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Have you ever played one of the Final Fantasy video games and wished that you could have your own adventures, struggling against the perils of Mount Ordeals in the search of redemption or fighting against the forces of the Gestahl Empire for control of the power of magic? Pen and paper role-playing games give you just that opportunity, and the Final Fantasy RPG is the first of its kind to capture the 'feel' of Square's landmark series, developed over six years through e-mail, playtested over IRC and in PBEMs -- and best of all, 100% free. Despite its name, the Final Fantasy RPG can also be used to recreate numerous other video games, such as Shining Force and Secret of Mana; more are being added all the time. |
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What do I need to play the FFRPG, then? |
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Check the Rules page for the link to the most current rules. Beyond this, more material -- including character sheets and other essentials -- can be found in the Resources section. Pick out what you like and make arrangements on how to use it.
If you are running a traditional pen-and-paper session, you will want to print out a few copies of a character sheet and have a hard copy of the Core Rulebook to hand so you and the other players can refer to it during the game. You will also need dice, and plenty of them: playing the FFRPG will require at least three d6, one d8, two d10 and two d12, though additional d6, d8 and d10 are recommended. You can buy dice of various shapes and sizes at almost any major hobby shop, and some comic stores as well; these shouldn't run up to more than $10 for a full set unless you feel like spending money on gimmicks like glow-in-the-dark dice. Alternatively, you can use the program Windice to make rolls for you.
If you plan on playing the game via IRC, you will need to have a client to access it -- mIRC is one popular choice for PCs, though any number of other free alternatives exist. You will also need a dice script or something similar to roll dice; this should be enough to handle most IRC games. PBEM games generally only require the ability to receive and send e-mail; free webmail services like GMail can create a mailing account with a minimum of hassle. |
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How can I play the FFRPG? |
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Depending on which side you take, your needs may be slightly different. As a player, the only thing you need to do is find a person willing to act as a GM; a GM, on the other hand, may need anywhere from two to eight players in order to run a proper session. Consider where you want to play the FFRPG -- off-line, the easiest way to run a session is to find a group of players, usually friends, and make arrangements to meet at somebody's house and play for a few hours. This is by far the best way to run any role-playing game; more than anything else, pen-and-paper RPGs are intended to be social games. If finding people to play with becomes a problem, most schools and universities will usually have role-playing clubs and societies where prospective players can get in touch with like-minded people; some comic stores and most hobby stores will also run similar services, aside from being a natural place to meet and get friendly with fellow roleplayers.
On-line, things are a little easier. The two most popular methods of role-playing are through Internet Relay Chat (IRC) or Play-by-E-mail (PBEM). IRC, while being replaced by and by with the more user-friendly Instant Messaging (IM), still remains a viable way to play. Finding players or a GM in IRC can be somewhat difficult due to the large number of available channels, but searching through the available RPG and general role-playing channels is a good place to start. Alternatively, some FFRPG players favour OpenRPG for their web-based games. PBEM games are somewhat different, as these involve posting actions and messages in e-mail form to a general list to be sorted out by the GM responsible. PBEM games by nature tend to be a great deal slower than the alternatives -- sometimes it can take as long as a week or more just to get through one 'scene'.
In both cases, our own message boards, available through the navbar above, offer a separate forum for advertising games; if you are interested in running a FFRPG campaign and are looking for players or hope to play yourself, 'Game Announcements' is the best place to start. |
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Do I need to join a mailing list? |
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No. While RGi maintains several mailing lists for various FFRPG-related purposes, joining them is not compulsory for getting involved in discussion.
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What about the message board? |
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The official RGi message board is home to a wealth of FFRPG-related discussion, ranging from Worldbook debate to brainstorming on new rules and material. New members are always welcome, provided they keep the following in mind:
The forum is a development board first and foremost. Don't register if you don't intend to post anything other than off-topic discussion; our bandwidth is limited and development posts take priority over everything else.
Pruning is in effect. Threads will be periodically cleaned up to remove off-topic posts, asides and outdated material. If posts disappear, this is the most likely reason behind it.
If you become involved in development discussion, you'll quickly find that FFRPG developers have their own specialised terminology which may be somewhat confusing at first. Some of the more abstract expressions have been listed below for easy reference.
AFAIK -- acronym for 'as far as I know'.
buff -- a positive Status Condition.
build -- a character template designed to emphasise specific attributes of the character's Job.
canon -- part of the Final Fantasy series proper, and thus considered fair game for the Core Rulebook.
chargen -- character generation.
