A Sequel

[Skyblade]

Nope. No plans at all. Too busy working on other things.

[Wolf Kanno]

In that case I'll write out a few mission scenario's and see what you think. At best they can be refine, at worst the whole idea can be dropped. I alredy have an idea for Marche's own clan... :sneaky:

EDITGA:

Here's the ideas I've come up with so far. Due to this being purely side quest affair I decided it would be fun to have these missions follow the Matsuno way of referencing other FFs. I also decided that the three missions should all be connected to tell a story. This is only the basic idea's I have so far. I also have not planned out the laws to be put in place for these battles except for No Law Cards.

Sprohm Clans (Bangaa): Man of Mystery! - The Bangaa clans of Sprohm have had an enemy intruder enter their midst and he's attacking all their swordsmen! Even worse he steals the swords from his defeated victims! The Bangaa are at their wits end and with the war effort taking their toll on the clans resources they can't find the man power to find this devilish fiend and put a stop to this. Please you must help the clan search for this Mystery Swordsman, before the clan losese face!

Author's notes: The Party will face off against Enkidu in mission one and recover the Buster sword, in mission two, they face off against Gilgamesh (Blue Mage with Jump skill) which regains the Lionheart and the final mission will deal with both Gilgamesh and Enkidu in a final battle on the Sprohm Bridge. This battle earns the Excalipoor.

Buster Sword and Lionheart are both event items and cannot be equipped. The Excalipoor does only one HP of damage. Gilgamesh, when using his swords should randomly use one of the four legendary swords he owns. Excalibur (Holy Damage), Masamune (Dark or Wind Damage), Zantesuken (Instant K.O.), and Excalipoor (1hp of Damage). Enkidu I feel should have the Dragoon Breath Attacks even though he's purely a monster type.

Baguba Clans (Moogles): Sabatoge! - The engineering clans of Baguba have been having a series of accidents concerning their airship. At first it was thought to be just accidents caused by carelessness but further investigations show that sabatoge is the most likely cause. Unfortunately, the perpetrators know our security and manpower inside out so we have failed to capture them. They always seem to be one step ahead of out forces. Against out will, we decided the best course of action would be to hire an outside source to work independently from our own in hopes of catching the saboteurs off guard. We hope you will accept our offer.

Author's Notes: The missions take place on three different airships. Mission One takes place on the Highwind, Mission Two takes place on The Black Jack, and Mission Three takes place on the Enterprise. The Saboteurs are Goltana forces lead by a rogue moogle engineer named Mid. Mid is annoyed caused the other engineers always overlooked his designs and scoffed at his ideas. In retaliation, he joined forces with Goltana in orders to ruin the reputation of the Engineers of Baguba.


Muscadet Clans (Viera) - Legendary Thief Zero! - This is difficult to say but desperate times call for desperate measures. Our clands have been plagued by the appearance of a fabled thief of old. He has stolen valuable supplies and information from us before which has greatly hindered our efforts in the war. Recently, the scoundrel has stolen an important document dealing with our forces troop deployments. If the plans were to fall into enemy hands it would be disasterous for all of Ivalice. We need you to help us find this thief and put a stop to him! But even more importantly is that his incedent must be kept confidential. Good Luck!

Author's Note: Zero is actually a "she" a Viera with the Assassin Class. All the missions take place in cities and at night. The theme of the laws used in these battles should be silence. Magic will be forbidden as well as certain melee classes (Basically Ninjas, Archers, Thiefs and Assassins should be the main composition of your party. You should also have character restrictions (Two or Three) and the battles should be timed based. You basically need to defeat Zero before so many rounds end. In the end, the identity of Zero turns out to be the head of the Viera Clans of Muscadet, Agrias. She revived the legendary figure of Zero the thief and caused mayhem to test her own clans abilities. She is sadden by their lack of personal power, but is happy to understand their wisdom in seeking outside help.

Cadoan Clans (Nu Muo): Defeat the Sorceress! - We have been recently alerted to a great disturbance in the Mist. Adel, a former student of the Elder of the Nu Muo clan has recently resufaced with an army of magic golems. Adel feels betrayed by the elders and twisted her powers to becom an evil Sorceress. Now she is beginning to build an artificial army to first crush the Elders and then the rest of Ivalice. She must be stopped before she can finish creating her army!

