Dungeons & Dragons remains the go-to tabletop RPG for many, and its fan base continues to churn out new content so players can explore familiar worlds in new ways. The Final Fantasy XIV D&D Compendium is an excellent example of this, as it's a free sourcebook for comparable to any product that Wizards of the Coast has officially released.

Set in the world of Final Fantasy XIV, which is already perfect for adventuring in, the FFXIV Compendium provides new player options that faithfully convert the race and class abilities from the MMORPG to the tabletop. In fact, the PDF provides more race options than the video game, with the full list consisting of Au Ra, Elezen, Garlean, Hrothgar, Hyur, Lalafell, Miqo’te, Roegadyn and Viera. Each race has a full write up, including motivations, origins and even a list of name ideas to choose from. There are also some role-playing hints to help get players started in portraying their characters in a manner consistent with FFXIV.

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These races are designed to replace those found in the D&D Fifth Edition, and as such, many familiar abilities reappear. For example, the Half-Orc's "drop to one health instead the first time you would be reduced to zero health" has been granted to one of the Miqo'te subraces. Most of the races are split into two subraces with further different skill-sets and attribute modifiers, though players can also also the Player's Handbook to create specific builds. This may actually be a good way to run an FFXIV game for the first time, as players and Dungeon Masters will be more familiar with the existing racial mechanics, allowing them to focus of other aspects of the FFXIV Compendium.

Since D&D doesn't operate on formally assigning players roles like Tank, Medic or Damage-Dealer, much of FFXIV's gameplay structure has been modified to fit. Each class in the Compendium has several archetypes (just like the original D&D classes) which alter how a class works. For instance, an Arcanist can become an even more efficient healer by choosing the Scholar archetype, or become more of a Bard-like support through the Tactician archetype.

Overall, the Compendium has 13 classes, including Arcanist, Black mage, Dancer, Dark Knight, Gunbreaker and Samurai. It also features four subclasses for actual D&D classes: the College of the Skysinger Bard, the Way of Rhalgr Monk, the Oath of the Sultansworn Paladin and the Way of the Ninja Rogue.

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All of these options are recognizably from FFXIV, though many of the classes designated as tanks in the MMORPG play more as damage dealers here, since the threat mechanic is hard to incorporate into D&D's gameplay. While the Compendium offers some ideas for replicating it using existing D&D abilities that encourage monsters to target specific players, it's ultimately down to the Dungeon Master and how they portray the monsters.

As for monsters, there are none in the current version of the Compendium, though it is easy enough to substitute monsters from the Monster Manual. This is one area where it could improve, though, as it would be nice to have stat blocks for some of Eorzea's more iconic threats in Eorzea. There is also no new equipment or magic items. However, there are new spells (mostly tied to the Compendium's classes) that seem balanced for regular D&D play.

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Ultimately, the Compendium functions as a Player's Handbook for a FFXIV setting, offering plenty of material with which to craft characters. However, there is little here to guide DMs who may be interested in running an FFXIV-flavored campaign. That being said, it would not be too difficult to adapt an existing D&D adventure to work with FFXIV's setting, such as using Ghosts of Saltmarsh to tell a story based in La Noscea, or adapting Waterdeep: Dragon Heist to take place in Ul'dah.

Additionally, the project itself has a dedicated Reddit where feedback and ideas are constantly being posted, as well as updated versions of the Compendium. While there is room for improvement, the FFXIV Compendium is a great way to explore Eorzea beyond the bounds of the MMORPG, any it might just be the best way to prepare for November's Endwalker expansion.

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