We've discussed WHAT powers, let's discuss WHY powers!

[Zyrusticae]

I gave T'rahnu her prodigal combat skills because I'm fascinated by the idea of the lone travelling warrior who shows up, beats up the bad guys, and then leaves as quietly as she came, with few even knowing of her existence. I also like the dichotomy between someone who possesses great power but also is not terribly inclined to use it, as well as how someone with that kind of power deals with the expectations that come along with it.

 

That, and I just like the visual of someone who can switch between all kinds of weapons on a whim and still remain a threat. That's just fun, you know? And of course, as a fan of completely, overwhelmingly over-the-top action sequences, the idea of not being able to participate in that kind of thing (in a Final Fantasy game, at that) is pretty much anathema to my predilections.

 

So pretty straightforward, all in all.

[Kaniko Niko]

My name. It's not lore-accurate. And that's why my Kaniku is the way she is. I'm originally from the Siren world because Balmung has its legendary crowding issues and I still wanted to play. One day... the clouds part. The angels sang. Chocobos kweh.

 

Balmung was open.

 

I was smart enough to save a character design I liked, but not enough to have thought out a name beforehand. So knowing how Tarutaru and Lalafell names use Japanese morae:

 

Pa-Pa-Sha-N

Na-Na-Mo

 

I just string together some kana and come up with Kaniku Kuni. Then I later find out this isn't lore-accurate.

 

So okay. She's from Doma. But... There aren't many, if any NPC Lalafell from Doma. What now? Well, Lalafell were from the South Seas and traveled to new lands. There we go! Her grandfather came to Doma before it was locked down by the Garleans. All's good.

 

But wait! Why didn't she go to Mor Dhona with the rest of the Domans?

 

T-that's a very good question! There are a lot of Lalafell in Ul'dah. There aren't (as far as I'm aware of) in Doma. So naturally she stuck around to learn more about her heritage. But one doesn't just stay in Ul'dah, right? Well, this explains why she was part of the Immortal Flames.

 

For want of a world a name was lost. For want of a name a background was lost. For want of a background, a beautiful character was made.

[Erik Mynhier]

Erik has a few heritage skills and what seems to be standard eorzean skills (martial skills laced/augmented by aether). The bulk of his powers come from items.

 

This leads to the topic at hand which is why. Erik is an old character. Showing up in some form or another in every rp game since 87 in d&d. Since I started in d&d I tend to like the enchanted item source for major powers. It works for me as an item can be removed which gives an obvious weakness, allows for the power to be developed and or earned, and in the event that a character wishes or is forced to lose the power for any number of reasons, its ic less messy as all you have to do is lose the item.

 

The simple answer is ive been doing it like this for almost 30 years and im use to it.

[Aduu Avagnar]

Why did I decide to give Nako the abilities/powers I did?

 

Mask: Gave me an option to utilise Fantasia OOCly without resorting to it ICly.

Visor: Ultimately it was a more visible representation of his time within the Empire. And I wanted something that showed his minor crafting/reverse engineering skills. And I liked the concept.

Magic: I wanted to play de mage archetype ja?

Swordplay: As he was a combat operative, it made no sense to me why he would not learn at least one method of self defence that did not rely on magic, due to situations beyond his control where he may not have access to it. Contingency, contingency, contingency.

[Aife]

Excuse my rambly excuse of a post and if it makes no sense (or I skip words).

 

I've always loved anti-heroes so naturally creating an anti-heroine (which there really isn't enough positive representations of in the media IMO) was inevitable for me. I wanted to play a strong female character looking for redemptions for her past crimes. Playing an ex Garlean assassin who was shaped by the Empire into who she is, who is as much as a victim of them as any Eorzeans, seemed like an interesting character to play morality wise. 

In real life I have a passionate interest in history, especially British history, so taking real world historical concepts such as Imperialism and putting them into my character and how the Garlean Empire took over Doma and would have, essentially, according to my logic, used Shinobi in their Military seemed like a logical jump. The in game lore later backed up my backstory for Lacey with the release of 2.5 and Ninja in game which I was pleased about (no more lore arguing for me). 

