Back in the Gold Box days, we used the AD&D system, and Classes were pretty simple and familiar to a lot of our audience (Fighter, Mage, Thief are pretty archetypal). With Seven Dragon Saga, we are starting with a pool of abilities and parceling them out into Classes and Specialties with clear concepts. I'll go over the highlights of each Class we've devised, but not list every ability and rank. As noted earlier, we are in development, so details may change and which of these make initial release is still to be determined.

About half the starting ability points come from the Classes and really set the theme of the character, so they are the combat anchor for the remaining aspects: Race and Specialty.

Legionnaire. Veterans from light units of the empire's many wars. Aware of the battlefield, and, with shield guard ability, can further reduce damage from opponents. Shield and light armor make this the hardest Class to hit. Push survival higher with the Defensive Specialty, adding deflection and luck. Or go with the Noble Specialty, for added Hit Points, some useful skills, and the ability to add Leadership bonuses to the rest of the party.

Knight. Specialist of heavy infantry units. Higher overall statistics, especially strength, extra hit points and two-handed weapon abilities. Excellent for the front lines with staying power and multiple targets, or add a speciality with extra movement, such as Fast, and send him as a missile into the heart of the enemy.

Scout. What makes the Scout unique is a very high stealth skill, and Shadowmaster, the ability to turn invisible. Scouts excel at flanking or getting behind opponents before they realize they are even there. Often sent to spot the enemy, remove pickets and guide others. Their Sniper ability improves bow use. A natural choice to add the Rogue Specialty to, and create the sneak thief. Nature Scouts become invisible casters, making them major threats.

Wizard. The classic spell slinger, and only class that can cast spells from multiple elements. Has 2nd level spells from all elements available at the start. Also has a host of knowledge skills for understanding the occult, and strange artifacts. Combine with an elemental Specialty to access up to 4th level spells, or gain more utility with a less mystical choice.

Pitfighter. Recruited, honestly or not, to perform in the pits to entertain the nobility, and the masses. Lots of hit points, aware of the battlefield, extra attack once per encounter. Good with the Fast Specialty to apply their damage to any target in the area.

Archer. An excellent sniper or deadly assassin, with massive range, ability to cover fire, and able to fall back on blades if he's pinned down. This is a damage output class, and could improve this further with the Deadly Specialty, or he could choose an elemental Specialty just to get at the spell which converts his damage to that element (fire arrows!).

Wraith Hunter. The empire has a strong dislike for the undead, and the hunters are specialized at eradicating them; somewhat similar to the D&D Paladins, without the religious link. Good hit points, strength, awareness of the battlefield, complements additional defense and the ability to Harm the undead. Increase Harm and add in Heal by matching with the Priestly Specialty. Select Death Element Specialty and add Necromantic spells to further control and destroy undead.

Soultender. A solid fighter, often using the spear to extend reach, a selfish Soultender is a hard character to bring down with her abilities to restore her own hit points. Keeping folks alive during battle is a major task, and the Healer has the two major abilities for that: Heal and Rejuvenation. Also, Physician skill for more mundane injuries, better recovery of party Fatigue and Trauma. Combine with Priestly for very high healing, some harm undead, or Nature Element to mimic a druid.

Edwin will provide more of the lore for the Classes, but you may note the number of military oriented Classes reflects the empire's martial roots. I’ll be sharing an Update on Specialties soon.
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