Question about classes

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    • Question about classes

      So, I just got the book (yay! I haven't put it down all day! except when my mom took it from me while we were at my aunt's house) and for the life of me, I cannot find anything about classes (warrior, cleric, mage, thief etc. etc). I can find some information about professions, which give you different skills and such that relate to the profession, but nothing about weapon proficiencies, or classes, or what class can use what weapons/armor.

      I want to say it was meant to be like this, less meta-gaming more fun-gaming, but part of me wants the classes, the regulation to what you can do. I don't want my players to be a mage wielding a warhammer and in heavy armor.
    • In one of the biggest systems - BRP - there are no classes, either. Fun is great if ya know BasicRoleplaying and its children - Runequest, LEGEND.
      Settings with proffessions are more rigid. Independent creation of character is IMO more attractive.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Mruf ().

    • Originally posted by Mruf
      In one of the biggest systems - BRP - there are no classes, either. Fun is great if ya now BasicRoleplaying and its children - Runequest, LEGEND.
      Settings with proffessions are more rigid. Independent creation of character is IMO more attractive.


      I'm not denying that, sometimes it is just more fun, so long as the entire party is up for it. But with my players, and their insatiable love for meta-gaming, I feel like this might be very bad.
    • Originally posted by Mruf
      Certainly you're right, it can be a problem 4 some players. There is only a shard (Oh yeah!) of professions in the setting. :)


      Alright, I guess I'll have to make some restrictions myself. I don't want these fools to all be tanky mages wielding two-handed swords that they enchanted themselves.
    • I've got such a problem with my fellows in GURPS. We play Conan and hole team has maximised defences :) Other characteristics aren't perfected at all.
      In Shard I shall supervise their characters.

      The post was edited 1 time, last by Mruf ().

    • Originally posted by Mruf
      I've got such a problem with my fellows in GURPS. We play Conan and hole team has maximised defences :) Other characteristics aren't perfected at all.
      In Shard I shall supervise their characters.


      Trust me, your friends are NOTHING like mine. If I don't regulate what they can do, I shudder to think what it'd be like. I wish I could trust them to be mature about what they do... but even with the standard D&D rules, they still manage to make crazy characters that aren't even funny to anyone but them.
    • I'll try to give you an advice, if ya enable. I've had such a problems in the past, especially with one guy. We're 30-40 years and don't want to nurture... bratty (good word?) fellow. What did I do? I did not invite him on our weekend sessions. That's all. The only solution. When we leave our families (once a month for a whole week) we need to be a bit serious. Stupidity and fun are limited :))

      The post was edited 3 times, last by Mruf ().

    • Originally posted by Mruf
      I'll try to give you an advice, if ya enable. I've had such a problems in the past, especially with one guy. We're 30-40 years and don't want to nurture... bratty (good word?) fellow. What did I do? I did not invite him on our weekend sessions. That's all. The only solution. When we leave our families (once a month for a hole week) we need to be a bit serious. Stupidity and fun are limited :))


      Alright, I guess its worth a shot. Biggest problem would be finding someone else's house to play at... the biggest "offender" is the only one with a house available often enough to play.
    • Hey there! Welcome to the Forums Tracker3!

      As Mruf mentioned, Shard is indeed a "classless" system, in that the only restrictions for the types of things your character can do are based entirely on the Character Points you have to spend when you create it...

      As you discovered, there are Professions which outline the typical Skills associated with them (and their cost),...and it is possible to tailor-make your character by hand-picking which Skill you want to be associated with them.... You can even decide to stray from what the Profession Template suggests if you'd prefer your character to be different from a "typical" member of that profession... What keeps the game balanced for all your players is that they all should start out with the same number of points to spend, and Skills that specifically pertain to Magic and Combat are actually more expensive than those dealing with "flavor" and "fiction", such as language and knowledge skills...

      The best way to restrict your players is to base any restrictions you need for them to adhere to on whatever fiction for your campaign you've come up with, or upon whatever societal indications are apparent in the text of the rules (such as the descriptions of The Jánah in general, Social Hierarchy, and House Structure, on pages 28 and 29 of the Basic Compendium, in the descriptions of the various Castes and Professions themselves, and in the Glossary located near the end of the book (which also contains some brief descriptions of each nation...)... If you think certain players should avoid certain abilities or skills, give them an in-game fictional excuse that they can refer to, which they can also use to play their character more effectively when the game begins... Artificial-feeling limitations often create frustrated players... Give them the freedom to choose the Skills and Abilities they want,...just remind them how quickly Character Points get used up if they try to be good at everything...

