GW’s Guide to Classpect: Classes (Part 1)
Ok, so I feel I should apologize for the huge amount of information in the Aspect section, I promise that this one won’t be as complicated or overwhelming. Classes in general are a little less complex anyways, as they deal with a player’s typical method of influencing the universe, not the huge section of the universe they have purveyance of. Classes represent the Hero part of a heroic role. They symbolize certain character archetypes and the way that they change the world around them. Oh, that’s another thing. So, Sburb borrows elements, mechanics and tropes from multiple types of games, and the Classpect system is most heavily influenced by classic RPGs of both the video game and tabletop variety. Classes in Sburb work in much the same way that they do in something like D&D, but are more symbolically oriented.
Unlike the Aspects, there are actually more than twelve classes. However, these extra classes are rare exceptions, so I’ll be looking primarily at the twelve usual classes and skipping the alternate ones until the end. Each class is very different, but there are are a few constant factors in each one. The first is the active/passive alignment. Each class falls on one side of the line, with more active classes more directly influencing their aspect and, as an extension, influencing the game with their aspect. Passive classes, on the other hand, aren’t necessarily less involved, but are more concerned with being a conduit for their aspect to influence the session and team. A lot of people make the mistake of assuming that active = combat badass and passive = couch potato, but this is inaccurate. Sylphs, for example, are one of the most passive classes, but have a ludicrously high combat bonus in very specific situations. Mages, on the other hand, are on the active side, but usually end up more concerned with logistics and strategy than roasting baddies with a +5 Wand of the Lich. The important thing to remember is that active classes are generally more independent and effective in solo situations than passive players, who are more collaboration and effective in group settings. In other words, Active player are focused on affecting the session, passive players are focused on affecting the team.
The other part you’ll need to know about is the dichotomy divisions. There are three groups of four that make up the normal dichotomies, with two serving as the active and passive classes for one half of the concept, and the other two as the opposite. The groups consist of the Know/Change classes, the Create/Destroy classes, and the Allocate/Exploit classes. Counterparts and opposites within Dichotomies work… interestingly. See, it works… Well let me just try and show you.
Here’s a diagram of the Know/Change Dichotomy as an example of what a visual representation of the algorithms for division:
------------[Active] [Passive]
[--Know-] Mage / Seer
[Change] Witch / Heir
One interesting part of your Title involves your Inversion, or Shadow Role. Role Inversion is a complicated topic, so I’m not going to talk too much about it here. In short, inversion involves leaving your intended role behind and instead acting in the polar opposite of your role, both in terms of Class and Aspect. Finding the opposite of your aspect is easy; it's the other one in its pair. Classes are a little trickier. The opposite of one’s class is both your opposite on the passive/active scale AND the opposite dichotomy. So if you look at the chart above and want to find the opposite class of a Seer, which is the Passive Know class, you will need to look for the Active Change class, which is the Witch. Anyway, don’t think too much about inversion for now, this is just to help you understand the way that the class divisions work.
Ok, so with that as preliminary knowledge, let’s look at each class individually. Keep in mind that this is VERY bare bones, as the particulars of how each class does what it does are highly dependent on the Aspect itself. In this next section, I’ll go over the general meaning of the class, its archetypical themes, and its class specific special ability. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. In addition to all of the hybrid class/aspect powers you get as part of your combined title, each class also has a special Archetype benefit that is independant of your Aspect and is meant to help you work the roleplay system to your benefit.
KNOW/CHANGE
Starting off is the dichotomy I’m most familiar with, since I’m a Mage. The Know/Change group of classes is focused on the idea of knowledge versus action; understanding the world around you versus the ability to change it. The classes under this Dichotomy are the Mage, Seer, Witch and Heir.
=> Mage: Active Know
As the active knowledge class, the role of a Mage is twofold. First, they gain understanding of their aspect, and secondly, they utilize their knowledge to take action when it becomes necessary. This allows them to act powerfully in both a combat and support role as needed for the situation. Mages also tend to suffer from their Aspect, and must learn how to learn even from pain and use that to their advantage. The challenge of the Mage is to learn the application of knowledge.
-Archetype: The Prophet
Mages are representative of the wise guides and sages you see in many stories. Think characters like Gandalf or Merlin. They are usually characterized by their conviction and council. If a Mage isn’t directly in a leadership position, they will likely become an advisor or counselor to the leader. Mages aren’t fighters by nature, but if the situation demands it they can unleash their power in its most raw form.
-Special: Signs and Wonders
Mages are able to learn aspect manipulation abilities from a high level NPC consort commonly called “The High Priest,” who acts as the messenger or voice of an Aspect. Every land will have one, but they play a special role on the Mage’s land. Mages can perform certain knowledge quests to learn how to tap directly into their Aspect and manipulate it in a “miraculous” sort of way to punctuate the weight of their knowledge. This means that they are unobtainable to other classes and can be controlled without using a specific ability.
