a little charm. Get people to help you with things, ask for favors, 'borrow' something, and that sort of thing. [Add half of Agnea's diplomacy to Stewardship and Intrigue checks done 'face to face'] Aspiring Star: Your big dream is to one day be a star, to make your mother proud. You've only just started and you have a long way to go, but that's okay. [+10 to checks to perform on stage. May be improved through repeated performance.] Resolve of the Prima Donna: The show must go on. Even when you're out of breath, your feet hurt, and you want nothing more than to lie down, you keep dancing. [Any time Agnea would be affected by a negative status effect, roll a d100. On a 50 or above, she delays the effect for one turn.]
Class Traits
Equipment Proficiency: Dancers can equip knives and light armor only. Maneuverability is key and they can't afford to be weighed down. Sweeping Gale: Dancers often learn basic magic to enhance their performances or fight in a pinch. This particular dancer learned a basic wind spell. [Costs 1 MP. Inflicts Wind/Aero type damage. Damage Modifier: 3] Lion Dance/Peacock Strut: One purpose of dancing is to invigorate the bodies and minds of others. Lion Dance strengthens the body, while Peacock Strut sharpens the mind. [Passive. Boost the entire party's Martial or Magic rolls by 10. Only one dance can be active at a time. The effects of the dance end if Agnea is under any status effect that prevents normal action (paralyze, petrify, confuse, KO, and so on)] Ruinous Kick: Never underestimate the kick of someone who dances for a living. When you spend your life stepping, strutting, sashaying, and stomping, is it any surprise you can kick like a horse? [Costs a minimum of 2 MP, but can spend more to enhance effects. For every extra point of MP spent, increase martial roll by 5 and damage by 1. On hit, stagger the target.] Windy Refrain: With the wind at your back, you feel refreshed, invigorated even! Your competition, not so much. [Costs 4 MP. Attack all enemies with a wind spell. Grants all allies 1 turn of Haste]
Guests
Shadow
A quiet and stoic ninja who works freelance jobs for money. Little is known about Shadow, but his skills speak for themselves.
Gender: Male
Class: Ninja
Age: ??? (At least 30) Stats Magic: 4 Martial: 25 [27] Diplomacy: 7 Stewardship: 17 Intrigue: 30 Learning: 9
Level: 3
EXP: 7/9
HP: 12/12
MP: 0/0
Physical Attack: +5
Magical Attack: 0
Innate Traits
High Evasion: He's fast, and almost supernaturally quick on his feet. [Shadow has an additional 10% chance to completely evade a physical attack, independent of all other modifiers] Sharp Edge: When your weapon of choice is daggers, you have to make every slash count… [Shadow's critical hit rate is increased by 5%] Interceptor: Shadow's dog and constant companion, Interceptor. Despite his fierce appearance, Interceptor is highly trained and loyal. [Interceptor increases his protectee's evasion by 10%, and whenever they evade an attack Interceptor will counterattack.] Soldier of Fortune: At the end of the day, Shadow is working for money. Hiring him will require payment upfront, and if the payment runs out or the job is up, he will leave. [Shadow may be hired as a guest with the cost varying depending on his job. If not hired for a length of time, he may leave the area in search of work, or be hired by a rival faction. It's not personal, just business.]
