Heroic Classes

Star Wars heroes seek credits, glory, justice, fame, influence, and knowledge, among other goals. Some of these goals are honorable, some base. Each character chooses a different way to achieve these goals, from brutal combat power to subtle skills to mastery of the Force. Some adventurers prevail and grow in experience, wealth, and power. Others die.

A character Class is the frame upon which you build your hero. It isn't meant to be rigid or confining. Instead, a Class provides a starting point from which you can develop in any direction you see fit. Don't think of a Class as restrictive; instead, a Class is defining. When you choose a Class for your character, you're laying the foundation of a concept that will grow and expand as you play. A Class provides structure. How you develop your character is entirely up to you. You get to choose Talents and Feats as you advance - and you can take levels in other Classes as you go along if that better serves the concept at the core of your hero.

Choosing a Heroic Class
Five basic Classes, known as Heroic Classes, are available in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. Characters with levels in Heroic Classes are called Heroic Characters, or Heroes. Unlike Nonheroic supporting characters, Heroic Characters have many special abilities that make them extraordinary.

At 1st level, you must choose a Heroic Class for your character. The five Heroic Classes are:

The Multiclass Character
As your character advances in level, he or she may add new classes. Adding a new Class gives the character a broader range of abilities, but all advancement in the new Class is at the expense of advancement in the character's other Class or Classes. A Noble, for example, might become a Noble/Soldier. Adding the Soldier Class would give them proficiency in more weapons, a better Fortitude Defense, and so on, but it would also mean that they doesn't gain new Noble Talents and thus is not as powerful a Noble as they otherwise would have been. Rules for creating and advancing Multiclass characters can be found further down.

Class Level vs. Character Level
The Star Wars Roleplaying Game uses the terms Class Level and Character Level to mean different things. Class Level pertains to a character's level in a particular Class. Character Level pertains to a character's total experience. So, a character who has only one Class has a Character Level and Class Level that are the same. (A 7th-level Jedi has a Character Level of 7th and a Class Level of 7th.) But for a character with more than one Class, Class Level and character level are different. A 4th-level Scout/3rd-level Scoundrel has a Character Level of 7th, with a Scout Class Level of 4th and a scoundrel Class Level of 3rd. If a Talent refers to your Class Level, but does not specify a Class, it means the combined number of levels in all Classes that grant access to that Talent.

Class and Level Bonuses
An attack roll is a combination of three numbers, each representing a different factor: a random factor (the number you roll on the d20), a number representing the character's innate abilities (The Ability modifier), and a bonus representing the character's experience and training. This third factor depends on the character's Class and Level. Each Class table (See Class' individual pages) summarizes the figures for this third factor.

Base Attack Bonus
Your character's Base Attack Bonus applies to all attack rolls. Use the bonus that corresponds to your character's Class Level.

If a character has more than one Class, add the Base Attack Bonus for each Class together to determine the character's Base Attack Bonus. For example a 7th-level Jedi has a Base Attack Bonus of +7 while a 4th-level scout/3rd-level Scoundrel has a Base Attack Bonus of +5 (+3 Base Attack Bonus for the scout Class Level, and +2 for the scoundrel Class Level).

Damage Bonus
Your character deals extra damage on melee and ranged attacks equal to one-half (1/2 or x0.5) their Character Level, rounded down. A 1st level character, therefore, has a damage bonus of +0.

For example a 4th-level Soldier armed with a Blaster Pistol deals 3d6+2 points of damage with the weapon. A 12th-level Soldier armed with the exact same weapon deals 3d6+6 points of damage.

Defenses
Your character has three Defense Scores:
 * Reflex Defense: 10 + Heroic Level or Armor Bonus + Dexterity Modifier + Class Bonus + Size Modifier
 * Fortitude Defense: 10 + Heroic Level + Constitution Modifier + Class Bonus + Equipment Bonus
 * Will Defense: 10 + Heroic Level + Wisdom Modifier + Class Bonus

Heroic Level
Your Heroic Level is the sum of all Levels you have in Heroic Classes and Prestige Classes. It does not include levels in the Nonheroic character Class or Beast Class. For example if you were a scout 6/Soldier 2, you would have a Heroic Level of 8, adding that number to all of your Defense Scores.

