JFrombaugh

It would be amusing (and a fun RP hook) to be the "straight man" to stereotypical Lominsans -- the one who always orders milk or water at the bar, keeps his nose in a book even as a bar fight goes on around him, turns down alcohol whenever it's offered, etc. In fact, I imagine many arcanists fall into that category, given the level of study required to be a maths-wielding linguist customs agent with a magic squirrel. So I guess one of the fundamental differences between Arcanist and Thaumaturge (other than their methods of casting), is that using getting a Masters Degree/PhD as an analogy, Arcanists study really hard to get all those As, while Thaumaturges manage to graduate simply because they had natural talent in their field of study. Arguably the most awesome description of an arcanist ever. As to the original question posed, I'd honestly suggest not to allow in-game NPC commentary sway you to/from a character concept, any more than you'd allow the in-game main storyline quests to dictate your character's story or personality. As a "newbie" RPer, that is probably one of the biggest traps I fall into. I just remember that LLs storyline is the only part of the game where it is implied that the PC inherited a love of drinking from the bartender who sends you out on a good portion of the Main scenario quests.

No, you completely misunderstood. My character is not into drinking to begin with, for the reasons I listed. And I was asking if maybe that would be a reason to choose Gridania or Ul'dah instead.

As we all know, practically every Limsa Lominsan in the game is shown to be a wine & ale swilling alcoholic. If I remember correctly, in LL's Main Scenario quests, whenever your character gets a vision from the Echo, everyone else thinks that you passed out because you drank too much. IMO a Disciple of Magic character (especially an Arcanist) *probably* would not like this, as so much binge drinking tends to do badly for the brain and for mood in general, two things that I know are both keys to becoming a good mage. So do you think this would be a reason for me to choose a Conjurer or Thaumaturge instead? Or would it be that hard to just suspend disbelief?

I don't mean which would make more sense in terms of levelling. I mean which of the two backgrounds do you think would work better given the prerquisites I've already created for my character's personality, the way she would react to each, etc. assuming that whichever city she spent the first 15 levels in IC may influence her decisions on some things. I have all three leveled to 50 in OOC sense, but for IC, only one or two can be selected.

Well, I've been narrowing down my choice of class and background story for my character. I've come down to two options, and here are the pros and cons of each in terms of what I can see: 1. Starting Town: Gridania Class: Conjurer & Thaumaturge Pros -Would make sense as a starting city; Miranda could be drawn to the forest for the beauty -The harsh treatment could be used as a story device in terms of explaining how Miranda decided to take up Thaumaturgy as a necessary means of defense against further injury. -She may feel that Conjury and Thaumaturgy are more "natural" and easy to learn, given that she is ruled by her heart more than her head -I have a meaningful possible last name, Koyo: It means autumn colors, which represents her two classes (life and death, much like how autumn lies between the fullness of summer and the dormancy of winter) Cons -Since Gridania is the most prejudiced towards adventuers, while Ul'dah is the most unscrupulous, bitterness and cynicism would definitely form the core of Miranda's theme. She would find herself questioning her closest friends and allies as much as her enemies. -Not everyone seems to accept that characters can learn multiple classes IC, in any case she probably would be a jack of all trades and master of none 2. Starting Town: Limsa Lominsa Class: Summoner or Scholar Pros -Limsa Lominsa makes the most sense in terms of Miranda being an Adventurer who values her own freedom, seeing as how many people immigrate there to begin with by ship. (Plus it's the most tolerant city of outsiders) -Both of the two Job classes offer Miranda an excellent opportunity to be a unique traveling version of each allied with the Scions, especially Summoner (Many have said that SMN makes the most sense from a storyline perspective) -Y'shtola would probably be the most "ideal" of the Archons for Miranda to work with. -In addtion, the Arcanists seem more trustworthy than the others, which would be a possible background on how she got interested to begin with. Maybe she just didn't want to have to deal with the (often corrupt) religious tidings of the other two. Cons -Personality-wise, Miranda isn't really compatible with most Limsa Lominsans. She would probably see their straight-talking as a sign of their social coarseness, and being an introvert at heart, she would not be interested in the parties and drinking. -Not that the other two cities are any better, but they may be more ideal in terms of practicing her art because of the isolated nature of the CNJ and THM guilds, as opposed to the Arcanist Guild's emphasis on practical application in the field. -Because Arcanima is nation-locked to Limsa Lominsa, being one of the two Job classes would be more or less required. FYI, the two FF characters I've most based Miranda off of are Rydia and Terra. So...advice on which do you think would be better?

