REVIEW OF ZODIAC: The Final Fantasy RPG (3rd Edition)
A Free Game System?
Typically, I don’t review free games or game systems, but every now and again I stumble across one that truly deserves a review because more people deserve to know about it (for better or worse). The ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG is sixty-five pages of balanced, tested,, purpose-driven, design worth playing and, thus, here is its review.
What is the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG?
The ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG is, despite its title, a system by default. That said, it’s a system with a very specific goal - recreating the wonder of Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy console games on the tabletop. As a system it draws heavy inspiration from the entire line of Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy games, but the most recognizable influences are those of the seventh installment in that series (and rightfully so, given its status as the most popular Final Fantasy game ever).
The reason that ZODIAC caught my eye is because of the question it answers, a question that frequently finds its way onto many a message board forum and into many an IRC Chat. That question is, of course, “What system is best suited to running a Final Fantasy campaign?”. I’ve seen people try to shoehorn the tropes of Final Fantasy into nearly every commercial RPG system on planet Earth and I’ve been unimpressed with all of these attempts for a very specific reason.
The ZODIAC brain trust sidestepped the pitfalls of twisting the Final Fantasy tropes into supplemental material for game systems or design ideologies that aren’t built to support them by doing something different - they built a system from the ground up that is designed very specifically to do what thousands of commercial game systems don’t do (i.e., honor the tropes of Final Fantasy during actual play). As a result of doing something different, the ZODIAC design team has achieved some different results.
Now, having said all of the above, ZODIAC isn’t the only free game system designed specifically to honor the tenets of Final Fantasy, nor is it the most well known - it is arguably, however, the best of the lot. Why? Read on and find out!
Production Values
I don’t expect stunning, full color, artwork or the like in my free, fan-created, RPGs - and so I wasn’t disappointed when ZODIAC didn’t include these things, either. ZODIAC is, as are most fan-created works, available as a PDF document rendered in black and white, sporting single column layout, and the default Times New Roman 12 pt. font. Again, for free, fan-created, games this is arguably the standard (thus my Substance rating of 3).
While I would have liked to see some stunningly sexy artwork in ZODIAC, I understand the realities of the free press RPG, and the lack of artwork altogether is a welcome improvement over the crude line art that sneaks into many free games (and, regrettably, several commercially published games, as well). Also, if laid out correctly, an all text format can be very conducive to easy reading (and the folks behind ZODIAC are apparently very aware of this).
Ultimately, the layout and presentation of ZODIAC isn’t stunning, but it doesn’t harbor many of the nasty surprises that a great many free games do (i.e., bad artwork, turgid prose, poor organization, etc). Similarly, an effective use of simple Times New Roman headers (with one exception - a missing header for “Command Skills” in Chapter V) eliminates the headache that cramped stylized fonts tend to create, making the overall experience of reading the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG a pleasurable one.
ZODIAC Characters
Where character creation is concerned, the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG utilizes classes and levels, as well as a point-buy system. While it sounds as though this pastiche of common character generation approaches may be overly complex or inelegant, nothing could be further from them truth (you’re not the only one who was surprised). ZODIAC manages to take all of these concepts and weave them into one efficient and sensible whole that is, remarkably, very easy to grasp.
There are initially 9 different steps that one must follow to create a character for use with the ZODIAC RPG. Each of these steps varies in complexity (see below), but none of them approach the obsession with detail that a great many other point-based game systems do, nor do they get wrapped up in the gross stereotyping that a great many class and level-based systems do - rather they tend to walk a fine line between these two extremes where detail and structure are concerned (and they walk it unwaveringly).
Step 1: Character Concept
This more or less speaks for itself, but what was once a given in RPGs (i.e., starting with a character concept) isn’t necessarily so in the face of our changing hobby. I like game systems that start with the simple premise of allowing players to build the character that they want, as opposed to those that ask players to fold, spindle, and mutilate that want until it fits into the boundaries of the game system. While it’s arguably a small thing, for me it’s a small thing that makes a big difference.
Step 2: Base Stats
There are five basic stats that define your character in ZODIAC - Strength, Magic, Vitality, Spirit, and Agility - as explained directly below:
Strength (as one might expect) is a measure of your character’s physical power and affects the amount of damage that they deal when using weapons.
Magic measures your character’s inherent magical ability and affects the strength of magical effects, as well as the number of special abilities that they can learn.
Vitality measure’s your character’s resistance to physical trauma, and affects the amount of damage that they can sustain.
Spirit represents your character’s force of will and inner store of magical energy, and affects your capacity to wield said power
Agility is a measure of your character’s speed and quickness, and affects several factors, including accuracy, evasion, and speed in combat.
All of these stats have a default value of 3, but players receive a small pool of 25 points to allocate amongst them as they see fit, provided that no base stat exceeds a rating of 15 initially. I’ll discuss how these base stats affect actual play in a bit - for now all you need to know is what they represent, as well as the fact that they’re explained in extremely simple terms (indeed, my own explanation above very nearly mirrors that in the ZODIAC document).