Author's Notes: The Magic Golems should be Black Mages. Adel should be an Illusionist with Blue Magic. Babus should be a guest character for these missions and wishes for all traces of Adel and her golems to be destroyed. All the missions should take place in the Jagds In the first battle, Marche decides to let one of the injured Golems escape. Marche begins to question whether the golems should be thought of as living beings. They seemed to react quite a bit to the damage done to them and Marche argues that perhaps the Golems don't deserve destruction. In Mission Two, Marche is saved by the injured BM he spared (Vivi). This begins to further Marche's arguments with Babus about the the fate of the BMs. Babus decides to go off alone since Marche clearly doesn't understand the severity of the situation. In Mission Three, the party fights Adel who has captured Babus. Vivi, appears and helps the party out as a guest character. With Adel, vanquished, the spell that binds the BMs to this world begins to dissapate and Vivi begins to vanish. Marche tells him not to go and begs forgiveness for destroying his brethren. Vivi finally speaks and says in a low whisper to Marche "Thank You" and dispappears without a trace.

I haven't thought up a scenario for the Cyril Clans but I do have an idea for Clan Ultima. I will discuss it after a little more feedback on the other missions. I already know what I want for the prize of this mission but it's a fan boy request so I feel it depends on how generous Skyblade is feeling...

[Skyblade]

Not what I expected, but very nice nonetheless.

More in depth info later.

PS: What is the difference between Edit and Editga?

[Wolf Kanno]

Not what I expected, but very nice nonetheless.

More in depth info later.

PS: What is the difference between Edit and Editga?

Editga gives you more options and it's cooler to say

Yeah the original idea has changed quite bit. It was a little too ambitious when I started on it cause it would have involved a ton of scenarios to implement properly. Since alot of the missions I was thinking about were probably already in the game. I decided to shorten them and make them actually tell a story. Though my intentions were not to detract from the story, I thought if they were short enough, they would be thought of as a nice breather.

Also, since one of my favorite things about Matsuno's design and games is the references to other FFs in the sidequests, I thought it would be nice to make these side quests with references themselves. Though nothing is set in stone and I'm willing to listen to critiques and changes on them.

I also have thought up the mission for the Cyril Clans...

Cyril Clans (Humes): Copycat! - The Royals hired us as a research team to study the Ley lines of Ivalice to find a way to counter the enemies own Law Cards. When we reached what we thought was one of the Ley Lines, we encountered two mysterious figures! One was a swordsman with a dog by his side that quickly vanished but the other was a strange fellow dressed in robes and fur skins. When we approached, the figure revealed himself to be the head of the research team, but the head of the research team was staring right at him! He quickly trounced us and escaped. All of our units sent to apprehend this... thing, mention that it constantly changes it's appearance and abilities of the pursuit party. We need someone to track it down and stop this fiend!

Author's Notes: In Mission One, Gogo appears as Montblanc with all moogle job class abilities. In Mission Two, Gogo appears as Ritz with all Viera Job class abilities. Finally in Mission Three, Gogo appears as March with all Hume Job class abilities.

As for mission requirements for some of the other missions. I feel in the Gilgamesh quest, magic is forbidden, all characters must be classes with swords as their main weapons. If their is a way, I would love for "Battle on the Bridge" to be the battle theme for the final battle

For the Sorceress mission, I feel melee classes should be outlawed and only mages are options for party configuration. The first mission has you utilizing all mage classes but mission two restricts you to Red, White, Black, and Time mages, Mission Three should have you restricted to only using Black mages.

I'll wait to hear your thoughts and I am opened to change things if it will help.

[Skyblade]

If I interpreted that last scenario correctly, you mention Yojimbo at the beginning (swordman with his trusty dog), but he didn't show up in any of your later comments, just the mimic did.

As for the battle restrictions, they should be easy enough. Kind of like the magic tourneys and such in the original FFTA.

[Wolf Kanno]

If I interpreted that last scenario correctly, you mention Yojimbo at the beginning (swordman with his trusty dog), but he didn't show up in any of your later comments, just the mimic did.

As for the battle restrictions, they should be easy enough. Kind of like the magic tourneys and such in the original FFTA.

He's actually a reference to Gilgamesh. I though to make it a point that Gilgamesh wasn't from Ivalice. Also in his FFXII incarnation, Enkidu was a dog beast, I figured using one of the Beast monster sprites would make implimenting him easier.

On another note, I feel the Gilgamesh missions should be somewhat comical with Gilgamesh complaining about the "Laws" of Ivalice. (Well until he learns to make use of them )

If you want I can write out the references for each mission. My only real question is what do you think overall? Any major changes or input you would like to make?

[f f freak]

I like the ideas that you made Wolf Kanno. Maybe you should put what you get after each battle like you did with the Gilgamesh mission.

[Skyblade]

So Gilgamesh shows up during both the Bangaa mission and the Human mission? I think they should be totally separate.

