Classes

[Cariannis]

They are preparing five classes right?

 

What about something like the kit system in BG2 along with Shadowrun skill-based system. Say everyone can see the weapon or tools or non combat skills but the classes would have less points needed to learn those skills?

 

Classes could be like this with the kits

 

Fighter

Berserker

Warrior

Samurai

Monk

Musketeer

 

Rogue

Thief

Assassin

Ninja

Gunslinger

Spy

 

Caster

Mage

Healer

Temple Scholar*

Guncaster*

Illusionist

 

Ranger

Scout

Bounty Hunter

Archer

Sniper

Animal Tamer

 

Tech Specialist

Engineer

Demolitionists

Gun Inventor

Renaissance Specialist

Armour

 

Those are all the ones I could come up with off the top of my head. I added the gun classes since it looks like there well be guns in the setting. Tried to have one gun kit for each class.

 

Edit: Added last ranger kits. Moved the Scout down to Ranger class. Added Spy for Rogue.

Edited September 18, 2012 by Cariannis

[IrishLuigi]

For me, it would be awesome if it was possible to create a high-level character who uses only hand-to-hand combat, like a Monk. That'd fall under the Fighter class, I assume.

Edited September 18, 2012 by IrishLuigi

[Entropious]

However, if anything demonic and/or related to dark magic would be introduced, I would be highly against such classes be brought into a "high fantasy" setting. On the other hand, if the product moves more towards the "dark fantasy" genre, I would be all for it.

[Darkpriest]

Not sure if thar be another thread, but here goes: If PE reaches the 1.8 million dollar goal, what do you think the six playable classes in the game should or might be? Obviously it's Obsidian's design choice but that doesn't stop speculations.

 

I'll start off with the traditional ones:

Fighter (different subclasses)

Mage (different subclasses)

Priest / Cleric

Thief / Rogue

Monk

Bard

Ranger / Scout

 

There - fixed

[Shadenuat]

I would like classes to be connected to the world around them somehow, if that's possible. Like a Paladin in AD&D with his strict alighment, specific roleplay, ablity to find mount and use "holy" weapons, get followers and orders from the Church, and an option of failure to "the Dark Side". Class restrictions without spicing things with roleplaying are only half fun.

[PsychoBlonde]

I'm hoping it isn't quite that generic. Or at least from there it builds in complexity.

 

I'd like to see classes that combine features from the "traditional" classes. How about:

 

Guardian (Tank + Party Buffs + heals over time)

Earthwalker (Summoner + Debuffer + largest single-target heals)

Arcanist (AOE damage + locks/traps)

Skirmisher (Single target combat damage + single target debuffs + single target crowd control)

Dreamer (Mass crowd control + Damage over time + instant-death)

Ambusher (fast movement + stealth + fastest attacks)

[Kargos]

Classes based directly on the lore and setting of the area that we'll be adventuring around in would be interesting to see, but could limit character customization depending on how they are done. Generic classes with specializations to go into might be better to go with in that regard.

 

If there's a Ranger class I'll be happy, since that's what I usually end up playing as.

[eimatshya]

Well, this is probably too detailed for the scope of this game, but here is tentative list of the classes I would like to see, each with its specializations/subclasses listed below it (although the specifics could change once we learn more about how magic works in the game):

 

Warrior - Relies on martial techniques (possibly enhanced by magic if all player classes use magic). The Warrior subclasses/specializations would be:

• Knight - Uses heavy armor to mitigate damage
  
• Auxiliary - Uses light armor (focuses on avoiding rather than mitigating damage)
  
• Archer - Uses bows and crossbows
  

Mage - Relies on magic in combat

• Necromancer - uses death magic to harm or heal
  
• Animist - communes with spirits and manipulates spirit energy; can heal
  
• Elementalist - harnesses the power of the elements
  
• Sorcerer - affects the minds of others with his magic (can hypnotizes/dominate enemies, put people to sleep, or drive them mad)
  

Rogue - relies on stealth and trickery to debilitate or incapacitate foes

• Thief - can hinder foes through an assortment of dirty tricks; can steal items
  
• Assassin - uses precise strikes to vital points to quickly fell adversaries; can make poisons
  
• Ranger - lives in the wild places and uses traps and ranged attacks to overcome enemies; can make curative poultices
  

Templar - A character who mixes martial and magical techniques in combat

• Holy Knight - a paladin who uses martial might to slay adversaries and white magic to heal the wounded
  
• Hell Knight - the Holy Knight's dark mirror; uses martial might to devastate foes and black magic to siphon life from one being to another
  
• Berserker - Draws spirits of war into him/herself to attain a state of singleminded fury wherein he/she becomes a killing machine who is almost immune to pain or injury
  
• Warden - A fighter who can use nature magic and can take the form of various animals
  

Alchemist - A character who uses a mix of magic and technology (e.g. bombs, guns, potions, mutagens)

