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Hyrist · **06-10-2015, 12:03 PM**

On the subject of Summoner, my FC actually spent a good deal of time pondering over the quandary of how a person could come across the essence of a primal without subjecting themselves to combat and defeat it.

As a Free Company, we wished to preserve the sense of danger and threat associated with the Primals. In this effect, our Primal plots (which are considered core storyline for the FC) are fairly extensive. Weeks of RPed preparation, the battle itself is a multi-day rp oocly. NPCs die and at least one PC is walking away with major if not critical injuries. Primals are not something we 'farm'. Therefore simply going back and facing the Primal again wasn't something likely to happen with us (although independent members of the FC have Personal Canon that they get recruited for subsequent returns of said Primals.)Â

OOCly, we want to impress upon theses newer members the danger of the Primals, as well as encourage them to interact with our members. However, at the same time we don't want to deprive them of a mechanic other members of the FC have due to participating with us. Also my standing policy on the matter of Jobs is something my FC tends to agree with - if it's accessible in game we don't want to just offhandedly prevent them form using it ICly, obstructive lore be damned.

So we presented the problem ICly for players to RP and mull over for a time, before coming up with our own solution. (Which I won't spoil here, PM me if you're interested in know what we came up with.) In the end, we were quite happy with what we came up with in the existing lore, and it helped expand our roleplays without trampling on what we've done or the policies we've set for ourselves, but instead reinforcing and celebrating them.

Trying to draw a line where fun and fair meet isn't easy, but it's always worthwhile.

LiadansWhisper · **06-10-2015, 02:19 PM**

(06-10-2015, 01:11 AM)Nako Wrote: To be fair, SCH is one of the easier ones to justify, over the other three Jobs, that is.

I may put together an IC run for it soon. My character has a reason to go poking around the ruins.

I was actually going to say this. Â Scholar is pretty open in comparison to, say, White Mage. Â All you really need is to find a Codex or stumble across a fairy soulstone (or both).

Nebbs · **06-10-2015, 02:28 PM**

Soooo...

You can try for a Scholar IC and there are pros and cons to that.

One alternative I would suggest is throw the archetype "class/jobs" out of the window. Use the fact that they provide some meta information of what is possible and decide instead what your character would be.

ArchaeologistÂ
Healer
Fairy fanatic
Witch/Warlock

Maybe the fairy found you but was vague and ghostly until you found the stone?

There are many ways to spin it and still justify the powers, but not the label.

Scorpio Shirica · **06-10-2015, 03:15 PM**

Scorpio is something of a renaissance character, someone interested in everything. Of course, this means he's not quite the expert in any one thing. However, I'm leveling all the disciplines of the hand and land on him and a well educated type seems to fit that more. Calling him a healer isn't quite adequate, nor an Archaeologist, because he also loves to fish and cook. Â

It's part of what got him exiled. It's why when people ask him what he does, instead of listing everything, he simply states he's a "scholar of all things Hydaelyn."Â

Even being an all-around er, he's not without weaknesses. Cultural norms are something of an enigma to him, only learning them through books. He's not particularly strong or agile, depending on his Carbunkle to save his life more than a few times, etc. He can get so absorbed in studying or focused on something, that danger can nearly end him before he reacts.Â

But I'm glad to hear that scholars seems to be much more justifiable than I feared originally. I can see the merit of keeping faeries hidden most times. Probably only let a select few know, like perhaps the company he joins... once he knows he can trust them, that sort of thing.

Sounsyy · **06-10-2015, 05:32 PM**

I'm of the opinion that every job can be swung ICly with a good enough backstory. Just that the "Jobs" require a bit more attention to detail. And not always because you have to sneak around legality or forbidden-ness either. Like how the Wanderer's Palace and Amdapor were lost beneath a lake and inside a tree (respectively) until the Calamity. So any SCH or WHM character could only have become one in the last 5 years. Sometimes the fact that some of these jobs haven't existed anywhere in the world for 1,600 to 5,000 years is enough to make them incredulously rare.

For me personally, I want to see an interesting backstory where people find out about these professions in the first place. Like Faeries, Succor, and Black Magic haven't existed (publicly) in the world for 1,600 years. That's comparable to a real world modern person using techniques for whatever reason from the Roman Empire. Even with public education, the internet, and National Geographic articles on the subject, not everyone today is intimately familiar with the Romans (I'm definitely not!). Now imagine Eorzea, that has none of those things, and some of this knowledge was intentionally hidden away from the world.

