Law system (Tactics Advance)

In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, a law system is introduced which will denote the "rules" for battle on whichever day you engage. To enforce the laws, judges will arrive at the start of every engagement and supervise as the opposing forces engage.

Forbidden Actions
Everyday a certain action, element, weapon type, job skills, and/or status effect is forbidden to be used during that day during a standard engagement. If a fighter performs an action that involves the forbidden action, the judge will issue the offender with a card. The type of card you receive will depend on the effect of the action. By breaking the law the first time, as long as it does not result in a KO, will have the Judge rushing over to issue the unit a Yellow Card. By breaking the law, and scoring a KO, the Judge will issue a Red Card. Breaking the law twice in one battle (it does not have to be the same law) will have the Judge issuing a Yellow and Red Card, one after another. Reactions are not bound by the law, which includes Dmg2 and Weapon Type laws.

There are characters in the game that have "Boss Medals" (also known as "Hero Medals") on them. Boss Medals prevent the wearer from ever getting a Red Card and being removed from battle. Characters who have a Boss Medal have a medal icon in their information box. The practical reason why medals are given to bosses is to prevent players from attempting to remove them from battle by having them break the law. Characters without one of these medals, and are controlled by the game, will never break the law. Characters that have a medal can (and will) violate the law without care, acquiring an infinite amount of Yellow Cards without penalty.

"Boss Medals" are not available to Marche, or his team at anytime, even after the game.

The types of forbidden actions are better detailed below:
 * Actions: Includes Fight, Color Magic, Items, and Dmg2 Laws. Fight bans the Fight command, not the option to actually attack a character. Dmg2 forbids all offensive actions against the listed class.
 * Elements: Fire, Ice, Thunder, and Wind are the most common in the beginning. Advanced elemental bans include Dark and Holy.
 * Weapon Type: Denotes which types of weapons are banned from battle. Because most jobs use only one type of weapon, you can consider wielders of that weapon unable to fight, unless he or she is a Mage or can use attacks that do not involve weapon contact.
 * Job Skills: Each job has a primary skill related to it that serves as their first A-Ability. For example, Gladiators have Spellblade Tech, and Snipers have Sharpshoot. As such, all of the skills that are listed under that type are forbidden. Later in the game, Techniques and Skills will be forbidden.
 * Status Effects: Includes Status Enhancements and Status Ailments. Whichever enhancement or ailment listed is forbidden from battle. Examples include Charm, Immobilizing/Disabling (Listed as Bind), and Berserk. Later on, Status ailments can be forbidden outright.

Recommended Actions
To counter the forbidden laws, there are recommended moves that will grant the user one Judge Point whether you score a KO or not. For most laws, the recommended action is the opposite of the forbidden law, for others the recommend action relates to the forbidden law. For example, if Fire actions are banned, Ice actions are recommended. Recommended Actions are not found in the Japanese version of the game.

Punishments
When an offender is issued a card, they are subjected to a punishment that you will receive after the battle. For most cases, the punishment is determined at random. Also note that punishments will be increasingly harsh as cards build up overtime. The list of possible punishments are as followed:
 * Card Fine - Confiscation of some law cards (Usually 3). Chosen at random. You won't know which ones you lose until you check.
 * EqpItem Fine - An item equipped to the offender is confiscated. Chosen at random. The item confiscated is announced.
 * Gil Fine - Lose some gil.
 * Item Fine - Lose some items.
 * Status Reductions - One of the offender's stats is permanently reduced by a certain amount. The stat affected is random.
 * Monster Run - A monster you have captured will be released from the Monster Bank. The monster is chosen at random.
 * Volunteer - Whether it is a mission or clan engagement, you will receive no gil from winning.

Sprohm Prison
The Sprohm Prison serves two purposes. First, as you will see in the first mission, it is a holding place for offenders of the law. When someone breaks the law and receives a Red Card, they are instantly taken to jail during battle and begin serving their time. Units who are imprisoned are unable to participate in Dispatch missions, Engagements, Captures, etc. and you cannot equip/unequip any items on them. If you wish, you can post bail and get them out of jail early. Whether you post bail or let them sit it out, the red card will not be cleared. As clan leader, if Marche ever gets a Red Card, it is instantly Game Over. The second purpose from the prison is a place to seek a pardon for clearing a units record. Clearing a record will eliminate all of the Yellow and Red Cards on the units record when at the 'Party' Menu. When you want to clear a persons record, you pay a fee to enter the character and you will have to wait out the sentence. The farther you are into the game, the longer you'll have to wait. The time they spend is measured in battles, not days. The only exception to this is Marche, who serves out his sentence in days because he is clan leader. During the time Marche is in jail (for the pardon), all clan activities (Dispatch missions primarily) stop, pretty much meaning that dispatch missions that are measured in days will not benefit from the days that are spent in jail. However, events such as turf attacks and timed missions will still lose days as Marche is in jail.