The reasons I gave Lacey a healing factor are long and complex but I'll try to keep this simple. Firstly, genetic engineering and experimentation both in ffxiv and the final fantasy franchise isn't a new concept. It didn't seem like a far leap, especially since the Garlean Empire has Allagan Empire technology in use so why not their knowledge of genetic engineering? Why wouldn't a mad scientist decide to experiment on an abundance of recruits at the Garlean Empire's disposal? Thematically, I figure Lacey's mutation is due to both genetic and psychological factors. She was taken as a girl, after witnessing her father's public execution at the hand of (Native born) Garlean Nobles to a foreign country. She'd naturally want to "protect" herself. Secondly, in game Ninja's are the most vulnerable constitution wise. The Empire would naturally want to eradicate this weakness in their recruits. 

 

These were pretty much my thoughts when creating Lacey anyroad.

[V'aleera]

When you're a miqo'te living in a country full of super tall elezen, you either get busy jumpin' or you get busy not being able to reach the top shelf.

 

More seriously, I enjoy the nature of the dragoon jump in its entirety. While it is a deadly technique with a heck of a lot of flair, it also seems like an incredibly freeing ability, in much the same way that flying is often depicted. Elegant, graceful, and undeniably powerful. It's something I feel adds greatly to my character and which distinguishes the philosophy of her skill-set from that of a typical soldier.

[LiadansWhisper]

I really, really wanted Liadan to be a White Mage.

 

Then I did the actual questline.  :cry:

 

So, I made her a Hearer as it was the closest thing I could get that I felt comfortable playing.

[Caspar]

I picked 'em because unnatural strength and talent causing monomania and isolation is a really familiar motif I enjoy writing about. A huge number of the characters I've played in the past had some kind of unique talent that left them hugely deficient in other areas, or them being exceptional caused them more suffering than good. I'm just an angst machine and I like making my characters suffer. There are of course a few villainous psychos who didn't follow this rule. I've played the bad guy a lot as well.

 

The character Virara is a legacy D&D one from years ago, adapted into a new concept entirely. Before she was an antisocial (as opposed to asocial, what most laymen use 'antisocial' to refer to.) child assassin who equated murder with love, as she was raised by an arms merchant who kept her as a sort of bodyguard/pet, like that old Jet Li movie. Obviously this character isn't quite as extreme, but in order to give her the same level of proficiency, I needed to bend the limits of what is believably physically for her race. It serves the dual purpose of helping me tell the story I want to and also granting me a tool to isolate her with. And I have a strong fondness for fantastical martial arts from fighting games, so I wanted to tickle that part of my brain too.

 

I really like wuxia and martial arts based stories, and I felt the setting had some potential to tell such a story, part mundane, part supernatural. I find the values present in those types of shows a bit easier to sympathize with as well from to time to time, especially in regards to feelings of obligation or loyalty, revenge, virtuousness vs pragmatism, etc. So I tried to work that into my character, and it resulted in her being a bit stronger than what seems to be average.

[Steel Wolf]

Some of my favorite character designs are the mercenary and person seeking power, so Steel was pretty much designed from the get-go to become a Ryu of sorts.

 

At her interim, she was developed to simply be very good with swords as a result of her upbringing and intensely powerful by major virtue of her body size and physical training. Initially, I had envisioned her to become a gleaming Paladin, but playstyle preferences have steered her towards a more brutal and grey path. After the Dark Knight was revealed to be a thing, it pretty much sealed her fate.

 

My little Ryu is about to embrace her Dark Hadou. I so excited. X3

[D'aito Kuji]

I think D'aito Kuji has to have a certain amount of excessive strength, resistance, and stamina to do the things she does.  I don't have her IC as strong as her in-game self, but taking down large game, going up against a mob of pirates or poachers, requires her to be somewhat above the average denizen of Eorzea.  I limit her Mary Sue by playing her to be naive and somewhat incompetent.  But with experience, she'll get better at what she does.  I'll have to think of something else that limits the character and provides drama - probably more tribal traditions versus the modern world angst.

 

Since I have a tendency to RP in real time, she's only left her tribe a little over a year ago.  That's not enough time to get used to all the diversity in culture she's experienced.