The Crystal Rule

The Crystal Rule exists as an experiment to standardize the roleplaying of simple power RP characters. Characters that fit side by side with many of the basic NPCs we encounter in the MSQ and side stories — the "normal" people of the world. They are not the Estiniens, G'rahas, or Y'shtolas of the world, but rather the knights, the merchants, the nobles, the criminals, the wanderers, the scholars of the world. We seek to thrive in the world that is already built, and to explore any cultural region of Hydaelyn in its fullest and purest, without the disruption of overpowered beings or things deemed as rare even by the MSQ standards. To put simply, the Crystal Rule revolves around one simple principle: We wish to RP Normal Humans with races and powers as defined by the game.This experiment does not seek to use the Crystal Rule to invalidate any RP. Power RP may have its place and may be interesting in many ways, but the goal of the Crystal Rule is unite roleplayers with a common interest in a certain sphere of RP.

What we do want for the Crystal Rule: To bring the setting and worldbuilding back into focus and to explore and amplify the themes set in the worldbuilding.
What we don't want for the Crystal Rule: To be a divisive hammer for differing interpretations. The goal is to simplify themes for everyone, not become a battleground for the nitty gritty. Be generous when someone is offering their perspective.
What the crystal rule does not say: "Magic and supernatural stuff is not allowed!" of course it is! We are still playing in the world of Final Fantasy XIV. It simply means that anything extraordinary should be plot centric rather than common usage or character based.

How can I use the Crystal Rule? The Crystal Rule gains traction by adoption. Simply post the link to this carrd in your rules (on your own carrd and/or your Discord), and feel free to copy paste sections of it — even modify it — to suit the needs and vision of your RP group. The more FCs adopt it, the more standard it becomes. From there, enforcement is up to you (though I may make a discord to discuss and find Crystal Rule abiding RP if there is enough interest.)Where is the actual text of the Crystal Rule? Here! Or the big shiny button in the top middle of the screen.Who made the Crystal Rule? I wrote it (Discord: archangel_rp), but honestly, it does not matter. Whomever made the Crystal Rule is irrelevant because no one owns it. I made this carrd based on my own experiences leading a large RP FC and had it peer reviewed by a variety of friends in hopes to set a standard and find like minded individuals. But consider it "Open Source." Take it as is or spin off a whole new standard, I don't really mind.Why should I care? Roleplaying is fundamentally collaborative writing. Collaboration requires a certain baseline of compromise and understanding. We've already taken the first step towards collaborative writing by RPing in FFXIV. We've taken it a step further by refining the standard even further. Don't like it? That's totally fine. Think of it this way, the Crystal Rule also allows you to avoid certain types of RP if this kind of RP is not what you're looking for. Win-win for both sides.

