teslas
2011-01-03, 07:00 AM
EDIT 07/31/12-
Still going strong, though all the below links are almost assuredly broken or out of date. If you'd like the material, send me a PM on here. I'll eventually make a new GitP post.
EDIT 10/06/11-
We're still working on this, though it has slowed temporarily during our infatuation with Minecraft. The original links to the materials are probably broken, but the main two PDFs, spells and classes, have been added in below them.
EDIT 01/28/11-
There are currently two play-tests going. One is with myself and the other creator's friends in a basement. The other has not yet begun and is a Play-by-Post. We still require one person for the PbP.
EDIT 08/12/16-
Still alive, but it seems as if none of the content of this thread is.
[/SPOILER]
What is it?
We have created Final Fantasy 1 in a d20 context. This includes campaign guidelines, class descriptions, a magic system overhaul, and a status effect appendix.
Everything not overridden by changes, basically only spells and classes, remains as your familiar 3.5 D&D.
Why play this?
1. If you're a fan of the older Final Fantasy games, or at least have fond memories of them, this campaign might have a special place in your heart. That being said, no prior knowledge to the actual Final Fantasy 1 game is needed for the players. Not had a chance to play it? Want to revisit the classic? Here's your chance to go back and experience it in arguably the second best way.
2. This is a fairly simple chunk of material for most of you out there. The entire Players Handbook can easily be read and discussed in one set-up session. If you've a working knowledge of the d20 system and an hour of spare time you've enough time to roll up a character and get going. This makes for an absolutely superb introduction into the d20 tabletop gaming environment for new players or a person newly interested in becoming a DM. This is especially so if they enjoy job-based FF.
3. Even though the system is "simple," all of the classes are designed to be somewhat flexible. There is plenty of room to put into your character's development if you enjoy the character sheet game (I do). You are not pigeonholed into a singular aspect of your class.
Major Influences.
1. Final Fantasy 1. Spell names, class names, the world, everything we possibly could we drew from Final Fantasy 1.
2. Final Fantasy 11. Many of our campaign's defining features were drawn from, or influenced heavily by, the only Final Fantasy intended for multiple players*. The game itself draws very heavily upon the themes, ideas, and precedents set by the early Final Fantasy games much much more so than the latter ones. Also, my degree should instead probably come saying, "Bachelor's of Red Mage."
3. WotC materials (you know, apart from the d20 core, of course). A lesser example is Drow of the Underdark which really, really elaborates on the section of the game we're currently experiencing. A greater one: Stormwrack. Ships. Rules. Pirates. Stuff. Good Stuff.
4.Cheap Vodka. It's cheap.
*Final Fantasy 14 never happened and you shut up right now.
How is this different from vanilla D&D, core or otherwise?
Before anything else, the game may feel much more "Core" than even core D&D might feel. The Climb skill, optimizers might say, that is useless because of wizards or a wand of Fly? No. Everyone having Freedom of Movement effects? No. Will it be TPK because they don't? No. Spiked Chains, three thousand all-purpose CoDzilla spells, and fighters and monks feeling useless? Nope, no, and negative.
1. MP system. Regaining MP is similar to regaining spells/day. There is also a new corresponding group of home-brewed feats for spellcasters.
2. Magic overhaul. There are 150 unique spells of which around 90 of the are actually unique effects and not higher level re-hashes. Even the higher level re-hashes (IE: Fire vs. Fire III) are rarely the same thing with only larger numbers. Speaking of direct damaging magic: no elemental spell is simply "I do this much electricity damage." All of them have unique aspects and carrier effects.
3. All classes may feel generally more powerful than their vanilla counterparts. Somewhat obviously, FF1 Fighters and D&D Fighters can have a lot in common. Moreso for D&D Monks and FF1 Black Belts--except this one is actually good at punching things to death. Classes start with slightly higher base Hit Points and are granted more active and passive class features than what you'd see in the 3.5 players' handbook.
That being said, any non-sheisty material and most generally-accepted WotC source for player feats and customization easily finds itself into the campaign.
I'll post our suggested allowances/houserules in a subsequent post.
4. Going by the Tier System, every class is roughly a highly, highly functioning Tier 4, especially in comparison with the world's challenges. Especially creative mages would easily scratch Tier 3. It almost pains me to attempt these comparisons, as they are not quite accurate ones.
Is this only one campaign?
Short Answer:
Yes. And you know that's a loaded question anyway.
Long Answer:
Yes, but it's a long one. Quite long. We are well past our tenth play-testing session (played as an actual campaign) and have yet to see but a fraction of the world. A competent DM wishing to allow the players to savor the experience can easily create dozens of immersions and side quests--including suggestions contained in the DMG.
Do you want something faster? Forget them. Go save the world. You don't even have to grind on forest imps.