Not every job was that long ago though. Warriors and Bards were last seen in the Autumn War a little over 100 years ago, roughly comparable to World War I. Monks only 25 years ago, so Berlin Wall coming down. Summoner existed 5000 years ago. Merp, I'll be honest, I don't know off hand without googling what real world civilization existed 5,000 years ago. And neither did the Eorzeans know about the Allagans until Saint Coinach proved the existence of the Allagan Empire sometime during the end of the 6th Astral Era.

So it makes sense that they're supposed to be rare and relatively unknown even though it seems like every other RPer plays one of these jobs ICly. So sometimes this inattention to detail can be aggravating to the lore sticklers. But with a good backstory and just a little attention to detail I honestly don't think anyone has ground to stand on to argue you can't play anything ICly. White Mage is tricky, but still very doable in a number of ways.

Rant over, time for lore and some things.

(06-10-2015, 12:03 PM)Hyrist Wrote: On the subject of Summoner, my FC actually spent a good deal of time pondering over the quandary of how a person could come across the essence of a primal without subjecting themselves to combat and defeat it.

Technically, you don't have to physically defeat it. You just have to be in the vicinity when the Primal dies according to lore. So Urianger could technically be taught how to summon a Ramuh-Egi after he watches the WoL defeat Ramuh in the MSQ from the sidelines. Just about any of the former Company of Heroes could become Summoners with the right training. Survivors from the T-3 Mythril Pit who witnessed the first summoning and defeat of Ifrit in 1564 6AE. If your character has a Far Eastern background, the Garlean Empire's initial advance into Othard was halted by a Primal summoning, so you could always say your older Far Eastern character was there for that event. The Garleans defeated that Primal for you. Etc.

Y'mhitra Wrote:Let us review the history and role of the summoner, that we might never forget the tragedy that befell the unfortunate Tristan.

A summoner is a unique type of mage who harnesses the energy of the primals and reshapes it into a biddable avatar. In the ancient Allagan tongue, these avatars are known as "egi." Only those who are present at the defeat of a primal and have captured its savage essence are able to manifest such aetheric entities. Now, any explanation of the summoner is not complete without a brief history of its origin.

The Allagan Empire reached its peak during the Third Astral Era. Dissatisfied with dominion over Eorzea alone, this thriving civilization sought to expand its borders to ever more distant lands. Eventually, the empire cast its avaricious gaze upon the southern continent of Meracydia. The peoples of these nations did not, however, take kindly to being invaded, and they summoned the primals to repel the Allagan forces. Hard-pressed by these incarnations of elemental wrath, the leaders of the empire's military were forced to alter their tactics. They ordered the mages under their command to devise some manner of magic with which to counter the primals, and, after much experimentation, the art of summoning was born.

The magic invented by these arcane pioneers met with great success, and, within the Allagan Empire, the title of "summoner" earned the bearer an uncommon measure of awe and respect.

As for Scholar, I don't think a venture into the Wanderer's Palace or even to the Floating City would be necessary, even though that might be the most sure-fire route? According to Sightseeing Lore, the Calamity cracked the Isle of Vylbrand, draining much of Bronze Lake into the chasm that was formed. This drainage is what revealed the Nymian ruins in the first place. So, feasibly, a washed up soulstone or Nymian artifact could be found anywhere along this fissure, or in any of Vylbrand's rivers. If your character is from Limsa and has a reason to be out on a fishing boat, pirate boat, or Maelstrom vessel they might have found one in the nets out at sea just off the coast. Lots of things you can play with! Especially as an Arcanist, whose job is to inspect imported cargo.

Quote:Sightseeing #30 - Camp Bronze Lake
The formation of great underwater fissures during the Calamity saw the nearly half of the water comprising Bronze Lake vanish in the span of a single night. The result was the uncovering of ancient Nymian ruins submerged for thousands of years - most notably, the Wanderer's Palace, a temple dedicated to the god Oschon.

Quote:Sightseeing #21 - Woad Whisper Canyon
Little more than a shallow valley but five years past, Woad Whisper Canyon was carved into a gaping gorge in a matter of moons after the Calamity drained Bronze Lake and dramatically altered the course of the Nym River. On hot days, laborers from both Summerford Farms and the Skylift will oft take respite in the cool mists of the falls... if not met by bandits.

Hope this helps some! ^^

Scorpio Shirica · **06-10-2015, 06:02 PM**

I like that opinion, if the author is willing to do the leg work to determine a feasible way for it to happen, why not?

But! That does give me some other possibilities. Maybe he is traveling along one of these rivers mentioned in a book about Nym's ruins. Or maybe he is doing Arcanist duties and inspecting a pirate ship, where he finds one of these things.

-ponders.-

Bringing this to the RPC has been greatly beneficial, thanks to everyone has given me feedback to chew on. Hopefully this helps future scholars as well.

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Becoming an IC Scholar of Nym

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