Character Creation: An Overview of Character Classes

No one in Tirenia knows what a character class is. Most people define themselves and others based on what their job is, rather than how they do that job. In game terms, this means that a person's Background can be more important for their identity than their class. A 'barbarian' might be a brawling sailor, a fierce mercenary, or an incensed farmer fighting in a rebellion. While mechanically, all three of these people are identical, they would not see themselves as having anything in common. A preacher who can delivery powerful speeches and a nun with the gift of divine healing, on the other hand, are considered the same. While the one may be a Rogue and the other a Cleric, both have the Acolyte background.

Another thing to consider is that the typical person cannot tell the different types of magic apart. This is aided by the rhetoric of the Church. Divine magic is seen as miraculous, and a gift from the Sacred One or the Saints. It is considered to be good. Most other magic is considered frightening, dangerous, and potentially evil. And then there is the magic that is seen as just natural talent - such as a ranger casting Pass Without Trace, for example. While an academic who has studied magical theory may be able to differentiate them, it is easy for the layman, who never sees much magic in their life, to confuse wizards (who gain their power through study), druids (who learn magic through their harmony with the world), sorcerers (who inherit their magic) and warlocks (who make bargains for their magic). Labels like 'witch' act as a catch-all, and people may call a warlock a sorcerer or a druid a wizard - how can they know?

All in all, it is important to consider a character's class as how they get things done - but not to think of it as a straight-jacket. 

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Art: 'Saint Jerome in his Study.' Marinus van Reynerswale, c. 1540.

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