License Board



The License Board is the ability system in Final Fantasy XII. It consists of a tiled board with hundreds of squares, each square representing an ability, spell, equipment piece or augment. By defeating enemies in battle, characters earn License Points, abbreviated LP. Characters must spend their LP to activate squares on the License Board, granting them access to new abilities and allowing them to equip stronger weapons and armor.

Areas
The License Board is divided into two sections. The top section contains augments in the lower-left, magick in the upper-left, accessories in the upper-right, and technicks in the lower-right. The bottom section contains armor in the upper-right and weapon licenses around the rest of the board. The two sections are connected only by three optional Esper licenses - Chaos, Zeromus and Exodus. All characters start out in roughly the center of both boards and from there are free to move about the board as they wish.

Acquiring Licenses
All squares on the board are initially blank, only stating a generic alignment (weapon, technick, augment, etc). Licenses the player already has appear solid, while squares adjacent to already activated squares appear glowing with a number on them indicating the amount of LP needed to activate them, and display what equipment pieces or abilities are connected to that square. When a player takes a new license, it turns solid and the licenses above, below and to the sides of the new license light up. Only licenses lit up in this fashion may be activated, as opposed to being able to activate any square any time.

The License Board is identical for all six characters, with the exception of Summons and Quickenings. These squares appear for all characters until activated, at which point the square vanishes from the boards of the other characters. This means only one character may acquire a summon, and each Quickening license may only be taken once. However, they are eighteen Quickening licenses across the board, enough for all six characters to learn all their Quickenings.

License Points are earned towards activating squares by defeating enemies in battle. With the exception of rarer and stronger enemies including bosses, most enemies give a single LP. Enemies killed by Poach or Zalera's Kill do not give LP. Unlike Experience Points, all characters gain LP regardless of if they are in the active party or not. Unlocking all licenses, including three Quickenings, requires 13,330 LP. This does not include the Esper licenses, which together cost 1,705 LP. Upon completing every character's License Board, including the Espers and Quickenings, the player earns Rasler's icon in the Sky Pirate's Den.

International Zodiac Job System
In the Japan-exclusive Final Fantasy XII: International, the License Board is revamped under the Zodiac Job System. When a character joins the party the player must assign them one of twelve jobs. Unlike the original game where all characters had identical License Boards, each of the twelve jobs in the Zodiac System has a different board. Once a character chooses a job they cannot change it.

Players may play without assigning their characters jobs, but they will not gain LP and cannot learn new abilities. Multiple characters can share the same job, but this is not recommended due to the limited, 4, Quickening licenses available on each board. Also some Quickening licenses, like the Esper licenses, are required to connect with the licenses which are separated from the main area of the board. This means only one character on one board can access the license(s) on each separated section.

The twelve jobs and their Zodiac sign are:


 * Aries - White Mage
 * Taurus - Uhlan
 * Gemini - Machinist
 * Cancer - Red Mage
 * Leo - Knight
 * Virgo - Monk
 * Libra - Time Mage
 * Scorpio - Breaker
 * Sagittarius - Archer
 * Capricorn - Black Mage
 * Aquarius - Mononofu
 * Pisces - Shikari

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