Narateer

Character Classes

A title is given. An identity is earned.

Your Class is not a cage. It is a tradition of training, a starting shape, and a route through the wider skill system. It gives a new character a clear identity at the table, but it does not decide everything that character can become.

You do not declare who you are. You prove it.

What Is a Class?

Identity forged through repetition, story, and skill.

A Class is a structured role that reflects your character's story, skill focus, and earned identity. It grants access to exclusive Class Powers: learned techniques, spells, rites, tricks, practices, or other trained exceptions unlocked through growth and narrative milestones.

Skills remain the mechanical foundation of a character. Classes sit above Skills and give access to specialised expressions of training.

Each Class includes three visible Paths. Each Path is tied to one of the Class's core Skills or to a clearly named Skill focus. Powers are organised into tiers that mark increasing mastery.

Ask yourself:

  • What path has my character proven through play?
  • Which Powers reflect my role in the story?
  • Am I refining a style, or forging a new one?

Classes And Paths

Players see:

Class -> Path -> Tier -> Class Power

Examples:

  • Fighter -> Battlemaster -> Tier 1 -> Guardbreaker.
  • Rogue -> Phantom -> Tier 1 -> Ghostwalker.
  • Witch -> Seer -> Tier 1 -> Doomsight.

Designers may use internal subpaths when building classes, but those subpaths are not normally player-facing. For the development template, see:

  • 15A_Class_Builder_Template.md

Choosing a Class at Creation

During character creation:

  • Select 1 Class.
  • Gain Level 1 in that Class.
  • Distribute 3 Skill Levels across the Class's 3 core Skills.
    • At least 2 Skills must receive 1 or more levels.
    • These levels may stack with Origin Skill Levels.
  • Choose 1 Tier 1 Class Power from any of the Class's Paths.
  • Receive starting gear themed to your Class.
  • Add the Class, Path options, Class Level, chosen Power, and Skill Levels to your Character Sheet.

Example: Starting Class Choice

Lira selects the Rogue Class during character creation. She gains Rogue Level 1 and distributes 3 Skill Levels across the Rogue's core Skills:

  • Stealth 2.
  • Finesse 1.
  • Acrobatics 0.

She selects Ghostwalker, a Tier 1 Power from the Phantom Path, and receives starting gear appropriate to a stealth-focused infiltrator. Her Origin also granted Finesse 1, which stacks with her Class Skill for a total of Finesse 2.

She records all Rogue details: Skills, Power, gear, and Class Level.

Class Progression

Class Level represents your depth of commitment to a Class. Raising it grants new Class Powers from any unlocked Tier. Your Level increases through deliberate investment, measured in Story Points and earned through story.

  • Spend Story Points (SP) equal to the new Class Level.
    • Example: raising Class Level from 2 to 3 costs 3 SP.
  • Each time you increase your Class Level, choose 1 additional Class Power from any Tier you have unlocked.
  • Tier access is gated by total Skill Levels across the Class's 3 core Skills.

Tier access is defined in 16_Class_Powers.md.

Example: Increasing Class Level

Kale has Fighter Level 1. To reach Fighter Level 2, he spends 2 SP. Since he qualifies for Tier 2, he may now select a new Fighter Power from either Tier 1 or Tier 2.

Multi-Classing

To gain a new Class after character creation, you must first achieve the prerequisites of that Class:

  • Have gained at least 3 total Skill Levels across the Class's 3 core Skills.
  • Hold at least SL 1 in two of those Skills.
  • Spend the required Story Points.
  • Complete an in-world milestone or training scene reflecting narrative transformation.

Once completed, you gain Level 1 in the new Class and may select one Tier 1 Power from any of its Paths.

Example: Gaining a New Class

Sera, a Fighter, trains with an Ember Creed priest. She earns 3 Cleric Skill Levels, with SL 1 in two of the Cleric's core Skills, then defends a shrine in silence. Spending Story Points, she unlocks the Cleric Class and chooses Brand of Flame from the Devouring Flame Path.

Design Principle

Classes help players enter the game. They do not prevent long-term characters from becoming hybrid, strange, or self-defined.

A character may begin as a Fighter, train into Ranger techniques, learn Witch rites, and end as something no single Class label fully contains. That is intended.

Summary

  • A Class is a structured training tradition that grants access to exclusive Class Powers.
  • Skills remain the mechanical foundation of the character.
  • You choose 1 Class at creation and gain 1 Tier 1 Power and Class-themed gear.
  • Each Class has 3 visible Paths tied to core Skills or Skill focuses.
  • Class Powers are unlocked by meeting Tier requirements and spending Story Points.
  • To gain a new Class, meet Skill prerequisites, spend SP, and complete a narrative milestone.
  • Raising your Class Level grants additional Powers from any Tier you have unlocked.