FFXIV x D&D - Fighter Archetype: Machinist

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Machinist

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/ByUh8YqE4

The FFXIV's Machinist main in-game mechanic involves playing around with a "Heat" gauge while you shoot your gun and manage your ammunition, all the while aligning everything inside a window of time in which you use another ability called "Wildfire". You also get to occasionally use a flamethrower and a turret that you place and forget for the most part. I think I just described 90% of the job.

I just want to say that, first of all, the concept for this job as executed in FFXIV is not enough to make a D&D class out of. I know the Champion Fighter exists if we're arguing about class simplicity, but I don't think Machinist is supposed to be simple at all. I do feel that, if we explore Machinist's roots in the series, with the likes of FFVI Edgar's Tool ability, there could be enough to make a Machinist Class if done right; that is, if we look outside of the purview of FFXIV.

           

Illustration by Halsh on Deviantart

However, I didn't really have the time to make a whole new class, so I decided to opt for making a subclass instead. I initially thought about basing it off of Ranger and Rogue, but the Machinist neither casts spells nor does it make sense for it to have a Sneak Attack. Then I went to the Fighter class, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made to me. I'm aware that there's an Artificer class Unearthed Arcana article coming really soon, and I will revise my work after it comes out, because it's likely that there could be some synergy with it.

Let's talk about using Fighter as the base class. When one thinks about Fighter, the first thing that comes to mind is a heavy armor warrior; However, that doesn't have to be the case. If the Fighter favors Dexterity over Strength (as a ranged combatant would), they don't meet the requirements for heavy armor. Additionally, the machination mechanic uses intelligence for it's abilities, both balancing it out and also forcing the Fighter to be more careful with their Ability Score Increase selection. It also doesn't hurt that the Fighter kit allows a Machinist to choose their fighting style; So you can build your own Hammer-wielding Machinist a la FFIV Cid if you choose to.

I considered the possibility of simply repurposing the Battle Master, but it didn't feel like it did the Machinist justice. When I thought about Edgar's abilities, I felt like the Machinist needed to have a repertoire of gadgets they could have at their disposal, perhaps mimicking the effects of some spells. That's when I turned to the Way of the Four Elements monk subclass, and realized that the general idea of what I had in mind had been done already, and I could take that as a model.

For the backbone of the subclass, I essentially took the Battle Master, and replaced the superiority dice mechanic with a specialized version of Ki Points. Battle Master's "Know Your Enemy" goes too well with some Machinist's Analyze ability. 

I listed out all of Edgar's abilities (and I'm proud to say I was able to incorporate most or all of them somehow), as well as other Machinist-type abilities throughout the series. I noticed that both Battle Master and Way of the Four Elements subclasses had 16 or more abilities to choose from, and I tried to reach that number. Perhaps in the future, I can implement some sort of Bazooka and/or lazer gun, which I think are missing.

One thing I still have second thoughts about, is the fact that it took two pages to list out all the machinations, and that I had to basically repeat stuff that was already said in the spell that a machination was emulating. My reasoning is that machinations don't work like spells; they don't require the same components, and they can't be dispelled. Repeating effect descriptions also allowed me to tweak abilities for the purpose of balance.

All in all, this is a subclass I'll be dying to see in action. It encapsulates that over-the-top feeling you get when you play FFVI Edgar, and if you pick certain abilities (namely Flamethrower, Spiked Chain Cannon, Autoturret, Windblower, Debilitator, and Flash), you'll also be able to play like a FFXIV machinist. I might come back to it in the future, though maybe with the mind of turning it into it's own class.

FFXIV x D&D - Astrologian as a Cleric Archetype: Star Domain

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Astrologian

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/B1rRfxLw4V

For Astrologian, it took me a little while to determine whether it deserved it's own class. After realizing that it shared a lot in common with the D&D cleric's toolkit (and could even gain something from it), I decided to turn astrologian into a cleric subclass.

Introducing the Star Domain:

• Uses the starglobe as both spellcasting focus and holy symbol
• Draw Allows you to use cards from level 1, as a mechanic very similar to Bardic Inspiration.
• Die starts at 1d4 so as to not step on the Bard's toes and make up for the fact that some card abilities can prove to be pretty strong.
• Further Domain abilities like Spread, Royal Road, and Sleeve Draw play around with the card mechanic, allowing more flexibility.
• Channel Divinity: Sect Attunement involves increased healing or shielding with temporary hit points.
• This way, this domain remains useful without encroaching too much on the Life Domain cleric's territory.
• Domain Spells include three Star Domain specific spells:
• Earthly Star is an AOE healing spell that with increased healing, depending on how long you wait.
• Collective Unconscious is an healing spell that trades your mobility for consistent heals.
• Celestial Opposition is an AOE stun spell.