Believe it or not, when I first did the storyline I paid very little attention to the bigger picture of things - I simply assumed that Scholar was more or less an ancient caster version of Dragoon and because of the arcane design of the spells they used, it would pretty much nullify the point of becoming one if you didn't intend to be a "military woman". This assumption is rather easy for a guy like me since in games like WoW, being a chauvinistic "soldier" is very much a stereotype, if not a hard fast rule. AFAIK, Arcanists ARE "nation-locked", but from the storyline's point of view this only lasts until level 30, plus there IS the old Guildmaster who just "chose" to leave and now enjoys playing games with people. (That's another thing I've just now picked up on, while obviously people can choose to RP an Arcanist any way they want to, in the story it is implied that the PC is actually fairly aloof, for instance on my second playthrough I realized that the old Guildmaster "didn't expect you to be so shy" when you find him later than expected due to apparently balking at the dancing. And even in the final SCH quest, the operation is largely "led" by the other Marauders.)

The common recurring theme for the Scholar Job in the series is a military tactician who wields magic based around this. FFXIV's, although the fairies make it unique, was no exception according to Alka Zolka's translations. The funny thing is, if you look at every Job in this game, pretty much ALL of them had some significant role in a military in the past, or still do today: WHM & BLM - The overuse of both of these arts in warfare was what caused the aether flows to dry up, thus leading to the 6th Umbral Era. DRG & MNK - Were/are elite soldiers of Ishgard and Ala Mhigo respectively BRD - Is a Job designed around motivating soldiers in battle PLD & WAR - Fighting is obviously everything to both of these Jobs The only one that isn't very clear is SMN. So that begs the question: If I'm RPing my character to be mostly an independent Adventurer who wants to fight for the greater good, yet isn't well suited personality-wise to being a "military woman" per se, is SCH actually a better fit than I realize, given that it doesn't really exist today and therefore isn't bound to serve a city state in the same way as a WHM or DRG would be?

As anyone who's played this game will know, the City States are plagued with NPCs who are rude, bossy, and unappreciative to everyone, both Players and other NPCs alike, and on the rare occasion that someone (such as Y'shtola) even acknowledges this, it's simply passed off as tough love. With this level of tendency towards rude comments and threats I myself would probably not last even 5 levels as an Adventurer without incurring a lawsuit of some kind. It's been awhile since I've played them, but from what I remember in FFs 1-10, the protagonists (with a couple exceptions) were a lot more unambiguously "good" than the City States, and cared about the feelings of the people they interacted with, whereas it is quite apparent that 80% of Eorzea's population does not. The real kicker is that from what I've heard from veteran players of this game, 1.0 was even worse about this than ARR!!! If that's true, then I hate to think what Eorzea must have been like back then... I've never played FFXIII, but I've heard that it featured a much darker universe than past games, and many of the characters in that game rubbed a lot of people up the wrong way.

To answer your question about whether or not Job-level mastery would be necessary for my character... I would say that if I go the route of Conjury and Thaumaturgy, then I don't think it would be necessary to make her a combination WHM/BLM. As it's been confirmed, the arts are outlawed and require a very high level of trust to be allowed to wield even without a Soul Crystal. Plus, all you're really missing out on is Holy, Flare, and a number of support skills. SMN and SCH, however, I would say would both be pretty important to Miranda's background and personality. For one thing, Arcanists are strongly tied to Limsa Lomina as cargo inspectors, and second, the Jobs both have unique storylines that would tie in very well to joining the Scions - especially Summoner as you decide to help out the researcher so that you can learn some ancient secrets about dealing with the primals.

