Adapting FFXIV to a tabletop/P&P game

[Teryaani]

I've used Eorzea as a backdrop for a pathfinder game in the past and an upcoming game session had me thinking, what tabletop game would work best to simulate the feel of FFXIV?

The two that immediately come to mind for me are Pathfinder, assuming you don't want to incorporate the multiclassing/soulstone mechanic and Mutants and Masterminds which can simulate the soulstone mechanic using an array, but otherwise is a harder sell.

Any other folks using other game systems for a pen-and-paper (or tablet and laptop) Final Fantasy XIV game?

[Avenger]

I haven't tried any of these FFXIV to tabletop rules, but they look pretty cool:

FFXIV to D&D 5e: http://silentsorengames.weebly.com/d...w-content.html
FFXIV to D&D 3.5: https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme.../dd_35_eorzea/
Generic FF to d20/Pathfinder: http://www.finalfantasyd20.com/ffd20/index.html

The first one is just amazing I think in its production quality! It feels like a mini lore book.

Regarding feel... I kind of think D&D 4e, since it's often criticized for being overly MMO-like and has lots of powerful at-will skills for all classes. I think FFXIV's tank-dps-healer roles could possibly be mapped/adapted to become 4e roles as well (4e did have a role system, e.g. controller/striker/etc..) [ I also think 4e doesn't get enough love, kind of like FF8 and 13. ;-) ]

[Terrini]

I miss the old Returners FFRPG system, it was completely fan-made with stats for FF Races from the entire series - Creimire (Burmecians FF9), Viera, Galka, Mithra, TaruTaru, Elvaan, Hume, Nu Mou, Dwarf... And many rules besides. but it lost support and the site went dead, I think I might still have the PDFs somewhere, but it wasn't a system without faults.

I don't really see FF being a d20 system (Returners FFRPG was a d100 system). It's been a long time since I used a d20 system too... I'm currently doing most of my RP in Narratives Unlimited d10 made by a friend of mine and it's a really nice system, but it has no levels so it's hard to incorporate something like Final Fantasy (although I have been tempted in making FFXIV for it! I even started with trying to stat out races and converting certain principles, but I'm not a mathematician for crunching the numbers for balance) - but NUd10 is a great system for developing individual character traits and roleplaying elements. Converting FF Magic would be difficult though...

[Avenger]

A system-independent aside: the Encyclopaedia Eorzea is an excellent reference that I would definitely recommend as a sourcebook for any Eorzea-based tabletop RPG campaign! It's very well done and full of articles and pictures on topics from Aetherology to Zodiark. (Though sadly there's no alphabetical index! And the Eorzean script is sadly largely absent.) Although it's $50, there is a lot of content and the production quality is better than most "deluxe" RPG books. It would be nice if they had a PDF version though to add to your digital library of RPG source material and rules.

I expect a lot of information from this tome will make it into the FFXIV wikis over the next few weeks/months, but it's still great as an offline reference, enjoyable to read on its own, and I think it's something that could stand the test of time as an RPG setting sourcebook and something that inspires all sorts of adventures, both in Eorzea and beyond!

[Avenger]

Adapting magic and skills is definitely a challenge - how do you keep the flavor of FFXIV while making it compatible with a turn-based system and not becoming ridiculously unwieldy or over/underpowered? Two of the approaches above seem to favor keeping the native magic system from the source RPG but adding FFXIV-flavored spells or buffs that are compatible with it, which seems likely to work OK. You could also just rename/reskin existing skills. I'd have to think about it more, but I think an alternative system might be able to make many spells and skills at-will (with OGCD probably being per encounter or per day), but might add some ordering or other usage restrictions. One nice thing about D&D is that it already has levels, HP, damage, critical hits, ability scores, etc. - in fact those things originated in D&D/tabletop and migrated into computer games!

One thing I would like to look at someday is the Diablo II D&D (2.5e?!) tabletop game - I'd like to see how they mapped levels and skill trees and also how the action RPG combat and spellcasting was converted to a turn-based semi-board game. Though looking at reviews on Amazon it seems like it might be pretty simplified.

Other RPG board games that might be worth looking at/Eorzifying include Wrath of Ashardalon (wrath of Nidhogg?), Castle Ravenloft (Haukke Manor?) or Talisman (which sadly I've never played but which looks cool.)