=> Seer: Passive Know
Seers are the passive knowledge class, whose role is to acquire understanding of their aspect, and grant it to others. Seers are a primarily support oriented role that often focus on the decision of whether or not to give out knowledge at a certain time. Seers often have trust issues, in that they will struggle with not trusting their own knowledge, or the information they receive from their aspect, or that others do not trust their council. The challenge of the Seer is to learn when to grant and when to withhold information.
-Archetype: The Oracle
Seers are the opposite of the Mage archetype. While the Mage is basically the guy wearing the cardboard “The End is Nigh!” sign and yelling at people on the corner to stockpile canned meats, the Seer is the wise oracle who lives in a cave that people come for miles to see, only to be given a smartass cryptic answer that will only help them at the last moment. Good Seers rarely offer their knowledge outright, rather their council must be sought out when it is needed.
-Special: Channeling Spirit
Seers have the ability to sense and perceive whenever their Aspect is in use by others and the game. When focusing on the essence of the Aspect, they are able to detect the usage of their Aspect throughout the entire Medium and able to understand how and where it's being used. They can sense whenever an NPC, another player, or even a scripted event is utilizing it. This allows them to keep a finger on the Aspect’s metaphorical pulse.
=> Witch: Active Change
The Witch is the active changing/transforming class. It is also female exclusive. Their role in a session is pretty simple; Witches are there to break the game. Witches are able to use misdirection and raw skill to change restrictions into assets for the team. Witches are one of the most active classes, and as such, they have a lot of high level game breaking abilities available to them as the game progresses. Witches often need to learn how to use this vast power responsibly. The challenge of the Witch is to learn when to change and break limitations and when not to.
-Archetype: The Magician
Witches are the most inherently versatile class in the game. Much like archetypal magic users, the Witch uses their abilities to break physics like other humans can’t. As such, they often come into conflict with authority figures who are less than thrilled at having their system challenged. While this rarely involves burning people at the stake, (although that has happened before, unfortunately,) it can cause problems with your Prospitian allies. Characters in classical literature like Circe or Morgana Le Fay are examples of a Witch-like archetype.
-Special: Sorcerous Familiar
At some point either before or during their session, Witches will end up having an animal, underling, or consort start to follow them around. If the Witch performs a specific “Familiar Quest” given to them by a magical NPC on their land, the creature in question will have multiple ability unlocks and become a full time companion that can perform a variety of different helpful things for their player. These can be anything, but often include helping with carrying items, alchemy, scouting, or retrieving quest objectives.
=> Heir: Passive Change
As the passive changing/transforming class, the key purpose of an Heir is to inspire change in their teammates. Heirs are a male exclusive class. They are key early game players that often serve in some form of leadership role until they are replaced or joined by another leader figure later in the game. Heirs bring change with their very presence, and usually have to do very little to stir up their Aspect in the team. Heirs are often subject to the whims of their Aspect, and must ultimately take charge of their destiny instead of letting their Aspect call the shots. The challenge of the Heir is to inspire change in their team through their own change and example.
-Archetype: The Chosen One
The Heir is basically every young adult novel protagonist ever. Heirs are representative of a destiny element that is often not what one would usually expect. They are often met with very little resistance early on, and as such, can be blindsided when things start to get really difficult. When I think of literary examples of this Archetype, the first one that comes to mind is Harry Potter. They have this great destiny ahead of them, have a lot of stuff just handed to them, and are revered as the Chosen One. But in order to live up to the hype, they will first have to learn how to use their newfound powers and actually take charge of their fate.
-Special: Legacy of the Gods
Heirs automatically receive many of their mid game abilities for free earlier in the game. That’s basically it. Not to say that it’s a weak ability though. On the contrary, it basically allows them to finish early game sections completely by themselves. This personal development is important for the mid and late game, where the passive inspiration aspect of the class becomes more prominent.
CREATE/DESTROY
This group is the most obvious of the dichotomies, and directly parallels the Space/Time dynamic. The Create/Destroy group of classes is focused on the idea of, well, creation versus destruction; the ability to bring things into being versus the capability to make those things cease to exist. The classes under this Dichotomy are the Maid, Sylph, Prince, and Bard.
=> Maid: Active Create
The Maid is the active creation/repair class, and is female exclusive. Maids are highly focused on imbuing their session with as much of their Aspect as they can, they’re veritable nexuses of raw power. This power emanates from them, and as such, Maids tend to be very tough. Due to their innate ability, Maids are one of the more passively behaving active classes. They tend to be overly unconcerned with themselves and often neglect their own needs. The challenge of the Maid is to become a source of creative power by focusing on their true self.
