Final Fantasy Hacktics

Chocobos: obviously yes.  They're the reason monsters lay eggs in any Final Fantasy setting, period.

Goblins: no.  They're bipedal, demon-blooded humanoids who, despite supposed breeding ability, do not breed with eggs.

Bombs: maybe.  They're either spirits fused by alchemy, or being spirits, have no need to breed.*

Coeurls: Nah.  These guys are too useful.  If you had a live Coeurl, the Shadow-Bind trick is yours.

Pigs: No.  Bipedal pigs are even less likely to breed via eggs.

Anything Undead: NO.  If mere skeletons could breed, why the fuck have they not overridden Ivalice by now?  That goes for individual castes (like Vampire Cats) that may become an undead monster type.

Squid/Illithids: Yes.  Turns out the creatures themselves are asexual reproducers in D&D, though they are also parasitic lifeforms who sever the hollowed skulls of humanoids to inhabit their skeletal structure.  They are otherwise Mythos-tinged mollusks, for lack of a better description.  The fact that they are given a greater emphasis as a "Water Type Monster" is something I would contend since my understanding (and sometimes appreciation) of Pokemon is lacking.  The original monster was a ripoff of D&D, who also ripped Lovecraft off.  After considerable research, I found out its breeding patterns are similar to the whole egg thing; we can otherwise let it slide and there needs to be at least one black sheep among the bipedal monsters.

Bipedal Birds: Do I really have to answer this one?

Ahriman Eyes: Maybe.  They're technically a summoned demon that performs the work of their masters and I find it hard-pressed to give these guys the ability to breed in the mortal realm.  That's just a glaringly stupid oversight on part of the conjurors.  Aren't magicians supposed to be the wiseguys of this era?

Bisonkin/Bulls: No.  God, no.  Only the platypus can breed with leathery eggs--the only mammal that does.  These guys are a nefarious cross of man and bull that for whatever reason are never lost, based on their tracking skills inside deep labyrinths.  There are no historical precedents of them breeding in fucking eggs since Tactics.

Marlborough: No way.  These dark young breed with that horrifying Marlborough Spore technique.  I don't suppose individual castes could be exempt from laying eggs, like have only the Ochu/Otyugh the egg-layer who breeds either Marlboroughs, themselves, or both, and that Marlboroughs and their big daddies are sterile, save for their signature technique.  Or just let all three have Marlborough Spores as their Monster Skill and then breed Marlboroughs that way.  Would you really want to keep an egg laid by one of these fucking things?

Dryads: Being spiritual and magical and natural, the trees are bred via seeds.  Although that presents another can of worms since those seeds (to be buried, maybe?) must be hard to lug around.  Pick No.  It'll make these things rare and valuable.

Behemoth: No.  These guys are dead-ringers for this Giveaway Battle concept.

Dragons: Yes.  They're anatomically capable, right?

Hydras: Uh, yeah, I guess.



*Note: If Bombs had Auto-Life/Reraise all the time, they'd be a horrifying adversary unless you could poach them....

The correct spelling is Gologras, in the case of Golagros/Gorgoroth.  Now, when I was looking up lists of Great Old Ones and Elder Gods, I came up with Golgoroth, a blackened toad with a piercing stare.  In fact, I wrote the guy in for an encounter in a fan-fic of mine a few days ago, following that implication and giving him some mutagenic powers since becoming undead that befit his idiom and menace (he is pretty damn vicious and argumentative, you know).  Don't assume he turns into an amphibian--instead, I have his eyes bleeding acid from gouging them out and he smells constantly like cordite, a type of blasting powder.  Remember his cause of death and you'll get the correlation.  He does have the tongue, something he uses to molest cute little redhead girls who wear black suits.

