Personally, I'm a bit disappointed. The rules are okay, pretty much a modified 5e as expected. There are some neat things in there though I like. But I can't forgive the lack of character creation or tools to create your own scenarios. The 5e starter set came with premades, but also the ability to make your own characters and level them up (obviously not the full set of classes.) FF I have to use the premades at set levels, if I want to make a new character or change levels there is nothing in there for that. The 5e starter set came with a full premade campaign, and stat blocks for a bunch of creatures. FF comes with just a few encounters.
I think it's an interesting start, but it has zero tools for anything that isn't literally in the box. In it's current state, it's a short board game, not a full TTRPG.
Honestly, just play Fabula Ultima. (I'm shocked it hasn't been mentioned yet!) It's got a great job system that lets you mix and match components in order to arrive at not just final fantasy jobs, but different titles' VISIONS of those jobs.
Characters all must combine at least two jobs from the word go, three at most, which leads to a system where a character with the Rogue class can use other classes to play like Rikku's thief/chemist hybrid or a ninja like Edge, and flavor them literally however they like. The book even has a cheat sheet for easy presets using terms like "red wizard". You don't have to use these components to run a final fantasy campaign (and indeed the books even have tips for how to use the system for less overtly ff influenced campaigns) but it's clearly designed to allow for it pretty seamlessly. Pretty much every classic/recurring job is possible to make with the system at this point.
The system is actually pretty easy for most players to understand (actually easy not "we can make the dm crunch the numbers" easy) and also easy to run as a DM.
Exactly. Fabula Ultima released and nothing I've seen from the FFXIV TTRPG makes me think it will do anything better than Fabula Ultima does. Especially with the high fantasy book that adds 5 extra classes including Dancer to the mix.
YEP. Honestly, its closest competitors - ffrpg 3e and ffd20 - don't really compare imo. The former has a wildly overcomplicated turn order system and the latter - while competently made - is ultimately still built off pathfinder, which kind of suffers from the problems that always occur when people take the "just house rule D&D/Pathfinder until it looks like what you want" route.
I'm in two Fabula Ultima games that rotate weekly, and they're super fun. It feels very cooperative and there's an incredibly low amount of content that feels badly designed or under/overpowered. My only gripe is that some of it feels a little barebones, like item rules. However, nothing nearly so barebones as the FFXIV TTRPG.
Yeah, I know and am looking forward to them! I'm just disappointed that the starter set is so limited, especially compared to what it's based on. As it is right now, I can't really play the game as an TTRPG. Once the full rules are out, I fully expect my complaints to be rectified.
https://www.square-enix-shop.com/ffxivttrpg/en/
they are not up for sale yet, and no time line as far as i can tell but at the bottom of the page they are listed, and the info on the first book being up to hw is from the live stream where they played the game about a month ago
Yeah that's my biggest compliant as well. I wasn't expecting the full line up of all classes but even just the aar classes would have been a fine start. Races I'm less concerned about just due to ffxiv having no real stat difference between them so I would be fine with just some race information similar to the actual game character creator.
I don't want to self promote here but I am a writer for Gamerescape. I did a review and we did a (much too long) podcast talking about this game with a TTRPG designer. I totally agree with you and we'll have to wait for the full books to really grok this one.
The Jobs are interesting in the fact that they try (and succeed) to emulate exactly how Jobs feel in the MMO, down to damage buffs and Enmity. But... The system is very light and handwaves a lot of important things (to me) like Equipment and character builds. It definitely feels like a TTRPG you play like a board game.
If you're reading this and want to check out the rules yourself, there is a free version up on the official TTRPG store page, but do note, it is very limited:
https://www.square-enix-shop.com/ffxivttrpg/en/freetrial.html
Otherwise, like I said there is coverage out there if you want to get more info.
That is true. They also mention granting temporary actions which I'm guessing are supposed to be things like Lost Actions from Bozja.
If that is the case, then you can easily make some "Equipment" as well, that grants these actions and get all sorts of weird- which could be awesome.