Class Traits (Ninja)
Equipment Proficiency: A Ninja travels light, and can only equip daggers, ninja swords, and light armor. Dual Wield: When using light weapons such as daggers and ninja swords, it's easy enough to use two at once. [A Ninja may wield 2 weapons, and take the benefits of both.] Throw: Weapons such as shuriken, firecrackers, and ninja scrolls are all part of a ninja's training. Using them allows a ninja to fight at long range, or unleash unexpected types of attacks. [Thrown weapons ignore range penalties, can target flying enemies, and deal increased damage, at the cost of expending the thrown item. In addition to shuriken and unused weapons, they can also use ninja scrolls or small explosives.] Slice Open: When scoring a critical hit, the ninja will seek to cause as much damage as possible. [Against living opponents, inflict the Sap status after a crit. Does not work against constructs or robots.] Shadow Edge: Lunge deep, cut deeper. [Increases Critical hit rate by 5%. Stacks with other crit rate bonuses] Homemade Tools: The vast majority of a ninja's tools are self made and difficult to find or buy. But the raw materials aren't too hard to find... [Enables personal actions to produce ninja tools for free. If going into an adventure with less than 10 ninja tools, produce 2 at random (Ninja tools include fire, ice, and lighting scrolls, vanish scrolls, mirror scrolls, and smoke bombs)
Equipment
Mythril Knife [Weapon/Dagger]: A high-quality knife made of a light blue metal called Mythril. [+2 Martial to the Wielder. May be used one handed]
Offhand Slot: Empty
Armor Slot: Empty
Accessory Slot: Empty
Protect Girls: For all his flirtatiousness, let it never be said Zidane isn't a chivalrous person. If a woman is in trouble, he will seek to help them as if on instinct. [Automatically Cover for girls in the party who are below 50% HP. Zidane will use Protect Girls even if he is in critical condition] Showman: Tantalus may be a group of thieves, but they are also professional actors. In a way, the two go hand in hand. [+20 to checks to perform in front of or manipulate large crowds.] Master Thief: A lifetime of crime has honed Zidane's abilities in many areas, breaking and entering, smooth-talking, disguises, and of course, thievery. [+20 to checks to specifically steal an item or person. This also applies to the Steal command] Born Under a Blue Light: ??? Trance: In times of crisis…
Class Traits (Thief)
Equipment Proficiency: Thieves can normally equip knives and daggers, though Zidane also shows a fondness for an odd double-bladed polearm he calls a "thiefsword." Thieves also equip light armor. Steal: A thief's bread and butter, Stealing. [Make an opposed Intrigue check. On a success, steal an item from the enemy. Against monsters, steal trophies and loot like scales, horns, and so on. Against humans, steal healing items and attack items. Against machines, steal components] Detect: A good thief knows how to read a mark, identify their goods, what's worth stealing and what's not. [Passive. Automatically identify items that can be stolen] What's That?!: It's surprising how many people can fall for such a simple trick… [Once per battle. Make an Intrigue check against the enemy combatant with the highest Intrigue. On a success, the entire enemy party becomes Staggered] Distract: Trickery and constant motion are part of what keeps a thief safe. It's not just being fast, it's being unpredictable. [Rather than block, the thief will evade enemy attacks which are a "bare failure" or "bare success" ]
Equipment
Butterfly Sword: A two-headed polearm consisting of two Mage Mashers attached to a curved haft. [+4 Martial. Upon hitting a target, roll a d4. If the result is 4, the target becomes silenced.]
Budding Clan Huntsman: You have some small experience with hunting, rats at first, but you've moved on to bigger and better prey. You've only got one proper "Mark" to your name, but that's a good start. [+10 to any checks made to track, identify, or hunt specific monsters.] Street Rat: You're used to operating on the streets, where there's big crowds of people brushing by, focusing on their own thoughts and worries. It's easy to blend into crowds when you can vanish into the tide of people. [+15 intrigue when dealing with busy, people-rich environments like city streets and marketplaces.] Libra: A technique you learned while exploring the Waterway, a keen eye for analyzing prey and looking for traps. There are some pretty nasty ones down there... [+20 to rolls to avoid traps. Reveals the enemy's HP and elemental strengths/weaknesses.] Wanderlust: The thing you've always wanted is to fly free, and see the world. Now you can. [Increase Martial based on the number of landmarks and settlements visited. Current bonus: +1 (Rabanastre and Midgar)]
Class Traits