Golgoroth, in the context of a miserable toad, fits well as a nice "nickname" considering he abducted Teta and made her a hostage; Sir Folles would undoubtedly confront him and offer up the nickname, even though his real name is Gologras or Sir Levigne.  There, done.  Gologras bears no similarity to his literary origins and is, instead, better off being referred to as Sir Levigne when in polite company.  Sir Folles will call him that while trying to convince him to follow a simple order.  There is a lot you can tell about someone from a few simple implications from what they say.  That's what they mean by snappy dialogue: you get what's happening in a few brushstrokes, which saves time and space.

I'm calling them Sapphira and Rouge.  Ruby doesn't sound threatening enough as a ho' assassin's name, and it's also been used rather frequently in games like this.  To add more humor, they are never referred to by name, even when Elmdor is addressing them.  Ramza's mind conjures up the names so as not to just call them blonde and brunette.  Seriously.

I am aware that Isolde is a lady's name.  When I mentioned the word hazing in the context of Isilud's character, I interpolated a history of abuse that led to receiving a female's name as a joke.  Or, the Japanese authors failed to establish whether or not the name is unisex like Leslie, Marion, or Ashley.  Then again, they're doing all the research; they should have known.  The idea that he was being hazed came to light as a way of working in what could be his actual name, which in this case might as well be Tristam. 

Proponents toward the original name include his blue attire, and his Stone, Pisces (that otherwise invokes Leviathan--no joke, look up the wheel in the FFWIKIA page), and that the names merge "Ice" and "Battle" into one word.  That would explain his cool head even during pressure, very focused on what must be done, even in the face of death.  Or rather, invoke that sentiment in his character.  The use of Pisces to evoke an aquatic sentiment also illustrated some level of kindness, for he did worry over Sir Folles and offer a flayed confessional before Alma.  This is not the behavior of an irresolute man.

I still thought it was some kind of inside joke to give him such a name, because while checking his name in the wiktionary (both of them), the search turned up negative--nothing there at all--but while browsing the interwebs, I discovered that Izlude was the Satellite City near Prontera, where King Tristan III reigns (i.e. in Ragnarok Online).  Izlude is still similar to Isolde, and it amazed me that there was another reference of uncanny proximity between those names.  It was then that I settled on using one or both names in some capacity.

The last bit against my theory is that Izlude, in my ear at least, sounds fairly Arabic.  Exotic to some degree.  However, after associating the Knights Templar with their real-world origins as former escorts to the medieval Holy Land, the name that sounded similar to a dervish that might be chopped down for crossing paths with a mounted knight sounded even more alien, given he stood in their ranks.  It was just another spot where both translations have messed with me.

Vormav is a Russian word for Thief.  Voorman is a word combining the terms for "Before/in-front-of" and Man, so it could also mean a boss or head of agency.  Yeah, that's pretty literal.  The Russian word is very telling of Vormav, so using the WotL version is off limits.

Rofel is awkward beyond belief.  Loffrey is most likely the intent of the original script, hence we change it.  Now, we could give him a nickname like ROFLCOPTER, but that's just pushing buttons.

His last name, Lachish, refers to the Lachish Letters, a series of ancient correspondences found on carbon ink and clay ostraca.  It may be found at the British Museum in London.  The original term "Rakshu" is a clearly Japanese-sounding transliteration of the word Lachish.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lachish_letters

For a long time, I thought Meliadoul was pronounced "Melee-Duel" as a typical Japanese pun, sort of like naming characters after food products because they think it sounds funny (over here, we name them after rock musicians where appropriate).

After using Google's search engine, I happened upon the "Melian Dialogue", a conversation written by Thucydides about the response of a neutral island off the coast of Sparta to an invasion by the Athenians as part of a game to spite their rivals.  The similarity between the names was genuine enough for me to incorporate a revision of her name to better capture the origin of the name, and to brush it up a bit: Mellian Diala (fancy female middle name) Tyringel.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/melian_dialogue

Celia and Lede/Lettie are gross mistranslations of phrases meant to describe their attire: Celia wears blue and Lede red.  The Romanji for Lede is REDI for God's sake!  How could we have missed that?  I hated Lede/Lettie's name for the longest time and sought to alter it; I dubbed her Liedel, a witch who appeared in the first Ogre Battle game and who doubled as the chronicler (like Alazlam) in Ogre Battle 64.  What can I say?  I'm a fan of Yasuni's work.

