Final Fantasy VIII: SeeD (OOC)

As you can tell from the title, the roleplay is to be about Final Fantasy VIII. You'll also notice that there isn't really a plot. Basically, the whole idea is to simply play as newly graduated SeeDs and go on missions. Ok, here goes.


~Story~

30 years after the events surrounding Squall Leonhart, life has about returned to normal for the rest of the world. Most importantly, Trabia Garden has been rebuilt into a full fledged Academy for training SeeD recruits. Our story begins when a new class of SeeD Trainees pass their final exam and become full-fledged SeeD Mercenaries. Will their careers be successful ones? Let's find out.


Yes, that story sucks. But, like I said, there is no real story. The whole point is to play as newly graduated SeeDs and go on missions.

~Rules~
1. No god modding/power playing/metagaming/whatever.
2. No canon characters.
3. No mixing classes.
4. No suddenly changing your class. You are what you are. This isn't FFV or FFIII.
5. No changing what spells you can draw from an enemy (we will be using the FFVIII Bestiary so don't think we won't find out).
6. You can't draw more than 10 spells from an enemy (anymore would be unfair).
7. You can only stock up to 100 of a spell.
8. No canon characters.
9. No card game please (which means no Card Modding spells/items)
10. Did I mention no canon characters?

How this will work is that we'll still be using GFs (without them we can't have magic and that would be boring, no?). We'll be using the Junction System to a certain degree. The idea was thought up by StandardFiend (who is basically a co-GM in this) and his post below will explain the system we'll be using.

We will have Job Classes, but only to let others know what kind of weapons/fighting we'll be using. For instance, choosing Dragoon would simply be letting us know that you'll be using spears, or picking Monk will let us know that you will be using martial arts to fight.

Here is a sample list of Jobs. (Full List Here)

Knight (Uses armor, swords, and shields)
Monk (No weapons or armor)
Blue Mage (Uses whips and abilities learned from enemies)
Dragoon (Uses armor, some shields, and spears)
Soldier (Uses some armor and guns) (Basically like the Galbadian Soldiers)
Beserker (No armor and axes)
Thief (Daggers/Shortswords, light armor, and can steal/mug/capture)

That was just a sample list. Click the link for more Job Classes.

~Our GFS (Whatever's not on this list, barring Shiva, is considered open and free to be used by new characters)~

Leviathan - Zeke (Protoman X)
Quetzalcohuatl - Alex (StandardFiend)
Shiva - Open (this was MIna's, which is why I specified the situation with Shiva on the list)
Siren - Phileo (souloe)
Diablos - Kryse (Dalmar)
Pandemona - Elia (astoryandaprayer)
Carbunkle - Kazu (AstroMacGuffin)

~Character Skeleton~

Name:
Age: (Since I assume we're all gonna be new SeeDs then you would put 17 here)
Gender:
Height:
Weight:
Appearance: (You can use a pic but it had better look like a mercenary)
Job: (Monk/Knight/Dragoon/Whatever)
Weapon:
GF:
Personality:
History:

Edit: My character...

Name: Alexandra "Alex" Raines
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Height: 171 cm
Weight: 55 kg
Appearance:
The red thing is not actually a cape, but a scarf; the picture makes it look about three times wider than it actually is.
Job: Thief
Weapon: Daggers. Here are her default weapons: Alex's Daggers. I don't really know how I would describe those. They are each 67 cm in total length, with the blades being 43 cm long.
Guardian Force: Quetzalcohuatl (Or Quezacotl for those of your relying on the false in-game spelling )
Personality: Alex is friendly with a calm and confident attitude that belies her actual feelings. In reality, she is unsure of her own abilities and is constantly trying to prove herself, especially to the male students; she does not want them to see her as a member of the weaker sex, but as an equal. Thus, Alex is constantly looking for validation from her peers, but you wouldn't know it without getting to truly know her first.
History: (I'm going to borrow part of Cerul's story... because I can) Alex was born in Esthar City to a wealthy family. Her childhood was exceptionally comfortable and luxurious, but it didn't last very long. When Alex was still a toddler, her father was stricken with cancer, and died when she was seven years old. Her mother would have been able to support Alex and herself on the family's wealth, but it was then discovered that Alex's father had had a gambling problem, and owed most of the family fortune to various debtors. Upon his death they claimed their dues, leaving the young Alex and her mother with virtually nothing. In an attempt to save her daughter from a life of poverty, Alex's mother sent her to Trabia Garden to grow up.

