Numbers check: Who HERE* roleplays a regular class without any special abilities?

[Enteris]

Raandal was once Sultansworn and, as such, a paladin... but left the file a while back because reasons. So, he has the training of a paladin but doesn't really consider himself one anymore. So... jury's out on that ruling.

 

Otherwise, the majority of my characters are the classes, if even more than just a "civilian".

[Idristan Agache]

Adeya's just an arcanist (granted, one who dabbles a bit in thaumaturgy). I didn't want to have her start out as a job right away due to a mixture of wanting to work up to that sort of change and (at the time) not being entirely sure on her background.

 

Now I have been considering having her come across a scholar soulstone, as I feel like it might add something to her story (she's been doing research on Nym, so finding a fairy would be huge for her), but I keep going back and forth on it.

[Jana]

Jana isn't one of these characters, though she happily pretends to be one. Fighting with most hand-to-hand weapons and bows is something she's comfortable with (axes are too heavy for her, usually!), but her only IC-job is Summoner, a fact she tries to keep a secret.

[Oli!]

I have a miqo'te I rarely play (UGH cat people) that is a normal lancer. More of a staff-fighter ICly, really, because she draws a bit from Sun Wukong to begin with.

[Ausboh]

While I play a Pally for content purposes. Granis is a mercenary that uses a sword and shield.

 

His ethics would never allow him to train as a Paladin. Thus his abilities are mostly combat orientated and have no aetheric ties.

[Jazz Egi]

ARC reporting. But she is also an alchemist.

[Xydane Vale]

Eh, well, I only roll a WAR for gameplay but as for RP, I guess Xydane is just someone who was taught multiple weapons while growing up? I guess that counts.

 

No fancy magic or nuthin'.

[Delilah Scythewood]

For simplicity's sake, I've always had Lili identify first and foremost as a pugilist. Just makes it easier that way

[Zyrusticae]

Just wanted to say that, between Dissidia, all of FFXIII, ARR's intro, FF7's various spin-offs (Advent Children in particular), and all of Japanese media in general, I find the idea of trying to be realistic in roleplaying combat in a Final Fantasy game to be utterly comical on its face.

 

Not that my opinion matters any. Other players are free to do as they please regardless of how I (or Square Enix, for that matter) view matters. Still, the game universe itself is not really one that lends itself well to low-fantasy, "realistic" high-stakes combat. At the very least, I would fully expect that most PCs should be capable of things that real human beings on planet Earth could never hope to dream of. For example, even

is well outside human physical norms, largely emphasizing flare over realism the way any good martial arts movie does. And style over function is just how Final Fantasy rolls, you know? (That being said, I suppose it does serve as a good model for skilled aether-less melee combat in Eorzea if that's your thing.)

 

Naturally, this and other reasons are why I never, ever bother with combat RP (in any game). Just too much of a headache for me to deal with. If I'm ever going to describe combat it's going to be outside of the game specifically to avoid such disagreements.

 

But to answer the thread question: T'rahnu does not have access to any job abilities, but she DOES augment pretty much everything she does with aether. That's just a base assumption on my part: at least half (if not more) of her physical strength stems from the metaphysical and supernatural aspect of the world. She does things that someone of her size and stature could never perform on Earth, and that's just the way I like it.

 

She's also an aspiring weapons master and, as such, is skilled (but has not necessarily attained mastery) in many forms of combat, melee and ranged, with all kinds of weapons. Thus, it really wouldn't be appropriate for her to have any job abilities, as that just goes against the grain of her character. If I ever did have her go down such a route, it would be waaay down the line, possibly as part of a storyline in 4.x or something.

 

Oh yeah... and she doesn't know any magic. None whatsoever. (This is partly because I wanted to level all the magic classes on another character, but then I looked at how much work it would have entailed and thought the better of it...).

[Ashe]

Aylea (if you look at her wiki she is just a merchant's daughter with minimal sword training) is as mundane as mundane can be haha.

 

I wanted one character who was kind of special and one who was super normal to the point it would be NPC level just to try something different

[T'shina]

Class wise, T'shina is really just an Archer. Nothing particular or special about it. Sure she can sing not that she's told anyone but she's not the most vocal in battle in that aspect and any of her special arrows she crafts through means of using aether shards. Like a fire arrow for an exploding shot or something like that.

[Vysce the Lad]

Caen can't even TELEPORT by himself. He's so fragile that when someone does teleport him somewhere, he gets nauseous. Apart from that, he can't use chakra (yet) either. Apart from that, the only reason he's still alive is because he can run really fast. I was sorta hoping he could meet some sort of master monk and train with him so he can be as strong of a monk as his dad was, but right now, Caen is just an average track-kid.

 

But he's tryyying~:moogle:

[Erik Mynhier]

I always thought of the weapon combos as just that, with aether playing little to no role, its the wackier stuff like shield toss I think of as being aether-based.

[Attican]

In game I'm a Gladiator, but RP wise I RP just as someone who picked up a sword and shield one day and started swinging. Anything H'ara does that competes with anyone that uses Aether/etc is purely luck based rather than ability.

 

So far she's no powerful than your standard guard NPC IC.

[Devereau]

I play a character with near no control over aether. A lot of his skills are purely honed through practice, study, and diligent observance. 

 

While he's particularly penchant with most crafts, he is moderately skilled with most weapons out of regards to better his craft. I would say he isn't a specialist at most fighting styles, wishing more to approach things as a strategist, only using the smallest amount of force necessary.

 

To accommodate this sort of skill, I would say the one form of skill he has offensively is simply honed senses, deft reflexes, and a knack with daggers and poisons. It's a bit odd, as I would not really lump him in the rogue/ninja category of fighting style, as he is a bit more reserved and refined with his abilities. It's more or less something used in desperation or defensive reactions. Regardless, it is nothing supernatural.

[Kellach Woods]

Jesus it is like the anti-special snowflake olympics in here. People are trying to out-mundane the other.

 

It's actually kinda hilarious.

[Warren Castille]

Is it okay if I nudge the topic off rails for a brief discussion on why this is a thing? Zyrusticae made points that I feel are worth fleshing out a bit.

 

Why, exactly, are there roleplayers who don't embrace the wire-fu combat and lightning-fast maneuvers we've seen in Final Fantasy conventions? This is a setting where playing a beefed-up superhuman is not only acceptable but expected given the scope of the things our characters would be facing. The lore panel clarified that the Company of Heroes that defeated Titan numbered in the hundreds and that they killed him by choking the rivers with their dead overwhelming him, and even then that victory was down to the last few men. Who in their right minds would ever want to be one of the myriad dead?

 

Well, there's an appeal to that. There's always been a spit-in-the-eye mentality some folks can't help but pick up and run with. As much as there's a thrill in flying through the air and cutting down enemies by the score with blazing weapon in hand, there's similarly an enjoyment out of being a normal, everyday mortal who manages to survive despite the odds. It's the reason why Hunter: The Reckoning and Hunter: The Vigil exist.

 

Finally, as a teensy counterpoint, I will point out that FFXI didn't feature very many NPCs or PCs that were superflashyfast either, and XIV is the spiritual successor to that style. Or it might be, anyway. XIV's sort of chock-full of that stuff from lots of past games.

[Kellach Woods]

Hunters be OP as fuck if you manage to get to late game tho.

 

KABLAM YOU'RE NO LONGER A SUPERNATURAL CREATURE! remains the best power ever.

 

Also, the way I see it, if the Mandervilles are canon, you can get away with literally ANYTHING.

[Steel Wolf]

I think it all boils down to the original narrative following the trope of The Chosen One. That's not really conducive to RP and is kinda unrelatable. Even in City of Heroes, there were just...lots of regular conversations and interactions. People who were capable of manifesting fire or running through walls or were a mutant of some kind were just standing around Pocket D, enjoying drinks and company and maybe trying to find a snuggle.