CT -- acronym for 'Charge Time'.
core -- abbreviation for the Core Rulebook. 'core' can also be used to describe any rule, Job, Race, or other material included in the Rulebook.
crunch -- hard rules and mechanics.
fanon -- portmanteau of 'fan-created canon'.
fix -- a term used to describe a change in the rules or mechanics made to solve a particular problem.
fluff -- color and flavor text.
heretic -- the opposite of a 'purist', a term generally used to describe any developer who doesn't mind abandoning the Final Fantasy console games when looking for new ideas of fixes to present ones, and may even bring in material from other, unrelated games to take up the slack.
house rule -- a rule which is not presented in the Core Rulebook, as used by a particular GM or developer in their own games.
HTH -- acronym for 'Hope that helps'.
IIRC -- acronym for 'If I recall correctly'.
IMHO -- acronym for 'in my humble opinion'.
lore -- color and flavor text from the e-games themselves.
munchkin -- any player who flagrantly exploits loopholes in a basic ruleset for their own benefit, regardless of the effect this has on game balance.
nerf -- changing the rules to drastically reduce the power of Job, Spell, Skill or item that is perceived to be overpowered in regards to others of its kind.
OOC -- normally an acronym for 'Out of character'. Also used to signify 'Out of combat'.
ORD -- acronym for 'Optional Rules Depot', the old name for the Resources section.
OTOH -- acronym for 'on the other hand'.
PCPing, PCPed -- term used to describe NPCs and PCs suddenly gaining massive amounts of HP and attack power upon switching sides and attacking the party.
power -- alternate name for an Ability.
purist -- term generally used to describe any developer who holds the original Final Fantasy console games as ultimate canon and prefers not to deviate from their basic mechanics and ideas.
spliffing -- putting a Job together from two or more existing Ability set.
TGTSNBM -- 'The Game That Shall Not Be Mentioned', AKA Dungeons & Dragons.
WHC -- acronym for 'White Caller'.
WHM -- acronym for 'White Mage'.
More information is available on the message boards themselves.
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How can I get involved with developing the FFRPG? |
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Once you have had the chance to get familiar with the FFRPG itself and run a few sessions, you may want to get involved in helping to develop the game and its supplements. The main venue for this is the the Returnergames.com message board, but you may also want to drop by #returners during one of the development sessions. Either way gives you an opportunity to share your ideas with the rest of the FFRPG developing community for commentary and feedback.
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What can I work on? Are there any particular guidelines for new material? |
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While the FFRPG is always open to change, there are limitations to what will and will not be accepted. The Core Rulebook is particularly rigid in that regard, as there is no real need to add a great deal of material to the present rules; at the most, writeups designed to solve specific problems with the core or balance existing rules. New material for other supplements should be along the lines of the material presently included in those supplements, while unrelated material -- new Jobs, Spells, rules and other material based around the FFRPG rules but not necessarily compatible with the core releases -- can always be put up on the Wiki.
Note that when submitting an idea -- either as a 'proposal', that is, a rough idea, or a 'writeup', which is more detailed and presented in a format that could easily be included into the Core or Supplements -- you are in essence making a sales pitch; your task is to present an concept and convince others that it is worth using. As a result, it may be worth your time to do a little playtesting and polishing before sending everything out the door.
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What about Worldbooks? |
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Worldbooks operate a little differently, as they expand the core FFRPG rules by providing detailed information in regards to using the basic FFRPG mechanics to recreate another 'gaming world', most usually based on another console RPG. For those who would rather not get involved with core development, Worldbooks offer another viable venue for participation in the FFRPG. This is a fairly time-intensive undertaking -- it may make more sense to gather a group of like-minded FFRPG players to help write material and iron out new rules when starting a Worldbook. Full guidelines and a list of current Worldbooks in progress can be found on the Worldbooks page. Check the list of current Worldbooks before starting a new project to avoid potential conflicts.
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How are new ideas actually implemented? Who makes the decisions?
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As far as actually bringing a concept into the FFRPG is concerned, the final decision is always in the hands of the editors. Those additions which are accepted into the core will usually be polished by the relevant editor and rewritten as necessary before being added into the next release; however, due to the gaps between subsequent editions, this may take some time. Writeups which have merit but no real place in the Core or Supplements are added to the Resources as time permits.
With Worldbooks, on the other hand, the editor in charge is entirely responsible for finding webspace and putting the associated files on-line, though the website staff can provide space and HTML assistance to make a worldbook accessible to the FFRPG community. Contact details for the website staff are listed on the Contact page.
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How do I get credited?
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Development credits are awarded at the discretion of the editorial staff for any submitted writeup which ends up being incorporated into the core rules. Support credits are offered for consistently useful commentary and feedback on released material. Separate credits are also offered to playtesters who provide useful data for revision purposes.
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What can I do if I have more questions?
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The FAQ covers many other topics pertaining to the FFRPG and its developers; chances are you'll be able to find an answer there. For rules-related queries, please use the 'Questions and Answers' forum on the message boards.
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