Your idea of recovering the Lionheart and Buster Sword as quest items is not appealing to me. Both of those are equippable items from the first FFTA, and I was planning on having them as equippable items in the second FFTA.

[Wolf Kanno]

I like the ideas that you made Wolf Kanno. Maybe you should put what you get after each battle like you did with the Gilgamesh mission.

Thanks for the support!

I wanted to stick to the idea of getting nothing from these missions except for EXP. Only when you complete them do you finally get an item. I figured the ultimate prize should be left up to Sky though since he has a much better idea of the item list. The Gilgamesh fight was a little different though and I'll explain better below.

So Gilgamesh shows up during both the Bangaa mission and the Human mission? I think they should be totally separate.

I meant for Gilgamesh only to be mentioned in the breifing, he never shows during the mission but if you wish that part can either be removed or turned into a reference to Yojimbo. I don't mind either way.

Your idea of recovering the Lionheart and Buster Sword as quest items is not appealing to me. Both of those are equippable items from the first FFTA, and I was planning on having them as equippable items in the second FFTA.

Sorry, I should have elaborated on this. I mentioned that part of my basis for Gilgamesh was the XII incarnation. In XII, Gilgamesh uses poor replicas of famous FF/DQ weapons. The Lionheart and Buster Sword are only cheap imitations not the real things. I should have elaborated more, sorry :sweatdrop: The correct way to put it would be:

Lionheart? - A strange toy replica of a sword used by a famous mercenary with a scar...

Buster Sword? - A cheap toy replica of a sword weilded by a famous soldier...

Would this work better or should I drop the weapons and idea or think of something else?

[Skyblade]

I like the ideas that you made Wolf Kanno. Maybe you should put what you get after each battle like you did with the Gilgamesh mission.

Thanks for the support!

I wanted to stick to the idea of getting nothing from these missions except for EXP. Only when you complete them do you finally get an item. I figured the ultimate prize should be left up to Sky though since he has a much better idea of the item list. The Gilgamesh fight was a little different though and I'll explain better below.

So Gilgamesh shows up during both the Bangaa mission and the Human mission? I think they should be totally separate.

I meant for Gilgamesh only to be mentioned in the breifing, he never shows during the mission but if you wish that part can either be removed or turned into a reference to Yojimbo. I don't mind either way.

Your idea of recovering the Lionheart and Buster Sword as quest items is not appealing to me. Both of those are equippable items from the first FFTA, and I was planning on having them as equippable items in the second FFTA.

Sorry, I should have elaborated on this. I mentioned that part of my basis for Gilgamesh was the XII incarnation. In XII, Gilgamesh uses poor replicas of famous FF/DQ weapons. The Lionheart and Buster Sword are only cheap imitations not the real things. I should have elaborated more, sorry :sweatdrop: The correct way to put it would be:

Lionheart? - A strange toy replica of a sword used by a famous mercenary with a scar...

Buster Sword? - A cheap toy replica of a sword weilded by a famous soldier...

Would this work better or should I drop the weapons and idea or think of something else?

Nothing but Exp and AP, right, Wolf?

Those item ideas work much better.

I will definitely include these missions, as they are just too much fun to leave out. However, I am going to switch their purpose from what they were originally planned for. While these missions are awesome, I just don't think they will work for the out of Ivalice free area missions. So I'm still busy trying to come up with new scenarios for that chain. Not that I'm upset or anything. I love side quest chains, and these are great fun. If you have time, try to work up a new one for the Seeq. They will be in FFTA2 as well, and we wouldn't want these newcomers to Ivalice to feel left out, would we?

[Hazzard]

Wait, are you planning to send these ideas to Square-Enix, sorry, but I haven't read the previous pages only this recent one, and the ideas seem relatively impressive, I must say.

[Wolf Kanno]

Nothing but Exp and AP, right, Wolf?

Those item ideas work much better.

I will definitely include these missions, as they are just too much fun to leave out. However, I am going to switch their purpose from what they were originally planned for. While these missions are awesome, I just don't think they will work for the out of Ivalice free area missions. So I'm still busy trying to come up with new scenarios for that chain. Not that I'm upset or anything. I love side quest chains, and these are great fun. If you have time, try to work up a new one for the Seeq. They will be in FFTA2 as well, and we wouldn't want these newcomers to Ivalice to feel left out, would we?

Correct on the awards. Item and gil should be awarded only after the missions are completed.

Certainly, I'm happy you enjoy them and I'll try to think up a Seeq scenario as well. I also have the special mission for Clan Ultima...

P.S. for Hazzard: Definetly read the whole thing, it's quite impressive what Skyblade and the others have put together (I'm a late comer to the project) though I believe your answer lies in only a page or two back I believe...