Law Ranks
Playing no special role other than for the following, Law Ranks denote what level a law is. Laws are ranked on a scale from 1 to 6 (with only two Rank 7 laws in existence, and you will only see that during specific battles). Law Ranks are determined by how stiff the law is and which laws will be removed with an R# Anti-Law card, but otherwise serve no significant purpose.

Rank 7: NoLawCrds
During engagements at Bervenia Palace, there is a special Rank 7 law that forbids the use of law cards to influence the laws during battle. This is because that if the laws can be influenced, the purpose of the tourney can be defeated. The following missions take place at Bervenia Palace AND have the Rank 7 law: #040 Battle Tourney, #041 Mage Tourney (Also has the 'NoClrMgc' Rank 7 law), #042 Swimming Meet (Also has the Target All law), and #043 Clan League.

Rank 7: NoClrMgc
During mission #041 Mage Tourney, this law is in effect to prevent the use of any physical attack or other types of magic. Any attack other than one that is Black, White, Red, or Blue Magic is punishable by a card.

Law Cards
After Mission #006 Antilaws, you can start collecting special cards that allow anyone on your team to influence the law during an engagement. There are 4 different type of cards:
 * Law Cards: Add A Law
 * Anti-Law Cards: Nullify A Law
 * R# Anti-Law Cards: Nullify all laws that are the same rank as the card.
 * Allmighty Anti-Law: Nullify all laws for the battle

You can gain cards by completing missions, or you can trade for them at Ezel Berbier's underground card shop. To use them during battle, wait for one of your character's turn and then back out of the menu by pressing B. Press Start and select Laws, and there you can review the current laws. You can bring up the list of all your cards by pressing L. Cards you can use are white in text, cards you can't are black in text. After you select a card, you will see an overview of the effects of the law card and then ask for confirmation.

Lawless Zone and Battles
After mission #011 Pale Company, you place the first Jagd (Dorsa) on the world map. Jagds are special zones in Ivalice that are law-free and no judge will appear to supervise the battle. Due to this fact, the player is unable to use law cards.

Lawshifts and Increase In Laws
At the beginning of the game, you are only restricted by one law at a time. As you progress through the missions, you will eventually have to suffer stricter laws and more of them. Lawshifts are a change in the 20 laws that cycle through. New laws appear every time a Totema is defeated, seeing as each Totema is a "milestone" of sorts in the game.

Laws List
The laws for each different set are as follows:

#000 Lizard Men?! through #005 Twisted Flow
One law in effect per day.

After #005 Twisted Flow through #008 Hot Awakening
Two laws in effect at once. The laws in a given day is the one listed, and the law that follows. (Example: On Day 1, Blades & Items are forbidden)

After #008 Hot Awakening through #011 Pale Company
Two laws in effect at once. The laws active on a given day is the one listed for that day, and the law that follows. (Example: On Day 1, Missile & Protect are forbidden)

After #011 Pale Company through #015 Scouring Time
Two laws are in effect at once. The laws active on a given day is the one listed for that day, and the law that follows. (Example: On Day 1, Lightning and Stop are forbidden)

After #015 Scouring Time through #018 Quiet Sands
Three laws in effect at once. The laws active on a given day is the one listed for that day, and the two laws that follow. (Example: On Day 1, Knightswords and Haste are forbidden)

After #018 Quiet Sands through #024 Royal Valley
Three laws in effect at once. The laws active on a given day is the one listed for that day, and the two laws that follow. (Example: On Day 1, Katanas, Skills, and Dmg2: Animal are forbidden)

After #024 Royal Valley
Three laws in effect at once. The laws on a given day is the one listed, and the two laws that follow. (Example: On Day 1, Color Magic, Dmg2: Animal, and Stealing are forbidden)

Laws That Do Not Show Up
The following laws are never used in the twenty law rotation. They are awarded in Law Card form for defeating a prerequisite match for the mission #043 Clan League or that mission itself.