Creation

“I’m only here to see how the story unfolds. Any self-respecting leading man would do the same.” —Balthier, FINAL FANTASY XII

Valiant, cryptic, insightful, vain—the characters of the FFRPG are a diverse lot, hailing from gilded halls and broken homes alike. All have one thing in common, however: they began life in this very chapter. The following pages cover the creation and development of FFRPG *characters using the sheets in *Appendix V, breaking things down into a sequence of nine steps for an easier overview. Though the process can seem daunting at first, time and experience should make it close to second nature.

Generating a Character (1)

To illustrate the character creation process in a little more detail, these example sections following each step show how a typical character might be generated.

Carl has recently been invited to Rodger’s game and has to generate an appropriate character in time for the next session. While he’s played in a number of FFRPG games in the past, he still follows the same basic set of steps he did when he started out.

Concept

The easiest way to begin creating a character is to start with a broad, fairly basic concept—‘neurotic spellcaster,’ ‘crude mercenary,’ ‘narcissistic wandering thief’—and then flesh that idea out piece by piece by adding details. Sometimes the concept will be dictated or limited by the game’s setting; the GM may also have specific ideas for the characters. For this reason, it is best to run your concepts by the GM to ensure they fit—or get their advice on where you can take the concept once it’s approved. Once this is done, the next things to consider are:

Name: In a universe populated by heroes with monikers like Cloud Strife, Zidane Tribal or Laguna Loire, a good name can go a long way towards making a character seem like a plausible addition to Square’s established mythos. Ideally, a good name should be evocative and a little unusual; a Dragoon calling himself ‘Bob Smith’ is clearly neither. Specific naming pointers are given with the racial descriptions in Chapter 3.

Age: Age nearly always equates to ‘experience.’ Older characters will usually have been around the block a few times, while younger characters are more impetuous and naive about the world at large. Final Fantasy heroes tend to be younger, sometimes excessively so; for Humans, the late teens are generally prime world-saving years.

Though both are viable options, extremely young and old characters are likely to face serious social discrimination in-game; due to their age, few will be inclined to take them seriously, while comments like ‘old-timer’ and ‘squirt’ are almost guaranteed to follow them everywhere they go.

Appearance: A character’s physical features, height, weight, build, hair-, eye- and skin color all help define them, but appearance is about more than physical attributes—it’s about style. Consider clothing: does the character lean towards all-concealing black trenchcoats, or a wardrobe consisting entirely of loud pastels? What about jewelry, or other distinguishing features such as tattoos? How does the character carry themselves, and what impression do the character’s general posture and expression give others?

Generating a Character (2)

Given that there’s only one ‘fighter-type’ in Rodger’s group, Carl’s decides a Mithra martial artist would be a good addition to the party. With Rodger in favor, Carl begins building his heroine in earnest.

Name: The Mithra naming notes suggest that Mithra characters will have names with a Thai or Indonesian flavor. Carl chooses to name his character Kumani Bersihdarah.

Age: Carl wants his character to strike a balance between youth and experience. Checking the age ranges given for Mithra, Carl gives her an age of 19.

Appearance: Carl envisions Ku as lithe, muscular and tanned from a life of living outdoors; the constant exposure to the sun has bleached her hair to almost-pure white. To avoid having her movements impeded in combat, Ku’s clothing is restricted to a set of thick-soled sandals, thigh-length leather shorts, and a heavy leather combat vest covering a smaller undershirt. Her hair is tied in a long braid that reaches down to her waist; the end is wrapped around a bright pink iron ball usable as a weapon in emergencies. A branding of three crescent moons arranged in a circle can be seen on her left cheek.

Background: The past helps make the present understandable. For this reason, a character’s history is an important consideration—it defines who they are and why they act the way they do. Obviously, the chosen setting will define a lot of the small details, but even broad backgrounds should furnish biographical detail, listing defining moments in the character’s life—the murder of a friend or mentor, the tragic loss of a family member, achieving a knighthood or being drafted into the service of a great mage. These ‘hooks’ offer GMs a means to easily integrate the player’s background into games; details such as birthplace, education, and upbringing can also help to add further definition.

Personality: A character’s personality defines their reaction to and interaction with the world around them—in short, how the character deals with the situations they encounter over the course of their adventures. It may be easier to organize personality by extremes—are they hot-headed risk takers, or cautious and patient? Does injustice offend them because they have a strict code of morals, or because they want a cut of the action?—but playing things too broadly risks turning the character into a stereotype.

Possessions: Beyond their equipment, a character may have a few items of purely sentimental or personal value—a signet ring passed down from generation to generation, a necklace or locket given to them from a loved one, a lucky coin or talisman. This section of the sheet is used to describe these.

Goals: Goals are the character’s major aspirations in life; whether it’s something as selfish as wanting to claim the title of ’world’s greatest treasure hunter’ or a noble cause like or bringing peace to their war-torn home country. Whatever else may happen, the character’s goals will ultimately guide their actions and decisions in the world.

A Quote: An example saying of your character’s. Optional, but just as effective at establishing them as any number of descriptive paragraphs. This can be anything from an often overused catchphrase (“…Whatever.”) to a short and pithy comment typical of the character’s general outlook on life (“You thought a little thing like the end of the world was gonna do me in?”).

Generating a Character (3)

Background: Carl envisions ‘Ku’ as a traditional Mithra fishergirl who abandoned the family trade after a nasty encounter with a sea-snake, traveling to a distant human city in search of a living. Like many who do so, she found nothing much beyond poverty. Desperate for money, she became a pit fighter, quickly establishing a reputation as a force to be reckoned with. Her trademark became her ‘miracle comebacks’—watching her opponent carefully, she could learn their moves and mirror them, returning the favor in kind. Training in the wilds, she learned to mimic monsters as well as humans, speeding her ascent in the fighting circuits—until the day she lost control of her power and killed an opponent. Forced to flee, she began wandering once more, searching for more clues to the mysterious abilities that had made her a champion—and a murderer.

Personality: While once gregarious, Ku has matured through the adversity she has encountered, though not at the expense of her positive nature. Serenity is also one of her hallmarks; years of careful mental discipline have hardened Ku to almost ice-cold calm in the face of danger.

However, she is not perfect. Ku hides her magical powers because she fears what others will do in reaction, greatly exaggerating her knowledge of the martial arts to do so.

Possessions: Aside from her equipment, Ku carries around little of value.

Goals: Ku seeks to distinguish herself as a fighter and further her understanding of her powers.

A Quote: “Harap maaf, but you’rrre going to have to taste backfist now.”

Race

Humans make up the standard population of most worlds, but not every hero will be human—depending on the setting and circumstances, characters may belong to one of the other races detailed in Chapter Three. Playing a non-human character can have both obvious and less obvious repercussions; the most immediate effect, however, will be on the character’s potential Attributes.

Generating a Character (4)

Carl already decided to play a Mithra character when he first drew up Kumani. All that’s left for him to do is note how this will affect her Attributes.

Class and Job

A character’s chosen Job determines his or her basic Abilities, their starting Hit and Magic Points, and a whole slew of other factors. For this reason, choosing a Job is possibly the most important decision a player makes during the character creation process. Classes and Jobs are presented in full detail in Chapter 4.

Generating a Character (5)

Carl browses through the available Jobs, looking for something to fit his concept. Though the Monk would be the most immediately obvious choice for Carl, Ku’s mysterious power strikes him as a better fit for the Mimic or Blue Mage professions. Carl settles on Blue Mage.