This is some advice a person on a different forum had for me: "I do not know how far you've delved into the 2.1 sections of the story, but I'm quite confident Miranda would be fiercely pleased to have a role in the Scions by the end of story at present. Philosophically its right on track. Having said that the quarreling and bickering of the Cities and the politics of infighting promised in the next patch will likely make some fascinating story fodder for you. Miranda could easily be a cnj, thm and arc. Jobs wise as stated above, each job leaves room for your character to be an independent, itinerant version of each. The Paladin is told to not be a servant sworn to the Sultana, but to all people for example. The jobs most in keeping however, are indeed Whm (not fully committed to Gridania's vision but blessed by THE whm guru to serve beyond), Blm (a wizard who weilds destructive power but using it to safeguard the world from the void). Or Smn (a rebel researcher seeking the lost arts as a way of fighting the primals). All of them allow an off the beaten path direction for storycraft and I think a clever enough effort could write two or three of them into one interpid soul. Why however? What is her passion? What is she protecting, what is worth going to war for her?" Other RPers, however, seem to think that lorewise, it is very difficult if not impossible for a character to be a Job class and that the storylines are just a way of telling a story to make you feel powerful. So what do you think? Would it be pushing Mary Sue territory to have one or two Job classes IC?

I was going more by the Jobs rather than the arts. But another explanation many people have on the subject is that even if a character DOES canonically know the abilities from the WHM storyline, that still doesn't qualify them as a true White Mage because they only bothered to learn what the Padjal deemed the least damaging and most fitting for them. 80% of the spells you use still come from Conjury after all, and Ken-E-Senna is the most powerful Padjal despite (presumably) not actually knowing any White Magic. But, you could also make a strong case for the Job storylines not being "canon". The problem with that is that it's Black Magic that's used for balance (sealing the Voidgate and other portals to the void) while Thaumaturgy is simply used as a means of offense. The other problem with planning Miranda out to be a Red Mage is that (obviously) it hasn't been confirmed that the storyline will be unlocked through maxxing out both the WHM and BLM soul crystals, nor that the final Red Mage will use abilities from both base classes. Yoshi-P simply stated in an early interview that this could be a possible way of implementing classes that he really wants to do eventually, such as Samurai and Red Mage. But if he decides it would be easier to make it a Job for a new Fencer class that simply uses magical weapon buffs (and is thus different from a classic Red Mage), then it all comes down to gameplay design. Personally I would really like to see something similar to the Harbinger soul from RIFT. He could have access to abilities like Blaze Spikes and Enfire that allow him to add elemental power to his melee attacks whilst also having combo ability buffs that allow him to weave CNJ and THM abilities into his melee rotation for extra damage and self-healing. There might be a unique weapon obtained from the Soul Crystal similar to artifact gear, as well as a Cleric Stance-type buff to get around the problem of Intelligence and Strength.

If I decided to go this route with my character, here's what I'd do for a background story: Miranda learned Conjury first on the grounds that it appealed most to her, and she was drawn to the beauty of the forest. But the longer she stayed in the Black Shroud, the more she realized how arrogant and sometimes downright hostile towards adventurers Gridanians are. Over time she became increasingly disillusioned, guarded and aloof, and eventually she saw how Papalymo still fought to protect Gridania despite being a Thaumaturge. So she decided to learn Thaumaturgy in secret, outside of the Twelvewsood, both out of curiosity and as a necessary means of fending for herself. As she reached the advanced levels of both, this led her to have a sort of idealistic rebel against the Padjal, believing that both White and Black Magic can be used for good, in a role that calls for balance in the world, all without letting the wrong person know and getting excommunicated. Or she could have left the official order on her own accord upon joining the Scions, thus leaving her free to practice her arts on her own. Like Spiritual Machine said, I doubt that Job-level mastery of both will be required lorewise to become a Red Mage, and it would allow me to ignore the fact that Miranda wouldn't particularly get along well with the higher up WHMs. Another cool part of this background story is that I'm thinking about making Miranda's last name "Koyo" (Japanese for fall colors). This would be a very meaningful name given that the season Autumn lies between Summer (peak of life) and Winter (death), and as a season it is also often associated with melancholia. But if it would be hard to live a lie and soon she would be found out, I guess Arcanist would work too.