Class Bonuses to Defenses
When you take your first level in a Heroic Class, you gain Class bonuses on two or more Defenses as shown in the following table: Class bonuses do not stack; you only apply the best bonus from all your classes to each defense score. Continuing the previous example, if you were a scout 6/soldier 2, you would have a +2 class bonus to your Fortitude Defense (This is the better bonus, granted by being a soldier) and a +2 class bonus to your Reflex Defense (Also the better bonus, granted by being a scout). If you later added a level of noble, you would also gain a +2 class bonus to your Will Defense.

Level-Dependent Benefits
In addition to attack bonuses and Defense bonuses, all characters gain other benefits from advancing in level.

XP
This column shows the experience point total needed to achieve a given character level. For multiclass characters, XP determines overall character level, not individual class levels.

Feats
This column indicates the levels at which a character gains Feats. These Feats are in addition to any bonus Feats granted in the Class descriptions, and the bonus Feat granted to Humans at 1st level.

Ability Increases
This column indicates the levels at which a character gains Ability score increases. Upon 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level, a character increases two of his or her Ability scores to improve. A player cannot apply both Ability increases to a single Ability score, and the Ability improvements are permanent. For example, a Noble with a starting Dexterity of 13 and a starting Charisma of 15 might improve to Dex 14 and Cha 16 at 4th level. At 8th level, the same character might improve Charisma again (from 16 to 17) and increase any one of the other five Abilities by 1 as well.

Ability score increases are retroactive. For example, if you increase your Intelligence score from 13 to 14, you immediately gain an additional Trained Skill chosen from your class Skills and an additional language. Similarly, if a Jedi who with two instances of the Force Training feat increased his Wisdom from 13 to 14, they would gain two Force powers (For a total of six).

Multiclass Characters
For Multiclass characters, Ability increases are gained according to overall Character Level, not Class Level. Thus a 3rd-level noble/1st-level Soldier is a 4th-level character overall and eligible for their first two Ability score boosts.

Multiclass Characters
A character may add new Classes as he or she progresses in levels. Multiclassing improves a character's versatility at the expense of focus.

Class and Level Features
As a general rules, the abilities of a Multiclass character are the sum of the abilities of each of the character's Classes.

Level
"Character Level" is a character's total number of levels. It derives from overall XP earned and is used to determine when feats and Ability Score boosts are gained as per the table above. "Class level" is the character's level in a particular Class, as per the individual Class tables located on their respective pages. For a single-Class hero, a Character Level and Class Level are the same.

Hit Points
Each time you gain a new level, roll a hit point die (the size of the die depends on the Class in which the level is gained) and add the result to your character's hit point total. Your character's Constitution modifier applies to each hit point die roll.

For example, a 1st-level Scout who becomes a 1st-level scout/1st-level Soldier gains a number of additional hit points equal to 1d10 + the character's Constitution modifier. A few game sessions later the character gains a second level in the Scout class, becoming a 2nd-level Scout/1st-level Soldier, whereupon their hit points increase by 1d8 + the character's Constitution modifier.

Base Attack Bonus
Add the Base Attack Bonus of each class to get the character's base attack bonus. For instance, a 6th-level noble/2nd-level Soldier has a Base Attack Bonus of +6 (+4 for noble, +2 for Soldier).

Defenses
Each time a character gains a new level, their Reflex Defense, Fortitude Defense, and Will Defense need to be adjusted to account for the increase in Character Level.

A character who takes their first level of a new Class also gains a Class bonus to one or more of their Defenses; however, this Class bonus does not stack with other class bonuses.

Skills
When you select a new Class, you do not gain any new trained Skills. However, your list of Class Skills expands to include those of the new Class. If you take the Skill Training feat, you may choose your new trained skill from the Class list of any Class in which you have levels.

For example, Arani is a Multiclass Noble/Soldier who takes the Skill Training feat. Her new trained skill may be chosen from the Noble's list of class skills or the Soldier's list of Class Skills.

Starting Feats
When you select a new Class, you do not gain all of its starting feats. Select one Feat from the list of starting Feats. For example a 1st-level Noble decides to take a level of Soldier and gains one Feat of their choice from the Soldier's list of starting Feats; they select Weapon Proficiency (Rifles).