Attributes

Now we begin to define a character’s mechanical aspects. Every starting character has a total of 40 Attribute Points to divide between the six Attributes—Strength, Vitality, Agility, Speed, Magic, and Spirit—as the player chooses, provided that at least 1 point is spent on each Attribute. Attribute Points are spent at a one-to-one ratio. By placing 6 Attribute Points in Strength, for example, a character would start with a Strength rating of 6. Any Attribute Points not spent at character creation do not carry over into the game, and are lost.

Choice of race can have an impact on how these Points are spent, as all races have Racial Maximums for each Attribute. No starting character may begin the game with any Attribute’s rating exceeding their race’s allowed maximum. For nstance, ordinary Human characters can have a maximum starting Strength of 10, no greater. For ease of reference, Table 2-1 gives Maximums for all races.

Racial Maximums are further modified by the character’s choice of Job, but this bonus is not applied during character creation. In practical terms, this means that Racial Maximums may only be exceeded if the character gains more Attribute Points during the course of the game.

Generating a Character (6)

The first thing Carl makes a note of is the Mithra statline, which gives him the following range of Racial Maximums:

|. STR |. VIT |. AGI |. SPD |. MAG |. SPR |
|=. 9 |=. 9 |=. 12 |=. 12 |=. 9 |=. 9 |

Carl starts defining Ku’s Attributes by assigning 4 Points to each Attribute as a ‘base’, leaving him with 16 Attribute Points to spend. As a fist-fighter as well as a spellcaster, Kumani’s most developed Attributes will be Strength, Vitality, Speed, and Magic; Carl raises STR and AGI to 6 and 5 and MAG and SPD to 9 and 8 respectively, giving him 4 more points to spend on boosting VIT and SPR. Kumani’s final Attribute distribution runs as follows:

|. STR |. VIT |. AGI |. SPD |. MAG |. SPR |
|=. 6 |=. 5 |=. 5 |=. 8 |=. 9 |=. 7 |

Attribute Ratings

As explained in Chapter 1, Attribute Ratings are employed whenever an Attribute is used for task resolution. While it is generally not required to calculate an Attribute Rating ahead of time, the formula for an Attribute’s Attribute Rating is:

(Attribute × 3) + 10

A character with STR 10, for instance, has a Strength Attribute Rating of 40.

Crippled Attributes

While any Attribute can have a minimum of 1, some GMs may prefer to see more balanced attributes from their PCs. Under this optional rule, any attribute at 3 (or less than half the PC’s racial maximum, whichever is lower) or less is considered crippled. A character with a crippled Attribute will have a hard time completing mundane tasks, such as opening a heavy door with crippled STR or jogging with crippled SPD. While PCs may still have such crippled Attributes, they would be encouraged to avoid such extremes.

Traits

If the GM is using the optional rules for Key Points and Traits, Traits should be selected relatively early in the character creation process. Full rules for doing so can be found in Appendix IV.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Characters differ in more than just profession and personality. Physical edges and ailments, unconventional training and innate resistance to attacks can all enhance a character’s combat ability; conversely, physical ailments and other difficulties diminish it. In game terms, these are expressed through Advantages and Disadvantages. Though only available at the GM’s discretion, they offer a number of ways to further personalize a character.

Each of the Advantages and Disadvantages presented over the next few pages has a specific point cost assigned to it; Advantages have a positive cost, while Disadvantages have a negative one. If a GM allows a player to buy Advantages and Disadvantages during character creation, their combined cost of must be less than or equal to 0. No more than 10 Points of Advantages may be taken, and no Advantage or Disadvantage may be taken more than once unless this is explicitly permitted in its description. Even if an Advantage or Disadvantage has multiple effects with separate point costs, only one of these effects may be taken by default.

Advantages

The following Advantages are available to FFRPG characters. Note that some Advantages have a varying effect depending on how many points they are bought for—these are listed below the general effect.

Adroit

Cost: 2 to 5 Points

Effect: Not every character fights using force. Sometimes, where and how the weapon hits is more important than the raw power behind it. This Advantage may be taken multiple times.

• 2 Points: Select one Weapon category that uses a d6 Damage Die, such as Rods. When wielding a Weapon of the chosen category, all damage is calculated using AGI, rather than STR.
• 3 Points: Select one Weapon category that uses a d8 Damage Die, such as Staves. When wielding a Weapon of the chosen category, all damage is calculated using AGI, rather than STR.
• 4 Points: Select one Weapon category that uses a d10 Damage Die, such as Swords. When wielding a Weapon of the chosen category, all damage is calculated using AGI, rather than STR.
• 5 Points: Select one Weapon category that uses a d12 Damage Die, such as Greatswords. When wielding a Weapon of the chosen category, all damage is calculated using AGI, rather than STR.

Ambidextrous

Effect: The character is equally skilled with both hands, favoring neither left nor right. Characters with this Advantage do not suffer penalties for Off-Handed attacks as described in [[[Core:Combat|Chapter 7]]. In addition, they may purchase the Skill Two Weapons at the normal rate of one Skill Point per one point of Skill Rating.

Animal Companion

Cost: 1-5 points

Effect: The character is accompanied in his journeys by a faithful animal, such as a trained dog or a mount. The Animal Companion is small—or agile–enough to avoid damage in combat; if the character controlling the Animal Companion is reduced to 0 HP or otherwise incapacitated, it will not act until its owner has been revived.

The exact powers of an Animal Companion are determined by selecting a combination of talents from the list below. Each Point spent on this Advantage allows the player to select up to 10 points’ worth of talents from this list. This Advantage may be taken multiple times to create more than one Companion.