Step 3: Armor Use
As it does in many of Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy console games, armor plays a large part in the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG. Armor is the primary means of defense that a character has against hostile forces. Defensive Armor provides a sizeable Hit Point bonus to characters, Enhance Armor provides a small Hit Point bonus along with a sizeable Magic Point bonus, and Balanced Armor falls somewhere between the two.
Here, you choose what kind of armor that your character will wear - and after doing so, they’re restricted to wearing armor of only that type. While this may sound a bit odd, it’s perfectly in line with the groundwork that Squaresoft laid for ZODIAC. The specific qualities of the armor that you wear (or unlock during actual play) are, however a matter discussed in another chapter and are dealt with via an atmospheric item creation system (part of ZODIAC’s real heart).
Step 4: Weapon Use
As is the case in Final Fantasy console games, a character in ZODIAC may only equip one weapon at a time. As was the case with armor, a player must choose a specific type of weapon (i.e., sword, gun, etc) at character creation - and after this, their character can wield only weapons of that type. Again, in the context of a tabletop RPG, this may seem unthinkable, but in the context of a Final Fantasy tabletop RPG it makes perfect sense. Weapons, like armors, are further fleshed out using the item creation system in ZODIAC (which I swear I’ll get to soon).
Step 5: Derived Stats
There are quite a few (twelve) derived stats in ZODIAC, but they don’t present a minefield of rules minutiae, nor are they difficult to grasp. Each of these derived stats has a base value (Hit Points, for example, have a base of 75) which is modified by a character’s base stats (again, for example, Hit Points get a +5 bonus per 1 point of Vitality rating initially) and other factors (i.e., armor, items, etc). Really, there isn’t a terrible lot to get excited about where the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG’s derived stats are concerned - the good news, however, is that there isn’t anything about said derived stats that will make you want to beat your head against the wall.
Step 6: Class Powers
Wait, wait, wait... class powers? Don’t you have to have a class to have class powers? Absolutely - and that’s part of ZODIAC’s charm. If you go back and read the previous steps of character creation, you’ll realize that you haven’t simply been bringing a character concept to life, rather, you’ve been introducing a valuable archetype into the game itself (i.e., you’ve been creating a class). Suddenly, the restrictions on armor and weapons make much more sense, no?
Class powers come in two different varieties - Techs and Blue Magic. Techs are spells, special attacks, or powers that you create using ZODIAC’s Tech Creation System (TCS), while Blue Magic is a very special skill (also referred to as Enemy Skill) that allows a character to learn enemy abilities by observing them in actual combat and, subsequently, implement them in the future. During this step of character creation, a player must choose between Techs and Blue Magic - their character can learn only one.
Of the two types of class powers, Techs are easily more versatile, but Blue Magic tends to be more powerful in the long run (especially if you observe the right creatures). I suspect that this is the reason for the divide between Blue Magic and all other powers (which, again, fall under the heading of Techs). Incidentally, this is one of those design decisions that reflects an important aspect of ZODIAC - an aspect that differentiates it from many other fan-created Final Fantasy RPGs (i.e., obvious efforts to test and balance the game).
Step 7: Secondary Skills
In ZODIAC, Secondary Skills are minor support skills that, unlike Techs, don’t require an expenditure of Magic Points to utilize during combat. Secondary Skills are the only aspect of a character that isn’t custom tailored by players specifically to evoke their character concept (i.e., Secondary Skills are chosen from a pre-existing list of abilities). Characters initially begin play with one Command Skill (an actively invoked ability) and one Support Skill (a passive ability that boosts a character’s natural capabilities).
The text wisely suggests that a player use these Secondary Skills to make up for shortcomings in another area of the character, rather than simply eyeballing them as potential power-ups (they can be used that way, but the only person you have to blame if you opt for “wicked cool” over “well-rounded” is yourself).
Step 8: Starting Equipment
All players begin with 200 G (i.e., gold pieces or whatever the standard currency in your setting may be) that may be used to purchase equipment. As mentioned earlier, by default, players create almost everything that their character uses from scratch (e.g., armor, weapons, Techs, etc). This being the case, I won’t spend much time discussing equipment just yet (see “ZODIAC Creation Systems” below for more details regarding item and power creation).
Step 9: Finishing Touches
In ZODIAC, finishing touches are a wee bit different than they tend to be in other RPGs - it’s here that a player names the class archetype that they’ve just finished creating, as well as their character’s race, and other aspects that games typically dictate to players. Naturally, you also do the more familiar things, such as outlining a character’s hopes, goals, dreams, and personality traits, but it’s that first bit that really sticks out as being different.
