Class: The Reaper

Hostargo aims to be different than the classic "holy trinity" of RPG design, offering players a variety of classes that - as far as I know - haven't had their core concepts utilized in such a way. Between the obfuscation-master Duster and the ever-mobile Vessel, there's hopefully a new opportunity available for even the most veteran of RPGers. However, Hostargo also aims to provide a class for every player style, and as a tactics-focused game, one of those play styles is simply "the action gamer".

The Reaper is a standard "DPS" class; there's no hiding that. Attack or damage focused characters are pretty much a necessary option for any combat-focused game. What we can do though, is use the opportunity to make some of Hostargo's special combat mechanics shine.

Weapon skills are a generic tree that any character can progress in. So for the Reaper we offer an array of different skills that still fit the "assassin" playstyle. These include poison use, such as sleep, illness, or hallucination, and security, for getting into the places where an assassin needs to go. Standard? Yes. Familiar? You bet. But this gets the player thinking outside of just maxing their weapon skill by including progression options that help out the party in other ways.

Critical hits are also a standard RPG idea, but in Hostargo, any time a player "Aces" on a combat roll, they get to choose an Ace effect. The player chooses from a delicious menu of extra effects such as moving their target, crippling a limb, or even hitting another target. Because of this core mechanic, Reapers can have abilities that play off of that idea, adding to the menu or even improving effects that are already there. In addition, the class's core progression tree includes options for spending Luck (the in-game meta resource) to automatically score a critical hit.

While not built into the class's core skills and abilities, there are plenty of interesting opportunities for the Reaper when paired with one of the game's six "Callings" (which all characters do). Tech Adepts can hot-swap weapon mods, Animancers can enchant their weapons with magical effects, and socialites can stop the whole show by forcing the enemy to surrender.

While the Reaper is certainly one of the least unique Hostargo classes, it is still an exciting one to design. It dives deep into some of the game's exciting combat features, such as critical hits, weapon mods, and battle morale. Not everything needs to be "different" after all - sometimes you just want to shoot things!