DRAGON QUEST III (SUPER FAMICOM) SEIKAKU SYSTEM FAQ By Alex W. Jackson Version 1.0 August 20, 2000 Note: This FAQ contains Japanese text in Shift-JIS encoding. Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer can display the Japanese characters if you have a Japanese font installed (you can download one from somewhere on Microsoft's website) and set your browser's "document encoding" setting appropriately. WHAT IS DQ3 SFC? ---------------- The Dragon Quest series is generally considered to be the founding father of all Japanese-style RPGs. Created by Yuji Horii, illustrator Akira Toriyama and composer Koichi Sugiyama, and published by ENIX, the series as of today includes six cardinal games (with a seventh on the way), three remakes, and three spinoff games. Unofficial, homemade Dragon Quest clones can also be widely found on the Internet for a variety of computer platforms, in both Japanese and English. Finally, the series has been the basis for two animated television series and an assortment of manga (comics), dramatic and humorous, and official and amateur. Released in 1996, the Dragon Quest 3 remake was the fifth and last Dragon Quest title released for the Super Famicom (aka Super NES), and the second remake on the system. Unlike a certain other RPG company's rereleases of its flagship series, the rereleased DQs were totally remade, with entirely new graphics, rescored music, added story events, and substantial changes to gameplay and game balance. Both in audiovisuals and gameplay, the remake of Dragon Quest 3 fully upgraded the title to the standards of a mid-90s Super Famicom RPG... and then some. The graphic quality surpassed the 1995 Dragon Quest 6, and was on the level with contemporary *original* RPGs such as Namco's Tales of Phantasia. The game made particularly masterful use of the Super Famicom's color addition ("transparency") capability to create night scenes with candlelight shining from castle windows onto the moat, dungeons eerily lit by blazing torches, and surprisingly realistic flames and lightning when battle magic is cast. Gameplay improvements were almost too numerous to list. An entirely new character class was added: the Thief, as first seen in Dragon Quest 6. The underused Fighter, Merchant and Goof-Off classes were given new abilities and more weapons and armor to choose from. In fact, there were nearly twice as many armaments available in this DQ3 than in the original, including favorites from other DQ games such as the multi-hitting Boomerang and the mighty Iron Ball of Destruction. A dice&board minigame was introduced in which you move from man-sized square to square on a palace-sized gameboard, picking up prizes or fighting monsters according to the icons on the squares. And among many other upgrades was a feature never before seen in the Dragon Quest series: the Seikaku, or Personality System. WHAT IS THE SEIKAKU SYSTEM? --------------------------- From EDICT ((c) J.W.Breen 2000): 性格 [せいかく] /character/personality/ In addition to a name, a gender, and a profession, each player character in DQ3 is assigned one of 46 "personalities". These characteristics give each player's characters a personal touch; for once, one player's conventional "male Hero/male Soldier/female Priest/female Wizard" party isn't exactly the same as the next player's. In fact, the "personalization" is a bit more than cosmetic: a character's personality has an influence on the rate of growth of the five primary abilities of Strength, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence and Luck. The effect takes the form of a percent factor applied to the points added to the abilities each time the character goes up a level. As the table below shows, each personality is stronger in some abilities and weaker in others. Personality Romaji