Final Thoughts
I’m pretty impressed with character generation in ZODIAC. While ZODIAC strays a great deal from established ideas about character creation in many mainstream RPGs, I think that the game is ultimately better for it. The approach that ZODIAC takes to character creation is much more fitting for a Final Fantasy RPG than a run of the mill point-based creation system or standard ‘pick a list’ system. ZODIAC has done an especially good job of combining elements of both methods to create something completely different and very well-suited to the subject matter. Color me impressed!
ZODIAC Creation Systems
The real heart of the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG is a series of point-buy creation systems that allow players to customize nearly every aspect of their character from equipment carried to powers possessed, and Game Masters to customize both of these things as well as monsters in a similar manner. These systems are one of two things that really make ZODIAC stand out as being the ideal system for roleplaying in the worlds of Final Fantasy (the other thing being actual play testing, which I mention in the “Other Accolades” section of this review). Fine-tuning ZODIAC to reflect your ideal vision of the many Final Fantasy worlds is a big part of the fun.
The Equipment System
This point-buy system deals with armor and weapons, which should come as no surprise to fans of Final Fantasy (these two things arguably compose the most important items in the games, outside of potions). The ZODIAC rules for generating equipment allow players to custom tailor armor and weapons to their individual character concepts, and allows for item weaknesses, strengths, and special attacks or defenses. Despite the level of customization that the item creation system allows for, it only takes up seven pages, managing to provide a respectable level of detail without going overboard (and the truth be told, this in and of itself makes the system attractive).
That said, I personally would have liked to see the item creation rules expanded to include such things as relics and potions. As it stands, lists of these things are provided, but there are no rules for creating your own. It’s not a huge loss, really, but I’m a stickler for seeing mechanical concepts applied across the board and so the specific exemption of potions and relics from the item creation rules seemed a bit odd. Maybe this something that we can look forward to in the future (provided that there is a future for ZODIAC).
The Tech System
This point-buy system, as you may have guessed, deals specifically with character Techs - from break arts (i.e., limit breaks, magic breaks, etc) to magic spells and other special abilities. It is this system that truly opens up character creation in ZODIAC, allowing players to create truly epic characters in the vein of those seen in Squaresoft’s console games. While it isn’t exceptionally original as far as point-buy creation systems go, it is both extremely balanced and specifically evocative of the games that it seeks to emulate (the latter being something that can’t be said of even the popular GURPS or HERO systems).
It is, in fact, the very specific focus of both this and the other creation systems that makes ZODIAC a better choice for running a Final Fantasy campaign than GURPS, HERO, True20 or any other completely generic game system - ZODIAC is built to do Final Fantasy. This is the single design goal that underlies ZODIAC and it is nowhere more apparent than it is in the body of the Tech creation rules.
The Monsters System
The system for creating monsters is actually contained in an appendix, as it is meant for the Game Master’s eyes only. This system is a bit different than the other in the respect that it isn’t entirely point-based. Indeed, the monster creation system of the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG can best be described as a condensed version of the game’s entire character creation system, allowing the Game Master to create dynamic, custom-tailored, foes with less effort than a player must expend to create a standard PC (I feel that a great many game systems can learn a lot from this).
As a tool for the harried Game Master, the monster creation rules of ZODIAC are a godsend, not only because of their simplified nature, but because their utility. The organization of the system (which divides common monster abilities from the Final Fantasy console games into categories based on level of power) makes it extrememly easy to create totally oddball creatures such as those seen in said console games (i.e., if you want a monster that is a walking house on chicken legs - you can build it).
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m impressed not only with the focused nature of ZODIAC’s point-buy systems, but with their balance, and presentation, as well. This kind of tight focus, balanced design, and intuitive presentation is exactly what makes ZODIAC stand out amongst other fan-created Final Fantasy RPGs (and, yes, I’m lumping Returner’s Final Fantasy RPG in with that group). Every other Final Fantasy RPG that I’ve read lack most, if not all, of these things - ZODIAC, on the other hand, has all of these things in spades.
ZODIAC Combat
What about the basic resolution system, right? Shouldn’t I discuss that first? Absolutely and, normally, I would - ZODIAC doesn’t have one. What? I can hear the cries of bad, wrong, fun even as I type this. How can a roleplaying game not have a system for resolving non-combat action? How is that even possible? Easy. This, my friends, is the Final Fantasy RPG - and not a single one of Squaresoft’s console games contains a system for resolving non-combat action past a simple binary ‘do or do not’ affair. ZODIAC, in pursuit of its primary design goal, simply does the same (and, in my opinion, is all the better for it).
Combat Structure
Combat itself is turn-based in ZODIAC, with consisting fo combat rounds that are subsequently divided up into “ticks” (which themselves are divided into actual turns). Pacing in combat is governed by Speed Points (explained in detail below), with every character participating in a combat beginning each round with a number of Speed Points equal to their Speed rating (a derived stat). So, how do these Speed Points impact combat?
