Introduction
Everything here is a wip and will be updated overtime based on feedback. This guide assumes you have a Final Fantasy 14 account and know to play/navigate the game but you have zero knowledge on how to get started with modding. The purpose of this guide is to help walk new people through the every growing and changing world of FFXIV mods. While many plugins will be shown and explained here, the main focus will be NSFW modding and gposing.
Rating System
Every website, plugin, program or tool are given a priority rating with their placing on the chart also signaling their importance. Full breakdowns and explanations for important items will come later. The rating system is detailed as followed:
Necessary - So useful that you'd be a fool not to have it. Not using this will make your experience worse and confusing.
Recommended - Used in a variety of ways that makes it easy to recommend. Good idea to save/download incase you might need it later
Useful - Has enough uses to point out but not enough to have it as a must
Optional - Has a specific or niche purpose that some people may find useful.
For any troubleshooting or advice, ask in thread or reach out to my twitter: @fizzlepopxiv
Start here if you are 100% new to modding.
Download XIVLauncher
Before anything else, download the XIVlauncher - https://goatcorp.github.io/. While it has many useful features on its own, XIVLauncher gives you access to the Dalamud plugin loader which allows everything this guide is about to explain to you. Refer to their FAQ for additional info: https://goatcorp.github.io/faq/dalamud_troubleshooting
Useful Guides
Penumbra and Glamourer are the main plugins that people use for their time in modding and gposing. The Reni guide is a very simple and easy to follow break down on how to install them and a few other popular plugins. Reshade was what people use to make their screenshots pop with the help of shaders, lights and effects. This Reddit post explains how to install it. (You can ignore the Gshade part if you dont have it installed)
Create an Discord alt account and/or email
Some websites and/or plugins utilize your discord account as a login in order to access NSFW items or to properly function. If you are uncomfortable with using your main account, consider making an alt for these. I will note what those items are in their section.
Terminology
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Gpose | The in-game mode that allows players to take screenshots with the help of a variety of tools and settings. Most people also call the screenshots themselves "gposes" and the act "gposing" |
Dalamud | The plugin loader that is built into XIVlauncher. Gives players access to a host of powerful plugins that can change various things about the game. Some plugins are hosted right through them but others need a third party repo link to utilize. |
Repo | Short for "Repository". A coding term from Github that refers to a projects code and files. These are how you get third party plugins into your game |
Plugin | A component that adds a specific feature into a program, in this case FFXIV. Many types of plugins exist that range from new quality of life features to messaging and new gpose related features. |
Mod | A downloadable file that can alter files in the game. This can go for: animations, music, armor, characters, npcs, areas and so on. |
Preset | A set of shaders used through Reshade that enhance the look of your game. |
Shader | A component in Reshade that enhances or changes the look of your game. Can range from: additional light sources, camera-like depth of field, increased contrast, color tint and more. |
Gen3 + Bibo | The most popular body mod types in the game. Every other body is based off one of these body types and can be cross compatible in some cases. |
XIV Modding Tools/Plugins
The chart breaks down popular and useful tools. Full breakdowns and explanations for important items will come later.
Seas of Stars Repo
This Repo hosts multiple popular plugins that I will describe below. You can add it to your game now and install the ones you need as you go through each one. Github Link
Name | Description | Priority |
---|---|---|
Penumbra | The mother of all modding plugins. Allows you to enable and disable mods ingame, change mod load orders, modify metadata + textures and more! All this without affecting your game folder. Also has a wide range of advanced features for mod creators. Install this first before anything else. | Necessary |
Glamourer | The sister plugin to penumbra. It allows you to: edit character data on the fly, equip and change all armor/clothing pieces, access additional dye channels and colors for any item and allow additional sets of design plates. In combination with penumbra, you don't need the actual piece of armor a mod may need in order to see it on your character. Just load it with glamourer! | Necessary |
Textools | The grandmother of modding programs. This is what people previously used to load mods (you still can but its clunkier) before penumbra came along. Now its primary use is to assist mod creation and editing. It has a host of powerful tools and allows people to extract game data like character models, music and images. Its main usage for casual users is the Dawntrail upgrade option for those that use older mods (detailed later in the guide). For anyone who wants to get into mod creation and editing, this is a must. For everyone else, consider it a strong but not necessary tool. | Useful |
Mare Synchronos | A very powerful plugin that allows other players to see your current activated mods on your character. As mods and plugins are client side, this use an external server to upload your character files so other players can download them and see you ingame as your modded self. Also allows players to upload and share characters for gposing without needing the other person online. You NEED Penumbra, Glamourer installed for this to work + Discord in order to signup and use this plugin properly | Useful |
Customize+ | A plugin that allows to edit your character far beyond what the character creator lets you. You can adjust the size, shape and position of every part of your body. It has a bit of a learning curve but allows you to customize your body to be uniquely yours. Once you find a base body you like, sculpt it into the exact proportions you are looking for. With the help of skeletons like IVCS, you can edit even more parts of your body. | Recommended |
XIV Gpose Tools/Plugins
The chart breaks down popular and useful tools that are specifically for gposing. Full breakdowns and explanations for important items will come later.
