========================== = FFT Challenge FAQ V1.3 = ========================== By: Philsov (philsov@hotmail.com) There are two things to think about in challenge creation: Making the game unique. Making the game challenging. --Emperor Oberon Last Update: May 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Legal Stuff: This FAQ may be distributed only under certain conditions: 1. This FAQ is to remain exactly the same. 2. Credit is given to me (Philsov) for compiling it. 3. No compensation shall be received for this FAQ without my written permission. 4. This FAQ shall not be published (altered or not) without my expressed written permission. 5. I would prefer for you to email me if you decide to post this FAQ on your site. This is not necessary BUT if you do post this FAQ on your webspace and tell me I will then be able to put a link to your site in the next version of my FAQ. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Yes, this is rather ironic since I simply re-formatted Notti's legal stuff; but his seemed to get the point across) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FAQ History - V1.0 - Jan 2002 - Compiled and sent out into the world. V1.1 - Feb 2002 - Added [1.1A], [1.21], [1.22], [2.4]. Corrected various Grammatical errors, including the Calvary to Cavalry. Updated a couple other challenges as well. V1.2 - Mar 2002 - Added [1.1B], [1.23] - [1.29]. Updated the Thanks and Stuff page. Changed the subsets to letters, rather than have two identically numbered challenges. V1.3 - May 2002 - Added [0], [1.1C], [1.30] - [1.33]. Various grammatical updates and such, too. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- This FAQ can currently be found at the following web addresses: http://www.gamefaqs.com http://www.neoseeker.com http://www.psxcodez.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now for the fun stuff: The purpose of this FAQ is to be a database of all the challenges thought of and posted on the message boards at Gamefaqs - Good or Bad (well, to an extent). For the most part, I only copy/pasted directly off the message boards, adding only correct grammar or clarification points. Credit will be given to the originator and a description of that challenge will then ensue, along with a touch of personal commentary at the end and dispersed in lovely little parentheses (like this). I have not personally attempted all of these challenges, and probably never will a couple, like the no memory card challenge. Regardless, these challenges are presented to continue having fun with the game. They should neither be the object of immense frustration nor obsession. Have fun and happy gaming. So if you're up for a challenge and some brownies, read on... *NOTE* - If you are the originator of a challenge posted on this FAQ, and it needs corrections, email me. If there is a humongous grammar error or something along those lines, email me. Conversely, if you have a challenge, or notice a challenge (and I KNOW there are some somewhere I haven't found yet) at some gaming website which I probably don't know about, and want others to know about it, either email me directly or just post your idea at the Gamefaqs Final Fantasy Tactics Board: http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/boards/gentopic.asp?board=20051 ============================================================================= Table of Contents: 0. The Standard Variants 1. The Final Fantasy Tactics Challenges 1.1 - SCC 1.1A - GS-only SCC 1.1B - Calculator Specialty Challenge 1.1C - Alternative Calculator Challenge 1.2 - Dual Class Challenge (Original) 1.2A - Dual Class Challenge (Super Version) 1.3 - Special Straight Character Challenge 1.4 - AI Challenge 1.5 - Crystal Challenge 1.6 - Tactics Double Dare 1.7 - Invite-Only Challenge 1.8 - Squads Challenge 1.9 - Solo Ramza Challenge 1.10 - Big Mouth Challenge 1.11 - Mediator Ramza and Four Monsters Challenge 1.12 - Dagger-Only Challenge 1.13 - Range Attack Challenge 1.14 - No Memory Card Challenge 1.15 - Cavalry Challenge 1.16 - On The Shoulders Of Those That Came Before Challenge 1.17 - Stupid Enemy AI Challenge 1.18 - Ovelia Protection Team Challenge 1.19 - Multi-Class Challenge 1.20 - Everything's Cheap Challenge 1.21 - Limiting Challenge 1.22 - Apprentice Challenge 1.23 - JP Challenge 1.24 - Alphabet Soup Challenge 1.25 - Reaction Ability Challenge 1.26 - Poverty Challenge 1.27 - Berserk Challenge 1.28 - Purity Challenge 1.29 - Magic User Challenge 1.30 - Limited Skills Challenge 1.31 - Just the Two of Us Challenge 1.32 - Yorda Challenge 1.33 - No Touchy Challenge 1.34 - No Challenge Challenge 2. Other Challenges 2.1 - Truly Old School Challenge 2.2 - Lord of the Rings Party 2.3 - The Other World Challenge 2.4 - The Final Fantasy Five Challenge 3. Thanks and stuff ============================================================================= [0] - The Standard Variants In care you're curious, yes, I'm too lazy to make this [1] and make [1] -> [2], and so forth. So, should I feel something needs to go before this, expect [-1]. Well, before anything does begin, be sure to note that there is one clause, written by MunkiBleedsGreen, which gave room for variations and probably inspired a good portion of these challenges: "If you don't like the regulations placed on the SCC, then do it your way. You won't be doing an SCC, you won't get any credit in this FAQ, but bloody hell, don't complain about a video game challenge. You can go your own way. " Good ol' Fleetwood Mac. Anywho, here are the standard Variations which can be used for just about anything here: - Changing the number of party members. Doing some challenges with 4 people instead of 5 can be a drastic change. Similarly, using 3 people instead of 2 will change the challenge as well. - Not exploiting severe game tricks. This includes level up/down, equipment duping, and the like. Most challenges ask that you not, but if you do it for more enjoyment, don't let me stop you. - Your zodiac selections. A full party of male Sagittarius thieves may prove somewhat more difficult than other zodiacs. (Thanks Turbo Man!) Conversely, making your party healer compatible with everyone is usually a good idea as well. - Limiting your genders. If you're doing a physical style challenge, try doing it with all females or vice versa. - Messing with Brave and Faith. Monks with low brave and magicians with low faith can get tricky. - Changing the level caps. Try a challenge with 10/20/37/50 level caps or something like that. It'll get harder. - Using or refraining from using special characters, math skill, or other "cheap skills". This definition falls more under a personal preference. If you think throw stone is cheap, then, by golly, don't use it if you don't wish to play in that manner. - Crystals. If you so choose, you may nor may not opt to give yourself the option of gaining abilities via crystals. Of course, the skills you use must come from your plan. No 'throw stone' for a Mediator/Knight DCC and so forth. This also opens a possible door for the Calculator SCC and the like as well, since spells for calcs need no equipping to use. They will be in the bank, so to speak. (credits: Notti) ============================================================================= 1 - The Final Fantasy Tactics Challenges As it can be deduced, these challenges come from the general gameplay system. They limit you and force you to play the game in more than a "run up, attack, win!" mindset. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.1] Straight Character Challenge - By MunkiBleedsGreen. There is a whole FAQ dedicated to it. Check it out. I will now, though, say that these are immensely fun! Go Calcs! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.1A] The Gameshark-Only SCC - by SageAcrin, who thanks MunkiBleedsGreen, who is "God." 1. All five characters, including Ramza, must be of the same class. The class must NOT be normally accessable to a Generic. It must be added in using save game hacking or (more commonly) Gameshark/PEC. 2. Characters must use only abilities they can learn in their own class. No Move-Find on Soldiers, for example, or Equip Sword on Holy Priests. Exception: Humanoids. They may have skills hacked in...but only ones that they NORMALLY use, in the correct slot. So, a Steel Giant can have Defense Up and Counter, but a Byblos can't Teleport. This ONLY applies to Humanoids. 3. Levels are limited, based on what chapter you are in: Chapter 1: 20 Chapter 2: 35 Chapter 3: 50 Chapter 4: 70 4. Guest Characters are also allowed to change into the SCC Class, and are also allowed to use other classes, and any abilities they want. They can't be hacked into a class they normally couldn't have, aside from the SCC one, though (No Assassin Algus in a Princess SCC). 5. You are allowed to change classes for ONE battle in the course of the game. Most people will probably do this on Wiegraf/Velius. However, some leeway must be given. Due to the oddness of GS-only characters, they may have a different problem battle, so... 6. You may not duplicate weapons. You may not Level Up/Down, unless it's in the same class both ways. You may not level up to get better equipment, and then level back down. 7. You can NOT use Gameshark codes to make things easier. No Materia Blades for all your Soldiers. No innate Equip Sword for your Holy Priests. No Equip Knight Sword for your Teta's. And so on. The only GS usage allowed is to establish the normal skills of the character, and to alter skill names or sprites. Exception: You may remove Always: Dead on any character that has it. 8. You may use any unique secondary skill set for a character. Unique is abilities that ONLY that class has, such as All Magic and Phantom. Exception: Queklain can use Bio. See Rule #2 exception. 9. You may be laughed at intensely, or confronted with disgust, if you act proud of beating a Holy Swordsman or Assassin SCC. 10. If any class is to easy/hard, don't blame me. Blame yourself or god. Or, if you wanted to be more fair, blame the programmers... Comments: I don't have a GS, but this sounds like fun. If I could change anything, I'd change rule #5. Rather, just adopt Munki's leniency clause. Depending which character you choose to make a SCC out of, this may get boring rather quickly, as it would in the case of a Holy Swordsman or Assassin SCC. I'd like an Algus SCC done. Watch them all die die DIE! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.1B] Calculator Specialty Challenge - By One That Was, with the aid of NeoElfBoy and Metriod Composite. Rules: 1. The challenge consists of 5 characters - Ramza and 4 generics. 2. ALL Characters MUST have the calc Job available to them by Dorter Trade City. HOWEVER, you can Learn Spells from other Classes until the end of Chapter 1, so Long as you learn them ONLY in Random battles, and so long as they Comply with the Next Rule: 3. Calcs are Allowed 10 Spells each. Each calc can Only learn 10 Spells from ONE mage Class. You CAN NOT have a Calc with a Fire 2 Spell AND a Cure spell. Its either a "priest" calc or a "Wizard" Calc, or what-have-you. ALSO, Calcs MUST ONLY learn spells that are BELOW 400 JP. If a Spell has a JP Cost of 400 JP, or more, too bad...you can't learn it. 4. Calcs MAY NOT have a faith level exceeding 50. Brave level must also only be at a maximum of 70 (just in case). 