Where is this stuff currently viewable?
Contained entirely inside Google Wave. We have found google's tool invaluable. Keeping Wave discussion short here, I'll be sad to see official support for it go later this year.
If you'd wish to access what is currently available, an account for wave is extremely easy to make. All it takes is an email address (which you don't have to check or confirm) and thirty seconds. Post in the thread or contact me via forum message with your wave name and I can add you to the waves. We will be exporting the first draft to HTML for general purpose posting once the Player's Handbook is finished, probably before the end of the month.
EDIT 1/18/11:
We'll be posting exported PDFs online for viewing soon enough. Don't bother with a wave account.
Current Play-testing/Development Status.
Game Mechanics/System: 95%
Fluff and Prettiness: 25%
World/Dungeon Literal Elaboration: 15%
The D&D community I'm involved with locally (seven dudes) revels in creating dungeons and environments and utilizing their own imagination. We're creating the DMG assuming the same is true for everyone.
Current Play-testing party status
Our party: Fighter, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage.
Character Level 7th.
Inside the Marsh Cave, where the it's becoming extremely challenging.
We're damn glad we chose to bring a White Mage. We're terrified of enemy spell-casters. We spend too much money on consumables. Seems pretty right-on for a D&D meets FF mesh to me.
The Player's Handbook is 90% complete. And when I say 90% I mean it's playable now. It's just not formatted to my OCD's liking. One of my co-conspirators is adding fluff to a lot of the classes now.
The DMG is not in a workable, viewable state, but there is plenty of content. It will be the smallest of the three "books," as basically all necessary content will be inside of the PHB.
The Monster Manual is being completed concurrently with play-testing. It contains suggested attributes for the enemies, random encounter tables, and suggested behavior. I know that some of you Dungeon Masters and FF fans out there may rarely look at the MM, instead preferring to roll tons of it yourself. Awesome.
It has been in development for five months, with hot periods of rapid development and tweaking when we have time.
Why did I post about it before actually posting anything?
Because we wouldn't mind someone else looking at it. It might make sense to us, but we've been staring at it for 5 months. What about other people? Having written most of the spells, I can explain to the people I'm playing with what each one does if they have any questions. Would it make sense otherwise?
Also, god(s) forbid someone else actually having a good time with our campaign. We figured if we were going to dump a crap ton of nerd-hours into this, someone else might want a crack at it as well.
Thank you for your time.
edit-
I edit things a lot. These rarely matter.
Still going strong, though all the below links are almost assuredly broken or out of date. If you'd like the material, send me a PM on here. I'll eventually make a new GitP post.
EDIT 10/06/11-
We're still working on this, though it has slowed temporarily during our infatuation with Minecraft. The original links to the materials are probably broken, but the main two PDFs, spells and classes, have been added in below them.
EDIT 01/28/11-
There are currently two play-tests going. One is with myself and the other creator's friends in a basement. The other has not yet begun and is a Play-by-Post. We still require one person for the PbP.
EDIT 08/12/16-
Still alive, but it seems as if none of the content of this thread is.
[/SPOILER]
What is it?
We have created Final Fantasy 1 in a d20 context. This includes campaign guidelines, class descriptions, a magic system overhaul, and a status effect appendix.
Everything not overridden by changes, basically only spells and classes, remains as your familiar 3.5 D&D.
Why play this?
1. If you're a fan of the older Final Fantasy games, or at least have fond memories of them, this campaign might have a special place in your heart. That being said, no prior knowledge to the actual Final Fantasy 1 game is needed for the players. Not had a chance to play it? Want to revisit the classic? Here's your chance to go back and experience it in arguably the second best way.
2. This is a fairly simple chunk of material for most of you out there. The entire Players Handbook can easily be read and discussed in one set-up session. If you've a working knowledge of the d20 system and an hour of spare time you've enough time to roll up a character and get going. This makes for an absolutely superb introduction into the d20 tabletop gaming environment for new players or a person newly interested in becoming a DM. This is especially so if they enjoy job-based FF.
3. Even though the system is "simple," all of the classes are designed to be somewhat flexible. There is plenty of room to put into your character's development if you enjoy the character sheet game (I do). You are not pigeonholed into a singular aspect of your class.
Major Influences.
1. Final Fantasy 1. Spell names, class names, the world, everything we possibly could we drew from Final Fantasy 1.
2. Final Fantasy 11. Many of our campaign's defining features were drawn from, or influenced heavily by, the only Final Fantasy intended for multiple players*. The game itself draws very heavily upon the themes, ideas, and precedents set by the early Final Fantasy games much much more so than the latter ones. Also, my degree should instead probably come saying, "Bachelor's of Red Mage."