Equipment Proficiency: A bit of a jack of all. Shikari prefers light armor and weapons, but they can equip knives, swords, and ninja blades. They can also equip shields Swiftness: Better to move quickly than slow. If you can outrun your opponent that'll give you a big leg up from the start. [+10 to Initiative and +5 to Evasion.] Steal Breath: A strong strike aimed against a soft, vital area on the target. The belly, the lungs, the liver, it doesn't matter as long as it knocks the fight out of them. [Costs 1 MP. In addition to normal damage, if the target loses the clash by 40 points or more, they become staggered.] Poach: It's not just about killing a beast, you have to know how to kill them. If you want a trophy, tearing into it willy-nilly is a good way to end up with nothing. You have to be precise with the killing blow. [Passive. If the damage from one of Vaan's attacks brings a monster below 25% HP, instantly kill them instead. Monsters killed this way will produce a trophy or loot. Against boss monsters, they must be reduced to 10% HP instead.] Bone Crusher: A reckless full-body attack that seeks to crush armor and break bones. The user will take some recoil damage, but on a successful hit the damage is devastating. [Costs 2 HP. On a successful hit, Vaan deals 4 extra damage and ignores any physical damage resistance]
[h3[ Equipment [/h3] Mage Masher [Weapon]: A dagger designed for fighting mages, it attempts to sap their magical strength upon making contact. [+2 Martial. Upon hitting a target, roll a d4. If the result is 4, the target becomes silenced]
Setzer Gabbiani
Gender: Male
Class: Gambler
Age: 27
Stats Magic: 3 Martial: 11 Diplomacy: 16 Stewardship: 22 Intrigue: 28 Learning: 9
Level: 3
EXP: 0/9
HP: 12/12
MP: 0
Physical attack: 2
Magical Attack: 0
Innate Traits Lady Luck: You win some, you lose some. Lady Luck is a fickle, but extremely entertaining mistress. [Increase Critical Success range by 10 and Critical Fail range by 5] Lucky Seven: Seven is the luckiest number. Everyone knows that right? [If the base roll before modifiers has a 7 in it, improve the tier of success for that roll by 1 step. If the roll is 77, it is an automatic crit instead.] Big Bluff: You know how to bluff, how to lie, how to puff yourself up and pretend to be unbothered. While intended for use in a gambling den, these can also be useful at the negotiation table. [After Setzer fails a Diplomacy or Intrigue check, he may roll a second time. If the second roll succeeds, Setzer achieves a tier 1 success. If the second roll fails, Setzer is caught in a lie and receives a critical failure.] Owner of the Blackjack: The Blackjack is your pride and joy, an airship and mobile pleasure spot modified extensively for your use. You've taken great care to learn how she works, how to maintain her, and how to fix the things that break. [+20 to checks involving maintenance, repair, and building airships]
Class Traits Slots: The thing about relying on Lady Luck, is you might get what you need, or you might get something completely terrible for the situation. But you'll never know until you hit the slots. [Rather than performing a normal attack, Setzer may choose to run the Slots. His current options are Element Slots (attack with a random element) and Status Slots (attack with a random status effect) Very Lucky: When you're a gambler, the highs seem higher, even if the lows can be rather low. [Rather than dealing 2x damage on a crit. Deal 2.5x (rounded down) damage on a crit Know When To Run: When money is on the line, some people don't want to admit they lost. Best to let them have it. [+10 Evasion.] Gamble Defense: A risky defensive technique relying on luck and instinct. [after taking damage roll a d4. On a 1, the gambler takes 1 extra damage. On a 2, the gambler takes normal damage. On a 3, the gambler takes 1 less damage than normal. On a 4, the gambler takes 2 less damage]
Master's Staff [Staff]:A staff made of blue wood with a curved head and a faint magical aura. The aura reminds you of healing materia, but the staff itself doesn't seem to have any materia slots. Just holding it seems to empower the user's magic. [+3 magic to the wielder. May have additional benefits.] (Equipped by Aerith) Shiva Magicite: [Magicite]: A large crystal with a tall, hexagonal shape. It serves as a focus for Shiva, Mistress of Ice. [Increases the wielder's Magic stat by 5. Teaches Ice & Water Magic. Grants the bonded hero the "Ice Attunement" Trait. Once per adventure, the bonded her may summon Shiva.] (Equipped by Aerith) Poison Materia: A rounded crystalline sphere that contains the power of poison. By placing it into a Materia slot, the user can gain the power to cast the spell Bio. [Gives the user access to the spell Bio] (Equipped by Aerith) Level 2 Lightning Materia: A rounded crystalline sphere that contains the power of lightning. By placing it into a Materia slot, the user can gain the power to cast the spells Thunder and Thundara [Gives the user access to the spells Thunder and Thundara] Level 1 Lightning Materia: A rounded crystalline sphere that contains the power of lightning. By placing it into a Materia slot, the user can gain the power to cast the spell Thunder [Gives the user access to the spell Thunder] Level 2 Fire Materia: A rounded crystalline sphere that contains the power of fire. By placing it into a Materia slot, the user can gain the power to cast the spells Fire and Fira [Gives the user access to the spells Fire and Fira] Buckler: A small rounded shield often used in the offhand by fighters. Despite its small size, it provides a great deal of versatility. [Boosts the user's evade chance by 5%] (Equipped by Alfyn) Earth Dragon Heartscale: The heartscale of an Earth dragon. Although of no immediate use, the scale is extremely durable and holds Earth Magic inside.