English STR AGI VIT INT LUC Other ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ちからじまん Chikara-jiman Braggart 130% 80% 100% 70% 80% ごうけつ Gouketsu Heroic 140% 70% 100% 80% 70% らんぼうもの Ranbou-mono Violent 120% 90% 90% 60% 70% おとこまさり Otoko-masari Mannish 130% 90% 100% 80% 80% F.only おおぐらい Oogurai Glutton 110% 60% 110% 50% 80% ねっけつかん Nekketsu-kan Zealous 115% 100% 100% 90% 60% おてんば Otenba Tomboy 110% 110% 80% 90% 90% F.only いのちしらず Inochi-shirazu Daredevil 95% 120% 115% 100% 100% むっつりスケベ Muttsuri Sukebe Lecher 105% 95% 120% 105% 90% M.only おっちょこちょい Occhokochoi Impulsive 85% 115% 80% 80% 90% まけずぎらい Makezu-girai Jealous 95% 105% 105% 95% 95% のんきもの Nonki-mono Easygoing 100% 75% 110% 105% 105% せけんしらず Seken-shirazu Naive 100% 90% 90% 70% 110% がんこもの Ganko-mono Stubborn 100% 60% 120% 60% 70% おじょうさま Ojou-sama Ladylike 100% 80% 95% 110% 140% F.only しょうじきもの Shoujiki-mono Honest 100% 90% 100% 110% 90% ふつう Futsuu Average 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% でんこうせっか Denkou-sekka Lightspeed 100% 140% 100% 100% 100% すばしっこい Subashikkoi Nimble 90% 120% 90% 100% 80% ぬけめがない Nukeme-ga-nai Shrewd 90% 110% 90% 120% 100% きれもの Kire-mono Smart 100% 120% 80% 140% 90% ひねくれもの Hinekure-mono Contrary 70% 120% 70% 110% 130% みえっぱり Mieppari Egotist 105% 110% 95% 105% 95% わがまま Wagamama Selfish 95% 105% 90% 90% 90% なきむし Nakimushi Crybaby 90% 90% 100% 110% 115% さびしがりや Sabishigari-ya Lonely 100% 90% 80% 110% 110% タフガイ Tough Guy Tough Guy 115% 90% 140% 80% 70% てつじん Tetsujin Machine 105% 80% 130% 90% 80% へこたれない Hekotarenai Dauntless 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Dummied くろうにん Kurou-nin Worldly 110% 85% 120% 90% 70% がんばりや Ganbari-ya Diligent 105% 90% 110% 100% 80% おせっかい Osekkai Nosy 105% 85% 110% 80% 70% なまけもの Namake-mono Lazy 115% 60% 120% 65% 110% ずのうめいせき Zunou-meiseki Bright 95% 100% 100% 130% 90% あたまでっかち Atama Dekkachi Egghead 80% 105% 90% 125% 80% ロマンチスト Romanticist Romanticist 95% 110% 95% 115% 100% あまえんぼう Amaenbou Spoiled 95% 100% 90% 105% 100% ラッキーマン Lucky Man Lucky Man 100% 110% 100% 100% 150% M.only しあわせもの Shiawase-mono Optimist 90% 100% 90% 100% 130% うっかりもの Ukkari-mono Careless 80% 115% 100% 70% 70% いっぴきおおかみ Ippiki Ookami Lone Wolf 100% 110% 120% 110% 70% いくじなし Ikuji-nashi Spineless 90% 70% 90% 120% 120% おちょうしもの Ochoushi-mono Flippant 100% 120% 95% 115% 110% ひっこみじあん Hikkomijian Shy 110% 60% 120% 110% 90% やさしいひと Yasashii Hito Gentle 105% 95% 105% 110% 95% セクシーギャル Sexy Gal Sexy Gal 110% 120% 105% 115% 120% F.only HOW IS THE HERO'S PERSONALITY DETERMINED? ----------------------------------------- The Hero's personality is determined during the "waterfall scene", the new opening sequence added to this version of DQ3. This scene consists of a series of "yes/no" questions about yourself, to which your answers result in entering one of several scenarios. What you do in the scenario determines your personality: The Tower --------- This is the simplest scenario. You are one of a bunch of people lined up to leap off the top of a tower (as in the parent's rhetorical question, "if all your friends jumped off a building...") The choice is yours: Jump off the tower......................Romanticist Leave via the stairs....................Sabishigari-ya The Forest ---------- In this scenario, there's an old man in the forest collecting boulders, who will pay you 10 G per boulder you push to him (no, you don't get to keep the money). The outcome is determined by how many boulders you bring him before leaving the forest: 0-1 boulders............................Namake-mono 2-5 boulders............................Mieppari 6-19 boulders...........................Kurou-nin 20-39 boulders..........................Ganbari-ya 40 boulders.............................Tough Guy The Well Monster ---------------- You're a monster living in the well of a small