Expert — The specialist's path —
A sharpened calling, taken when experience permits. Refines the novice's craft into a specific mode of doing — and a specific name for it.
Annihilator
To think there is a point to existence exposes a weakness the annihilator can exploit. The endless cycle of life and death makes slaves of mortals to Lord Death or whoever profits from the extinction of mortal life. Rather than serve the needs of some unworthy divinity, the annihilator harnesses ruinous magic to unravel creation and bring sweet, sweet oblivion to everything in it. Tempering the hate is a constant challenge for these nihilistic adventurers, for what is to be gained by helping…
Martial Read Path [ art · arcanist ] PowerArcanist
The pursuit of magic consumes you. Into the world you venture to uncover occult secrets. You scour libraries, consult experienced magicians, and continually hone your craft to improve on the methods and means of casting spells. Your obsession might come from an appetite for power, a belief that you can one day challenge the gods for dominion over Erth, or some conviction that you might become the Weird Wizard’s heir. Whatever your reasons, you allow nothing to stand in your way.
Power Read Path [ art · artificer ] PowerArtificer
Back in the Old Country, technologists made wonders aplenty: nearly sapient machines, guns that could blast apart giants, flying devices that reached the clouds. The fall of the older great nations stole these wonders from the survivors. Luckily, you found, stole, or invented your own takes on those innovations and can now produce devices of similar capability. Artificers imbue ordinary objects with magic to create wondrous items with amazing abilities. To do this, they create power sources…
Power Read Path [ art · assassin ] MartialAssassin
Strengthening your hands helps you maintain your grip when strangling a victim. Extensive study of poisons and exposure to them lets you use these toxins without fear. And paying attention to your movements—how you step, where you stand—as well as adopting various disguises all help you to get into a position where you can make the kill. Being a professional killer makes you few friends and a great many enemies, but there’s never any shortage of work. You might have always been a bloodthirsty…
Martial Read Path [ art · bard ] MartialBard
Bards exist in a loose society of musicians, actors, and storytellers united by their shared love of history and their eagerness to bear witness and record the great events that shape the future. Thanks to the bards, civilization recalls information about nearly all the eras of history, though the willingness to learn from such events varies. And even though the institution that created the bards collapsed long ago and its members have scattered, some remain who carry out the sacred duties of…
Martial Read Path [ art · beastfriend ] MartialBeastfriend
The moment your eyes met you knew that you would be friends forever, partners in everything you do. You might bicker over a choice bit of meat, but at the end of the day, you would do anything for your beast companion, and you know that your companion would do anything for you. Performing an ancient ceremony, possibly originating from the cult of the Horned Lord, you joined your soul to that of a quadrupedal beast, such as a timber wolf or black bear, and this connection creates a link that…
Martial Read Path [ art · berserker ] MartialBerserker
Your vision goes red and a howl tears free from your throat. All your anger, all your hate boils up inside you, and you have no choice but to fling yourself into the thick of battle. Your arm – and the weapon it holds – moves almost of its own accord, hacking and hewing through your enemies. And then it ends. Your chest heaves as your vision clears. The blood cools on your skin, and everywhere you look, you see death.
Martial Read Path [ art · channeler ] PowerChanneler
Whether you worship a god or not, you recognize the vastness of their power, and you find a way to harness it for your own needs. With arms raised, you call down sacred light to flow into your body until you become suffused with the magic of the divine. You might steal this magic, having found ways to siphon what you need from powers far beyond yourself, but most channelers have the blessing of their deities and treat the experience as holy. Divine power burns across your body with a pale flame…
Power Read Path [ art · chaplain ] PowerChaplain
Your religion has become the cornerstone of your being, and your beliefs inform everything you do. From your faith you draw inspiration to help you through the trials you must endure. You use the gifts of your god to aid your companions and protect them from physical and spiritual harm. Your companions look to you for guidance, and thus you strive to be an exemplar of your faith and constancy. You can worship anyone as a chaplain; it matters little. That you place your trust in a power beyond…
Power Read Path [ art · cleric ] PowerCleric
Any doubts about your purpose in this world fell away once your god spoke to you. The High One’s radiant visage seared your mind, or you felt the chill of Lord Death when his shadowy form swam up to the surface in your dreams. Whoever contacted you revealed the existential threat facing the world, a crisis brought about by greed, iniquity, and corruption by vile agents of evil. So you have taken up your weapon, armored your body, and set out to purge the unclean from any land in which you find…
Power Read Path [ art · commander ] MartialCommander
In stressful times, it takes a person of rare ability to step forward and take command. You are a gifted leader. People believe in you and your ideas, and they want to follow you wherever you go. Your brilliance at command reveals itself in the decisive orders you give in the battle’s thick and how you lead your followers to victory.
