I love the world of Final Fantasy XIV. I’ve been playing it for years, and for all that time, the story has continued to be interesting, with twists and turns and shocks and surprises, but always rooted in an essential humanity and goodness. Even the latest expansion, “Shadowbringers”, casts you as the Warrior of Darkness - but Dark is not Evil.

How best to bring this to the gaming table? I’ve talked about the Genesys system before, and I feel like its mixture of mechanical and narrative systems is a good mix for FFXIV. I don’t want something tied to the Dungeons & Dragons universe, and I don’t want to create something too far gone or too unique for gamers.

So I’m going to start writing “Quarto Decimo Novum”, an adaption of the FFXIV universe for Genesys. This is a fan-produced project only, and will not be sold or marketed in any way. I think both Fantasy Flight Games and Square Enix have produced great products, and if you feel the need to spend money, spend it with them.

Read more "Quarto Decimo Novum: Introduction" »

I’m building the racial archetypes for the game, starting with the five playable races: Elezen, Hyur, Lalafell, Miqo’te, and Roegadyn. I also started with the 2.x classes (including Rogue). I haven’t started on talents or magic yet, but I know where I want to go, at least. And I know about jobs. So what does all this look like, and what do I think is coming next?

• Jobs: I want most of the mechanics to be provided by a “soul crystal”, which is a piece of equipment. The soul crystal will act as a magical implement, allowing you to use certain forms of magic more easily, e.g. chakras for Monk or summoning magic for Summoner having similar benefits as existing implements.
• Can anyone just pick up a Soul Crystal? Maybe, maybe not. I think it would be good to have a ranked Talent that does two things: unlock the power of a specific Soul Crystal (e.g. Soul of the Paladin), and make one associated skill a career skill (e.g. Conjury Aether for the Paladin’s curative and protective spellcasting). So you’d need both the Talent and the crystal to “be” a paladin. Each Talent rank past the first unlocks two more Soul Crystals, and you pick one more relevant career skill. This means at tier 5, you’ve unlocked a maximum of 9 crystals, which I think is pretty accomplished.
• I know one other Talent I want: “Cavalry Training” or something like it. You get Riding as a career skill, and advantage on any maneuvers where your trained chocobo is able to help you.
• Magic: I plan to keep using the Genesys magic system as written, but write up specific spells e.g. Cure 1/2/3 in advance.
• Magic Talents: I will import something like the “Signature Spell” talent from Realms of Terrinoth to make it easier to cast such things. Others might appear as well, e.g. something to replicate the Black Mage’s Astral Fire/Umbral Ice rotation.
• That said, not every adventurer is the Warrior of Light. I want to leave room for characters to come up with their own styles of magic, their own mixture of effects, and so on. I’ll be creating Talents with this in mind.

More on the way soon!

A list of racial archetypes for the typical Eorzean races - Elezen, Hyur, Lalafell, Miqo’te, and Roegadyn.

Read more "Quarto Decimo Novum: Archetypes" »

These are the careers available for starting characters. These are not the final “jobs” (e.g. Paladin, Black Mage, Scholar) - those will be introduced in a separate post.

Read more "Quarto Decimo Novum: Careers" »

What skills are we able to use? What skills are we changing?

• The following skills don’t exist in the setting: existing magic skills (Arcana, Divine, Primal, Runes, Verse); Alchemy (use Synthesis); Astrocartography
• The Computer skill is now Magitek, and covers the operation of Allagan, Garlean, or similar technology, such as teleportation nodes
• The Mechanics skill is now Synthesis, and allows characters to craft or repair physical things (from metalsmithing to leatherworking to alchemy) using a mixture of mundane and magical processes
• There are no “Light” or “Heavy” divisions within Melee and Ranged skills
• The following Knowledge skills exist: Aether (the nature of magic); History (events from the past); Nature (living things like plants and animals)

The following magical skills exist, and use the optional rules for magic from the Genesys core book (p. 210). All skills can use the “Attack” and “Utility” magical actions.

• Arcane: complex spells and unusual sources of aether (Barrier, Conjure, Curse, Heal)
• Conjury: spells of healing and protection (Augment, Barrier, Dispel, Heal)
• Darkness: aspected aether used for destructive purposes (Conjure, Curse, Dispel)
• Martial: the harmonization of one’s own aether for combat purposes (Augment, Barrier, Heal)

The next post will build these skills into careers, and talk about soul crystals.

Image sources and credits:

• The banner image is from the FFXIV Fan Kit

This is an early draft of how soul crystals and jobs might work. This material is probably subject to change.

Soul crystals are small, aetherically-charged crystals carried by character in a way that harmonizes body and soul, and brings the wisdom and power of past wielders of the crystal. When someone with the Soul Crystal Attunement talent holds a soul crystal for a Job they’ve unlocked (e.g. Paladin), they gain the benefits of the talent.

Read more "Quarto Decimo Novum: Soul Crystals" »

First-tier talents for new characters.

Read more "Quarto Decimo Novum: Talents Part 1" »

Second-tier talents for experienced characters.

Read more "Quarto Decimo Novum: Talents Part 2" »

Most classes and jobs are associated with specific weapons or armor, listed below. Defense stats are a combined total based on armor and typical weapon(s).

Casters use implements instead, described elsewhere. Casters typically wear heavy robes (defense 1, soak 0).

Read more "Quarto Decimo Novum: Job Weapons" »

These are the magical implements (Genesys p. 218) used by different classes and jobs in the game.

Codex or Grimoire: used in conjunction with the arcanist’s tradition. When Conjuring a companion from aether, you automatically receive the Summon Ally effect at no extra difficulty. The creature stays summoned until you dismiss it, and you need not use the concentrate maneuver to sustain it. Encumbrance 1, Price 750, Rarity 5.

Rod: used in conjunction with black magic. When using a rod to cast offensive magic, ignore the penalties imposed by the first Range modifier, and boost base damage by 4. Encumbrance 2, Price 400, Rarity 3.

Wand or Cane: used in conjunction with white magic. When using a wand or cane, Divine Only effects are one less difficulty than normal. Healing spells also restore two more wounds than normal. Encumbrance 2, Price 400, Rarity 5.

Here’s a sample character: Ardbert, a young Marauder on a mission. He is a natural, compulsive hero, and can’t stop helping people, even when it puts him in danger.

Read more "Quarto Decimo Novum: Sample Characters" »