Healing Items
Potion [x3]: A bog standard potion, a bottle of green liquid that restores vitality, dulls pain and stimulates recovery. [Restores 5 HP during adventures and boss fights] Antidote [x3]: A medicine which is used to neutralize poisons. [Removes the poison status during adventures and boss fights] Smelling Salt [x2]: A medicine which is used to snap people back to their senses [Removes the confusion status during adventures and boss fights] Ether [x2]: A medicine made specifically for mages to quickly restore their magical power. [Restores 5 MP during adventures and boss fights] Echo Herb [x1]: Cures the Silence condition during adventures and boss fights Phoenix Down [x2]: A red feather, supposedly harvested from a Phoenix itself. A phoenix down can revive a recently defeated ally, but cannot return the dead back to life. It can also be used to kill some undead [Revives a downed ally during adventures and boss fights.]
Attack Items
Shuriken [x7]: Small metal throwing weapons used by Ninja. [Allows anyone with the Throw skill to attack targets from range. Attacks made with Shuriken have a +10 to hit, and deal +1 damage, but expend the Shuriken.]
Evelyn Thorne: Reduce The Heartless's Combat Strength in Traverse Town
Exatto: All Used
FinaLapel: Used
MiskWisk: -10 to Yevon's actions on turn 9
Kirya: +10 to the Hero's next Intrigue Action.
Initially, this was for tracking people in the world but, I keep forgetting to update it, and the news tab on each "Turn" update does a good enough job, so I've come up with a new purpose for this information tab.
Keeping track of all the colors I use for character dialogue, and coming up with new ones. It might take me a while to get them all sorted, but this is a good start
The First of Many: Defeat your first Boss-type enemy. Reward: +1 Martial to all participating heroes (Aerith, Alfyn, Freya, Basch, Wakka) Aerial Assault: Engage in a boss fight on an airship. Reward: +1 Martial to all participating heroes (Aerith, Shadow, Zidane, Vaan, Agnea) Star Performer: Perform in front of a large crowd. Reward: Gain "Star Performer" trait. (Aerith) Heroes Once More: Be chosen by a Crystal to defend the world from Chaos Reward: Faction Trait: Blessing of the Wind Crystal. (Blessing of the Wind Crystal: Heroes of this faction have a supernatural ability to reorient and navigate. Even when traveling underground or in the Shattered Lands, these heroes can find their way. Provides additional information when traveling and undertaking adventures)
In Progress Achievements
DIY Dragon Bracelet: Defeat 1 dragon-type enemy for all 8 elements
Achievements
Al Bhed Fluency: Obtain all Al Bhed Primers Crystal Sage: Find all crystals and be blessed by them. The One I Love Is…: Untangle Aerith's messy love life. I Love You And Everyone!: Fulfill multiple romance options. Payback's a Bitch: See how Sephiroth likes being stabbed in the back! I was in SOLDIER: Convince a SOLDIER to turncoat. Dead and Buried: Destroy Shinra, for AVALANCHE. We Are The Storm That Is Approaching: Form a party with 3 or more characters named after the weather in it. No Need For a Bomb Ring: Destroy a settlement under your own power Public Enemy Number 1: Hit -100 Opinion with a faction. Star Performer: Perform in front of a large crowd. The Price Of Power: Have a Hero be branded a L'Cie Teach Him Anger: Stain Alfyn's hands Fallen Cetra: Turn to Mako Energy to fix your problems. The Calm: Summon the final Aeon and defeat Sin Savior of Cocoon: End the threat of the Fal'Cie forever Ragnarok: Bring down the sky. Disarmed: Help destroy one of the planet's WEAPONs. Mirror Match: Force a summon to face down an Aeon or Esper of the same type. Chaireth: Defeat a dangerous opponent using a chair, stool, or other piece of furniture as a weapon. Miracle of Gaia: Convince the planet itself to assist you in a miracle. Draw Your WEAPON: Summon a WEAPON on your own terms. Grudge Match- Seifer: Beat Seifer in a competition, despite already being on "the list" Crisis Averted: Kill Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth before the full extent of their tragedy can bloom. Ensure Zack survives. Coward: Run one too many times. Motor-brawl: Engage in a boss fight on/in a land vehicle such as a train or car. Naval Warfare: Engage in a boss fight on a ship or boat.
