Characters And Growth Systems

Party Creation

In order for a campaign to begin, the players will need to create a party - the cast of adventurers, possibly heroes, possibly scoundrels, occasionally both - that will be the main point of view for the events of the game.

A party consists of several characters, typically one per player. Each player can create the character they will be playing as.

Each character can be said to have two facets which are related yet constructed independently.
The Characterization facet is how they are written and described, in terms of their place within the world, their personality, their appearance.
The Mechanical facet is how they are designed to function within the rules of Seed, and how they interact with its various systems, especially the combat game.

Each portion has its own section, linked above. If you're fairly certain about what sort of character you'd like to create, just hop right in to "Mechanical" to begin statting up your character!
As characters are created, their information should be recorded on a character sheet, one of which, suitable for use on wiki sites, is provided in the sidebar.

in Seed, a party has a single inventory of items and spare equipment which may be accessed by all player characters. It also contains their money, typically measured in the Final Fantasy currency of "Gil". (Your campaign might use another currency, maybe even GP.)

When a party is created, they receive some items in their inventory:
5 Tonics, 5 Tinctures, 1 Antidote, 1 Eyedrop, 1 Golden Needle, 1 Phoenix Down and 1 Tent.
They also receive some other items depending on which systems are in use:

License System: 2 Shuriken, 1 Asura I.
Job System: 2 Shuriken, 1 Asura I.
Class System: If a character in the party starts with Throw known, 2 Shuriken. With Asura, 1 Asura I. With Use, 2 Grenades.
Equipment System: 2 Leather Shields, and a Tier 1 weapon and suit of armor of their choice

The party also begins with 0 Gil.

Mid-Game Character Additions

If a player joins a campaign in the middle instead of at the beginning, the character will be constructed slightly differently. Essentially, they create a character at the party's level, and assign themselves the same amount of AP that the party has earned. (With the job system this can be calculated as 50 x Mastered Job Ranks + All Leftover AP). They also have a single tier-appropriate weapon and suit of armor equipped.

Party Creation at Tiers Above 1

Though Seed generally assumes that play will begin at level 1, just as it's possible to have a game that ends at any tier, it's possible to have a game that begins at any tier. Simply create a party of level 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71, 81 or 91.

The party will begin play somewhat differently from normal - for example, their inventory will contain more items, and if the job system is in use, they'll start with some mastered job ranks.

Advanced Party Creation provides the rules for this.

Advancement

As the game progresses, the party will grow from their adventures and their successes, gaining rewards. The four main methods of advancement in Seed are Level, Outfitting, Abilities and Skills.

Level
As the party gains EXP, the player characters will gain levels, increasing their HP and MP, and occasionally moving them up into another tier.

As the HP and MP of characters depend on their level, whenever the party gains a level, their HP and MP should be increased. Barring bonuses from other systems, a character's HP is equal to 200 + ( [ VIT x 3 ] + 4) x Level and a character's MP is equal to 200 + ([SPR x 3 ] + 4) x Level. Equipment and Jobs, notably, provide a bonus to this. Whenever a character's HP or MP increases due to level gain, increase their current HP and MP by the same amount.

Tiers are break-points representing progress within the game - essentially, roughly the point at which you've moved into a new phase of the game, the monsters become slightly tougher and new equipment becomes available. Each tier stretches across 10 levels - the first is from level 1 until 10, with the second reached at 11, the third at 21, with tier 10 being achieved at level 91.

The power of all spells and some other abilities depend on the character's tier. When characters reach their second tier and each tier above that, they apply the listed adjustment to the power of the ability, increasing the damage it will deal.

It is also generally assumed within Seed that characters will have access to items of tiers equal to and less than the party's tier in stores.

Outfitting
Depending on the outfitting system in use in the campaign, characters will apply a different method of improving their weaponry and armor as they continue through the game. They will gain access to new special properties and, roughly in sync with their gain in tiers, they will arm themselves with higher quality gear with improved damage and defenses.

In the Equipment system, characters may purchase equipment from stores using Gil, typically with selection limited by their tier. As such, every 10 levels, new weaponry and armor become available, increasing their damage and granting them new special properties. (Though roughly as often, old equipment with powerful effects become obsolete.)

In the Remodeling system, characters use loot collected from monsters to improve their equipment. They complete formula to add powerful properties onto their equipment, and can upgrade their gear to the tier of the loot they carry. Since loot generally comes from monsters, and monsters a party meets are generally within their tier or close to it, the party will have weaponry and armor mostly appropriate to their tier.

Abilities
Whereas the other systems typically provide passive effects, it's from abilities that characters receive their wealth of options in combat. Abilities are provided by Growth Systems. These are the spells and techniques that characters wield to defeat their enemies, and as play continues they will find themselves armed with a panoply of them.

In the License system, each character bears a certain job - a sort of general role such as Red Mage or Knight, and as they rest in it they are provided with a certain ability, automatically equipped. As they adventure in it they earn AP, Ability Points, which award them ranks in the job they're using - once a character attains its rank, they may equip the abilities attached to that rank to an ability slot, allowing them to use it whenever they wish. A character's job may be changed freely, allowing them to gain ranks from a variety of jobs, mixing-and-matching a powerful, unique suite of abilities.

Skills
Skills serve to modify the result checks a character makes out of combat, essentially shaping how they adventure. Most systems tie skill gain to level. As characters progress through the game, they become grander in scale, and the honing of their skills allow them to thrive in more and more dangerous situations. They diversify and gain broad mastery, and also can become the unbeatable experts of their signature tricks.

In the Talent system, characters select talents - they have both a Free talent, which they may adjust as play continues, and several other talents, which are set in stone once selected. They gain more as they increase in level. Some of these talents simply adjust the CoS of some result checks, but others apply unique effects, altering the impact of the check on the game world, allowing the character to play a price to save themselves from defeat, or simply bypass the roll entirely with a show of determination.

Growth Systems

Growth systems grant characters abilities, deciding their options in combat. These serve as the most powerful determinant of a character's playstyle.

Crystal System - Freely move from job to job, gaining a portfolio of dangerous tactics and useful options that can be freely interchanged the suit your needs.
Job System - Characters can move between various jobs while learning abilities to use - however only two ability job skill sets may be equipped at a time.
Class System - Each character selects a single class, which grants a wide purview of powerful abilities.

Other Systems

Other systems for characters grant characters additional combat options, usually powerful, rarely usable abilities.

Eidolons - Characters can call forth Eidolons, otherworldly beings that the rest of the party controls.
Limit Breaks - Characters steadily build up towards powerful, unique abilities as they fight, which they can unleash once charged.

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