Posing Tools
There are multiple posing tools that allow you to go beyond using basic in-game emotes and pose every individual part of your character. They each have strengths and weaknesses so it all comes down to preference. I've detailed them below but you do not need to download them all. Picking one is more than enough for most people's needs as they share many features with each other and have similar UI. Some people do use combinations of the 3 thanks to their unique features.
Name | Description | Priority |
---|---|---|
Reshade | Reshade is a post processing program for video games that inject shaders to enhance visuals Now without relying on developers to include such options, people can activate things like antialiasing, screen space ambient occlusion, depth of field effects, dynamic film grain, automatic saturation and more. In short, it makes your game pretty and is the primary reason many gposes look so good. You want to download the version with Full Add-on Support or it wont work. This does cause additional stress on your gpu so make sure to test out what works for you. Heres a sample of it in action: Link | Recommended |
Gposingway | A stable collection of shaders and presets that is a good way to jump into reshade if you a new user. Comes with premade shortcuts for popular features and a host of popular presets to make your game look good. Advanced users and gpose vets could skip this but give it a look see if you want some help with reshade. | Recommended |
Ktisis | One of the 3 major posing tools. Ktisis has a range of controls for player characters, weather/time of day and even additional lights (currently only discord supporter exclusive). You can also import premade poses and use them as your own or as a base for another pose. Most of its strengths come from its camera and body controls + UI. | Recommended |
Brio | One of the 3 major posing tools. Brio is considered by many to be the best of the three. Not only does it have the usual camera, pose import/export and character controls you expect to find, it has additional features like mass actor control (up to hundreds if you want), animation selector (select ANY animation in the game and use it for yourself, includes boss/enemy attacks and NPC exclusive animations) and emote control. Great for casual and advanced users. | Recommended |
Anamnesis | One of the 3 major posing tools. This was the original tool before Ktisis and Brio came along. While often forgotten, its still updated regularly and has a hardcore fanbase of people who stick by it. Has the features you come to know for posing tools: weather and time change, character posing etc. Also includes the ability to change your equipped weapon to anything, regardless of class or use various props (goblets, brooms, serving plate etc) instead. The biggest difference is this is an external program and not an in-game plugin so keep that in mind. | Useful |
Moodles | A plugin that allows you to edit and create your own buffs, debuffs and effects. In combination with things like Mare, other people can see your custom effects for some extra RP fun! As for gpose, this is an easy way to grab buffs/debuffs for comic or picture making purposes without having to fumble through photoshop. | Optional |
XivWindowResizer | A plugin that lets you temporarily resize your screen. This allows you to take screenshots at higher resolutions (provided your computer can handle it) without needing the proper monitor size for them. Really helps getting all the extra details out for those who are picky about screenshot quality. Can be awkward to use at first so have a proper keybind or button setup for it. Included by default in Dalamud so no external repo needed. | Useful |
Breaking down Body-types
For better or worse, there are a wide range of body types available for use. They all different in breast size, ass and leg shape, feet, nipple color and whatever options they give to their users. All bodies however are based off of two main types: Gen 3 and Bibo. What type you decide on using will determine what clothing mods, skin textures and tattoos are available to you. While some mods are cross-compatible, its best to stay on a single body you like then adapt from there. Bodies will be broken down by Male and Female types.
Check the pages of each mod creator for sample mods, pictures of the body in various angles and other support options for their body.
The breakdown of additional types of feet, hands and breasts will be done at a later date. Race specific mods will also be added at a later date
Don't know what to pick?
I marked my recommended bodies in green. They have a wide variety of clothes for you to use, the general body shape is easy to customize and its easy to jump across different bodies. Check the description if you already know what bodytype you are looking for and clothing options don't bother you.