I'm very satisfied with this subclass and I can't wait to test it out! The main thing that I need to determine now is whether having Draw is satisfying enough to have as an action instead of a bonus action. My reasoning is that bonus actions are supposed to be quick, and the Draw mechanic can be as complicated as a lower level spell. I'll see what the results are and adjust accordingly.

FFXIV x D&D - Bard Archetype: College of Archery

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Hy7u0YWw4E

I know I said I was working on Warrior next, but when I was figuring out what a Barbarian subclass would look like, I realized that the Path of the Berserker fit the bill for what people look for a Warrior anyways. So here's Bard instead!

Bard

For Bard, I thought that Soren's take on it was on point. However, when one of my players asked whether this subclass was going to be on Bard or Ranger, I realized that the Archery style of it needs to be prominent, something that the Bard class doesn't have on it's own (And the Ranger doesn't really fill what the FFXIV Bard does anyways). So I checked the Bard's College of Swords, which turns Bards into competent enough melee fighters, and worked something around that.

The end result might be a little *too similar* to the College of Swords subclass, so I might come back to it and add a little more diversifying flare to it, but for the most part, I think it does the job right.

FFXIV x D&D - Sorcerer Archetype: Black Mage

This is part of a series of posts I'm making in prep for a FFXIV x D&D sourcebook I'm writing. Other related articles are:

• Astrologian
• Bard
• Black Mage
• Dark Knight
• Dragoon
• Gunbreaker
• Machinist
• Monk
• Red Mage
• Scholar
• Summoner
• White Mage

Here's a copy of the unfinished product if you want to see it in a coherent form: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/S1YXOxGNE

My FFXIV x D&D adventure preparation is well underway. I'll post details about the adventure itself once the players start going through it and I don't need to worry about spoilers. In the meantime, here's another one of my takes on a FFXIV job for D&D play.


Black Mage

This time, I'm tackling the Black Mage. For this class, I thought it would be better to make a subclass for it instead of a whole new class, since I felt like the FFXIV Black Mage isn't a broad enough of a concept to branch out into multiple subclasses without diluting the essence of the job.

While one would initially think that Wizard would be the correct class to base FFXIV's Black Mage off of, my argument is that Sorcerer is the better choice. Black Mages in XIV don't really base their power off of studies as much as they do from their aether within; We can see this in the Job Quests themselves when the group of Lalafell Thaumaturge sibling mentos have one brother that, as much as he tries to study the arts, just doesn't have the capacity practice the magickal arts. Therefore, we can infer that in order to be a Black Mage, you must be born with a certain aptitude for it; Also it doesn't hurt that the Sorcerer class design, mostly talking about Sorcerer Points and Metamagic here, merges better with the Black Mage playstyle.

Here are some of my thoughts behind the decision process of making these abilities:

• Manaward and Ley Lines
• Sorcerer's 1st level abilities mostly settle the tone of what the class is supposed to be, granting minor yet important abilities that set the tone for the subclass. Manaward allows the caster to take more hits than usual. Ley Lines gives them an ability to freely roam within a chosen space that they'll want to stay in throughout a battle.
• None of these abilities really tell of a Sorcerous Origin by themselves, but it could be argued that they enable their user to tap into their inner potential by allowing them to focus better- and the best way they can do that is by staying still in a battlefield. Knowing this, we can make sense of why a Black Mage would need to learn these abilities first.
• Enochian
• This ability then becomes the result of a Black Mage's training coming to fruition. In order to execute this ability, they can't move. Their previous abilities allows them to feasibly pull this off. The main reason for this ability is to give Black Mage's cantrips a bit of a boost without having to increase it necessarily.
• Aetherial Manipulation
• In the game, one would normally use this ability to get out of harm's way at the last minute, and this ability reflects that.
• Polyglot
• This ability should encompass everything a Black Mage has been working towards into a single, satisfying display of power. The idea was to give them a passive ability that helped them always, and then another ability that they could use to nuke their enemies, at the cost of them losing something. In retrospect, it might feel a little too limiting for the result, but at the time of writing it, I felt it was balanced against other 18th level Sorcerer subclass abilities. We'll see what the future tells!

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how this subclass turned out. I'll probably come back and add some flavor to it so it's not so cold and crunchy. I'm pretty sure I can word some things a lot better, too. Next up, I'll be working on the Warrior.