Chapter II · Classes
Classes in Eldriloch
No Alignment
Eldriloch doesn't use alignment. Characters are driven by power, race, region, and the Covenant or their break with it, not by good and evil. Ignore alignment requirements and restrictions in the core rules. Spells and effects that depend on alignment use currents instead.
Eldriloch uses three of the core classes from the Player's Handbook. The rogue is replaced by the runner, named for the Veil's scouts and smugglers. The bard is replaced by the entertainer, a performer who is really a thief or assassin. The wizard and sorcerer are replaced by the aetherian, an aetheric practitioner who pulls threads in a web most people can't see. The cleric and paladin are replaced by the votary and warden, who draw on the flow of life with the Celestial Covenant watching. The monk is replaced by the ascetic, who breaks machines with bare hands, and the druid isn't used. What changes for the rest is where they come from. A fighter might be a Peacekeeper, an airship escort or a Gutter King who pummels people for coin. The best of them train at Runswick to become Usmon's two-blade knights, the justicars.
The Two Magics
Arcane magic is aetheric manipulation. Arcane casters see the aether web, the threads that bind reality together, and change the world by breaking and re-tying those threads. The aether can turn a marble into a diamond, liquefy steel or raise a wall of stone, but it cannot change living tissue. The web always tries to return to its natural shape, so lasting changes are hard. Most nations regulate or forbid aetheric manipulation. In Usmon, only members of the Council of Arcanum may practice it openly.
Divine magic is flux. Divine casters draw on flux, the flow of life itself. It feels like controlling a current. It can heal wounds in seconds that would take weeks, strengthen a body, or harden into a shield that stops arrows, but it cannot change what something is. Only humans born with the gift can use it, and the Celestial Covenant teaches that it flows through the gods and must be used to protect, never to attack.
The Covenant's Restraint
The Covenant teaches that the gods forbid using flux to harm. Covenant votaries and wardens who do so risk losing their connection to flux until they atone. Heretics, the votary subclass that wields offensive flux, ignore the rule and are hunted for it (see The Heretic). The full rules, and the spells this chapter's classes can cast, are in the Magic chapter.
Core Classes
| Class | In Eldriloch | Where to Find Them |
|---|---|---|
| Barbarian | Warriors from battle-born Ethon, jungle tribesfolk, brawlers who fight on instinct. A favorite of the ashen. | Ethon, Thaela, the Gutter Kings |
| Bard | Not used. Replaced by the entertainer. | — |
| Cleric | Not used. Replaced by the votary. | — |
| Druid | Not used. The keepers of the wild south are votaries, often heretics, or rangers. | — |
| Fighter | Soldiers, mercenaries, Peacekeepers, Gauntlet muscle and airship escorts. | Everywhere |
| Monk | Not used. Replaced by the ascetic. | — |
| Paladin | Not used. Replaced by the warden. | — |
| Ranger | Hunters and trackers devoted to Khareus, bounty hunters, scouts of the Drifter Plains. | Ethon, Staerhiel, Thaela |
| Rogue | Not used. Replaced by the runner. | — |
| Sorcerer, Wizard | Not used. Replaced by the aetherian. | — |
Eldriloch Classes
Eight base classes are unique to Eldriloch. The ascetic replaces the monk. The runner replaces the rogue. The entertainer replaces the bard and uses no flux and only a little aether. The votary and warden replace the cleric and paladin and wield flux. The aetherian replaces the wizard and sorcerer and works the aether web directly, casting from spell points. The engineer and fleshgrafter both use Intelligence, and they disagree about where the machine belongs. Neither can use flux. Unlike aetherians, who work the aether web directly, both store the aether in fibrolite, and every effect they produce burns a shard. The more powerful the effect, the bigger the shard.
| Class | Hit Die | In Eldriloch | Common Races |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ascetic | d8 | Unarmed, unarmored warrior from Peltragow's monastery whose blows break steel. Lantern ascetics protect; the Unlit are the monastery's secret spies and killers. | Any |
| Entertainer | d6 | Performer, thief and assassin. A Spectacle distracts a crowd, then an unseen blade, disguise, poison and a few aetheric stage tricks do the rest. | Humans, malumtene |
| Runner | d6 | Scouts, smugglers and thieves, named for the Veil's runners. The rogue, with rooftop running and the underworld's cant. | Any |
| Votary | d8 | Flux priest and healer. Covenant-ordained, or a heretic who wields offensive flux. Prepares divine spells, chooses two domains, releases Flux Surges that heal everyone nearby. | Humans only |
| Warden | d10 | The Covenant's flux-channelling knight. Flux Strike against heretics and abominations, a healing touch, and Sever the Flow, which ends an ashen's Manifestation. | Humans only |
| Aetherian | d4 | The arcane caster. Scholars (Intelligence, pattern book) or naturals (Charisma, instinct) cast patterns from a daily pool of spell points. No enchantment, necromancy or healing. | Runekar, malumtene, rare humans |
| Engineer | d6 | Builds devices anyone can trigger, plus firearms, artillery, mechanoids and magic items. Medium armor, ranged support. | Runekar, humans |
| Fleshgrafter | d8 | Primes implants that grant allies spell-like abilities, and installs permanent grafts. Can't heal. Illegal almost everywhere. | Runekar, humans |
Prestige Classes
Prestige classes in Eldriloch belong to the organizations that train them, and are described in the Organizations chapter. The justicar, Usmon's two-blade knight, is trained by the High Tribunal of Blades, and the shroud, the Registry's assassin, is open only by invitation.
Class Notes
Votaries and Wardens
Only humans born with the gift can take levels in classes that cast divine spells. Ashen can never take them (see Anathema to Faith). A Covenant votary chooses a patron deity and two domains, and a heretic chooses any two. See Deities and Flux Domains.
Aetherians
Because the aether cannot change living tissue, the aetherian spell list leaves out enchantment, necromancy and spells that transform creatures. Spells that work on matter, energy, space and perception are common. Aetherians cast from spell points, as scholars (Intelligence) or naturals (Charisma). Many arcane casters carry a renderer or an aetheric focus. Openly practicing in Usmon without Council permission is a crime.
Fighters and Runners
Eldriloch has firearms, but they are rare and their fibrolite-packed ammunition is rarer. Most warriors still trust steel. A fighter with grafted limbs is possible, but has to explain where the fleshgrafter is hiding.
Ascetics
Usmon's monasteries train acolytes in discipline, history and the teachings of Aostre. An ascetic from Peltragow might have spent years copying books, lighting lanterns and sneaking onto the Justicars' practice yard, or, if they were chosen for the Unlit, learning to put the lanterns out.
Every class's spells are listed in the Magic chapter, and the guilds, gangs and orders characters can join are in Organizations.