The Junction System:

The Junction system really is the hardest concrete numerically-based system to convert to an abstract idea, but here's what I came up with:

When you draw magic from a point or an enemy, you stock an amount of magical energy of a certain type (Curative, Elemental, Time, etc). Whilst in combat, or performing some kind of action that requires more power than your character could realistically muster without aid, he or she can "Junction" this magical energy to his or her physical being.

For example, let's say that Seifer (who, let me remind you will much fervency, will NOT be present, as he is a canon character) is attempting to cut off your arm with his gunblade. Now, this attack would normally cut straight through your limb, but by channeling the magical energy you have stored into your arm, you can bolster your physical resistance so that the blade might cut to the bone but no further. The magical properties of offensive spells, such as Fire and Thunder, do not serve this particular purpose well, but defensive magic, such as Cure, would. Applying a large amount of Curaga energy to your physical defense might even stop the blade from doing more harm than a simple cut. This would be the game's equivalent to an HP Junction. I hope it makes sense. It's really strange, I know. As long as the idea's getting across.

But your defenses aren't the only ways to use magical energy. By channeling it into your weapon, you can increase the power of your attacks and the amount of lethal force you can apply. By charging your sword with powerful offensive magical energy, such as Fira, you might be able to cut through materials your weapon could not penetrate before. Or you could throw a dagger with such speed that it would lodge itself deeply into the abdomen of your enemy. This would be an Attack Junction. More skilled SeeDs can even apply elemental energy to their attacks, causing their weapons to deliver biting cold attacks or spark with lightning (an Elemental Attack Junction).

You could channel Time magic into your legs to run extremely fast, or if you've got a full stock of Hastega you might even get lucky enough to dodge a bullet. With a pair of nunchaku you could deliver blows with such blinding speed you'll appear to be weilding air. Keep in mind that this particular Junction does not give you cause to be omnipotent, since a lot of the enemies in the world are much faster than humans, as well. Who knows, some powerful Time magic might merely catch you up to your opponent.

Coursing a magical energy such as Zombie through your body would minimize the chance of you being afflicted with the curse of zombification, or, if you have enough of it, prevent the status entirely. The same can apply with Poison magic, although Poison magic is also a powerful offensive spell and can Junction well for attacks. The same way that Zombie can prevent that status, elemental magic energy can soften the effects of corresponding elemental attacks. Remember that Status-Defense and Elemental-Defense Junctions can be used only by experienced SeeDs, so at the offset they will be unavailable to characters.

You can actively change Junctions at will, but it requires a bit of concentration, so you can't change them on a split-second basis (for the example with Seifer above, him raising his blade and then coming down would most likely be enough time). But in the heat of battle, if you find your Junctions are not working well, then there will probably be a break in the melee long enough for you to channel different some magic energies.

Obviously using your spells will diminish what effect they have when you Junction them. The more you Cure your partners, the less your Cure magic energy will protect your own body from harm when attacks come your way. The more you use Fire on your opponent, the weaker your physical attacks are going to be if that is the spell you have applied to them.

Please feel free to ask any questions and I will answer them.

So, Mozenrath, regarding the GFs, I'm assuming they will be assigned, instead of chosen?

I would think so. Isn't that how the actual Garden worked? It's been a while since I played VIII.

Yep, that's how Balamb did things, at least. The Garden would assign it to the student, but outside the RP perhaps you can let the players have some say.

Or would you rather just randomly assign them?

I always wondered something, though, and I don't think it was ever covered in the game: Is each GF only given to one person in the entire world? If so, then there must be hundreds upon hundreds of them. Squall got two for himself, but with just one per SeeD that's a hell of a lot more than you had access to in the game.

Which actually may open up the possibility of creating our own GFs.

Dear lord. If we do create our GFs then I'm gonna be strict as hell when it comes to accepting/declining. I do not want to see any KotR, Alexandr, or Bahamut Neo/Zero/SIN ripoffs, you know what I mean?

Yeah, things could get out of hand. Perhaps we'll stick to the original GFs for now, and in the unlikely event that we get so many players that we run out, then custom ones can come into play.

And regarding the original GFs, Eden should be off-limits, as it is just too damn powerful.
Edit: That's not to say it'll disappear forever, but no character can start with it, and anyone who is going to attain it better work his or her freaking ass off.