Martial Read Path [ art · druid ] PowerDruid
You belong to a secret council of magic-users who would march civilization into a future of their choosing for thousands of years. The druids manipulate events to further their inscrutable goals. Their efforts sometimes put them in league with great heroes, and at others, with despicable villains. For what purpose, only the Grand Druid who rules them all can say with certainty. You could have looked for a place among the druids, having heard of their exploits, or maybe you earned a druid’s…
Power Read Path [ art · elementalist ] PowerElementalist
Experiments with elemental magic such as Aeromancy or Pyromancy reveal truths about the forces underpinning reality. Behind or beneath what ordinary people perceive as the world rages a cosmic storm of unformed substance that boils and seethes in a state of constant flux. The clash of these energies become yours to command and enhance the elemental spells you cast. However, the more you tap into these forces, the more their energies linger in you, changing you in subtle ways: after attuning…
Power Read Path [ art · friar ] PowerFriar
It’s a great big world, so there are bound to be people who have not yet heard about your god and all the good your patron has done. You become a holy beggar, traveling from place to place, offering wisdom to those who would hear it and aid to those who need it, and accept whatever anyone offers to wet your whistle and feed your belly. Many friars belong to holy orders whose mission is to help people in need, but you might have chosen this path for other reasons. VOW OF POVERTY: You made a…
Power Read Path [ art · gladiator ] MartialGladiator
Spectacle fighting has been around for centuries. People love to watch combatants tear each other apart and pay well to watch evenly-matched opponents go toe-to-toe. The arenas in large cities play to crowds of thousands, but go anywhere and you will find a fighting pit dug into the ground or a ring sketched in with posts and ropes somewhere in the community. You cut your teeth fighting for coin. Likely you started alongside other inexperienced hopefuls, and you saw in your early battles as…
Martial Read Path [ art · godsworn ] PowerGodsworn
The chaos sweeping across the world enables evil to root itself and thrive, growing and spreading until its darkness gobbles up all that is good and noble. Cultists worship abominations, and restless dead claw free from their graves. You have even heard whispers of some hermit who calls forth demons from the Void. Someone must take a stand against evil—and that someone is you. You swore sacred vows to purge the lands of the wicked and burn away the unclean. You hunt down and put to the sword…
Power Read Path [ art · holy avenger ] PowerHoly Avenger
Time and time again, those with evil in their hearts, who hate the gods, or who would plunder the riches of temples and shrines strike out against the faithful. Each temple burned, each priest assaulted, each innocent person in a god-fearing community carried off in chains is an affront to your deity. Such actions cannot stand without divine retribution. Thus, you become your god’s sword of vengeance, your ultimate purpose to mete out justice on those who have wronged your faith. The gods all…
Power Read Path [ art · inheritor ] MartialInheritor
An ancient weapon of untold power made its way into your hands, most likely for some great deed you performed of a nature the weapon found compatible with its own aims. Upon taking up the weapon, you became an inheritor, one of a few individuals armed with a relic forged to accomplish some great and lasting end. The weapon offers you might, but do you have the courage to finish the work begun so long ago? You either acquired the relic weapon recently or you have always had it with you and only…
Martial Read Path [ art · inquisitor ] PowerInquisitor
Evil infects the world with a darkness that lingers to haunt the lives of the just and innocent. It seeks to corrupt people, turn them against their communities, cast down the idols of their gods, and condemn them to the horrors of the Netherworld. Left unchecked, such wickedness could throw all that is noble and good into ruin, and thus it falls to you and others like you to seek this evil and stamp it out. Many religions have sects dedicated to purging their ranks of apostates and heretics…
Power Read Path [ art · jester ] MartialJester
Well, you thought the joke was funny. You had no idea that that lumbering idiot would become so angry. And you never meant to make him look stupid chasing after you. You didn’t want to get hurt! It’s a shame he fell and broke his neck. And all over a stupid joke. There’s a difference between an idiot and a fool. Anyone can be an idiot; it takes work to be a fool. You’ve spent a lifetime perfecting your craft. You can juggle just about anything, you pratfall with the best, and your jokes and…