During a given tick, characters act in descending order of Speed Points that they have remaining (i.e., from the highest number of Speed Points remaining to the least), with characters who have the same number of Speed Points acting simultaneously. Actually taking an action costs 8 Speed Points - and a character may only take one action and one “free” action (i.e., a simple action) on their turn. After everybody has taken a turn, one tick has expired. When everybody runs out of Speed Points, the round has ended.
Attacking Things
Making an attack in ZODIAC is a straightforward procedure - roll 1d100 and add your character’s accuracy rating to the result. If the total of this roll is greater than the target’s Evade score, you hit them. That said, a natural roll of 90 or higher always hits, so even those Boss Monsters with ungodly evade scores (Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon, anybody?) Will occasionally take one for the BBEG’s team when they square off against PCs in combat. Simple, concise, and one-sided (much as combat in Squaresoft’s games tends to be).
Damage and Dying
Figuring damage is a similarly simple affair with damage being equal to the Weapon’s Damage Roll (determined when you create the weapon) multiplied by 10 and added to the character’s Attack Power (a derived stat). This damage is subsequently subtracted from a character’s current Hit Point total and, when a character’s Hit Points have been reduced to sero, they are out (not dead, merely out of the combat).
Actual PC death is handled much as it is in Squaresoft’s games - it only happens and dramatic moments and isn’t a commonplace thing (if all PCs in a combat get knocked out, however, you’re in trouble). Monsters typically do die when their Hit Points are reduced to zero, although the GM may make an exception for certain Boss Monsters (e.g., Sephiroth). Overall, damage (and death) is handled in a manner that is very evocative of Square’s games.
Status Effects
As they do in the various console games that ZODIAC seeks to emulate, status effects (e.g., paralyzed, confused, etc) play an important role in ZODIAC itself. IN ZODIAC, status effects are most commonly imbued via a Tech or monster ability (the likes of which may also be duplicated with Blue Magic) and come into play following a the tick during which the initiating attack was delivered. Obviously, status effects can shake up an otherwise predictable combat a lot (much as they can in Square’s console game, in point of fact).
Final Thoughts
First, I’m impressed with the daring decision to forsake a non-combat task resolution system altogether - this definitely sets ZODIAC apart from your typical tabletop RPG, but again, I think it’s for the better. For all of the miles that this decision puts between ZODIAC and other tabletop RPGs, it draws ZODIAC that much closer to its source material.
Second, I’m impressed with how ZODIAC’s combat cleaves to that in the various Final Fantasy games in actual structure. Rather than just borrow a slew of names from its cited sources of inspiration and slap them on all too familiar RPG concepts, the designers of ZODIAC actually took great pains to make the game’s combat resemble that of the source material during actual play (something that I find is exceedingly rare in tabletop RPGs).
Finally, I love the bold emphasis on not killing characters outright in combat, partly because ti cleaves to the precedent set by Squaresoft and partly because I’m a fan of story-driven consequences. While it’s not a unique idea in tabletop RPGs, it’s certainly not a common one. I’ve seen this in the Pool and TSR’s SAGA System, but I can’t think of a lot of other game systems that espouse not killing PCs in combat when their Hit Points (or other damage tracking device) reaches a certain pre-established threshold.
Other Accolades
There are a few other things that really stood out for me when reading ZODIAC, things that aren’t rules, so much as they are design qualities - but things that deserve a mention nonetheless.
Play Testing
While some of the design decisions in ZODIAC initially seem odd, further examination reveals that they’re very purposefully implemented to maintain a mechanical balance (something that every other fan-created Final Fantasy RPG lacks, in my experience). The level of internal consistency and mechanical balance in ZODIAC is stunning, and rivals that found in such vaunted systems as HERO and GURPS.. This level of balance is very impressive in a fan-created RPG.
Uncompromising Design
If you set out to model an existing IP, there’s something to be said for actually doing it. ZODIAC is an example of uncompromised design from the first page to the last and, this is what ultimately makes it the best game for recreating Final Fantasy on your dining room table. This isn’t an attempt to shoehorn Final Fantasy into the commonly accepted constraints of tabletop roleplaying, nor is it an attempt to mold it to a pre-existing system. ZODIAC is built from the ground up to honor the tenets of Final Fantasy in actual play, not merely aesthetics.
The Final Verdict
While ZODIAC’s dedication to vision may have turned the game into a product for a niche of a niche of a niche, for diehard Final Fantasy fans who haven’t found it yet, ZODIAC will be nothing less than the game to play. And seeing as how this this was the original design goal of the folks behind ZODIAC, I can’t see that the authors and designers deserve anything less than a pat on the back for staying true to their vision. So here it is: Kudos, ZODIAC designers, for setting out to do something, doing it, and doing it well.
The next time that you ask yourself “What system is best suited to running a Final Fantasy campaign?”, if you’ve read ZODIAC, you’ll already know the answer.