5. Level Caps: Fort Algus: 20 Queklain Castle: 35 Riovanes Rooftop: 50 Orbonne: 70 ~~~~~Variations~~~~~ Comments: Well, this is more lenient than Munki's Calc SCC, but still leaves enough for a challenge. You will probably need to sample all the magics if you wish to do well. The time will be there to haste your people, slow the enemy, and then cast "don't move" on everyone. The black, will, of course, torch the enemies, as the white stays in the back and does protective/curing spells. The oracle hangs around for the paralyzes and other status abnormalities. Also, plan your Calcs to be compatible with each other, it'll help with the cures and hastes and such. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.1C] The Alternative Calculator Challenge - By Master Daravon and Mourneblade 1. Almost all SCC rules apply; this is another version of the Calc. SCC. 2. Each calc can learn 550 jp total of abilities from both Priest and Wizard, 350 jp total of abilities from both oracle and time mage. These JP can NOT be used for R/S/M abilities. Only the basic skills. 3. Good luck. Comments: Well, this is more lenient than Munki's Calc SCC, but still leaves enough for a challenge. You will probably need to sample all the magics if you wish to do well. (Gee, this doesn't sound familiar?) Also, plan your Calcs to be compatible with each other, it'll help with the cures and hastes and such. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.2] The Dual Class Challenge by Avaj - Basically, it is an SCC with the twist of a secondary class. All characters have the same classes: If Ramza chooses to be a Thief/Time Mage, EVERYONE is a Thief/Time Mage. However, the skill sets can ONLY be from one class. Example: the set up Time Magic/Steal/MP Switch/Secret Hunt/Teleport is NOT possible. Classes can be switched whenever the urge strikes between the two. All SCC rules apply. (Except, of course, the one about a straight class) Comments: This opens the door to a multitude of options and variety. There are 380 total combinations to be experimented with. It is without a doubt much easier than a SCC as well. I personally believe that Calculators should be banned, as White Mages with Math Skills and chameleon robes are almost invincible. If you do choose Math Skill, however, it would be incredibly easy. One nice combination is a long-range attacker (Archer, Mediator, or Chemist) with Battle Skill. The Weapon/Speed breakage will put you at a definite advantage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.2A] Dual Class Challenge (Super Version) - By Notti The way I (Notti) envision this to work is that you can choose any 2 jobs, and then mix and match their abilities any way you want. For example, if I chose "Knights and Mediators". That means all 5 of my characters can be any combination of Knights and Mediators with any combination of their reaction/support/movement skills. You can also change and alter the ratio of Knights w/Talk Skill to Mediators w/Battle Skill at any time during the progress of the game (that's necessary because you need to gain JP as you go along). Some rules: 1. Calculator is fine. All that means is that those specific challenges are easy cheezey. However, all the abilities a Calc can learn can ONLY be from it's base class so as to provide some individual challenge. 2. Mimes can be used, but in those cases, the tag Job would not have a secondary ability set. Like "Summoners and Mimes" If you put any Summoners into the battle, it would pretty much be a SCC, with the allowance for Mimes when ever you want. 3. Dancers are more easily solved in this challenge, unlike the SCC. Whenever the challenge requires a "Dancer and ######" Ramza will ALWAYS be #######. No Bard for Ramza in place of the dancer. I will make one allowance and say that Ramza can access the Bard Class to get the skill Fly. 4. Also for "Bards and Dancers", the problem arises for how to distribute males and females. That's up to the player in this case. The level caps are as follows: CHP 1:99 CHP 2:99 CHP 3:99 CHP 4:99 Duping and Level Up/Down ARE allowed. Comments: Consider this the more laid-back version of the previous. I like the ability to mix and match abilities much more than "only a secondary skill." A nice challenge if it is your first challenge. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.3] The SSCC, or Special Straight Character Challenge: By Great Saiyaman. The rules are the same as SSC. Plus new rules: 1. You CANNOT use Orlandu in any story battle. 2. Of course, all the special characters can only use their Special Class, and nothing from any other class. 3. Until the special characters some into play, the use of generics is permitted. However, they can only be squires or chemists. There can be one thief for secret hunt, but, when he is used, he is the ONLY one brought into battle. 4. If you don't think Boco, Rad, Alica, or Lavian are special characters, then don't use them. Comments - Since most special characters aren't available until Chapter 4, the game of squires and chemists should be fun enough. However, Agrais and Musty should make the chapters a bit better. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.4] The AI Challenge by Shadow X, NeoElfBoy, and the true originator, whoever (s)he may be. This has also been called the Tactics Coach Challenge, auto-battle challenge, and probably a couple others. There are no exceptions to the battles that you must use AI for. For any unit's first action in a battle, you must choose an Auto-Battle command and stick with it until the battle is over. Anything "cheap" is banned, including but not limited, to Blade Grasp, Abandon, Auto-Potion, Teleport, Math Skill, and Chantage. Also something players should note: During the Bethla Garrison battle, the computer will, more than likely, not even attempt to move Ramza onto the squares needed. A rare exception of human control is permitted once everyone's dead so as to continue with the game. And who wouldn't want that? (Thanks Soul Reaver) Comments - Save often! This will take a bit of practice to get the hang of, and even then the computer can do some REALLY stupid things, especially Rafa on certain rooftops, or Mustudio on certain rooftops, or Olan on certain rooftops... It sounds great, but _watching_ everything happen gets boring rather quickly. Of course, as Soul Reaver was nice enough to tell me "it was quite fun." So, basically, there's something for everybody here ^_^. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.5] The Crystal Challenge - AKA Highlander Challenge - AKA Mega Man Challenge - By (Let me know who you are!) 1. All main abilities must be learned from crystals. (hence the name) 2. Characters can be any job they want as long as they learn their abilities in that job from Crystals 3. Level Caps are as follows: 1st Chapter-20 2nd Chapter-35 3rd Chapter-50 4th Chapter (Before Murond Death City)-70 4. You can NOT do all the propositions then kill that characters off so you can learn all his/her abilities. This is not allowed, because it would defeat the purpose of it being a challenge. 5. Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities do not have to be learned from Crystals and can be learned from the JP you gain during battle. Comments: This would be interesting to say the least. Odds are leveling up will be necessary to make up for the lack of. Besides, a crystal only appears half the time, so this is rather hit and miss. Original, though. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.6] Tactics Double Dare - By Burgandy 1. Party must consist of two Characters: Ramza and a generic. You may choose the generic from the ones you are given, or you may purchase one from Gariland. Each Character can specialize in two Job Classes of your choice. Your Characters can, and probably should, specialize in different classes from each other 2. Characters can not use any other abilities of any outside class at all. Any Support, Movement, and Reaction skills must come from their own Job Classes. 3. Your Characters must attain at least one of their Jobs before Dorter Trade City, and remain in that class (or the other - see rule 11). You may attain both your classes before then, but if you choose to attack Dorter with only one of your classes attained, it is at your disadvantage - you may not use skills from other classes to substitute for the class you haven't attained. 3. Characters can not use any other abilities of any outside class at all. Any Support, Movement, and Reaction skills must come from their own Job Classes. 4. Special Characters are not allowed, as their enhanced growth can dilute the challenge. The one exception is Ramza if you choose Squire as one of his classes. 5. High leveling up is not allowed either. However, remember to use your judgment. These levels shouldn't be approached with most classes. The stronger your class, the lower your levels should accordingly be. The following Level Caps have been set as maximums for all job classes: -Chapter 1: 20 -Chapter 2: 35 -Chapter 3: 50 -Chapter 4: 70 6. Again, you may not use Gained JP Up, Secret Hunt, Move-Find Item, etc. unless your character naturally has it in their classes. This is the same as rule #2, but I need to state it twice because this is the most common mistake. 7. Guest Characters can become whatever you wish. A strong Algus and Delita are pretty much required to beat early battles for many classes. Guest Characters may be stripped of their equipment. 8. Important to Mediators: Monsters can NOT be recruited. If a Human is recruited through Invite, he must be stripped and then kicked out. Any Special Character can also be stripped and then removed. An exception to this general rule is Mustadio, who must be recruited in order to access the Cloud subquests, if you choose to do them. Still, you cannot use Mustadio in battle. Alternatively, you may follow rule 9... 9. Later in the game, at Chapter 4, you may use a full party of Special Characters in a few random battles, just for the sake of your sanity. This applies mostly to people with very tedious jobs like Summoners, Mediators, and Bard/Dancers. Special Characters may NEVER be used in Story Battles. Additionally, you may not mix your challenge and other characters in random battles - if your challenge characters are in your PBF (party battle formation), your other characters may not be, and vice versa. 10. You may not Dupe Weapons or use the Level Up/Down cheat. Neither of these is technically possible if you stick to the challenge, but it should be said anyway. 11. You may switch your Characters between their chosen classes at any time. For example, if your Ramza is a Lancard - Lancer + Wizard, see rule 14 -, you are free to change Ramza's base class between Lancer and Wizard to gain a tactical or statistical advantage. You may not, however, switch into any other class. 12. You *may* take advantage of Math Skill in this challenge, but there are natural restrictions. If you wish to use Math Skill effectively, your other class must be a calculable spell set - Black, White, Time, or Yin-Yang Magic- , and you may only calculate spells from that set. Of course, you may choose Calculator with another class if, for example, you *really* want Damage Split, but you cannot use Math Skill this way. Similarly, you may commit one of your characters to being a Mime, but, naturally, you will lose the benefit of a second class. 13. You may NOT pick up Crystals for the purpose of gaining abilities. 14. Come up with silly names for your class hybrids. For example, my Ramza will be a Monja *Monk + Ninja* and his lady-friend will be a Chemediator *Chemist + Mediator*. Comments: This will test your patience on a couple battles. Namely, battles such as Lionel castle, where it's technically your support character versus six enemies, not to mention Gafgarion. There are ways around that, however... Despite its appearance, this challenge is really fun. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.7] The Invite-Only Challenge - By Ryu1 1. Ramza may become what you wish. No cheap abilities and he must always have talk skill on and he's fine. Reactions that are cheap must have lowered brave to 55. 2. You may only use invited human characters. At the end of the battle, monsters become worthless. 3. You may level Ramza up until he gets invite with 2 generics to help. You may take them into Dorter, but they should be scrapped then. 4. You may not change abilities or skillsets, NOR may you change equips of your invited friends. You may change weapons until a human battle with the type of enemies you want becomes available - check the battle list. You must steal or invite for your equipment after that; OR move-find OR catch, if you find a human that has that ability 5. No level caps. Comments: Basically, this is the MR4M (see 1.11) except instead of monsters humans are used. It can be annoying, however, to bring newer humans into your party. A couple times a chapter will be necessary if you want your equipment to be top-of-the-line. A helpful note from Ryu1: At the church level, there should be a mediator with invite and ignore height/fly - feel free to use this to help recruit other people. And Owvin: There is another non-calculator math-skiller at the Bethla Sluice fight. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.8] The Solo Ramza Challenge - (This has been around too long to have people remember who thought of it) Ramza is all alone; a one may army. Can you do it? Rules: 1. Only Ramza can be present in the battle. However, if guests are given to you, do not go out and kill them so you can have all the glory yourself. 2. Ramza can invite both monsters and humans during the battle. However, they may not join up unless you want some equipment. In which case, strip them and give 'em a swift kick in the rear. 3. Ramza is the only one present in the formation screen. Yes, this results in skipping getting Beowulf, Reis, and Cloud, but if there are members in your party and the battle requires two teams, someone must be brought in. Therefore, don't grab Musty for their sake. 4. The world is your hunting ground. Feel free to poach. 5. No GSing, no item duping. 6. No level caps. Comments: One of the rare occasions in which a super-cheap set-up is the way. Math skill is a near-must, along with Blade grasp or MP Switch/Move Mp-Up. And, no, it is not impossible; it has been done. FAQ pause... *THE MICRO HALL OF FAME* User trc1986/[Enough banned accounts to fill 4 full lines]/Perfect TRC was the first one to finish this. Here's his micro-hall of fame. *THANKS FOR VISITING THE MICRO HALL OF FAME* Back to the FAQ... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.9] The Squad Challenge - By Philsov 1. There will be three squads, each consisting of Ramza and four generics. 2. No generic can be the same class. 3. All classes are open (although Calc. is ideally pointless since #4) 4. The only abilities that can be used once the challenge begins can be from the character's set class. I'm adopting Munki's view here. If you so choose to do crystal calcs or 550/550/350/350 Calcs, don't let me stop you. 5. No squad can fight until the rest have as well. 6. No level up/down, GS, chantage, yadda yadda yadda. 7. The challenge begins at Dorter. (See #10) 8. Random battles are not counted in the rotation process. However in random battles, one and only one squad may be used to win. 9. Caps: Fort Algus: 20 Queklain: 36 Riovanes: 50 Murond: 65 10. For all multi-tier jobs (Samurai, Ninja, Bard, Dancer, Mime), the job must be attained by Thieves fort. This allows for usage of the degenerator trap at the Zeklaus Desert so the random enemies won't be super powered. Do not attempt to level up/down on the trap. Just keep the levels where you want them as you gain JP. ~~~~Variations~~~~ By Owvin - The Five Squad Challenge - Same thing, except each squad consists of Ramza + three generics; so there are five squads. Makes sense, huh? By Owvin - Special character can be used, but count as two generics for fighting purposes. However, if Ramza is a squire, the special character must be an alternate class. Exceptions to this: Boco, Worker8, and Byblos. Comments - The most time-consuming part of the challenge will be getting the thirteen or sixteen characters up to their class before Dorter. Of course, the first few battles are a breeze because of this. A tip I've realized: EXPLOIT PROPOSITIONS FOR JP! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.10] Big Mouth Challenge - by Owvin 1. For humans, only Ramza and one male generic. 2. Both must have both mediator and bard opened up by sweegy woods ch.1 battle. 3. You must invite/breed at least 3 morbols and/or ochus and/or great morbols before fovoham windmill Wiegraf battle ch.1 battle, due to where morbol-types can be found. 4. Once there, Ramza and another male generic can only use mediator and bard abilities for primary/secondary/reaction/support/movement abilities, the only exception is the squire ability "mon.skill", which can be used anytime. 5. In each battle that has both Ramza and the male generic bard/mediator, one must be in bard class with talk skills secondary, the other must be in mediator class with sing secondary. The two can switch roles between battles if you want them to, it's up to you. 6. For morbol-types, you can have any number of any kind(s) of morbol-types in party lineup (at least 3 morbol-types) 7. Special characters can NOT be used in the plot battles, and can NOT be used in the same battles as Ramza/mediators/bards/morbol-types. Obviously, you'll need to keep Mustadio to try the corollary ch.4 battles with ramza/mediators/bards/morbols-types. 8. Inviting: you can invite within battle, BUT, only morbols, ochus, and great morbols can "join up" to your party at end of battles 9. Special characters (that includes Rad, Lavian, Alicia, Boco, ... any that have their own lines) can join up subject to rule no. 7, they can't be in plot battles once nonguest, and can't be in same battles as Ramza, the other male generic mediator/bard, morbols, ochus, nor great morbols. 10. No taking advantage of move-find-item nor catch nor secret hunt after Sweegy Woods ch.1 for your Ramza and male generic mediator/bard, however, you're allowed to use items that guests/special characters had at the time of "join up" only, provided that mediators/bards can equip them. For example: bracers originally from Orlandu can be used on mediator/bard, but you can't have anyone move-find a vanish mantle for them. 11. Level caps for Ramza, male generic mediator/bard, morbols, ochus, great morbols: ch.1 - lv.20 (before Fort Algus) ch.2 - lv.35 (before Quecklain castle) ch.3 - lv.50 (before Elmdor Assassin rooftop) ch.4 - lv.70 (before Orbonne final battles) 12. If anything hits the level cap or close to level cap, you can make use of degenerator traps, however... 13. To reduce level-up-down stuffs between mediator-bard, you must complete the challenge within 98 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds. 14. Guest characters can be anything cough|delitalgus|cough. Comments: In a word, unique. But in my gaming experience I have found that there are technically more big mouths, namely thief (steal heart), and a couple others who escape me right now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.11] The Mediator Ramza and Four Monsters Challenge (MR4M) - By Sword Seraph, who thanks MunkiBleedsGreen. 1. Party must consist of 2-5 Characters, including Ramza and 1-4 monsters of your choice. 2. Ramza can be ANY class you want. It can change whenever you want. He can use any abilities that you see fit. A healing class would probably be beneficial, as many monsters cannot heal themselves. HOWEVER, he MUST have Talk Skill as Primary or Secondary AT ALL TIMES. Before you get your first monster, you can have a party of Ramza + 3 Generics. After you get 1 monster, you cannot use humans any more. Remember, you MUST have at LEAST one monster before Dorter Trade City. 3. Ramza must attain Mediator before Dorter Trade City, and you need to have at LEAST one monster by now also. Having 4 monsters would be to your advantage. 4. Special Characters are not allowed, as their enhanced growth can dilute the challenge. The one exception is Ramza if you choose Squire as his main class. 5. High leveling up is not allowed either. The following Level Caps have been set as maximums for Ramza and all the monsters: -Chapter 1: 20 -Chapter 2: 35 -Chapter 3: 50 -Chapter 4: 70 However, remember to use your judgment. These levels shouldn't be approached with most classes. The stronger Ramza's main class or the more powerful a monster is, the lower your levels should accordingly be. 6. Guest Characters can become whatever you wish. A strong Algus and Delita are pretty much required to beat early battles. Guest Characters may be stripped of their equipment. 7. About the monsters: You can have ONLY ONE monster of a Class in each battle. Meaning, for example, you CANNOT have more than 1 Hydra-class, 1 Behemoth-class, 1 Chocobo-class or 1 Dragon-class in each battle. Ramza + 4 Tiamats/Red Chocobos is worse than Orlandu. The ONE exception to this is that you CAN have 2 Chocobos in a battle. If you do so, however, Ramza MUST use his first turn or 2 to ride the Chocobo, meaning only one Chocobo can be able to use its abilities. 8. Later in the game, at Chapter 4, you may use a full party of Special Characters in a few random battles, just for the sake of your sanity. Special Characters may NEVER be used in Story Battles. Additionally, you may not mix your challenge and other characters in random battles - if your challenge characters are in your PBF (party battle formation), your other characters may not be, and vice versa. Comments: This forces you to experiment. I know in my first couple play-throughs of this game, I hardly used monsters. Now I love them! Tiamats and Red Chocobos are nice indeed. However, one small problem which will be encountered in gameplay will be the fusion of a) low monster's HP and b) little or no way to cure/revive them. The item command will be a god- send. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.12] The Dagger-Only Challenge - By (Let me know who you are) 1. The only weapon that can be equipped by any playable character is a dagger. 2. No special characters. 3. No cheating. Comments: Not a terribly challenging challenge, but still fun enough. This challenge essentially makes almost all squire-based jobs obsolete, forcing you to resort to magic to take out the enemy. However, the skill Martial Arts (or just monks in general) will make this game into a breeze. Once again, in all good conscience, a calculator should not be used. But then it's your game, not mine. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.13] The Range Attack Challenge - By Niton Lover 1. You may use physical blows ONLY until you have enough JP to earn a ranged attack. Even if you are in mid-battle. Period. 2. Only physical attacks CANNOT have a charge time. This means that throw stone and ninja throws are the only physical attack allowed. List o' banned abilities: Dancer: Polka Polka, Slow Dance, Disillusion, Nameless Dance, Last Dance Priest: Cure 4, Raise 2, Holy (17 speed, but not allowed along with Flare) Wizard: Fire/Bolt/Ice 4, Death, Flare Oracle: Petrify Time Mage: Demi 2, Meteor Summoner: Bahamut, Odin, Leviathan, Salamander, Lich, Cyclops, Zodiac Bard: Cheer Song, Battle Song, Magic Song, Nameless Song, Last Song 3. No abilities with a speed of 14 or lower are allowed. Ever. (Life drain is okay, but meteor isn't) 4. The Following Reaction Abilities are BANNED: Counter Tackle, Counter, Hamedo, Blade Grasp, MP Switch, Catch. Tell me if I missed any physical reaction abilities. 