Theme:FFAC-1 Primer

Overview

The world of Galianda is a world with seven magical continents attached to vaguely-defined “Spars” that connect to the mysterious clockwork core of the planet. Its sun is a phoenix. A giant magical bridge stretches across every continent and reaches the moon. It is a modern world of magical technology based on the simple principle that if you put magic in, you get an effect.

The setting is centered around a giant Anime High School on the Moon for the rich and talented. It uses this school as a window into the rest of the world.

Only Humes/humans are appable. While species like Moggles, Viera and such might exist, they are usually closer to monsters than people.

Current Ongoing/Resolved Plots

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• The Shivan Confederacy (RESOLVED): Harald Wolf-Lord, warlord of Shiva, rallied a large amount of xenophobic Shivan warlords under his banner, in response to threats and actions covertly dealt against Shiva by the Murasame Zaibatsu. Reacting violently, Harald declared war on the whole of Ramuh, thinking them and their Multiversal allies the real source of the problems. Unwilling to listen, this culminated a large amount of Alexander Academy's students and their allies in both superfactions scaling Harald Wolf-Lord's tower and killing him, ending the war and the threat of the Shivan Confederacy, while encountering a mysterious figure wielding Gungnir. The Light Warriors were left with evidence of the Murasame Zaibatsu's wrongdoing, and Shiva now has a semi-organized government to prevent this from happening again.
• Heretics!: The Church of Cosma has a sect of extremists dedicated to hunting down those who betray the Church. Kyra Hyral in particular has been branded one such heretic, and on-and-off been the subject of the sect's hunts.
• MP Cells: Through the combined efforts of many Murasame Zaibatsu members, MP Cells, magical batteries, have been developed and are being distributed through the Zaibatsu's monopoly. The Zaibatsu has accumulated significant amounts of political power and money as a result. Kyra Hyral, knowing them to be the cause of the Shivan War, and unwilling to let Souji accumulate more power, founded Ground Zero, a group of freedom fighters aiming to disrupt the Zaibatsu's operations, steal their patents, and make them open-source.
• Chaos Cultists: Cultists that worship The Enemy are always an issue, wielding dangerous anti-magic.
• Graduation Is Coming!: Come May 2016, students in their final year at Alexander Academy will be graduating! Excitement and livelyhood in the school is peaking, even if most of them will likely be coming back the next year for advanced studies.