I have noticed that focusing on Combat is something that can really drag a quest down. Fights done turn by turn can last weeks at a time, and any failed roll can extend the combat by another vote. That's not to say there won't be any Boss Fights later down the line, but for simpler adventures, I'll be using these rules instead. As these rules are a little untested, they may be subject to change.
Starting an Adventure
An Adventure can be started as a Personal Action by the MC or a Hero, with up to 5 total Heroes joining in on the adventure. (Note: If 5 proves to be too many, I may lower this cap later) Every Hero who goes on an adventure will be unable to perform any other Personal Actions for that turn, but will still provide bonuses to Faction Actions they are assigned towards.
This phase is also when the Destination is decided. The Destination is where the adventure will be headed. It's uh... not that complicated.
Just like with Faction Actions, I'll take care to list out the potential rewards for different Destinations, as well as list out some potential risks. Once you've selected the Destination it's time for the Preparation phase.
Preparation
During the Prep phase we need to decide what Supplies to take, and the Strategy for the party.
Supplies is when we decide how much equipment and supplies to take. Obviously, the team can only take so much equipment, and some of it may or may not be useful depending on the trials faced. Items you already own may be pulled from the faction stocks, while others may have to be purchased.
Strategy should be pretty obvious. This is when you'll decide how sparing or aggressive to be with HP, MP, and Items. Should the party Go All Out to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible? Fight Sparingly to preserve MP and Items? Have certain party members focus on specific roles? It's up to you.
Once done with Preparation, we move on to the actual Adventure.
Adventuring
The Questers won't have that much influence over the adventure once it's actually started. The party will move forward and get closer to their destination, denoted by their Progress. As they advance I will roll dice on an Event table for various events to happen. Fights with monsters, traps, discovering treasure, and so on. Some events will deal damage, some events will delay your progress, and if you're lucky you may have good events too.
As the party explores, their HP will drain bit by bit, with the drain increasing from battles and traps. Once their HP gets low enough (as decided by your strategy) they will either use a tent or similar item to rest or retreat.
The vast majority of these events will play out automatically, based on the skills, traits, and abilities of the Heroes you sent on this adventure. Thieves will pick locks, Warriors will leverage their physical strength, Mages will leverage their magical strength, and so on.
That's not to say that the Questers won't get a chance to influence adventures. Some more complicated Events may require your input, and if the Heroes become wounded or find a particularly dangerous opportunity a vote may be called for if the risk is worth it.
Combat
As I said before, Combat is something that can severely weigh down a Quest if it takes too long. As such, normal Combat will be automated and somewhat abstracted. The player's party will fight according to the battle strategy you set up beforehand.
