This will be a high-casual RP set in the universe of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, utilizing a loose version of its jobs, skills and magic system for the purpose of character creation. Rest assured, we will not have numerical stats or any kind of EXP system; the progression of your character's abilities will be handled in-story, and our use of the established system found in the game will mostly be limited to character creation and will chiefly concern your selection of a job and your available skills/spells in that case.
It is my intent to make the character creation process convenient for everyone and manageable for people who have never played the game before while also maintaining a level of balance that will allow the combative, strategic, and mechanically deep nature of the Tactics series and the Final Fantasy series as a whole to shine in a play-by-post roleplay setting. While my primary concern is obviously to present a compelling and interesting narrative in the context of a rich and exploration-conducive environment, the fact that this roleplay will be grounded in a video game that was based around combat and questing means that there will be a necessary focus on combat, questing, and adventuring. That doesn't mean I won't have a grander overarching plot or ancillary side-plots in play; Final Fantasy has such a rich and broad collection of lore that it would be a waste of this setting to not involve effective storytelling.
Please note, these uses of the game's elements are only meant to serve as a vast reference tool to enhance your roleplaying experience, not to hinder it or overcomplicate it. I am intent on interpreting the game's mechanics very liberally and I'm more than willing to make exceptions for good reason, especially when pertaining to elements of the game that wouldn't make sense in practice. For example, in game, certain jobs are only available to certain races despite the fact that it would be perfectly reasonable in-universe to assume that some race would be able to choose that job. This leads to weird cases where Soldier and Fighter are human-exclusive races despite the fact that a Bangaa could easily obtain the skills necessary to do that job (and they often do have overlap in job abilities, armor, and weapons). Nu Mou are the most magically adept race in Ivalice and yet they cannot be Red Mages, Blue Mages, Summoners, Elementalists, or Bishops. The Judge and Law system in general is wholly irrelevant and illogical to a roleplay setitng and will be ignored almost completely.
I am also open to allowing the inclusion of jobs, abilities, spells, items, and races from other entries in the Final Fantasy series on a case-by-case basis as long as they are reasonable inclusions and will fit with the established setting. If you are not familiar with the plot of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, don't let that discourage you from applying. The feel of the story will be classic medieval Final Fantasy sword and sorcery adventuring, with conventions and mechanics borrowed from the lore of the entire series despite it being grounded in the setting of this particular game. This just happens to be my favorite setting from the universe and it also has a robust class system that lends itself well to this format.
The plot will take place about 50 years after the events of FFT:A, in an alternate universe from the events of the game. In this continuity, Marche, Ritz, and Doned all died early on in their quest to escape Mewt's dream world, leaving Mewt free to enjoy his dream world in peace, coddling himself in his childish escapism through his reign over Ivalice. Mewt, now King, has established a reputation as a kind and generous ruler with the best interests of the Ivalician people in mind. While adventuring clans had been popular as a lucrative and exciting career option for seasoned and willing adventurers, Mewt recognized the potential threat large organizations of powerful and wealthy warriors could pose to his rule and sought to reduce their prominence. Mewt established a centralized Ivalician Army and contracted many of the larger clans as mercenaries and auxiliary forces. Mewt also opened several arcane universities and knight academies across Ivalice to provide an alternative to those seeking to become powerful warriors who would normally be apprenticing with a clan.
Small, independent clans soon fell out of fashion due to a lack of demand; why pay a clan to do what the army does for free? They just seemed unnecessary. Ivalice was now a safer, quieter place, and few resisted the change to a more peaceful and prosperous future for the kingdom, especially with King Mewt's wise and just rule in place.
This period of prosperity came to an end roughly five years ago, when a mysterious woman named Matoya arrived in Ivalice as one of several visiting dignitaries from a different continent. In his nearly forty years of ruling King Mewt had never shown any interest in finding a wife to become queen and continue the royal line. However, immediately upon meeting Matoya, Mewt fell hopelessly in love with her and married her within a month. Shortly after their marriage, Mewt gradually began to appear in public less and less, with Matoya (now queen) serving as the public face of the Ivalician Royal family. With Matoya in control, the Ivalician Army quickly went from being the righteous and law-bringing force of good in the kingdom to serving as the instrument of oppression and control by which Matoya kept the kingdom in line. The peace that Mewt had worked so hard to establish fell to pieces; monsters and brigands now roam freely in the fields of Ivalice, and the cities aren't much safer. The guards and soldiers that were resistant to Matoya's new policies were stripped of their ranks and released from service; those who stayed and pledged their loyalty were given handsome salary bonuses and promotions. Corruption, crime, and poverty have been steadily increasing since Matoya rose to power, and although the kingdom is not in a state of outright crisis, many worry for the future of Ivalice and criticism of the queen is commonplace.
As a result of a now corrupt and inefficient army, clans have recently returned to prominence. Trust in the government to effectively keep its many settlements safe is at an all time low, so the need for independent mercenaries has become more than a little apparent. My character will be attempting to start a new clan in the city of Cyril. Your characters will be applicants responding to his recruitment posting, members of other clans in Cyril, someone who lives in Cyril, or otherwise someone in Cyril for some reason. I will try my best to accommodate everyone's character as best I can, but I would recommend making a character who would believably be able to go off on an adventure and would be able to offer something to the group.
That's the extent of the set-up so far but obviously we can all assume that something's up with Matoya and she's got some sneaky shit planned that we're all gonna be worried about. You may have guessed from the title that at some point the Dragon King Bahamut will be summoned (or attempted to be summoned) and we're gonna have to get some shit done to deal with all that crazy business.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if you'd be interested in this sort of thing! If so, you're the best.