The Official ZODIAC Site
Typically, I don’t review free games or game systems, but every now and again I stumble across one that truly deserves a review because more people deserve to know about it (for better or worse). The ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG is sixty-five pages of balanced, tested,, purpose-driven, design worth playing and, thus, here is its review.
What is the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG?
The ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG is, despite its title, a system by default. That said, it’s a system with a very specific goal - recreating the wonder of Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy console games on the tabletop. As a system it draws heavy inspiration from the entire line of Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy games, but the most recognizable influences are those of the seventh installment in that series (and rightfully so, given its status as the most popular Final Fantasy game ever).
The reason that ZODIAC caught my eye is because of the question it answers, a question that frequently finds its way onto many a message board forum and into many an IRC Chat. That question is, of course, “What system is best suited to running a Final Fantasy campaign?”. I’ve seen people try to shoehorn the tropes of Final Fantasy into nearly every commercial RPG system on planet Earth and I’ve been unimpressed with all of these attempts for a very specific reason.
The ZODIAC brain trust sidestepped the pitfalls of twisting the Final Fantasy tropes into supplemental material for game systems or design ideologies that aren’t built to support them by doing something different - they built a system from the ground up that is designed very specifically to do what thousands of commercial game systems don’t do (i.e., honor the tropes of Final Fantasy during actual play). As a result of doing something different, the ZODIAC design team has achieved some different results.
Now, having said all of the above, ZODIAC isn’t the only free game system designed specifically to honor the tenets of Final Fantasy, nor is it the most well known - it is arguably, however, the best of the lot. Why? Read on and find out!
Production Values
I don’t expect stunning, full color, artwork or the like in my free, fan-created, RPGs - and so I wasn’t disappointed when ZODIAC didn’t include these things, either. ZODIAC is, as are most fan-created works, available as a PDF document rendered in black and white, sporting single column layout, and the default Times New Roman 12 pt. font. Again, for free, fan-created, games this is arguably the standard (thus my Substance rating of 3).
While I would have liked to see some stunningly sexy artwork in ZODIAC, I understand the realities of the free press RPG, and the lack of artwork altogether is a welcome improvement over the crude line art that sneaks into many free games (and, regrettably, several commercially published games, as well). Also, if laid out correctly, an all text format can be very conducive to easy reading (and the folks behind ZODIAC are apparently very aware of this).
Ultimately, the layout and presentation of ZODIAC isn’t stunning, but it doesn’t harbor many of the nasty surprises that a great many free games do (i.e., bad artwork, turgid prose, poor organization, etc). Similarly, an effective use of simple Times New Roman headers (with one exception - a missing header for “Command Skills” in Chapter V) eliminates the headache that cramped stylized fonts tend to create, making the overall experience of reading the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG a pleasurable one.
ZODIAC Characters
Where character creation is concerned, the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG utilizes classes and levels, as well as a point-buy system. While it sounds as though this pastiche of common character generation approaches may be overly complex or inelegant, nothing could be further from them truth (you’re not the only one who was surprised). ZODIAC manages to take all of these concepts and weave them into one efficient and sensible whole that is, remarkably, very easy to grasp.
There are initially 9 different steps that one must follow to create a character for use with the ZODIAC RPG. Each of these steps varies in complexity (see below), but none of them approach the obsession with detail that a great many other point-based game systems do, nor do they get wrapped up in the gross stereotyping that a great many class and level-based systems do - rather they tend to walk a fine line between these two extremes where detail and structure are concerned (and they walk it unwaveringly).
Step 1: Character Concept
This more or less speaks for itself, but what was once a given in RPGs (i.e., starting with a character concept) isn’t necessarily so in the face of our changing hobby. I like game systems that start with the simple premise of allowing players to build the character that they want, as opposed to those that ask players to fold, spindle, and mutilate that want until it fits into the boundaries of the game system. While it’s arguably a small thing, for me it’s a small thing that makes a big difference.
Step 2: Base Stats
There are five basic stats that define your character in ZODIAC - Strength, Magic, Vitality, Spirit, and Agility - as explained directly below:
Strength (as one might expect) is a measure of your character’s physical power and affects the amount of damage that they deal when using weapons.
Magic measures your character’s inherent magical ability and affects the strength of magical effects, as well as the number of special abilities that they can learn.
Vitality measure’s your character’s resistance to physical trauma, and affects the amount of damage that they can sustain.
Spirit represents your character’s force of will and inner store of magical energy, and affects your capacity to wield said power
Agility is a measure of your character’s speed and quickness, and affects several factors, including accuracy, evasion, and speed in combat.
All of these stats have a default value of 3, but players receive a small pool of 25 points to allocate amongst them as they see fit, provided that no base stat exceeds a rating of 15 initially. I’ll discuss how these base stats affect actual play in a bit - for now all you need to know is what they represent, as well as the fact that they’re explained in extremely simple terms (indeed, my own explanation above very nearly mirrors that in the ZODIAC document).