The World

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• The Core: The great clockwork core of Galianda. There is no life there, and it is so heavily guarded by sentinels and wards that none may enter, not even its keepers. It is theorized that this is where Chaos lays dormant, sealed by the Divines.
• The Great Span: A magical bridge that allows quick travel to the various areas of Galianda. It has countless access points, and the only Warp Gate of the setting.
• Phoenix: Not a continent/plate proper, but rather the sun. It flies around and roosts in unknown areas of Galianda wherever it likes. This results in highly irregular day/night cycles. Time is generally handled by business operation times that were standardized in Ramuh.
• Chocobo: Also not a continent/plate, but rather the moon. Chocobo is neutral grounds, where Alexander Academy exists. It only became accessible a few hundred years ago, and was named after the first lifeform ever created by the gods.
  • Alexander Academy: The school where students from all continents train to master their Jobs. It is for the rich and the talented, though there are other ways in. If you're attending, you're probably not a nobody. It is strictly neutral grounds, and non-theme people can attend or even teach there.
• Shiva, The Unforgiving Glacier: This continent is snow and ice themed, with technological domes built by Ramuh's inhabitants allowing those not accustomed to the cold to live there. Locals tend to live like a mix of vikings and World War 1 Russians, with rudimentary technology. Raiders, ice monsters, warlords and barbarians are frequent problems there, and until the defeat of Harald Wolf-Lord the Shivans were xenophobic. They are now forming a unified government, with Ramuh's help.
• Ifrit, The Radiant Sands: The desert continent, a place of sand, heat, lava, more sand, random hellfire out of the ground, and every fire-themed monsters you can think of. The sands of Ifrit hide many ancient ruins and secrets. Here too Ramuh has built domes for the survival of non-locals. The Ifriti are nomads, living in a single, massive wandering tribe known as the Bonfire. They dislike building things, but do not mind using accomodations built by others during their travels.
• Titan, The Sky-Breaking Mountain: A gigantic mountain with countless underground tunnels, cities, pathways and chambers. Visible from all other continents. The Titanic are hardy people, either monstrously tall or tiny, with no in-between. Here dwell the countless earth-themed monsters of the setting, giant worms that eat solid rock and creatures that can only exist in total darkness underground.
• Leviathan, The Tenebrous Deep: An endless sea, where the Levitani dwell. They live on boats, on the rare small isles, and frequently have to deal with pirates, sea serpents, hostile fishlife and other woes of a fantasy ocean. Cities of glass and crystal are not uncommon here, and beneath the ocean are treacherous mazes of it, something ships can sometimes bump into.
• Ramuh, The Thundering Plains: Ramuh is a massive cityscape of magitech and neon lights, powered by an eternal, massive thunderstorm. Lightning and technological beasts sometimes find their ways on the streets, and the sewers are full of nasty creatures. Here money is power. Ramuh is run by the al Cid royal family, its Judge order, and then the countless megacorporations vying for power. But when money is power, even the rule of the al Cids can't be certain. The Ramuha here live much like you do in modern Earth, but with more technology, more organization, and an almost racially-rooted desire for advancement.
  • The Murasame Zaibatsu: Sector 13 is home of the Murasame Zaibatsu, and Souji Murasame's plans all seem to end in him furthering his reach, fortune and power. It is the largest megacorporation and has the monopoly on many magitech products. It even has an active military force, outfitted with only the best magitech.
  • The al Cids: The al Cids have ruled Ramuh for a long time, a royal family from ages past. Landon al Cid is the current prince. The Judges act as the ears, eyes and arms of the family, upholding their Law.
• Bahamut, The Sky-Given-Form: Flying cities and castles make up this continent, which isn't really a continent so much as a massive group of flying constructions. Bahamut has no natives, save for the dragons; humans who live there do so under their blessing, erecting Aeries, flying cities of magitech. Only those endlessly loyal to the dragons, or vying to be Dragoons, are permitted in Bahamut.
• Odin, The Iron Desolation: The final plate is one of metal and death. Here, everything or just about is made of sharp jagged metallic edges, and temperatures oscillate between extremes during day and night. Even the wildlife is made of metal. The Odynar must constantly battle these Nightmare Golems to keep control of their patchwork technological cities, and non-natives require an A-rank dungeon license to even wander the dangerous wilds. It's Australia, except everything is made of metal, and personally hates you.

The Magical Physics of Galianda

Everything in Galianda is magic. Period. The sun is a divine bird, gravity is really just one massive gravity spell being cast by the world itself, bullets shoot out of guns using fire magic (either raw, or to ignite magical gunpowder), and every atom is held together by magic. The obvious implication here is that anti-magic is a pretty dangerous tool in Galianda, and while it might not explicitly hurt its Elite inhabitants more than anyone else, anti-magic is pretty damn illegal. Magic is typically called Magic/Mana Particles, aka MP. Almost everything that happens in Galianda, from lightning to heat waves to someone building something, can be linked to them somehow.

Technology

Following the core principle that everything is magic, technology is really just a way for people to automate magic. A gun that shoots lightning bolts is really just a slab of metal onto which the pattern of a lightning spell has been etched. Input MP, get effect. Powerful spells like Fire-3 generally can't be etched onto magitech like that without extreme resource investment, but Fire-1 swords, spears and guns can be mass produced effortlessly. The levels of technology in the theme vary by plate: Shiva and Ifrit aren't home to great magitech builders, generally, but Ramuh is a massive futuristic cityscape, and Bahamut is home to countless, flying magitech castles and small cities.

AIs do not currently exist, and cybernetics are highly experimental. Airships are extremely common, as is modern equipment and power armor, but they by no stretch outclass more traditional technologies like swords. Mognet, aka the Internet, has most of everything and then some you could find in the real world on it, and is accessed through computers, smartphones, tablets or other magitech.

Religions & Gods

Cosmos

Cosmos, the Creator, is a controversial existence. The Church of Cosma claims she is the creator of Galianda, of magic itself, and that she gave her life to create the universe the world resides in, following a battle with Chaos. Yet, not a single piece of evidence has ever been found to support this lore, and the Divines themselves, in the rare instances of interaction with Humes, have never been able to confirm or deny the facts. The truth may be that only Chaos knows if the mythology is true.

To those who worship Cosmos, the Divines are essentially angels, the first children of the Creator. Like all other religions, there are good and bad worshippers, those who apply the teachings selflessly, and those who punish those who don't.

