Copyright Information & General Notice:

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means -- electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise -- without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by the United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher with the following heading: "Attention: Permissions Coordinator" at the following points of contact --

• Business Email: GalaxyWritersBiz@rocketmail.com
• Post: Galaxy Writing Publishers, P.O Box 7894, West Bank RD, Harbor Heights KT 68201
• Phone: 719-266-2837

"Okay but why was this not just put in the base guide instead so everybody could look at it, and not just DMs?"

To be perfectly honest, it was so that newer RPers who may be involved with an FC using this system don't get too overloaded. If a situation ever comes up that someone might need explaining, this PDF is here to help. With that said, there are only THREE Public versions of our system -- The Player's Handbook, The Bestiary, and the DM's Guide.

A Warning Before You Start:

Before you decide you want to become a DM, know that you are, essentially, your comrade's referee, chaperone, and parent once you take the mantle up, and I wish I was joking when I wrote this. Regardless of whether you are running a Free Company or not, this will happen. Embrace and accept it, and you're already at LEAST a third of the way done with your life of agony.

Writing things for other people (and yourself) is a tedious, tiresome...other word that starts with "T", task. It is time-consuming and takes a significant amount of effort to put out a good "product" at the end. If you do it WELL, people will be speaking about your adventures to others for ages to come. Do it poorly, and you'll likely end up making some people upset, or far, far worse...bored.

Why You Should DM:

• You get to tell a story in a collaborative manner with other roleplay-loving people

• You get to create fun and interesting puzzles, situations, and character development opportunities for other people

• You get to worldbuild and expand on existing lore

• You want to give people an experience that they can remember fondly

Why You Should NOT DM:

• You want an audience for your personal character story

• You want to kill, maim, control, or nearly kill other people’s characters, or otherwise put them in uncomfortable situations or events

• You feel an obligation, responsibility, or are otherwise just fulfilling a request

• You want to control the narrative and aren't willing to bend or deviate even a LITTLE from what you've planned

There are two types of RP events in this system – LEVEQUESTS and CAMPAIGNS.

Have A Plan:

• What do you want to happen for this RP Event?
• What is the goal?
• What circumstances bring your fellow RPers into participating?
• Where does this Event take place?
• What do the RPers gain by participating?
• Are there enemies they must face? If so, what are they?
• What challenges will your fellow RPers face during this Event?
• Are there lasting consequences for this event? How might things that are said, the mentalities of enemies or challenges, or things that happen affect those who've participated?
• What kind of characters might be attending this event? How might they react if they're stimulated in some way?

You need to tackle all of these elements going in, and plan them accordingly. A "good" DM is always flexible, but every DM should always have at least a floor plan for what they want to happen during their Event. Some of these things might not apply, and that's okay! Just keep them in consideration when you're planning your Event.

Time Keeps On Ticking...

Sessions should not run more than 2-3 hours at a time. If the story you want to tell lasts longer than that, please consider splitting your story into multiple sessions. This allows for more people to join at a later date and helps avoid burnout on both your end and that of your players.

SETTING BOUNDARIES

Being a DM is a stressful duty to take on, and many players, even those who are DMs themselves, can forget this. Implementing boundaries is important, not just for your players, but for yourself as a DM.

Amber Lemonade Hamster

Some enemies might have variants to them. A Jellyfish might have a slightly different appearance to a Sea Stinger, but they are both of the Aurellia type.

• A good rule of thumb is if they share the same model, they're probably a variant.

---

• Enemy Tier: How strong are they? This can vary from type to type, so don't be afraid to guess.
• Base HP: How many Hit Points the monster has without taking into account their END rating. Different types of monsters and enemies will have different base HP ratings due to a number of factors, like their race or background--especially if they're special kinds of foes.
• Element: Their element. Take into consideration that ASTRAL Aether is more passive whereas UMBRAL is more active.
• Weakness: If an enemy has a weakness, put it here.
• Class: (If applicable). Spoken enemies (humanoids) will usually have at least one or two classes--three if the enemy is particularly adept or powerful.

