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Sarina Alyne · **09-15-2015, 10:12 AM**

I've been roleplaying for many years, and have only just started to get into roleplaying on FFXIV (Balmung). However, before I start searching for roleplay, I figured it would be logical to ask a few lore-related questions to avoid annoying anybody.

Obviously, I realize that any integration with the story is taboo- yet I must ask how the job system works into it. My character is a White Mage, and it is a pretty significant part of her character. Would that generally be accepted in some manner?

Thank you in advance.

FreelanceWizard · **09-15-2015, 10:23 AM**

(09-15-2015, 10:12 AM)Harmony Wrote: Obviously, I realize that any integration with the story is taboo- yet I must ask how the job system works into it. My character is a White Mage, and it is a pretty significant part of her character. Would that generally be accepted in some manner?

This is a pretty hot and oft discussed topic. Just search "white mage lore" here and you'll see. Smile

Given the lore around White Mage -- which largely revolves around how the singular Warrior of Light is the only non-Padjal to have been taught it in centuries -- you need to have a pretty solid explanation for how you got access to a power that at least one group (the Padjal) indisputably tries to restrict. The devs have confirmed that there are other means to access Succor, but those means may or may not be bad (depending on how you interpret what they've said). Even with a good explanation of how you learned it, there will be groups of RPers that won't accept the claim.

One thing I guess I'd ask is, given how tied White Mage is to Gridania's politics and lore, and how restrictive the job lore is, does it buy you a lot narratively to be a White Mage instead of, say, a powerful conjurer? The job White Mage comes with a lot of baggage, whereas a powerful conjurer can do essentially anything a White Mage can do. Even the White Mage "job spells," like Regen, can be worked around in RP (it's magic amplified through another discipline, it's a new spell I created/researched, it's a magical item/magitek item/Allagan artifact, and so on). It's just that the source of their aether is a bit different.

EDIT: To your larger question, not all jobs are as restrictive as WHM. In fact, in 3.x, I'd argue it's an anomaly, now. Some jobs are actively and openly taught, some are being revived by various groups, and some are esoteric but still within reach. WHM stands alone as basically inaccessible without some serious narrative dancing and making some "big asks" of fellow RPers.

Sarina Alyne · **09-15-2015, 10:38 AM**

(09-15-2015, 10:23 AM)FreelanceWizard Wrote:
(09-15-2015, 10:12 AM)Harmony Wrote: Obviously, I realize that any integration with the story is taboo- yet I must ask how the job system works into it. My character is a White Mage, and it is a pretty significant part of her character. Would that generally be accepted in some manner?

This is a pretty hot and oft discussed topic. Just search "white mage lore" here and you'll see. Given the lore around White Mage -- which largely revolves around how the singular Warrior of Light is the only non-Padjal to have been taught it in centuries -- you need to have a pretty solid explanation for how you got access to a power that at least one group (the Padjal) indisputably tries to restrict. The devs have confirmed that there are other means to access Succor, but those means may or may not be bad (depending on how you interpret what they've said). Even with a good explanation of how you learned it, there will be groups of RPers that won't accept the claim.

One thing I guess I'd ask is, given how tied White Mage is to Gridania's politics and lore, and how restrictive the job lore is, does it buy you a lot narratively to be a White Mage instead of, say, a powerful conjurer? The job White Mage comes with a lot of baggage, whereas a powerful conjurer can do essentially anything a White Mage can do. Even the White Mage "job spells," like Regen, can be worked around in RP (it's magic amplified through another discipline, it's a new spell I created/researched, it's a magical item/magitek item/Allagan artifact, and so on). It's just that the source of their aether is a bit different.

EDIT: To your larger question, not all jobs are as restrictive as WHM. In fact, in 3.x, I'd argue it's an anomaly, now. Some jobs are actively and openly taught, some are being revived by various groups, and some are esoteric but still within reach. WHM stands alone as basically inaccessible without some serious narrative dancing and making some "big asks" of fellow RPers.

Thank you for the swift and detailed reply! Everything you have said makes complete sense, and I did have a feeling that this sort of thing would be taboo in the FFXIV roleplay community. The last thing I wanted to do was get into trouble!Â [Image: laugh.gif]

With that being the case, I'll make some major modifications to my character's backstory and develop a Conjurer version of her exclusively for in-game roleplay.

(EDIT: Completely messed up the quote in the original post.)