5. The following Support Abilities are BANNED: Equip Gun, Equip crossbow, secret hunt, short charge. 6. The Following Movement abilities are BANNED: Move-MP up, Move-HP UP, Move-EXP Up, Move-JP up, move/jump +3, move-find item. 7. The Calculator may not be used. 8. No female-only equips 9. You may have up to 3 monsters in your party, but only one in any battle. 10. You may NOT use special characters that have long-range attacks that deal damage. (Mustudio good; Cloud, Beowulf, OK (avoid direct damages); Orlandu, Mediodoul, Rafa, Malak, Reis, and Agrais bad) 11. NO level up/down, GSing, duping, etc. 12. Long Range is any attack that does not strike only the two hexes directly above, below, or to either side of you. A couple examples: Short Range - Fire/Ice/Thunder Bracelet, swords, rods, spears, sticks. Long Range - Wave fist, Bows (but no charging, see #2), Guns, Magic 13. If you have a ranged weapon equipped, you cannot dumbfire your weapon- that is shoot beyond your enemy to hit them if the enemy is within 2 squares of you if you have a gun/crossbow/bow/dictionary equipped. 14. Auto-Range abilities such as choco-cure or Stigma Magic are forbidden. The exception to this is monster skill, which may be used only to bring out a long-range attack, like on the behemoth series. 15. Level Caps: Chapter 1:20 Chapter 2:35 Chapter 3:50 Chapter 4:70 Comments: If anyone has done an archer SCC, congratulations! You've done this one too! Seriously though, this is a good idea. It will force change your regular playing style. And that's a good challenge. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.14] The No Memory Card Challenge - By Garreth 1. You must start a new game if you see the game over screen. 2. No level caps. 3. No resets. You CAN have a save file, but you can only use it if your taking a break from playing the game. You may NOT use it to continue from if you die. Exception: You can continue from a save after the first battle in Gariland Magic City just so you won't have to go through the beginning again since it is a bit long. Comments: As NeoElfBoy put it (and I agree with him on this), "This should be called the Patience Challenge. If you take the time to achieve the right setup, the game becomes unbelievably easy. If you want to go straight through, you risk an accidental death due to bad luck or a hard battle. A team of Ex-Calcs would burn through the game, no risk involved. The only possible hiccup is the rooftop, and that can be overcome by having your godlike Ex-Calcs at Speed 9." I know there will someone somewhere who will read this and try it. That's why it's here =P ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.15] The Cavalry Challenge - By Garreth 1. This consists of two people (Ramza + Generic of choice) of the same single class (SCC style) and one of each chocobo. Only abilities from your selected class can be used in the challenge 2. The chocobos are acquired by unlocking the Mediator job, inviting a chocobo on Mandalia Plains, and then walking to breed until you have a red, black, and yellow chocobo. While this is going on, make sure you are unlocking the class you chose to go through the game with. 3. The humans are to be on chocobos at all times (hence the name) The only walking that can be done by the humans is either getting on a chocobo or switching chocobos in mid-battle. If you die and get resurrected, the next turns must be made to get back on a chocobo. 4. Of course, no cheating. Comments: A challenge indeed. Two people of the same single class and a chocobo vs. the world. Granted, these two people are mobile, but riding negates several *nice* movement abilities, namely teleport, move-HP up, move- MP up, fly, and a couple others. If I could change this, I'd allow the humans to do whatever they wanted (except, of course, calculate). But again I stress that you can make your own challenge. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.16] On The Shoulders Of Those That Came Before Challenge - By Emperor Oberon 1. A character may only use abilities from their current class. 2. No using special characters. Ramza and four generics only. 3. Each character in a battle must be a class whose prerequisite classes also appear. So if you want one of your five characters to be an oracle, you must have a white mage and chemist in the battle as well. This rules out some of the higher classes on the class tree, namely the Samurai, Ninja, Calculator, bard, dancer, and mime. 4. No three characters may be of the same class. Note that all these rules are per battle, so you can switch people's classes around. Comments: This is a solid challenge. By the way, if you decide to do this and tell others about it, simply call this the Shoulders Challenge, or the OTSOTTCBC. This causes planning and preparation of your part, since, say you need brave/faith modification, you must have a chemist, then one and a white mage, then two and an oracle, then the three plus a mediator. More trouble than it's worth (or maybe not) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.17] The Stupid Enemy Challenge - By Moogle Man Rules: 1. Your party must consist of Ramza, as a squire, 2 male thieves with Yin- Yang magic as secondary, and 2 female thieves with Yin-Yang magic as secondary. Their other abilities can be whatever you want. You can change classes throughout the game to gain abilities, but only for random battles. Also, these characters don't have to be thieves, they could also be Oracles with Steal as secondary. 2. The only action skills that your characters can learn are Steal Heart and Confuse, with the exception of Ramza, who may learn anything; however, be sure to read the next rules. 3. The only way to kill opponents is to Steal Heart or Confuse them, and either let the opponent kill each other being charmed/confused, or let the opponent kill each other by trying to get them out of those status effects. 4. *You are never allowed to attack enemies directly, with the exception of the following rule*: If there is only one enemy left, or only one accessible enemy left, or all remaining enemies are immune to charm/confuse, you may use Ramza (As well as any other character) to kill the enemy. Note that this is the only time that Ramza may attack. 5. If you want, you can use the skills of the stupid AI even further, with any skills or abilities that can utilize the powers of being faced with an AI who doesn't know what it's doing. Comments: This seems like the type of challenge which is either incredibly fun and amusing as you watch your enemies blast each other, or incredibly annoying due to percentages and misses and not technically being able to touch them. Worth a shot, though. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.18] Ovelia Protection Team Challenge (OPTC)- By The Lost Grail Use these characters. Ramza, Rad, Alicia, Lavian, and Agrias. They can only be the class that they first appear in and only have their skill set no second act and they can only have reaction, support, and move abilities that is in their own class. For the first chapter just use any generic soldiers until you get them. Have fun! Comments: I don't really have much to say about this one. It's rather cut and dry, but I can say right now Agrias and Ramza will be the top- hitters. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.19] The Multi-Class Challenge (MCC) - By Metroid Composite Rules: 1. In any given battle, if one of your characters has a Primary/Secondary/support/reaction/movement ability from a certain class, no other character may have a Primary, Secondary, support, reaction, or movement ability from that class. This may force you to bring in fewer units and/or not set a secondary ability. This includes guest characters (whose base class counts as squire). 2. After every battle, all units who participated must change jobs to the job in which they have the lowest job level. If they are currently in the job with the lowest job level, they may stay there; if there is a tie for lowest job level you may choose which job they should become. In addition, their secondary ability (if you set it) should be from the job with the next lowest job level. 3. No using actions whose sole purpose is gaining JP. Feel free to interpret this rule however you like, but it means that beating on your own party members is illegal, as is being abusive with Move Get JP. 4. No special characters. 5. No item duping, level up/down, or GS. 6. You have until Mandalia plains to prepare for the challenge; in other words, get people to job level up at Garland Magic City. You must use the initial party of units you are given; no new units can be recruited (unless they are stripped and kicked out). 7. Guests which don't appear in the formation menu are not counted in the MCC count. A list of the battles in which rule 7 applies: Mandalia (Algus), Fort Zeakden (Teta), Zirekile Falls (Ovelia, Delita), Zaland (Mustadio), Goug (Mustadio), Bariaus Valley (Agrias), Goland (Olan), Lesalia (Alma), Yardow (Rafa), Riovanes Rooftop (Rafa), Zeltennia (Delita), Limberry (Meliadoul), Zarghidas (Cloud), Graveyard of Airships (Alma) 8. No chantage. 9. All secondary/reaction/support/movement must come from jobs must be from jobs with job levels lower than or equal to at least half of the job levels for that character. 10. High leveling up is not allowed. The following level caps are maximum: Chapter 1: 15 Chapter 2: 25 Chapter 3: 35 Chapter 4: 45 Comments: This will cause a varying playing style. Part of it will be determined by luck, unless you plan things out REALLY well. Adds a bit of randomness to the game. You will be swapping jobs repeatedly so every battle is unique and no two MCC's will be the same. I like that. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.20] The EVERYTHING is Cheap Challenge - By The Cynic Rules: 1. You may not use any equipment which can be bought or found only during Chapter 4. 2. You may not use any equipment which requires you to poach a monster in order to get it. 3. You may not use any equipment which increases PA, MA, or Speed. 4. You may not use any equipment which cancels/absorbs elemental magic (Ice Shield, Rubber Shoes, etc.). 5. You may not use the Calculator class. Ever. Period. 6. You may not Invite monsters. 7. You may never do so much as set foot in the Deep Dungeon. 8. You may only use Ramza and generic characters in story battles. 9. Don't even think about using the Level Up/Down trick. 10. No brave/faith modification beyond battle-induced (Algus, Musty, etc.) And finally, none of your characters may learn any ability in any job class that costs more than 300 JP. You are not allowed to learn abilities from crystallized enemies, either. Level caps: Chapter 1: 15 Chapter 2: 30 Chapter 3: 50 Chapter 4: 75 Comments: Before I say anything else, a ninja with martial arts is cheap, too. With that out of the way, this sounds neat. Of course, one way around this is to use classes which are not very dependant upon skills to do damage; Archer, Ninja, Lancer, Knight, Monk (sorta), and the like. Of course, Geomancy is nice in this situation, too. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.21] The Limiting Challenge - By MarcusMajarra The Rules: 1. You may only participate in one (1) random battle between each story battle, if the game allows it. This means that if you're stuck in a part of the game where you can't access random battles between story battles (such as after battling in Goug for the first time in chapter two, or in Orbonne in chapter three), these opportunities are lost. You cannot enter any other random battles, but you're welcome to reset your game until the right random battle starts (of course, this allows for a Rune Blade bonanza in chapter two... ^_^). 2. As a rule, your characters cannot change jobs before attaining the level of Master in it. This is effective after leaving Gariland Magic City for the first time, which means that you can re-design your party before getting on with the story. This rule is particularly bothersome in a long series of story battles, or if you just couldn't stall the opponent long enough for you to master your job (if you have the patience to do it). 3. If you Invite a character into your team, you're allowed to change the character's job once. Afterwards, Rule 2 applies until the Invited character Masters a job. This also applies to any other character who joins your team. (see rule 4) 4. Rule three does not apply to special characters. A list of special characters whose jobs must be mastered before selecting a new class, whether they are guests or permanent characters: Delita, Algus, Gafgarion, Mustadio, Agrias, Rafa, Malak, Orlandu, Beowulf, Reis, Meliadoul, and Cloud. 5. You're welcome to have monsters in your group, but due to their lack of perspective on the world of humans, they cannot participate in story battles. As a rule, no non-human may participate in a story battle, with Worker 8 being the exception. 6. Ultima and Zodiac are the only abilities that are exception to the Mastery rule. Consider the job mastered, even if Ramza doesn't have Ultima or if the Summoner doesn't have Zodiac. 7. Regarding Ramza, the same rules that apply to generic characters apply to him as well. In Chapter two, he loses Mastery, and if you make him a Squire again, he needs to Master it then. 8. Aside from these, anything goes. You're free to use any Secondary, Reaction, Support or Movement ability you like. However, customized handicaps can be selected, from the following list: No Brave-based Reaction Abilities No Restorative Reaction Abilities No Evasion Reaction Abilities No counterattack Reaction Abilities No Reaction Abilities Can only use Secondary Abilities that are used by jobs pre-requisite to the one used (such as Battle Skill for a Monk or Samurai, but not for the Ninja, even though you're a Knight before being a Ninja) Can only use the Secondary Ability from the mirror job (see below) No Secondary Abilities. No Gained JP-Up No *.*-Up Abilities No Equip Abilities No Support Abilities from Squire-based Jobs No Support Abilities from Chemist-based Jobs No Support Abilities Only Move +1 and Jump +1 are allowed as Movement Abilities Fly, Teleport, and Ignore Height are forbidden No Movement Abilities Mirror Jobs: Squire and Chemist, Knight and Priest, Archer and Wizard, Monk and Oracle, Thief and Time Mage, Geomancer and Mediator, Lancer and Summoner. Ninja, Samurai, Calculator, Mime, Bard and Dancer have NO mirror abilities. Comments: Well, first some tips from the originator: "The battle at Gariland Magic City in the beginning of the game is crucial. It's a good thing to bring two Chemists along, and make sure they reach level 2 in their job before ending the battle. This way, by the beginning of the challenge, you can already have a Priest and Wizard on hand. The same tactic can be applied to Knights and Archers right off from the beginning. If you manage to get your Chemists to make the first battle last long enough for your starting Squires to gain their second level of Chemist, you can even make a more versatile team." And "A versatile party can provide enough types of skills to make your party survive, but jobs will take longer to master this way." Now for some comments. This challenge will require advance planning. Also, the specialized handicaps will make each game individual in itself. Just the mirror job thing has some potential within itself. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.22] The Apprentice Challenge - By Victim 2 Steal Heart Be specialized, then dabble into something else. Rules: 1. Party must consist of 2-5 Characters, including Ramza 2. All members of your party can be any job they want to be at any time. However each member may only learn 1 skill from each job class... this means for Squire you may learn gained JP up, Move +1, or Accumulate, etc... but ONLY 1 of them. 3. Your party must attain its Primary Job class by dorter trade city (By this I mean the skill set you will permanetly be using as your secondary or primary skill set. It must be one of these after dorter) 4. Special Characters are not allowed. 5. Level Caps: -Chapter 1: 20 -Chapter 2: 35 -Chapter 3: 50 -Chapter 4: 70 6. Guest Characters can become whatever you wish. 7. Later in the game, at Chapter 4, you may use a full party of Special Characters in a few random battles, just for the sake of your sanity. Special Characters may NEVER be used in Story Battles. Additionally, you may not mix your challenge and other characters in random battles - if your challenge characters are in your PBF (party battle formation), your other characters may not be, and vice versa. 8. For Ramza, the skill "Wish" is to be ignored unless it is what you want your one squire ability to be. 9. All skills you may learn must be under 400jp unless they are the main abilities for your class which have no jp limit. (as in bolt 4 for Wizard) 10. All reaction abilities (unless it's your primary job) that cost 300 or more are banned. Comments: This certainly limits a multitude of combos and abilities. Talk about a clamp... But like I've said before "Challenge are meant to limit." Here ya go. This will take some advance planning, too. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.23] The JP Challenge - By Lurkfiend 1: Before purchasing any skills for any job, you must have attained all JP needed to buy all skills (unless of course the character starts the game with that skill). To get Squire skills you must have 1620 JP, while to get Wizard skills you need 8090 JP. This means that you will have to rely on your inherent skills and make use of those chemists and that precious 'Potion' ability. 2: No restrictions on Job class...Any team you wish to create is fine by me. 3: Unique Characters can be utilized, and they will probably be necessary at points. 4: The challenge starts when the game starts. 5: All abilities (secondary, reaction, support, move) must come from mastered skill sets. 6: No inheriting abilities from crystals. 7. Monsters are allowed, but only the corresponding level to the chapter can be used: Chapter 1: Level 1 (i.e. Yellow Chocobo) Chapter 2: Level 2 (i.e. Black Chocobo) Chapter 3: Level 3 (i.e. Red Chocobo) Chapter 4: Any 8. No Accumulation battles. Basic Skill as a secondary cannot be abused. 9. You can buy generics if you want, but you might need that Chemist with 'Potion' to get some healing or that Squire with 'Throw Stone' for a bit of range, so its up to you. 10: No cheating, weapon duping or level up/down stuff. Comments: Tips for Revelations: "Try mastering a relatively inexpensive class first. The geomancer and the Mediator both have nice, cheap skillsets." With that out of the way, comment time. First, hope you get some nice generics when you start the game. They will be necessary. Master squire (gained JP up), then follow Revelation's advice. After that, it's rather clear sailing, just hope you're not too dependant upon magic. Like he said, it'll take 8090 JP to get any black magic. And summoner, just forget it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.24] The Alphabet Soup Challenge - By Emperor Oberon, who thanks MunkiBleedsGreen. Rules: 1. The only skills that can be learned must start with a pre-selected letter. For example, if you pick "C", you can Chakra, Carve Model, etc. This is for individual skills, not skill sets. 2. No specials. 3. Guests can do whatever you want them to. 4. No cheating 5. Level caps: Chapter 1: 20 Chapter 2: 35 Chapter 3: 50 Chapter 4: 70 - Before Murond Death City 6. And now, a complete list of alphabetized abilities, courtesy of Emperor: ------ A - 14 ------ A Save Abandon Absorb Used MP Accumulate Angel Song Antidote Any Ground Any Weather Arrow Guard Armor Break Asura Knife Attack Up Auto Potion Axe (throw) ------ B - 13 ------ Bahamut Ball (throw) Battle Song Bizen Boat Blade Grasp Blind Blind Rage Blizzard Bolt X (1,2,3,4) Brave Up ------ C - 29 ------ Carbunkle Carve Model Catch Caution Chakra Charge +X (1,2,3,4,5,7,10,20) Cheer Song Cheer Up Chirijiraden Concentrate Confusion Song Counter Counter Flood Counter Magic Counter Tackle Critical Quick CT (math skill)* Cure X (1,2,3,4) Cyclops ------ D - 16 ------ Damage Split Dash Death Death Sentence Defense Up Defend Demi X (1,2) Demon Fire Dictionary (throw) Disillusion Dispel Magic Distribute Don't Move Doubt Faith Dragon Spirit ------ E - 16 ------ Earth Slash Echo Grass Elixir Esuna Ether Equip Axe Equip Armor Equip Change Equip Crossbow Equip Gun Equip Knife Equip Shield Equip Spear Equip Sword Exp (math skill)* Eye Drop ------ F - 15 ------ Face Up Fairy Finger Guard Fire X (1,2,3,4) Five (math skill)* Flare Float (Action) Float (Support) Fly Four (math skill)* Foxbird Frog ------ G - 06 ------ Gained Exp Up Gained JP Up Gil Taking Gilgame Heart Golem Gusty Wind ------ H - 15 ------ Half of MP Hamedo Hammer (throw) Haste X (1,2) Head break Heal Heaven's Cloud Height (math skill)* Hell Ivy Hi-Ether Hi-Potion Holy Holy Water HP Restore ------ I - 08 ------ Ice X (1,2,3,4) Ifrit Ignore Height Insult Invitation ------ J - 03 ------ Jump +X (1,2,3) ------ K - 07 ------ Kamaitachi Katana (throw) Kikuichimoji Kiyomori Knife (throw) Knight Sword (throw) Koutetsu ------ L - 14 ------ Last Dance Last Song Lava Ball Level (math skill)* Level JumpX (2,3,4,5,8) Leviathan Lich Life Drain Life Song Local Quake ------ M - 30 ------ MA Save Magic Attack Up Magic Break Magic Defend Up Magic Song Maiden's Kiss Maintenance Martial Arts Masamune Meatbone Slash Meteor Mimic Daravon Mind Break Monster Skill Monster Talk Moogle Move+X (1,2,3) Move-Find Item Move-Get Exp Move-Get JP Move-HP Up Move-MP Up Move in Water Move on Lava MP Restore MP Switch Muramasa Murasame ------ N - 04 ------ Nameless Dance Nameless Song Negotiate Ninja Sword (throw) ------ O - 01 ------ Odin ------ P - 15 ------ Paralyze Persuade Petrify Phoenix Down Pitfall Poison Polka Polka Potion Power Break Praise Pray Faith Preach Prime Number (math skill)* Protect X (1,2) ------ Q - 02 ------ Quick Quicksand ------ R - 10 ------ Raise X (1,2) Ramuh Reflect Regen Regenerator Remedy Reraise Repeating Fist Revive ------ S - 36 ------ Salamander Sand Storm Scream Secret Fist Secret Hunt Shell X (1,2) Shield Break Shiva Short Charge Shuriken (throw) Silence Song Silf Sleep Slow X (1,2) Slow Dance Soft Solution Spear (throw) Speed Break Speed Save Spell Absorb Spinning Fist Steal Accessory Steal Armor Steal EXP Steal Heart Steal Helmet Steal Shield Steal Weapon Stick (throw) Stigma Magic Stop Sunken State Sword (throw) ------ T - 09 ------ Teleport Threaten Three (math skill)* Throw Item Throw Stone Titan Train Two Hands Two Swords ------ U - 01 ------ Ultima ------ V - 07 ------ Vertical JumpX (2,3,4,5,6,7,8) ------ W - 09 ------ Walk on Water Wall Water Ball Wave Fist Weapon Break Weapon Guard Wish Witch Hunt Wiznaibus ------ X - 01 ------ X-Potion ------ Y - 01 ------ Yell ------ Z - 02 ------ Zodiac Zombie * - Math skill is pointless to learn, since no two useable math skills start with the same letter ~~~~~Variations~~~~~ By Xshortguy007 - This applies to equipment as well. Should you pick "G", you can wear a green beret. By Philsov - EASY MODE - Letter must be included in the skill and/or equipment. NO VOWELS. By Ryu1 - Multiple letters. "M and S" net you secret hunt and move-find item. By Captain Qball - Abilities starting with the letters of your equipment can be used. This means if somone has Mythril Sword, Gold Shield, Cross Helmet, and Feather Boots equipped, they can use abilities starting with M,G,C, and F. This isn't that hard but forces players to experiment with equipment. Comments: This'll be fun at various levels. In general, "S" is probably easiest, due to thief skills, ninja skills, slow, sleep, solution, etc. Try "Z". Innovative. I like it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.25] The Reaction Ability Challenge - By Metriod Composite and/or Neoelfboy. (Weird story. Just trust me on the and/or thing) Rules: 1. The challenge starts at Sweegy Woods. In order to prepare, you may fight random encounters as described in rule #3. 