Aspected Rogue Classes
The image of a successful rogue is sometimes likened to a successful entrepreneur. Stylish clothing, an untold number of riches, and a lingering question: How many did they step on to achieve their success? But for some rogues, success is not enough. Some know they are capable of more. Some need to be capable of more. For whatever their reason, they seek out the Six Aspects to gain a taste of truly primordial power.
Has the brush ever moved as you walked by it? A shadow slip across the bark of a nearby tree? It was probably just a squirrel, a bird… It’s an easy comfort to cling to. But in truth, these strange hints that something’s right there behind you are often the subtle traces of a brigand. Rogues aligned with the Aspect of Nature, brigands assist lost travelers, guiding them away from danger with their ghostly lanterns or making a path for them in the underbrush. But to those who enter the wildlands with ill intentions, the brigand is a nightmare. A vengeful ghost rarely glimpsed. While you can find a brigand in almost any forest or jungle, they will always have found you first.
Resources are limited. That’s what makes them valuable. And the ambition of the Artificers often outstrips their supplies. That’s a cold hard truth of the Aspect of Artifice the people of the Four Worlds must deal with on a daily basis. But with their natural cunning and specialized tools, thieves venture wherever they must to acquire whatever they need. Artificers rarely ask how thieves acquire the resources they do, and while some may believe they steal for the advancement of technology, a thief is a thief all the same.
It is of common belief that tricksters are directionless psychopaths that care little for anything but their own amusement. But as believers in the Aspect of Chaos, many tricksters are simply honoring the spirit of their chosen Aspect. You need to adapt to survive and tricksters test the survival instinct of the civilized, especially if they are in conflict with their fellow Chaos worshippers. If things go bad during wartime, you will often hear people curse the Aspect of Chaos. Catapult not firing? Stairs coated in slippery oil? Armor falling apart? There’s probably a few tricksters cackling to themselves as they watch the civilized and orderly fumble about in confusion and panic—the natural state of humankind.
Those who know how to break the law also tend to be adept at helping enforce it. Rogues that have found purpose outside themselves often become agents. They blend in with the common folk and serve as the eyes and ears of the Final Court. Agents, like knights, record how the people react to the laws that are imposed upon them and report to the Final Court to help determine how the law should be updated to promote a better living experience—or more sternly enforced to promote the primacy of the Aspect of Order. They also track down threats where a knight would be too obvious. Agents can be found in any civilized corner of the Four Worlds, though you’ll likely never know you’re looking at one. But rest assured, they’ll be looking at you.
Masters of music and stewards of song, bards express the Aspect of Life through their instruments to lift the spirits around them. While they hold loose connections with the Laboratories of Life, they are not fully integrated, and this lets them take their talents wherever they please. Bards try to talk down conflicts before they become deadly, soothe tensions with a lighthearted story. But don’t let that fool you. They remain ever capable in combat. Bards will step in to defend those who cannot defend themselves and they’ll make a good show of it in the process. Bards can be found easy enough. Just listen for the applause.
Hands of the Silent Collegia, assassins deliver deaths that others deserve. While reapers are public with their executions, assassins are responsible for many mysterious deaths over the years. They are sometimes gentle in their approach, if the fitting end of their target is meant to be a painless one, but they can be equally cruel if it is believed their target deserves the most painful death they can imagine. Assassins team in the underbellies of the major cities of the Four Worlds, and if you see one, it is probably too late for you. Your final chapter is being written.
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