The Hero Within RPG 4: How Do Classes Define Your Hero?
How does your character’s class shape their journey through a world of magic and technology?
In The Hero Within, your class isn’t just a set of abilities—it’s the foundation of your hero’s growth, purpose, and mastery.
Whether you’re a mighty Warrior, an ingenious Tinkerer, or a cunning Hunter, your class determines how you interact with the world and how the world sees you.
But classes in The Hero Within go beyond simple labels. Each one has multiple stages of progression, allowing heroes to evolve and unlock new abilities as they prove themselves. Some heroes may even take on secondary classes, blending skills for a truly unique playstyle.
Now, we turn to you, our amazing community: What makes a great class system? Should there be more flexibility? More specialization? Let’s dive in and discuss!
🔹 The Classes of The Hero Within: A Quick Overview
Currently, The Hero Within features a diverse set of classes, each progressing through three stages:
Warrior (Fighter → Champion → Warlord) – The unstoppable force of battle.
Mägo (Apprentice → Adept → Magus) – Master of the arcane and seeker of knowledge.
Hunter (Scout → Tracker → Rook) – A keen-eyed survivalist and expert in the wild.
Tinkerer (Inventor → Engineer → Artificer) – The fusion of creativity, mechanics, and magic.
Defender (Guardian → Protector → Sentinel) – The shield that stands between allies and harm.
Healer (Medic → Restorer → Cleric) – The compassionate savior who mends body and spirit.
Wayfarer (Explorer → Wanderer → Wayfarer) – The adaptable traveler, thriving in all environments.
Each class has two primary attributes that define its strengths and how it engages with the world. As heroes level up, they unlock greater abilities and stat boosts to refine their specialties.
Community Question:
Do you like the idea of multi-stage class progression, or would you prefer a more open-ended system?
🎭 The Role of Trials: Proving Your Worth
Leveling up in The Hero Within isn’t automatic. Instead, heroes must complete Trials—challenges that test their skill, creativity, and resolve.
For example:
A Warrior must prove their endurance and leadership before rising to Champion.
A Mägo must unlock arcane secrets and master spells to become a Magus.
A Hunter must track elusive prey and survive against overwhelming odds.
Trials are story-driven moments that give meaning to progression. But should they be more structured, or should players have freedom to define their own challenges?
Community Question:
Should class Trials be a structured system or flexible for player-driven storytelling?
What types of challenges would make Trials feel truly heroic?
🎭 Secondary Classes: Adding Versatility or Complexity?
One of the most unique aspects of The Hero Within is the option to take on a secondary class. After reaching Stage 2 in their primary class, a hero can unlock basic abilities from a second class—offering new skills without overshadowing their core strengths.
However, this comes with trade-offs:
A character who chooses a secondary class can’t reach Stage 3 in their primary class.
Secondary classes remain at Stage 1, preventing them from being as powerful as primary ones.
Players must spend Discipline Points to unlock a secondary class, making it a strategic choice.
This system allows for diverse character builds, but is it the right balance between versatility and specialization?
Community Question:
Do you like the idea of secondary classes, or should characters be more specialized?
Should there be more ways to grow a hero’s abilities beyond secondary classes?
⚖️ Class Balance: Strengths, Weaknesses, and Unique Playstyles
Each class in The Hero Within has a clear role and strengths, but also weaknesses to ensure balance. For example:
Warriors are strong and resilient, but lack subtlety and magical skills.
Mägo wield powerful spells but struggle with physical endurance.
Hunters are precise and aware, but they may falter in social encounters.
Tinkerers create incredible inventions but often require time and materials.
Balancing these strengths and weaknesses is crucial for fair, engaging gameplay.
Community Question:
Should classes have more defined weaknesses, or should players be able to mitigate them over time?
Are there any class concepts you feel are missing?
🏆 Help Us Shape the Classes of The Hero Within!
This is your chance to influence the mechanics and storytelling of The Hero Within! We want to hear from you:
What makes a class system feel rewarding to you?
Do you prefer rigid roles or more flexible, customizable paths?
