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I've played FF XIV on a PC and Xbox in the last few years. I like most of the FF games (which is why I posted something about playing FF XVI a few days ago). But one thing I've been thinking about, is why don't we have an FF tabletop RPG? as FF XIV is now 11 years old!
Well, there is, it's been coming for a well, and may soon be here (June 21st). At the moment they have created some free versions (Players and GM Books) that allow us to look at how the game will work. But soon this month, hopefully, there will be the Starter Box arriving for some folks.
So, first thing what's in the starter box? It looks pretty good:
Player Book:
This beginner-friendly book contains everything a new player needs to learn the ropes and rules of roleplaying games.
Gamemaster Book:
This handbook offers tips and advice for budding game masters, and includes three ready-to-run premade scenarios that tie in directly to Final Fantasy XlV's main story.
Premade Character Sheets:
4 Premade Full-color Character Sheets (Warrior, White Mage, Dragoon, Black Mage)
Custom Design Dice:
6d20 & 10d6 (16 in total)
Rules Summary & Strategy Guide
Encounter Map
Character Tokens
Ability Markers
There are only 4 characters, but most games now (including D&D) are for 4 characters in the group and looking through the characters you get here, Warrior (Tank), Dragon (DPS Melee), White Mage (Healer) and Black Mage (Caster) means that group has most of the abilities (well I hope).
16 dice though, wow, that's because to make checks you have to make a d20 roll, and it has to be equal to the Challenge Rating or above (very much like Modiphius's 2D20 ruleset)
The Challenge Rating is quite easy to remember, each step is 5, so Easy is 5, Average is 10, Hard is 15 and so on up to Nearly Impossible at 30.
Of course, you get modifiers (and penalties) to your roll based on traits and abilities, plus some abilities allow you to roll extra d20s and then pick which dice value you want.
This is just a starter set and looks like a basic starter set. The player's book looks pretty thin, the GM's book rules about how to run the 3 scenarios, and to help that there are tokens and maps - enough to understand what the game is about. However, the scenarios, it says they are from the Online Games' Main Story, which means if you've played the game recently (or before) you may know what will happen! Plus you only get 4 characters/jobs (classes) and there are 21 of them in the current online game.
But, the cost is £50.99. Yes, just over fifty pounds! This is a lot more costly than any other starter set you'll see, and it contains less! If you buy the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying 4e starter set, there's a min-campaign inside plus most of the rules, same with Dragonbane...
We must remember, that this is new and maybe after a while and direct from Square Enix, so when other retailers get the box, the price may drop. I'll wait to see if I feel the starter set is worth it when it arrives in the UK via the other retailers.
Coming later will be the full rulebooks, can't say when, as the 2nd Wave of the starter set is due in September, but for the moment you can find free versions of them here: https://www.square-enix-shop.com/ffxivttrpg/en/freetrial.html
So if you're a fan of the Final Fantasy games and want it as a Tabletop RPG then it could soon be in your hand.