SaintEaon · **09-15-2015, 10:50 AM**

Other jobs do weird stuff like this too. The Dark Knight storyline between 30 and 50 establishes stuff that in theory you could do in character that is just bonkers. Not only is it out there insane if you RP'd half of it with people who haven't read up on it or experienced it themselves they'd probably accuse you of some manner of BS just because it sounds sooooo unreal if someone explains it to you. (PM me if you want to know but there are serious spoilers in it so I'm not gonna go into too much detail here)

Sounsyy · **09-15-2015, 11:12 AM**

Freelance, as usual, did a beautiful summary of some of the inherent difficulties involving the lore of White Mages. Instead of basically repeating what he said, I'm going to post a few links to the lore behind Conjurers, White Mages, and Padjal and those should clarify most of the gritty details I think. But feel free to let us know if you have further lore questions! ^^

Conjurer Focused Lore
-Conjurer Attire and What the Robe's Color Signifies
-Conjurer and Hearer Lore with Link to CNJ Questline
-Communication with the Elementals
-The Conjurers' Elemental Wheel
-Hedge Trees
-Woodsin Lore Compilation
-What happened to Woodsin?
-Elemental Lore
-Practices of CNJ vs WHM
-Spell Casting Lore
-Stillglade Fane Lore

White Mage Focused Lore
-Padjal Lore
-Padjal Horns Lore
-Is White Magic Even Common Knowledge?
-Lost City of Amdapor Lore
-White Mage Lore
(This thread was sparked by the Amdapor one above. It essentially argued whether Succor is the Elemental's magic that was gifted to the Amdaporians and later the Padjal, or was it originally invented by the Amdaporians and stolen by the Elementals and then regifted to the Gridanians when the Elementals made the Padjal. It's a bit of a read, but there is lore in there somewhere.)

Well-bundled Adventurer Wrote:If you are planning to stay a while, you might want to learn a bit about the elementals.
They reside within all creation, and are the organizing principle at work throughout the world.
The ancient elementals of the Twelveswood are much more powerful and wise than those from other parts of the world.

Hope this helps! ^^

Sarina Alyne · **09-15-2015, 11:22 AM**

(09-15-2015, 11:12 AM)Sounsyy Wrote: Freelance, as usual, did a beautiful summary of some of the inherent difficulties involving the lore of White Mages. Instead of basically repeating what he said, I'm going to post a few links to the lore behind Conjurers, White Mages, and Padjal and those should clarify most of the gritty details I think. But feel free to let us know if you have further lore questions! ^^

Conjurer Focused Lore
-Conjurer Attire and What the Robe's Color Signifies
-Conjurer and Hearer Lore with Link to CNJ Questline
-Communication with the Elementals
-The Conjurers' Elemental Wheel
-Hedge Trees
-What happened to Woodsin?

White Mage Focused Lore
-Padjal Lore
-Is White Magic Even Common Knowledge?
-Lost City of Amdapor Lore
-White Mage Lore
(This thread was sparked by the Amdapor one above. It essentially argued whether Succor is the Elemental's magic that was gifted to the Amdaporians and later the Padjal, or was it originally invented by the Amdaporians and stolen by the Elementals and then regifted to the Gridanians when the Elementals made the Padjal. It's a bit of a read, but there is lore in there somewhere.)

Hope this helps! ^^

Thank you for the great references! I'll be sure to read through everything (Particularly the Conjurer-focused material) to ensure my character remains lore-friendly.

Hammersmith · **09-15-2015, 11:24 AM**

Echoing what's been said above. Â WHM is a tough cookie to swallow if you load it up as it's framed in pure lore.

It's way easier to be a 'white magic' practitioner, which can be seen as a "white mage" by others.Â

AKA: "I don't make people explode when I do magic"

It's a fairly common hearth wisdom way of looking at magic, and could easily be used.

But the moment someone says succor it's probably a good idea to back away slowly.

Warren Castille · **09-15-2015, 11:39 AM**

XIV does a pretty good job in general of throwing off everyone with the lore for iconic jobs.

White Mages aren't healers, they're spirit politicians. Paladins aren't holy knights, they're royal guards. Black mages are entirely outlawed on pain of death because they kill the planet. Dragoons are more than just dragon killers, and dragoons (lower-case letter!) are just dragon killers. Dark Knights aren't fueled by darkness like every other incarnation. For every job that plays it straight (Warrior is still Angry Axe Guy, Monk is still Punch Things Hard, Ninja is still weeb fodder ninja as you'd expect it) there's one other that throws a curve.

Bearclaw · **12-14-2015, 09:44 PM**

(09-15-2015, 11:39 AM)Warren Castille Wrote: XIV does a pretty good job in general of throwing off everyone with the lore for iconic jobs.

White Mages aren't healers, they're spirit politicians. Paladins aren't holy knights, they're royal guards. Black mages are entirely outlawed on pain of death because they kill the planet. Dragoons are more than just dragon killers, and dragoons (lower-case letter!) are just dragon killers. Dark Knights aren't fueled by darkness like every other incarnation. For every job that plays it straight (Warrior is still Angry Axe Guy, Monk is still Punch Things Hard, Ninja is still weeb fodder ninja as you'd expect it) there's one other that throws a curve.

