Chapter III: Classes
Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.A hero's talents strike purpose into their role in an adventure. From bard to priest to spy to thief, your skillset is known as your class. Your class provides the areas in which your focus lies, what you have dedicated yourself to, and the other gift you possess.
CLASS FEATURES
The skills, proficiencies, and languages your class provides are listed under features. Additional features of your class are described below.PREREQUISITE
Each class provides a minimum ability score or scores you must meet in order to select it. Some class features also have prerequisites you must meet to select them.STARTING HIT POINTS
Your class provides the hit points you begin with at 1st level.HIT DIE
Your class provides your hit die, the die you roll to determine your hit points at each level after 1st.LEVEL FEATURES & CLASS TABLE
As you grow in power throughout your adventures, you unlock new benefits. Features listed under level headings are gained once the specified level is reached. Some features common to all classes are described here.BOONS
Boons are powerful options you gain at certain levels that allow you to determine the features of your hero. When you gain a boon, you can do one of the following:- Learn a new Skill.
- Learn a new Language.
- Become Trained in a new Proficiency.
- Increase one of your ability scores by 2.
- Increase two of your ability scores by 1.
- Select a boon option granted by your class or another source.
VALOR
At 5th level, your hero has proved their worth, surviving significant perils and mastering equal power. Increase your ranks for all proficiencies you possess by one. In addition, once per round when you take the Attack or Defend action on your turn, you can make an additional attack at a -2 Rank Penalty.HEROISM
At 10th level, your hero has achieved a great measure of heroism. Increase your ranks for all proficiencies you possess by one. In addition, you no longer suffer a Rank Penalty on your additional Valor attack.HERO'S SURGES
Your class's table provides the base number of hero's surges you possess at each level. For more information on hero's surges, see Combat.QUICKLINKS
The Classes
MULTICLASSING
When you gain a level, instead of taking a level in your current class you can take a level in a different class for which you meet the prerequisites. This is called multiclassing.
Character Level and Class Level
When you multiclass, you have a separate level for each class. Your character level is the sum of your class levels. Unless otherwise specified, all references to level refer to your class level.For example, Mystalla is a level 2 wizard and a level 4 priest. For purposes of anything related to her wizard class, she is level 2. For purposes of anything related to her priest class, she is level 4. Her character level is 6, the sum of these two levels.
When You First Multiclass
The first time you gain a level in a new class, you do not gain all of its benefits. Instead, follow the following guidelines:Hit Points: Do not gain the starting hit points of your new class. Instead, roll for hit points with your new class’s hit die.
Skills: Do not gain skills granted by your new class, unless that class grants more skills than your previous classes did. Then you gain a number of skills equal to the difference between the skills granted by your old and new class.
Proficiencies: You gain all the proficiencies of your new class. However, all your classes may not be able to take advantage of armor and shield proficiencies immediately.
If one of your classes does not grant the same armor or shield proficiencies as another, the class with less proficiency becomes proficient in two heavier types of armor and one heavier type of shield than it was previously. For each level you gain in both classes, your less-proficient class become proficient in two heavier types of armor and one heavier type of shield again.
For example, Schalla is a level 3 wizard and multiclasses into fighter. When using wizard features, she is only proficient in padded and leather armor and bucklers. When she reaches a character level of 5, she advances her fighter class to level 2. Since she is at least level 2 in both fighter and wizard, her wizard features become proficient in studded leather and hide and light shields.
Acting with Multiple Classes
When you have multiple classes, you act with one active class at a time. Once you use a class's feature, you are locked into that class until your next turn, unless you use a hero's surge ability from a different class. You can use any hero's surge ability you know regardless of your active class and if you use a hero's surge ability from a different class, your active class changes to the hero's surge ability's class.For example, Krisanth is a level 3 warrior and a level 3 thief. In combat with a pack of goblins, she attempts to sneak attack the chieftain. Since she is using a thief feature for her attack, her active class is thief and she does not have the option to cleave on a kill or deal Telling Attacks damage on a miss. However, if her sneak attack reduces the chieftain to ¼ of Krisanth's maximum hit points, Krisanth can spend a hero's surge to Execute him. After doing so, her active class becomes warrior and she can, until the start of her next turn, cleave, deal Telling Attacks damage, and the like.
Critnitiative: The bonus attack, action, or turn granted from rolling a 20 on initiative is treated as a separate turn, so you can change your active class for it.
Hero's Surge Abilities & Unbalanced Class Levels
As a multiclass hero, you can use any hero's surge ability you know at any time and as often as you wish, provided your level in the class you know the ability from is within 1 of your highest-level class. If your level in a class is not within 1 of your highest-level class, you can only use the hero's surge ability a number of times equal to your level in the class.For example, Krisanth gains a level and becomes a level 3 warrior and a level 4 thief. She can use her Cheat and Execute features as often as she likes. Then she gains another level and becomes a 3 warrior and a level 5 thief. Once this happens, her warrior level is no longer within 1 of her thief level and she can only use hero's surge abilities from her warrior class three times per day.
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