As Realm of Sejhat is something of a RTS/RPG hybrid by design, I came to the realization that choosing a class for one's character is just as important, if not more important than choosing a combat specialty for the army.

Since party quests represent a considerable investment in time and really helps individual characters shine, it is important to have a few options in terms of your personal weaponry and combat strategy.

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Classes, Weapons, & Personal Combat

For the Realm of Sejhat



For among other evils caused by being disarmed, it renders you contemptible.
-Niccolo Machiavelli



A Hero’s Arsenal

On your path to glory, victory, and legend you will meet a few individuals who will oppose you. Quite a few, actually. As being unarmed invokes hatred in your enemies and provokes attacks, it is the sensible recourse of any lady or gentleman in these modern times to arm themselves.

Yet one cannot properly equip themselves with weaponry of fine manufacture until they can use them with a degree of skill. Which weapons are most suitable for you, you might ask? Well, that is entirely dependent upon your choice of class- your personal combat philosophy.

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CLASSES

Classes are distinguishable from military specializations in that they mainly pertain to your individual combat abilities rather than command options for an army in the field. While it would be lovely if you could throw other peoples’ bodies at all of your problems, there are simply some moments in life where you have to get stuck in and deal with it yourself.

Thus, it is prudent to consider what terms you prefer to enter individual combat. Are you invigorated by the foul odor of your enemy’s breath as you grapple in close quarters, just before you correct his halitosis with a well-placed hammer strike? Are you more comfortable engaging your enemies at range, preferring not to ruin your brocade with enemy blood splatter? Do you prefer subterfuge and maneuver to flow around your enemies’ clumsy attempts to strike you, or do you seek to become the living equivalent of a golem, having the capability to soak up immense damage?



Rake

Perhaps you consider yourself a socialite or the life of the party, or maybe you simply enjoy sneaking up on people and stabbing them in the kidneys. In either case, the rake is an individual who relishes in the arts of duel, deceit, and intimidation. Focusing on keeping enemies at arm’s length, the rake specializes in the use of light weaponry and armor, being the easiest class in which to master agility, pistols, rapiers, daggers, and crossbows.

Rakes boast strong melee defense skills and good pistol accuracy, yet are incapable of using either ranged or melee heavy weapons. An artful rake can tie down large numbers of enemies and parry their attacks while dealing deadly ripostes, or he can hold enemies at bay with pistols. Rakes can also use agility-based skills to maneuver behind enemies to deal critical hits, or they can use charm-based skills to befuddle and disorient foes.

Usable Weapon Classes: Medium Missile, Light Missile, Light Melee, Medium Melee
Usable Armor: Clothing, Light Armor



Journeyman

After years of thankless apprenticeship, you now have just enough competency in the eyes of your master to go forth and kill things. All that time spent studying arcane arts and science rather than butting heads means that Journeymen are the weakest class in direct melee, instead preferring to keep enemies at bay with spells, potions, and crafted traps. For weapons they tend to rely upon large-bore firearms capable of firing special ammunition, such as blunderbusses or fowling pieces.

Journeymen boast strong magic, mysticism, and alchemy skills, preferring to use their firearms predominantly to dispense magical and alchemical ammunition into enemy vital organs or to use them to lure groups of enemy goons into booby traps. Their innate bonuses with magic, mysticism, and alchemy make them an ideal class for a focus in the arcane.

Usable Weapon Classes: Heavy Missile, Medium Missile, Light Missile, Light Melee
Usable Armor: Clothing, Light Armor, Medium Armor



Cleric

Years of piety, meditation, and self-flagellation have brought you wisdom and revelation- just not the kind you expected. While contemplating tranquility, you have come to the conclusion that the best way to bring peace to some people is to shoot them in the face until they die from it. Clerics seek to support their allies with a variety of buffs and spells, but are no strangers to combat and can defend themselves capably.

Clerics do not specialize in healing others, as this historically has had the effect of attracting mobs of sycophants and small children that flee at the first whiff of true peril. Instead, they focus on working with what fighters are available, providing mysticism-based buffs to defensive and offensive capabilities. With the support of a good cleric, even an 11-year old child carrying a sword purchased on his parents’ line of credit can become a formidable opponent. Their mysticism focus is combined with the disciplined use of firearms which, like journeymen, can be magically augmented as the situation demands it. The focus on supernatural protection, however, means that clerics shun armor altogether.

Usable Weapon Classes: Medium Melee, Light Melee, Light Missile, Medium Missile
Usable Armor: Clothing



Murmillo

You are an artist of war, or at least that’s what you like to think. You adore the élan and sophistication of all kinds of melee weapons, seek out melee whenever the opportunity presents itself, and spend a small fortune cleaning blood off of your shirts. To you, the bullet may symbolize death but the blade symbolizes disembowelment, something entirely more frightening.

Murmillos are a melee-focused class, boasting strong HP, agility, speed, and damage boosts. They can focus on absorbing damage, but are better suited to closing with the enemy and dishing out considerable discomfort. The cost of your melee abilities is minimal focus on ranged attacks.

Usable Weapon Classes: Heavy Melee, Medium Melee, Light Melee, Light Missile
Usable Armor: Clothing, Light Armor, Medium Armor



Tank

Once referred to by polite euphemisms like “Warrior” or “Paladin”, Tanks take their name from the abbreviation of “Tankard”, a famous and nearly indestructible drinking vessel and the pinnacle of Dwarven beverage science. Dubiously, this suggests that battle Tanks are similarly filled with alcohol, which is not entirely untrue. Tanks represent a millennia-old style of fighting- namely, load up on the heaviest armor you can find and fling yourself into the scrum, distracting the enemy so that the peasants on your side can have a fighting chance.