Female Body Mods
Body | Description | Type |
---|---|---|
Gen3 (T&F) | The one that started it all. The oldest of all bodies. This mod is now defunct but many still utilize its skin and shape to create their own bodies. As it is no longer updated, I don't recommend you download this. Its only here as an example. | Gen3 |
Bibo | The most popular body in the modding community. Used as a base for a variety of other bodies. Has a large amount of mod support even after the different variants popped up. A curvy body that reminds you of playboy models and pinup girls. Has a variety of options and a SFW underwear built in. | Bibo |
YAB | A very popular body with an emphasis on even more curves and muscule. Additional options for thicker thighs on top of breasts. Think close to an Amazonian like build. Also has none muscle options for those that want a thicker body than Bibo. Large amount of Mod support. Also has addition breast and muscle options through other mods | Bibo |
Freya | A body mod with a range of options for curvy and skinny girls. Standard set of options. | Gen3 |
Eve | The most popular of all gen3 body mods. Aims for a curvy and sexy look while staying in line with the in-game body shape. Has a large amount of mod support. | Gen3 |
Rue+ | A body based off of YAB. Aims for a soft and curvy look with an added belly and hip dips. Comes with additional skin options for stretch marks and cellulite. Due to the added belly, clipping is almost guaranteed when mix and matching different clothing types so be wary. This includes old rue 1.0 clothing and new rue 2.0 clothing (not always marked on mod pages so testing might be needed). | Bibo |
RiderThicc | An old Gen3 body with a focus on an exaggerated bust, hips and thighs. Close to "anime" or "hentai" proportions. Has a large range of options to customize the size of each part of your body and decent mod support thanks to its age. | Gen3 |
Bimbo+ | A bibo variant it with a focus on a softer and curvier pinup body with a large ass. Decent mod support and has some extra features with YAB. | Bibo |
AB body | A body with a focus on a slimmer figure and small chest size with shapely hips. Based off eve topology with a very wide variety of options. Newish body mod so mod support is still growing | Gen3 |
Tre | A body with the aim to be athletic and perky, like your favorite anime tomboy. Has a variety of options in its base kit and decent mod support. | Bibo |
EXQB | A body mod with a focus on HUGE anime style tits. Even has bob swing and jiggle physics with the right skeletons. Being that the chest is the primary focus, its recommended you install Riderthicc, Bibo or Eve to complement it. Newish body so mod support is still growing | N/A |
Lavabod | A body with a focus on wide hips and a curvy figure. Like a thick runway model. Has the curviest, roundest butt out of all of the bodies. Decent amount of options and growing mod support as it is a newish body. | Bibo |
Citrus+ | An edit of Bimbo+ that adds a tummy. A good base for those wanting to make a fluffy/chubby looking girl. with the help of customize+. | Bibo |
Juno Body | A body aiming for the anime milf body shape and size. Has a well defined that can look weird to some. Newish body so mod support is still growing | Bibo |
Male Body Mods
Men are Easy
Male body males are not nearly as complicated (or as plentiful) as female mods. Like above, I marked my recommended bodies in green and added a few sub variants for good measure. Since there is only one type of male mod for each race, its very easy to jump around and cross-compatibility is plentiful.
Name | Description |
---|---|
TBSE | The one and only. Works for all males except Roes and Hrothgar. Fairly toned and has a variety of hair, muscle and penis options. Falls in line with the general shape and size of the vanilla male body. If you aren't picky about your male characters, this will be the only male body mod you'll ever need. |
HRbody3 | Body mod for Roes and Hrothgar. Has multiple options for skin, muscles and penis. Includes a chubby and muscular bod. General shape and size falls in line with their vanilla bodies. For the most updated version, visit the creator's Discord |
TBSE X | A variant of TBSE that focuses on a more muscular body. Good if looking for the muscular and aesthetic bodybuilder look. IVCS2 compatible with penis, butt, chest and thigh physics |
TSBE Z | A variant of TBSE that focuses on muscles and veins with exaggerated chest pecs. |
TSBE Slim | A variant of TBSE that focuses on a slimmer, hairless and less muscular body. |
TSBE W | A variant of TBSE with a focus on a smoother body but still muscular. |
Skeletons + Physics
Skeletons? What are those?
FFXIV has a base set of bones used for animation and posing. Player made skeleton mods add another range of options like posing penises, adjusting the lips of a vagina, individual toes, jiggle physics and more! Some new clothing mods need skeletons to work properly as they utilize these new bones but they usually include none bone options. NSFW animations all use the additional bones and will not work without having the proper one installed. Refer to the animation to see which one you need.
