The Wasteland
Post-apocalyptic survival.
8 Archetypes · 20 Roles · 61 skills · 10 Perks
Archetypes instead of races, Roles instead of classes, Stamina instead of mana, and a Humanity scale that the worst skills spend. Pairs nicely with a ruined-city world - CityWorld's apocalypse preset - and a zombie mod.
The Roles
Master a base Role - reach the level cap with it - to unlock its specialists. Specialists inherit the base Role's skills from level 0, so they start where the base finished. The tree is a modernised descendant of the class hierarchy from the original server's Heroes config, back in 2012.
Drifter (start)
├── Scavenger ──┬── Infiltrator (stealth kills)
│ ├── Chemist (fire, poison, stims)
│ └── Trader ◄──────┐ (contacts, hired muscle)
├── Labourer ───┬── Builder │ (fortification, toughness)
│ ├── Miner │ (deep work, haste)
│ └──────────────────┘ Trader accepts either mastery
├── Doc ────────┬── Combat Medic (heals under fire)
│ └── Quartermaster (buffs, morale, mercy)
├── Enforcer ───┬── Mercenary ──── Pyro (the only tier-3: flamethrower)
│ └── Veteran (slow to level, absurd to kill)
└── Scout ──────┬── Sharpshooter (ranged precision)
├── Rancher (brings livestock back from the dead world)
├── Pathfinder (moves whole crews)
└── Plague Caller (raises walkers; costs Humanity)
The Plague Caller's deeper skills carry karma_max gates - simply unavailable
to anyone still holding much Humanity, and every casting spends more. The Quartermaster's Mercy is
the mirror: karma_min 20, and using it gives Humanity back.
The Archetypes
Who you were before. Archetypes tweak stats, add an edge or two, and their trait groups (Tough, Quick, Clever, Steady, Handy, Sly, Touched) are the hooks that feats and future content gate on.
| Archetype | The pitch |
|---|---|
| Nobody | The blank start. Pick one when you are ready. |
| Ex-Military | Discipline, hardware habits, flat heart rate. |
| Athlete | Rule one: cardio. |
| Paramedic | Kept people alive for a living; still does. |
| Mechanic | Things make more sense than people. |
| Street Kid | Was surviving before it was mandatory. |
| Prepper | Told you so. |
| Immune | Got bitten. Got better. Nobody relaxes around them. |
Balance notes: base Roles are deliberately modest and the specialists get the numbers. The Veteran levels 20% slower and the Labourer line levels 20-40% faster from mining, both straight from the Heroes config. The Flamethrower consumes one coal per burst, as is right and proper.