The Divines

• Odin:
• Ifrit:
• Shiva:
• Bahamut:
• Titan:
• Ramuh:
• Leviathan:

The Second Divines

• Raiden:
• Siren:
• Fenrir:
• Phoenix:
• Midgardsormr:
• Whyt:
• Sylph:
• Bismark:
• Diabolos:
• Doomtrain:
• Carbuncle:
• Ragnarok:

Other

• Gilgamesh:
• The Dragons:

The Races

All FF:A:C-1 characters are Humes/humans, but what god they are descended from gives them a slight advantage over others.

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• Shivan: Children of the First Frost have cold resistance and detection, and are physically stronger.
• Ifriti: Children of the First Flame have fire resistance and detection, and are physically faster.
• Titanic: Children of the First Earth are both durable and strong, either giant or tiny, and have awareness of tremors.
• Ramuha: Children of the First Storm can sense changes in ambient air pressure, electricity, or the weather.
• Levitani: Children of the First Flood can sense changes in the sea and ocean, in tidal movements, and in rain.
• Odynar: Children of the First Blade are born with chunks of metal in their bodies, serving as natural armor.

Jobs

Jobs, or Classes in some Final Fantasy games, are something all who hail from Galianda are born with. Many only have one, but the exceptional (read: player characters) usually have two. Three and more is unheard of. These can be innate or trained, but to change one's Job(s) is a massive undertaking of personal redefinition.

Jobs available to FF:A:C-1 characters are generally anything you can find in any other Final Fantasy media. From the various Mages (black, white, green, red, time, etc.) to the blends of Warriors and Knights (paladin, berserker, dark knight, sword saint, fencer, etc.), very few are off-limits, and those that require special consideration will be in this section.

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• Sub-Jobs: Those who have two Jobs have a primary Job and a sub-Job. This sub-Job provides its skillset, but also flavors the primary Job. For example, a Black Mage/Monk is a spellcaster flavored by martial arts, and may cast spells through his fists. However, a Monk/Black Mage is a martial artist flavored by spellcasting, and may have martial arts styles derived from the schools of Black Magic. Note that this is optional, but available if you want to give an extra oomph to your Job combination.
• Hybrid Jobs: The more your Job (or Jobs) can do, the less of a specialist you are. If you're a Red Mage or Sage, you're not as good as either a Black Mage or a White Mage at their jobs. If you're a Sword Saint or Paladin, you're not going to outsword a vanilla Knight on physical prowess alone, you'll need to use your assorted techniques to stay even. In other words, the more you spread your powers, the less they can keep up with someone who didn't in a direct confrontation.
• Learning a Job as a non-native: People not native to Galianda can't just become a Knight, Red Mage or Fencer. They can, however, learn abilities or spells that they are already compatible with, from willing teachers. There is also the possibility of using yourself as a template to create a new Job, allowing you to teach it to others, and flavoring your powers and abilities with a minor Final Fantasy flair. For example, Superman may be able to use himself to create a 'Man of Steel' Job template, and teach people willing to study his strict training how to shoot eye lasers and frost breath.
• Applications: While Jobs were created to empower people to fight Chaos, the primary applications of Jobs nowadays are not all centered on fighting. A Thief makes an excellent cop, a Knight can be a bodyguard or even a mediator, White Mages are doctors and Black Mages might rescue people from hostile environments their magic can counter. And of course, being a criminal is on the table for everyone, as is adventuring and killing monsters for money.
• Summoner versus Caller: Summoner is not a Job one can just train into. At birth, a Summoner is chosen by up to three Second Divines (see Religions & Gods section) to be a host and vessel. Once they are mature enough to be trained and go to school, a Summoner learns to manifest and Summon avatars of those Second Divines to fight for them. Additionally, Summoners suffer minor damage to their memories whenever they Summon. A Caller, meanwhile, is not actually summoning an avatar of anything, but rather using their own magic to create an image in the likeness of a monster to attack with. They explicitely cannot Call images in the likeness of Divines.
• Dragoons: Dragoons are people who are found worthy by the dragons to carry their legacy. They are trained as agents to watch for the eventual return of the Enemy, following strict codes of conduct which are generally disconnected from the rest of Galianda's laws. In other words, they're kind of like Jedi.
• Sword Saints: A Sword Saint's secondary Job (Sword Saint is always primary) must always be one that relates to swords, and which dictates the type of swordplay the Sword Saint will excel at. Sword Saints are very rare.
• Heritors: Heritors are masters of all weapons, but cannot learn skills. Instead, they absorb skills from weapons that belonged to significant figures in history. Alexander Academy has a number of those weapons kept for the rare few Heritors that pop up.
• Judges: Judges uphold the Laws of Galianda and the al Cids, capital L, and so require thorough understanding of the setting in order to apply for. They are not more powerful, they just need a better understanding of the theme than most Jobs.