Name | Description |
---|---|
IVCS2 | illusio vitae is a skeleton mod/framework that gives characters additional bones to pose with (penis, vagina lips, additional parts of the ass, etc) while also helping add physics to certain parts. This mod is a MUST if you are diving into NSFW animations as almost all of them use this. The additional bones help anyone but the installation can be a bit daunting at first. I recommend installing this once you have gotten comfortable posing with your base bones. |
Skelomae | A skeleton made as an offshoot to IVCS. Fully IVCS compatible with its own set of unique bones as well. Just like bodies, the bone wars have also started. |
YAS | If you can't guess from the name, a skeleton by the creator of YAB. Fully IVCS compatible with an additional focus on body and jiggle physics. This is already built into recent versions of YAB and Rue+ but the standalone can be used with other bodies of a similar shape. |
Tiramisu Physics | Want jiggle and swing physics for your chest? This is for you. Also includes options for varying levels of sag to help complement the look of heavy looking breasts. |
Where to find Mods
Download, Save, Hoard
While I list the most common areas to find them, mods can be hosted on a multitude of sites. Some mods may be exclusive to certain discords, creator websites, paywalls or simply passed around in the community through links. Its not uncommon for mods to disappear for a number of reasons so make sure to download anything you think you'll use for the future.
Pro Tip: Searching Sucks
Personally, the search function for most of these websites are not great so its not a bad idea to comb through mods manually by flipping through the main pages or general categories. You'd be surprised at how many good mods get absolutely buried cause they aren't downloaded as often (and as such don't end up on the front page) or get forgotten by the community. Some are also improperly tagged or poorly named making them even harder to find.
Older Mods Warning
Any and all mods that were created before the Dawntrail expansion (released on July 2nd, 2024) must be updated in order to work as a huge player character overhaul was done at the start of 7.0. This can be done using Textools (linked above) or some creators have updated their files already for use. Some mod pages do have a warning now saying if the mod is DT ready or it needs to be updated to work. This does not guarantee the mod in question will work but its your best shot outside of completely remaking it.
Link | Description |
---|---|
Xiv Mod Archive | The most active and most popular site for posting mods. The vast majority of public mods can be found here. Requires a discord for signup and to view NSFW mods. Uses a tag system for searching and categorizing. |
The Glamour Dresser | An offshoot of xivm. Also hosts a variety of mods and some you may not find elsewhere. Requires signup for NSFW mod viewing |
Heliosphere | A website that utilizes an plugin in-game by the same name. It lets you search and download mods directly into the game while also automatically updating them without any additional files. Besides that, just another niche website where mods can be found. You do not need the plugin to download mods from here. |
Aetherlink | While still in an alpha stage, another mod posting website with improved categories and tagging system. Alot of potential but hardly used. Something to keep an eye on |
Nexus Mods | While a popular place for mods for alot of games, FFXIV is not one of them. Scarcely populated but figured I mention it incase you get sent here. |
Unvaulted | There is a large growing community of creators have have locked their mods behind paywalls. A few community members have taken the call of the high seas and organized groups specifically to share paid mods as a way to counteract the trend. Unvaulted is the main website that hosts pirated mods but there are other groups in discord and telegram that do the same thing. They update periodically from their telegram where just about everything gets archived and posted. |
General Use Mods
Name | Description |
---|---|
Hair Defined V2 | Upscales all the vanilla hair in the game to 4K quality. A must have if you dont use modded hairstyles. Updated Regularly |
Better Pube Frameworks | A baseline mod for very detailed and realistic female pubic hair. Most body mods have their own set of options with additional compatibility with BPF |
Everyone Bites | Huge mod that overhauls player character teeth and give additional options like buckteeth or shark teeth |
Oiled Up | A general use mod that gives a wet, oily texture. Some body mods either have this built in or use their own version. Has a variety of options to tone down or increase the shine on your character. |
Invisible Skin | Lets you turn an entire body or certain parts invisible. This has a variety of uses like loading a 2nd body with just clothing and use them as props, only show parts of the body you want and more! |
Eorzean Nightlife V3 | A MASSIVE collection of (mostly) stolen NSFW animation mods. More info in FAQ. V2 pack here and V2.7 here |
External Websites and Guides
Name | Description |
---|---|
/xivg/ | Link to current /xivg/ threads, lewd posting slips by but generally not allowed |
/xivlg/ | Link to current /xivlg/ threads , strict rules (for a reason) and slower paced than general |
ElsewhereXiv | A website with a massive list of tutorials, discords and other guides to help learn how to create and make mods. Has a terrible interface but alot of good info. |
Eoreza Collection | Lists all the vanilla armor/clothing sets in the game at various angles with mannequins. |
FFXIV Venues | A list of various venues (rp, afk, clubs etc) sorted by server and date. Good place to look for gpose spots |
NA Gpose Studios | A Collection of themed apartments and houses for all of your GPOSE needs. |
Reni Guide | Breaks down how to use and install penumbra and glamourer. Decent guide if you are confused |
Ktisis 101 | Breaks down how to pose with Ktisis and navigate its menus |
Ktisis Bone Off Sets | With the addition of new face bones, posing faces have become very crowded. These offsets move the posing dots to their proper place on the face for easier posing |
Pirate Telegrams | The full guide on how to access the various channels for pirated mods. |
Coffer Grotto | A discord for sharing pirated mods. Different group than above but they do the same thing. |
Crystal Syncshell | A public syncshell thats updated 3 times a month. Good for people watching or simply seeing how the otherside lives. Expect alot of degens |
Makeplace | Based on the program of the same name, allows you to create xiv housing layouts or download uploaded ones to use as your own |
Xiv Modding | Another modding tutorial site for creating or editing your own mods |
sebastianscaini.itch.io | For those with little to no photoshop skills, they have a host of simple to use programs to do things like: fake quest boxes, dialogue boxes, cutscene dialogue boxes, fake debuffs and more. |
Aethernoise Tumblr | PNGs to make your own fake cutscene |
FAQ
Will my account be banned for using mods?