3. WotC materials (you know, apart from the d20 core, of course). A lesser example is Drow of the Underdark which really, really elaborates on the section of the game we're currently experiencing. A greater one: Stormwrack. Ships. Rules. Pirates. Stuff. Good Stuff.
4.Cheap Vodka. It's cheap.
*Final Fantasy 14 never happened and you shut up right now.
How is this different from vanilla D&D, core or otherwise?
Before anything else, the game may feel much more "Core" than even core D&D might feel. The Climb skill, optimizers might say, that is useless because of wizards or a wand of Fly? No. Everyone having Freedom of Movement effects? No. Will it be TPK because they don't? No. Spiked Chains, three thousand all-purpose CoDzilla spells, and fighters and monks feeling useless? Nope, no, and negative.
1. MP system. Regaining MP is similar to regaining spells/day. There is also a new corresponding group of home-brewed feats for spellcasters.
2. Magic overhaul. There are 150 unique spells of which around 90 of the are actually unique effects and not higher level re-hashes. Even the higher level re-hashes (IE: Fire vs. Fire III) are rarely the same thing with only larger numbers. Speaking of direct damaging magic: no elemental spell is simply "I do this much electricity damage." All of them have unique aspects and carrier effects.
3. All classes may feel generally more powerful than their vanilla counterparts. Somewhat obviously, FF1 Fighters and D&D Fighters can have a lot in common. Moreso for D&D Monks and FF1 Black Belts--except this one is actually good at punching things to death. Classes start with slightly higher base Hit Points and are granted more active and passive class features than what you'd see in the 3.5 players' handbook.
That being said, any non-sheisty material and most generally-accepted WotC source for player feats and customization easily finds itself into the campaign.
I'll post our suggested allowances/houserules in a subsequent post.
4. Going by the Tier System, every class is roughly a highly, highly functioning Tier 4, especially in comparison with the world's challenges. Especially creative mages would easily scratch Tier 3. It almost pains me to attempt these comparisons, as they are not quite accurate ones.
Is this only one campaign?
Short Answer:
Yes. And you know that's a loaded question anyway.
Long Answer:
Yes, but it's a long one. Quite long. We are well past our tenth play-testing session (played as an actual campaign) and have yet to see but a fraction of the world. A competent DM wishing to allow the players to savor the experience can easily create dozens of immersions and side quests--including suggestions contained in the DMG.
Do you want something faster? Forget them. Go save the world. You don't even have to grind on forest imps.
Where is this stuff currently viewable?
Contained entirely inside Google Wave. We have found google's tool invaluable. Keeping Wave discussion short here, I'll be sad to see official support for it go later this year.
If you'd wish to access what is currently available, an account for wave is extremely easy to make. All it takes is an email address (which you don't have to check or confirm) and thirty seconds. Post in the thread or contact me via forum message with your wave name and I can add you to the waves. We will be exporting the first draft to HTML for general purpose posting once the Player's Handbook is finished, probably before the end of the month.
EDIT 1/18/11:
We'll be posting exported PDFs online for viewing soon enough. Don't bother with a wave account.
Current Play-testing/Development Status.
Game Mechanics/System: 95%
Fluff and Prettiness: 25%
World/Dungeon Literal Elaboration: 15%
The D&D community I'm involved with locally (seven dudes) revels in creating dungeons and environments and utilizing their own imagination. We're creating the DMG assuming the same is true for everyone.
Current Play-testing party status
Our party: Fighter, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage.
Character Level 7th.
Inside the Marsh Cave, where the it's becoming extremely challenging.
We're damn glad we chose to bring a White Mage. We're terrified of enemy spell-casters. We spend too much money on consumables. Seems pretty right-on for a D&D meets FF mesh to me.
The Player's Handbook is 90% complete. And when I say 90% I mean it's playable now. It's just not formatted to my OCD's liking. One of my co-conspirators is adding fluff to a lot of the classes now.
The DMG is not in a workable, viewable state, but there is plenty of content. It will be the smallest of the three "books," as basically all necessary content will be inside of the PHB.
The Monster Manual is being completed concurrently with play-testing. It contains suggested attributes for the enemies, random encounter tables, and suggested behavior. I know that some of you Dungeon Masters and FF fans out there may rarely look at the MM, instead preferring to roll tons of it yourself. Awesome.
It has been in development for five months, with hot periods of rapid development and tweaking when we have time.
Why did I post about it before actually posting anything?
Because we wouldn't mind someone else looking at it. It might make sense to us, but we've been staring at it for 5 months. What about other people? Having written most of the spells, I can explain to the people I'm playing with what each one does if they have any questions. Would it make sense otherwise?
Also, god(s) forbid someone else actually having a good time with our campaign. We figured if we were going to dump a crap ton of nerd-hours into this, someone else might want a crack at it as well.
Thank you for your time.
edit-
I edit things a lot. These rarely matter.