village, and you come up in the middle of the night and wreak a little havoc. Pressing any action button causes you to breathe fire, incinerating the poor soul in front of you. The outcome is determined by how many people you kill, and which ones. Note that you have no choice but to kill the first man at the start of the scenario. If you kill the little boy hiding behind his mother: ...and everyone else except the man outside the Inn.......Ukkari-mono ...any other combination (including killing everyone).....Atama Dekkachi If you don't kill the boy: ...and kill no more than 2 people total...................Gouketsu ...and kill the priest and nun, or everyone except them...Ikuji-nashi ...any other combination..................................Amaenbou The Cavern ---------- You are inside a maze-like cavern that, for some reason, has direction signs at every intersection. If you don't follow the directions, you'll fall in a pit and the scenario will end. If you can't read the signs, the correct directions are West, East and then South at the 4-way. The last sign reads "No matter what, walk in a straight line due north!" Fall down the very first pit............Wagamama Fall down one of the next 2 pits........Makezu-girai Go after the treasure (and fall)........Occhokochoi Rescue the pinned girl..................Shoujiki-mono Go straight through to the exit.........Ganko-mono The Dancer ---------- You and some other people are watching a famous dancer. The young man on the left is engaged to the dancer, but he's worried that she might not be interested in him anymore, and tells you to ask her for him. When you talk to her, you'll see that his fears are confirmed: she doesn't want anything to do with him now that she's a star, and asks you to tell him so. You have three choices of response to the young man. Say "yes" and lie to him................Nakimushi Say "no" and break his heart............Ippiki Ookami Feign ignorance.........................Seken-shirazu Don't get involved (exit the theatre)...Nonki-mono The Desert ---------- You come upon two brothers in the middle of a desert. The older brother is too exhausted to walk, and wants the younger one, Dick, to leave him behind since they have just enough water for one person to reach the next village. Dick asks you what he should do. This scenario (and the remaining two after it) is a bit tricky if you don't know Japanese, since the choices are given as a series of yes/no questions, which will loop until you choose one of the three possible solutions. Unlike the other scenarios, this one has no "escape" option either: the desert wraps around if you try to walk away from the brothers. "Leave your brother behind".............Ranbou-mono "Press onward together".................Nekketsu-kan "Leave the water with your brother".....Inochi-shirazu The Castle ---------- The King of this castle is about to declare war on the neighbouring kingdom because the Queen has discovered that they intend a surprise attack. Actually, the Queen's information is a lie--what she actually wants is the jewel that the neighbouring kingdom possesses. The Minister asks you what should be done when one believes that a King's orders are in error. "The King's order is absolute"..........Muttsuri Sukebe/Sexy Gal "Follow your own conscience"............Zunou-meiseki "Only pretend to follow the order"......Ochoushi-mono Offer no advice (keep saying "no")......Yasashii Hito Don't even talk to the Minister.........Shiawase-mono The Wallet ---------- This is probably the rarest scenario, and was the last one I saw. In this scenario, a feeble old man asks you to fetch his wallet from the nearby house so that he can buy food for his grandson. If you do so, you discover that you've been tricked: the wallet doesn't belong to the old man, and