Step 3: Armor Use
As it does in many of Squaresoft’s Final Fantasy console games, armor plays a large part in the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG. Armor is the primary means of defense that a character has against hostile forces. Defensive Armor provides a sizeable Hit Point bonus to characters, Enhance Armor provides a small Hit Point bonus along with a sizeable Magic Point bonus, and Balanced Armor falls somewhere between the two.
Here, you choose what kind of armor that your character will wear - and after doing so, they’re restricted to wearing armor of only that type. While this may sound a bit odd, it’s perfectly in line with the groundwork that Squaresoft laid for ZODIAC. The specific qualities of the armor that you wear (or unlock during actual play) are, however a matter discussed in another chapter and are dealt with via an atmospheric item creation system (part of ZODIAC’s real heart).
Step 4: Weapon Use
As is the case in Final Fantasy console games, a character in ZODIAC may only equip one weapon at a time. As was the case with armor, a player must choose a specific type of weapon (i.e., sword, gun, etc) at character creation - and after this, their character can wield only weapons of that type. Again, in the context of a tabletop RPG, this may seem unthinkable, but in the context of a Final Fantasy tabletop RPG it makes perfect sense. Weapons, like armors, are further fleshed out using the item creation system in ZODIAC (which I swear I’ll get to soon).
Step 5: Derived Stats
There are quite a few (twelve) derived stats in ZODIAC, but they don’t present a minefield of rules minutiae, nor are they difficult to grasp. Each of these derived stats has a base value (Hit Points, for example, have a base of 75) which is modified by a character’s base stats (again, for example, Hit Points get a +5 bonus per 1 point of Vitality rating initially) and other factors (i.e., armor, items, etc). Really, there isn’t a terrible lot to get excited about where the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG’s derived stats are concerned - the good news, however, is that there isn’t anything about said derived stats that will make you want to beat your head against the wall.
Step 6: Class Powers
Wait, wait, wait... class powers? Don’t you have to have a class to have class powers? Absolutely - and that’s part of ZODIAC’s charm. If you go back and read the previous steps of character creation, you’ll realize that you haven’t simply been bringing a character concept to life, rather, you’ve been introducing a valuable archetype into the game itself (i.e., you’ve been creating a class). Suddenly, the restrictions on armor and weapons make much more sense, no?
Class powers come in two different varieties - Techs and Blue Magic. Techs are spells, special attacks, or powers that you create using ZODIAC’s Tech Creation System (TCS), while Blue Magic is a very special skill (also referred to as Enemy Skill) that allows a character to learn enemy abilities by observing them in actual combat and, subsequently, implement them in the future. During this step of character creation, a player must choose between Techs and Blue Magic - their character can learn only one.
Of the two types of class powers, Techs are easily more versatile, but Blue Magic tends to be more powerful in the long run (especially if you observe the right creatures). I suspect that this is the reason for the divide between Blue Magic and all other powers (which, again, fall under the heading of Techs). Incidentally, this is one of those design decisions that reflects an important aspect of ZODIAC - an aspect that differentiates it from many other fan-created Final Fantasy RPGs (i.e., obvious efforts to test and balance the game).
Step 7: Secondary Skills
In ZODIAC, Secondary Skills are minor support skills that, unlike Techs, don’t require an expenditure of Magic Points to utilize during combat. Secondary Skills are the only aspect of a character that isn’t custom tailored by players specifically to evoke their character concept (i.e., Secondary Skills are chosen from a pre-existing list of abilities). Characters initially begin play with one Command Skill (an actively invoked ability) and one Support Skill (a passive ability that boosts a character’s natural capabilities).
The text wisely suggests that a player use these Secondary Skills to make up for shortcomings in another area of the character, rather than simply eyeballing them as potential power-ups (they can be used that way, but the only person you have to blame if you opt for “wicked cool” over “well-rounded” is yourself).
Step 8: Starting Equipment
All players begin with 200 G (i.e., gold pieces or whatever the standard currency in your setting may be) that may be used to purchase equipment. As mentioned earlier, by default, players create almost everything that their character uses from scratch (e.g., armor, weapons, Techs, etc). This being the case, I won’t spend much time discussing equipment just yet (see “ZODIAC Creation Systems” below for more details regarding item and power creation).
Step 9: Finishing Touches
In ZODIAC, finishing touches are a wee bit different than they tend to be in other RPGs - it’s here that a player names the class archetype that they’ve just finished creating, as well as their character’s race, and other aspects that games typically dictate to players. Naturally, you also do the more familiar things, such as outlining a character’s hopes, goals, dreams, and personality traits, but it’s that first bit that really sticks out as being different.
