Classes
If background is where you came from, class is what you’ve
become. Classes are both mythic archetypes and frameworks
for your character’s advancement. You have your choice of
three: mage, rogue, and warrior. If you want a character who
can cast spells, play a mage. If you want a character who is
sneaky, play a rogue. If you want a character who can fight,
play a warrior.
The classes are quite broad by design. A rogue could equally
represent a thief with a penchant for burglary or a scout in a
mercenary company. Your class helps define what your character can do, but it’s up to you to interpret how those capabilities fit with your character concept.
Class Options
Class Descriptions
Each class determines certain key features of your character.
A class description includes the following elements:
Primary abilities: A class has three primary abilities. These are the abilities most important to the class and the ones used most often.
Secondary abilities: A class has five secondary abilities. These abilities are not as important as primary abilities but all can be useful in the right circumstances.
Starting health: Health is a measure of your character’s fitness and wellbeing. Class choice determines starting Health.
Weapon group: Your class determines the weapons your character knows how to use. Weapons are divided into groups and this entry
tells you which ones your character is trained in. For more information in weapons and weapon groups, see Chapter 4:
Weapons, Armor, & Gear.
Class powers: A class provides your character with a variety of special powers, such as ability focuses and talents. These powers are listed out by level in each class description.
Specializations
Your class also gives you access to more focused ability
groupings called specializations at levels 6 and 14. They
provide a way to focus your character and each unlocks a
new type of talent. All rogues are good at being sneaky, for
example, but you can become a master of stealth if you take
the Shadow specialization. Each class has several specializations to choose from. You can learn more about them in Chapter 3: Focuses, Talents, & Specializations.
Example
Kate must now pick her class. After reading the descriptions,
she goes with her first inclination and picks the
rogue class. Since most city elves in Thedas are poor, more
than a few turn to crime. Kate decides that her character
is going to buck that trend. She is going to take the rogue
class, but use it to represent a sort of elven freedom fighter.
Her character wants to liberate her people and give them
a new homeland. Fighting the power this way will require
stealth and that makes rogue a good match.
Your character starts at level 1, which means that they’re a
novice adventurer. As your character completes adventures
and gains experience points, they’ll go up in level and get
access to new powers. There are 20 levels total in the game,
with 1-5 roughly being “beginner” levels, 6-12 “middle”
levels, and 13 and up being “high” level.
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