Are there any class concepts or features you’d love to see added?
Drop your thoughts in the comments at LifeOfFiction.com and let us know what you think! Together, let’s build a progression system that truly reflects the hero’s journey! ⚔️🔮🔧
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Want to get a taste of the world we’re creating?
Would you like to participate in the live discussions?
We are developing a growing section of the The Fiction HUB for the TTRPG part of Life of Fiction. A place where we can meet in real time, via video and chat, and discuss these aspects together.
This is available to supporters of Life of Fiction.
If you’d like to be included, please send me a private message and I’ll keep you in the loop. We don’t have an established time yet and have to play it by ear…for now.
Thank you for your time and insights—your feedback is what helps bring The Hero Within to life!
1. I really like the system you have come up with. I think you might want a few more levels in your classes though. Maybe five instead of three? It would just feel like you are progressing more commonly and naturally.
2. I love the trial based progression, and I think you could do structured and free flowing. Here’s my idea. First set up specific requirements for each level of each class. (The warrior has to fight a fight with this level of difficulty) then you have places set up in your world with structured challenges (most warriors go to a certain arena to face their trial) but also allow the GM to create the trials naturally using the requirements laid out.
This would allow for a very structured fight, or a naturally occurring one.
3. I do think there needs to be more progression after you become a master in your class. Maybe not physically, but you are always learning things and therefore, always progressing.
4. Weaknesses. Weaknesses should be able to be overcome, through sheer will, magic, or some other way. The things that make us weak push us to overcome those things, and that should be built into the rpg.
A lot of this is my opinion, and hopefully makes sense. I’m already excited for whatever else you are cooking up for us!
I’ve always struggled with this kind of RPG trade-off—growing up and playing D&D. The idea that branching out somehow makes you less rather than more. People aren’t one-dimensional, and many of us don’t just pick a single path and stick to it forever. We learn, explore, and integrate knowledge from different places, and often, that makes us even better at what we originally set out to do.
Maybe it’s just a personal bias, and I do see the reasoning behind the trade-offs for secondary classes—balancing power levels, maintaining class identity, and ensuring meaningful choices in progression. Those are valid concerns in most RPGs. But from what I understand, The Hero Within is supposed to be different, no? It’s meant to depict the ordinary person as a hero. We are all heroes of our own lives, thus shouldn’t progression mirror real-life growth? Where mastery isn’t about choosing one rigid path and never looking back?
One thing I really love about the class system you’ve designed is how it makes progression feel earned. The idea that heroes must prove themselves through Trials instead of just leveling up automatically is fantastic—it reinforces the idea that becoming great isn’t just about time passing, but about overcoming challenges, practicing your craft, and proving your abilities. That’s why I’d love to see that same philosophy applied to a multi-classing system.
In real life, people don’t become weaker when they step outside their field to learn something new. They often return to their original discipline even stronger, with new insights that enhance their expertise. A warrior who studies magic doesn’t become a weaker fighter—they become a warrior with an expanded arsenal of knowledge and tactics. Growth isn’t linear, and I feel like the game’s class system could reflect that. Maybe even be the first in its class. (Although I don’t know if any other RPG in existence has executed this kind of system successfully since I’ve only ever played 1)
I’m not saying there shouldn’t be any structure, but instead of outright limiting progression to Stage 2, what if advancing to Stage 3 required proving mastery of both disciplines? Maybe through more unique Trials that force players to integrate what they’ve learned, rather than just locking them out of progression? That way, choosing a secondary class becomes a challenge of synthesis, not a penalty?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether a system like this could work within the game’s vision. Because if The Hero Within is truly about being different and mimicking real human growth, then we shouldn’t be boxed in by game mechanics that contradict that core idea, right?
To me, the best stories (and heroes) are the ones who break the mold, not the ones who stay inside it.
And if I have misunderstood the information or am out of my depth because I am in no way qualified to understand the back door mechanics that need to be in place for an entire RPG to function properly, please accept my apologies for my ignorance.
Love to see these posts in my inbox and am excited about the completion of it all!