Red Mages are a FF tradition - someone who can wield black and white magic together but not as good as their more specialized counterparts. Sages are basically advanced Red Mages that are extremely rare. There's many instances of FF characters using both, but it seems like XIV is a universe where it is far less possible than others. Many players have leveled WHM and BLM to Level 50 so they could heal and DPS on the same character, but do you think it would be possible to be a practitioner of both White and Black magic in an In-character sense? Both schools seem to be at odds both in the past and present from what I've read, and even though Thamaturgy uses one's own aether, I highly doubt the elementals and the Padjal would be fine at all with my character's justification for drawing power from the Void. I was wondering about this because I had an idea of my character wanting to learn both for the purposes of aetherial balance and eventually accepting as a Scion that both are useful and vital to the balance in their own way, without having to deal with the dogmas of the guilds. It could also allow her to bypass the Job sections of the questlines in a RP sense. Plus it was at one time rumored that one way to unlock Red Mage could be to have both BLM and WHM at 50. I would guess the lore behind Red Mages will probably be that they used to be elite soldiers who used both back in the days of the War of the Magi, but with those days long gone and the arts outlawed, few if any exist today, and in any case we haven't found a Soul Crystal or someone who could teach us yet.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, Miranda is not 100% "free" in that she would not willingly violate any law or contract when she felt like it, the way some Adventurers presumably would. However, she is still fairly independent-minded and emotionally sensitive by nature, and one of her core beliefs is that respect is not something that should have to be earned. I guess you could make the argument that Miranda has unrealistic expectations of the world as a whole (and that could be considered one of her flaws), but the fact remains that Raya-O-Senna loses her cool and verbally manhandles her poor Moggle minions AFTER she had already warned you that you must always control your negative emotions so as not to misuse White Magic as in the past. I think Miranda would catch onto this and sever all ties with those two Padjal after the cleansing ritual is complete, thus possibly incurring the wrath of the elementals, getting exiled from Gridania, or both. Working with the beastmen BLMs and in turn realizing that not all beastmen are bad, on the other hand, would likely be a pleasant surprise for Miranda, and it would fit her independent outcast persona. What I meant was that I thought the Thaumaturges' Guild represented both aspects of Nald'thal, and consequently they answered more to the Syndicate than to Thal (thus why Ququruka refers to them as "heretics").

I always knew Shatotto (who many people believe to really be Shantotto from an earlier time period) was a twisted old loony, but I never knew she started this whole War of the Magi stuff. It doesn't help that Ul'dah borders on being a fascist state thanks to the corruption of the Syndicate either... And your post really confirms also that, even though Twin Adder is the Grand Company she most agrees with and she likely would initially find Conjury appealing, White Magic would NOT be the best choice for Miranda, because like I said she would probably feel sorry for Sylphie, and eventually fall out once she realized that there's more than a few reasons to believe that the Padjal are not as friendly and peaceful as they seem. Maybe the others were actually on to something when they said that the Arcanist classes would be the best fit...

I've long had this bizarre thought and felt that some fellow FF RPers should see it. Let's say that you have a choice for something to do to prove yourself, akin to a Detour in the Amazing Race. You can either: 1. Meet the following Final Fantasy characters: -Terra -Celes -Tidus -Yuna -Minfilia Each will come, one at a time & in a random order, to your house by means of a void portal. You will spend approximately 30 minutes talking to, and getting to know, each character before they leave and the next one arrives. 2. Ride the new for 2013 Iron Rattler roller coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. This is a revamped version of the original Rattler wooden coaster which uses steel topper track, allowing the ride to have a corkscrew halfway through and do other overbanked maneuvers. Height: 180ft First Drop: 170ft at 81 degrees Top Speed: 70mph Length: 3,266ft Offride video: So, which one would you be more nervous about doing? Personally, I'd say the roller coaster. I would definitely be nervous about meeting FF characters (just like meeting celebrities), but that Iron Rattler? Oh HELL NO. That was way too scary just watching the video!