I mean the paladin class lore you become is a free paladin, which is just sworn to your own oath instead of being sworn to the Sultana. They're more unique in that the paladins you play as in XIV aren't sworn to any religious order or royal order and basically just have a personal oath to abide by instead. So I'd argue it's even more different than what you're stating!

Kellach Woods · **12-14-2015, 09:57 PM**

I'd debate that Warrior was never angry axe guy, and that they essentially put Berserker into Warrior because otherwise the class would have no flavor.

Warren Castille · **12-14-2015, 10:22 PM**

(12-14-2015, 09:44 PM)Bearclaw Wrote:
(09-15-2015, 11:39 AM)Warren Castille Wrote: XIV does a pretty good job in general of throwing off everyone with the lore for iconic jobs.

White Mages aren't healers, they're spirit politicians. Paladins aren't holy knights, they're royal guards. Black mages are entirely outlawed on pain of death because they kill the planet. Dragoons are more than just dragon killers, and dragoons (lower-case letter!) are just dragon killers. Dark Knights aren't fueled by darkness like every other incarnation. For every job that plays it straight (Warrior is still Angry Axe Guy, Monk is still Punch Things Hard, Ninja is still weeb fodder ninja as you'd expect it) there's one other that throws a curve.

I mean the paladin class lore you become is a free paladin, which is just sworn to your own oath instead of being sworn to the Sultana. They're more unique in that the paladins you play as in XIV aren't sworn to any religious order or royal order and basically just have a personal oath to abide by instead. So I'd argue it's even more different than what you're stating!

On the one hand, I appreciate more depth than the usual "You are now <job>" stuff. On the other hand, White Mages aren't usually Forest Janitors. Everyone else maintains the niche, but WHM is really out there.

(12-14-2015, 09:57 PM)Kellach Woods Wrote: I'd debate that Warrior was never angry axe guy, and that they essentially put Berserker into Warrior because otherwise the class would have no flavor.

Almost all of XIV's Warrior skills are named after FFXI Warrior skills and abilities, and XI is my immediate comparison mindset.

Sarina Alyne · **03-12-2016, 03:20 AM**

I suppose I should revive this thread given the recent addition of Modern Vocation to the game/world which, presumably, allows those not specifically trained in certain arts to learn the ways of forgotten battle techniques.

Again, I am particularly interested in the presence of White Mages in FFXIV roleplay, which I was told earlier in this thread and from other sources is a very taboo job considering the greatly political nature of the job and the exclusivity of the magic. Has Modern VocationÂ been considered for roleplay use at all? And if so, what is the general consensus from the community when it comes to using this as a means to have exclusive jobs easier to explain/accessible for normal characters?

Thank you for your time!

Edit: This thread probably belongs in FFXIV Discussion now, if somebody has a chance to move it!

***Teadrinker*** · **03-12-2016, 03:58 AM**

Eh.

Modern Vocation kinda falls into the "Game Mechanics don't equal Lore" category in my estimation but to each their own.

Sarina Alyne · **03-12-2016, 01:51 PM**

(03-12-2016, 03:58 AM)Teadrinker Wrote: Eh.

Modern Vocation kinda falls into the "Game Mechanics don't equal Lore" category in my estimation but to each their own.

That's what I assumed, but I thought it might be prudent to mention it.

LiadansWhisper · **03-12-2016, 04:39 PM**

(03-12-2016, 03:20 AM)Sarina Alyne Wrote: I suppose I should revive this thread given the recent addition of Modern Vocation to the game/world which, presumably, allows those not specifically trained in certain arts to learn the ways of forgotten battle techniques.

Again, I am particularly interested in the presence of White Mages in FFXIV roleplay, which I was told earlier in this thread and from other sources is a very taboo job considering the greatly political nature of the job and the exclusivity of the magic. Has Modern VocationÂ been considered for roleplay use at all? And if so, what is the general consensus from the community when it comes to using this as a means to have exclusive jobs easier to explain/accessible for normal characters?

Thank you for your time!

Edit: This thread probably belongs in FFXIV Discussion now, if somebody has a chance to move it!

I believe it basically falls into game mechanics, not lore itself.

That said, if you are truly wanting to play a White Mage for whatever reason, it's possible. Just tell a story that's convincing. Come up with a good story for how your character was chosen by the Padjal or the Elements (or got a hold of an Amdapori Soulstone) to be trained. And then play it.

Some people will be cool with it. Some people won't be. With most, it will depend on how convincing your story is, and how well you play it out.

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FFXIV jobs in RP

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes