Classes & Callings

This post is a simple update on my current design thoughts/goals.  During the last playtest of character creation, it was mentioned that it would be helpful to know your character's "class" before choosing anything else, so that you know a bit better where you are going to end up. But that's not the point; you're supposed to be pleasantly surprised by the outcome, and be building a unique character each step of the way.

This is one of the problems I had with Life Paths in The Burning Wheel: it was hard to "pick a direction" without knowing where you wanted to end up. A helpful solution to that is the random rolls that can be used, but not everyone likes randomly rolling characters.  So I started thinking about why the players wanted to know their "class".

Initially, classes determined special abilities, available upgrades, and stat/skill bonuses.  They determined if you had magic, and of what type. Because these classes were all "innate" abilities that one was born with, the players felt as if it should have been the first upfront idea that was determined.  I agreed completely, but I didn't want to force the idea of "class" onto the players right off the bat.  I want the characters to grow throughout their creation, in a natural way, much like Life Paths.

So I've decided to attempt splitting the old "classes" into two parts: classes & callings.  Callings, in this case, are the innate special abilities (e.g. magic, leadership, tech adept).  Callings are still not chosen first, but they come right after "upbringing", "quirk", and "flair".  Basically, sometime during your late teen/early adult life, your calling manifested itself.  You get to decide how and when, and how you and the people around you reacted to it.

Then, one of the last things you choose is "class".  Now, instead of special innate abilities, classes have turned into specializations of law enforcement, giving the players access to "trainable" skill packages (much like D&D's feats) that they would learn through their training as a SEA agent. These are mostly martial skills, like stealth, combat, negotiation, and knowledge, but could possibly include strange/surreal abilities as well.

This mix gives the players both something innate and something trained, to gain at the beginning and at the end of character creation.  I think this mix is dangerous to design, in terms of game balance, but it opens up a ton of possibilities, and I want to explore them.

Do you have an idea for a cool "agent" specialization or other martial class? Let me know!