you are arrested for theft and brought before the town priest. You can tell the truth, or confess to the crime and spare the old man and little boy. Confess to the crime yourself...........Mieppari Say that you were tricked...............Nukeme-ga-nai Don't take the wallet at all............Hikkomijian HOW ARE YOUR ALLIES' PERSONALITIES DETERMINED? ---------------------------------------------- Unlike the Hero, whose personality is supposed to reflect the player himself, your allies' personalities are determined semi-randomly. When you register a new character at Luisa's Place and choose a name, gender and profession, the values of the character's five abilities are displayed. These values are determined by adding small random bonuses to the following base abilities: Profession: STR AGI VIT INT LUC ------------------------------------ Soldier (M) 9 2 9 2 3 (F) 8 3 8 3 3 Fighter 14 9 7 3 2 12 11 7 4 3 Wizard 3 6 4 7 3 2 7 4 7 3 Priest 4 5 4 6 3 4 5 4 6 3 Merchant 5 1 6 6 4 5 2 5 7 4 Goof-Off 4 3 6 2 10 4 3 5 3 10 Thief 6 10 5 5 8 5 12 5 6 8 Now, you are given the chance to use five Seeds of your choice to further raise the character's abilities. As usual, each seed will increase the appropriate ability by 1-3 points. After assigning the seeds (which you can do yourself or have it done randomly), the character's personality is determined by the following process: The base values from the above table are subtracted from the abilities to get the "bonus" values--the amount by which each ability exceeds the base value for the character's gender and profession. The five abilities are ranked from highest to lowest bonus. If two abilities have an equal bonus, the base ability is used to break the tie. Finally, a personality is chosen based on the profession, the highest bonus, the value of that bonus, the second-highest bonus in some cases, and random chance: Highest bonus is STR; Soldier/Fighter: STR >= 11 : Gouketsu/Chikara-jiman/Otoko-masari STR >= 7 : Chikara-jiman/Nekketsu-kan/Otenba/Ranbou-mono VIT is 2nd: Ranbou-mono/Oogurai/Muttsuri Sukebe/Otoko-masari AGI is 2nd: Inochi-shirazu/Otenba/Ukkari-mono/Makezu-girai Otherwise : Muttsuri Sukebe/Seken-shirazu/Nonki-mono/Shoujiki-mono/Futsuu Highest bonus is STR; Wizard/Priest: STR >= 11 : Chikara-jiman/Otoko-masari/Inochi-shirazu STR >= 7 : Ganko-mono/Osekkai/Chikara-jiman/Nekketsu-kan VIT is 2nd: Ganbari-ya/Kurou-nin/Oogurai/Wagamama INT is 2nd: Makezu-girai/Mieppari/Ikuji-nashi/Sabishigari-ya Otherwise : Seken-shirazu/Namake-mono/Shoujiki-mono/Otenba/Yasashii Hito/ Futsuu Highest bonus is STR; Merchant/Goof-Off/Thief: STR >= 11 : Chikara-jiman/Makezu-girai/Otenba/Nekketsu-kan INT is 2nd: Kire-mono/Ippiki Ookami/Nukeme-ga-nai VIT is 2nd: Inochi-shirazu/Otoko-masari/Ranbou-mono AGI is 2nd: Occhokochoi/Subashikkoi/Ochoushi-mono Otherwise : Sabishigari-ya/Romanticist/Nakimushi/Amaenbou/Wagamama/Futsuu Highest bonus is AGI; Soldier/Merchant/Goof-Off: AGI >= 12 : Denkou-sekka/Inochi-shirazu/Subashikkoi AGI >= 7 : Subashikkoi/Occhokochoi/Wagamama/Makezu-girai INT is 2nd: Nukeme-ga-nai/Ochoushi-mono/Hinekure-mono STR is 2nd: Ranbou-mono/Otenba/Nekketsu-kan/Ippiki Ookami Otherwise : Ukkari-mono/Mieppari/Sabishigari-ya/Nakimushi/Futsuu Highest bonus is AGI; Fighter/Thief: AGI >= 11 : Denkou-sekka/Inochi-shirazu/Subashikkoi AGI >= 7 : Inochi-shirazu/Subashikkoi/Occhokochoi/Ippiki Ookami STR is 2nd: Makezu-girai/Nekketsu-kan/Otenba/Mieppari VIT is 2nd: Nekketsu-kan/Ganbari-ya/Muttsuri Sukebe/Hinekure-mono Otherwise : Ippiki Ookami/Romanticist/Inochi-shirazu/Nakimushi/Futsuu Highest bonus is AGI; Wizard/Priest: AGI >= 8 : Subashikkoi/Nukeme-ga-nai/Occhokochoi STR is 2nd: Makezu-girai/Mieppari/Ukkari-mono INT is 2nd: Atama Dekkachi/Nakimushi/Ochoushi-mono/Sexy Gal Otherwise : Ikuji-nashi/Seken-shirazu/Amaenbou/Romanticist/Futsuu