School Life

• Grades:
• Graduation: Sometime in May 2016, students in their final year will be graduating from the high school grades of Alexander Academy and into the college and university courses, or work.
• Dungeon Licenses: In order to graduate from Alexander Academy, students are required to eventually obtain their B-rank dungeon licenses. These licenses are pretty much authorizations to go to places that have been marked dangerous, in order: E, D, C, B, A, S and SS. Characters are not required to wait for qualification scenes to be GMed, and may claim to be whatever rank makes sense for them, but if you offscreen your rank, don't flaunt it at other people to belittle them.
• Life After High School: Though Alexander Academy is primarily a high school, once students graduate from it, it offers a high amount of additional classes, work opportunities and reasons to stay at the academy for years to come, essentially equivalent to college and university, except for Final Fantasy characters and Jobs. (For example, a graduated White Mage might continue attending classes to further and further specialize himself in his craft and become a top-notch medical expert. Or he might just go find a job, and only attend college-level classes part-time.)
• Field Trips: Alexander Academy is extremely interested in running field trips to other worlds. This is an opportunity for people to show off a part of their theme to the cast, or for the cast to request to visit another theme that seems like it could be interesting to run a trip in.
• Clubs: Many, many clubs exist at the academy. If in doubt, feel free to make one up.
  • The Light Warriors:

Protagonists & Antagonists

• The Light Warriors:
• The Students:
• The al Cids:
• Ground Zero:
• The Murasame Zaibatsu:
• Chaos:
• Monsters:
• Other:

GMing & You

There is a LOT one can GM in this theme! And you don't really need any special permission either. Unless you want to do something really huge with a major Final Fantasy figure (like trying to GM the WEAPONS, or other similar, named megabosses), you can pretty much do anything you want, and you will almost certainly not be stepping on toes. Because in the end, the plates are so big, that everyone's interpretation of them is probably accurate in SOME part of them.

• School Activities: First off is school life. Parties, games, hanging out, duels, classes, field trips (DEFINITELY these, go bug people with cool themes and ask to field trip in them!), school crossover stuff with other schools, club activities (make clubs up if you want!), assorted competitions... basically, the sky is the limit here.
• Monster Hunting & Jobs: Galianda has a job board! It's a questing hub. People sometimes need protected from monsters while they go places, or they need monster parts for whatever reason. Or their farm is being invaded by mole monsters. Each plate/continent offers a distinct flavor of monsters and locales, and anything you can think of that fits in a fantasy setting probably fits in here somewhere. Random RPG quests are a dime a dozen, giant boss monsters roam the wilds of every plate.
• Chaos Cultists: And if monsters aren't your speed, how about cultists? Chaos' power lives on through its cult, empowering human servants to do horrible, anti-magic things. A grenade from a Chaos cultist might disable the laws of physics in the area hit, it's pretty nasty. And these guys are total douchenozzles, so they should be captured or killed.
• Visiting Places!: The continents and plates are HUGE. There's cool thematic ancient ruins in every single one of them. Or people could visit a crystal city on Leviathan for the sights! Visit the Bonfire on Ifrit and chat the nomads up. This place has so many cool locales to GM and visit you can't actually run out.

Cast Power Levels

Suggested starting levels:

• 30-31: Exceptional students (player characters) of Alexander Academy generally fit here.
• 32: Those who have almost mastered their Jobs, and have or are nearing graduation from school.

Upgrades to grow into:

• 33: The elite, the absolutely exceptional who have acquired massive combat experience, usually off-world.
• 34: The peak of an adventurer, a protagonist at the end of his journey. Might require more than raw talent; a sword like Excalibur, a special Job upgrade, or some other significant plot object.

Restricted:

• 35: Potentially, one or two characters who might become so central to the theme and so active that they find a way to challenge or rival Chaos' power, or become close enough to it to reach this level.
• 36: Chaos. Probably just Chaos.

A note on antagonists: It's possible but not required that major antagonists, especially those who will become Chaos' Fiends, might get away with a slightly higher base PL for the sake of being credible threats. This isn't guaranteed by any stretch but a good story opens the option.