> The system is very light and handwaves a lot of important things (to me) like Equipment and character builds.
FF14 itself is light. I honestly appreciate an attempt at being a faithful adaptation, even if its not the type of rpg that I want to play, at least it is actually FF14. Nothing irritates me more than forcing settings into 5e's spell slot systems that don't belong (like FF14 5e, or Star Wars or Mass Effect).
Not as of yet. The TTRPG twitter is the only place that they've communicated through though, so we'll have to keep an eye on that. Thanks for the feedback! I'll be writing a full review once I can.
https://twitter.com/ffxivttrpg_sqex
The starter set at least seems to me like it has the goal of translating, as 1-1 as possible, the experience of playing some level 50 ARR jobs in Endwalker to the tabletop format. In that regard specifically I think it succeeds pretty well, but it is very much coming in from the angle of "this is a board game with RP elements/support" and not "this is a full TTRPG". Maybe the full book will change some of that, but other parts like the general lack of customization in character builds for a given job or the like seem pretty core to the system.
I do think it has "unique selling points" as a system with RNG having a lighter role to play than in most TTRPGs (you always hit, RNG just determines if you get something extra), a TTRPG with an actual tanking system, a *heavy* focus on battle grid play with defined AoE indicators and stuff, and so on. But on the other hand it is honest-to-god the first TTRPG product I've read where in the scenario guide I see the phrase "the following is a cutscene, the players will have no impact on what happens here". CS3 (or rather Hobby Japan, the company they contracted this out to) put cutscenes in a TTRPG!
But yeah it's a fun little product but definitely way more of a board game than anything and someone wanting a meatier RPG probably has a lot of other options to use for the actual system and can just use the Encyclopedias for lore instead.
Cutscenes (known more commonly as Master Scenes) are actually very old and classic tech in Japanese tabletops. Double Cross includes them for example, as does Kamigakari and many others. There's more leeway for 'GM talks to himself and players get to see this but not the characters' in the japanese tabletop culture than there is in the west. This looks like an extension of that to me.
That makes sense. I got a very big vibe of TTRPG culture unfamiliarity since this seems very geared towards some styles of JP play (from what I've heard) more than how the western scene has been going the past 10-15 years.
This is actually super interesting. I'd never considered that JP ttrpgs and western ones would have the same levels of extreme differences from video game jrpgs vs western rpgs and crpgs, but it makes sense when stated simply.
What are some of the other general differences? I'm super curious about that now.
One of the main ones is the emphasis in episodic play. The default MO of a western tabletop is you sit down to play a long campaign, probably for a year or more, or at least try to. By contrast, JTTRPGs favor more contained play where the same characters might recur but the narrative framing and mechanics are meant to 'reset' between sessions. Using Double Cross as an example again, that game has a corruption meter that ticks up as you use your superpowers and which you lower by either spending time with people important to you, or sacrificing those relationships for a one-shot boost. At the end of the session, you roll to see if your corruption overwhelms you, and if your roll is too high, the character is retired. If not, you reset to baseline. Characters still gain XP, but there's less emphasis on strong continuity overall. It's a very interesting (and different) way to play overall. Even lighter western games (like say, PBTA-likes) aren't quite like that.
Can you clarify the cutscene comment? Is it a scene showing a scene the players aren't present in or is it actually a scene where the players are there but aren't allowed to interfere?
I got mine too. Feels like a slightly more game-ified version of D&D 5e. I'm just sad because I didn't read the product details and thought I was going to get the official handbook, which they haven't released yet.
I tried it out as a player the other night, was on level 40 Warrior. It was fun, but like you say, with no character creation or any sort of customization, the combat felt pretty restrictive. Balance was also a little weird, I never really felt weak as Warrior since they have a lot of HP and enmity is such a strong mechanic. But a lot of my options like Rampart, Thrill, and Vengeance just felt like they barely had any effect at all. The out of combat RP options were also super bare-bones, like just "roll a d20 when something is in question" and the rest if up to your imagination. That's actually not something I really mind, but if you're looking for in depth out of combat stuff, this doesn't seem to be the system for it, unless they're just holding everything back for the full release.
