So, it's been a while since I've updated the blog.

There's a reason for that.

The reason for that is this. It's still very much a work-in-progress, but you can see already there's a bunch of stuff there.

I'm going to be changing the focus of the blog, too. FFZ is still a project of mine, but this space will more be for big-idea game design musings. It won't be D&D specific, though D&D, as always, will provide some good examples of what I'm talking about. In fact, a lot of it will probably concern videogames and game philosophy in general. Of course, FFZ will still make regular appearances as well.

I'll see if I can't get some examples of what I'm talking about up there tonight. If not, it's comin' soon.

For now, take a look at ALL THE STUFF that FFZ has already. See what you like, what you don't, give me some feedback, and we'll see where that airplane takes us.

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Here we have the Mystic and Pyschic jobs, and the Status rules.

These things all revolve around Statuses in FFZ: buffs & debuffs.

The Mystic is what was, until recently called "The Witch," (though it preserves some of the overtones). This one specializes in transformation status ailments -- blindness, turning you into a frog or a zombie, and generally making your body into her plaything. Similarities in FF history include a lot of the "tactics" jobs, such as the "Mystic"/"Yin-Yang"/whatever of FFTactics. As with the Astrologer, the way FFZ handles statuses means that they can contribute something even to battles where your enemy can't quite be turned into a frog.

The Psychic is a little different. Though it uses the "psychic" from X-2 International as a sort of inspiration, it more fills an FFZ-specific niche, splitting the main "status ailment" jobs in two. Because FFZ jobs are so short, and because everyone will have a sub-job, no one job can really have mastery over such a key game element. The Psychic uses mental trickery and alteration, charms and illusions.

And, of course, to support these two jobs, the Status document gives you an overview of every status ailment that appears in FFZ. Like with the items, it's not an exhaustive list, but hits the high points.

I'm thinking next time we'll see some of the tech exploration: the engineer, the vehicle rules (chocobos and airships and submarines oh my!). I'm thinking you'll also see the Breaker, which, like the psychic, is a job that mostly exists because 15 levels don't give you a heap of openings for awesome abilities. Three quesses what that guy specializes in.

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In this update, we look at the Alchemist and Astrologer jobs, and view some of the items your characters will be using.

The Alchemist was a bit hard to design. I wanted to preserve FF's "mix" mechanic, because it's so distinctive, but it was running into troubles in implementing it at the table. Great charts of item combination are pretty exhausting (not to mention page-consuming), but a random system wouldn't preserve the idea of a formula that is key to the Alchemist's flavor. The solution wound up being informed by the Stash abilities. The idea of using free items was good, so I had the Alchemist combine those free items with the elemental crystals (which are crafting items for characters) to produce a new effect (taken from the various games).

The other major issue with the alchemist was HOLY CRAP, THIS GUY WAS OVERPOWERED IN THE FF GAMES. Anyone who knew the mix list and put in the time harvesting those rare items was going to have a big payoff in the Alchemist. Unfortunately, at the table, a list and "item farming" are pretty unrealistic. I had to be very choosy about which mix abilities to include in the Alchemists' suite, and they don't have many of the more maniac abilities that alchemists from the FF games had...

...at least, not by default. New mixes are easy to introduce, after all, and having a unique item be used in a one-time mix for a tremendous effect isn't a big deal, as long as you can't repeat it.

The Astrologer suffered from a bit of a different problem...the curse of a CRPG "debuffer:" pointless in the battles that really matter.

Solving this problem reached into FFZ's philosophy about ailments, actually: immunity in FFZ isn't really "immunity", it's more "trade it for damage" (or a Delay, or some other thing you can drop). A boss may be "immune" to Instant KO, but what that really means is that if you hit the boss with Instant KO, maybe he just takes massive damage instead. And anyone else can still be hit with the actual Instant KO.

Astrologers won't be useless. Anyone who wants to pick up a few extreme gravity abilities or alter time and spce, they'll be good in every battle for something.

Items were kind of fun. I've got many more items than I put in that document, but jotting them down there helped me categorize FFZ's award system (the XP/AP split, the purpose of Gil, etc.) I like the idea of items as a gil-sink. Have a few extra coins laying around? Buy more items! Quantity won't hurt anything!