Final Thoughts
I’m pretty impressed with character generation in ZODIAC. While ZODIAC strays a great deal from established ideas about character creation in many mainstream RPGs, I think that the game is ultimately better for it. The approach that ZODIAC takes to character creation is much more fitting for a Final Fantasy RPG than a run of the mill point-based creation system or standard ‘pick a list’ system. ZODIAC has done an especially good job of combining elements of both methods to create something completely different and very well-suited to the subject matter. Color me impressed!
ZODIAC Creation Systems
The real heart of the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG is a series of point-buy creation systems that allow players to customize nearly every aspect of their character from equipment carried to powers possessed, and Game Masters to customize both of these things as well as monsters in a similar manner. These systems are one of two things that really make ZODIAC stand out as being the ideal system for roleplaying in the worlds of Final Fantasy (the other thing being actual play testing, which I mention in the “Other Accolades” section of this review). Fine-tuning ZODIAC to reflect your ideal vision of the many Final Fantasy worlds is a big part of the fun.
The Equipment System
This point-buy system deals with armor and weapons, which should come as no surprise to fans of Final Fantasy (these two things arguably compose the most important items in the games, outside of potions). The ZODIAC rules for generating equipment allow players to custom tailor armor and weapons to their individual character concepts, and allows for item weaknesses, strengths, and special attacks or defenses. Despite the level of customization that the item creation system allows for, it only takes up seven pages, managing to provide a respectable level of detail without going overboard (and the truth be told, this in and of itself makes the system attractive).
That said, I personally would have liked to see the item creation rules expanded to include such things as relics and potions. As it stands, lists of these things are provided, but there are no rules for creating your own. It’s not a huge loss, really, but I’m a stickler for seeing mechanical concepts applied across the board and so the specific exemption of potions and relics from the item creation rules seemed a bit odd. Maybe this something that we can look forward to in the future (provided that there is a future for ZODIAC).
The Tech System
This point-buy system, as you may have guessed, deals specifically with character Techs - from break arts (i.e., limit breaks, magic breaks, etc) to magic spells and other special abilities. It is this system that truly opens up character creation in ZODIAC, allowing players to create truly epic characters in the vein of those seen in Squaresoft’s console games. While it isn’t exceptionally original as far as point-buy creation systems go, it is both extremely balanced and specifically evocative of the games that it seeks to emulate (the latter being something that can’t be said of even the popular GURPS or HERO systems).
It is, in fact, the very specific focus of both this and the other creation systems that makes ZODIAC a better choice for running a Final Fantasy campaign than GURPS, HERO, True20 or any other completely generic game system - ZODIAC is built to do Final Fantasy. This is the single design goal that underlies ZODIAC and it is nowhere more apparent than it is in the body of the Tech creation rules.
The Monsters System
The system for creating monsters is actually contained in an appendix, as it is meant for the Game Master’s eyes only. This system is a bit different than the other in the respect that it isn’t entirely point-based. Indeed, the monster creation system of the ZODIAC Final Fantasy RPG can best be described as a condensed version of the game’s entire character creation system, allowing the Game Master to create dynamic, custom-tailored, foes with less effort than a player must expend to create a standard PC (I feel that a great many game systems can learn a lot from this).
As a tool for the harried Game Master, the monster creation rules of ZODIAC are a godsend, not only because of their simplified nature, but because their utility. The organization of the system (which divides common monster abilities from the Final Fantasy console games into categories based on level of power) makes it extrememly easy to create totally oddball creatures such as those seen in said console games (i.e., if you want a monster that is a walking house on chicken legs - you can build it).
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m impressed not only with the focused nature of ZODIAC’s point-buy systems, but with their balance, and presentation, as well. This kind of tight focus, balanced design, and intuitive presentation is exactly what makes ZODIAC stand out amongst other fan-created Final Fantasy RPGs (and, yes, I’m lumping Returner’s Final Fantasy RPG in with that group). Every other Final Fantasy RPG that I’ve read lack most, if not all, of these things - ZODIAC, on the other hand, has all of these things in spades.
ZODIAC Combat
What about the basic resolution system, right? Shouldn’t I discuss that first? Absolutely and, normally, I would - ZODIAC doesn’t have one. What? I can hear the cries of bad, wrong, fun even as I type this. How can a roleplaying game not have a system for resolving non-combat action? How is that even possible? Easy. This, my friends, is the Final Fantasy RPG - and not a single one of Squaresoft’s console games contains a system for resolving non-combat action past a simple binary ‘do or do not’ affair. ZODIAC, in pursuit of its primary design goal, simply does the same (and, in my opinion, is all the better for it).
Combat Structure
Combat itself is turn-based in ZODIAC, with consisting fo combat rounds that are subsequently divided up into “ticks” (which themselves are divided into actual turns). Pacing in combat is governed by Speed Points (explained in detail below), with every character participating in a combat beginning each round with a number of Speed Points equal to their Speed rating (a derived stat). So, how do these Speed Points impact combat?