---

Does this enemy have additional stat tiers? Maybe their STRENGTH is only T1 but their MP is T7? Keep these things in mind when you design opponents for your players.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you give your enemies (even bosses) additional stat tiers that aren't just the same Tier as your enemy's Tier (as listed above) these ADDITIONAL STAT TIERS will (as the name suggests) ADD ON to what is there by default!

---

• Immunities: Is this monster immune to anything?
• Passive: Any special effects?
• Status Effects: (Can it inflict other status effects?)
• Any other additional information, like language comprehension, or other stuff, can get added down here.

---

Abilities:

Attack Name: -- Type of Ability: (Physical, Magical) Describe it! What does it do?

Dual Cobra Wristlock: Melee Weapon Attack: Summons two (2) medium-sized snakes to grab onto people's hands, inflicting Poison and Bind.

---

Don't forget to be as descriptive on attacks as possible. (Within reason.) Players need as much information as they can to understand the whole situation!

Quick Joy Tip:

Most players will deal around 5-10 damage per round of combat, depending on the job they play and the roll of the dice. (So about 25-50 damage in a standard 5-round combat encounter.) Account for this when building your encounters against players attending your party.

Enemy END to HP conversion chart

Hit classes:

A creature's "Hit Class" tells you how much you need to roll to hit an enemy. More agile creatures, beings with thick armor, or just very tanky foes who can take a lot of hits, will have higher Hit Classes than enemies who are larger, or enemies who are slow, or weak.

A good comparison is to look at a Rodent enemy, who is very small and agile but very fragile, to a Megalocrab who is very tanky due to its natural shell, but is also slow and large.

A Boss enemy should have the following ...

• A different set of HP than normal enemies (these might include "parts", "adds", or "armor" that might first need to be destroyed. If this doesn't apply, that's okay!)

• Is at LEAST T5 or higher.

• At LEAST 200 HP base.

• No penalty to their AoEs or Status Effects

• T6 or above in at least TWO stats.

• At least T5 or above in General.

• Access to LEGENDARY ACTIONS and LEGENDARY ACTION POINTS

• Attacks at LEAST twice in a single turn.

A Quick Note:

Because bosses typically face larger parties of players, they have been given several immunities and status resistances by default, to make running them easier. While you can edit these at your own will please keep in mind that this is risking your encounter being subjected to constant status effect lockdown (depending on the jobs of the players you're facing) which may make running it less fun for you as a DM.

Boss Power Tiers:

[Designer's Note: This does NOT mean that your enemy HAS to be a certain level of strength in order to be a certain tier. This chart is a GUIDELINE, not a law. For example, while logically there is no reason for a creation of an ancient to be a higher tier level than the ancient themselves, the Pandemonium questlines and the final boss of the Endwalker MSQ are a fantastic example of things that should be a lower tier (and therefore less difficult to deal with) are absolutely DEFINITELY not.]
(This message was brought to you by Joyful Song's on-content Phoinix PTSD.)

For example:

Cloud, Bartz, and Leon are fighting a King Slime.

Turn Order: Cloud, Bartz, Leon, King Slime.

---

King Slime has 4 Legendary Action Points.

Cloud attacks.

Bartz attacks.

It is now Leon's turn.

---

King Slime uses "Mega Slime" -- A Legendary Action that costs it 2 Legendary Action Points. (4-2=2)

Cloud, Bartz, and Leon take damage.

Leon attacks.

---

King Slime attacks.

The turn order has returned to Cloud. King Slime gains back +1 Legendary Action Points. (2+1=3)

The Purpose of Legendary Actions:

Legendary Actions provide Bosses with the ability to better manage what is called "Action Economy"--essentially, whoever has the most turns is most likely to prevail. By allowing Bosses to have more actions at random times, players don't know what to expect out of enemies with Boss status, therefore making the encounters more exciting and dangerous.

