Class challenge

[Star of Penumbra]

Okay, to tell the truth, I don't like this game very much. Why? Well, because with the exception of limit breaks, all the characters might as well be interchangable. There's no reason to use Barret instead of Cid later in the game, because Cid's Highwind limit is better than any of Barret's, and the character's stats simply aren't different enough to make a noticable difference.

So I'm proposing this challenge: Each character gets a specific materia setup that ONLY they can use. Materia setups mimic the classes of other FF games; essentially, the characters now have fixed clases. If there's a number next to the materia name in the Materia allowed column, that means that you can only use spells of that level or lower. So Restore3 means you can only use Cure, Cure 2, and Regen. If there's no number, you can use any spell the materia grants. Also, anyone can use the All (support) materia.

Some of the materia allowed might seem kinda strange. I decided some are okay because they fit the character. Others, like Cait Sith being able to use Ultima, are because they most closely duplicate some spell not in FF7 (in this case, Ultima is the closest thing to Holy there is).

Sources are not allowed.

Also, the only characters allowed to use thier ultimate weapons are Barret, Cid, Aeris, and Tifa.

Banned materia: All Master materias, all Summon materias, Morph, X-Summon, Mime, X-Item, Quadra Magic, HP Absorb, Steal As Well, Elemental, Quadra Magic, Sneak Attack, Magic Counter, Long Range, Speed Plus, Luck Plus, Pre-Emptive, Exp. Plus, Enemy Away, Mega All.

Character/ Class/ Materia allowed
Cloud/ Red Mage/ Restore3, Fire2, Ice2, Lightning2, Revive1

Barret/ Fighter/Blue Mage/ Enemy Skill, Cover, Counter Attack (purple), HP Plus, Double Cut, Slash-All

Tifa/ Monk/ Fire, Earth, Heal, Restore2

Aeris/ Sage/ Any except the banned materia listed above

RedXIII/ Black Mage/ Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Time, Gravity, Destruct, Comet, Contain, Ultima, MP Plus, MP Turbo, MP Absorb

Yuffie/ Ninja/ Fire2, Ice2, Lightning2, Throw, Steal, Double Cut

Cait Sith/ White Mage/ Restore, Revive, Seal, Heal, Transform, Mystify, Exit, Ultima, Barrier, MP Plus

Vincent/ Berserker/ Mystify, Destruct, Counter Attack (purple), HP Plus

Cid/ Lancer/ HP Plus, Cover, Double Cut, Counter Attack, Comet

[Mercen-X]

Well, because with the exception of limit breaks, all the characters might as well be interchangable. There's no reason to use Barret instead of Cid later in the game, because Cid's Highwind limit is better than any of Barret's.

Well, if Cid's limits are better than Barret's, then how are they interchangeable?

That contradicting notion aside, I'm diggin' the setup there.
A few things:

1. Speed Plus/Luck Plus
Yuffie should totally have these.

2. W-Magic/Magic Plus
Red XIII should have these.

3. Mega All
What's with ditching the Mega All? You get like five All's in the game and in older games you could attack all with practically any spell. Okay, I admit it was unusual to physically attack all enemies as Slash-All does in this game.

4. HP Absorb
You're telling me there's never been an ability to absorb an opponent's HP through an attack?

[raskerino]

Originally Posted by Star of Penumbra:
Well, because with the exception of limit breaks, all the characters might as well be interchangable. There's no reason to use Barret instead of Cid later in the game, because Cid's Highwind limit is better than any of Barret's.

Well, if Cid's limits are better than Barret's, then how are they interchangeable?

I think what he meant is other than limit breaks all characters are very close to equal (some characters have reasonably higher stats although that can be fixed with sources- but there are no major differences) so other than limit breaks they are all somewhat interchangable. When including limit breaks he's saying that cid is better than barret, making there no point to barret as he has nothing cid doesn't have better. Some characters are just better than others and he's giving values to each one to make it more similiar to job systems in whch each character has different inherent plusses. That's the whole point. I do agree though that those 4 points you made are good additions. I kinda like the idea of limiting the characters I do prefer the customization possible for each character. I think this is a nice idea though.

[Mercen-X]

Yeah . . . I guess those bits didn't add up right in my head. In my defense . . . I was posting at midnight and I'm not very cogent past sunset.

[Desperado]

Summon materia should not be banned. There should be a specific character to be a Summoner... such as Aeris when she reaches level 30, or maybe Caith Sith at level 35.

Or perhaps each character can equip one summon.

This setup, without all the restrictions, comes close to how I played my game through, actually. I kept specific materia equipped on certain people, instead of letting everyone learn everything.

[Mirage]

Ninjas can summon. And I agree that yuffie should be allowed to use speed plus.

[Mercen-X]

At least Odin.

[Light Mage]

I give Aeris / Yuffie / Red XII all the White Magic type materia, because their Limits have status boosting or curative effects.

I give Tifa and Vincent the command materia (Deathblow, added/double cut, etc.) because they're the only two with weapons that have 255 hit% on them.

I give Cait Sith the Summons, because his Silver M-Phone has a lot of materia slots.

I give standard magic materia to Barret and Cid (because someone has to have them).

I save the unique magic materia (Ultima, Comet, etc) for Cloud. Although I let him use Cure magic too, as FullCure is a unique materia.