• Sentient (2): The Animal Companion has intelligence comparable to a human’s, and is capable of speaking and understanding Common Tongue.
• Summoned (2): The Animal Companion is of magical or supernatural origins, and is summoned up with a simple ritual. In combat, this can be accomplished through a Zero Action.
• Search (5): The Animal Companion is constantly sniffing around and digging in the search for usable items. Once per session, a character whose Animal Companion has the Search talent gains one free Item–Battle, Support, or Recovery–of the GM’s choice, with a Tier appropriate to the character’s current Level. This does not reduce any other item rewards the character obtains.
• Packrat (3): The Animal Companion can carry a few of the character’s odds and ends, and acts as an emergency reserve. In game terms, this means that the character will always have access to their Inventory if the Companion is present. If the Carrying Alternative rules from Chapter 6 are used, the Companion can carry up to 5 Items.
• Large (5): The Companion is larger than normal. If used in conjunction with Mount, up to two characters may ride it. Item capacity for Mount and Packrat is increased to 60.
• Very Large (10): The Companion is unusually large. If used in conjunction with Mount, up to six characters may ride it. Item capacity for Mount and Packrat is increased to 99.
• Mount (5): The Animal Companion can be ridden with a successful Riding Skill Test, reducing travel times accordingly – see Chapter 9 for more details. If using the Carrying Alternative rule from Chapter 6, the Mount can carry an additional 30 Items.
• Attribute (5): The Animal Companion is strong, fast, or smart enough to help the party out when needed. In game terms, this gives the Companion an Attribute Rating of 50 in one Attribute of the creator’s choice, and allows it to make Task Checks against that Attribute if it ever is in a position to do so.
• Outstanding Attribute (10): As Attribute, above. The Animal Companion gains an Attribute Rating of 80 rather than 50.
• Flying (5): The Animal Companion has wings strong enough to fly with, giving it greater range and reach. In practical terms, this allows the Companion to enter the Status Condition Flight at will. If combined with the Mount attribute, the Companion is treated as a flying mount for purposes of travel times–see Chapter 9 for more details.
• Senses (3): The Animal Companion has senses good enough to assist the party in times of need. In game terms, the companion is treated as having Awareness at a Skill Rating of 50.
• Keen Senses (5): The Animal Companion has a keen set of senses, allowing it to sniff out danger, discover otherwise-hidden objects, or track others over long distances. In game terms, the Companion is treated as having the Awareness and Tracking Skills at a Skill Rating of 60.
• Skilled (5): The Animal Companion has a certain talent that comes in handy for its owner–a monkey trained in Pickpocketing, for instance, makes an ideal accomplice with a budding Thief. Split 50 Skill Points between any combination of Skills to represent the companion’s talents; Skills must be bought at a minimum rating of 20 as normal. Technical Skills cannot be taken in conjunction with Skilled.
• Highly Skilled (10): As with Skilled, above. However, the Animal Companion is clever enough to continue learning, and gains 1 additional Skill Point for every Level gained by its owner. It can learn new Skills at 50% the Gil cost it would take a character to learn a comparative Skill; in addition, a character with Animal Training may attempt to teach it new Skills in the same manner as the Teaching Skill. Technical Skills cannot be taken in conjunction with Highly Skilled.
• Counter Fang (20): Whenever the character is struck by a successful Attack Action, the animal companion has a CoS of 30% of launching an immediate counter-attack at the opponent who struck the character. This is treated as an Attack Action using the character’s own ACC; damage is ((Character’s Level / 4) x Character’s STR) + (Level / 10)d6. Damage can be based on AGI or MAG instead; if so, this must be declared when taking the Advantage and applied consistently for the remainder of the character’s adventuring career. If the Companion has Guardian as well, the two have a combined flat CoS of 30%; roll once to determine if both effects trigger. Counter Fang is considered a Reaction Ability, and thus can be disabled by the Status Condition Immobilize.
• Guardian (30): Whenever the character is struck by a successful Attack Action, the Animal Companion has a flat CoS of 30% of intercepting the blow. If successful, the character only takes 50% damage from the attack before modifying for ARM or M. ARM. If the Companion has Counter Fang as well, the two have a combined flat CoS of 30%; roll once to determine if both effects trigger. Guardian is considered a Reaction Ability, and thus can be disabled by the Status Condition Immobilize.
• Additional Options: Pending GM approval, the player can use the Animal Companion Advantage to make other allies such as hirelings, robots, or vehicles.

Combat Reflexes

Cost: 2 points

Effect: Through intensive training–or a healthy dose of paranoia–the character is adept at being able to react to danger at a moment’s notice. As a result, a character with Combat Reflexes can never be surprised in battle, and will always act in the Preemptive Round if ambushed. In addition, she is immune to the Status Condition Unaware.

Full Moon Heart

Cost: 4 points

Effect: The character has a greater sensitivity to the flow of mana, and is able to replenish her spellcasting energies far quicker than most. Items and other effects that increase a character’s MP restore +25% of their usual Magic Points when used on a character with Full Moon Heart.

Restrictions: Full Moon Heart does not affect Drain effects or HP recovery.

Gillionaire

Cost: 2 to 5 points

Effect: The character has a knack for finding money in unexpected places or a secondary source of income. As a result, he gains Gil at a faster rate than his companions. The character’s share of Gil for each monster encounter and successfully completed quest is adjusted by the listed percentage to reflect their additional income. This does not increase or reduce the payout to other characters or NPCs, or affect other sources of income. The character’s starting Gil is also accordingly increased to match.

• 2 Points: The character’s share of Gil is adjusted by +5%. The character’s starting Gil is accordingly increased to 525 G.
• 3 Points: The character’s share of Gil is adjusted by +10%. The character’s starting Gil is accordingly increased to 550 G.
• 4 Points: The character’s share of Gil is adjusted by +15%. The character’s starting Gil is accordingly increased to 575 G.
• 5 Points: The character’s share of Gil is adjusted by +20%. The character’s starting Gil is accordingly increased to 600 G.

Restrictions: Gillionaire does not stack with the Equipment Ability Headhunter. During character creation, this Advantage does not affect the value of Heirlooms, starting Inventions, or other “extras” not tied directly to starting Gil.

Goddess’s Mark

Cost: 3 points

Effect: The character is attuned to the ebb and tide of Life Magic, and benefits significantly from healing effects. Items, Spells and other effects that increase a character’s HP restore +25% of their usual Hit Points when used on a character with Goddess’s Mark.

Restrictions: Goddess’s Mark does not affect Drain effects or MP recovery.

Good Fortune

Cost: 1-3 points

Effect: Some force from beyond looks out for the character, tweaking
fate to act in their favor.

• 1 Point: Once per session, the character can re-roll any one die roll once. Unused rolls do not carry over to the next session.
• 2 Points: Twice per session, the character can re-roll any one die roll once. Unused rolls do not carry over to the next session.
• 3 Points: Three times per session, the character can re-roll any one die roll once. Unused rolls do not carry over to the next session.

Hardened

Cost: 1-2 points

Effect: The character is tougher and heartier than her fellows, and can absorb far more damage in the long term.

• 1 Point: The character gains an additional 1 Hit Point per Level.
• 2 Points: The character gains an additional 2 Hit Points per Level.

Heirloom

Cost: 3 points

Effect: A precious artifact has been passed down in the character’s family for generations; now the character is able to use this heirloom for her own benefit. The character may take one Accessory worth up to 2500 G at character creation in addition to any other equipment purchased.

Restrictions: Heirlooms may not be sold or otherwise disposed of under any circumstances, and must remain equipped until the character reaches Level 11.

Monster Killer

Cost: 1 or 3 points

Effect: The character has dedicated a significant amount of training to the eradication of a particular type of monster, and is far more adept against it in battle. This Advantage may be taken multiple times.

• 1 Point: The character has trained against a specific Monster Family (Zuu, Goblin, Flan), and inflicts +100% damage with every Attack Action made against monsters of this type. Declare which Family Monster Killer is tied to when purchasing this Advantage.
• 3 Points: The character has trained against a specific Monster Category, and inflicts +100% damage with every Attack Action made against monsters of this type. Declare which Monster Category Monster Killer is tied to when purchasing this Advantage.

Restrictions: Abnormal cannot be taken as a Monster Category.

“Right where it hurts.” —Paine, FINAL FANTASY X-2

Multitalented

Cost: 1-2 points

Effect: The character has a knack for quickly picking up additional knowledge. This Advantage may be taken multiple times.

• 1 Point: Pick a Skill Category that the character’s Job does not grant him an Affinity to, Weapon Skills excluded. The character gains an additional Affinity for that Skill Category.
• 2 Points: The character gains an Affinity to Weapon Skills.

Personal Element

Cost: 2-5 points

Effect: The character has a deep, personal connection and familiarity with one of the world’s elements, and is capable of wielding it with fierce power. This Advantage may be taken multiple times.

• 2 Points: Select one of the Combat Elements–Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Wind, Earth, Holy, Shadow, or Bio. The character inflicts +10% damage with all attacks and effects that deal damage associated with the chosen Element.
• 4 Points: Select one of the Combat Elements–Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Wind, Earth, Holy, Shadow, or Bio. The character inflicts +25% damage with all attacks and effects that deal damage associated with the chosen Element.

Restrictions: Characters with the Paladin Job must pay 1 additional Point to take the Holy Element. Characters with the Dark Knight Job must pay 1 additional Point to take the Shadow Element. Personal Element does not stack with the Equipment Ability [Element] Enhancer–apply the best damage bonus out of the two.

Pure Soul

Cost: 1-2 points

Effect: The character harbors an unusual attunement towards the flow of magic, accumulating mana at a far faster rate than normal.

• 1 Point: The character gains an additional 1 Magic Point per Level.
• 2 Points: The character gains an additional 2 Magic Points per Level.