Starting Combat

Each combat begins with an initiative roll. Write these outcomes down, with the numbers if possible. If you have other enemies show up partway through the fight or if players don’t remember the order, you have a handy reference.

Actions In Combat:

Players get to take one action on their turn, and have the option to take one immediate action outside of their turn if the situation and their abilities call for it. Ensure you enforce the one action rule. The action can be an ability, a stance activation, a movement, or a stat roll (like charisma!). Talking is generally a free action, but warn your players that if they want to say more than a sentence or two, it may necessitate taking their turn.

"What Can I Do On My Turn?"

Roll Chart

"When should I give out these items?"

That's honestly up to you as a DM! I (Joy) usually give them out at the ends of campaigns– although COMET (the Free Company that designed this system) typically puts all of these items into a vault that is opened only in emergency situations. Essentially, these items are whatever kind of thing you might want to give out to advance plots, give advantages (or disadvantages) to players, or make things interesting! These items are completely free range, so it's up to you as a DM to decide how you want to use them, and what you want them to do! Just make sure you don't break your own game!

Specialty Items are granted to players via the DM.If they feel like the levequest isn’t worthy of a Specialty Item being earned, they can abstain from allowing it to “drop” so to speak.

"Alright but why should I care about the Lore?"

Well, like all universes, the world of Final Fantasy XIV has "rules" that everything adheres to--things that make sense in the context of the world the game takes place in. Normally, most people are of the mindset that, as long as what other RPers are doing makes sense in the context of the game, it's not a big deal. Others feel that people should follow the lore of the game to a T, and others still will tell you people should be able to do whatever they want.

While I personally fall into that first segment, I'm not here to tell you what to do. I've seen plenty of people get ripped to shreds over silly lore holes--and some blatantly wrong information being spouted off, too.

The Lore Library is just here to use--think of it as a useful tool to 'check your work' so to speak if you're one of those people who cares about being lore-accurate. Regardless if you are or not, these links might be helpful to you in building your own events, and who knows, you might learn something new!

The Heavensward Lorebook (2016)

A full PDF of the 2016 Lorebook for Heavensward. Originally released as part of FanFest 2016.

Lorefinder

Looking for a specific piece of lore in-game to back up your findings or theories? Just use this nifty link here.

Racial Naming Conventions

Having some trouble naming NPCs or characters to be more believable? Look no further!

MIRKE's Menagerie

MIRKE, well-known resident lore guru, has both a Tumblr page and a series of RPC wiki forum posts detailing everything from racial lore, to Geomancy, to everything in-between.

A List of Etherysian Minerals:

Look at all these rocks, metals, minerals, and crystals!

A List of Etherysian Botanicals:

A comprehensive guide to all things plant!

A List of Etherysian Fauna:

(Isn't up yet! ...sorry. >.<)

LEARN HOW TO SPEAK DRAGON

You too can learn the elaborate and honestly...pretty complicated language of the ancient dragons! Who needs the Echo anyway?

Additionally, there is a dragonspeak dictionary!

Before the Calamity

Here are a series of maps and other information bits chronicling what things were like before and after the Calamity. Useful for those of you who came to Eorzea or lived in Eorzea before Bahamut went and blew everything up.

There's no "I" in "Roleplay"

This is not a competitive sport. Player agency is very important to the player-- this is a character they play for hundreds of hours at a time, and they have (very graciously) accepted to allow Things to Happen They May Not Expect. This puts you in a precarious position, as many people are looking to develop their characters through group roleplay. Try to create situations that help players while giving them an appropriate challenge or new angle to consider, rather than fight-or-flight ‘Is my DM going to kill me’ situations.

Talk To Each Other!