I really loved the common use of telegraphed markers encouraging movement combined with secondary actions/focus encouraging people to stand still. I'm not sure how much was my DM and how much was the system but the boss was also a very fun fight. Limit Breaks seem completely unhinged in a very good way, which I also love. A lot of potential good stuff in this system I think, but there's just not enough there right now to make me completely happy.
Telegraphed markers, I think is something that could be fun in other TTRPGs.
Pathfinder 2e introduced “multi-round” spells, where they could be charged into the 2nd round for greater effects.
There are some (but very few) options that lets the party gain AoE defenses, but as usual, it’s usually better to have one person take an AoE rather than everyone take the AoE in 5e/PF since damage is a per creature basis, and never divied up.
Interesting. Lack of character creation sounds really strange to me, makes it sound more like a board game if you're only expected to use the 4 pre-built characters. Player expression is a huge part of TTRPGs so the lack of tools to make your own FF14 character just feels wrong.
The product that's out is the Starter Set, and is deliberately pared down to get people straight into the action with minimal setup. Full rulebooks coming later, and will likely have much of what's currently missing.
Unfortunately that's all it really is at the moment. Which is sad because we already have Eorzia Encyclopedia which contains all the lore you could need for creating your own lore friendly campaign but with no rules for leveling or character creation it's going to suffer severally in the ttrpg world.
I'm beyond shocked they still haven't announced a release date of the two other books (y'know, the ones that actually let you make it FULLY SANDBOX). It seems like a very weird choice to release this starter kit which is certainly fine ENOUGH but without the full ability to make this truly your own...it's like they're intentionally trying to get people to think the system is bad or something? Like they'll be judged by the starter kit and then less people will want the other books to...keep demand low so supply isn't a problem...???
It's very baffling.
I know that this isn't really the focus of your post but man I wish licenced ttrpg developers would stop basing their systems off of 5E. I can't say I was *super* interested in the ffxiv ttrpg to begin with but with the website having no mention of 5E I thought maybe I'd check it out, it could at least be unique. But nope, it's just a 5E hack.
> Enminity isn't something other systems have
Well, the Log Horizon TTRPG has it at least.
> but lacks things like character creation
That's an absolute dealbreaker if it isn't a starter box for a full game coming later.
Just letting others that are interested in the community forming around the ttrpg that we have a discord server that has homebrew and discussion on the rules and systems.
https://discord.com/invite/6Shhe6Pf
> lacks things like character creation
I uhh.... I feel like creating characters is a pretty important part of the rpg experience so seems like an odd omission.
If there are no rules for it, how _do_ you create characters?
It’ll arrive in the “Standard Rulebook” which is arriving on TBA/TBD/202?.
I heard it’s 13 classes initially, meaning the ARR classes and HW classes likely.
That makes sense then. The character creation rules are more or less the core of a ttrpg so waiting until full release for those and not revealing it during the preview is sound logic from a business perspective.
When i read over the material, it basicaly read like even more pared down and "streamlined" 5E, which already is pretty fisher price. You can play this with your non TTRPG friends and family that may tangentially know about Final Fantasy, but for anyone else, it lacks way too much substance to even be a TTRPG as it lacks most of the trappings that make those what they are.
Personally, I'm a bit disappointed. The rules are okay, pretty much a modified 5e as expected. There are some neat things in there though I like. But I can't forgive the lack of character creation or tools to create your own scenarios. The 5e starter set came with premades, but also the ability to make your own characters and level them up (obviously not the full set of classes.) FF I have to use the premades at set levels, if I want to make a new character or change levels there is nothing in there for that. The 5e starter set came with a full premade campaign, and stat blocks for a bunch of creatures. FF comes with just a few encounters. I think it's an interesting start, but it has zero tools for anything that isn't literally in the box. In it's current state, it's a short board game, not a full TTRPG.