Martial Read Path [ art · knight errant ] MartialKnight Errant
Fame and renown granted you a title from a noble as well as the right to bear arms in your patron’s name. As a knight errant, you swear oaths to protect your superior, conduct yourself with honor in all things, and bring glory to the noble you serve. Your patron supplies you with weapons, gives you a mount and your coat of arms, and provides housing whenever you return to their lands. As you venture into the world, you have the opportunity to not only do good deeds, but become a hero worthy of…
Martial Read Path [ art · martial artist ] MartialMartial Artist
The pugilist with scarred hands and cauliflower ears, the wandering monk, the contemplative philosopher who clears the mind by performing certain moves, and the bloodthirsty pit fighter might all be described as martial artists, despite coming from wildly different backgrounds and having varied attitudes toward fighting. What unites them is their effort to turn their bodies into living weapons. These characters, and others like them, can use their fists to land blows as if they were wielding…
Martial Read Path [ art · mountebank ] MartialMountebank
In the coldest winter ever known, you can always find a buyer for the ice you happened to collect. No one is so greedy that they wouldn’t lend you a coin when you ask them. And when you feel moved to snatch candy from a baby, the infant does not even sniffle. You know people. You know what makes them tick. And your skill at manipulating others makes certain you have friends wherever you go. By the time they grow wise to what you’re about, you’re long gone. You might have an incredible disregard…
Martial Read Path [ art · myrmidon ] MartialMyrmidon
An ancient society of warriors formed around the idea that mastery of arms should result from a desire to do good in the world. They swore vows to conduct themselves with honor and lend aid to those in need. Famous myrmidons have lived and died fighting for noble ends, and their stories inspire others to follow in their steps. Myrmidons have no use for fancy armor, preferring simple peasant garb, or for weapons outside those they have spent their lives mastering. All myrmidons limit themselves…
Martial Read Path [ art · oracle ] PowerOracle
The gods incarnated are truly terrible to behold. For this reason, when they have cause to treat with mortals, they do so through intermediaries called oracles. A god extends a portion of its essence into the host and reveals its intentions to the world through the mortal vessel. In these throes of ecstasy, you experience the joy of divinity, even if the time is fleeting. Strange happenings follow you when the god manifests in your body. The phenomena depend on the god you serve: Mother Sun…
Power Read Path [ art · paladin ] PowerPaladin
Once, the Order of Paladins included some of the most famous warriors in all the lands. Each member was seen as a paragon of virtue, a true hero. The regents of the Great Kingdom entrusted these holy warriors to protect their families, so imagine their surprise when the paladins turned against them and painted Whitestone’s halls red with their blood. None know why the paladins betrayed their rulers’ trust, but their act called into question the order’s legacy and has left its reputation in…
Power Read Path [ art · physician ] MartialPhysician
Magic can cure infections and close wounds, but access to its miraculous powers often lies out of reach. Even in places where such treatment might be at hand, demand for healers’ services means limited access and, sometimes, high prices. Such limitations have allowed more traditional methods of healing to develop, and the field of medicine advances at a steady pace to meet the needs of patients. You have made an extensive study of anatomy, herbalism, and the healing arts, and eventually learned…
Martial Read Path [ art · psychic ] PowerPsychic
Stress, pain, extensive training, or some other effort shattered whatever contained the magic of your mind. By breaking this barrier, you can draw energy from your thoughts and use it to produce magical effects and cast spells. Even at the start of developing your psychic abilities, you enjoy greater versatility than you ever imagined possible.
Power Read Path [ art · ranger ] MartialRanger
The rangers patrol the borderlands and beyond. An old league of wilderness warriors founded to safeguard the roads and protect the peoples living on the frontiers from wild animals, monsters, and worse, rangers work alone or in small groups to cover more territory. In fact, many rangers prefer isolation, emerging from the wilderness only to trade news and acquire supplies, but their expertise in the wild makes them valuable guides and escorts for those making overland journeys.