Can I claim Quetzalcohuatl?

Sure. I haven't decided on my GF yet. I have a good idea what my character will be like but that really has nothing to do with GFs.

I forgot... is there a Cerberus GF or is that just a Vincent thing (his weapon).

I dunno, I may go with Leviathan (that was my favorite summoning spell in the game. when I first played the demo and had no idea what junctioning was, I would spam Leviathan until Rinoa ran out of it).

Lol. I used to do that as well, back when Junctioning confused me. The sad thing is that our own Junction system is a million times more confusing than the in-game one. But using the traditional one would just be too strange. Telling your best friend that you've just Junctioned 89 Tornados to your Attack would probably be the fastest ticket to the happy home anyone's ever seen.

Yes, there is a Cerberus. He's actually quite cool. His attack is to cast Double and Triple on the party (cast two spells at once or three). I'm guessing that can be applied here. Cerberus was my second choice, actually. One of my favorite GFs of the lot. There's nothing quite like a turn of 9 Apocalypses in a row. Or 9 Ultimas, if you aren't fighting Ultimecia or using a trainer.

Wow that's almost as bad as the Mime-Mimic Materia combo from VII. xD Maybe this should be VI style (relics)? My favorite relic combination was to use the Sacrifice (4 attacks) and Genji Glove (Dual Wield) then have that person use Ragnorak (Uses MP for auto crit) and Soul Blade (Some damage it does is converted into mp recovery) and be able to attack 4 times with each one.

Yeah, Leviathan is definitely going to be my GF (does it feel like we're saying girlfriend to you? xD).



=============

By the way, we're gonna start the story with the Final Training Test. Our characters will have to visit Balamb Garden for the final test (since it's still the only Garden that hosts the Final Test and Graduations... meaning we'll have to put up with a cameo of Headmaster Cid).

Cid, eh? He'd be... wow, 70 years old by now. It would be funny if he'd become a little senile in his old age. But wait... at the end of the game Cid left Squall in charge of Garden and went to live with Edea at the orphanage. Squall didn't exactly become Headmaster, but he was promoted to commander. So wouldn't a 47-year old Squall be who we'd talk to?

And I had an idea for our final test. How about a hostage crisis? I can't remember off the top of my head if there was such a thing in the canon game.

Nothing besides that stunt Seifer tried to pull with President Deling at the TV Station in Timber, no. So you mean a hostage crisis in the form of a test? That'd be different... I like it.

Squall's an even worse cameo than Cid... oh boy. I dread graduations now. xD

Well, the perfect solution would be to assume Squall has appointed a new Headmaster. There would be no need for any cameo at all.

It won't be that big a deal as long as his cameo is indeed a true cameo (a brief appearance, and he doesn't become a full fledged character).

aww. I noticed you really don't want any of the cannon here, but I have a question, cause this looks like it would be pretty cool. Can i have a char that looks like Rinoa but be different? I really like the way she looks though!! So please!!!!

If you mean clothing, then it has to be a different color. If you mean hair and face, then no. No canons or canon clones.

oks, sorry. I will make a character sheet in a few minutes. ^^ No cannon usage.

Ok. Since a typical SeeD Squad consists of 3 people, I'll work on an IC as soon as Mina gets a profile up.

Edited:
Name: Rin
Age: 17
Gender: female
Height: 5'5
Weight: 127
Appearance:
Job: Mage/ ((will edit, again!!!)
Weapon: ((Will edit))
GF: Shiva
Personality: She is out spoken at times and really likes to talk, but knows when to be serious and stay quiet. She is lazy, sometimes hyperactive, and smiles a lot more than most mages.
History: Rin always wanted to be in SeeD. It was her life goal. When she was little, her mother was killed so her father raised her. It was hard staying focused on being a mage for her because her father wanted her to become a warrior or something of the sort. She did learn some warrior type moves from him, but not enough (not nearly enough) to become anything but a mage. Her mother was a mage and this is why she strived so hard to be a mage.

OKs there I edited it again! XD
I will fill in those two spots in a few. i dont really know of something i could do really well other than a mage though.......

I think the character herself is fine, but I don't know if I'm allowed to make the decision about the moogle.

Oks. Well, as long as most of it seems fine, then that is good ^^
thank you