Empyrean Ex Mortis

Ever since I was introduced to roleplaying games:

“I’ve only ever played Final Fantasy … is it anything like that?”
To wit, the answer I received a fallacy:
“It’s almost exactly the same,” followed by a non-fallacy, “you’ll love it!”

I’ve wanted it to be like Final Fantasy, at least once. I tried recently with TSOY and, although very fun, it just didn’t satisfy my goals. So, after talking about Chrono Trigger with Rafael in his Fantasy Ballbreaker discussion, I decided to work on it again.

I’ve always hated the tactical choices in D&D but have always appreciated the depth of it. So, imagine this:

• Final Fantasy style tactical game
• Uses Chess Board and Poker Chips
• What color you stand on determines your strengths, vulnerabilities, and what mana you have access to
• Use chips to represent changes in terrain and mana flow
• Use the movement patterns of chess pieces to represent spell and attack patterns
• Use the two sides of the board if you want to represent the feel of the Final Fantasies that had characters split on the screen OR
• Use the two sides of the board in situations which don’t need a tactical battlegrid but do need the colors (Social conflicts?)

Cross posted at Story Games