Each combatant will be making opposed Martial checks to attack physically and opposed Magic checks to attack magically. They may also use spells and abilities as described by their Innate and Class Traits.
If the party wins, they will gain EXP and potentially loot based on the enemy they fought. If the party loses, they retreat with injuries. Depending on how severe they were, the adventure may end early. But there's no way that a random rabble can kill a Hero.
There is, of course, one exception to this rule of Combat being automated.
Boss Fights
You know them, you love them, Boss Fights. When the party is fighting a particularly powerful or tricky enemy or group of enemies, one that can't be simply overpowered and has to be engaged strategically, it's time for a boss fight.
Boss Fights are done with turn-based combat. Each Hero in the party who's fighting fit gets to participate, and this time the questers get to choose what everyone does turn by turn. If that proves too slow, I may have it so that each "turn" is 2 rounds of combat, or perhaps do "flash votes" where each vote is called within a day.
I'm going to be sparing with these, they'll only crop up every so often and only against foes that deserve the screen time.
EXP and Leveling Up
Final Fantasy is an RPG series, and of course, leveling up plays a big part in it. But leveling up is much harder to do in a Quest, so I've come up with a bit of a compromise.
The only way to gain EXP is by spending Personal Actions training, certain Martial and Magical actions that involve fighting, and going on Adventures. When a character's EXP fills up, they Level up.
Leveling up does not directly increase a character's stats aside from HP and MP. Instead, upon leveling up a character may gain class traits to represent increased experience. On certain levels, a character may choose to Internalize one of their class traits, turning it into an innate trait they can use regardless of their current class.
Think of it like mastering a skill in the class-based FF games. At first, you may only possess an ability because of your class, but later once you've mastered it, you can use it even when outside of that class.
Adhoc vote count started by griffinlw on Oct 11, 2024 at 8:48 AM, finished with 11 posts and 10 votes.
[X] "Let's go as soon as Amalia is healthy again."
It occured to me that Omakes would be... maybe a little hard to make when so much of the world is hidden from you. That's something I didn't think about when I was making the world map, and then leaving the vast majority of it unexplored. But I've got some ideas I'd like to see, and some rewards I think you would like. So, Omake Bounty Board time! Also, Turn 4 should be ready some time tomorrow.
Omake Bounty Board 1
If You Were Here... You often wonder what the others would have done in this situation. Could they have handled it better, or would they have handled it worse? What decisions would they have made differently?
Premise: Write a hypothetical about another member of AVALANCHE in Dalmasca instead of Aerith Reward: +10 to an action of the Author's choice (Next Turn)
Ratsbane Dalmasca has always been equal parts home and a cage for you. You love the city and it's people... but your deepest desire for years has been to leave and roam the skies. One day you'll be a Sky Pirate, virtuous and free. If you have to scrabble in the dirt killing rats to get there, so be it.
Premise: Write a story about Vaan ruminating on the price of freedom, and his own wish for wings. Reward: +20 to Action "Air Pirates?" or Vaan Levels Up. Potential for Canon Conversion
Kingslayer
The whispers follow Basch wherever he goes 'kingslayer' they say. 'traitor' they whisper. But it doesn't matter. You served your king, and you'll serve his daughter.
Premise: Write a story about Basch enduring the suspicions of his fellow knights, but keeping a steady heart all the same. Reward: +10 to next Martial action or reduce unrest in Dalmasca. Potential for Canon Conversion
The Heretic Summoner: These people think of summoners as figures to revere, the strongest of their holy order. You are a summoner, but you're not their kind of summoner. They can't seem to understand that though...