Resistance

Cost: 2-4 points

Effect: The character has built up a resistance to a specific set of Status Conditions, and is capable of weathering them better than most. This Advantage may be taken multiple times.

• 2 Points: The character has a resistance to Toxin-type Status Conditions. All Conditions of this type that target the character have their CoS halved after modifying for Evasion or M. Evasion.
• 3 Points: The character may choose one of the following categories of Status Condition to have a resistance to: Seal or Transform. All Conditions of this type that target the character have their CoS halved after modifying for Evasion or M. Evasion.
• 4 Points: The character may choose one of the following categories of Status Condition to have a resistance to: Mystify, Time, or Weak. All Conditions of this type that target the character have their CoS halved after modifying for Evasion or M. Evasion

Signature Weapon

Cost: 3 or 5 points

Effect: By specializing in one specific type of Weapon, the character has honed her skills with it to a fine edge. This Advantage may be taken multiple times.

• 3 Points: When performing an Attack Action with a Signature Weapon, the character will strike a Critical Hit on a roll of 1 through 15.
• 5 Points: When performing an Attack Action with a Signature Weapon, the character will strike a Critical Hit on a roll of 1 through 20.

Restriction: Signature Weapon does not stack with the Equipment Abilities Critical+ and Criticalh3.. Use the best Critical Hit range of the two instead.

Special Training

Cost: 1, 2, 4, or 5 points

Effect: Thanks to training outside the norm, the character is capable of effectively wielding equipment not typically used by his job. This Advantage may be taken multiple times.

• 1 Point: The character gains access to one additional Weapon type his Job would normally not have access to, provided it can use STR to calculate damage and does not have a Damage Die higher than that of those the Weapon types the Job can freely access. If a weapon has the Double Strike, Mana Channel, or Quicksilver ability, then it will cost an additional point. Alternately, the character gains access to one additional Armor type his Job would normally not have access to, excluding Shields.
• 4 Points: The character gains access to Shields.
• 5 Points: The character gains access to one additional Weapon type his Job would normally not have access to, regardless of Damage Die the Attribute used to calculate damage, or weapon ability.

Tenacious

Cost: 3 points

Effect: The character clings to life with almost supernatural tenacity. Should the character end a battle at 0 HP or below, she will revive with 1 HP once the battle is over.

Restrictions: Tenacious has no effect on a battle in progress. Should the character be felled during a fight, only a Phoenix Down, Raise Spell, or similar effect will restore her. Furthermore, Tenacious has no effect on other incapacitating effects such as Stone.

Disadvantages

The following Disadvantages are available to FFRPG characters. Like Advantages, some Disadvantages have a varying effect depending on how many points they are bought for.

Blind

Cost: 1, 4, or 5 points

Effect: The character is no longer able to see, usually as a result of an accident or combat injury. As a result, the character is considered to permanently be under the effects of the Status Condition Blind.

• 1 Point: A character with a Mage Job gains Blind.
• 4 Points: A character with an Adept Job gains Blind.
• 5 Points: A character with an Expert or Warrior Job gains Blind.

Code of Honor

Code: 2 points

Effect: A sense of honor has its downsides at times. Because she has sworn to never attack a helpless opponent, the character will never take advantage of the element of surprise. A character with Code of Honor will not attack opponents suffering from the Status Conditions Unaware, Sleep, or Stop, and never acts in the Preemptive Round if her opponents cannot act in turn.

Code of Mercy

Cost: 1-2 points

Effect: The character has sworn never to take a life. Whenever a character with Code of Mercy takes an Action that would reduce a target to 0 HP, they will ‘pull the blow’ to leave the target with 1 Hit Point. Under no circumstances can the character kill anything while they remain under their own control; the only exception to this rule are attacks made under the influence of Mystify-type Status Conditions.

• 1 Point: A character with an Adept, Mage, or Expert Job gains Code of Mercy.
• 2 Points: A character with a Warrior Job gains Code of Mercy.

Coward

Cost: 4 points

Effect: Some people can’t take the heat. The character fears death more than anything, and will go to great lengths to escape it. If the character is ever reduced to 25% or fewer of their maximum Hit Points in combat, their next available Action will always be an Escape Action. If the Escape Action fails, the character will try to Escape again on every following action he has until he either successfully retreats from battle or is healed to above 25% HP.

Restrictions: Coward cannot be taken in conjunction with Fury.

Crippled Arm

Cost: 3-4 points

Effect: One of the character’s arms is missing or lame, making it useless in battle. The character loses their Shield slot; they may only equip one Weapon, cannot benefit from the Two Weapons Skill, or wield Weapons which occupy both Shield and Weapon slots.

• 3 Points: A character with an Expert or Mage Job gains Crippled Arm.
• 4 Points: A character with a Warrior or Adept Job gains Crippled Arm.

Defenseless

Cost: 1-2 points

Effect: The character lacks the focus or reflexes needed to dodge, parry, or resist incoming attacks.

• 1 Point: The character’s natural Evasion or M. Evasion is 0. These Combat Statistics can only be increased by bonuses from Equipment or Status Conditions. Decide which of the two is affected when taking this Disadvantage.
• 2 Points: The character’s natural Evasion and M. Evasion are both 0. These Combat Statistics can only be increased by bonuses from Equipment or Status Conditions.

Devil’s Brand

Cost: 4 points

Effect: The character’s spark of life glows a little dimmer than most. Items, Spells and other effects that increase a character’s HP restore -25% of their normal Hit Points when used on a character with Devil’s Brand.

Restrictions: Devil’s Brand does not affect Drain effects or MP recovery.

Elemental Deficiency

Cost: 3 points

Effect: Something within the character leaves him vulnerable to a particular Element. Select one of the Combat Element–Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Wind, Earth, Holy, Shadow, or Bio. Any damage of that element done to the character is increased by 50%. If the character gains a Resistance to the Element in question, attacks do normal damage; Immunities reduce damage to 50%, and Absorbance reduces damage of that Element to 0. This Disadvantage may be taken multiple times.

Favored Prey

Cost: 2 points

Effect: The character is particularly vulnerable to attack from certain types of monsters. Declare a Monster Category Favored Prey is tied to when selecting this Disadvantage; monsters of this type will inflict +100% damage with every Attack Action they make against that character. This Disadvantage may be taken multiple times.

Restrictions: Abnormal cannot be taken as a Monster Category.

Flat-Footed

Cost: 2 points

Effect: The character does not react to circumstances as quickly as his fellow adventurers. As a result, he begins every battle with the Status Condition Unaware active.

Frail

Cost: 1-2 points

Effect: The character is physically weaker than his fellows, toughening up at a far slower pace.

• 1 Point: The character gains 1 Hit Point fewer per Level. This will never reduce HP gains for advancing a Level below 1.
• 2 Points: The character gains 2 Hit Points fewer per Level. This will never reduce HP gains for advancing a Level below 1.

Fury

Cost: 1-3 points

Effect: Deep inside the character is a raving, rabid beast that’s just waiting to get out. A character with Fury is automatically afflicted with the Status Condition Berserk whenever her current Hit Points reach 25% or less of their maximum value during the course of battle. This Condition persists for as long as the character remains at 25% or less of her maximum Hit Points, and cannot be prevented or canceled by any means.

• 1 Point: A character with a Warrior Job gains Fury.
• 2 Points: A character with an Adept Job gains Fury.
• 3 Points: A character with an Expert or Mage Job gains Fury.

Restrictions: Fury cannot be taken in conjunction with Coward.