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Seeq scenario: Treasure Map Stolen! Yes apparently a thief disguised as a young girl stole a valuable treasure map from our Clan. The treasure is a dangerous item that has the power to defeat our entire Clan! Our Clan once engaged in civil wars to obtain this item for it's power and value are so great! You must track down this thief at once and make sure the treasure does not fall into the wrong hands!

Author's Notes: The first mission has the party catch up to the thief, a ninja by the name of Yuffie. Yuffie seems a little distracted cause the party seems to have a come at a bad time unless you're an angry ninja/thief wanting to let off some steam for being swindled! Yuffie is a Ninja with Thief sub abilities. You must successfully complete the mission with all equipment intact.

After her defeat, Yuffie explains she no longer has the map. She was ambushed by two monsters and they stole it from her. She points you in the right direction to find them and escapes with a sizeable amount of your hard earned gil...

The second mission has you face off against Mr. Typhoon. You must defeat him before he removes your entire party from the battle with Sneeze. (I don't know what enemy sprite to use for him though... perhaps a Bomb?)

The third mission has you catch up with the master of the scheme. A Flan by the name of Ultros! Ultros is a little irked by the treasure it seems and wishes to do battle to let off some steam... Ultros uses powerful magics and is will only attack woman so a Ritz and Viera match with one exception... Ultros actually thinks Marche is a girl...

With Ultros defeated, the party discovers that the Seeq treasure is actually a shiny glass trinket. Apparently the Seeq have a weakness to shiny objects and sealed the item out of fear... Marche destroys the item to save the Seeq clan.


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Clan Ultima Secret Mission! The Zodiac Braves Story!

This is not a traditional mission but a side quest involving three missions. Montblanc is fretting cause he's learned that a close friend of his, the Nu Muo named Durai, has lost track of his little brother Olan. The clan is now been asked to help look for him.

Marche finds Olan, along with his two friends the moogle Mustadio and the Viera Teta, by a river. Olan tells Marche that he can't go back cause he's on a secret mission to help save Ivalice. Olan and his friends are looking for the 12 legendary Zodiac Stones to summon the Zodiac Brave, a legendary hero of Ivalice. Marche asks to explain.

Olan tells Marche that he read about it in a book his brother read to him when he was younger. The story was about a boy from a noble family who forsake his lineage to save Ivalice from a civil war. He battled 12 fearsome beasts who were manipulating the war for their own ends. Before Marche can ask any further, the children find another stone by the river but they run into Piette's Goblin flunky Biggs (I forget which is which actually :sweatdrop: ).

A mission ensues where Marche and company must face off against a small group of Goblins. They are all of high level. Biggs himself is level 99 (note his stats just need to be high but he probably shouldn't actually be level 99) Magic does not work and all Goblins counter physical attacks with Goblin Punch. Biggs' version of Counter Goblin Punch should even hit enemies farther than it's normal range meaning even spamming Monk and Fighter based techniques won't work. Biggs' version should also have a 50% chance of missing or doing max damage.

With Biggs defeated, The children acquire the zodiac stone Aries! Marche asks to examine the book Olan is using to look for the stone as well as the stone. The book turns out to be a children's book of fairytales. the Stone...

Aries: A simple rock with the symbol of Aries scribbled on by a child's crayon.

Marche plays along and tells Olan and the others that everyone is looking for them and they need to go back. The children agree with Olan being quite happy with himself. Olan mentions he has to find a few more stones...

The second mission begins with Marche finding the three once again looking for the stones in a forest. Olan tells Marche he needs only the Virgo stone to have all twleve. He goes on about how thegreat hero will appaer and end this horrible war and his brother won't have to fight anymore. Marche becomes taken back by this and tries to tell him that the story is only a fairy tale. He's interrupted by Teta finding the Virgo stone which is also found by the Bomb Wedge...

The mission involves a battle with high level Bombs with Wedge being lv 99 (once again rules with Biggs are implied) Only magic hurts them and Marche and party only have a few rounds to defeat them before every surviving bomb uses Chain Reaction to all explode at once and ending the mission in failure. Wedge should counter physical attacks with Explode that does max damage and does not remove Wedge from battle or decrease his HP.

After the battle, Olan picks up the Virgo stone and places it with all the other stones. When nothing happens he begins to wonder why. Marche explains to Olan that the story is a fairy tale and that he needs to go home. Olan tells Marche he's lying, his brother used to tell them that if anything bad ever happened to Ivalice that the "Zodiac Brave" would appear and save the land. Olan says his brother would never lie to him and he runs off.