Premise: Write about a summoner (Rydia of Mist, Garnet, Eiko) who found their way into the Church of Yevon. Reward: The summoner picked by the author will become a Hero for the Church of Yevon. Canon Conversion
(Completed by Evelyn Thorne. Reward: Rydia joins Church of Yevon)
Negotiation: How far Shinra has fallen, negotiating with these desert backwater people and superstitious mystics. You wish you could just sic your SOLDIER's on them and be done with it. But no. Your situation is precarious now... or so says Rufus Shinra. If this stupid blizzard would just end, you could go home and stop giving these people your valuable time... Premise: Write a story about Heidegger's opinions on Dalmasca, Padarak, and/or The Church of Yevon during his stay in Dalmasca Reward: Apply a -20 Malus to Shinra's next action against Dalmasca. Potential for Canon Conversion
(Completed by Evelyn Throne. -20 Malus to Shinra's next action against Dalmasca)
Dohtor's Charity: You try to live your life by Dohtor's example, and the example of the man who saved your life when you were just a lad. Heal and help whoever you can, not for the hope of a reward, but just because it's the right thing to do.
Premise: Write a story about Alfyn doing a good deed, for no other reason than his good heart. Reward: +10 to next Diplomacy action or a pack of free healing items. Potential for Canon Conversion
(Completed by Evelyn Throne. Reward: +10 to next Diplomacy action)
Since there has been a bit of discussion about Factions, I'm making this post to try and explain some of my thoughts/rulings on them as well as provide a few examples.
Factions
A faction is simply a group working together to achieve a goal. The exact size or form of the faction can be almost anything, rag-tag group of companions, to a company, to a kingdom, but what they all have in common is that they are groups of people pooling their skills and resources to achieve something. As simple as "earn lots of money" or as complicated as "save the world." Since even factions with surface-level similarities can be vastly different from one another, there are no hard and fast rules describing the form and function of a faction. Instead, traits, descriptions, and features will be given on a case-by-case basis. There are a few unifying features, however, which I'll go over now.
Size
One of the most important traits of a faction, simply describing how large it is. Size is based on a combination of how many people are in a faction, how much territory they hold, and how many individual units a faction can be separated into. While I have split them into tiers, there are no hard rules on how
Tier 0: Around the size of a normal Final Fantasy party. Composed entirely of named characters, usually somewhere between 4 and 10 people, but can sometimes be larger. Due to the small size, this serves as more of a 'proto faction' than a proper one. A faction of this size can't capture territory, fight armies, and will have severe difficulty "punching up" at larger factions. They may have a 'home base' of some kind, but it will probably be a single building or camp. Examples: Almost every Final Fantasy party, Tantalus Theatre Troupe, a Summoner and their Guardians
Tier 1: The first tier to count as a proper faction, what sets tier apart from Tier 0 is the presence or absence of more people and a central leader. Factions of this size usually have a name, a stated goal, and enough public-facing presence that someone may reasonably know their name and consider joining. They may be individual agents like mercenary companies, pirate crews, and hunter clans, or pieces of larger factions, such as a branch of the military or a political party. Examples: Ramza's unit, Marche's Hunter Clan, Baron's Red Wings, the Turks, and the Kingsglaive.
Tier 2: This is the tier where a faction can reasonably be called a "population" or a "settlement," as well as the first tier where a faction may be considered a political entity. A faction that reaches this size must either be large enough that it can reasonably be split into smaller factions (such as an army with multiple units, or a rebel group with multiple cells) or possess its own settlement. The exact size of the settlement doesn't matter, but it must be large and stable enough to have a permanent population. Camps don't count. All of the settlements that I've dotted around the Great Nations are Tier 2. Examples: Padarak, Baron, Troia, Cleyra, Balamb Garden, and any other independent city or town.
Tier 3: The 5 Great Nations are the only ones that fit into this tier. Dalmasca, Cocoon, Shinra, Church of Yevon, and the Gestahlian Empire. The biggest, most populous, and most complex nations in the world, though not necessarily the most moral or pleasant to live in. These factions are on their own level in terms of size and complexity. Each one starts with one population center but may ally with and conquer others as the quest continues. For my own sanity, you will probably never reach this faction tier.
