Brand New, Need to know Jobs

[Parqua]

I'm so new to FFXIV I don't even have a character. I probably plan to rp within a day or two, and I've already looked at what servers are good for rp - however, I'm not clear on what jobs are reasonable for an RPer, since a couple threads I read implied only the "warrior of light" is legally allowed to walk around with things like Black Magic. What jobs/classes should I look at while making an rp character? I know there's an IC/Gameplay split, but I just want to develop both from the outset.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

What you pick as an OOC class/job is really only gonna be there to determine which things you can equip for glamour purposes. Because we can hide/show our head pieces and weapons/tools, many people only set which equipment they want to show. 

 

It's also important to note that the classes and jobs available to player characters is by no means the single definitive version of that class or job. It's just the one we're offered in the game. Certain things like conjury skills for healing can be see all over the setting. We just happen to get to learn Gridanian Conjury. Many of the jobs are a bit more restrictive, but follow a similar feeling as they're primarily lost arts in recent study or revival.

[Tadir]

There are certain jobs, like Black Magic, that are illegal. That doesn't mean you can't be a black mage. That said, Thaumaturgy is totally legal. All of the base classes are legal and free to walk around in any city they want. The Grumpy Garlean up there is right though. Your RP should be what you want it to be. Don't worry too much about what your actual class can and can't do.

[Parqua]

Thank you for the input! Though, I really get that class just equals transmogs, and that what I run in game is OOC. I'm looking for more what Tadir mentioned, where IC black mage is technically illegal in lore. Are there any other roles like that in-universe, where I can't really label my character like that and fit to lore well?

Edited March 6, 2019 by Parqua

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Nearly all of them, which makes it more difficult to get really in-depth unless you've got some particular questions. There was an excellent post someone had made on tumblr with general "what is the RP Difficulty of X job" which was a really good read. I'll see if I can find it to supplement the mostly short answers below.

 

Jobs:
PLD - One of the easiest. In this case, Paladins in FFXIV are trained in the same arts as the Sultansworn and we use a Sworn's soul crystal. However, the concept of a Free Paladin who has is not bound by duty to support the Ul'dahn throne is common enough.

 

WAR - This job is currently undergoing revival by Curios Gorge, a Hellsguard Roegadyn. It's been shown other groups of people have other terms for the Inner Beast, as shown in the 4.0 quests.

 

DRK - The job moreso chooses you afaik. Someone else would honestly need to provide better information because I haven't played it.

 

WHM - Highly restricted. On top of requiring a soul crystal, all knowledge on White Magic has been effectively outlawed and is heavily guarded by the Elementals and their chosen representatives, the Padjals. It's a lost art as Amdapor fell during the War of Magi and the later flood of the 6th Umbral Era. White Magic was originally created as a response to heal the damaging effects of the Black Mages of Mhach. However, it was abused and weaponized. The Elementals aren't huge on letting that happen again, and the common knowledge is moreso "it's gone for a reason."

 

SCH - In revival. The Scholar arts of Nym were also largely lost when the city fell in the 6th Umbral Era. (Thank your local Mhachi Black Mages for infecting them with a horrible disease turning them into tonberries.) In order to best maximize a Scholar's potential, they need a faerie, whose summonings are linked to their soul stones.

 

AST - Legal in Sharlayan, considered too dangerous for other nations to learn. The form we learn is currently being taught anyways, as Leveva and her father and grandfather firmly believe that anyone should have a fair chance at using its power for good. 

 

MNK - Nearly recently was obliterated. Under revival and retraining. Its dissapearance was moreso because the former king of Ala Mhigo ordered all Monks to be killed for fear that they would rob him of his throne. Those who survived continued teaching it.

 

DRG - Officially, Ishgard has a limited number of DRG soul crystals and the lore book placed a hard limit on that. However, a lower-case dragoon is also a stand-in term for a person who successfully helped them kill a dragon. 

 

NIN - Someone else will have to explain this. I don't recall any major restrictions in learning it aside from finding someone who will teach you.

 

SAM - I don't know. Haven't unlocked. Probably the same as NIN

 

BRD - Fell out of use. Not really being actively revived as of lv50 quests, but that may have changed. 

 

MCH - A new job. While guns existed before MCH was a thing, a MCH's gun functions differently than the mechanical ones that could be found in Limsa Lominsa or from the Garlean Empire.

 

BLM - Considered illegal after the War of Magi caused the 6th Umbral Era. (Notice a pattern?) Highly destructive because it rips aether from the land to power its spells. Because nobody else really knows just how Shatotto figured it out, you need a Gem of Shatotto to not self-incinerate from casting this magic. There are a select few who still practice it, hoping to one day prove it can once again be used responsibly. 