Anyway, REDI can be switched to Liedel, although I intend to fix the text to include pet names among these enchanting little succubi; her friend Celia (now called Seria) calls her Rouge, a sexy-sounding variant for the color red.  As for Celia's change, it sounds closer to Cerulean, or indigo, a variation of the color blue, which she happens to be wearing.  In short, the Ultima Demon Assassin girls are named after their fucking outfits.  Could Azrael get any less creative with his cohorts?  Then again, they're likely pseudonyms in place of their true names, which could be used by a savvy magician to bind them to a mortal's will.

Kletian Drowa is fucked-up.  The name is inspired by the French scribe, Chretien de Troyes.  I'll go with that, thank you; both translations failed to capture what it was.

Izlude, or Isilud, are both wrong.  The closest word that comes close is Isolde, better known as the hottie babe in the Tristan & Isolde romantic epic.  Why the fuck is this kid named after the chick, huh?  Fucking Japan, I swear....

But to be honest, Tristan isn't such a bad name, so we'll name him that.  That's his real name, which is alluded to once or twice in my (revised) script, assuming nobody objects.  He gets the name Isolde as a cheap hazing gag on the Knights Templar's part.  Meliadoul will allude to his name during a few of her dialogues during the scenes involving her.

Golgoroth is actually the name of a toad-like great old one in the Lovecraftian tradition, one with a particularly hard stare.  Golgoros and Gorgoroth are close, but Golgoroth is the one we'll use.  It doesn't really matter a whole lot beyond the cosmetic side, as Sir Levigne is a passable name and the Golgoroth is probably just a nickname anyway.

Milleuda is almost there, but not quite.  To be honest, there are several allusions to Old English terms like Weald, which stands for forest.  It's not the Siedge, but rather the Sweegy, yet it's a Weald now.  Relax, it's cool.  Speaking of Old English, while looking up Mildew, I found that it's an Old English word standing for Honeydew (you know, that stuff that aphids leave behind?), before it became associated with sick building syndrome in the modern age.  Milldeua (pet name: Milly) is a slight change that befits her honey-golden hair and once-sweet persona turned rotten and festering from the abuses of the nobility.  It's not a major change, but it is closer to what she's like.

Wiegraf is now Wiglaf.  Fuckin' eh, I mean, really?

The Aegis, Agrathi: You should know, the Sadalfas family was once respected and praised just like yours, {Ramza}.  But my grandfather was captured during the Fifty Years' War.  They say he did something unconscionable.  They said he sought to save his own skin by trading those of his comrades.  But, as he left the bastion....  He was stabbed in the back, by none other than a squire just like myself.  One of my grandfather's former comrades escaped and spread the lies around like Germinas wildfire.  Of course, father never believed one word of it.  But everyone else did, and he was deserted... whitewashed.... (tosses stone into fountain) With the rank I was born with... I would never have entertained the notion of an audience with Dycedarg....

Young Girl's Voice: Deeelllitaaa!  Oh, Deeeeellliitaaaa!

Delita (turns): I heard ya the first time, Teta!

Ramza (turns, startled): Whoa!  Alma, Zalbag!  How long were you...?

(They approach together)

Alma: Hey {Ramza}, you never wrote anything about coming home!

Ramza: So brother, did you get my letter about me coming home?

Zalbag: What letter?  (Pause) Never mind that; I only heard you lambasted those thieves in Gariland to a pulp!  That's worthy of our name; I've no doubt our father above is pleased with both of you right now.

Ramza: ...Thanks.