-Archetype: The Progenitor
There are too many different character types that Maids represent to accurately give one overall archetype. Maids are the weaponsmith, the healer, the gardener, the innkeeper, the faithful handmaiden or shieldmaiden; they are the creative forces that provide the heroes of the story with what they need by doing what they love. The Maid may seem like a simple side character at times, but they are the backbone of any powerful team.
-Special: Recycle Energy
As sources and generators of Aspect energy, Maids can re-absorb energy from game constructs or abilities they cast recently to re-energize their stamina and health. This also comes with the added benefit that any offensive abilities utilizing their Aspect will actually provide power and healing to them instead of damaging them.
=> Sylph: Passive Create
Sylphs are the female exclusive passive creator class. They are characterized by a high focus on repairing and strengthening their Aspect in others, as well as protecting it from them when necessary. Sylphs are highly oriented towards preserving unity in their team by any means available. This unfortunately means that Sylphs can end up being a bit meddlesome, sometimes sticking their nose in where it doesn’t belong and doing more harm than good. The challenge of the Sylph is learning how to maintain balance by building up and tearing down where needed.
-Archetype: The Sidhe
Sylphs are forces of nature, represented by legends and stories of the Fairy Folk. They are gentle caretakers of all things beautiful and good in the world. However, when those things they care for are threatened, they become capricious and dangerous, removing all that would harm the good. Sylphs are healers, but they are also surgeons capable cutting deep to remove all deadly threats.
-Special: Unseelie Wrath
Ever heard the phrase “Don’t piss off the healer?” Well, see… Sylphs have next to no combat related abilities, save for one. When a teammate is mortally harmed or a player turns on one of their own, the Sylph gains a massive buff to all combat and aspect abilities for a short duration, which is especially deadly against the enemy who did the harm. If you’ve pushed a Sylph to her limit or messed with her team, you are undoubtedly about to get curb stomped into gelatin.
=> Prince: Active Destroy
The active destroyer class, the Prince is male exclusive. Like the Sylph, their purpose focuses on balance, but ultimately with intent to overthrow and destroy the harmful or corrupt sides of their Aspect rather than heal the good. The Prince is a hugely powerful heavy hitter, able to wield their Aspect as a weapon against itself. This role can take a toll on the Prince, who may lose sight of the purpose for their class, and end up crusading against the whole Aspect, not just the bad parts. The challenge of the Prince is to deal out punishment to those that misuse their Aspect while still appreciating its value.
-Archetype: The Executioner
Princes are tragic figures more than anything else. Though the name may suggest otherwise, the Prince is not supposed to be charming or well loved by their people. They are often loners due to their sometimes less than savory nature. Princes have difficult, thankless, and ultimately necessary jobs. Examples from literature that come to mind when thinking about Princes are characters like Macbeth or Mordred, as they are revolutionaries that capitalized on the weakness of the system to overthrow and rule.
-Special: Royal Usurper
The Prince’s special is twofold, they have a high defensive buff against lower level monsters, and also a very high offensive buff against high level underlings and enemies. Princes are able to deal out some incredibly strong damage to Carapacian royals and agents. This allows them to be incredibly effective in the final battle with the Black King, or when dealing with an Ascended Agent (If you don’t know what that is, be glad. It’s not pretty.)
=> Bard: Passive Destroy
Bards are the passive destroyer class. Bards are also male exclusive. The primary function of a Bard is to inspire the destruction of their Aspect in others. Bards are the buzzards of Sburb; they are tasked with removing excess of an Aspect from their team and session. Bards are… kind of scary. They are usually unpredictable and difficult to control, and are just as good at using their more subtle forms of destruction to sow chaos as they are to restore order. Because of this, Bards will often deviate towards abusing their powers and sometimes have to be reigned in by their teammates. The challenge of the Bard is to ensure purity and quality through their acts of destruction instead of giving in to wanton desolation.
-Archetype: The Jester
Bards are first and foremost represented by critics; they are based around the idea that mockery and the invitation of destruction, when applied correctly, is ultimately beneficial for the Aspect. By drawing attention to unwanted areas, the Bard is able to effectively target and eliminate weakness that would otherwise be detrimental. Thus, by acting as the fool and calling out foolishness, they are able to bring out better parts of the Aspect, and sustain a level of moderation and quality.
-Special: Roast Enemy
All of the Bard’s taunts and damaging abilities reduce the protection of targeted enemies. In addition, if applied to a single target, the ability will also buff allied damage towards the targeted enemy.This ability allows the Bard to sit back and watch enemies crumple beneath their team’s attacks. In short, this basically allows Bards to heckle their enemies to death, which is a bit weird but also pretty cool I think.
(Goddammit, its still too long. Ok, well, here’s Part 2. My bad.)