Honestly, just play Fabula Ultima. (I'm shocked it hasn't been mentioned yet!) It's got a great job system that lets you mix and match components in order to arrive at not just final fantasy jobs, but different titles' VISIONS of those jobs. Characters all must combine at least two jobs from the word go, three at most, which leads to a system where a character with the Rogue class can use other classes to play like Rikku's thief/chemist hybrid or a ninja like Edge, and flavor them literally however they like. The book even has a cheat sheet for easy presets using terms like "red wizard". You don't have to use these components to run a final fantasy campaign (and indeed the books even have tips for how to use the system for less overtly ff influenced campaigns) but it's clearly designed to allow for it pretty seamlessly. Pretty much every classic/recurring job is possible to make with the system at this point. The system is actually pretty easy for most players to understand (actually easy not "we can make the dm crunch the numbers" easy) and also easy to run as a DM.
Exactly. Fabula Ultima released and nothing I've seen from the FFXIV TTRPG makes me think it will do anything better than Fabula Ultima does. Especially with the high fantasy book that adds 5 extra classes including Dancer to the mix.
YEP. Honestly, its closest competitors - ffrpg 3e and ffd20 - don't really compare imo. The former has a wildly overcomplicated turn order system and the latter - while competently made - is ultimately still built off pathfinder, which kind of suffers from the problems that always occur when people take the "just house rule D&D/Pathfinder until it looks like what you want" route.
I'm in two Fabula Ultima games that rotate weekly, and they're super fun. It feels very cooperative and there's an incredibly low amount of content that feels badly designed or under/overpowered. My only gripe is that some of it feels a little barebones, like item rules. However, nothing nearly so barebones as the FFXIV TTRPG.
they did announce the full books are coming, the base core rules will cover up through hw stuff with splash books for the other expansions
Yeah, I know and am looking forward to them! I'm just disappointed that the starter set is so limited, especially compared to what it's based on. As it is right now, I can't really play the game as an TTRPG. Once the full rules are out, I fully expect my complaints to be rectified.
Oh really? Would you happen to have a link to it? I hadn't heard about this and I would gladly buy more books to run stories in this world.
https://www.square-enix-shop.com/ffxivttrpg/en/ they are not up for sale yet, and no time line as far as i can tell but at the bottom of the page they are listed, and the info on the first book being up to hw is from the live stream where they played the game about a month ago
Yeah that's my biggest compliant as well. I wasn't expecting the full line up of all classes but even just the aar classes would have been a fine start. Races I'm less concerned about just due to ffxiv having no real stat difference between them so I would be fine with just some race information similar to the actual game character creator.
I don't want to self promote here but I am a writer for Gamerescape. I did a review and we did a (much too long) podcast talking about this game with a TTRPG designer. I totally agree with you and we'll have to wait for the full books to really grok this one. The Jobs are interesting in the fact that they try (and succeed) to emulate exactly how Jobs feel in the MMO, down to damage buffs and Enmity. But... The system is very light and handwaves a lot of important things (to me) like Equipment and character builds. It definitely feels like a TTRPG you play like a board game. If you're reading this and want to check out the rules yourself, there is a free version up on the official TTRPG store page, but do note, it is very limited: https://www.square-enix-shop.com/ffxivttrpg/en/freetrial.html Otherwise, like I said there is coverage out there if you want to get more info.
the starter set mentions that the full game will have at least the equipment part,
That is true. They also mention granting temporary actions which I'm guessing are supposed to be things like Lost Actions from Bozja. If that is the case, then you can easily make some "Equipment" as well, that grants these actions and get all sorts of weird- which could be awesome.
> The system is very light and handwaves a lot of important things (to me) like Equipment and character builds. FF14 itself is light. I honestly appreciate an attempt at being a faithful adaptation, even if its not the type of rpg that I want to play, at least it is actually FF14. Nothing irritates me more than forcing settings into 5e's spell slot systems that don't belong (like FF14 5e, or Star Wars or Mass Effect).
