A Class System

Mage

A mage is a person who has the ability to tap into magical energy and transform it into spells. There are three ways to tap into the energy, and three types of spells. A mage may learn more than one type of spell, but he can only tap into the energy in one way. The three ways to tap into the energy are as follows.

Source Mages: A source mage produces his own magical energy, which is replenished every day. Because Source Mages have within them a constant source of magical energy, they are able to practice and improve their spell working capabilities faster than other sorts of the other sorts of mages. Source Mages are commonly referred to as wizards or mages.
Sink Mages: A sink mage can tap into the magical energies of the people and objects he touches. He needs to be in physical contact with the magical energy source, but with study can learn to store that energy for extended periods of time and use it for his own spells. Note, though, that they can never learn to absorb magic directed directly at them. At high levels, Sink mages can absorb other types of energy and transform the power into magical energy for his spells. Sink Mages are sometimes known as leeches, curse breakers, or anti-mages.
Mirror Mages: A mirror mage can absorb magic that is directed at him and channel it into his own spells. As he gets higher in levels, Mirror Mages can absorb magical energy from greater ranges, but they cannot absorb the energy for extended periods of time. Mirror Mages are also sometimes called channels or mirrors.

The three types of spells are as follows:

Elemental Spells: At lower levels, these are spells that deal directly with earth, fire, wind, and water. As spell casters climb in levels, they gain mastery over secondary elements like weather, lightning, cold, and darkness.
Life and Death Spells: Spells of life and death provide the spell caster mastery over healing, plants, animals, the dead, and the undead.
Artifice Spells: Spells of artifice deal with magical objects and creatures. They allow the spell caster to build, alter, or abjure these unnatural creations.

Fighter

There are three ways a fighter can learn and practice his craft, and these differences divide fighters into three distinct subgroups.

Mercenary: A mercenary is usually a fighter who paid to learn his craft from a weapon instructor. Sometimes this training is paid for by later service as a soldier. In any case, a mercenary is a professional fighter who has no particular restrictions placed on him, but who also has no particular help to gain his place in the world. A Mercenary also gains the ability to berserk and to study group tactics.
Cavalier: A cavalier is a version of the knight. By his acceptance as a cavalier, he is granted high social status, and early training was probably granted freely. He has money and gains followers more easily than a mercenary, since a cavalier begins his professional life with some reputation. Unfortunately, a cavalier is always beholden to a higher power (either in the nobility or clergy) and is required to follow a strict code of conduct. A cavalier also may automatically studies mounted combat.
Martial Artist: A martial artist has devoted himself to the way of the warrior. He may be a member of a warrior school or a follower of a particular warrior master. In either case, his primary concern is the development of his art, and so he keeps few belongings and accepts no followers except martial art students. Because of his intense devotion to the development of his craft, he is eventually able to hone his mind and body to an almost superhuman level. A martial artist can develop a two weapon fighting style.

The three types of weapons skills a fighter may study are

Ranged: Ranged weapons include bows, javelins, throwing daggers, hand axes, crossbows, darts, slings, etc.
Close in: Close in weapons include daggers, short swords, clubs, maces, katanas, nun chucks, hammers, bastard swords, etc.
Middle Length: Middle length weapons include pole arms, lassoes, lances, spears, whips, quarterstaffs, nets, tridents, chains, etc.

Speaker

A Speaker is a person whose skills lie in the ability to understand and affect the hearts of those around him. There are three ways a speaker gains his ability

Artist: An artist is a person who is naturally gifted with the eloquence, charisma, and understanding of the human spirit. Although their gift is mundane in origin, at higher levels, their ability to communicate and manipulate becomes uncanny.
Psychic: A psychic’s ability to understand and affect the minds and hearts of others is based on their ability to use the psychic energies that lie dormant in all people. Since the strength comes from his own resources however, he can quickly use up his psychic power. When that happens, he cannot use his abilities until the strength returns. Also, He has to be careful about doing things like charming people by using his gift. The charm only lasts as long as his psychic strength allows, and the object of the charm remains in the area. When the charm wears off, and the object of the charm usually notices what happened.
Priest: A priest is a person whose powers to affect the soul are gifted by a god. Like a psychic, a priests gains supernatural abilities to detect and manipulate. However, each time he uses his powers as a speaker, his god chooses whether or not to allow him the gift. Thus, priests always have a possibility of failure that is higher than the other two, but his spells don’t wear out quickly like a psychic’s.

There are three types of skills that a speaker can learn. They are the following:

Detection: Speakers can learn to detect things that are unsaid. They can tell truth from lies, real from false, and hear the echoes of past deeds. Eventually they learn to detect emotions, actions, and thoughts at a distance.
Communication: Speakers understand many different languages and customs and can even get their point across without using any language at all. They study etiquette and history, rhetoric and performing arts. They can talk you into believing up is down, and your best friend is your worst enemy.
Emotion: Speakers can affect the emotions of the beings around them. They can anger, inspire, depress or uplift. They can surprise you into motionless shock or motivate you do the impossible.

Crafter

A Crafter is someone who can apply the cleverness of his mind to the skills of his hand. There are three ways a crafter can learn his craft.

Wanderer: A wanderer picks up useful skills in his travels. He spreads his learning throughout the different skill types, and he has a particular facility for learning languages and customs.
Guild: A guild member belongs to an organization that trains and directs specialists with particular skills. Typical guilds can train thieves, hunters, healers, assassins, engineers, tinkers, or explorers. Like a martial artist, a guild member’s devotion to his craft allows him to develop uncanny abilities. The membership also implies certain rules and restrictions, including the donation of treasure to the guild and the perpetual servitude to the guild. Also, guild members gain bonuses when practicing skills within their specialty, but minuses when practicing outside of them.
Craftborn: A crafter can also be craftborn, which means that they have inborn gifts that allow them to succeed within their craft, like psychics. Like psychic, however, craftborn can exhaust their energies. They do not learn non-born skills as quickly as the others, and they have minuses when practicing skills outside of their specialty, but they gain supernatural abilities not available to other crafters. The craftborn can sense each other. A player can be a craftborn hunter, a craftborn thief, a craftborn healer, a craftborn builder, etc.

Any crafter can study the skills within one of these three main areas

Nature: Nature skills involve wilderness survival, nature lore, tracking, hunting, animal training, etc.
Underworld: Underworld skills involve pickpocketing, setting and disarming traps, sneaking around, entering and escaping places, disguises, etc.
Civilization: Civilization skills involve engineering, alchemy, healing, mining, metal or woodworking, building, visual arts, etc.