Talents
If a character gains a Talent as a consequence of gaining a level, they must select a Talent associated with the Class in which they gained the level. For example, Arani is a 2nd-level noble who decides to take a level in the Soldier Class, which grants her a talent. She must select her new Talent from the Soldier Talent Trees (Or from Force Talent Trees, if she has the Force Sensitivity feat), since it was a Soldier level that granted her the Talent.

Feats
For Multiclass characters, Feats are received at 3rd level and every three character levels thereafter, regardless of individual Class level (See above "Level-Dependent Benefits" table).

A Multiclass character that gains a Class bonus Feat must select it from the bonus Feats available to that particular Class. For example, Arani is a 2nd-level Noble/1st-level Soldier who decides to take a second level in the Soldier class. Doing so grants her a bonus Feat, which she must select from the Soldier's list of bonus Feats.

Ability Increases
For Multiclass characters, Abilities are increased every four character levels regardless of individual Class Level. This is no different than regular Ability increases.

Adding a Second Class
When a single-Class character gains a level, he or she may choose to increase the level of his or her current Class or pick up a new Class at 1st level. The GM may restrict the choices available according to how he or she handles Classes, skills, experience, and training. For instance, the character may need to find a teacher to instruct him in the way of the new Class. Additionally the GM may require the player to declare what Class his or her character is "Working On" before he or she makes the jump to the next level, so the character has time to practice new skills. In this way, gaining the new Class is the result of previous effort rather than a sudden development.

The character gains the Base Attack Bonus, Class bonuses to Defense, and Class Skills, as well as hit points of the appropriate die type and a talent associated with the new class.

Picking up a new Class is not exactly the same as starting a character in that Class. Some of the benefits for a 1st-level hero represent the advantage of training while young and fresh, with lots of time to practice. When picking up a new Class, a hero does not receive the following starting benefits given to characters that begin their careers in that Class.
 * Starting Feats (Select only one of the starting Feats)
 * Maximum, tripled hit points from the first die
 * Starting credits

Advancing a Level
Each time a Multiclass character achieves a new level, they either increases one of their current Class Levels by one or pick a new Class at 1st level.

When a Multiclass character increases one of their Classes by one level, they get all the standard benefits that characters get for achieving that level in that Class: more hit points, possible bonuses on attack rolls, better Defense Scores, and one or more new Class features (such as a talent or bonus Feat), in addition, a Multiclass character has the option to take any starting Feat for that Class as a bonus feat.

How Multiclassing Works
Arani, a 4th-level Noble, decides she wants to expand her repertoire by learning some soldiering. When Arani reaches 10000 XP, she becomes a 5th-level character. Instead of becoming a 5th-level Noble, however, she becomes a 4th-level Noble/1st-level Soldier. How exactly she picked up this new area of focus isn't critical to the campaign, though the player and GM are encouraged to create an in-game reason and opportunity for the hero to do so.

Now, instead of gaining the benefits of a new level of Noble, she gains the benefits of becoming a 1st-level Soldier. She gains a 1st-level Soldier's hit points (1d10 + Constitution modifier), a 1st-level Soldier's +1 Base Attack Bonus, a soldier's +2 Class bonus to Fortitude Defense, and a Soldier's Talent. Because she gained a level, all of her Defenses (Reflex, Fortitude, and Will) increase by 1.

The benefits described above are added to the scores Arani already had as a Noble. She doesn't gain any of the benefits a 5th-level Noble gains. On achieving 15000 XP, Arani becomes a 6th-level hero. She decides she'd like to continue along the Soldier path, so she increases her Soldier level instead of her Noble level. Again she gains the Soldier's benefits for attaining a new level rather than a Noble's. At this point, Arani is a 4th-level Noble/2nd-level Soldier. Her combat skill is a little better than a 4th-level Noble's would be because she has learned something about fighting during her time as a Soldier. Her Base Attack Bonus is +5 (+3 from her noble class and +2 from her Soldier class). Her Reflex, Fortitude, and Will Defenses each increase by 1.

At each new level, Arani decides whether to increase her Noble level or her Soldier level. Of course, if she wants to have even more diverse abilities, she could acquire a third class, such as Scoundrel. At some point, she may also qualify for a Prestige Class. In general, a character can Multiclass as many times as there are classes available.