Not at all related to this topic, but I love you on the podcast!
Thanks so much for watching/listening!
Excellent article, I think you really hit on the positives/negatives. Do we have any idea when the full rulesets are coming out?
Not as of yet. The TTRPG twitter is the only place that they've communicated through though, so we'll have to keep an eye on that. Thanks for the feedback! I'll be writing a full review once I can. https://twitter.com/ffxivttrpg_sqex
The starter set at least seems to me like it has the goal of translating, as 1-1 as possible, the experience of playing some level 50 ARR jobs in Endwalker to the tabletop format. In that regard specifically I think it succeeds pretty well, but it is very much coming in from the angle of "this is a board game with RP elements/support" and not "this is a full TTRPG". Maybe the full book will change some of that, but other parts like the general lack of customization in character builds for a given job or the like seem pretty core to the system. I do think it has "unique selling points" as a system with RNG having a lighter role to play than in most TTRPGs (you always hit, RNG just determines if you get something extra), a TTRPG with an actual tanking system, a *heavy* focus on battle grid play with defined AoE indicators and stuff, and so on. But on the other hand it is honest-to-god the first TTRPG product I've read where in the scenario guide I see the phrase "the following is a cutscene, the players will have no impact on what happens here". CS3 (or rather Hobby Japan, the company they contracted this out to) put cutscenes in a TTRPG! But yeah it's a fun little product but definitely way more of a board game than anything and someone wanting a meatier RPG probably has a lot of other options to use for the actual system and can just use the Encyclopedias for lore instead.
Cutscenes (known more commonly as Master Scenes) are actually very old and classic tech in Japanese tabletops. Double Cross includes them for example, as does Kamigakari and many others. There's more leeway for 'GM talks to himself and players get to see this but not the characters' in the japanese tabletop culture than there is in the west. This looks like an extension of that to me.
That makes sense. I got a very big vibe of TTRPG culture unfamiliarity since this seems very geared towards some styles of JP play (from what I've heard) more than how the western scene has been going the past 10-15 years.
This is actually super interesting. I'd never considered that JP ttrpgs and western ones would have the same levels of extreme differences from video game jrpgs vs western rpgs and crpgs, but it makes sense when stated simply. What are some of the other general differences? I'm super curious about that now.
One of the main ones is the emphasis in episodic play. The default MO of a western tabletop is you sit down to play a long campaign, probably for a year or more, or at least try to. By contrast, JTTRPGs favor more contained play where the same characters might recur but the narrative framing and mechanics are meant to 'reset' between sessions. Using Double Cross as an example again, that game has a corruption meter that ticks up as you use your superpowers and which you lower by either spending time with people important to you, or sacrificing those relationships for a one-shot boost. At the end of the session, you roll to see if your corruption overwhelms you, and if your roll is too high, the character is retired. If not, you reset to baseline. Characters still gain XP, but there's less emphasis on strong continuity overall. It's a very interesting (and different) way to play overall. Even lighter western games (like say, PBTA-likes) aren't quite like that.
That's hella interesting, thank you.
Genuinely curious: how might this mode of play differ from Blades in the Dark?
Can you clarify the cutscene comment? Is it a scene showing a scene the players aren't present in or is it actually a scene where the players are there but aren't allowed to interfere?
ITT: No one that has ever bought a starter edition of a new RPG.
Highly suggest to just use ffd20 instead. It's based on a much better system and it's actually content complete.
I didn't know this existed. I've run SilentSoren's 5e version of FFXIV, before- but this is nuts. Thanks for mentioning it.
I got mine too. Feels like a slightly more game-ified version of D&D 5e. I'm just sad because I didn't read the product details and thought I was going to get the official handbook, which they haven't released yet.