Thanks to all who replied. That's interesting that Scholar magicks come from the fairies themselves, I always assumed that the fairies were just sort of like healing versions of a Carbuncle and spells like Adloquium and Succor were advanced Arcanima created by the Nymian Scholars for purposes of protecting the people on the front lines - similar to how a Dragoon's Jumps are designed to pierce dragon armor. It's also a pretty major point that a Scholar can choose to be independent of the city states due to the art being extinct (unlike a WHM who IS more or less "bound to serve" the Padjal, at least until the ritual in the Level 50 quest is completed).

My character Miranda is mostly Melancholic but also somewhat Phlegmatic & either a Red Mage, BLM, or a combination SMN/SCH, I haven't decided which yet. Just in general, though, I would say the vast majority of Eorzeans are Choleric.

I don't know how many people on this site have heard of the four temepraments, but I was just wondering how well they would relate to classes in this game. Basically it was the ancient belief that a person's personality was determined by the balance of four key body fluids. Each one dictated a different general personality archetype, and you can read about them all here: http://archive.fighunter.com/?page=temperaments So ignoring that fact that personality is not a hard fast rule for class, which classes, in terms of a general stereotype, do you think best correspond to each of the temperaments? I personally would say: Choleric - Probably any Disciple of War class Melancholic - THM, ACN Phlegmatic - CNJ, Crafting classes Sanguine - BRD

Actually, I firmly believe that lorewise a BLM is more than capable of beating a Maruader. Heck, they could probably decimate an entire army with a well placed Flare. Remember how Terra roasted 50 Imperial soldiers in just a few minutes with her fire magic? And then there's Shatotto from the Relic quest who accordng to legend destroyed an entire star with her power and the fragments were used to create Stardust Rods. But yes, the storyline implies that it was not just the Scholars' unique protective magics, but also their extensive knowledge of battlefield tactics, that really did the trick as far as allowing Nym to hold its own.

Just my two Gil also, but I personally think that if SE had intended for it to be galvanizing in the emotional sense, the effect would be something more along the lines of a Haste effect, rather than "A magicked barrier is nullifying damage". Until I looked into it more deeply, I just assumed that the "stereotypical" personality of Scholar was like a mix of Arcanist and Dragoon, and that Nym was the ancient equivalent of Coerthas. But I know that one poster on a different forum said, "It's certainly conceivable that a number of the Nymian Scholars were in fact very similar to Jedi Consular from SWTOR". For those of you who haven't played, the Jedi Consular is like a healer Jedi - your character is very coolheaded and wise, studies all the time, is willing to do anything for peace. Your storyline involves finding and healing sick Jedi at first, but as the war between Republic and Empire heats up, you go on to prove yourself to be a valuable diplomat and visionary leader, and the final Chapter involves recruiting planetary allies for the Republic and basically becoming this Jedi that the soldiers tell, "Yes, we will follow you to the seat of the Empire and beyond". Believe me, so am I. I would say that regardless of class choice, however, Miranda's personality is actually very well suited to the Main Scenario storyline, as it does eventually go into depth about the bickering between the city states, and using your abilities for the greater good & not just your starting city, etc.

As we all know, Scholars used to be the military strategists of Nym. Which brigns up a number of questions: 1. In the storyline, you pretty much are the one who happens to find the stone to release the fairies and learn SCH magic from, so presumably you would not receive the same level of tactical military training as an actual Nymian Scholar would have. On top of that, in modern day Limsa Lominsa, the bulk of the military leadership is in the hands of the Marauders, even if the Arcanists may sometimes help out with strategy. So for purposes of RPing, would it be acceptable for a Player Character Scholar to be more or less just your typical healer? Could they still be an Adventurer and/or work for the Scions rather than the Maelstrom/Yellowjackets? 2. The Patron Diety of Nym was Oschon, the god of vagrants or nomads. Patron Dieties have always played a significant role in the culture and beliefs of city states; do you think that because of this, Nym was very tolerant of outsiders and Adventurers in its day? 3. The word "Adloquium" is actually Latin for "encouragement" - I looked it up. So do you think the Galvanize barrier effect is a reference to galvanized steel reinforcement, or does the word choice more or less confirm the fact that casting the spell involves verbally motivating the person you cast it on? 4. The war Nym partook in involved magical warfare, which is partly why it was so amazing that its army of Marauders with no magical training managed to hold their own. Do you think it's possible that many of the "would-be conquerers" Nym repelled were actually WHMs and BLMs from the days before those magics were banned? 5. In one of the quests it's confirmed that Scholars took on the role of doctors during times of peace. To me this suggests that most of them were probably very friendly and peaceful folks, because if they were warmongers, wouldn't their activities during peacetime involve coming up with battle plans to invade neighboring city states and expand Nym as a whole?