2. Once the challenge starts you may not take any actions, period. Actions include anything that get you EXP and JP. Exceptions to this rule are covered in rule 3: 3. If you enter a random battle, you may choose to fight it using actions provided you don't pick up any treasures, gain abilities from crystals, poach any monsters, recruit anyone, steal any equipment, or generally do anything other than gain JP and EXP. If one of your characters has Face Up or Brave Up you are allowed to raise their Faith or Brave using talk skills/guts in order to save time. (NOTE: You may also fight random battles without taking actions in which case these restrictions don't apply). 4. No item duping, GS, level up down, Chantage etc. 5. If you recruit a monster using Counter+Train you are allowed to use it in this challenge. You are also allowed to use special characters. 6. Guest characters must remain in their base class. A strong Algus and Delita are _not_ necessary to beat chapter 1. 7. level caps for each chapter are: Chapter 1: level 20 Chapter 2: level 30 Chapter 3: level 40 Chapter 4: level 50 8: Tips from NeoElfBoy: First off, Defense Up and Magic Defend Up are very valuable, although you need not use them at all times. There are at least 4 (and probably 5) useful reaction abilities. They are: Damage Split Hamedo Counter Counter Flood (?) Meatbone Slash Lionel: Meatbone Slash Gaf with a gun equipped. If your max HP is better than Gaf's (very possible, but you'll need Equip Gun on a Knight or Lancer) you'll kill him in one shot. As for the folks outside, try two with Damage Split to kill the Summoner (have them move into his Summons) and two with Hamedo; one with a bow/gun and one with a melee attack. Be sure to have them with Equip Change, so they can take off Rubber Shoes if someone refuses to attack, or change from ranged to melee weapons or vice versa. Izlude: Maintain timing so that Izzy never Jumps, and Hamedo him. Defence Up and low Faith will hopefully ward off the other enemies. Wiegraf at Riovanes: Equip a Chameleon Robe, and Hamedo the poor Shrine Knight. Velius: Four units with Meatbone Slash and guns, with around 250-300 HP, depending on Faith. Have Cyclops critical them all, and they'll promptly kill Velius. With a little luck (or not that much, if your Brave is 97). The Roof: Chameleon Robe/Judo Outfit to stop Death. Give the Assassins free shots at you, and Hamedo 'em. Finath: Try Meatbone Slash with guns to kill the Reds and Blacks; just Counter will suffice for the Yellows and Uribo. Remember that at low levels (use a Degenerator if necessary), these guys pose no threat. Elmdor: Ha ha ha... Muramasa + 5 Damage Splits = Elmdor dead. Balk: He can be: Blast Gun, 108 Gems, female Gemini with Faith 94, Hamedo. Kill Balk in one hit, if you get Bolt 3. Adramelk, Hashmalum: Again, Meatbone Slash with high HP and a gun. It's harder against these two, especially Adramelk, because their max. HP is higher... Queklain, Zalera, Altima: Tempt them to attack with reasonably low HP and scattered units. Hamedo 'em good. Comments: Once again, this is a nice challenge. It forces you to play the game in a new light and makes you *really* appreciate certain counter abilities which otherwise might have been overlooked, like Meatbone Slash instead of Blade Grasp. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.26] The Poverty Challenge - By One That Was Rules: 1. Regarding Money: A-For the First Chapter of the game, your Funds are Limited to 1% of what you actually have. or instance, if you have 15293 gil, Your only ALLOWED to use 152 Gil. Also, Any Money earned after battle is also reduced to 1% if you earn 500 Gil after Battle, your funds are only allowed to Increase 5 Gil. B-This is How Funding works after Chapter 1. After Chapter 1, your funds are limited to a MAXIMUM of 50,000 Gil. Also, as with before, after Battle Funds are reduced to 1%. Also, if your Current Funds exceed 50,000 Gil, then its totally disregarded. For instance, if you have 55,000 Gil, its still only counted as 50,000. ALSO any transactions are SUBTRACTED from your 50,000 Max. Again, if you have 55,000 Gil, and if you spend 5,000, you only have 45,000 Gil, NOT 50,000. The Extra Money is NOT added to your max. Its "Shaved off" as if it never existed. *Its recommended that for Funding matters you keep Track of how much you currently have on Paper. Money IS the Most complicated part of this Challenge, so Try your best to keep Track of it. Or, you may wish to do various buy/sell cycles to reduce your current funds.* 2. Regarding Class Restrictions: Since this Challenge Implies that you are Poor, Your Characters aren't capable of Paying for the Training involved in Certain Classes. Poverty Classes-These Jobs can be used by anyone*. Squire Chemist Knight Archer Monk Thief Wizard Priest Time Mage Oracle Bard Dancer Nobility Jobs-These Jobs can be used by Ramza Only. Geomancer Lancer Summoner Mediator Samurai Ninja Calculator No mimes. Ever. *All Generics in your party MUST choose one of these Classes. Ramza May Have any Job from Either Class. HOWEVER, if Ramza is currently using a Nobility Only Job, he may only use the Skills learned in THAT Nobility Job. No Samurais with Thief Skills. Also, No Samurais with Calculator skills. For All Poverty Class Jobs, You may Only use skills that have a JP Lower Than 650. Further on Jobs. Only ONE Character can be of any specific job. One Monk at a Time, and if you wish to Change the Monk back to a Knight, someone else may Take up the Monk Job, but if another Knight exsists, he Must Change. Also, no secondary skillset may be equipped except for Item and Basic Skill. 3. No gaining abilities from Crystals. 4. NPC Characters. There Are a few NPC's that I will allow. For the Most part, They are Lower Class. Cloud Mustadio Worker 8 Rafa Malak The Rest are associated with Nobility, so they aren't allowed. For these Characters also, a Few Extra Restrictions are laid upon them for Job Learning. As before, they can Only use Poverty Class Skills. They CAN learn their entire "Specialty Class" Skillset, but in all other Poverty Jobs they can Only learn skills below 400 JP. You may strip any Character That isn't on that list, and discard them. 5. Brave and faith Limits: Faith Limit: MINIMUM of 60 Faith. MAXIMUM of 75 Faith. Brave Limit: MAXIMUM of 65 Brave. MINIMUM of 40 Brave. In any Case where It exceeds or goes below those Limits, you must have Ramza Mediate them to an appropriate level. 6. Item Restrictions: Any Item that can be Bought within Level restrictions is acceptable. HOWEVER, there are Amount Limits. Weapons-MAXIMUM of 5 each Weapon. Armor-MAXIMUM of 5 each Armor. Items-MAXIMUM of 15 Any Item. (Such as Potions) Steal/Poach Only Items-MAXIMUM of 2 each Steal only Item (Weapon/Armor/Item) 7. Level caps: Chapter 1- LV. 30 Chapter 2- LV. 50 Chapter 3- LV. 70 Chapter 4- None Comments. Be Po. That in itself isn't terribly difficult, but it can and will get rather frustrating at times. Nevertheless, the addition of all the little things (job restrictions, etc.) of this challenge gives it extra flares of both poverty and difficulty. Difficulty = good. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.27] The Berserk Challenge - By Marquitos, inspired by Altima Arc Angel Rules: 1. In every battle, have all your characters but ONE be berserked 2. They can be berserked by themselves or others, by either usage of talk skill or Yin-Yang magic - as either a secondary or primary ability. Or you can GS them to be Always: Berserk. (Thanks Terra Bahamut) 3. With regards to the one who shall not be berserked, he is not allowed to directly attack the enemy, but only provide support for the berserked. There is an exception to this rule, however: Situations such as Weigraf and Gafgarion, when Ramza must go head-to-head. 4. Level caps - set your own. Comments - Well, this will be heavily dependant upon both physical units for damage and that one support to heal everyone. Fairy comes to mind here. But here we are presented a situation similar to the AI challenge. For the most part, you simply watch and hope. Also, you can't ideally attack the enemy until you're berserked, so getting berserk in the first place may prove to be annoying for battles where speed is a necessity. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.28] The Purity Challenge - By Machina Scavenger The Rules: 1. The party consists of Ramza and 4 characters. 2. You are limited to use only the basic skill set and attack in battle. No secondary, counter, support, or movement abilities. For example, a chemist uses only item and a gun. 3. The classes are not set in stone; you can switch classes at any time. However, a black mage switching to a lancer may be somewhat penalized. 4. Specials are not allowed. 5. Monsters are not allowed. ~~~~~Variations~~~~~ By: lorddrago88 - No two people can be in the same class at the same time. Comments: Once again, a challenge limits you in the area of general gameplay. Voila. This would be made easier if you choose to use classes which aren't very dependant upon their movements/counters/supports. Knights, Lancers, and the like will prove effective. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.29] The Magic User Challenge - By Ashton Precis SO2 Rules: 1. Party must consist of five characters, consisting of the following jobs: Wizard, Priest, Oracle, Time Mage, Summoner. Each of the five party members must take one job. No duplicates. Must have one Priest, one Oracle, one Time Mage, one Summoner, one Wizard. 2. Special Characters are not allowed. 3. Characters may only use the ability set of their Mage class. Any Reaction, Movement, or Support abilities must come from their class. 4. High leveling up is not allowed. In fact, this challenge will probably work relatively well at lower levels. With all party members working in the basic jobs (Wizard, Priest) to get to Oracle, Time Mage, and Summoner, it won't take much time at all to achieve classes. -Chapter 1: 20 -Chapter 2: 35 -Chapter 3: 50 -Chapter 4: 70 - Before Murond Death City 5. Guest characters can become anything you want. I'd suggest something non- Mage, but that's up to you. 6. Monsters cannot be recruited. Neither of the five Mage units can do so. 7. The big problem battles, aka Wiegraf/Velius, should be approached with caution. However, unlike in the SCC, it should not be as difficult. Exercise judgement, but you're -really- stretching it by changing the class. 