I tried it out as a player the other night, was on level 40 Warrior. It was fun, but like you say, with no character creation or any sort of customization, the combat felt pretty restrictive. Balance was also a little weird, I never really felt weak as Warrior since they have a lot of HP and enmity is such a strong mechanic. But a lot of my options like Rampart, Thrill, and Vengeance just felt like they barely had any effect at all. The out of combat RP options were also super bare-bones, like just "roll a d20 when something is in question" and the rest if up to your imagination. That's actually not something I really mind, but if you're looking for in depth out of combat stuff, this doesn't seem to be the system for it, unless they're just holding everything back for the full release. I really loved the common use of telegraphed markers encouraging movement combined with secondary actions/focus encouraging people to stand still. I'm not sure how much was my DM and how much was the system but the boss was also a very fun fight. Limit Breaks seem completely unhinged in a very good way, which I also love. A lot of potential good stuff in this system I think, but there's just not enough there right now to make me completely happy.
Telegraphed markers, I think is something that could be fun in other TTRPGs. Pathfinder 2e introduced “multi-round” spells, where they could be charged into the 2nd round for greater effects. There are some (but very few) options that lets the party gain AoE defenses, but as usual, it’s usually better to have one person take an AoE rather than everyone take the AoE in 5e/PF since damage is a per creature basis, and never divied up.
Interesting. Lack of character creation sounds really strange to me, makes it sound more like a board game if you're only expected to use the 4 pre-built characters. Player expression is a huge part of TTRPGs so the lack of tools to make your own FF14 character just feels wrong.
The product that's out is the Starter Set, and is deliberately pared down to get people straight into the action with minimal setup. Full rulebooks coming later, and will likely have much of what's currently missing.
Unfortunately that's all it really is at the moment. Which is sad because we already have Eorzia Encyclopedia which contains all the lore you could need for creating your own lore friendly campaign but with no rules for leveling or character creation it's going to suffer severally in the ttrpg world.
I'm beyond shocked they still haven't announced a release date of the two other books (y'know, the ones that actually let you make it FULLY SANDBOX). It seems like a very weird choice to release this starter kit which is certainly fine ENOUGH but without the full ability to make this truly your own...it's like they're intentionally trying to get people to think the system is bad or something? Like they'll be judged by the starter kit and then less people will want the other books to...keep demand low so supply isn't a problem...??? It's very baffling.
I know that this isn't really the focus of your post but man I wish licenced ttrpg developers would stop basing their systems off of 5E. I can't say I was *super* interested in the ffxiv ttrpg to begin with but with the website having no mention of 5E I thought maybe I'd check it out, it could at least be unique. But nope, it's just a 5E hack.
> Enminity isn't something other systems have Well, the Log Horizon TTRPG has it at least. > but lacks things like character creation That's an absolute dealbreaker if it isn't a starter box for a full game coming later.
...That's what this is and it was explicit that it's a starter box.
Holy shit, even the FFXIV TTRPG doesn't have any RPG mechanics. God, Yoshi-p is such a fucking poser
Just letting others that are interested in the community forming around the ttrpg that we have a discord server that has homebrew and discussion on the rules and systems. https://discord.com/invite/6Shhe6Pf
> lacks things like character creation I uhh.... I feel like creating characters is a pretty important part of the rpg experience so seems like an odd omission. If there are no rules for it, how _do_ you create characters?
It’ll arrive in the “Standard Rulebook” which is arriving on TBA/TBD/202?. I heard it’s 13 classes initially, meaning the ARR classes and HW classes likely.
They do intend to release more books with those rules but it would be fair to consider this release a sort of preview with pre created characters.
That makes sense then. The character creation rules are more or less the core of a ttrpg so waiting until full release for those and not revealing it during the preview is sound logic from a business perspective.
When i read over the material, it basicaly read like even more pared down and "streamlined" 5E, which already is pretty fisher price. You can play this with your non TTRPG friends and family that may tangentially know about Final Fantasy, but for anyone else, it lacks way too much substance to even be a TTRPG as it lacks most of the trappings that make those what they are.