Samuel Garber
Game Designer
Each class in Umbrus has a class ability, a health die and mana die that they use to determine how those scores are improved when they level, a small bonus to a skill, and three subclasses. A player can only choose one subclass to progress through. Each subclass has three abilities (Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master), gained as they level. For each subclass ability, the player can pick one of two paths, determining how each ability upgrades as the character progresses in that class. Class skills are largely combat oriented, with a couple exceptions.
Using class abilities operates on a charge system. As you gain your class abilities, you gain more uses for each. Some class abilities are considered passive, but these are in the minority.
The core design goal of the class system is that your class does not define your specific kit (e.g. using magic, bows, two-handed swords, social skills, etc). Instead, each class has a specific play-style, encouraging players to pick a class whose play-style feels appropriate for the character they are creating, then allowing them to pick their kit to accentuate that play-style. By theming the class abilities and providing each class a different health and mana die as well as a unique skill, the classes silently communicate their archetypal build to the player. This creates a balance between easy character creation for newer players, and a large breadth of choice for more advanced players.
Each of the three subclasses and the two paths those abilities can be customized down further enable character customization and making unique builds to accentuate a character's personality. Each subclass is significantly different from another. Playing a provoker bard is exceptionally different from playing a minstrel. The former is more focused on raw damage, with some utility, while the latter is purely focused into buffing allies.
Likewise, the paths offer different choices on building upon the existing framework of the class ability. This addition to the class system put some strain on design to make sure that each ability had the capacity to grow in multiple directions, but was ultimately very fruitful in its effect of enabling meaningful customization for players.
Class abilities have been an excellent place to allow for synergies, one of the most potent is the assassin rogue's One With Shadow ability, which pairs together extremely well with their Shadowmeld ability. Over time as I got more comfortable with designing in that system, more of the iterations on class began to focus into synergies. Giving players opportunities to do something clever or to feel powerful has felt very rewarding.
Classes have seen some of the most iteration of any system in the game, largely due to the number of unique parts to it. This has been an exciting challenge, one that is continuing to be worked on and improved. More specifically, the biggest challenge has been to make these abilities not be ignored by the players. Due to Umbrus being a modular game as far as character customization, class is much less of a central aspect to your character's design than in other games. Keeping that balance point of classes not being central while still relevant in gameplay has been a core focus for design.
Earlier iterations of the system proved to be too weak or too boring for players to use. The solution that I found was to allow class abilities to automatically succeed regardless of their target. This is a mechanic that is effectively unique to classes and has proven to be tremendously effective at increasing class ability use.
On the opposite side of the coin, by designing classes to fit the same framework, I was able to reinforce the game's lack of focus on classes; They are not about finding what specific type of character you want to be, and more of options on flavoring that existing character.