Gold Sink

Cost: 1-5 points

Effect: The character has a hard time hanging on to money. Debts, gambling, family obligations, charitable causes, or outright waste quickly eat up whatever spare income he may have as a result of his adventures. The character’s share of Gil for each monster encounter and successfully completed quest is adjusted by the percentage listed below to reflect wastage and lost money. This does not increase or reduce the payout to other characters or NPCs. The character’s starting Gil is accordingly reduced to match. Modifiers for Gold Sink are always applied after any Gil acquisition bonuses the character may be eligible for through Equipment Abilities like Headhunter.

• 1 Point: The character’s share of Gil is adjusted by -5%. The character’s starting Gil is accordingly reduced to 475 G.
• 2 Points: The character’s share of Gil is adjusted by -10%. The character’s starting Gil is accordingly reduced to 450 G.
• 3 Points: The character’s share of Gil is adjusted by -15%. The character’s starting Gil is accordingly reduced to 425 G.
• 4 Points: The character’s share of Gil is adjusted by -20%. The character’s starting Gil is accordingly reduced to 400 G.
• 5 Points: The character’s share of Gil is adjusted by -25%. The character’s starting Gil is accordingly reduced to 375 G.

Restrictions: During character creation, this Disadvantage does not affect the value of Heirlooms, starting Inventions, or other “extras” not tied directly to starting Gil.

Lamed

Cost: 1-2 points

Effect: The character is hobbled, and cannot move quickly or run. As a result, he is considered to be permanently under the effects of the Status Condition Immobilize.

• 1 Point: A character with a Mage Job – or Job whose Ability Set contains no Reaction Abilities – gains Lamed.
• 2 Points: A character with an Adept, Expert or Warrior Job with Reaction Abilities in its Ability Set gains Lamed.

Mute

Cost: 1-2 points

Effect: The character cannot speak. Though typically the result of injury or physical disability, there are many other possible reasons for this, ranging from a personal vow of silence to trauma. Under normal circumstances, it is assumed that they have some alternate means of communicating–sign language, facial expression, strategically-deployed flash cards–which allows them to talk to party members. For all intents and purposes, the character is considered to permanently be under the effects of the Status Condition Silence.

• 1 Point: A character with a Warrior or Expert Job gains Mute.
• 2 Points: A character with the Gambler Job gains Mute.

Restrictions: Bards, Mediators, and characters with Mage or Adept Jobs may not take this Disadvantage.

Sealed Chi

Cost: 1-2 points

Effect: The character’s chi flow is blocked, leaving her incapable of channeling it into her powers. As a result, she is considered to be permanently under the effects of the Status Condition Curse.

• 1 Point: A character with a Mediator or Mage Job gains Sealed Chi.
• 2 Points: A character with a Bard, Dark Knight, Magic Knight, or Paladin Job gains Sealed Chi.

Restrictions: Characters with Warrior Jobs or Expert and Adept Jobs not listed above may not take this Disadvantage.

Slow Learner

Cost: 2-6 points

Effect: The character’s training is far from complete, and his powers show it. As a result, the character gains their Abilities several Levels behind what is normal for his job.

• 2 Point: The character gains the first Ability in his Ability Set 2 Levels later than normal; every subsequent Ability is also gained 2 Levels later.
• 3 Points: The character gains the first Ability in his Ability Set 4 Levels later than normal; every subsequent Ability is also gained 4 Levels later.
• 4 Points: The character gains the first Ability in his Ability Set 7 Levels later than normal; every subsequent Ability is also gained 7 Levels later.
• 5 Points: The character gains the first Ability in his Ability Set 11 Levels later than normal; every subsequent Ability is also gained 11 Levels later.
• 6 Points: The character gains the first Ability in his Ability Set 16 Levels later than normal; every subsequent Ability is also gained 16 Levels later.

Sluggish

Cost: 2 or 5 points

Effect: Slow to act and slow to react, the character is a constant laggard in battle. As a result, he is considered to be permanently under the effects of the Status Condition Slow.

• 2 Point: A character with a Mage or Adept Job gains Sluggish.
• 5 Points: A character with an Expert or Warrior Job gains Sluggish.

Soft Target

Cost: 4 points

Effect: The character is less resilient to damage than most. To represent this, her ARM and M. ARM ratings are reduced by -50% after factoring in all other bonuses from Equipment and Status Conditions.

Unskilled

Cost: 1 point

Effect: The character is not nearly as adept at learning the Skills of his profession as others. As a result, he loses one Skill Affinity conferred by his Job.

Vulnerability

Cost: 2-4 points

Effect: The character is inherently vulnerable to certain Status Conditions. If a Status of a type or category a character has a Vulnerability to targets him, its CoS is doubled after modifying for Evasion or M. Evasion; All [Status] Touch effects of the appropriate type have a 60% CoS and [Status] Strike effects have a 90% CoS. This Disadvantage may be taken multiple times, and is not affected by Status Resistances and Immunities.

• 2 Points: The character may choose one of the following categories of Status Condition to have a vulnerability to: Toxin or Weak.
• 3 Points: The character may choose one of the following categories of Status Condition to have a vulnerability to: Seal or Transform.
• 4 Points: The character may choose one of the following categories of Status Condition to have a vulnerability to: Mystify or Time.

Weapon Inability

Cost: 2-3 points

Effect: The character simply is out-and-out bad with weapons. Weapon Skills are bought at twice the normal cost, and any Skill Affinity the character may have for Weapon Skills is lost. In addition, the character may never cause a Critical Hit with an Attack Action, even if Equipment Abilities or other effects would normally increase the chances of a Critical Hit.

• 2 Points: A character using a non-Weapon Skill for their primary Weapon gains Weapon Inability.
• 3 Points: A character using a Weapon Skill for their primary Weapon gains Weapon Inability.

Generating a Character (7)

To round off Kumani’s personality, Carl gives her the Disadvantages Vulnerability (Toxin) and Elemental Deficiency (Bio) to represent the after-effects of the childhood encounter that swore her off fishing for life. This allows him to buy 5 Points’ worth of Advantages, so he picks up the 3-Point version of Signature Weapon for Kumani’s Gloves and Combat Reflexes, giving her a little extra edge in battle.

Equipment

Characters can spend up to 500 Gil on purchasing essential supplies and equipment during character creation. Chapter 6 has full listings for the various types of Weapons, Armor, Items, and Accessories available for purchase. All starting purchases must have an Availability Rating of 91% or higher. Any money not spent on starting equipment is given to the character as starting money at a ratio of 1 to 1. A character’s Job will also impose restrictions on what kinds of items they can use–consult the Job’s profile in Chapter 4 for more details.

Generating a Character (8)

Carl’s first priority is a weapon. As a Blue Mage, Kumani is limited to a handful of potential weapons; scanning these, Carl decides the most appropriate choice would be Gloves. 75 G is spent on Leather Gloves; a Leather Plate (110 G), Leather Gauntlets (65 G) and a Cap (80 G) leave her with 170 G to spend on other Items and Accessories. Carl buys two Tonics (50 G total) and a Tincture (75 G) and carries the remaining 45 G over as starting money.