Zalbag: Ha, ha... just the same as always.  Still uncomfortable hearing that... (pause) do me a favor and never change.  So, Delita, looking good; I did hear you're doing all the heavy lifting.  (pause) Teta can't stop chattering about you.

(Teta approaches Delita)

Teta: Yeah, and I'm almost impressed you're still vertical, wearing that suit.

Delita: Heh, I'll take that as a compliment.  You look good, too.  How's school by the way?

Teta: Uh... it's all right.  I am passing every class, and the teachers are nice....

Zalbag: Alas, I'd love to stay and chat, but I got suckered into another string of manhunts for prowlers and such.  If I may take my leave....

Ramza: Good luck and God's grace, we shall pray for your victory.

(Zalbag waves goodbye and turns to leave, but pauses)

Zalbag: We've received a pigeon: they demand a ransom.

Agrathi (pissed, hence red text): What's this?!

Zalbag: 'Tis beyond my ken: (pause) these rebels preach death to the nobility and their servants.  Their hatred knows these bounds; they'd have slain poor Elmdor at Mandalia.  Why then would they abduct him for the sake of money?  It runs against their idiom....

Agrathi: Absurd!  They're no more than gil-per-grain brigands and beggars, I say!

Zalbag: The winds carry nothing from the grass planted in their midst. (Pause) Now, I voiced my concerns....  Yet, the nobles believe that our circumstances do not warrant further investigation....

Ramza: (to himself) A true Aquilor never abandons one in need.  (To Zalbag) Brother, where did the grass blow last?

(Note: sugnuf used the Japanese euphemism for spy in the original text.  I think it gives a flavor if you keep it in, and Zalbag and Ramza are among the girls, who might not catch onto the term.)

Zalbag: The Merchant Crossroads of Dorter, south of here, and east of the Abbey of Orbonne.



I dare say, guarding a castle is such a dull grind, eh {Ramza}?

(Zalbag leaves, having dropped his hint)

Delita: Looks like we have to cut our reunion short, Teta.  We'll resume afterward.

Teta: W-Worry not Delita, I know. (Pause) Make sure we reunite with you in one piece, all right?

(They embrace)

Delita: It's all right, sis, we won't do anything stupid; try to be good and keep Alma outta fights, okay?

(They let go)

We had better move, Aegis.

(Note: sugnuf could not decipher how the first translation incorporated the term Limberry Aegis Knights from what he observed was simply being part of the Marquis' private guard.  However, Aegis is synonymous with the word for guard, so the fancier term still makes sense in this context.  Delita makes it into something of a pet name for the wayward squire, up until their falling out.)

(Delita, Agrathi/Algus/ARGATH/Cocksucker/Asshole, and Teta take off; before Ramza can follow)

Alma: She wasn't telling him everything, {Ramza}.  (Pause) Not that she was lying....

Ramza: Don't tell me: you went and burned the schoolhouse?

(Figured that, since they're teenagers and in school, they have rapier wits of some kind.  Ramza should not be as clueless as he is described in the game.)

Alma: We thought about it for real.... (Pause) see, those witches at school won't leave her alone for, you know....

Ramza: So, those fights....

Alma: Yeah, I shouldn't have said a word of this to a hothead cadet with a pig sticker.  Listen: Teta will be all right, okay?  I'll be there for her.  Trust me.

Ramza: I'm not worried. If worse comes to worst, call me.  Don't over-strain that fist.

Alma: Speak for yourself!  You, the one pushing hard just to meet everybody's expectations!  Be yourself.  (Pause) Names are naught but shackles in love and war.

Ramza: Ha, ha, ha!  A year passes by and you're already sounding like our mother, heh-heh-heh!

(Ramza splits; Alma takes the chill breeze in stride)

Alma Ramza....

In a delicious fanon bit, the Baron grooms this survivor of the snowy wastes of Zeakden into something of a "Manchurian Candidate".  I leave it open as to whether or not he perished in battle with the Evil Eye, but he alludes to switching out the bodies, so his body is never truly recovered.