8. Once a character has been taken into their Mage class, they may not change. If Ramza is a Wizard, he must stay as a Wizard throughout the rest of the game. 9. Passing through a class (such as Priest to Oracle or Time Mage to Summoner) is not affected by rule 8. 10. All Mage jobs must be gained before Dorter Trade City. They must then be kept, in compliance with rule 8. 11. No Weapon Duping, no Level Up/Down, No GameShark, nothing. It's a _challenge_. 12. The infamous side quests. Yes, you can go on the side quest. However, upon completion, Mustadio and Cloud must be removed from the party. Along with Worker 8, Beowulf, and Reis. Plus any other special characters I may be forgetting. 13. Tell all about the Magic User Challenge. And judging from how many new faces I see around this room, many of you have been following this rule. _ Comments: Somewhat similar to the Calc. Challenge, but holds enough in itself. Just remember to look at the AT and run away when necessary. Mages aren't the best close-range fighters in the world. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.30] The Limited Skills Challenge - By SaintAjora The rules: 1. Only 1 skill learned per class. Example: If you choose to learn Flare (Wizard) then *none* of your units can get any more Wizard skills, and you'll only have one unit with Flare. Same idea if you learned Magic Attack up, or Counter Magic. 2. If a member learns a skill from a class, no other members can learn any skills from that class. Example: If Ramza learns "Steal Accessory" then that will be the only Thief skill you will ever have. No other member can learn thief skills at all. 3. Each member can only have five skills total. This is for the first four members. And does not include the Mime 4. The member who is a Mime is always a mime and no one else can be a Mime. 5. Ramza's Uber Squire counts as a separate class. 6. If another squire learns a squire skill, Ramza cannot learn the same skill, and vice versa. 7. You may only use generics you got from the soldier's office. 8. If you invite people, they must be kicked out before the next battle. You may take their equipment through. Monsters can be invited, but are not allowed to join. 9. Level caps are 20/35/50/70 10. You may rely on the degenerator to help keep levels low and get all the skills. However once you move forward in the story. As in return to Ivalice Castle, degenerator traps are no longer allowed. 11. The challenge starts once you save Algus. 12. Ramza has may start with a pre-learned skill however as long as you don't use it, it does not count against him. If you use it under your own free will then it does count against him. 13. Each member can be any class they want. Even if they have no skills for that class. However the Mime must always stay a mime. Furthermore no two members (or more) can be the same class in the same battle. Example: If you have Ramza as a Ninja for a battle then no other member will be a Ninja for that battle at all. 14. You can be any class during random battles through. Including all of the same class. This is until you get all your skills learned and ready. Then you must follow rule 13 completely. A sample from SaintAjora: Ramza: Cheer Up (Uber-Squire) Flare (Wizard) Damage Split (Calculator) Half of MP (Summoner) Move+3 (Bard) Member 02: Chakra (Monk) Threaten (Mediator) Abandon (Ninja) Equip Shield (Knight) Move Find Item (Chemist) Member 03: Life Drain (Oracle) Murasame (Draw Out) Dragon Spirit (Lancer) Concentrate (Archer) Move+2 (Thief) Member 04: Accumulate (Squire) Raise (Priest) A Save (Dancer) Attack UP (Geomancer) Teleport (Time Mage) Member 05: Mime ~~~~~Variations~~~~~ By Notti: NO ONE has the same equips. Only one person can use a Rune Blade in the battle. Only one person can use an Angel Ring. So on and so forth. Of course people can be naked and use fists if they want. That's shouldn't count as a duplicate. <-- SaintAjora recommends waiting until Chap. 2 to begin this. By Notti: Monster Talk (Throw Item) are allowed to be obtained for ONE member on your team even if they already have a Mediator (Chemist) skill. By Notti: One skill you might want to look into allowing for people to duplicate is Equip Change. Along with the first variation it could be cool. By Notti: Everyone should have different Faiths and Braves and Zodiacs? No two people with the same Zodiac.... For the Braves and Faiths, all stats can be set to the 90's, 80's, 70's, 60's, 50's, 40's, 30's, 20's, 10's, 0's. No two in battle members should be allowed to have the same ten's place for their stats at the beginning of battle. Comments: I like this. This causes all the classes in FFT to come together in peace and love to kill everyone. What fun. Planning is, of course, required. Math skill is pointless here, as well. And I like the degenerator clause that got put in. Of course, unlocking the classes to gain your skills (Mime. Ick.) may be a trial of patience, but it will be well worth it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.31] The 'Just the Two of Us' Challenge - By ParadoxLancerIzlude Rules: 1. You can only use two characters. Ramza and a generic. 2. Both Ramza and the generic can only be in one Job Class. Both Ramza and the generic do not have to be in the same Job Class because I think that makes this challenge a bit hard. If you want, you can have them in the same class. All reaction, support, and movement abilities, must come from the the Job Class they are in. So, if Ramza is Lancer, he cannot have Move +3 or Bladegrasp because a Lancer cannot learn those abilities. 3. However, you can have on a Secondary Skill. Now, that may make things easier, but you are limited to 4 abilities from that class. So, if you have Black Magic as a Secondary Skill, you can't have all the Black Magic skills. You could only have 4 abilities such as Flare, Fire 3, Frog, and Poison. Both Ramza and the generic do not have to have the same Secondary Skill. If you do make them have the same Secondary Skill, then you do not have to have the same for abilities. 4. If you choose to keep Ramza as a Squire, you cannot use his Uber-Squire skills. So, you can't use Yell, Wish, Cheer Up, Scream, or Ultima. 5. You must obtain your characters abilities by the Slums of Dorter battle. That means, you must gain the Secondary Skill you want and it's abilities before you enter Dorter. After that, you cannot change Ramza and your generics class. 6. You cannot use Special Characters. They are not allowed in this challenge. Though, you can use a full group of Special Characters in some Random battles just for the sake of your sanity. Bewarned that if you use one or more Special Characters in a Story Battle, you just ruined the challenge. (This rule is also in the SCC Challenge, I just changed the words. Go look at the SCC Rules for the exact information.) 7. Raising/Lowering Brave, Faith, and Levels can only be done if your Job Class or Secondary Skill has such an ability. 8. If you choose to have one of your characters as a Calculator, you can have all the skills from Wizard, Priest, Time Mage, and Oracle if you want, although, they must be gained before the Slums of Dorter battle. 9. You cannot have Math Skill as a Secondary Skill as it would make this challenge to easy. The only way you can use it is if the Job Class you are in is Calculator. 10. Level Caps are as follows: Chapter 1 - 20 Chapter 2 - 35 Chapter 3 - 50 Chapter 4 - 70 Before Murond Death City 11. Do not complain about how easy or hard this challenge is. Technically, you can make this challenge as hard or as easy as you want by picking certain classes. Something hard would be having a Squire and an Archer with no Secondary Skill and something easy would be a Ninja and a Lancer both with Punch Art or something. Comments: Well, this is a harder version (more or less) of Tactics Double Dare. Shared classes. I'd say being a class with a good defensive counter is a near must (chemist, samurai, etc.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.32] The Yorda Challenge - By akfekbranford 1. The party gets to consist of 5 characters. One of the characters must be a female priest. This is Yorda, buy a soldier and rename her if you want. The other characters can be of any class you want. The challenge starts at Dorter Trade City. 2. Each character, including Yorda, must be set up as if they were in a SCC. This means that any support, movement, and reaction skills must come from job class that the character is currently in. Characters are free to switch between jobs however. 3. Guests can be what ever you need them to be. 4. Yorda's first action must always be turning on the Fight for Life, Protect Allies, or Save Fading Life auto battle modes. You may switch between these three modes as you see the need. Your mission is now to protect Yorda and still win the battle. If her HP is ever reduced to Zero, of if she is ever put into Blood Suck or Stone, you lose the game and have to reset. Yorda must stay a priest the whole game. 5. High levels are a no no. Standard level caps apply. -Chapter 1: 20 -Chapter 2: 35 -Chapter 3: 50 -Chapter 4: 70 - Before Murond Death City 6. Monsters are just fine. In fact they are encouraged (I like Monsters). 7. No Math Skill. Period. 8. Some special characters are allowed: Rafa, Malak, Reis, and Cloud. 9. You may not Dupe Weapons or use the Level Up/Down cheat. 10. If you don't like one of my rules, change it. Play the way you want to. You're the one playing the game and you're the one who is trying to have fun. ~~~~~~Variations~~~~~~ By akfekbranford - Want it easier? Disregard rule 2. Comments: Well, I disagree with rule 8, but hey, it's your game. This challenge, like any good one, forces you to change your general strategy to make eternal 'Save Yorda' battles. To boot, this gets slightly trickier when you also have to prevent other characters from dying. Innovative. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.33] The No Touchy Challenge - By Stormlock The ONLY rule: Never ever go to the formation screen. When the game prompts you into the formation, leave it. TIPS from NeoElfBoy: 1. Remember, you can equip stuff in the Shop screen, as long as it's storebought. 2. Ramza doesn't have any abilities beside Wish, but that shouldn't matter too much. 3. You start with Chemists who will have Potion and possibly Phoenix Down. This sets you for Chapter 1. 4. You can use guests. You could reset until Agrias has Lightning Stab, or at least Crush Punch, at Bariaus Valley. Ditto with Orlandu and Night Sword, Musty with Arm Aim, etc. 5. Ramza vs. Wiegraf: Actually, pretty easy. Use the ol' Chameleon Robe/Diamond Shield/Dracula Mantle, and trade hits with Wiegraf; you'll win with a little luck. For Ramza vs. Gaff, Ramza should break for the gate and then your other units should swarm him. Musty using Arm Aim is advisable. 6. Some units (not Ramza) may start with Equip Change. I don't yet see a use for this, besides transferring the Excalibur to Agrias or something like that. Or possibly, collecting an elemental gun from a treasure chest then EC'ing it onto your Chemist or Musty. 7. You can have any number of Chocobos of any type, after Araguay Woods. When they start filling up your formation screen, you'll have to bring them into battle and kill them off as an over-complicated method of dismissing them... Comments: Well, I was incredibly skeptical when this first arose. Then several people reminded me than the FITTING ROOM is good, people can gain abilities through crystals, and Specials are allowed. Not to mention Rad, Alicia, and Lavain :) Enjoy! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [1.34] The No Challenge Challenge - By NeoWeird It is as follows (and I quote) "That is right, this is the No Challenge Challenge. The main goal of this challenge is to stop trying to make a name for yourself by making challenges and then play the game any way you want that makes you happy. I have done this many times already and I can tell you that it is quite fun." Comments - Yes, this deserved to be in the FAQ. Go for it! Then, of course, for irony's sake, be sure list it in your done challenges ;) And let me say that the purpose of these challenges is to have _fun_ and _not_ make a name for yourself. ============================================================================= 2: *Other* Challenges The *Other* challenges: These challenges revolve around, you guessed it, other things! For example, you would do characters from other games and see if the game is still beatable. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.1] The Truly Old-School Challenge (i.e. Final Fantasy One) by NeoElfBoy - When this was posted, many variations were presented. I mixed and matched to try and create the perfect challenge, but, once again, nothing is set in stone. Make your own challenge. Anyways, here are the Rules: You may only use 4 characters in plot battles. No specials. 1. You may use any characters for random battles and DD battles, but you may not use the following abilities: Secret Hunt, Steal, Catch, Move-Find-Item. 2. After that, starting from Dorter Slums, you must use a fixed party of 4 fulfilling the following requirements. "Class change" occurs at start of Chapter 4. Magic is "tiered" to represent the progression of learned spells in FF1. No unmentioned abilities of any nature may be used. 3. Classes A. Fighter - A male Knight, with no abilities. Class change gives him Defense Up, and the ability to use Tier 1 and Tier 2 White Magic as a secondary. B. Thief - A male Thief. No abilities. Class change makes him a Ninja, but he must set Equip Shield and Equip a Shield at all times (no "2 Swords" in FF1). He may use Tier 1 and Tier 2 Black Magic as a secondary skill once a ninja. C. Black Belt - A male Monk. No abilities. Class change gives him Attack Up. D. Red Mage - A male Priest with Black Magic (or Time) secondary. He has Equip Sword. Before Class change he can use White, Black, and time magic from Tier 1 and Tier 2 (only from Tiers less than or equal to the chapter.) Class change gives him magic from Tier 3. (No, he doesn't improve much a class change. This is like FF1.) E. White Mage. She is a female Priest. She may use magic from Tier less than or equal to the current chapter. Class change gives her Magic Defense Up. F. Black Mage. He is a male Wizard. He may use black magic and time magic from Tier less than or equal to the current chapter. Class change gives him Magic Attack Up. 4. Tiered Magic: Tier 1 Black: Fire, Ice, Bolt Tier 2 Black: Fire 2, Ice 2, Bolt 2 Tier 3 Black: Fire 3, Ice 3, Bolt 3 Tier 4 Black: Death, Flare Tier 1 White: Cure, Protect Tier 2 White: Cure 2, Shell Tier 3 White: Cure 3, Raise, Esuna (combo of Soft/Pure) Tier 4 White: Cure 4, Raise 2, Wall, Holy Tier 1 Time: Slow Tier 2 Time: Haste Tier 3 Time: Slow 2 Tier 4 Time: Stop 5. Level Caps. Set your own. Complete this at any level you think you can. 6. Only 3 spells can be learned a tier. For example, a Red Mage would only be able to learn Fire, Bolt, and Cure. 7. The item command is also available for all classes. The only item skills to be learned: Potion, Soft, and Antidote. ~~~~The FF1 Variations~~~~ By RedMageLorian - Previous rules apply, except that Ramza does whatever he wants and has the aid of the four FF1'ers. Also, Red Mages are time mages/oracles rather than Whites/Blacks. By Tarrot - The Red Mage is a Squire with Math Skill. By Justin M - The monk learns 2 swords in place of attack up. Comments: Well, this is certainly a challenge. I haven't even attempted this for fear of getting mopped up by the enemy on multiple occasions. (An official version at least; I roughed up a couple edges) Sounds like fun, though. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.2] Lord of the Rings Team - by WhPlague (GS reqd.) This is based off the main characters from the trilogy by JRR Tolkien. Frodo is a squire with Basic Skill, Item, Sunken State, Defend and Silent Walk Gandalf is a Wizard with Orlandu's sprite, Black Magic, Time Magic, Dragon Spirit, Monster Talk, and Ignore Height Aragon is a Holy Swordsman with Beowulf's sprite, All swordskill, White Magic, Hamedo, two hands, and Move+3 Legolas is an Archer with Charge, Snipe, Blade Grasp, Concentrate, and Any Ground. Gimli - Dycedarg's (or Goltana's) sprite is a Monk with Punch Art, Battle Skill, Counter, Equip Axe, and Jump +2 Boromir is Zalbag's sprite, Destroy Sword, Steal, Meatbone Slash, Two Hands, and Move-find item. Comments: I don't have a GS, so I can't fully do this challenge. However, what I would do is pick the top five and play the game with those five. There are six possibilities, and five slots. Someone has to get dropped. Or have him die protecting the other people. :) Also, this might get boring come Chapter Four due to lack of change within the characters. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.3] The Other World Challenge - By T Dog. (The epitome of the section two challenges. The sky is the limit. Feel free to mix classes with abilities. A flying, concentrating, arrow guarding Monk with black magic is fine, so long as it is within the rules.) Rules: 1. Characters must have the name of whoever they are based after, so you will need to dump the people given to you and rehire more. Also, you have to rename Ramza to one of the people you want to use. 2. No special character allowed.... you cannot rename special characters ^_^ (Exception: Cloud of FF7 fame) 3. Think of appropriate equips and abilities. Simply think on your own or consult Atom Edge's Character Setup FAQ, exclusively at Gamefaqs (http://www.gamefaqs.com)) 4. You can only make your characters based after people you use in the game, and for most of the game. I don't want people making Sephiroth from Cloud's best, and slapping 97 BR. and Blade Grasp, then saying "He can't be hit when he is in your party!!!" 5. No high leveling, cause if you were to use a thief-based person and leveled high, you would have very good equips way too quickly, and make the challenge easier then it may/may not be. The level caps are as follows: Chapter 1: 25 Chapter 2: 40 Chapter 3: 55 Chapter 4: 75 6. You cannot two or more of the same one character 7. No level up/down trick, duping, or using a GS/GS2/AR/AR2/CB or any other cheat devices! And you cannot level up to the cap, then level down so you can stay in the cap and still get a bunch of skills! 8. No basing your characters after people in FFT. (I believe you should, so long as you do something like a non-playable character; making up stuff for Simon or Orinas or the Grand Duke.) 9. Monsters are fine. 10. If the person you base your character after has the ability to invite people, you CAN invite people, strip them, then boot'em. 11. You can have 16 people. I want you to have fun, so I think you should have some variety! 12. You have to have all the people you want to use for the challenge before Sand Ra-a-a-a-a-a-at Cellar, with all the abilities you need. (That last part is a bit off. At most, I think you should have the class(es) unlocked and used.) 13. Incase you didn't get it, you cannot change classes after Sand Rat Cellar to get the abilities you missed, if you miss them, too bad! The same goes with the second action ability you get, get all you want before Sand Rat Cellar! (Too much leveling too early on. The game won't get challenging until chapter three at that rate.) 14. You CAN use Gained JP UP when you are getting Reaction/Support/Move abilities, but NOT action abilities, getting action abilities with Gained JP Up would be let you get them all without even passing the level limit! 15. NO USING GENERIC CHARACTERS AT ALL UNLESS THEY ARE A PART OF THE CHALLENGE! That makes it so you can't use them in the Deep Dungeon, and I already said you cannot use Special Characters... ~~~~~Variations~~~~~ By Philsov (Go me!) - Well, first, check out my thoughts on rules 12 and 13. Not too much to say there. But the bulk of my variation is to take this beyond video games and apply to the world. You can use historical figures, religious figures, comic characters, movies characters, heck, your friends! (Assuming they have FFT-like traits: "Bob knows Earth Slash!") Comments: You can do SO much with this. As stated before, this is the epitome of the Other challenges. (so far...) In my experience, however, this can get boring rather quickly depending on which characters you choose, as they pretty much stay the same throughout the game with little ability growth. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.4] The Final Fantasy Five Challenge - by Revelations 1. The characters include Butz, Faris, Lenna, Galuf, and Kara (Karuru). (Or sometimes they're known as Bartz, Faris, Reina, Galuf, and Krile) 2. Boco can be thrown in for good measure. 3. The only jobs which can be used are from the corresponding Crystals/Chapter. A list for better explanation: Chapter One - Wind Crystal: Squire (heh, Suppin), Knight, Monk, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage, and Oracle (Blue Mage) Chapter Two - Water Crystal: Wind Crystal + Time Mage, Summoner, and Calculator (Red Mage). Chapter Three - Fire Crystal: Wind and Water + Bard, Archer, Mediator, Ninja, and Geomancer. Chapter Four - Earth Crystal: Wind and Water and Fire plus: Samurai, Lancer, Chemist, Dancer, and Mime. Exception to this rule: Being a job for the sole purpose of moving on. A good example is the archer. If you want to have thief, you must go through archer. That's fine. Just don't equip any archer abilities until the Chapter three. ~~~~~Variations~~~~~ By Philsov (Go me!): In the spirit of FFV, only one optional ability may be set. For example, if I were a geomancer, I could NOT have both blade grasp and punch art equipped. You were given only one slot in FFV. However, if you have MASTERED a particular job, all reaction/support/movement abilities of that job may be equipped without limit. Comments: Simple, yet fun. FFT has basically a more advanced job system than FFV, making this a very nice challenge. It prohibits super-duper power early on. (Only super). ============================================================================= 3. Thanks + Stuff In a word, everyone and everything; it's a cheap trick, but, hey, it saves space! :) But especially: MunkiBleedsGreen (Yes, he is a person, too), who inspired AT LEAST half these challenges in some form or fashion. Owvin (yes, he IS in the everyone category), who kept things nice and bumped to be viewed by all, along with... Notti - (everyone...) who bumps and bumps and never stops. Hats off to him. NeoElfBoy - (check it in the everyone category) - He helps refines everyone else's challenge, not to mention reminding me of a few. Revelations - (part of everyone) - Helps in the refinement process as well. Anyone else in the Message Board world who helps with and creates these challenges. ================================ =Special URLs (these helped me)= ================================ http://www.gamefaqs.com http://people.brandeis.edu/~oberon/shoulders.txt http://people.brandeis.edu/~oberon/ASC.txt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All this stuff (c)Philip Sovinsky ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~