 

SMN - Considered really hard to get into, partially under revival. Summoners were originally an Allagan thing and they largely stopped existing when the Allagan Empire fell. Also because they require the user to be bathed in the essence of a primal in order to summon it. Most people would either be killed or be tempered (which means they'd then HAVE to be killed). Prior to the battle at Silvertear Lake, it was largely assumed impossible for a primal to be summon in Eorzea. 

 

RDM - Magic created by fusing elements of White Magic and Black Magic. It was created by those who survived the War of Magi, pledging to never again use one of those magics irresponsibly. One could consider it accepting new students if you can find someone who knows it or has books on it.

 

BLU - A newly named job. Soul stones were being sold on the cheap until the Yellowjackets shut that down. Not technically restricted if you have one though. Just, there's no legal responsibility that you won't get yourself injured or killed getting so close to monsters.

 

EDIT: FOUND IT. Doesn't specify all jobs, but gives you a good idea of where they sat post 3.0, but before 4.0 content came out.

 

http://kilieit.tumblr.com/post/159315531877/just-how-obscure-is-that-job-crystal-in-lore

 

[Parqua]

Oh, I now see that jobs != classes. Coming from old FF, that's a surprise. Are the classes free game, in general? Also, thank you for that link, if I go for a job I'll definitely know where to go.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

For the most part, classes are basically unrestricted, although as said in the previous post, the same class can exist in multiple locations. (And post 3.0, SE didn't want to do Class -> Job, so they only release jobs now. It's speculated they really want to phase out classes in total, as each expansion, the lines between them in terms of game mechanics get thinner).

 

Like, if you wanted to be a conjurer from not-Gridania, you can! And Geomancers seem to fall in between like an Arcanist and an Astralogian, although Geomancy as a class/job isn't currently implemented in the game outside of some NPCs. (Geomancy is referenced and kinda fused into the 4.0 AST story, which leads me to believe we wouldn't get a separate job for it though.)

 

It's also important to note to you can level multiple jobs/classes, although there's no longer any sort of requirement to do so post 4.0. (Another one of those battle system changes that's trying to phase out classes IMO). So assuming you have an outfit that can be equipped by different roles, there's nothing from stopping you from like, using a sword in combat, switching to an arcanist class in the city so you have a book, and then shifting to CUL to have a frying pan for some cooking RP or whatever.

[Sounsyy]

Classes are modern professions that are common pretty much throughout Eorzea. They have at least one guild, which standardizes one way of teaching said class, however as Franz said, that doesn't mean the guild is the only place to learn that profession. The Lancers' Guild may be in Gridania, but Ala Mhigo and Ishgard are also just as famous for their lancers. The class guilds, in addition to teaching, also serve different roles in their respective cities. The thaumaturges of Ul'dah are lawmakers and priests of Ul'dah's organized religion, for example.

 

Jobs, on the other hand, are professions that are very uncommon in Eorzea. Sometimes it's because the job hasn't been used in hundreds or thousands of years (SMN, SCH, BRD, RDM, BLM, WHM). Or sometimes it's very new to Eorzea and its popularity hasn't become widespread yet (NIN, SAM, MCH, AST, BLU). Sometimes it's for other reasons! It depends on the job. Which is why I stress that every job can be playable and can be lore abiding, but with each job there's usually some sort of backstory element that is more or less necessary for your character to be or become one of these legendary professions. That's certainly not to say it can't be done, and can't be done well, but that it can add an extra layer of difficulty on a character concept. 

 

Alternatively, you don't need to RP a class or job at all! Sometimes your character doesn't fit the mold, or you play a profession that exists in lore but has no mechanical counterpart (like Geomancer, or Musketeer). 

 

 

 

One small correction though: Black Magic, contrary to popular belief, isn't "illegal". It's forbidden and it's forgotten. Forgotten by most of the world's populace after centuries of witch hunts against mages and learned scholars, and all trace of Black Magic was buried and hidden away. To all those who did still learn of its existence 1600 years later, it was a forbidden art. But calling it illegal would suggest that it's in a lawbook somewhere and that its existence is common knowledge to law enforcement, which is not true. 

 

Hope this helps, Parqua!

[Kieron Lohengrin]

With regard to SAM:

 

With regard to DRK:

 

 

 

Takeaways: SAM are common enough to have a lowborn police force and various NPC groups of allies and foes, such as the Kojin. DRK practitioners are a bit more individualistic and spread out with less organization, but enduring enough to pass on their techniques, like Jedi, and probably similarly numbering in the hundreds among adventurers versus the general populations' thousands of civilians.

 

Unrelated, but DRK also has the best-written questlines from 60-70, tying heavily into your experiences in Heavensward / Ishgard, your relationship with Haurchefant's family, and the general concepts of compassion and forgiveness. That's likely why it's featured as the next canon job in Shadowbringers, given Natsuko Ishikawa's writing and plot direction.

[Parqua]

Thank you, everyone! This helped a lot.