• Chemist - Can create bombs and potions for any situation
  
• Witch - Ingests mutagens to temporarily gain superhuman martial abilities in combat
  
• Artificer - Designs and uses contraptions that employ a mix of magic and technology to give the Artificer and edge in battle (think of the tech skills in Arcanum; the artificer can forge guns and things like the Chapeau of Magnetic Inversion)
  

[sesobebo]

considering that magic is supposed to be tied to one's soul, non-standard forms of magic could manifest to benefit traditionally non-magic classes:

 

warriors ritually enchanting their weapons, or enhancing themselves with bodypaintings or tatoos,

tinkers finding life in mechanical contraptions,

bards generally imbuing everyones abilities (because bards are awesome like that),

assassins or other very skilled killers being better at mending combat wounds, etc.

[Gazoinks]

I'm hoping it isn't quite that generic. Or at least from there it builds in complexity.

 

I'd like to see classes that combine features from the "traditional" classes. How about:

 

Guardian (Tank + Party Buffs + heals over time)

Earthwalker (Summoner + Debuffer + largest single-target heals)

Arcanist (AOE damage + locks/traps)

Skirmisher (Single target combat damage + single target debuffs + single target crowd control)

Dreamer (Mass crowd control + Damage over time + instant-death)

Ambusher (fast movement + stealth + fastest attacks)

That's a good idea. I could see them moving in this direction.

[Morten]

I actually didn't like having to plan my character out in advance just so I would know exactly when to change classes and what points to put where. It just seemed unnatural though I know people that love this aspect of D&D.

Edited September 18, 2012 by Morten

[BasaltineBadger]

Perhaps we could roll cleric and monk together and get western cleric who fights bare handed because his magic/philosophy doesn't allow him to use weapons.

[Elerond]

Melee fighter (Fighter, Soldier, Paladin, Gladiator)

Ranged fighter (Ranger, Archer, Hunter, Sniper)

Magic user (Mage, Cleric, Druid, Sorceress, Wild Mage, Necromancer)

Shadow class (Roque, Thief, Assassin)

Entertainer (Bard, Jester, Blade, Joker)

Evil class (Witch hunter, Inquisitor)

Exotic class(Witch, Inventor, Gypsy)

Melee fighter (Fighter=Soldier)

Ranged fighter (Ranger= Hunter)

Magic user (Mage=Wild Mage=Necromancer)

Shadow class (Roque=Thief)

Entertainer (Jester=Joker)

Evil class (Witch hunter=Inquisitor)

Exotic class(Witch=Gypsy)

 

Could you please elaborate on the differences?

 

Fighter is some one who knows how to fight where soldier has military background. There is not much difference.

Ranger is more like guard for the forrest who seeks poachers, where hunter is one who really hunts animals.

Mage is classical magic user who uses all magic what there is, Wild mage uses unbalanced magic which results you can't always tell and necromancer is one who is specialized only to necromantic magic.

Roque is one who ambushes people on the road, where thief is one who steals people pockets on city streets.

Jester and Joker are same, but sometimes joker is used to descript darker version of jester.

Witch hunter is one whos proffession is find witches and report them to inquisition. Where inquisitor is faith cleaner who looks every body who don't follow faith 'correctly'

Witch is herbalistic magic user where gypsy is traveller and fortuneteller/clairvoyant.

 

My idea was use those archetypes and in parenthesis I wrote some examples which could be name for that archetype class in game.

[Ashram]

They are preparing five classes right?

 

What about something like the kit system in BG2 along with Shadowrun skill-based system. Say everyone can see the weapon or tools or non combat skills but the classes would have less points needed to learn those skills?

 

Classes could be like this with the kits

 

Fighter

Berserker

Warrior

Samurai

Monk

Musketeer

 

Rogue

Thief

Assassin

Ninja

Gunslinger

Spy

 

Caster

Mage

Healer

Temple Scholar*

Guncaster*

Illusionist

 

Ranger

Scout

Bounty Hunter

Archer

Sniper

Animal Tamer

 

Tech Specialist

Engineer

Demolitionists

Gun Inventor

Renaissance Specialist

Armour

 

Those are all the ones I could come up with off the top of my head. I added the gun classes since it looks like there well be guns in the setting. Tried to have one gun kit for each class.

 

Edit: Added last ranger kits. Moved the Scout down to Ranger class. Added Spy for Rogue.

 

I like this idea...kind of goes a bit with what I was saying I enjoyed about the tabletop Star Wars SAGA RPG. There were flaws I know, but I liked the freedom to multiclass, where your class didn't really define you. It was the combination of classes, feats, and talents that you could use to make unique characters.

[Entropious]

Most importantly, however, I wish for the classes to be directly tied in with the fluff. Having a warrior class just because "there has to be a warrior in a fantasy setting" does not, in my opinion, cut the cake.

[Oner]

I'm having a hard time deciding what kind/how I'd like to see classes designed.

