because this wont fit in questions on discord: [hider=Classes] Classes work as such: a mortal can be granted a [class] and can then, through doing actions and facing challenges related to that [class], gain levels in it. Gaining levels allows them to receive [skills] which allow them to do extraordinary things or become inherently more powerful. Concepts related to these are surrounded with square brackets ( such as [knight] [crescent slash] [proficiency: heavy armor] etc.) to help identify when the system is being used vs natural talent. A knight and a [knight], and a quick slash and a [quick slash] are two very different things when it comes to power level. To gain a class, a person must be considered to exemplify what it means to be that class by either an authority or their peers, followed by a small ceremony (the nature of which has no OOC requirement other than being thematic). Generally a class mainly propagates more of itself ([adventurers] making more [adventurous]), or lower level versions of itself (a [sword master] training a [swordsman]), with expectations sometimes being skills (such as an [emperor] having the skill [ennoble subordinate]), and, of course, gods (and to a lesser extent champions and heroes). A person is able to reject a class they do not desire (Level ups and class fusions can also be rejected), though once gained it cannot be lost without intervention of a higher power. [hider=examples] A god can anoint anyone as anything they want A [king] could knight [knights] That same [king] might be crowned by a [priest] A party of [adventurers] could welcome a new member into their fold A savior of a town may be declared a [hero] by the people they saved A guild of [merchants] might grant the class to anyone who can afford it A child may follow in their parent's footsteps and become a [farmer] A school of [wizards] may induct it's students as [student mages] [/hider] Note that a person class is not a static thing. An [adventurer] may find their class transforming into a [wandering mage] if they use magic for their adventuring, or even a [ranger], [battle seeker] or [questing knight]. Similarly a [king] may become a [tyrant], [arbiter king], [good king] etc. based on how they rule. A [warrior] will not however, be able to turn into a [mage] no matter how they try, though they may be able to become a [spell sword]. Generally the more specific and fancy a class’s name is, the better and higher level it will be. Finally, a person is in no way limited to one class and a person who is both a level 20 [witch] and a level 10 [general] is entirely possible. Classes can also fuse together, so the aforementioned individual could become a level 20 [warmaster witch] upon one of their level ups. The highest of the fused classes is taken for the new class rather than the combination of the two. This makes them have to level up to gain skills from level 20-30 quality, rather than jumping straight to gaining level 30 quality skills, but also means they will have more skills overall once they get there. [/hider] [hider=Leveling] Once a mortal has gained a [class] they can level in it by gaining experience in it. If a [farmer] existed, then they could gain experience by, well, farming. How much experience is gained is a complicated cross section of general difficulty of a task done, effort put into it, earning of prestige for doing it, and how dangerous it was. A [farmer] who tilled carrots in fertile soil and sold them to local peasants would level up slowly. A [farmer] who grew rare herbs in a barren mountain while fending off hungry gargoyles and became famous for selling their product at a high price to powerful kings and esteemed wizards meanwhile would level extremely quickly. Similarly, kill a wolf with only a wooden spear at level one and you’ll probably level up a few times. Do it at level 30 and it won't be worth much exp thanks to your double digit number of [skills] making the task much easier. As a shorthand, the more adversity experienced and the more impressive the task, the more experience gained. For simplicity, experience does not need to be tracked, only levels. Simply assume that each level takes a fair amount more than each one before it, and you’ll be fine. There is no level cap, but getting anywhere close to level 100 would result in a world-rocking titan of a mortal, who would need to do equally earth -shaking deeds easily to gain even a mote of experience. The difficulty of leveling up is shared between classes, so a mortal who is both a level 10 [mage] and a level 5 [fencer] would have the same difficulty at leveling up as a [fencer] as a level 15 [mage] would in their single class. Class fusions can mitigate this flaw, in this case by creating a level 10 [spell blade] [/hider] [hider=Skills] Leveling’s benefit is that gaining levels is accompanied by gaining [skills]. Generally these come around every few levels, either on their own or, more rarely in pairs or groups. [skills] can be all sorts of things. They can be active abilities with cool downs and/or energy costs associated, knowledge which lets people instantly learn how to do something, passive enhancements, periodic boons or even transformations [hider=Examples] [Perfect