      When it comes to the mixing of warrior skills and magic, this is actually something that may be encouraged in a Shard game, since the Sunborn caste assumes that many of its members are warriors (or have at least been somewhat trained in the martial arts of Dárdünah), even if they continued on to become sir'hibasi (sorcerers), diplomats, or nobles of some kind... What helps insure that players can't go too overboard is the fact that they only have so many points to spend on their Characters and all their attributes, and if they try to be too powerful in all areas specific to swords and rituals, they'll quickly run out of points to spend on other well-rounded skills, and will fall short when required to engage in the kinds of non-combat or non-magical intrigues and affairs...

      By the way,...when it's time to build their Characters, I urge you to look at the section pertaining to Filling Out the Character Sheet (pg. 207-209) which will help make sure you know what goes where on the sheet, and clarifies some of the specifics in a straight-forward way...(along with showing an example of a filled-out character)...

      I hope this helps!

      Scottie ^^
    • Alright, I guess I'll have to make some restrictions myself. I don't want these fools to all be tanky mages wielding two-handed swords that they enchanted themselves.


      I see there's one VERY important thing to remember about magic i.e. the Dream and sirhibasi, it takes a long long time to get your magic on. Also, you've gotta invest heavily in a variety of skills to make your magic work. You also need lore and knowledge skills to account for your standing as a sage within any community. In other words you won't have a ton of skill points left over to specialize to heavily from the start with heavy weapons and suthra armor.

      There are no battlemages in Shard so your sirhibasi wading into battle sporting heavy armor and wielding a giant blade is highly unlikely. The professions reinforce investment in this or that skill so players looking to optimize a warmage will be sorely disappointed. Even then, one lucky attack roll is all it takes to finish a PC. Combat in Shard is L-E-T-H-A-L and I've run hundreds of game systems. The geometric progression of injury quickly outpaces even the best armor so you really don't have anything to worry about.

      I do suggest you being stingy with character build points to start off with. Use the lowest power level to get your group started and build with frequent but modest improvement point awards.

      And welcome to one of the friendliest communities on the web. We're an eclectic but fun bunch of rascals so feel free to ask lots of questions.

      >>ReaperWolf

      Shard Emissary
    • Yeah, I read that part about magic being less combat more ritualistic. I like that magic isn't a centerpiece to every combat scenario, but at the same time, I'd kind of like my party to have something unexpected at their disposal. I guess I could make use of the Endowment rituals to give some magic power in a fight...

      I was planning on limiting the Character Points, but if I choose a Low Power Level, then they only get like 4 points into an attribute... it doesn't seem fun to only have 4 points in an attribute.

      "One of the friendliest communities on the web."

      That's pretty much just about the entire Furry community. I don't think I've ever had a bad conversation with one, except on Omegle... That place is creepy!
    • Do what you will dude however Shard PCs are very competent from the start. Low build points at creation prevents players from having too power from the get-go. This can be daunting for a GM new to Shard. As in all things YMMV.

      Why do you figure the PCs need some sort of magical combat enhancement? Their very nature as PCs with story points and superior skills/attribute levels gives them an edge over the common Janah so why do they need some sort of magical ritual to give them advantages in combat? You might wanna try the rules/setting as written before you start tinkering. On the other hand, it's your game do as you will but the flavor and nature of the game can be overshadowed by too much magic.

      >>ReaperWolf
    • Originally posted by ReaperWolf
      Do what you will dude however Shard PCs are very competent from the start. Low build points at creation prevents players from having too power from the get-go. This can be daunting for a GM new to Shard. As in all things YMMV.

      Why do you figure the PCs need some sort of magical combat enhancement? Their very nature as PCs with story points and superior skills/attribute levels gives them an edge over the common Janah so why do they need some sort of magical ritual to give them advantages in combat? You might wanna try the rules/setting as written before you start tinkering. On the other hand, it's your game do as you will but the flavor and nature of the game can be overshadowed by too much magic.

      >>ReaperWolf


      I don't feel like they NEED it, but I'd like it to be an option. I don't want to swamp the world in magic, but it should still be there.