The "Job System" for DFFT

As stated earlier, A tactics game could barely function if it does not have a job system in one form or another. My initial idea was to have all the characters from throughout the series--a roster of easily over a hundred--all be able to change to various jobs. This idea got kicked around from one variation to another, form one extreme: any character can be any job; to another: no jobs whatsoever.
I settled on something closer to the latter idea. In fact, it just simply is that idea: no characters actually change jobs in and of themselves; they are what they are from the moment they join your team. So where to actual jobs come it?
First of all, when you go into a characters status screen or any menu that lists the character, there should always be a title next to their name that identifies which job they are fixed as, for example: Cloud is a Soldier and Terra is an Esperkin. I had to invent a few to be creative, such as Maria from FFII being an Archer Mage and Lenna being a Royal Mimic. Many of them have job titles that came straight from the games, like Locke being an Adventurer or Balthier being a Sky Pirate. For the characters that came from Dissidia, I used most of their fighting-style titles as their job names (like Terra; Esperkin instead of Magitek Elite), but I changed others within reason (Cloud being a Soldier instead of a Buster Basher). I alter whatever feels within creative license. I'll eventually post the full list of character names with their accompanying class title.
Still, this begs the question of where job-changing comes in. To understand the direction I went, one has to understand the "action" menu in combat. When one chooses "action", there are five choices: the first is a standard melee attack, the second is a unique ability set that is exclusive to the character and cannot be changed or removed, and the fifth is the "items" command. The third and fourth slots are blank until the player decides to assign generic job ability sets to them, which has to be done outside of battle. And that's where job changeability comes into play: any character can equip any two ability sets from a choice of 20+ job-themed ability sets. This allows all the customization options that a job changing system brings with it without being overly complicated with job stats affecting character growth beyond their designated role in battle.
I actually had the idea for this for awhile, but didn't commit to it until recently. I was unsure of this idea because in previous Tactics games (or any Final Fantasy game that featured job changeability), changing jobs was a bit of a mini-event for the player, and my system undercut that little excitement. So, to implement the thrill of job-changing, I did this instead: When the player goes into the status screen to select an ability-set for an empty slot, a rotating carousel of job sprites pops up to represent the ability-sets that the character can equip. This is a direct emulation of the carousel of jobs that can be selected in the Tactics games. Once selected, a little animation flash occurs to mark the choice. In this way, job changing is still present in some form, yet it's simplicity conforms to the size of the roster.
While the player has a wide array of options to customize characters under this system, it should be obvious that some ability-sets are better for certain characters then others. For example, Arts of War (Warrior) wouldn't do nearly as well on a Black Mage like Vivi nor the White Magic ability-set wouldn't be ideal for Auron either. The player will be required to exercise good judgment for their choices.
Each character has to build up each job-ability set themselves by accumulating JP (job points) while acting in battle with that set equipped. Building up the right ability-sets will unlock new abilities in their native set, for example: mastering certain Steal (Thief) abilities for Locke will unlock new abilities for him to learn in his native ability-set Treasure Hunt.
My next post will list off the different ability-sets and the jobs they represent. I hope most fans will appreciate the simplifying of this time-honored system to fit the ambition of this character-rich project.