On one hand, personally I prefer to be part of a world instead of being taken out and treated special (which is one of the reasons I dislike epic fanttasy, Bioware, and favor classes with more lore). That supernatural phenomenon you witness would be a nice excuse though to make the classes rooted in the world, but still a bit mroe special, if that's what Obs wants to go for. Like in one thread someone mentioned Temporal Wardens. Your warrior walks around, minding his business, then WHOAH and suddenly he can warp time.

On the other hand, I'm really digging how Guild Wars 2 made it so every/most classes can go DPS/tank/support and wouldn't mind if we could do the same in PE. A support warrior lets out a fearsome battle cry, sending weaker enemies running, so the group has a few seconds to soften up/take out the big guy. (Plus this way you could avoid making say, charisma a dump stat for warriors.)

 

One thing I definitely would like to see though would be different playstyles in classes. A fighter doesn't have to a generic guy with high to-hit ratio and a big health pool. How about a sniper who hides and sets traps? Maybe a guy who buffs himself with spells or curses enemies.

Hm, I don't think I would mind if classes were grouped into more general archetypes (martial, caster, etc) and your char would be as fighty or thiefy as you design him to be.

 

Also, PRETTY PLEASE, psychics. I don't care if mage type or jedi/monk/Shadowrun adept, just throw me a bone here. Not the "looks like a mage, smells like a mage, tastes like a mage, but is called psyker" kind. A proper mind-over-matter, reality warping guy who is treated both ingame and lore like a PSYCHIC.

[IrishLuigi]

Perhaps we could roll cleric and monk together and get western cleric who fights bare handed because his magic/philosophy doesn't allow him to use weapons.

Both 'cleric' and 'monk' are religious people, so it seems quite possible for them to be combined, although I think it'd sound better if they use either 'Monk' or 'Cleric' instead of an attempt at combining the names too.

[Gelp]

Physical Adept:

 

a maic user (it sounded like many characters were going to do this, what with all the soul stuff) who uses his magic to make himself more physically powerful. So your sword is the size of cloud's? That's okay, 'cause you can now bench press a small car. You can also take a bullet to the face.

[Romiras]

Well, it seems classes are in.

 

I prefer the skill-based (no classes) systems myself, but I won't be too disappointed in case there will be an opportunity to create good fighter with high Intelligence (or Charisma) to do the talking.

 

What I'm trying to say - the main goal is to have a balanced and flexible system, which allows to create and play character I want. The rest are details )

 

In my case the ideal class would be something like Fencer - a sell sword used as a bodyguard.

[Kilroy_Was_Here]

I would like to see some kind of kensai-type class that wields a weapon that is the physical embodiment of their soul. And with the right skill you can change it between sword/axe/spear/gun etc. Some cool animations and sound effects to accompany the transformation would be cool.

[Romiras]

Btw - in case there will be firearms in the game - OF COURSE there should be a Gunslinger!!!

[Amentep]

I hope that cleric is going to be a mage specializing in healing magic and buffs instead of DnD "inspired" priest with wearing heavy armor and fighting with blunt weapons.

 

My preference would be that cleric or monk is a profession and not a class.

 

Thus you'd have no need of a paladin or a cleric class, you'd have a a fighter or a mage who worked for a church.

 

But this assumes the game would have professions, so...

[aluminiumtrioxid]

I don't know... 6-7 classes seem redundant to me. If you have so many options at the beginning, it's unlikely to have kits, too. I'm fairly sure we'll have two different kinds of fighters (ranged/melee or tank/DPS oriented), a rogue-type class, and two kinds of spellcasters (definitely not the healer/DPS division... perhaps one oriented towards summoning, and the other one towards damage?). And maybe a gadgeteer (including alchemist and gunslinger archetypes) and a psionic. Hard to tell.

 

What I'd like to see is that every class makes use of every ability. Eg. a warrior with high perception, intelligence and charisma can use his/her tactical mastery, leadership and ability to analyze the situation on the battlefield to buff companions. An intelligent rogue could be ideal for setting traps/creating poisons; one with high charisma could have a lot of combat abilities based on misdirection, feinting and bluffing; high strength would allow for a more direct, ruffian-like character (perhaps wielding a club, instead of getting extra damage multiplier with backstabbing, you could stun opponents; or have a specialized "dirty fighting"-style focused on weakening opponents).

A mage with high strength and constitution could be more like an eldritch knight or witch-hunter, using his/her own magic to cancel the enemy's.

 

And that's my problem with 6-7 classes: you either have very wide archetypes which can encompass very different kinds of characters, or create a different class for each subtype. That number seems either too many or too less. (It could be circumvented, however, by having free skill selection and using classes as themes - e.g. you could have a nature-oriented character, and become like a druid if you pick up spellcasting, or a ranger if you specialize towards stealth, etc.; or the whole thought experiment is moot, if they are something completely different - which I find rather unlikely, since PE is said to be a world of unique little twists on familiar archetypes, not of completely new ones.)