T H E   C R Y S T A L   R U L E
Those who embrace the Crystal Rule seek an immersive and grounded roleplaying experience within the common populace of the world of Final Fantasy XIV. In the most fundamental interpretation of the Crystal Rule, we prefer to explore the themes of Final Fantasy XIV at the base power level — a normal human — and the complexities that it offers given the expansive world building already offered in the Main Scenario Quests and various side content.Generally, The Crystal Rule considers anything that is not grounded to take away from the immersive experience.● Keep lore bending to a minimum. Realize that not everything is defined, and that gives us wiggle room to play and create within the world. However, there are still constraints, which make the world much more interesting, because now you have more human conflict. And conflict is the driver of any good story.● No exotic races. Exotic races include anything not in the player creation screen (except Garleans; they are not considered exotic). Once you decide to play an exotic race or a beast race, you are introducing other things players may not know, and is a distraction more often than not. This part of the rule intentionally excludes (and is not limited to): full Voidsent or Sin Eater, Ascians, Ancients, Beast Races, Nightkin, Fey, Dravanians, and so on. Additionally, any races or beings from other worlds/IPs are strictly forbidden to this rule.● Keep your character's essence pure. This means additives/tweaks to your character's essence/spirit/physicality. Therefore, the following is prohibited: partial voidsent, sin eater, dragon/dravanian, mechanical alterations or additions, etc. The examples we encounter have always been the exception and never the rule.● Use existing worldbuilding first. There is so much lore in FFXIV that you can use that adding your own original ideas to it only complicates things for others who are trying to understand your character. The more existing worldbuilding you use, the quicker players understand your character, and this is very engaging by nature.● Keep power levels down. We are nobles, knights, simple mages, mercenaries, merchants, bandits, apothecaries, etc. first and foremost. Try to define how powerful you are. If you could produce a threat that would draw the attention of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn or the Warrior of Light, or even the military organizations of Eorzea, such as the Immortal Flames or Twin Adders, you are already orders of magnitude above curve.● Secret powers or races still break convention. If you are trying to hide your identity as any of the more exotic races or powers as listed above to fit in with the Crystal Rule, it is still considered an unnecessary breach. The trouble is that when many characters have these powerful secrets just beneath the surface, it becomes a series of distractions from the central themes of the RP group or event, and it just becomes a way to circumvent the Crystal Rule. Even if you intend to keep it hidden, there is still a very real chance it will come through.● Simplify your character's power and abilities. If you have written a whole document to help me try and understand your character's power and how to interact with it, you've more than likely have already broken convention. We already have a strong foundation of powers in many of the player character jobs, but even then, some jobs are still too potent. See the FAQ for more info.● The Echo and being a "Warrior of Light" exceeds convention. Yes, even if you are trying to say you are not THE Warrior of Light, but a garden variety Warrior of Light with the echo, this falls outside the convention of the Crystal Rule. The Echo and WoL status are both extraordinary things, and simply having them puts you above common character power.