 

Personally, I think there's nothing wrong with some level of aetheric manipulation, especially depending on some classes, mages being the obvious prime example. But there's also a lot of neat adaptations to the pyrokinetic powers we display in combat being listed here.

 

Not to infer that those who actually use Circle of Scorn as displayed are any less imaginative, of course...but one has to marvel at the cleverness of some folks ability to make the superhuman just normal.

[Dogberry]

Dogberry was just a simple pugilist until he opened his chakra by reading Enter the Coeurl and eating some wild mushrooms.

 

Much like how I had a spiritual awakening while during the Battle of Helm's Deep scene in The Two Towers while on percaset after I had my wisdom teeth removed.

 

You, too, can be special like Dogberry. All it takes is some willpower and a fondness for psychadelic substances.

[Berrod Armstrong]

I don't even understand why it's a thing outside of combat situations. 

 

I play characters on both ends of the spectrum and I see nothing wrong with a regular joe -- nor do I see anything wrong with a guy with impressive abilities.

 

Take Gladiator Bob for example. He's 22 years old, picked up a sword and board three years ago. Three years have passed and he's trained himself up to be decent at it. Bob, however, doesn't really have the capacity to manipulate aether to the point of being flashy. His rampart is simply him lifting and locking his shield, his convalescence is nothing but him running closer to a healer and probably begging for a cure. Savage blade? Just a hack and slash swipe designed to maim. 

 

Then there's Gladiator Bill. Bill's about twenty five, he's been training for about six years with a Skilled Free Paladin. Bill was born lucky, he has the capacity and ability to manipulate aether! He's not super rare, special or a Warrior of Light, he's just attuned to the energy that damn near chokes the air in Eorzea. Bill's rampart involves him lifting his shield up AND erecting a somewhat decent barrier of aether in front of him. His convalescence attunes him more properly to the aether coming from his healer. His savage blade makes his sword glow as he hacks apart his foe.

 

Bob and Bill are both viable in the world we play in, and NOTHING is wrong with either one. It's just a matter of preference!

 

Bob and Bill's players both exercise discretion when in combat. Bob finds creative ways to match up against stronger foes, while Bill makes sure to cleverly tune his writing to allow any weaker opponents a fighting chance. Bob isn't special, he doesn't want to be! And that's okay. Bill is special -- and why the hell shouldn't he be! And that's okay. 

 

Bill's player wants access to the more fantastic side of the world to flavor his roleplay, Bob's player enjoys the rustic, gritty and on the ground setting. Both players have every right to enjoy both things, and neither is any less creative or worse a writer than the other.

 

It's a matter of preference!

[Warren Castille]

But one of them is having fun wrong, so we must set out and destroy that person.

 

Edit: We can figure out which it is by asking for their opinions on housing.

[Berrod Armstrong]

But one of them is having fun wrong, so we must set out and destroy that person.

 

Edit: We can figure out which it is by asking for their opinions on housing.

GOD DAMNIT WARREN YOU OWE ME A GLASS OF OJ

 

christ it's everywhere ugh

[Clover]

None of my DOW characters have special abilities that I know of. K'mih uses her axe in a traditional way, and so does K'rahto with his lance. They're just weapons.

 

Edit: And I agree with Berrod; everything is fun to play and there's nothing wrong. I personally love meeting strong characters, they tend to offer interesting RP.

[Kismet]

Just wanted to toss in my two cents...

 

Personally, I think that BRD falls into an odd category because the influence of their songs might depend on the interpretation. If a character's songs double as a "long magical chant" of sorts -- that is to say, hearing their song actually affects someone on a magical level... Or if the character simply sings to motivate allies in battle with zero magic involved... Both scenarios can make the character a BRD (mechanically). How much that actually means for RP will vary from person to person, though.