Pillars and Paths

==> Choose Your Pillar

“Are you stabby, shieldy, or strange?”

In many tabletop games, this would be around the time when you select a class for your character (no no, not like Heir or Prince, more like Fighter or.. …Bard. Shoosh). In RPGStuck, however, we have created something more flexible, called Pillars and Paths (PnP).

As a first level character, you are entitled to select your Pillar and unlock your first Milestone. Pick the Pillar below that most appeals to you (and hopefully complements the choices you have made so far!) and make note of it on the Character tab of your sheet, under the Pillars and Paths section. If a Pillar has more than one Milestone listed, you may select whichever one you like.

In PnP, every character belongs to one of three Pillars, and may select abilities (called Steps) from Paths once every other level. You are welcome to pick whatever Steps you like, but if you collect abilities from Paths that belong to your Pillar, you can unlock unique Milestones.

• Sentinel
• Slayer
• Strategist

Keystones

Some Paths have the keystone tag to them. Keystones are Paths that have some innate potency to them; as a result, once you have a Step from a keystone Path, you cannot take Steps from any other keystone Paths. These Paths will have an entry at the top, separate from the other Steps. This part is innate to the keystone, and is unlocked when any Step is taken from it.

Sentinel Paths

• Bulwark and Immortal have your generalist defensive Steps.
• Dreadnought, Nemesis, Marauder, and Herald are your generalist offensive Steps.
• Shieldbearer is tailor-made for Shieldkind users.
• Heavy Weapons Guy for the firearm users.
• Suzerain is a grab bag with a loose focus towards area of effect.
• Arcane Avenger and Tower are made for psions and hybrids.
• Skirmisher and Shadowdancer provides a mix of defense and mobility, the latter being rare in this pillar.
• Ivory, Tantras, and Champion, for those of you using Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, respectively.
• Battlemind is the keystone for any psions or hybrids, regardless of other Steps they may have taken.
• Berserker is the keystone for the offensive sentinels with a variety of Steps dedicated towards putting out the hurt.
• Martial Spirit is the keystone for the team players who need to defend their allies. It can go with just about any Path.
• Hydra is the keystone for the reactive players who want to punish their enemies, with Steps making the most of the Opportunist milestone and debilitating foes.

Slayer Paths

• Adherent is a grab bag for psi-focused hybrids and psions with all your needs.
• Renegade and Starhunter are grab bags for your generalist slayer Steps.
• Allegro and Desperado have your generalist ranged slayer Steps.
• Warden and Zweihander have your generalist melee slayer Steps.
• Anarcanist is the one stop shop for psionic slayers.
• Artillery will also serve ranged slayers, though a few Steps are more for martial slayers.
• Einhander is tailor-made for hybrids mixing specibi and psionics.
• Gun-Fu for dual weapon slayers who mix ranged and melee combat.
• Heavy Weapons Guy is specific to firearms users.
• Hurler for those with throwing specibi.
• Thousand Cuts for the slayers with specibi or psionics that attack multiple times per turn.
• Pirate, Subjugglator, and Wrestler are made for the grapplers.
• Carmine is a grab bag for your hit point spending Steps for the reckless.
• Serpent is for DoT-focused players who don’t mind waiting the enemy out.
• Battlemaster is the keystone for the martials who want to get the most out of their specibi usage.
• Seraph is the keystone for the players who make multiple attacks per turn, granting a grab bag of tools to give them an edge.
• Tracer is the keystone for the single-target assassins, focused on tracing and eliminating targets one at a time.

Strategist Paths

• Acrobat and Shadowdancer have Steps that provide and reward mobility in strife.
• Analyst, Sawbones, and Dancer, for those of you building Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma.
• Tactician and Vanguard are all about team support Steps.
• Operator and Skulker were made with the stealthy rogue archetype in mind, focused on Distract and alpha strikes.
• Abraxas, Aeon, Ancient, Arbiter, Infernal, and Outlaw provide toolkits with just about everything from allied support to controlling the enemy.
• Inquisitor provides a toolbox for alpha strikes and debuffing the enemy.
• Mystic and Tower are for psionic strategists, with a variety of new strife actions and effects.
• Broodmother, Host, and Shepherd are for players using powers or specibi that grants them minions to use in a strife.
• Wrestler expands on grappling capabilities and gives it new actions.
• Aspirant and Crucible provide a grab-bag toolbox of Steps.
• Harmony is the keystone for high Wisdom players, with Steps that build into each other.
• Mastermind is the keystone for high Intelligence players. A toolbox to fill out spare actions and ways to alter the flow of strife.
• Protagonist is the keystone for high Charisma players, with a bit of everything, from bonus damage to allied support that anyone might want.
• Thaumaturge is the keystone for any martial seeking to expand their strife actions and/or a supernatural flavor. Like all other strategist keystones, it comes with its own new moveset backed by a unique resource.