The Earthbreaker sounds interesting.

The H Bag should be the C Bag, as in Croakadile Bag (gator skin bag).

It's nice to also see a drawback in using the Hydraskin in that it sucks balls when hitting something.

The Fallingstar, however, should have a little extra boon next to the Croakadile Bag, unless there's another feature it could have, because the power doesn't quite sound right.

Interesting: the Perseus Bow has a chance at Charming someone.  I also find its lowered range amusing, as well as power next to the Artemis (and yeah, I think we should change it from Ultimus because the online help describes the goddess of the hunt, aka Artemis or Diana).

The Yoichi looks like shitloads of fun.

Reeling in Evasion on the Cloths is one thing, but I think you missed the different between Persia and Cashmere.  That being there's no difference, period.  I'd outfit my team with Persias for the lowered price.

The Ryozan, on the other hand, looks like a reason to actually use a cloth, because the reduced Evasion makes them a lost cause compared to other lunging weapons.

If a weapon deals Earth Elemental, does Float negate it?  That would make the Gastrophetes a tentative venture.  If the enemy equips Gastrophetes exclusively, all you got to do is cast Float and negate their attack.  At least that's what I've come to understand about Earth and floating foes.  The loss of Double-Shot puts crossbows back on the lower end of the food chain.

The books look flat-out awesome.  The whole scope of Tactics' story is very Lovecraftian in its own way.  The Battle Dictionary is meant for fighting, while the Necro uses the powers of darkness.  It's a nifty gadget for avoiding those losers with three heads, assuming they still have Dark Whisper at the forefront of their abilities.

The Scorpion Tail deals occasional Poison at last.  Good to see the Morning Star come out on top, with a rival in the Scorpion Tail, but they seem to handle pretty much the same.  I've noticed their power levels are roughly equivalent....

The Lamia Harp should have Charm on it instead of Confusion.  The Fairy Harp is unusual.  I love how you nixed the redundancy of two lyres doing a similar thing.

Now, if Holy is the Fairy Harp's venue, should lyres not be available to both sexes so that both may benefit?

Also consider that Perseus is a mythical hero, so a bow of his might have a holy element (then again, Yoichi got Fire...) so it makes sense if his bow has the Holy Element like the Fairy Harp, or just switch them around.

While I would think a few would have their elements switched around, katanas look incredibly cool.  It's pretty close to what you'd expect from a line of elemental blades.  Was the Chirijiraden nixed for some reason?

I thought you made the Materia Blade a Knight Sword.  I liked that idea

Orichalcum is a legendary metal, an alloy of gold and some other metal.  Atlantis had untold wonders, so it's not inconceivable to imagine that the Floater/Levistone in FF lore was based on it.

Meanwhile, Platina or Platinum is a shiny gray-white metal, often used in the armor of purity worn by the Knights Templar in the game.  Purity, I'd expect, would guard against death.

By these connotations, I would think that it would be better to have the Death Protection on the Platina, and give the Jump +1 to the Orihalcon.

The Main Gauche is down but not out; it should, however, be three-quarters on par with the toughest shield, so it should be raised to 25% or so (unless the shields are brought down).

The Mage Masher used to be fun again, but I suppose it was too easy to rend one's psyche before, and you'd always gain it back, which made for easy casting.  I couldn't imagine a caster without one, in other words.  If it reduced MP by your attack but didn't gain it back, maybe then....

All in all, Daggers are returned to the sidearms they once were, which brings doubt to their viability in a fight.

An End-Game arsenal selection with multiple contenders!

The Oberisk (Obelisk is the proper term) has some defensive power, but it should be higher to contend with its cousins.

The Sacred Lance is always a contender for the crown, while the Dragon Whisker is handy for guarding against the elements.  Very cool.