Combat Statistics

While a player cannot directly spend Attribute Points to modify Combat Statistics, they can indirectly influence them through their Attributes. The eight Statistics are generated as follows:

• Hit Points (HP): All Jobs have a Hit Die given in their profiles–a Black Mage, for instance, has a Hit Die of d6. In order to generate the character’s starting HP, just roll the indicated die, add 30 to the result, then add the character’s VIT value. The total is the number of Hit Points the character will have upon starting the game.
• Magic Points (MP): All Magic-using Jobs will have a specific Magic Die listed in their profile. As with the Hit Die, roll this, add 10 to the result, and then add the character’s SPR value to get the total number of Magic Points the character starts the game with. If the character’s chosen Job does not have a Magic Die, skip this step. They will always have 0 MP, regardless of their SPR.
• Evasion (EVA): A character’s Evasion rating is calculated by adding together their AGI and SPD, then adding any bonuses conferred by equipment.
• Magic Evasion (M. EVA): M. Evasion is calculated by adding together a character’s SPR and MAG, then adding any bonuses conferred by equipment.
• Armor (ARM): A character’s Armor rating is calculated by adding together the ARM values of every piece of armor the character has equipped, then applying the modifier given for the character’s VIT in Table 2-2 to the total. The result is the character’s final ARM.
• Magic Armor (M. ARM): This statistic is calculated by adding together the M. ARM values of every piece of armor equipped by the character, then applying the modifier given for the character’s SPR in Table 2-2 to the total to find the character’s final M. ARM.

• Dexterity (DEX): DEX is calculated via the formula:

Level + (AGI x 2) + 50

• Mind (MND): Mind is calculated via the formula:

Level + (MAG x 2) + 50

• Accuracy (ACC): ACC is calculated via the formula:

Level + (AGI x 2) + Job’s Attack Bonus + Weapon Skill

The Weapon Skill used in the formula is the one required by the currently equipped Weapon – Swords for Greatswords, Cudgels for Rods, Guns for Rifles, and so forth.

• Magic Accuracy (M. ACC): M. ACC is calculated via the formula:

bq, Level + (MAG x 2) + 100

• Expertise (EXP): Used only for Expert Jobs. Expertise is calculated
  via the formula:

(Expert Skill / 2) + Level + (Skill’s Default Attribute x 2)

except for the Engineer, which uses the following formula:

(Invent Rating / 2) + Level + (AGI x 2)

For all Expert Jobs, the applicable Expert Skill will be listed in the Job’s profile.

Generating a Character (9)

Now that Attributes and Equipment have been determined, Combat Statistics are next on the list.

* Hit Points: Checking the Blue Mage profile, Carl finds that Kumani will have a Hit Die of d8. Rolling this gives him a 6; added to Kumani’s VIT of 5 and the base of 30, this means Kumani starts the game with 41 HP.
* Magic Points: Blue Mages also have a Magic Die of d8. Carl rolls again and comes up with a 4. Added to her SPR of 7 and the base of 10, this gives Kumani 21 MP to start out with.
* Evasion: Kumani’s Evasion is equal to her SPD of 8 plus her AGI of 5, or 13.
* Armor: The Leather Plate, Leather Gauntlets and Cap have ARM ratings of 5, 2, and 1 respectively, for a total of 8. As Kumani’s VIT is 6, her final ARM will be 110% of this value, rounding down leaves her with an ARM of 8.
* Magic Armor: The Leather Plate, Leather Gauntlets and Cap have M. ARM ratings of 3, 1, and 3 respectively, for a total of 7. As Kumani’s SPR is 6, her final M. ARM will be 110% of this value, rounding down; the end result is an M. ARM of 7.
* Magic Evasion: Kumani’s Evasion is equal to her MAG of 9 plus her SPR of 6, or 15.
* Accuracy: The Blue Mage’s Attack Bonus is +20; with a Level of 1 and an AGI of 5, Kumani’s final ACC is 31 plus the relevant Weapon skill.
* Magic Accuracy: With a Level of 1 and a MAG of 9, Kumani’s M. ACC is 119.
* Mind: Mind is 69, or 50 plus Kumani’s Level of 1 plus (MAG x 2), which comes out to 18.
* Dexterity: Dexterity is 61, or 50 plus Kumani’s Level of 1 plus (AGI x 2), which comes out to 10.

Skills

The character’s Skills are the next thing to consider. Depending on their Job, characters will have a certain number of Skill Points to allocate between Skills chosen from the lists in Chapter Five. In general, Mage Jobs have the highest Skill Point totals, Warriors the lowest. All Skills are purchased at a rate of 1 Skill Point per 1 point of Skill Rating unless a character has an Aptitude towards the Skill Category in question, as explained below. Some Skills may also be double-cost, and require twice as many Skill Points to raise. All Skills purchased during character creation must have a minimum Rating of 20, and cannot exceed a Rating of 50. All Jobs must have at least one Weapon Skill at the minimum Rating of 20, and gain Awareness at a Rating of 30 at no cost to their Skill Points.

Keep in mind that all of a character’s Skills should be plausibly consistent with their background – it’d be hard to believe that a blacksmith’s son wouldn’t have had the time to pick up at least a few points in Crafting* or Repair. On the flipside, a foundling adopted and raised by roaming monsters would hardly have the opportunity or capacity to have learned Etiquette.

Skill Aptitudes

A character’s chosen Job will have its repercussions on their ability to learn certain types of Skills–it goes without saying, for instance, that a Fighter is able to pick up new weapons more easily than a Black Mage. In game terms, this is expressed through Skill Aptitudes. A Job’s Skill Aptitude represents a group of Skills a character’s training is likely to put a heavier focus on. Skill Points put into a Skill belonging to a Category the character has an Aptitude to are spent at a rate of 1:2; that is to say, for every one Point spent, the Skill’s Rating increases by 2.

Generating a character (10)

As a Blue Mage, Kumani has a Skill Aptitude for Wilderness Skills and 260 Skill Points to spend. Carl decides Kumani’s Skills should reflect her martial arts training as well as a generally more rough-and-tumble character capable of surviving in the wilds. For the former, he puts 15 Points apiece into Scavenge, Survival, and Swimming. As all three are Wilderness Skills, this raises each Skill’s Rating to 30, leaving Carl with another 215 Points to spend. To represent Kumani’s training and aptitudes as a brawler, he next takes Brawl at the maximum possible Rating at 50, plus Acrobatics at 40, Cooking at 30, and Intimidation at 40. This leaves 55 Points; to round off the selection, Carl takes two Skills to represent Kumani’s involvement with less savory elements: Escape at 25 and Streetwise at 30.

Lores and Languages

In addition to the Skill Points allocated by the character’s Job, the character receives an additional 160 Points solely for purchasing the Scholastic Skills Lore* and Language*. This represents the character’s ‘knowledge base.’ The character also gains Common Tongue at a Rating of 50, regardless of any other Lore* and Language* Skills purchased; this does not decrease the available quantity of Skill Points.

Generating a Character (11)

Now Carl selects Kumani’s Lore* and Language* Skills. 50 Points are spent on obtaining a Skill Rating of 50 in Bahsa Mithra–enough to give Kumani a comfortable level of proficiency to complement her Common Tongue. This leaves Carl with a further 110 Points. 30, 50 and 30 Points are spent on the Lore*s Blue Magic, Martial Arts and World Lore respectively, rounding off Kumani’s Skill selection in the process.

Deferring Skill Selection

Under normal circumstances, any Skill Points not spent during character creation do not carry over into the game proper, and are lost if left unspent by the time the character is finished. However, if the players find themselves struggling to come up with a Skill set that suits their characters, the GM may wish to allow them to start the game with a minimal selection and choose the rest of their Skills during the course of the game.

Make a note of how many Points the character had for conventional Skills, Lore*, and Language* when the game started. At any point during the game, the player can declare that they have background in a given Skill, and spend some of their ‘stock’ of Points to obtain the Skill at a Rating of 20 or higher. Ideally, this should be done in a fashion that reveals a little more about the character–a quick aside like “Didn’t you know I was an expert fisherman when I was younger?” These points can also be spent on Skills gained through revelation, as described further on.