Mods and plugins are against TOS and the game's director has made multiple statements asking players to not use them. FFXIV currently has no form of anti-cheat which makes detection on their side difficult to impossible. Unless you are doing anything game breaking (teleporting, abusing game breaking glitches, scripting, botting) you will be fine. Only talk about mods in whispers or with friends to avoid anyone attempting to report you if you want to be extra safe.
Why are there so many female body mods? Why are Bibo and Gen 3 different categories?
Can't have a community without its drama. For a very brief summary, during the creation of T&F3 (Gen3), one of its conditions for mod creators are mods fitted to the body must be free and if it is made for private or paywalled content, it must be released for free later. Some community members took issue with this and hastily made a separate body that we now know as Bibo. I say hastily cause while Gen3 uses a custom made skin and body, Bibo uses stolen DAZ3D assets. Nowadays, none of this really matters outside of leaving the community weirdly fragmented.
What's an Upscale?
The community term for taking an item and fitting it to a certain body, typically through the use of Blender. It can also refer to its actual definition in the 3D space as enhancing textures or images to a higher resolution. This can include in-game armor and clothing or even modded ones. This allows you to get the exact shape of a body on to the item. While cross-compatibility is nice and built in to many clothing pieces, those who are particular about their body shape much prefer an upscale. You can learn how to do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you.
What does cross-compatibility mean for mods?
All body mods are based off of either Gen3 or Bibo skin textures. When utlizing a mod of that same type, it will load properly without having that body installed. For example: If I was using Bibo as my main body and used a clothing mod thats made for Rue+, YAB or Bimbo, they would all be able to load properly since they include either bibo toplogy, skin textures or are simply a variant of Bibo itself making the jump easy. In some cases, mods can be cross compatible between gen3 and bibo if they contain the body textures for the other type.
What's the Eorzean nightlife mod?
Its massive collection of stolen NSFW animations all wrapped up in a convenient modding pack. Because of its origins, most of the animations creators will ignore anyone who mention it and will not help with trouble shooting or bug reports. It often gets passed around through third party file links but will never be hosted on a modding site thanks to its dubious nature. The mod itself goes through a variety of updates, sometimes adding and removing animations in the process. I'll link the versions that I can find in its section.
Where do I find X or Y mod/plugin?
You can try asking in thread or going into some WCIF discords that are dedicated to this sort of question. Mods disappear off the internet, sometimes aren't archived or are behind paywalls on various sites so it can take a while to find it.
Why can't I find any NSFW Lalafel related mods?
For many people, Lalafel fall into the category of loli or childlike bodies which makes them a huge taboo in the majority of spaces. SFW Lalafel mods can usually be found in the usual sites (with some caveats) but NSFW Lalafel mods aren't allowed on the major mod hosting sites and very few groups even allow sharing of such mods. This also includes mods that make them into thick shortstacks or muscular dwarfs that you might have seen. Those who are interested in that type of modding have to dig a little deeper for websites, links and archives.
Updated 1/31/25 - Minor Update - 1.01
Made changes to a few sections and updates to the posing program suggestions. Looking to edit the Lalafel section when more info is found.
Future Sections or mini guides: Customize+ tutorial, Reshade tutorial, General installation help, General tips & Tricks and Expanded FAQ.
Updated 1/29/25 - Update Log - 1.0
Launch of the Guide! Please send feedback if you have it! Additional sections in the works: Reshade, Installation help, expanded FAQ and more!