Before I begin, this FAQ consists of a summary of questions I've gotten while running a rule set similar to the Crystal Rule that I tailored specifically for that group. You will note that my tone is suggestive, not authoritative. If you disagree with these points, by all means flex them to suit your group.● This seems unnecessarily restrictive! Why would you restrict people's creativity this way? First off, I am not an authority that can restrict people's creativity. People have to choose to follow it and only if desired. Second, you are conflating content and creativity. A person's creativity is enhanced by constraints, not restricted by it, by forcing them to think within them. You'll find that there is much more wiggle room than you expect when considering a character's ethics, personality, and motivations and in some ways, this is the ultimate goal of the Crystal Rule. You can still write an incredibly compelling character who has no power vs. some almighty archmage. You already set constraints when you create an RP FC: a crime FC might necessarily exclude canon Paladins to focus on the crime. This sets a horizontal baseline that facilitates RP for everyone in that group.● This is a fantasy game though, I'll RP whatever I want! Great, I hope you do, and I hope you find fulfilling writing! This rule isn't for you, and that is fine. This is for those who wish to collaborate with those who do.● So anything that the players can do or be counts, right? Not necessarily. For reference, I really enjoy this job tier list written by Mis'to Raesthe, found here, which gives good explanations of job rarity and power. While the Crystal Rule is not concerned with the rarity of a job, it is very concerned with the power level. In my opinion, black and white mages are too powerful, and reapers require a change in a character's essence to suit the needs of the Reaper. Some things like the Azure Dragoon are examples of a job being too rare. If I had to decide using that job tier list, anything at or below Tier 5 is typically okay, if only for the theme of the job. I'd hate to exclude Dragoons and Ninjas, but Black and White mages at least have Thaumaturge and Conjurer to fall back on for that sort of RP. Again, opt for the basic power level. I would never consider my characters on the level of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn.● Outside of Jobs, if it exists, we can use it? Or are there constraints that way too? There are still some very big constraints this way, I find. Here are a few:- Travelling across Reflections: the Scions, at the time of this writing, still have not found a way to reliably travel between reflections, let alone any normal denizens of Hydaelyn. Therefore, traveling between the 13th, 1st, and 9th are technically off-limits. By all means, have RP inside their respective spaces, but you may exceed convention when you decide to cross boundaries that normal folk have not crossed yet.
- Fighting boss level creatures: If you can solo a behemoth, a wyrm, a gigas, an auspice, a vidraal, or some other big monster alone that could qualify as a FATE or dungeon boss, you've already broken convention. Consider this: would it make for more interesting RP bragging that you can kill one alone, or gathering your allies to defeat one together?- Magitek: There are a few kind of machina that confuse convention here. In my experience, it was easy draw this line: Garlean Magitek = fine, Allagan Magitek = too powerful. But that was okay in my RP FC because we had plots around Magitek. Be careful to introduce technology. Some people look at Magitek and assume it is a chance to insert real-world technology. The game has some tech that is, but you risk blurring the themes your FC may produce. If you are running a samurai clan and suddenly you have to figure out how flying cars and machine guns fit in, consider ruling out magitek altogether. The Crystal Rule can help keep the themes of your RP FC pure. Especially when it comes to Solution 9 Magitek.- Tomephones: Allow me a moment to express personal frustration: the Tomephone Tomescroll emote is a silly JOKE, NOT an insinuation that there are phone-like devices in the world. Read the emote: "Nothing Happens." Additionally, Tomestones are not PHONES; they are effectively a USB flash drive that can hold ONE book. Besides that, there is no network to support them and no one developing apps for them. Tomephones as an insert for real world cellphones exceed convention.● My character IS low power though; why do they break the rule? Because if you read the Crystal Rule and thought that it exists strictly to reduce power level, then you've missed the point entirely. The Crystal Rule is a chance to curate theme and put everyone on the same foundation. The base theme is the world of Hydaelyn as seen through the eyes of the many ordinary humans we come across. Any time you introduce something new — new races (miqo'te-like interpretations of dogs or other animals, and so on), interpretations of powers or creatures as seen in other IPs or even other Final Fantasy games, etc. break convention because we already have world building. When we rely on that world building, we're all operating from the exact same baseline: the story as presented to every one of us as we complete the MSQ and the numerous quests and secondary content. Even if it might seem like it fits, it's better if you use existing world building first.● So where and what CAN I create within this space? A good and fair question. There are still MANY undefined or vaguely implied locations, enemies, ruins, artifacts, and more. It IS okay to use high power things in your RP. This is Final Fantasy after all, and we do want to RP the extraordinary. The large FC I ran had a great auspice who provided wisdom, power, and demands, but he was also rarely seen and only ever used for plot on rare occasions. But he provided a lot of theme and character growth, even if he was mostly just an idea. To me, anything that is high power demands that it be a plot device rather than an innate power of a character, and should still be quite limited, even if that power has a cost (and let's be real, all good powers have a cost). There is still a lot of room to create within, it just may not be where you expect it. The Crystal Rule focuses more on writing a character rather than plot or environmental power.● My character is really powerful, but he has one major weakness that can be exploited, does this break convention? Because you're still powerful, it really is that simple. I have also found that characters that have a weakness this way more or less forces other people to interact with your character in limited ways. That really limits the potential for what your character can do. And if the other characters/players don't know about that weakness, they might as well not have the weakness at all. The less you have to tell me about your character OOC, the better. A benefit of the Crystal Rule is that I do not have to try and understand special rules about your character. I have a good idea based on what I see and I can immediately engage IC.● What if I come across other RPers who do not follow the Crystal Rule? Please don't let this guideline stop you from RPing with other people. If I were in your shoes, I would treat them as seeing someone extraordinary, orperhaps misinterpreting what they are or what they are doing, and still try to have a fulfilling RP session. Just ensure anything long term does not force you to break the rule yourself, and you may ask others to respect it if it is getting out of hand.