Note that Points gained by deferring Skill selection cannot be spent on raising Skills upon gaining a Level–they are exclusively to be used on acquiring new Skills.

Starting Magic

Not every Job can cast Spells, and not all spellcasting Jobs actually start the game with the ability to use magic. Characters with a Job that has the ability to cast Black, White, Red, or Time Magic begin with three Level 1 Spells chosen from the appropriate Spell lists in Chapter 8.

Due to the non-linear progression of Blue, Spellblade, Summon, and Call Magic, characters with access to these schools of spellcasting generate their starting Spells in a slightly different fashion. Rather than choose a set number of Spells, Blue Mages may choose any number of appropriate Spells from the lists given in Chapter 8, provided that their combined MP Costs do not exceed the character’s starting MP value. It is additionally recommended that no one Spell in the starting selection cost more than 15 MP.

Magic Knights begin with one Element Strike spell and one Status Effect spell chosen from the level 1 Spell effects.

Summoners begin the game with one Summon–either Valefor, Lakshmi, Remora, Ifrit, Ramuh, or Shiva, as per the player’s choice. Callers may choose from only Valefor, Lakshmi, or Remora, and additionally gain two Level 1 Spells chosen from the appropriate Spell lists.

Generating a Character (12)

As a Blue Mage, Kumani can select up to 21 MPs’ worth of Spells from the Blue Magic list. Carl chooses Goblin Punch (1 MP), Choco Ball (6 MP), Red Feast (6 MP), and Leap (8 MP) for a round 21.

Starting Invention

Characters with the Engineer Job finish character creation by assembling a single Invention using the rules in [[[Core:Skill Supplement|Appendix I]]]. The player can use up to 100 Gil worth of Parts without dipping into their own pockets; if the final Invention costs more than 100 Gil, the difference is paid from the character’s starting Gil. Parts used in the starting Invention are subject to the same Availability restrictions as any other equipment purchased during character creation.

Finishing Touches

To speed up gameplay later on, players may want to go through their listed Damage Codes and precalculate Spell, Ability and Attack damages, making a note of the results on their character sheets.

Generating a Character (13)

Kumani begins the game with three damage equations–that of her basic Attack Actions with Leather Gloves, that of Chocoball, and that of Leap. The Leather Gloves have a Damage Code of (2 x STR) + d6, Armor; with an STR of 6, the final Damage Code is 12 + d6, Armor. Choco Ball and Leap both have Damage Codes of (4 x MAG) + d8, M. Armor; plugging in Kumani’s MAG of 9 results in a precalculated Damage Code of 36 + d8, M. Armor. Goblin Punch and Red Feast do not need separate calculations–they are a function of Kumani’s basic Attack Action damage.

Advancement

As characters triumph against overwhelming odds and defeat implacable foes, they start accumulating Experience Points. XP are awarded as the GM sees fit, but are typically earned by killing or incapacitating opponents, solving puzzles, disarming traps, and completing quests.

Once a character accumulates enough XP, they advance a Level, increasing in power. Gaining a Level requires (Current Level x 500) Experience Points; Kumani, the Level 1 character introduced in this chapter, needs (1 × 500)—or 500–XP to get from Level 1 to Level 2. Note that XP totals are not cumulative; earning 1000 XP to advance to Level 2 does not mean you need only 500 XP to reach Level 3. The following table gives a detailed breakdown of XP requirements for each Level.

Learning New Abilities

Most Jobs gain new Abilities at certain Levels–on average, every 7 Levels up to Level 64. The Level an Ability is gained is shown in Chapter 4 to the right of the Ability’s name. For instance, the Samurai gains the Ability Mineuchi at Level 8; the Fighter the Ability Third Eye.

Learning New Spells

Characters with access to White, Black, Time, or Red Magic will gain new Spells every few Levels, allowing them to pick a Spell from a given Spell Level and add it to their repertoire. The exact Levels this occurs at will be given in the Job’s profile in Chapter 4. Note that in order to be able to select a Spell, any prerequisites the Spell has must be met–to choose Fira, for instance, a character must also have learned Fire. Prerequisites are laid out in Chapter 8.

Blue and Summon Magic

New Blue and Summon Spells can only be acquired during the course of a session, and are gained independently of the character’s current Level. To obtain a new Blue Spell, a character must either be targeted by it or successfully observe its use with the Support Ability Azure Lore. To obtain a new Call or Summon, the character must either defeat the Summon in battle or complete a task to earn the Summon’s trust. In certain cases, Blue Spells, Calls, and Summons may be awarded through items found during the session or given out as quest rewards.

Increasing Hit and Magic Points

Every time a character gains a Level, their maximum Hit Points increase by Job’s Hit Die + (VIT / 2). Jobs with a Magic Die also increase their maximum Magic Points by Job’s Magic Die + (SPR / 2). All rolls should be made in front of the rest of the group or GM, and calculated before any other changes are made to the character.

Increasing Attributes

Characters receive 1 Attribute Point every time they gain a Level. This may be allocated to any of the character’s six Attributes, provided that Attribute Points are not spent on the same Attribute two Levels in a row and that the increase does not raise the Attribute above the character’s Attribute Cap. The Attribute Cap is determined by adding the character’s Job bonus for that Attribute to their Racial Maximum. A Human Fighter, for instance, would have an Attribute Cap of 25 in STR–his Racial Maximum of 10 plus the Fighter’s +15 bonus to STR. Attributes may be raised after the character has reached the Attribute Cap, but this requires 2 Attribute Points rather than 1 and may only be done once all Attributes are at their respective Caps.

The only other circumstance under which an Attribute Cap can be ‘broken’ is with Equipment Abilities. Note that the absolute maximum value permitted for an Attribute is 30, including bonuses from equipment–a character with STR 28 equipping a Hyper Wrist (+5 STR) would only raise her Strength to 30, not 33.

Once an Attribute has been raised, adjust the character’s Attribute Ratings and Combat Statistics accordingly. If the player has been keeping track of it, precalculated damage may also need to be adjusted as a result of this.

Increasing Skills

Upon gaining a Level, a character receives 10 Skill Points to spend on improving Skill Ratings and 6 points for improving Language* and Lore* ratings; unused Skill Points are not carried over to the next Level, and a lost unless spent. Ratings are raised at the same rates as during character creation – 1 to 1 for most Skills, 1 to 2 for Skills the character has an Affinity to, and 2 to 1 for Skills explicitly listed as costing twice the normal rate. The player may distribute their Skill Points as they choose, but once a Skill’s Rating has reached 50, it cannot be increased by more than 2 after a Level has been gained. In addition, no Skill’s Rating may ever be raised above 100.

New Skills may also be learned upon gaining a Level using one of three methods: revelation, teaching, or research. Each of these three methods has its own requirements.

Revelation

Sometimes, characters find they have talents and depths they didn’t even know they possessed. A character that rolls a Critical Success on a defaulted Skill Roll may immediately gain that Skill at a Rating of 20 or the characters default, whichever is highest. However, not any Skill Roll will do – paddling across a shallow pond isn’t enough to learn Swimming, no matter how quickly you reach the other side. For revelations to strike, the Task Check’s CoS must be 40 or lower. As successful rolls made under the Rule of 10 do not count as a Critical Success, they cannot be used to gain Skills through revelation. Any number of Skills may be learned at once in this manner.

Teaching

Alternately, characters may opt to learn a Skill from another character–PC or NPC–with the Teaching Skill. If nobody in the party has this Skill, the character must track down an appropriate teacher using either their own network of contacts or the Inquiry Skill. Teachers who aren’t personal friends or allies of the character may demand a fee for training; suggested costs have been given below.