Tanks, like Murmillos, are melee-focused, but offer immense armor and HP boosts as well as defensive buffs. Their armor abilities make them much less vulnerable to ranged damage and can even reduce enemies’ critical hit chances. This protection comes at a cost of agility and overall damage dealing.

Usable Weapon Classes: Heavy Melee, Medium Melee, Light Melee, Light Missile
Usable Armor: Clothing, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor



Jager

You’ve never really understood the appeal of running up to someone and lodging a hunk of metal into their innards, especially when doing the same thing at long range is so much simpler. You’re obsessed with skirmishing and fancy yourself a crack shot, and you don’t fear the dishonor of showing the enemy your backside so long as it exposes them to your lethal fire after a moment or two of reloading.

Jagers are a ranged damage-focused class, sacrificing melee capabilities for expertise in a variety of missile-hurling devices. They boast better HP and agility than Journeymen and have superior accuracy, but their focus on ranged weapon expertise leaves them without much in the way of spells or melee abilities. To offset this, Jagers can plant traps and use abilities that immobilize, slow down, or debuff enemies to make them easier, softer targets for longer periods of time.

Usable Weapon Classes: Heavy Missile, Medium Missile, Light Missile, Light Melee
Usable Armor: Clothing, Light Armor

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Weapons

It goes without saying that weapons are devices whose primary function is to kill enemies or otherwise terminate their functionality. In a world of diverse fighting methods and combat philosophies, however, there are quite a few weapon types to consider- so many that not all of them can be mastered by an individual. All weapons are divided simply into two categories: Melee and Missile. While spells can be used with the same functionality as a weapon, they are categorized as Abilities, a subject devoted to its own section. Each weapon category is subdivided into three classes: Light, Medium, and Heavy.

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MELEE

Light Melee Weapons

Light Melee Weapons are available to all classes, fulfilling basic melee roles. They sacrifice damage dealt for lightness and ease of use. In spite of their apparent limitations, however, mastery with light melee weapons increases chances of critical strikes and enables two weapons to be used at once, improving attack speed.

• Daggers
• Yataghans
• Talwars
• Tiger Claws
• Small-swords
• Fisticuffs (unarmed)
• Shortswords
• Dirks
• Makhairas
• Sword Bayonets
• Machetes
• War Clubs/Truncheons



Medium Melee Weapons

Medium Melee Weapons require more serious attention to hand-to-hand combat arts, and as such form the backbone of most close combat strategies. Often found in the hands of cavalrymen and officers, these weapons are a good balance between raw damage dealing and maneuverability, but they take time to master. Most cannot be dual-wielded.

• Sabres
• Rapiers
• Scimitars
• Hatchets
• Krabis
• Pattas
• Szablas
• Cutlasses
• Bayonets
• Bolos
• Kopises
• Maces



Heavy Melee Weapons

Heavy Melee Weapons require considerable mastery and focus to wield in a meaningful capacity, but reward such specialization with unparalleled melee damage. Their weight somewhat reduces their striking speed, but to a lesser degree than their overall damage dealt. Societies more distant from the industrial revolution or those that simply can’t afford massed firearms continue to rely in Heavy Melee expertise. None can be dual-wielded, though some Dwarves may argue otherwise.

• Polearms
• Warhammers
• Claymores
• Great Scimitars
• Executioner Swords
• Halberds/Glaives
• Berdiche Axes
• Zweihanders
• Bastard Swords
• Meteor Hammers
• Flails
• Battleaxes

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MISSILE

Light Missile Weapons

Light Missile Weapons are available to all classes, fulfilling basic ranged combat roles. They sacrifice overall range, damage, and accuracy for lightness and ease of use. In spite of this, gaining mastery in light missile weapons improves accuracy, reloading speed, and enables two weapons to be used at once, improving attack speed. As typically small caliber weapons, the available ammunition types are fairly limited.

• Muzzle-Loading Pistols
• Breech-Loading Pistols
• Dueling Pistols
• Pepperbox Pistols
• Revolvers
• Wrist Crossbows
• Shortbows
• Howdah Pistols



Medium Missile Weapons

Medium Missile Weapons require more concentration and training than Light Missile Weapons. While several weapons of the rank and file infantry enter this category their masterful use requires diligence and training just like any other weapon. Medium missile weapons tend to be specialized into two categories: Those that deal large damage at close range at a low rate of fire, and those that deal moderate damage at medium range with a high rate of fire. Large-caliber weapons can typically fire a wide variety of projectiles. Medium missile weapons cannot be dual-wielded. You’ll put your eye out.

• Carbines
• Light Muskets
• Dragon Muskets
• Blunderbusses
• Fowling Pieces
• Composite Bows
• Crossbows
• Coach Guns



Heavy Missile Weapons

Heavy Missile Weapons require a high degree of skill to use properly, representing high trust and faith in the lethality of ranged weapons. The degree of specialization necessary to wield such weapons rewards their users with unparalleled damage, accuracy, and effective range in varying quantities. Similarly to medium missile weapons, they tend to fall into two categories: Those that deal large damage at medium range with a medium rate of fire, and those that deal large damage at long range with a low rate of fire. Most of these weapons can also fire a variety of specialized ammunition types. Given their nature, heavy missile weapons cannot be dual-wielded.

• Heavy Muskets
• Anti-Armor Guns
• Rifles
• Telescopic Rifles
• Trophy Hunting Rifles
• Longbows
• Heavy Crossbows
• Grenade Launchers