Wow, this is one of the MOST Final Fantasy RPGs I've seen. Lots of inspiration perfectly tuned to Final Fantasies VII, VIII, and X (and others - like XV - too). GMs will have to figure out their own rules for combat - by default, we only have skill tests here - and create their own enemies and bosses. (Off the top of my head, I would create a mini-damage system where normal attacks do 2 HP, attacks using an element the enemy is strong against do 1 HP, and attacks using an element the enemy is weak against do 3 HP - you'll want to have something at least that complicated to make use of the elemental spells and weapon styles.) I will probably tweak the standard resolution system - rather than rolling d20-2 vs. stats for all tests [edit: please disregard; I had misread the rules!], I will just add 2 more points to every stat; even more more likely, I will apply a variable penalty/bonus depending on the difficulty of the action. Thank you! This is bursting with inspiration.
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Sure! Yeah you can add a battle system if you like. In true OSR style, this game has no differentiation between combat and other checks. Also, the -2 is only applied when you use your Skills, which are provided based on your Job. Otherwise, you just roll d20 and compare to your stat. For combat, you just roll whatever stat aligns with your weapon. That's currently the only difference. But yeah, as a GM you can always tell your Players to raise or lower their stats to fit your game. As it stands, stat rolls can get pretty dicey. There's high risk. But if you want the players to feel more powerful, sure. Raise any stats or all of them. Thanks for the kind words.
I've edited my original comment to reflect that I had misread the rules about skill checks. Also: I didn't actually realize there is NO battle system in this game until you said so. So much of the Final Fantasy games is about standing in a line and choosing attacks when it's your turn - but that's not really what fires our imaginations when we think about the series, is it? It's all these other things, which you've captured in one page. I like the new mission event system in the 1.2 version - like everything else here, it's very final fantasy and I can immediately see how well it would work. And I like the idea of having free skill uses. If I ran a campaign of this, I'm sure I would be thinking hard about some way to use mana points - but that may be the exact point when this game would go from being perfect and simple to too complicated...
Thanks again for your thoughts. Your comments have have driven a lot of my rethinking of things. I'm glad the plot and world elements really shine through. I know some people will miss the RPG elements or feel that's vital to the series. If so, they can make any additions they like. Adding mana points is a great example. With that line of thinking, I wanted my skills cut to the core of what MP is: exhaustion. You're limited by how much you can do before you heal or recover. This replicates that by saying: here's some free opportunities you have to influence the plot. But from then on, it's a roll of the dice -- until you heal/recover. But your skills will probably use your best stat anyway. So you should have some good rolls even then, until luck runs out... Bwahahaha
Also, what a "safe rest" is (or how long) can be decided by your table and vary each time. So all of this to say: story comes first. That's what I felt would make for the most fun, succinct system. It's also inspired by the combat changes from FFVII to FFVII: Remake. It sort of takes those to extremes. Example: everyone has a main attack they can use anytime, even if it's with spellcasting, drawing cards, etc.
Another big idea that could be added to the game is Summoning, or more Spells. But perhaps these will come as DLC later. We'll have to see ;) Thanks again for your comments.