Class Levels
Class Levels represent progression within a chosen class in the Custom Class System.
Your ordinary skills describe what your character knows how to do. Your class level represents how far your character has progressed along the particular path they are currently developing.
As a class gains experience and levels, the character moves closer to completing that path. Class levels represent continued investment in the identity, progression, and future potential of the class.
A character may possess many useful skills, but developing a class represents the decision to bring those abilities together beneath a particular identity and continue progressing toward mastery.
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Skills represent individual forms of knowledge and ability. Swordsmanship governs your ability with swords. Magery reflects magical knowledge. Alchemy represents potion making. Animal Taming governs the control of creatures. Skills can also develop through Skill Proficiency and Skill Evolution, giving individual abilities their own long-term growth. |
Class Levels represent progress within a larger identity. A Knight may draw upon weapons, armor, healing, defense, and other skills. A Mage may rely upon several magical disciplines. A Druid may combine nature, animals, healing, and spellcasting. The class brings those different abilities together into a single path of progression. |
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As the class develops, the character becomes increasingly established within the role represented by that class.
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Class levels provide a progression path that continues beyond simply raising individual skills.
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Every class level brings the character closer to Level 100, where the class is permanently recognized as mastered.
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The class you are currently developing is your active class.
This is the class whose progression your character is presently pursuing.
As that class gains experience and levels, its progress is recorded separately from the other classes your character may have studied in the past.
A character may eventually develop many different classes, but each class has its own progression and its own road toward Class Mastery.
Changing your direction does not erase the accomplishments of a class you have already completed. A mastered class remains part of your character's long-term progression history.
Class experience is the progression used to increase the level of your active class.
As enough class experience is accumulated, the class advances to the next level.
Unlike an individual skill, class progression represents the development of the class as a whole. A class may draw upon many important skills and systems, but the class level provides a single measure of how far the character has progressed within that path.
Class Level is not the same as Character Level or Skill Value. It is a separate measure of progress within the currently developed class.
Every class has a collection of important skills associated with its intended role.
These skills help explain how the class is designed to function.
For example:
Knight draws upon martial skills, defense, healing, armor knowledge, and protective abilities.
Mage relies upon spellcasting, mana management, magical support skills, and arcane knowledge.
Hunter connects ranged combat with tracking, animal knowledge, wilderness skills, and creature expertise.
Alchemist combines potion making with poison knowledge, magical support, crafting, and preparation.
Developing these supporting abilities helps the character grow into the identity of the class rather than treating the class as an isolated level number.
Depending upon the class, progression may connect to Class Bonus Systems and other specialized systems throughout Gor Ultima.
These systems may involve:
• unique abilities
• class resources
• combat states or rhythms
• specialized companions
• progression interfaces
• crafting or support mechanics
• magical systems
• additional long-term development
The Summoner, for example, connects to persistent summoned creature families, saved levels, Spiritbond, and evolution powers.
Other classes possess their own identities and may connect to dedicated systems as those systems are available.
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Beginning
Learn the Path
Begin developing the class and learning how its skills and identity work together.
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Growth
Build Experience
Continue gaining class experience and advancing through the levels of the chosen path.
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Development
Strengthen the Identity
Develop the skills and systems that support the class and shape how your character plays.
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100
Reach Mastery
At Class Level 100, the primary class journey is complete and the class becomes mastered.
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When a class reaches Level 100, it becomes a permanently mastered class.
Class Mastery is the major completion milestone of class progression.
Once mastered, the class becomes part of the character's long-term progression history and can contribute toward Jack of All Trades.
When an eligible dedicated Class Bonus System exists, mastering its associated class can also allow that system to become available through Jack of All Trades.
Levels earned after Class Level 100 are considered Prestige Growth.
Prestige exists for players who wish to continue developing a favorite class after already earning mastery.
Prestige progression can support:
• continued statistical growth
• smaller scaling improvements
• future class-specific hooks
• additional long-term development
• recognition of continued dedication to a class
Prestige is not required to earn mastery.
Level 100 completes the class. Everything beyond Level 100 represents continued dedication.
A character does not have to stop after mastering a single class.
After completing one path, the character may begin developing another.
For example:
1. Develop Knight to Level 100.
2. Earn Knight Mastery.
3. Begin developing Mage.
4. Reach Mage Level 100 and master Mage.
5. Continue into another class if desired.
Each completed class becomes another part of the character's history and contributes toward the larger Jack of All Trades progression path.
A player chooses to develop a Druid.
The Druid identity connects nature, animals, healing, wilderness knowledge, and magical support.
As the class develops, the player may also strengthen skills naturally connected to that identity, such as:
• Animal Lore
• Animal Taming
• Veterinary
• Spellweaving
• Magery
• Healing
• Anatomy
• Herding
• Tracking
• Lumberjacking
• other supporting disciplines
The class continues gaining experience and levels until reaching Druid Level 100.
At that point, Druid becomes a mastered class.
The player may continue developing Druid through Prestige Growth, or begin progressing another class while retaining permanent credit for the completed Druid path.
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Understand the role your class is intended to play and the strengths that distinguish it from similar classes.
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Improve the abilities that naturally support your class rather than treating class level as the only form of progression.
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Learn the specialized systems, abilities, companions, resources, or mechanics associated with the class when they are available.
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Choose
Select a Path
Begin with the class identity that fits how you want to play.
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Develop
Gain Class Levels
Build experience and continue advancing through the class.
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100
Reach Mastery
Complete the primary class progression and permanently master the path.
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100+
Prestige
Continue developing the class beyond mastery if you choose.
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Learn how to select a class based on playstyle, identity, important skills, and class systems.
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Learn what happens when a class reaches Level 100 and becomes permanently mastered.
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Learn how multiple mastered classes contribute toward a larger long-term progression path.
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Learn how individual classes can gain specialized mechanics, resources, abilities, and progression systems.
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Learn how class progression can continue after the Level 100 mastery milestone.
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