During a given tick, characters act in descending order of Speed Points that they have remaining (i.e., from the highest number of Speed Points remaining to the least), with characters who have the same number of Speed Points acting simultaneously. Actually taking an action costs 8 Speed Points - and a character may only take one action and one “free” action (i.e., a simple action) on their turn. After everybody has taken a turn, one tick has expired. When everybody runs out of Speed Points, the round has ended.
Attacking Things
Making an attack in ZODIAC is a straightforward procedure - roll 1d100 and add your character’s accuracy rating to the result. If the total of this roll is greater than the target’s Evade score, you hit them. That said, a natural roll of 90 or higher always hits, so even those Boss Monsters with ungodly evade scores (Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon, anybody?) Will occasionally take one for the BBEG’s team when they square off against PCs in combat. Simple, concise, and one-sided (much as combat in Squaresoft’s games tends to be).
Damage and Dying
Figuring damage is a similarly simple affair with damage being equal to the Weapon’s Damage Roll (determined when you create the weapon) multiplied by 10 and added to the character’s Attack Power (a derived stat). This damage is subsequently subtracted from a character’s current Hit Point total and, when a character’s Hit Points have been reduced to sero, they are out (not dead, merely out of the combat).
Actual PC death is handled much as it is in Squaresoft’s games - it only happens and dramatic moments and isn’t a commonplace thing (if all PCs in a combat get knocked out, however, you’re in trouble). Monsters typically do die when their Hit Points are reduced to zero, although the GM may make an exception for certain Boss Monsters (e.g., Sephiroth). Overall, damage (and death) is handled in a manner that is very evocative of Square’s games.
Status Effects
As they do in the various console games that ZODIAC seeks to emulate, status effects (e.g., paralyzed, confused, etc) play an important role in ZODIAC itself. IN ZODIAC, status effects are most commonly imbued via a Tech or monster ability (the likes of which may also be duplicated with Blue Magic) and come into play following a the tick during which the initiating attack was delivered. Obviously, status effects can shake up an otherwise predictable combat a lot (much as they can in Square’s console game, in point of fact).
Final Thoughts
First, I’m impressed with the daring decision to forsake a non-combat task resolution system altogether - this definitely sets ZODIAC apart from your typical tabletop RPG, but again, I think it’s for the better. For all of the miles that this decision puts between ZODIAC and other tabletop RPGs, it draws ZODIAC that much closer to its source material.
Second, I’m impressed with how ZODIAC’s combat cleaves to that in the various Final Fantasy games in actual structure. Rather than just borrow a slew of names from its cited sources of inspiration and slap them on all too familiar RPG concepts, the designers of ZODIAC actually took great pains to make the game’s combat resemble that of the source material during actual play (something that I find is exceedingly rare in tabletop RPGs).
Finally, I love the bold emphasis on not killing characters outright in combat, partly because ti cleaves to the precedent set by Squaresoft and partly because I’m a fan of story-driven consequences. While it’s not a unique idea in tabletop RPGs, it’s certainly not a common one. I’ve seen this in the Pool and TSR’s SAGA System, but I can’t think of a lot of other game systems that espouse not killing PCs in combat when their Hit Points (or other damage tracking device) reaches a certain pre-established threshold.
Other Accolades
There are a few other things that really stood out for me when reading ZODIAC, things that aren’t rules, so much as they are design qualities - but things that deserve a mention nonetheless.
Play Testing
While some of the design decisions in ZODIAC initially seem odd, further examination reveals that they’re very purposefully implemented to maintain a mechanical balance (something that every other fan-created Final Fantasy RPG lacks, in my experience). The level of internal consistency and mechanical balance in ZODIAC is stunning, and rivals that found in such vaunted systems as HERO and GURPS.. This level of balance is very impressive in a fan-created RPG.
Uncompromising Design
If you set out to model an existing IP, there’s something to be said for actually doing it. ZODIAC is an example of uncompromised design from the first page to the last and, this is what ultimately makes it the best game for recreating Final Fantasy on your dining room table. This isn’t an attempt to shoehorn Final Fantasy into the commonly accepted constraints of tabletop roleplaying, nor is it an attempt to mold it to a pre-existing system. ZODIAC is built from the ground up to honor the tenets of Final Fantasy in actual play, not merely aesthetics.
The Final Verdict
While ZODIAC’s dedication to vision may have turned the game into a product for a niche of a niche of a niche, for diehard Final Fantasy fans who haven’t found it yet, ZODIAC will be nothing less than the game to play. And seeing as how this this was the original design goal of the folks behind ZODIAC, I can’t see that the authors and designers deserve anything less than a pat on the back for staying true to their vision. So here it is: Kudos, ZODIAC designers, for setting out to do something, doing it, and doing it well.
The next time that you ask yourself “What system is best suited to running a Final Fantasy campaign?”, if you’ve read ZODIAC, you’ll already know the answer.
The Official ZODIAC Site
PDF Store: Buy This Item from DriveThruRPG
Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
