Classes

The ideas of classes have always interested me. That there are certain mechanics and properties that you only will be able to use as one class in the game. I want to tie the classes of Zoroaster to the categories in the Bartle Test: Achievers, Killers, Socializers, and Explorers. There is another unique concept I want to implement in this game.

Death of a particular character will be permadeath. When a character loses his last hit point, there will be an optional 120 second period, and then he will cease to be. But the death of a character means little, because the character is only a tool of the guardian spirit. You see, the guardian spirit is where the player's experience progression will really lie. He can create a character and that character can pass away, but when it does, the exp that the character gains is deposited with his guardian spirit. And another character can be created and the process continues. The core of this idea comes from the game "Don't Starve". Death is expected in the game. Living is earned, not assumed. As you live and die, you accrue exp that unlocks characters. Thus, even with permadeath, you have a sense of progression.

These are the four core classes I want to invent, interspersed with some basic concepts I want to see in the game. Things will get messier, but we will start with these.

The Shadowsinger: "I find the world", Explorer Type

This class is, perhaps, the most important. And it is a bard class. I savor that irony. The Land of Zoroaster is a sea of shadows, dotted with a few points of permanent light. The Shadowsinger is the brave soul who tells the tale of the world beneath the shadows, and in doing so, procedurally generates land in the unknown shadows. I imagine something like a conversation wheel in Mass Effect, with small pictures on the wheel. Certain pictures will be very rare and only appear under certain circumstances. Some will be common. Selecting a picture will cause the Shadowsinger to sing a story about the land and then, in the land before him, it becomes a reality. A Shadowsinger could sing a forest, a lake, a field, many things. But not everything. And not forever. The shadows despise the light and without precautions and vigilance, the world that the Shadowsinger sings will be reclaimed by the shadows.

The Darkbreaker: "I fight the world", Killer Type

The Land of Zoroaster is filled with things that want to kill you. Yes, you. With their teeth and claws and spit and tentacles and magicks and such, they reach into the light and malign its beauty. The Darkbreaker is the best class to fight these back. She carries the weightiest armors, wields the sharpest swords, hefts the furthest spears. But what's more, the Land of Zoroaster is filled with resources. Metals, woods, foods, and more. The Darkbreaker breaks these resources from their place and takes them back to the light.

The Rot Priest: "I fill the world", Socializer Type

The Shadowsinger sings the shadows back and reveals the world. But he does not reveal it all and he cannot fill it well. Some metals, some trees, some small animals. But nothing astounding. He's a big picture type of guy. The Rot Priest fills the world the Shadowsinger finds. Using magicks that some may call unseemly, he takes the shadows and weaves them into mighty monsters, stately trees, fish and birds and metals and dirt. The best animals, the best materials, can only be made by the Rot Priest on any consistent basis. But the Rot Priest can only draw so much from her own strength. To create, she must destroy. She cannot destroy the shadows; she destroys players and their items. She can take a sword and whittle down its durability to nothing and with that strength, she can make the metal necessary to build a stronger sword. The Rot Priest, like all classes, does not know the principle of equivalent exchange. While the price may be steep, she can always create more potential than the actual she destroys. Oh, and one more thing: remember that 2 minute window? If a Rot Priest walks by while you are dying, she can make a bargain: she can take some of your strength or the durability of your items and make you live.

The Truthbuilder: "I refine the world", Achiever Type

If the light only had players and monsters and nature, it would still not be enough for the Truthbuilder. He wants to see swords and armor, robes and rings, books and scrolls. He wants to see great stone walls and towering citadels. He wants to make siege engines and catapults. The Singer finds, the Priest fills, the Breaker takes, and the Builder builds. Remember when I said that the land the Singer finds will be reclaimed by the shadows? Not if the Truthbuilder builds a mighty lantern to keep the shadows at bay. Everything decays in the Land of Zoroaster, though. With each hit, a sword dulls. The Truthbuilder can repair such things, keep them in working condition. But even the Builder cannot keep things working forever. Eventually, the Truthbuilder will see his creations crumble into nothing. And he can build something new in its place.