“IT has always been my experience that the most successful people are those that do what they love, and love what they do.  Take my old adventuring comrade and very good friend, Dante Tealeaf, for example.  All he ever really wanted out of life was peace.  Of course, since his family was slain by goblins while he was yet a very young pech, it's only natural to my way of thought that he initially set out to discover peace by training as a ranger so that he could kill as many of the foul creatures as he bloody well could.

"It's only a matter of most peculiar happenstance that during our travels we met monks from the east, and their religion enamored him.  They preached pacifism, freedom from desire, and of course that inner peace that my friend was so direly wanting for.  True, Dante never did became a pacifist, and the sight of an orc still sends him into a murderous rage to this very day, but my point is, he loves what he does, and that is what's truly important."

                —Taryn Sianodel

                Scholar and Clergyman

                November 26, 1814 A.D.

Player Classes

There are fifteen basic classes in the Relative Entropy game, each of which falls into one of five general categories, based on the class's hit die.  The classes are as follows: the berserker (bsk), the knight (knt), the monk (mnk), the duelist (dul), the explorer (exp), the soldier (sol), the investigator (inv), the professional (pro), the thief (thf), the noble (nob), the priest (prs), the shaman (sha), the psychic (psy), the scientist (sci), and the wizard (wiz).  Each of these basic classes represents a character type available at 1st level.  There are also thirteen prestige classes that may be taken by most characters around 6th level; these will follow in Chapter Four.

Starting Feats: A character’s initial proficiencies are now expressed as a list of feats that a character receives for free at 1^st level.  When adding a new class through multiclassing, you receive all of your new class’s starting feats. 

Alignment Restrictions: None of the base classes have any alignment restrictions.  Berserkers, though they favor the free alignment, may be honorable; and monks and knights, though they tend towards honor, may be neutral or free anyway.  Shamans need not be neutral, and priests may hold any alignment that their particular religion or philosophy will allow them to get away with.

Spellcasting & Psionics: The magic & psionics systems in Relative Entropy are just different enough from the core rules to require special attention given to spellcasting classes.  The full details of the MP  (magic points) system for spellcasters and the unique psionic powers rules are given in Chapter Six: Opposing Forces.
 

Class Groups: The basic classes are divided into five groups of three each, based on the class's hit die (and certain other shared characteristics).  Unlike the class groups of the 2nd-edition AD&D game, these groups have little impact on the rules (it's still perfectly permissible to multiclass within groups, for example), with one important exception: prestige classes in this game become attainable based on the number of class levels earned in certain groups.  A character must have a total of 5 warrior levels before becoming a paladin or ranger, for example, while at least 3 roguish expert levels are needed to become a bard or ninja.

Heavy Warriors

Heavy warriors the game's "tanks", frontline fighters who excel at melee combat above all else.  Heavy warriors are often capable of soaking up a great deal of damage, thanks to their exceptional hit points, and the knight, in particular, is one of the best defensive classes available.  Monks are hands-down the best offensive option, with their impressive ability to make multiple, high-damage attacks with their bare hands.  Berserkers represent a good balance between offense and defense.  All heavy warrior classes roll d12s for hit dice and fight with the good attack and defense bonuses.  Constitution tends to be especially important to such characters, followed closely by Strength and Dexterity.

• Berserker

• Knight

• Monk

Light Warriors

Light warriors tend to be more versatile and intelligent fighters than the heavy variety, particularly those that emphasize mobility and ranged combat.  Make no mistake, though: these characters are still fighters, still tough-as-nails and more than capable of taking as much damage as they dish out.  Soldiers are the archetypical warriors, masters of all arms, armor, tactics and techniques.  Explorers are intrepid danger-seekers, skilled at avoiding damage, whatever the source.  Duelists are swashbuckling fencers capable of causing great damage with light melee weapons.  All light warriors roll 10-sided hit dice and use the good attack and defense bonuses.  Strength and Dexterity are the most important abilities to a light warrior, with Constitution being an important secondary consideration.

• Duelist

• Explorer

• Soldier

Roguish Experts

Roguish experts are characters who work best on their own, loners who master a broad variety of skills.  Any party can benefit from the addition of an expert's myriad useful abilities.  All expert characters roll d8s for hit dice and use the medium attack and defense bonuses.  They have high skill points and good Reflexes.  Roguish experts also rely most heavily on Dexterity, since it helps for any loner to be quick on one's feet.  The three basic expert classes include the investigator, who excels at gathering information from people and places that would conceal it; the professional, a versatile individual who can bring nearly any demanded skill to the table; and the thief, your best choice for burglary and backstabbing.
• Investigator
• Professional

• Thief

Divine Leaders

Divine leaders are able to influence people in large numbers, generally because the masses believe that the leader's influence is mandated from on-high.  Whether the character in question is a noble who banks on the Divine Right of Kings to justify his position, or a priest or shaman who represents an actual spiritual leader to a community of worshippers, Charisma (and for the spellcasters, Wisdom) is a must.  Divine leaders roll 6-sided hit dice (leaders can fight in a pinch, but it's best if they hang back behind tougher allies), use the medium attack and defense bonuses, and have good Will saves.  Their abilities center around healing, fortifying, or otherwise bolstering allies in fights and other dire situations, whether they use divine auras or white magic.

• Noble

• Priest

• Shaman
 

Arcane Scholars

The arcane scholar classes are, to a tee, learned bookworms.  They're not very useful on the front lines of a melee, but give them plenty of protection, and they can wreak havoc from a distance.  Regardless of whether they rely on natural science, black magic, or psionic power, scholar characters have an uncanny ability to deal lots of damage to lots of enemies, as well as to perform any number of useful, miscellaneous tasks with spell, artifact, or invention.  All arcane scholars roll d4s for hit dice and use the poor attack and defense bonuses; and they generally have good Will saves.  Arcane scholars, because of their emphasis on Intelligence, also tend to know things that other characters usually don't—hence, "arcane"—and knowledge, too, is power.

• Psychic

• Scientist

• Wizard

Back to Chapter II

Main Contents

Forward to Chapter IV