Chapter III
Player-Character Classes
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Most people are content with an ordinary life. Satisfied with a simple occupation and little excitement, preferring that deeds of derring-do and fabulous places and dragon hoards remain mere tales to pass long winter nights. Adventurers are that rare breed of extraordinary folk who are driven by an unquenchable wanderlust, a thirst for glory, excitement and plunder. Be their motivations virtuous or selfish, they are heroes; compelled to explore the far reaches and dark crevices of the World and face challenges against which lesser men would cower or break.
Adventuring requires certain skills, certain aptitudes and predispositions cultivating over one’s lifetime prior to answering the call of wanderlust. No adventurer possesses every possible expertise, instead each specialises in a certain set of skills. It is these various sets of skills which define player character classes. Class is the primary definition of what your character can do. It is your profession, what your character has worked and trained at during his younger years.
There are ten player character classes in Marcherlands, each archetypical exemplars of heroism broadly applicable in most fantastic worlds. For convenience, these ten classes are organised into four groups; warriors, mages, priests and rogues. All classes within a group share the same basic set of skills and the save hit die. These four groups are further elaborated below:
Warriors
The warrior group encompasses those classes which wend their way primarily by skill at arms; fighters, paladins, rangers, and barbarians. All warriors are defined by their martial abilities, having trained most their lives for combat. All warriors gain 1d8 hit points per level.
Priests
All classes of the priest group are devout believers in and advocators of a god or gods of a particular mythos. As reward for their piety and so as to better act as the hands of the divine, priests are blessed with the power of divine magic. In addition to magic, priests are trained to use weaponry in the fight for their cause, though not to the same standard as warriors. The priest group encompasses clerics and druids. All priests gain 1d6 hit points per level.
Rogues
Members of the rogue roup are prone to be rakes, scoundrels, and all other manner of low-lifes and bums. Such an ill reputation is not true of all rogues, but even the noblest are still often loath to authority. Rogues are jacks-of-all-trades who employ a variety of skills across a variety of fields honest and criminal. The rogue group encompasses rogues and bards. All rogues gain 1d6 hit points per level.
Mages
The mage group encompasses those classes which devote themselves to the study and harnessing of magic. Mages are masters of the esoteric energies of the Universe; spending their lives in pursuit of arcane wisdom, they have little skill in physical combat, but compensate with their clever sorcery. The mage group encompasses wizards. All mages gain 1d4 hit points per level.
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