Soldier

Soldiers are masters of various forms of physical combat. As one of the most proficient weapon users in the Realm of Strife, they are as comfortable crossing swords in close combat as they are firing arrows from a distance. In fact, they are often found doing both in the same battle. Soldiers are calculated and typically well trained with their own personal arsenal of weapons and armor. Though widely proficient in many weapon types, most Soldiers will choose to specialize in a particular favorite type of weapon, giving them a unique style on the battlefield. When the chaos of combat descends they rely on their training to know when to hold back and went to strike. A Soldier tends to approach combat with a degree of caution—not due to cowardice, but rather the wisdom gained from surviving countless battles.

A wise Soldier knows their limits, acknowledging that combat can drag on dangerously long. Expending too much vigor too quickly can lead to exhaustion, opening one up to small yet deadly mistakes in a battle. Unlike their Barbarian counterparts, Soldiers tend to be more effective at the outset of combat, but diminish with each passing round. As such, they seek to end combat as quickly and decisively as possible, but will pace themselves when a quick victory is not an option.

Soldiers can be found in almost any culture, though their exact training or fighting styles differ greatly. Because they tend to favor training and discipline, coupled with a mastery of battle stances, Soldiers are often employed by armies or mercenary bands throughout the Realm of Strife. This is not a requirement, however—a Soldier could simply be a well-trained fighter and adventurer.

Class Overview

Typical Roles: Tank, Melee Damage, Ranged Damage
Damage Types: Physical
Class Mechanic: Vigor

Default Stats: During Character Creation you may choose to use the default stat line shown below, before racial modifiers. This can be instead of rolling for stats, or if after rolling ten sets of stats you don’t like the results.

During Character Creation you may choose to use the Default Stat Line, before racial modifiers, instead of rolling for stats, or if after rolling ten sets of stats you don’t like the results

Proficiencies

Natural Armor Proficiency: Cloth, Leather
Trainable Armor Proficiency: Mail, Plate
Natural Weapon Proficiency: Knives, Swords, Bludgeons, Axes, Polearms, Bows, Shields
Trainable Weapon Proficiency: All (including 2-Handed), Firearms

See Equipment section for details. When using a weapon that your class is not proficient with, see Combat Penalties. There is no level or title prerequisite to train in a new proficiency, however you must receive the appropriate Training.

Class Skills

Class Passive Skill: Stance Mastery
Class Secondary Skill: Military Training, First Aid, or Weapon Specialist (of Soldier’s choice)

Primary Skills

Vigor

A Soldiers training includes battlefield experience and long hours spent drilling, learning to master a wide array of weapons, tactics, and battle stances. However, as with any Vigor class, prolonged combat can tire a Soldier out, and they must use their skills wisely.

Learning new Vigor Skills is relatively simple, and follows the standard methods of training. Typically Soldiers volunteer or find employment within a standing army, city or town guard, local militia, or mercenary force. In these cases training is typically facilitated through their associated force. However, they could just as easily pick up new skills from an experienced warrior, soldier, marksman, or other vigor class. At times they may even just pay a Combat Trainer to learn a new skill. Once a skill is learned though, it can be improved simply though repeated use.

New vigor skills require training unless they are upgrades (i.e. Offensive Stance -> Improved Offensive Stance), see Learning New Vigor Skills for details.

Level Ups

Soldiers use the following chart for leveling up:

HP Dice (Hearty): Small Race (1d10), Medium Race (1d12), Large Race (1d12)