Many opportunities for amending the original, vanilla Final Fantasy 5 exist. Here are plans for some ideas, as some thoughts about good places in the game to add bonus content. Plus notes on some Post Exdeath endgame possibilities, as things fall into place
Canal changes
Repurpose Canal mini dungeon (where Ship is the character) for later
Best re-use might be as tunnels in the Shifting Sands desert
World map is the canal now
every tile on the canal an encounter
first tile generates the Canal Unlock Event scene
last tile leads to the Carlabos battle, then to the Syldra event scene
Event Scene adds Syldra off the starboard bow, then vanishes in whirlpool (gaining Syldra summon event scene has this code), it fits w existing dialogue
Completely repurposes the Canal map for another use, this way— but complex, to add the Syldra sprite to an existing event. Or maybe not..?
Make North Mountain longer
Give it a secret cave or zone to come back to in World 3 (when finding Bahamut)
Swap/Mix Shiva’s Tower and Water Tower
Unlocking a path to Istory from Karnak, maybe change world map slightly
maybe special mobs that Berserkers can easily kill
Lonka Ruins replaces Steamship
Add a Key item in an obvious chest
it will unlock new rooms in the ancients’ caves near Jacole
more good weapons and mini bosses in chests there
More room minibosses? Squads of BrassEyes?
Revised mobs: for a “derived from the Ancients” & steampunk theme
Clockwork City still has the vent access to the room below Karnak Castle, dumps out to that same room. Castle will collapse not explode, in 10 minutes, explosion clouds need to get colors changed to white and beige, for the collapse, vs the explosion.
Once Clockwork City & Escape from Karnak is complete, and Earth Crystal Jobs unlocked (all 5?), the Library is accessible, same as original game layout.