parry] - which lets a person automatically and expertly parry an attack that was going to hit them every 10 minutes. [fireball] - the spellcaster can launch balls of fire from their hands without doing the required book learning or meditating to learn how to do this the normal way. [triple thrust] - strike three times in one blow [high jump] - leap incredibly high (and don’t get hurt by the landing) [fast grow] - accelerate the growth of a set of plants [blueprint: ballistae] - knows how to build a ballistae without needing to understand the principles behind it [recipe: simplified health potion] - the user can make health potions with a few key ingredients missing certain ingredients, as the skill will fill in the gaps for them. [immunity: crossbow bolts] - crossbow bolts can't hurt the person [never dry inkwell] - ink will fill any pot the writer is using at a rate that ensures they can keep writing (but no faster) [nimble cat’s paws] - gain a cat’s paws for feet, and the stealth and athleticism to go with them [evolution: wyrm] - permanently turn into a powerful wyrm [proficiency: spears] - better at using spears [always available closet] - can summon and unsummon a closet (and it’s contents) at will [frozen fire] - all fire attacks now do cold damage [army: spoils of war] - enemies killed by your troops always seem to have more lootable equipment or belongings on them [/hider] Which [skills] a person gets depends on their class (they get relevant ones) and the level of the class that is leveling up (they get better ones). Which [skills] a person earns and when is not a rigid thing, and the leveling system will attempt to grant suitable ones for what the person is doing (so one warrior might gain [spear proficiency] at level 7, while another might gain [quick chop] at the same level). Skills gained at levels 10, 20, 30, etc. are generally more impactful and tend to define the person more than those between (this often lines up with their class evolving into a new form), with 50 in particular being a very big deal. Skills can change as a person levels, either upgrading to stronger versions ([lesser endurance] to [greater endurance]) or to a more specialized version during a class evolution ( a [mage] to [frost mage] transformation resulting in [water jet] -> [icy water jet]) which will generally be better, or at least more synergistic. [hider=example progression up to level 50] Level 1 [adventurer]: [forest traversal] Level 3 [adventurer]: [lesser endurance] Level 7 [adventurer]: [danger sense] Level 10 [spear elf]: [proficiency: spears] Level 12 [spear elf]: [lesser enhanced strength] Level 14 [spear elf]: [quick stab] Level 15 [spear elf]: [forest camouflage] Level 16 [spear elf]: [preferred foe: beasts] Level 20 [spear warrior]: [stand firm] [proficiency: heavy armor] Level 24 [spear warrior]: [extended reach] Level 25 [spear warrior]: [proficiency: shields] Level 26 [spear warrior]: [twin thrust] [the forest provides: sustenance] Level 27 [spear warrior]: [deer’s nimbleness] Level 28 [spear warrior]: [self mending shaft] Level 30 [forest sentinel]: [root spear-wall] [rooted stance] Level 31 [forest sentinel]: [bark armor] [featherweight shield] Level 33 [forest sentinel]: [javelin proficiency] Level 34 [forest sentinel]: [triple thrust] [unerring block] Level 36 [forest sentinel]: [instant pivot] [fleet footed] Level 38 [forest sentinel]: [the forest provides: javelins] [unerring aim] Level 40 [elven spear master]: [mastery: spears] [cavalry slayer] Level 41 [elven spear master]: [armor piercing spear tips] Level 43 [elven spear master]: [twirling defense] Level 45 [elven spear master]: [enhanced endurance] Level 47 [elven spear master]: [rain of thorns] Level 50 [Guardian of the Darkwoods]: [instant spear wall: vine men] [not one step back!] [evolution: dryad] [/hider] [/hider] [hider=the mortal experience] Mortals know which levels and skills they have because when they gain them a gender-less voice will informs them about them in their head during a moment of downtime (in such a way that a person won't be distracted by them during a moment of danger). Example: "[adventurer] is now level 10. Class evolution: level 10 [adventurer] -> level 10 [axe elf]. Skill transformation: [quick strike] -> [quick chop]. Skill gained: [axe proficiency]" After this has been read out, mortals can always remember their classes and skills with perfect clarity, and have at least a loose understanding of how to use them, though learning to use skills to their maximum potential is a talent of it's own. Using skills meanwhile generally involves calling your attacks for active abilities (an archer might say "[pin point shot]" before firing to activate their skill") while passive ones are always active. Not that saying the skill isn't actually mandatory, just assumed to be so by 99% of people (and it also makes it much easier to do), and it is also entirely possible to mimic saying a skill you don't have, either as a momentary bluff, or to pretend you have a class if you can pull it off naturally. Experience is not tracked by anything, but a person with a class can tell if their actions are generating it or not, though not how much. It is a mildly pleasant sensation. [/hider]