Mind you, it's not like the other city states are much, if any, less arrogant. If it weren't for her close friends in her guild and in the Scions, Miranda would have probably ended up just like the Dark Summoner from the Summoner story. Seriously, besides WoW, this is the only MMO I have ever played where I have honestly felt sorry for my own character. As for my choice of class though, I haven't locked in my decision yet, but I think right now I'm leaning towards a combination of WHM and BLM, or Red Mage when it's released. I could see a good background story about Miranda being initially drawn to Gridania/Conjury for the beauty of the forest and the apparent peacefulness of the art, but then learning hard lessons throughout her time as an Adventurer which have the effect of galvanizing her into taking up Thaumaturgy as a necessary means of fending for herself. That would also explain having Archer as a subjob for BLM, if she wanted to learn it but left out of resentment for Silviarre's abusiveness. Then again, the Arcanists are generally less arrogant overall and the Job storylines involve a one on one friendship with a unique questgiver who helps you rediscover those lost arts. Decisions, decisions!

This. You'll get a good feeling for the storylines of each guild this way. If I may make a purely gameplay/mechanical suggestion, take at least 26 levels of thaumaturge. Swiftcast is a must have if you decide to go a healing route. Actually, I have levelled all three to 50. That's why it's such a hard decision. For me, I would say all three are fun to play in their own right for gameplay purposes, but for RPing, I need to choose one, maybe at most two, as being her "canon" Job. I started out as a Conjurer and initially felt it would by far be the most appealing lorewise, but the more you quest in the Black Shroud area, the more you realize how bloody arrogant the Elezen are. And in the WHM story, not only is the brother Padjal (forget his name) just as arrogant and discriminating as the Wildwoods, but Raya-O-Senna actually warns you to never give in to your anger...only to do exactly that herself when you discover A-Towa-Cant's grave has been ransacked. That was what I meant when I said that Miranda would be appalled to see the two most powerful and trusted Padjal after Ken-E-Senna, acting like those Wildwoods she had come to resent earlier in the story. In the THM storyline after Level 15, the corruption of that Lalalefell who wanted to become a THM himself but lacked the necessary talent clearly illustrates the dangers of the art. Meeting the beastmen BLMs is fun and interesting, but there's the whole disciple of Nald'thal part as well. The two Arcanist Jobs would allow her to be completely unique in her own category, seeing as how they are past arts lost to the ages, but I have to ask myself...would she find Arcanima interesting enough from the get go to take up a part-time job as a cargo inspector? The Arcanist Guild seems to emphasize the practical application of their art in the field more so than the other DoMs, whose storylines are more about your training.

Okay, well, assuming none of them have a personality archetype or requirement, the dillemma is this - I would say all three disciplines have pros and cons: -Conjury is the school of magic Miranda would probably be the most interested in; I'd say their beliefs are most similar to hers as well. However, Gridania isn't known for tolerating outsiders, and she would be appalled to see the two Padjal WHMs acting like those arrogant questgivers she opposed. -Limsa Lominsa is more accepting of adventures, and the Arcanist's Guild doesn't worship a particular god. However, it is still a tough and militant town of pirates and thugs, and I'm not sure how well Miranda would like doing cargo inspection as a job while learning her art... -With these revelations, Thaumaturgy makes the most sense as an art Miranda would take up as a necessary means of fending for herself, but the guild itself has a lot of internal corruption going on, and in many ways Ul'dah represents the worst aspects of Gridania and Limsa Lominsa combined. It's interesting to hear that Thaumaturges aren't as strongly associated with Ul'dah as the other DoMs are with their cities though... What I meant was, since Miranda's temperament is not very well suited to being a commanding officer in a military order, wouldn't that pretty much disqualify her from becoming a Scholar?