Okay, part 2 of the pregen deep dive for FF XIV TTRPG! Let’s go!

ROLE

The black mage has the role of DPS, or Damage Per Second. Unlike the Tank, the black mage performs best when it is not flitting around the battlefield, but is in a stationary, secure location.

PRIMARY & SECONDARY ATTRIBUTES

Let’s start off by doing a direct comparison between the black mage and the warrior:

The spread of attributes between the black mage and the warrior are identical with a single +0, +1, +2, +4, and +5 spread across their array. They share the same Speed of 5, and also share two identical Secondary attributes of 11 and 15. The only difference between them is that the warrior has an array of 11, 12, and 15 whereas the black mage has an array of 11, 14, and 15.

Like the warrior, the black mage’s attributes remain identical between levels 30 and 40, with an increase of 1 across every ability except for Speed at level 50.

Can we take a moment to appreciate the amazing character art of the black mage pregen? Can we also take a moment to appreciate the fact that FF XIV has no skill system? By removing things like lore skills, you are saying a lot about how this game is designed to be played. Rules are setting!

In fact, I would venture to say that most rules-lite RPGs lean heavily into skill or discipline systems (or perhaps attribute + skill) as a way to reinforce the setting or genre through the rules. Powered by the Apocalypse and Basic RolePlaying are the systems that come immediately to mind when I think of this. Where we start to see a deviation from this setting-as-rules lockstep is in so-called OSR and NuSR games, though they often add simulationist mechanics such as encumbrance, lighting effects, resting, saving throws for characters or items in as their method of creating verisimilitude.

FF XIV eschews all of that in favor a pure gamist, top down design which, aside from Titles (which are left undefined in the starter set), only provides rules for tactical combat. I can see a whole lot of f20 apologists getting triggered by this! 🙂

Do you want money, rest, travel, and item weight to matter in your game? The GM is free to add them, but the rules as written in FF XIV TTRPG starter set are unconcerned with such details.

MP & HP

Just like the warrior, the black mage recovers 2 MP at the end of the Adventurer Step each round.

The black mage’s HP spread is 21 at level 30, 28 at level 40, and 40 HP at level 50 compared to the warrior’s HP spread of 35, 46, and 63. So the warrior consistently has approximately 50% more HP than the black mage.

I think this makes the black mage much more of a finesse job to play than the warrior. Not only do you have considerably less HP than the tank, but you need to manage your MP spends very carefully or you can end up steadily draining your MP down to 0!

TRAITS & OTHER EFFECTS

Further adding to my view that the black mage is a finesse job, the black mage’s sheet is packed with traits, effects, and abilities and by the time you get to the level 50 sheet, just about every square inch is covered with information!

The two primary traits for the black mage tie directly to the lore of the setting itself: Umbral Ice and Astral Fire. In FF XIV, there exist two opposing forces, Astral and Umbral, which have associated aspects and elements. Astral elements include fire, lightning, and wind; Umbral elements include earth, ice and water.

In FF XIV TTRPG, Umbral Ice and Astral Fire are traits that can create a renewable source of MP for the black mage, or increase the base effect of abilities by increasing their damage. These traits are mutually exclusive and you cannot have both active at the same time. Furthermore, using Astral Fire prevents the black mage from recovering MP at the end of the Adventurer’s Step.

While the black mage does not have a combo like the warrior, it does have Consecutive Invocation, which trades movement in exchange for invoking a second primary ability.

PRIMARY ABILITIES, DOT, AND PROC

Manipulating the invisible forces of the universe can have an impact on the battlefield in two says: DOT, and Proc. DOT stands for Damage Over Time, a sustained effect. This effect takes place at the end of each Adventurer’s Step and has a base effect indicated by a number next to the DOT designation; eg, DOT (3) will deal 3 additional damage at the end of each Adventurer’s Step until the enemy falls. Proc stands for Programmed Random Occurrence, and is a staple of MMOs.

Thunder activates Consecutive Invocation, has DOT (3), and has a 10% chance of incurring even more damage every time the DOT damage occurs. Wicked!

SECONDARY ABILITIES

The black mage’s secondary abilities, with the exception of Manaward and Scathe, deal with the manipulation and recovery of MP.

INSTANT ABILITIES

The black mage’s instants are very cool as well!

Much like the warrior’s Reprisal, Swiftcast gives the black mage up to two more inkoved abilities per round — but keep your eye on the MP spends!

Personally, I could see Swiftcast coming in handy when you are fighting a boss and are within an AoE and could use an HP buff before it triggers. I am sure there are many other uses for it as well.

LIMIT BREAK

The black mage’s Limit Break is Meteor, a staple from Final Fantasy in general. Just like the video games, I do not see any encounter extending past Limit Breaks unless it is a particularly tough boss or the encounter has multiple phases.

CONCLUSIONS

DPS, DOT, Proc … FF XIV TTRPG wears its heart on its sleeve and doesn’t pretend to be anything else than an way you can bring the MMO to the table top. I am immensely curious to see what the expansions bring to the game, but I am already seeing how the Gamemasters in Hobby Japan’s actual play streams were able to craft custom scenarios using just the materials presented in the starter set combined with in-game experience w FF XIV or with a handy copy of Encyclopaedia Eorzea.