When you build your character in Tales of Fablecraft, you’ll have seven classes to choose from at Early Access launch. Each class was designed like a puzzle piece to fit snugly with others, enabling players to build cohesive and complementary parties. What are those classes, and how did we select them? [previewyoutube=2elKSgjlLx8;full][/previewyoutube] [h2][b]Heroes Aren’t Born, They’re Made[/b][/h2] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/568934e95c23ec6a0e24b44b543b017c0a1e0a7e.png[/img] Upon arriving in the world of Mythas, every player character becomes a Mage—a person who discovers that they can wield the magic of the world better than most. While these characters are magic users, their different classes set them apart and represent their unique magical specialties. [h2][b]The Seven Classes of Mythas[/b][/h2] The seven classes available to players at Early Access are Guardian, Inventor, Merchant, Naturalist, Performer, Rogue, and Sage. The icons for these classes (featured below) were lovingly designed by another fabulous icon, our Senior Designer, Jaclyn McKay! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/e84b815afa30f3e3af58e1f1f5669ba556a57409.png[/img] Each class is the master of one of our 10 available skills (and yes, there are three more class plans for the future!). These classes also represent archetypal heroes that you might find in many different stories. Class design is great when you can look at an ensemble cast of characters and easily identify their class and role within a party. Let’s jump in and identify each of the seven unique classes available in Tales of Fablecraft! [h2][b]The Guardian Class ⚔️[/b][/h2] The Guardian class is the embodiment of might. They represent the strong, protecting the weak. They can also represent an authoritative figure within a party, but that depends on how an individual decides to play! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/0efc01138414941363f3bdcf24da4fad57e9b445.png[/img] Every Guardian has access to the Imprison spell, which allows them to bind a defeated foe and magically transport them to an appropriate nearby authority. Players can get creative with this spell and find unique ways to utilize it. Transporting prisoners is one thing, but maybe the Imprison spell can be used to deliver a message in a hurry! How might you use a spell like this? [h2][b]The Inventor Class 🛠️[/b][/h2] Known as the makers of Mythas, Inventors are highly resourceful. When the gears start turning, and a wild new idea is concocted, Inventors cannot be stopped! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/bd9c6141dfb7a4aa1cdf6f7a48e00fa18a99f06d.png[/img] Every Inventor can access the Tinker spell, allowing them to fashion a handy object from whatever they have available. This is a great class for someone who wants to get creative with the roleplaying aspects of tabletop RPGs. What strange items would you combine to make something new and exciting to use on your next adventure? [h2][b]The Merchant Class 💰[/b][/h2] Merchants could sell rocks to a miner and negotiate a fine price! This is a great class for the player who wants to wheel and deal their way through Mythas. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/41c7027a1345b03051051180ab5db9b953b09a92.png[/img] Every Merchant can access the Heart’s Desire spell, which allows them to identify the thing that someone wants most, whether that thing is material or emotional. Imagine the ability to always have “just the thing” for any occasion! [h2][b]The Naturalist Class 😻[/b][/h2] Naturalists nurture the wilderness around them, and although some may prefer plants and animals over people, they help create harmony between the inhabitants of Mythas and the world's natural elements. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/76667e6f846f4d4e874fd74fc81e31ffecd369c6.png[/img] Every Naturalist can access the Speak to Nature spell, which allows them to communicate with plants and animals to glean information. We highly recommend this class to all you animal lovers out there. Who doesn’t want to have a chat with their local Karma Cat?! [h2][b]The Performer Class 🎭[/b][/h2] If you see all the classes and say “that’s cool, but I want to sing, dance, and charm my way through this world," we have good news for you! With the Performer class, you can take on ANY talent to aid you in this endeavor. Maybe you go for a more traditional bard-like role. Or maybe you set out to become the next great stand-up comedian of Mythas! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/227ed5d0f70c2390ff6fde4db8c801da3c48d1eb.png[/img] Every Performer can access the Center of Attention spell, which allows them to draw the eye of all within earshot. Their audience can’t look away or leave until their performance ends. If you go the comedian route, you can practice your tight five on party members during downtime; we’re sure they’ll love it! [h2][b]The Rogue Class 🤫[/b][/h2] Ah, Rogues… We love them, we need them, we’re not too sure where they’ve disappeared to now. Naturally stealthy, Rogues have a knack for avoiding the consequences of their actions. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/5b65ac33272fe97462ebb40f2194de1bfffcbde5.png[/img] Every Rogue can access the Skulduggery spell, which allows them to make their suspicious or morally ambiguous behavior seem on the level. What more can we say? These delightful troublemakers would make a fine addition to any party (tragic origin story not included). [h2][b]The Sage Class 📚[/b][/h2] If you want to be the brains of your next adventuring party, the Sage class is for you! Known as the know-it-alls of Mythas, their emphasis is on study and knowledge. They acquire their skills through research and apply what they learn to the world. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/ce6277e68720c72e4dbe7673701995be2d1435bd.png[/img] Every Sage can access the Condescend spell, which allows them to rant about the minute details of a subject until their target agrees with their point and regrets any words to the contrary! [h2][b]Developing The Class System[/b][/h2] To dive a little deeper into how we built the classes you’ll play in Fablecraft, we chatted with Riftweaver’s Lead Game Designer, Brian Aloisio, about the design process. He shared a lot about our team’s decisions and design philosophy. [b][i]When approaching design for our game, the most important thing we remind ourselves is that Fablecraft is for everyone. The guiding light of our systems should always be accessibility for new players.[/i][/b] The first big decision was to separate classes from combat abilities. We wanted the freedom to roleplay as a wide variety of characters without those choices restricting combat. For example, despite not being a traditional role for them, a Sage can play as a front-line, high-health, melee tank in Fablecraft combat! This is possible because our class and combat styles are on different tracks, allowing for more varied mixing and matching for players. The next step was tackling our skill system. The kind of skills a roleplaying game puts in front of players implies how the designers want the game to be approached and played. We iterated on our list of skills quite a bit during development to emphasize the themes and ideas we wanted Fablecraft to explore. [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/13267b66ba175e93b4fe916f90c40dd6b208f977.gif[/img] Then, it was time to determine what kind of system we wanted. Did we want a class-based system or something more free-form? This is where the guiding principle of accessibility comes into play. While freeform systems can be exciting to an experienced roleplayer, they can also be very confusing and too open-ended for newer players. We felt that expressing archetypal classes would help people get into the roleplaying spirit! The building blocks of our classes are their primary skill, spells, and secondary skills. Each skill represents an area of excellence that can contribute to a party. Likewise, each class represents an embodiment of that skill directed in ways that are helpful to a party. So the exercise became clear: find the ways the skills help and go from there. [h2][b]One More Thing 👀[/b][/h2] It’s dangerous to go alone, so take this: A sneak peek of what’s coming up in our next weekly update! Every adventurer needs supplies. We'll examine each class again, but this time, we will look at their starting Inventory and discover what’s in their bags and why. Below is a beautiful WIP of each class pack, designed by the immensely talented Linda Lithén. We can’t wait to show off more of her incredible artwork next week! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//43115458/0fbb6ef0f716135798a5d3fd4b0411747af19a6e.png[/img] Until then, tell us which class you would like to play in the comments, and [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2176900/Tales_of_Fablecraft/?utm_source=steam&utm_content=steam-update-041524]Wishlist Tales of Fablecraft on Steam today[/url]! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2176900/Tales_of_Fablecraft/?utm_source=steam&utm_content=steam-update-041524