Mortalis Starting
Character Classes
Classes in Mortalis should not be seen as a straightjacket,
but rather as a starting point. They do
not limit the skills a character may have, but rather indicate a shared set of
professional skills the character has in addition to the skills the
player chooses which makes that character unique.
v Veterans:
There is very substantial variation between the Veterans based on national
origin. All of the Veteran classes
signify an individual who has completed a full tour of active military service
in one of the major armies of Mortalis.
That means that a Veteran character has already seen battle before, most
likely in the Great War.
Ø Imperial
Veteran
§
Available Nationalities: Imperial (Western, Northern,
Central or Eastern)
§
Heavy infantry soldier trained to fight in dense
formations of heavy infantry. Wears
specialized half-plate into battle, and utilizes a rectangular tower shield and
a sverdstaff as primary weapons.
Broadsword serves as secondary weapon.
Emphasis is on defense and survivability.
§
Possesses Imperial citizenship
Ø Sek
Army Veteran
§
Available Nationalities: Sektamish
§
Medium infantry soldier, trained to fight in dense
formations of medium infantry. Wears
lamellar armor. Is either trained in
the use of a longsword and a tapering triangular tower shield, or the use of a
composite longbow with the above longsword as a backup weapon. Highly adaptable, middle-of-the-road style,
with both longer range and melee options.
§
Fairly capable on horseback. Possesses Sek citizenship.
Ø Sek
Marine Veteran
§
Available Nationalities: Sektamish, Islander
§
Medium infantry soldier, trained to fight on ship. Wears water-resistant boiled-leather and
lamellar armor. Trained in the use of a
longsword and a small round-shield, as well as the use of a water-resistant
shortbow. Highly adaptable,
light-of-middle soldier, specialized for shipboard fights.
§
Possesses Sek citizenship.
Ø Kataree
Noble Veteran
§
Available Nationalities: Kataree
§
Light-to-medium horse-skirmisher, trained to fight in
highly mobile cavalry engagements.
Wears light boiled-leather armor.
Trained in the use of a scimitar and composite short-bow designed for
horseback. Light ranged and skirmish
fighter. Not generally trained to fight
as part of a team.
§
Very capable on horseback. Bow does not function in wet conditions.
Ø Lesser
Feudal Knight Veteran
§
Available Nationalities: Feudal States (North, South,
Mid-Coastal)
§
Heavy infantry warrior trained to fight in ringmail
(and heavier) armor, utilizing a range of weapons, both on foot and on
horseback. Weapons and armor tend
towards personalized and customized pieces of varying quality. Heavy infantry shock troops, with emphasis
on lethality and survivability over group tactics, maneuverability, or
discipline.
§
Fairly capable on horseback.
v Mages:
Mages posses a wide range of specialties and specializations. As a rule, all mages are highly
educated. However, mages are also often
suspected and distrusted, due to their eccentric and erratic nature.
Ø Mercantile
Mage
§
Available Nationalities: Imperial, Sek, Islander
§
Mercantile mages are some of the most common sorts of
mages, who specialize in whatever magic can be done for profit. Common specialties include enchantments of
all sorts (but not generally potions), telekinetic and pyrokinetic abilities
with industrial applications.
§
Mercantile Mages are extraordinarily flexible and can
perform almost any spell, given sufficient time and resources. However, they are the master of no ability,
and are rarely able to produce any effect in a short period of time (less than
10 minutes).
Ø Hedge
Mage
§
Available Nationalities: Imperial, Islander, Feudal
§
Hedge Mages are the Mercantile Mages of small towns and
the rural countryside. They are less
schooled than their urban counterparts, but possess a wider range of practical
skills. Hedge Mages rarely possess any
specialization, but often practice in a range of enchantment, healing,
agricultural aids, potion-making and other miscellaneous skills.
§
Hedge Mages are even less specialized than the
Mercantile Mage, but make up for it with a wider range of practical knowledge,
especially local knowledge of flora, fauna and culture. They also almost always possess more
practical social skills than Mercantile Mages.
§
It is worth noting that upwards of 85% of the people of
Mortalis live in the rural countryside.
For that 85%, a Hedge Mage is far more useful than his more respectable
counterparts.
Ø Healer
§
Available Nationalities: Imperial, Sek, Islander,
Feudal
§
Healers focus on a combination of practical medicine
and magical healing, in lieu of potions or pre-made enchantments. Healers are frequently, but not always
members of religious orders. A skilled
healer can close sword wounds in minutes, stop fatal amounts of blood loss, and
enable the patient to fight off diseases.
§
Initially possesses only one offensive spell, Smite,
which can disable, but not kill.
Ø Apothecary
§
Available Nationalities: Imperial, Sek, Islander,
Feudal
§
Apothecaries focus on potions and detailed medical
knowledge over magical healing. Potions
must be made ahead of time, but are potentially more potent and far quicker
than the use of magic in the field.
Anything a healer can do, a skilled Apothecary can replicate with a
potion, however this requires preparation.
§
Initially possesses only one offensive spell, Smite,
which can disable, but not kill.
Ø Kataree
Priest-Mage
Ø Elven
Lightcaster
Ø Sek
Battlemage Dropout
§
Available Nationalities: Sek
§
The Battlemages are a unit of specially trained mages
in the army of Sektamish. They focus
all of their studies on using magic to deliver lethal force to the enemy. They posses significant weapons training as
well.
§
May wear specialized half-plate without any casting
penalties.
§
May choose 1-3 (based on mage-skill) spells which deal
potentially lethal harm to an enemy as rotes.
These spells may be cast as single-round attacks.
§
Has very few freebie points.
Ø Imperial
Assassin
§
Available Nationalities: Imperial
§
The Assassins are the Empire’s answer to the
battlemages. Trained in infiltration,
subterfuge and stealth, the assassin learns few spells, but those he does know,
he knows well. Assassins fight in light
armor, with short blades, relying on speed and stealth over brute force.
§
Assassins receive “There and Back Again” which allows
them once per scene, as a single round action to teleport to the location of a
visible opponent, make a single surprise attack with their melee weapon, and
then teleport back to their original location.
§
Assassins specialize in Blinking (short-range
teleports) and information-gathering magics (scrying, telepathy, clairvoyance).
§
Has very few freebie points.
v Pirates/Sailors
Ø Available
Nationalities: Any.
Ø Pirates
allow for a great deal of character customization, paired with very low social
status.
Ø Pirates
typically prefer light weapons and armor and are barely literate if at all.
Ø Must
take Sailing.
v Gentlemen
Adventurers
Ø Available
Nationalities: Any
Ø The
Gentleman (or Gentlewoman) adventurer allows for a great deal of character
customization, paired with high social status.
Ø Gentleman
Adventuers prefer light weapons and unarmored fighting styles.
Ø Must
take points in Ride, Academics, Linguistics, Resources, Status, and
Connections.