So without further adieu, you'll find this info, and the stuff that has come before, in My MediaFire folder.

Direct links:
Alchemist
Astrologer
Items

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Edit: Added a brief blurb to the Combat document, nothing too important

Hiya!

This update is all about FIGHTING! Our class is a fighter, and we have our first Rules preview: the FFZ combat system, fully spelled out for you.

First, FAQ's:

Why are you changing the names?
Savvy viewers saw that I used "Freelancer" instead of "Red Mage" in the last release, and that in the list of jobs I didn't have "white mage" or "black mage," but had "devout" and "wizard."

There are a few kind of subtle reasons I went with a less...erm...chromatic name scheme. The biggest reason is that it's easier to read, and it gives me some diversity in pacing my sentences. It also helps me avoid pigeonholing the jobs: Wizards specialize in Black Magic, but they aren't the only creatures that cast it, and to a certain degree, any creature that uses Black Magic might call themselves a Black Mage. The final big reason is that it opens up the job to do more than just that -- when you are called a "white mage," you might get pigeonholed into just casting white magic, when really your abilities are more diverse than the cure spell.

Playtest Document?
Keep paying attention here. I mean, as of today, you've got enough information to playtest the combat system at least. I hope to GM a playtest group either in person (in NYC) and online via Gametable or MapTool fairly soon (it's been a wicked busy month or two for me). My group enjoyed a few games, but this thing needs to see the broader light of day.

So, onto new business!
New job release:
The Duelist. A lot of FFTA's Fencer with a dash of Tidus from FFX. A little like a time/space/status version of the Paladin or Blackguard.

And a Rules release:
Combat. The biggest diversion in this system from d20's standard is the use of SPD as points you can spend. For those of you who want to trip and disarm, we've got the Stunts. (Disarm = attack to disable! Level 7! Trip = attack to immobilize! Level 5!). I've ditched the maneuvers system because it was overly complicated, stunts are nice and smooth.

I've also attached the files to the post!

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'oy there.

Freelancer (AKA Red Mage) comin' down the pipe at you.

Here. I've also made him an attachment on this post.

That's the total package. He's changed a little bit even after I posted Tristam's stats earlier, but the changes are mostly minor. This thing goes at a pretty good speed.

I'm beginning the stages of widespread playtesting. My idea right now is to host a few online games, using software like MapTool to get the basics down. I'll expose the general public to a lot of FFZ's ideas as players, and those who are players in these playtests I'll see about recruiting to become DM's for broader playtesting. Spread it through the grassroots, so to speak.

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For the first time since I've started this project, I actually have all the jobs done.

DONE, YOU HEAR ME!

28 jobs!

All done!

The Alchemist: Uses nifty items for free, and has a complete mix list!
The Astrologer: Gravity damage, haste/slow/stop, and the potent Meteor (and vastly deadly X-Zone!)
The Berserker: For the more aggressive player...
The Blackguard: Did somebody say Dark Knight?
The Breaker: Don't get to attached to that suit of armor!
The Dancer: It's a pain party, and your enemies are all invited!
The Devout: Healing is a minor action with a major beneit.
The Dragoon: Wait for it.....NOW DIE
The Druid: Earth, Wind and Water!
The Duellist: Can't keep up with 'em!
The Freelancer: A little bit of everything!
The Gambler: "Be Careful," they said! Ha!
The Geomancer: What you can do depends on today's forecast...
The Gunner: The man with the machine gun!
The Hunter: How many arrows do you need?
The Machinist: Sub-orbital death-beam! Check!
The Minstrel: It's amazing what you can do when the rhythm catches you...
The Monk: Furious fists and final heavens.
The Ninja: Invisible twin-sworded death!
The Paladin: A shining light of judgement into your enemies.
The Psychic: Masters of mental ailments
The Samurai: So many ways to slice up your opposition...
The Scholar: Blue magic, baby!
The Soldier: The leader of the assault!
The Thief: What's yours is mine, what's mine is mine.
The Trainer: Like Pikachu, but with more tentacles and fangs.
The Witch: Alters your body, transforming you...
The Wizard: I cast the spells that make the people fall down!

I am a machine.

I might start doing some online playtests any week now. The AP is waiting...

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