Once all costs have been paid, the PC–or NPC–with the Teaching Skill must make a Task Check against it to see if instruction is successful. To determine the Conditional Modifier for this Task Check, add together all applicable modifiers from the list below.

• -20: Teacher’s Skill Rating in Skill being taught less than 50
• +20: Teaching Intuitive Skill
• 0: Teaching Learned Skill
• +20: Ample time (10 or more days)
• 0: Sufficient time (5 days)
• -20: Inadequate time (2 to 3 days)
• -60: Extreme time pressure (1 day or less)

If the Task Check is successful, the character gains the Skill at a Rating of 20 or the characters default, whichever is highest. Otherwise, the time and money invested have been wasted; the character can start again, but may need to spend additional Gil to continue learning. A Critical Failure typically means that an accident occurred during the learning process, with results left to the GM’s discretion. This may leave an NPC teacher unwilling to deal with the character again, forcing the character to find a new instructor. In the event of a Critical Success, the character has an unexpected breakthrough, halving the time needed to learn the Skill. Only one Skill at a time may be learned in this manner.

Research

Instead of learning a new Skill from another person, a character can also attempt to pick it up from magazines, books, or computer programs. If the character does not have access to the materials they need to do their research, they must buy or obtain them beforehand. Research materials have an Availability Rating of 90 by default, though this may be lowered for unusual or specialized Skills; suggested costs have been given below.

Once the materials have been obtained, the character must make a Task Check against Inquiry. To determine the Conditional Modifier for this Task Check, add together all applicable modifiers from the list below.

• +20: Researching Intuitive Skill
• 0: Researching Learned Skill
• +20: Ample time (10 or more days)
• 0: Sufficient time (5 days)
• -20: Inadequate time (2 to 3 days)
• -60: Extreme time pressure (1 day or less)

If the Task Check is successful, the character gains the Skill at a Rating of 20 or the characters default, whichever is highest. Otherwise, the character’s materials are insufficient; the character can start again, but may need to spend additional Gil to acquire new material. A Critical Failure typically means that an accident occurred during the learning process, with results left to the GM’s discretion. In the event of a Critical Success, the character has an unexpected breakthrough, halving the time needed to learn the Skill. Only one Skill at a time may be learned in this manner.

Experienced Characters

Though most of the FFRPG assumes that a character will begin a game at Level 1 and work their way up the ranks, a GM may wish to start characters off at a higher Level. There are two ways to do this. The most ‘accurate’ involves creating a Level 1 character, then manually leveling them up until they have reached the appropriate Level, calculating HP and MP gains as appropriate. However, this method requires a considerable amount of time and effort, making it impractical for most players. For this reason, the following pages present a ‘fast-track’ method for creating higher-Level characters on the fly. For the most part, the player should continue to follow the steps outlined in this chapter; the salient changes run as follows.

Attributes

Experienced characters have 40 + (Level – 1) Attribute Points to divide between the six Attributes, following the same one-to-one ratio as in normal character creation. The absolute limit for any Attribute’s value is equal to the Racial Maximum in that Attribute plus their chosen Job’s bonus. For instance, a Human Monk would be able to raise their STR to 25 – 10 for the Racial Maximum, plus 15 for the Job bonus.

Combat Statistics

Combat Statistics are generated as normal, with the exception of Hit Points and Magic Points. These are generated using the following formulas:

30 + VIT + (Level x Hit Die) + ((VIT / 2) x (Level – 1))

10 + SPR + (Level x Magic Die) + ((SPR / 2) x (Level – 1))

Both formulas use the median value of Job’s Hit and Magic Dice rather than a roll. A Job with a d10 Hit Die, for instance, would have a value of 5, while a Job with a d6 Hit Die would have a value of 3. As at character creation, any Job without a Magic Die will have 0 MP, regardless of their Spirit.

Skills

An experienced character receives a number of Skill Points equal to those received by a Level 1 character of their chosen Job, plus a bonus of 10 x (Level – 1) Points. They also receive the standard 160 Points for Language* and Lore* Skills–with Common Tongue at a Rating of 50 and Awareness at 30 for free–plus an additional 6 x (Level – 1) Points for Language* and Lore* skills. Skills still have a minimum Rating of 20, but can have a maximum Rating of up to 48 + (2 x Level), with an absolute maximum of 100.

Equipment

Experienced characters receive more Gil for buying equipment and items; at higher Levels, they will also have access to equipment not normally purchasable by starting characters. The table below gives recommended benchmarks for Gil awards, as well as suggested Availability limits for starting equipment.

For characters with Levels between these benchmarks, use the table below to determine exact values. Round down for purposes of determining Availability Ratings.

Once all this has been done, all that remains is for the player to choose their equipment. For instance, a character created at Level 14 would have 9000 Gil in spending money – 5000 for the Level 10 default, plus an additional 1000 for Levels 11 through 14–and would be able to buy equipment with an Availability Rating of 77% or greater.

Experienced Engineers

At Level 1, Engineers receive a ‘stipend’ of 100 Gil with which to put together a starting Invention. Engineers starting at a higher Level receive a larger stipend; its exact value is given on the table below. Note that a Level 65+ Engineer also receives one free Artifact Part of their choice to use in a starting Invention.

For characters with Levels between these benchmarks, use the table below to determine exact values.

Magic

Characters capable of using Black, White, Red, or Time Magic gain
starting Spells as normal, plus any additional Spells their Level would
qualify them for, as listed in their Job profiles. As with starting
characters, characters with Blue, Call, or Summon Magic generate
their Spell lists in a slightly different fashion.

Blue Magic

Generate starting Spells as per standard character creation. Once the initial selection has been made, the character can take up to (Level / 3) additional Spells chosen from the Blue Magic list. While any combination of Spells can be picked in this fashion, no Spell’s MP cost should exceed the limits given below.

Call Magic

Generate starting Calls as per standard character creation. Once the initial selection has been made, the character can take up to (Level / 8) additional Calls chosen from the Summon Magic list. While any combination of Calls can be picked in this fashion, no Call’s MP cost should exceed the limits given below.

Summon Magic

Generate starting Summons as per standard character creation. Once the initial selection has been made, the character can take up to (Level / 12) additional Summons chosen according to the list given below.

• 1-11: Valefor, Lakshmi, Remora, Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, Sylph, Siren, Titan, Kirin
• 12-24: Cait Sith, Fairy, Atomos, Fenrir, Diabolos, Bismarck, Pandemonium, Syldra
• 25-36: Asura, Mist Dragon, Quetzalcoatl, Salamander, Catoblepas, Jormungand, Tritoch, Phantom, Unicorn, Carbuncle, Golem
• 37-48: Seraphim, Ark, Doomtrain, Hades, Kjata, Alexander, Anima, Cerberus
• 49-60: Phoenix, Typhon, Leviathan, Lich, Madeen, Odin
• 61+: Bahamut, Crusader, Magus Sisters,Yojimbo

Chapter Glossary

The following list recaps some of the most important concepts introduced in this chapter for quick reference.

Advantage

A character quirk that affects the character’s combat performance in a positive way.

Attribute Cap

Maximum value an Attribute can have. Determined by Job and Race.

Attribute Point

Points that can be spent on defining and increasing the character’s Attributes.

Disadvantage

A character quirk that affects the character’s combat performance in a negative way.

Hit Die

Die rolled to determine a character’s Hit Points.

Magic Die

Die rolled to determine a character’s Magic Points.

Racial Maximum

A hard limit on starting Attributes defined by a character’s choice of race.

Skill Aptitude

A category of Skills a character can learn at a reduced rate due to their training in that field.

Skill Point

Points that can be spent on defining and increasing the character’s Skills.

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