What are Level MP based/FF1 Style spells?
Spells which are placed in a Level MP based spell list do not cost MP like normal spells do. Instead, any character with such a spell list gains MP levels, and each time a level MP spell (henceforth, FF1 spells) is cast, it instead uses up Level MP points.
A regular character normally has stats that look something like this:
Name: George
HP: 1234
MP: 512
...
This indicates that he has 512 Magic Points, which he can use in varying combinations to cast spells. For example, if a Fire spell costs 3 MP to cast, then George would have 509 MP after casting it.
However, FF1 spells do not work on this system. Every spell costs 1 point, but the catch is that each spell has a level, and can only use MP from that level. George's stats, if he had both a regular spell list and a FF1 style spell list, might look like this:
Name: George
HP: 1234
MP: 512
...
Level MP: 5/4/2/1/0/0/0/0 (Note: For a real listing of the amounts of Level MP, go here)
Those numbers like x/y/z... are level MP. The first number is amount of level 1 points, the second is level 2, and so forth up to level 8. So, if Fire is a level 1 spell, it would use up one level 1 MP. If it was a level 2 spell, it would use a level 2 MP, and so forth.
The Level MP points can not be refilled with a healing item. Players must visit inns to restore the points or use a textbox with a Restore Hp and Mp conditional.
So how do you set the level of an FF1 spell? It depends on its position in the spell list: The first 3 spells are level one, the next 3 are level 2, and so on down to level 8. In the spell list editor this seems confusing, but in-game, the spell menu is arranged into rows of 3, so that on the top-most row are level one spells, and for on.
Why would you want a system like this? I personally (Mike) believe that it's more useful for "techniques". That way, George could use "Sword Slash" 5 times, but could only use "Triple Cut" once (assuming they were level 1 and level 4 "spells").
Don't forget, you can also combine this system with regular MP, since it's based solely on the Spell List settings.