In response to Rob's comments on the thread on the RPG brain trust, I mapped out all the feats in DnD 3.5, generating about 7-9 clusters (whirlwind attack joins 3 of them). Comparing this map to the sphere grid in the different FF games, it's clear that just using a sphere grid/license board analogue for feats alone would not work: There simply aren't enough feats to populate it. For FF, this is a non-issue; they've resolved the issue by incorporating all of the the 'character progression' mechanics into the board. In the case of the license board, this means all 'proficiencies' have been included onto the board; given that each 'tier' of a weapon requires a different license, this provides a large number of slots. The same mechanism has been adopted for spells, with each tier of a spell (Ice 1, Ice 2, Ice 3).
Matt
The sphere grid itself takes this dynamic even further, integrating even more of the character progression into the 'grid': HP, MP, and primary attribute increases all form 'nodes' on the grid which can be unlocked.
Matt
The elements of a 'class level' have been discretized as linked nodes. As an example, a fighter level might be thought of as a +1 to BAB node, a +1d10 HP node, a feat node, and a 5 skillpoint node, all in sequence. For, as discussed elsewhere, the 'sphere grid' is actually very linear, with a limited number of forks, and an even more limited number of convergences.
Matt
(3 converges for Kahrimi, 0 for Tidus/Wakku/Auron, 1 for Yuna, 1 for Rikku and Lulu).
Matt
So there are not actually very many alternative path at all, but rather a question or how deeply a player explores the 'branches' of the main tree for each character. (The only exception being the 'teleport' spheres, which permit a (rare) jump to any location on the sphere grid, to treat any given node as an initial node. )
Matt
The license board, with the provision of multiple starting licenses, actually provides a much higher level of player choice and customization. However, permitting only 'rooks case' contiguity, choosing any new license permits (at most) access to 3 additional licenses, reducing the option shock that a player suffers when choosing abilities.
Matt
The number of initial licenses affects the number of options available, with the number being 4x the number of initial licenses. At 8+, players are likely getting lost in the options (like first time-players choosing a L1 spell in DnD).
Matt
One thing that the sphere grid does very well is represent pre-requisites: Dodge would be followed by Mobility, which would be followed by Spring Attack. And a sword that requires Strength 3+ would have 3 +1 STR nodes before it (unless reached by an alternate path with 3 +1 STR nodes on it).
Matt
Such a grid would also be an effective way of working in Prestige Classes, and/or 'Paragon Paths' or 'Epic Destinies'.
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