Highest bonus is VIT; Soldier/Fighter/Merchant: VIT >= 10 : Tough Guy/Tetsujin VIT >= 6 : Kurou-nin/Ganbari-ya/Ganko-mono/Muttsuri Sukebe STR is 2nd: Chikara-jiman/Oogurai/Nonki-mono Otherwise : Shoujiki-mono/Osekkai/Namake-mono/Hikkomijian/Futsuu Highest bonus is VIT; Wizard/Priest: VIT >= 11 : Tough Guy/Tetsujin/Ganbari-ya VIT >= 6 : Ganbari-ya/Ganko-mono/Kurou-nin/Muttsuri Sukebe INT is 2nd: Yasashii Hito/Osekkai/Makezu-girai/Sexy Gal Otherwise : Sabishigari-ya/Ikuji-nashi/Seken-shirazu/Nonki-mono/Futsuu Highest bonus is VIT; Goof-Off/Thief: VIT >= 11 : Tough Guy/Tetsujin/Oogurai VIT >= 6 : Ganbari-ya/Ganko-mono/Oogurai/Muttsuri Sukebe STR is 2nd: Ranbou-mono/Inochi-shirazu Otherwise : Namake-mono/Ippiki Ookami/Sexy Gal/Ochoushi-mono/Romanticist/ Futsuu Highest bonus is INT; Soldier/Fighter: INT >= 10 : Hinekure-mono/Zunou-meiseki/Atama Dekkachi/Romanticist INT >= 6 : Mieppari/Romanticist/Ikuji-nashi/Ojou-sama Otherwise : Seken-shirazu/Amaenbou/Ochoushi-mono/Yasashii Hito/Futsuu Highest bonus is INT; Wizard/Priest: INT >= 10 : Kire-mono/Zunou-meiseki INT >= 6 : Zunou-meiseki/Nukeme-ga-nai/Atama Dekkachi/Romanticist/ Ikuji-nashi Otherwise : Nakimushi/Yasashii Hito/Amaenbou/Sabishigari-ya/Shoujiki-mono/ Futsuu Highest bonus is INT; Merchant/Thief: INT >= 10 : Kire-mono/Zunou-meiseki INT >= 6 : Nukeme-ga-nai/Zunou-meiseki/Mieppari/Atama Dekkachi **Otherwise : Ippiki Ookami/Romanticist/Kurou-nin/Ukkari-mono/Futsuu/Osekkai (Due to a bug, this row is never used, and the preceding one used instead) Highest bonus is INT; Goof-Off: INT >= 10 : Kire-mono/Zunou-meiseki INT >= 6 : Nukeme-ga-nai/Sexy Gal/Muttsuri Sukebe/Ochoushi-mono/ Atama Dekkachi Otherwise : Namake-mono/Nonki-mono/Amaenbou/Ippiki Ookami/Futsuu Highest bonus is LUC; Soldier/Fighter: LUC >= 12 : Lucky Man/Ojou-sama/Shiawase-mono LUC >= 7 : Shiawase-mono/Romanticist/Namake-mono Otherwise : Seken-shirazu/Amaenbou/Mieppari/Ochoushi-mono/Ukkari-mono/ Futsuu Highest bonus is LUC; Wizard/Priest: LUC >= 12 : Lucky Man/Ojou-sama/Shiawase-mono LUC >= 6 : Shiawase-mono/Seken-shirazu/Amaenbou/Namake-mono Otherwise : Mieppari/Ukkari-mono/Nakimushi/Ikuji-nashi/Hikkomijian/Futsuu Highest bonus is LUC; Merchant/Thief: LUC >= 12 : Lucky Man/Shiawase-mono LUC >= 6 : Shiawase-mono/Osekkai/Amaenbou/Wagamama/Nonki-mono Otherwise : Mieppari/Seken-shirazu/Nakimushi/Yasashii Hito/Shoujiki-mono/ Futsuu Highest bonus is LUC; Goof-Off: LUC >= 9 : Lucky Man/Ojou-sama LUC >= 6 : Shiawase-mono/Seken-shirazu/Amaenbou/Sexy Gal/Muttsuri Sukebe Otherwise : Muttsuri Sukebe/Sexy Gal/Nakimushi/Sabishigari-ya/ Ochoushi-mono/Nonki-mono/Namake-mono/Wagamama Example: a female Soldier STR: 15 (- 8 = 7) AGI: 7 (- 3 = 4) VIT: 11 (- 8 = 3) INT: 4 (- 3 = 1) LUC: 4 (- 3 = 1) Subtracting the base stats for a female Soldier, this character's highest bonus is in STR. The appropriate table (Soldier/Fighter, STR highest) is used. This character's STR bonus is not 11 or greater, but it is 7 or greater, so this character's personality will be Chikara-jiman, Nekketsu-kan, Otenba or Ranbou-mono. Example 2: a male Wizard STR: 5 (- 3 = 2) AGI: 12 (- 6 = 6) VIT: 8 (- 4 = 4) INT: 11 (- 7 = 4) LUC: 4 (- 3 = 1) This character's highest bonus is in AGI, and the appropriate table for a Wizard/Priest is checked. The AGI bonus is not 8 or greater, so the second-highest bonus is determined. The bonuses for VIT and INT are tied, but a male Wizard's base INT is higher than VIT, so the row for INT is used. The possible personalities are Atama Dekkachi, Nakimushi, Ochoushi-mono and Sexy Gal. Since a male character cannot be a Sexy Gal, this Wizard will be either Atama Dekkachi, Nakimushi or Ochoushi-mono. TO BE ADDED ----------- A list of items and events that can alter a character's personality The interaction between professions and personalities