Martial Read Path [ art · scout ] MartialScout
A good scout ranges ahead, studies the ground, searches out hidden dangers, and then returns to report what waits ahead. When any dark passage could harbor a trap, when any cave might hold a troll or a dragon, and when bandits, mutants, and worse lie in wait for the unwary, people cannot afford to be incautious. One misstep is all it takes to bring a treasure hunter’s career to a sudden end. The scout makes sure the group stays prepared and avoids the worst of the pitfalls and foes they might…
Martial Read Path [ art · spellfighter ] MartialSpellfighter
Those poor deluded fools. So often you meet people who say that blending magic use with skill at arms is impossible, and to them you have but one answer: a blast of fire to the face. Not only do you know what’s possible—you prove it with your magical attacks. You exult in the wonder your mad skills evoke. Some say your methods originated from a society of exceptional warrior-mages who threw themselves into both magic and skill at arms, all to protect the magicians who recruited them. You’ve…
Martial Read Path [ art · swashbuckler ] MartialSwashbuckler
Other warriors might be bigger than you. Some might be stronger and others quicker. But you have daring, courage, and panache. Most of all, you have charm and wit, leaving your foes confounded. In combat, you’re the one who swings on the chandelier. You yank the curtain down to entangle your foes, or scale the cliff with a dagger clenched in your teeth to rescue your one true love from the blackguard’s clutches. You do the things no one else dares and have the pluck to pull off the impossible.
Martial Read Path [ art · templar ] PowerTemplar
Every religious institution has enemies. Schisms in the faith can cause fighting between the ranks, while rival faiths vying for dominance in a region might solve their theological differences with steel and fire. And then there are the host of beings, people, and organizations that oppose all religious groups. The Ancient Ones and the cults that form around them, and many faeries, demons, fiends, and countless others, consider religions an existential threat and are committed to stamping them…
Power Read Path [ art · theurge ] PowerTheurge
You learn the secret names of angels so you can call them forth to serve your needs. Rarely do the gods look kindly on the subversion of their servants, and thus you risk much by dabbling in these techniques. Whether you aim to exploit those immortals or work along with them, there might one day be consequences for your work. Being a theurge means walking a path between light and darkness. No matter the good deeds you might attempt, your theft of divine magic makes you a pariah to the gods and…
Power Read Path [ art · thief ] MartialThief
You picked the lock so your friends didn’t have to kick the door in. When the trap killed Fritz, you retrieved his body from the spinning blades and disarmed the device so no one else would get hurt. You found the secret door that circumvented that scary idol, and you were the one who scrambled up the ledge and dropped down the rope. Really, no one would have found all that treasure if it hadn’t been for you. Yeah, they need you, so none of them should complain about you taking the largest…
Martial Read Path [ art · veteran ] MartialVeteran
Whether you look for fights or not, they have a way of finding you. It’s hard to remember all the battles you have fought, how many times you were pushed to the limit, and yet you somehow survived contest after contest. You know how to fight, and the proof is all the scars, notches, and ravages war has left on you.
Martial Read Path [ art · warden ] MartialWarden
Alien forces threaten to upset the natural order of things. Fiends plot to corrupt mortals, while demons clamber at the edges of reality, eager to dismantle everything. Even the High One seeks to stamp out all other religions so this usurper god can rule over all. All those abominations, horrors, and monsters risk upsetting the balance and unraveling the world as it was meant to be. You stand on the front lines against these dire foes, emboldened and empowered by the spirits of nature, the Old…
Martial Read Path [ art · warlock ] MartialWarlock
Rather than study, you turned to a dark entity to gain the power you crave. You likely followed in the steps of other warlocks by enlisting in service to the Adversary: Prince of the Netherworld, Lord of the Fiends, and author of all the evils that have befallen the world. You might have sought out such a bargain on your own or succumbed to temptation when a fiend seduced you and brought you over to the side of darkness. Making a pact with the Devil takes a special set of circumstances…
Martial Read Path [ art · wild guardian ] PowerWild Guardian
There’s magic everywhere in the world, but the best, purest expression of magic comes from the wilderness. Your connection to such places opens a dialogue between you and the nature spirits. These spirits could be the small gods of the trees, rocks, and rivers; for- gotten deities who have all but faded away; faeries who haunt the borders between their fantastical realms and the known world; or other powers such as the Wild Woman or the Horned Lord. By protecting natural places, you receive…
Power Read Path [ art · witch ] PowerWitch
True witches belong to the High Secret Order of Witchcraft, an institution founded before the first cities by the earliest practitioners of magic. In their communities, witches serve as wisdoms, healers, protectors, and advisors. People seek them out for remedies, charms, and other things to make their lives easier. Becoming a witch means making a choice about how you intend to use magic. If you choose to help others, to heal them and protect them, you follow the right-hand path of white magic…
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