Gungnir is flat-out awesome.  That's the kind of legendary weapon I'd use.

I recommend you consider making most Lances Forced-Doublegrip, save for lightweight models like the Javelin and Mithril.  They should be light enough for use in one hand.  It also causes you to question the merits of latter pieces and their paltry parrying power, while Javelins and Mithrils have the advantage of an optional Shield.  The Gungnir could also be a contender for one-handed use.

Forced Doubles should have power that emulates a Double-Grip so that Attack Boost puts its power a little above a standard Double-Gripped weapon; this should apply to axes as well.

The Spell Edge, called Spellbinder, lost its principal benefit because it's store-bought.  As a compromise, a tuft of magic power should be granted.

If not, then change it back and give another benefit to the Iga like a boost in Speed, or perhaps some other benefit such as enhancing Air and Earth for use in Punch Art.

The Sasuke is pretty cool and looks like a weapon I'd actually search for.

they lost their Evasion stats.  I would retain the 20% on the initial Rod, because while everything else is ornate and enchanted, you don't care what happens to a simple stick.  Furthermore, it's okay to give a mage a decent parrying tool.

The Elemental Rod sounds like a replacement for the Dragon Rod.  I like the Dragon Rod the way it was, barring the summon-Bahamut effect that took it over the edge.  It should have the half-element gig going for it, but it should also retain the name; like the Dragon Whisker, just not as limited in terms of defense.  Just in striking power.

As for the regular Elemental Rods, I would recommend giving them some half-resistance against their native element and then a weakness in another (like Water for Fire, Earth for Lightning, Fire for Ice).

The White Staff ought to be 1 WP if it's designed to Cancel Doom, because there aren't many ways to stop a countdown once it starts.  It's extraordinarily useful if it also guards against it as well, and has a 100% proc rate.

It seems the formulas are standardized to their originals' Magic Weapon style, suggesting to me that the wackier ASMs and hacks employed in previous weapon design has been rescinded.

I can see it in the Sage Staff, whose protections of Silence and Berserk mirror that of the old Magic Ring.

If you ask me, switch the resistances of the Gold and Rainbow Staves, as I can see Ovelia getting hammered with Gafgarion's Night Sword without it in place (unless, of course, his sword techniques aren't even Darkness elemental).

As with rods, give the expendable Oak Staff an edge in Weapon Guarding over its contemporaries.

Finally, and this is probably for the sake of feasibility: I say nix the Dual-Wield capability.  Staves are bigger than rods and not as long as Sticks, but long and heavy enough to preclude agile strokes with one in each hand.  At least, of course, if you disregard characters like Gandalf and the dude from the old game, "The Immortal", but they often had a sword in their main hand.  There doesn't seem to be a way to make a staff/sword combination without having a ridiculous staff/staff combination.

I like how the Octagon neutralizes EVERYTHING, rather than a few random bad things.

The Ivory Rod with Condemn?  I guess its a bone, true, but to pick that into the sucker's skin, that's just gnarly.

The Battle Bamboo is a little conservative in it's combat ability.  It should be stronger.

Iron Fan sounds like something that should strike hard but be forced double-grip.  Also consider an ASM hack where you can reduce a character's stats with equipment, such as speed in this case.

The Whale Whisker's defense against the elements is interesting too, and it says to me that the Magic Ring has been reconstituted into something else entirely.

The Rune Blade should have a boost in Magic or other effect instead of surpassing the lethal-sounding Diamond Blade as the deadliest non-elemental blade in the End Game.  Give Diamond some power like 14, while the Rune Blade gets to do something else at lowered power.

I noticed the Buster Sword became a Sword again.  This is pretty lousy, unless Cloud has innate Double-Grip or something.  Actually, Forced Double-Grip won't even work since it doesn't multiply.  Cloud's weapon is therefore pretty damn sour, for it it is the only way to enable Limit Break Arts.  That's a major step back.