- Chanda Chanda Chanda Chanda Chanda <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
It is my intent to make the character creation process convenient for everyone and manageable for people who have never played the game before while also maintaining a level of balance that will allow the combative, strategic, and mechanically deep nature of the Tactics series and the Final Fantasy series as a whole to shine in a play-by-post roleplay setting. While my primary concern is obviously to present a compelling and interesting narrative in the context of a rich and exploration-conducive environment, the fact that this roleplay will be grounded in a video game that was based around combat and questing means that there will be a necessary focus on combat, questing, and adventuring. That doesn't mean I won't have a grander overarching plot or ancillary side-plots in play; Final Fantasy has such a rich and broad collection of lore that it would be a waste of this setting to not involve effective storytelling.
Please note, these uses of the game's elements are only meant to serve as a vast reference tool to enhance your roleplaying experience, not to hinder it or overcomplicate it. I am intent on interpreting the game's mechanics very liberally and I'm more than willing to make exceptions for good reason, especially when pertaining to elements of the game that wouldn't make sense in practice. For example, in game, certain jobs are only available to certain races despite the fact that it would be perfectly reasonable in-universe to assume that some race would be able to choose that job. This leads to weird cases where Soldier and Fighter are human-exclusive races despite the fact that a Bangaa could easily obtain the skills necessary to do that job (and they often do have overlap in job abilities, armor, and weapons). Nu Mou are the most magically adept race in Ivalice and yet they cannot be Red Mages, Blue Mages, Summoners, Elementalists, or Bishops. The Judge and Law system in general is wholly irrelevant and illogical to a roleplay setitng and will be ignored almost completely.
I am also open to allowing the inclusion of jobs, abilities, spells, items, and races from other entries in the Final Fantasy series on a case-by-case basis as long as they are reasonable inclusions and will fit with the established setting. If you are not familiar with the plot of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, don't let that discourage you from applying. The feel of the story will be classic medieval Final Fantasy sword and sorcery adventuring, with conventions and mechanics borrowed from the lore of the entire series despite it being grounded in the setting of this particular game. This just happens to be my favorite setting from the universe and it also has a robust class system that lends itself well to this format.
The plot will take place about 50 years after the events of FFT:A, in an alternate universe from the events of the game. In this continuity, Marche, Ritz, and Doned all died early on in their quest to escape Mewt's dream world, leaving Mewt free to enjoy his dream world in peace, coddling himself in his childish escapism through his reign over Ivalice. Mewt, now King, has established a reputation as a kind and generous ruler with the best interests of the Ivalician people in mind. While adventuring clans had been popular as a lucrative and exciting career option for seasoned and willing adventurers, Mewt recognized the potential threat large organizations of powerful and wealthy warriors could pose to his rule and sought to reduce their prominence. Mewt established a centralized Ivalician Army and contracted many of the larger clans as mercenaries and auxiliary forces. Mewt also opened several arcane universities and knight academies across Ivalice to provide an alternative to those seeking to become powerful warriors who would normally be apprenticing with a clan.
Small, independent clans soon fell out of fashion due to a lack of demand; why pay a clan to do what the army does for free? They just seemed unnecessary. Ivalice was now a safer, quieter place, and few resisted the change to a more peaceful and prosperous future for the kingdom, especially with King Mewt's wise and just rule in place.
This period of prosperity came to an end roughly five years ago, when a mysterious woman named Matoya arrived in Ivalice as one of several visiting dignitaries from a different continent. In his nearly forty years of ruling King Mewt had never shown any interest in finding a wife to become queen and continue the royal line. However, immediately upon meeting Matoya, Mewt fell hopelessly in love with her and married her within a month. Shortly after their marriage, Mewt gradually began to appear in public less and less, with Matoya (now queen) serving as the public face of the Ivalician Royal family. With Matoya in control, the Ivalician Army quickly went from being the righteous and law-bringing force of good in the kingdom to serving as the instrument of oppression and control by which Matoya kept the kingdom in line. The peace that Mewt had worked so hard to establish fell to pieces; monsters and brigands now roam freely in the fields of Ivalice, and the cities aren't much safer. The guards and soldiers that were resistant to Matoya's new policies were stripped of their ranks and released from service; those who stayed and pledged their loyalty were given handsome salary bonuses and promotions. Corruption, crime, and poverty have been steadily increasing since Matoya rose to power, and although the kingdom is not in a state of outright crisis, many worry for the future of Ivalice and criticism of the queen is commonplace.
As a result of a now corrupt and inefficient army, clans have recently returned to prominence. Trust in the government to effectively keep its many settlements safe is at an all time low, so the need for independent mercenaries has become more than a little apparent. My character will be attempting to start a new clan in the city of Cyril. Your characters will be applicants responding to his recruitment posting, members of other clans in Cyril, someone who lives in Cyril, or otherwise someone in Cyril for some reason. I will try my best to accommodate everyone's character as best I can, but I would recommend making a character who would believably be able to go off on an adventure and would be able to offer something to the group.
That's the extent of the set-up so far but obviously we can all assume that something's up with Matoya and she's got some sneaky shit planned that we're all gonna be worried about. You may have guessed from the title that at some point the Dragon King Bahamut will be summoned (or attempted to be summoned) and we're gonna have to get some shit done to deal with all that crazy business.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if you'd be interested in this sort of thing! If so, you're the best.
- Chanda Chanda Chanda Chanda Chanda <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