In the third mission Marche finds Olan in a cave looking for the secret thirteenth stone Serpentarius. Marche tries to explain once again to Olan but Olan refuses. He tells Marche that Ivalice needs a hero more than ever and he was going to do his part. Olan finds Serpentarius but runs into Piette and his two henchmen. Piette has also heard of the story and hopes to collect the stones to gain their powers over the demonic Lucavi, and rule the world! The battle begins.

In this mission the party only fights Piette, Biggs, and Wedge. All three are Lv.99 but former rules still apply. The battle begins with both Biggs and Wedge talking about their defeats to Marche. Piette mentions that now that they are all together the power of friendship will help them and the three gain a strange aura...

Piette has the "Friendship paling" that protects him from all damage. If he's physically attacked, Biggs counters with Frindship Punch that does max damage to whoever attacked Piette. If Piette is hit with Magic, then Wedge counters with "Explosive Friendship" which does max damage to whoever cast the spell. Attcking the other two garners Piette to use "Friendship Power" that targets a random opponent and does normal damage for his stats. It should be significant damage but not "auto kill" like the other two. You need to kill the two flunkies before you can even hurt Piette. After they are gone. Piette attacks normal but with his high stats he should still be a handful.

With Piette defeated he retreats with his cronies and Olan gains the Zodiac Stone Serpentarius. Olan's friends appear with Durai and watch as Olan puts the thirteen stones together. Nothing happens and Olan walks away. Marche and Durai try to comfort him but Olan retorts. "I knew it wasn't really going to work, but I desperately believed. I'm okay though cause it did work in a way. Marche, you are the Zodiac Brave! I have seen you through all this and can see that you are the hero that will save Ivalice! Hurry and end the war so my brother can read me more stories." With that the party leaves except for Marche who leaves last and sees the stones glow...

Author's notes: The glowing stone's mean nothing, it's just a moment where Marche begins to wonder but nothing is supposed to come of it. You gain the Zodiac Stones as an event item which will be traded in for an item presented to you by Durai.

[Skyblade]

Hmm... Some interesting new limitations on some of those. Biggs, Wedge, and Piette may be a little too powerful, but that can be fiddled with some.

Nearly done with my assitance missions for the out of Ivalice free area quests. Should be up on Friday.

Edit: Sorry, it's taking a lot longer than I thought it would, and I couldn't work on it at all yesterday. The basic format of the missions will involve allies from other clans in Ivalice. The missions will range from basic combat to some far more complex objectives, like rescuing prisoners, sabotage, espionage, protecting other clan units, and assassinating leaders of the opposing army. I've worked out several ways to implement these in the battle system, and if it works out well, they should be great fun.

[Wolf Kanno]

Sounds good so far. Take your time and have fun with it for now.

[Skyblade]

For those wondering why this update took so long and doesn't contain information on the out of Ivalice Area Free missions, it's because much of that information is too tedious to put up here. Information on enemy positions and abilities, mission objectives, etcetera.

This update deals with the new Totema. I finally thought of a way to bring the missing Espers from FFXII in without messing up the plot. As I said before, my little Mage General will get his hands on the Gran Grimoire. He creates the new Espers and looses their power upon Ivalice. Unlike the Totema, these new Espers are not protectors. Far from it. Crafted from the shattered fragments of the Crystals, these creatures are incarnations of destruction (I use the term Totema to refer to the old Espers, that were protectors of the crystals. Both the old Totema and the new summons can be referred to as Espers). Thus there will be two Espers per race (which, if we include Seeqs as a new race, leaves us with only one left over, Zodiark, who I'll talk about later). In addition to the standard damage/MP damage, several of these new Espers will inflict Status effects. Zalera, for example, has a chance of instant death, while Cúchulainn will inflict at least poison.

Esper Battle: Belias, the Gigas
Belias is a primarily fire based creature, and his battle takes place in a highly volcanic area. In addition to his heavy hitting Fire area of effect attacks and standard Esper moves (like those wielded by the Totema in the original FFTA), he can also trigger an eruption for a full map attack. Heavy hitting, but definitely not the strongest you'll face, especially given how easy it is to get Fire Shields.

Esper Battle: Cúchulainn, the Impure
Cúchulainn's battle introduces a dangerous new aspect of the gameplay: terrain shifting (and, no, this isn't the only battle you'll see it in). Cúchulainn's mere prescence poisons the land around him, and every turn the tiles will shift, and many tiles will become poison tiles (a character standing on a poison tile takes a damage hit, like the poison status, but the effect is not persistent, so stepping off the tile stops it). In addition to Esper techniques, he has several annoying status causing effects, and quite a bit of HP.

More battles yet to come.