Size is important because it shows what scale a faction is operating at. As much as we love our little 5 man bands, they are incapable of doing things like holding territory, conquering a kingdom, or facing down an entire army. Or at the very least, punching down is much easier than punching up. Size is also what I'm using to dictate how many personal actions a faction leader should have. Having a faction at all gives you 1 personal action but to get more you need a larger faction where you can delegate more of your responsibilities. Normally in CK2 quests the cap is 4, but I'm not sure if I want to go that far.
Unifying Principle/Goal: This is what brings the faction together. Does the faction's people follow because of religious dogma, or monetary benefits? Do they follow because of their love and trust in the faction leader, or for purely pragmatic reasons? Ramza's crew from FFT follow him largely because they find him to be a just and honorable man, but Marche's crew mostly follow him because he hires them on as Clan members. The Chocobros are together because of their brotherly bonds and also because Noctus is heir to the throne. The Returners from FF6 are a rag-tag bunch, but they are unified in their resistance against the Gestahlian Empire.
Type: Type is less of a rule or hard description and more of a soft label. Shinra is a Company/Business. Dalmasca is a Kingdom. AVALANCHE is a Rebel Group. The average heroic group is a Party. It may give you a rough understanding of how the faction works on a day-to-day basis, but don't be fooled into thinking 2 factions of the same type will operate exactly the same.
Traits: Just like with characters, Factions will have traits that describe particular skills, features, and resources they may have access to. For example, Shinra has traits describing the benefits and abilities of the Turks and SOLDIER. They can also have negative traits which represent weaknesses and failings of the faction.
Factions and You
I did my best to include a few different ways for you to create/join a faction. Rabanstre was an ideal start since you've got Sky Pirates, the Hunter Clans, and the kingdom's Knights (I never expected Aerith to try for that one, but it might have been a good path for Cecil or Celes.) As a thriving center of trade, it would also be an ideal place to start a business.
So far it seems to me you guys have been working on the idea of a gardening/herbal medicine business, and potentially forming a Party with the heroes you've met (except Wakka.) For the business, what you're missing right now is a product and a steady source of income, but I imagine in a turn or two that will sort itself out. The Party is a bit trickier, you need something to bind you together. Some common goals and shared interests.
Don't worry though, I believe in you. Also, as a side note. This vote has been pretty tight. Right now we've got Walking on Sunshine with 6, Potion Shop with 5, and Vertical Integration with 4. So all it would take is a few votes to swing it in any direction. I admit, I'm happy to see some competition.
I've been busy so I haven't done all of the bookkeeping quite yet, but I've added Basch's character sheet to the other heroes as a "Guest" I've added Alfyn's to the Heroes tab (and applied his Opinion buff) and I was made aware of a new way to handle spell lists using the Tabs option, so I've put that in place on Aerith's sheet. Wakka's isn't quite done yet. I also have a tentative version of the new combat rules, which I'll be using as a bit of an experiment this adventure.
New Adventure Combat Rules
As much fun as I had with the adventure's Combat last time, it was a bit more intensive than I expected it to be. So, as a bit of an experiment to try and make everything easier on me, I've come up with a different set of rules that will hopefully make things move a bit quicker and smoother.
Rather than having the enemies and heroes make contested rolls, the only one who rolls will be the heroes. Instead of rolling to counterattack, the enemies will have attacks tied to DCs. The higher the heroes roll, the less threatening of an attack the enemy can deal back to them. As an example, a Lightning Elemental might have the DCs 30 [Thundara] 60 [Thunder], and 90 [Attack] as such, everyone attacking the Lightning Elemental who rolls below a 30 would be hit by Thundara in turn, everyone who rolled between 30 and 59 would take a Thunder, and so on.
Every ability or spell that affects defense or evasion will be applied as normal, either by increasing the hero's roll or reducing the enemy's DC
Furthermore, while bosses, minibosses, and other "Elite" encounters will have an HP stat as expected from such a monster, lesser monster swarms won't have an HP stat. They'll be guaranteed to be struck down in one round, the only question is how much damage the party takes in the process.
I understand this might be a bit less dramatic or interesting, but it's easier for me, and I don't think anyone really expects a random encounter to end the party's journey. Unless of course, the party has been worn down through attrition along the way.