Communication is important! If your player approaches you with an idea, be open to it! On the other hand, if your player indicates they’re uncomfortable with a situation, always be ready with a backup plan. This does not extend to letting a player get their way-- there are some times that rules are rules. However, if there is a disagreement that can be resolved without much fuss, try to resolve it to the player’s benefit as often as possible.

Resolving Conflict:

Conflict is going to occur. There will be a rules question or inconsistency. We are human and we all make mistakes. In these situations, we refer to the communication tip-- if something can be resolved with little impact to the story, it’s often the best choice to resolve it to the player’s benefit. “Yeah, okay, you make the jump across the river and scrape your ankle” is a much easier solution than stopping the game to determine which of the six bonuses your player is getting apply to the situation.

If something comes up that is not easily resolvable but does not result in character death, it is advised to tell your players “Hey, I’d like to resolve this situation X way right now, and then when the session is over, (person) and I will determine how severe the consequences are.” This ensures gameplay continues at a smooth pace and does not derail the session.

If a conflict arises that would result in character death and there is no easy way to resolve the situation, you may have to pause and resolve it. This should be the only time lengthy pauses occur, but they should not be common. At this point it may be a good idea to get a secondary, unbiased opinion.

Addendum: Working With Your Players

When the players cannot come to a decision between themselves, you will have to arbitrate or impose a solution. There is also a chance players will be upset with each other for even OOC reasons and may harass or snap at each other. It is up to you in this case to step in and attempt to help resolve these conflicts. Make it clear as nicely as you can that you can’t let anyone’s argument ruin the game for the other players and that you won’t tolerate real-world hard feelings affect how characters in your session react to each other. If a player gets angry about a rule that is placed against them, be firm but kind in telling them that you try your best to be fair and that you would prefer to handle the frustrations outside of the game. Ultimately, remind the players (and yourself!) that you’re here to have fun.

Some examples of controling player agency:

• "Bob shouts angrily at the enemy for attacking his friends!" This takes the opportunity for Bob's player to respond to the enemy...you've done it for them.
• "Steve leaps off the cliff, following his friends!" This takes away agency from Steve, who might've wanted to do something before descending.
• "Phil is furious that the Moogle called him a baby!" This puts feelings or thoughts on a character that they might not have, thus making the player feel as though their character is being rewritten. I recommend only using this one if you are 10000000% confident in your understanding of someone's character.
• "Frank succeeds in this Investigation roll and does XYZ to do it!" Again, use this one SPARINGLY. A better way to handle this is to ask the player how they accomplish a task. It'll give you time to focus on the next part of your event, allow that player to shine, and give more weight to the moment of triumph. This ALSO applies to FAILURES (though this can vary.)

Some players are naturally shy, or may have a hard time opening up to others, but still want to participate. It may be frustrating at first to deal with them, but much like a garden, dealing with a wallflower is all about investing time and patience into a person. Try giving that person a little bit of the spotlight at a time, and see how they react. Gradually give them a little bit more at a time, so as to not overwhelm them, and you'll see them come out of their shell!

Joy Note:

I won't always adhere to this chart, as players can come up with creative solutions. I recommend bracing yourself for someone trying to circumvent the chart below with an alternative solution (IE: Magic or Magitech.) (And of course, always be aware of Kingsglaive. If they get an opportunity to teleport they will do it.)

Traps: the CLICK moment

When it comes to traps specifically, you don't need something particularly detailed or intricate for it to work out. But springing random damage on your players can be frustrating as well! Thus, I employ the "CLICK" moment in order to heighten the stakes, allow players to react, and give them a moment of real legitimate fear.

1. When a player triggers any manner of trap, the DM describes how it was triggered, and by whom. This is the CLICK moment.
2. After the CLICK is established, give two (2) players the opportunity (including the person/people about to be hit by the trap) to see if they can escape the incident unscathed. There are a few ways to do this, but I use a rock, paper, scizzors method for a couple of traps:

Show vs Tell:

Showing an action, person, or event allows players to make their own determinations on things.
Telling meanwhile clarifies everything from the perspective of the DM, and is the most effective way of conveying information directly with no ambiguity.
Showing and telling are both critical parts of storytelling. Consider which works best for you and the story you're trying to convey. Relying too much on just one of these tools can result in players getting confused or bored.

Too Smoll Didn't Pay Attention:

“You are walking across the Central Shroud. It is raining hard.”

VERSES...

A good rule of thumb is to try to hit at least two of the five major senses in your descriptions. Your goal is to create a comforting, warm environment for your players to roleplay in, and as the person in charge of the setting, you can encourage good responses with good setups. As stated above in "Show vs Tell" emphasizing or leaving out details can highlight their importance and connect themes.

Joy Recommends...

• Use your five senses. (Touch, Taste, Smell, Sound, and Sight).
• How might your players be feeling going into the situation you're describing?
• Why are the players going through or to this area?
• What might they experience on the way to their destination?
• Set the mood with weather or foreshadowing omens. (Be subtle or else your players may figure out what you're planning before you can make a move!)

Promises to Keep:

Before anything even happens in an event series, there may be certain expectations from your players. Unfortunately, these may have been unintentionally set up by you -- describing your campaign as a "classic dungeon crawl" or "gothic horror" might have implications on what players are looking for in your events. Everything from the description of the campaign to the atmosphere is a promise to your players -- "This is what you can expect in this experience."

Delivering the Payoff:

The purpose of a story is to introduce a promise to a player, and the purpose of the climax is to deliver that promise. Players will always draw their own conclusions about what that promise is, but it's important that you make good on at least some manner of promise by the time your event has ended. For example, if the event hinted at a powerful artifact, the party should be encountering it in some way or another.

Subverting Expectations:

Plot twists can be a powerful (and delightful) tool to use, but like all tools, they can be overdone or used improperly. Having the innocent NPC be the villain or having the MacGuffin fall into the wrong hands at the very last second can be fun and dramatic the first time...but leaning on too many twists can make everybody queazy.
There are some genres where twists are even anticipated, such as a murder mystery, and the key is to slowly sprinkle in those twists so they don't overwhelm or bore the players. If they can uncover the mystery themselves, players will feel more satisfied rather than simply being told the answers.

Trust is a Bridge:

But you can't begin subverting expecations without first making players comfortable -- building trust is the key way to ensure that there is a baseline to deviate away from in the first place. Consistently delivering on promises made helps build that trust, and will cushion the pressure on all ends if -- even if the journey doesn't go as anticipated -- the destination and the payoff were worth it.

Quiet Moments:

Soft, subtle periods of time where players can learn things. This can be about themselves, the world about them, or even other players and characters. Quiet moments allow players to collect themselves, build deeper connections to what you've created, and have a breather. They can even be entire adventures, where your players can have a slice-of-life moment, like collecting butterflies in a field or fishing in the middle of a tranquil forest, or enjoying a quiet night drinking around the campfire with their friends.
Quiet moments are very important. When you have only loud moments, they tend to get lost in all the "narrative noise", and they lose their power and weight after a while. Make sure you take the time to have adventures with quiet moments in them, if not making an adventure all about a quiet moment! They're very relaxing and a lot of fun to enjoy.

Loud Moments:

Loud moments are periods of action, excitement, and high drama. These are typically stressful both to run and to play in, both in and out of character, but the rewards can be incredibly solid. You can use these moments to forge interesting character growth and narratives between your NPCs and your players, and even between players and other players if you manage to structure it properly.
Loud moments break up the mundane and move the plot forward. Without loud moments, everything would stagnate and eventually decay...probably resulting in no roleplay at all. It's important to make sure you space out your loud moments, or they'll bleed in together and make everything feel far more stressful than they are...or worse, you can make players numb to the experience in general, which is no fun for anybody.

Perfectly Imperfect:

"Battle on the Big Bridge". "Maybe I'm a Lion". "To The Edge".