Professions: A Primer

What is a Profession?

In Osterra, everybody wants to be a hero.  And everyone can be, whether they’re a Warrior, Mage, Healer, or Rogue!  These Character Paths (sometimes called Main Paths) form the basis for each and every character at LARP Adventures.  However, not all glory is to be found on the battlefield or hack-and-slash adventuring: some characters may find another calling, taking on Professions in addition to their Main Path.

A Profession is a non-combat-focused occupation that takes time and effort to master, both in and out-of-game.  These occupations are domain-general, attracting characters of any Main Path– offering new options geared toward improving the community, not just the character themselves.

Existing Professions in the game today are the following:

• Artificer (currently playtesting): Expert tinkerers who can leverage gems to create seemingly magical, extraordinary effects in objects they create.

• Bard (currently playtesting): Storytellers and entertainers who create boons through performance.

• Merchant: Entrepreneurs who create opportunities to earn and spend, turning the wheels of commerce.

• Scholar (currently playtesting): Lorekeepers who share findings and teach others their expertise.

There’s variety in how these characters are represented. However, Professions actually celebrate Players, not Characters, who share their time, talent, and skill with the Game.

• An Artificer celebrates Players who are Makers, elevating immersion and physical representation.

• A Bard celebrates Players who are Performers, bringing culture and art to the community.

• A Merchant celebrates Players who are Givers, providing Goods, Quests, and Services.

• A Scholar celebrates Players who are Storytellers, elevating lore and sharing information with the community

There are more Professions to come; each new Profession will reflect these basic principles: to celebrate the Player, elevate game play and immersion by adding to the richness of the game experience with our personal passions, skills, knowledge, and talents. These principles will challenge us to attain new heights in our individual works. How we bring these things into the game will be discussed in those Professions’ specific rulesets.

New Options to Reward Elevating the Game

After initial time in-play in Osterra, Characters of any Main Path at Tier 3 or higher may invest time and/or Skill Points into Professions– accessing unique features borne from their contributions.  Each Profession has its own entry criteria (Character Path Tier, Skill Points, or application).  Even before Tier 3, Professions have additional pathways to engage with newer players.  This is to promote interest and mentorship.

Members of a Profession have a responsibility to showcase and bring Profession-relevant content to the Game both individual and as a community.  This responsibility is typically shouldered by the Guild as a whole, and it is reflected in the Profession’s costs and responsibilities.  For this reason, entry into a Profession requires a reasonable understanding of the culture of Osterra (both in- and out-of-game).

A Professional’s benefits are typically offsetting costs conferred simply being a member of the Profession.  Few of these are mandates or duties; they simply are a reality of contributing content in a meaningful way to the community. 

• An Artificer is able to create powerful in-game items at the cost of real-life crafting, while organizing player-driven scenes. 

• A Bard can confer boons in exchange for the time and effort it takes to rehearse and perform well. 

• Most offerings Merchants have are gifts to the Game, either in coin, goods, or quests. 

At a broader level, members of Professions are also expected to participate in Guild-sanctioned activities, like Merchant’s Row modules, Bardic competitions, and Maker showcases.  Each Profession has its own expectations:

• Performance is integral to being recognized as a Bard. 

• A Merchant needs to participate in business to benefit from Guild perks. 

• The Artificer’s Guild requires showcasing research to advance.

All of these contributions elevate the Game and others’ experience. Professions also lend new non-combat options to the game for those looking to add to the grand tapestry, and breath a little life into the world of Osterra.

Meaningful Choices that Reward Focus

Like real life, Professions require time and effort– focus pays off.  Though anyone can dabble in any Profession, even multiple, most Professions require focus to progress.  Many Professions have a Milestone gateway that limits progress, and these milestones require special requirements to advance.  As a character advances in a Profession’s milestones, they may limit their access to other Profession benefits.  A jack-of-all-trades is a master of none.  Only those that focus may acquire the most powerful benefits in a Profession. Players may engage in any activity they wish; however, for the greatest benefits of a Profession, they must make a meaningful choice for their Character.

In this case, a Character becomes a [Profession]-Merchant.  A Bard-Merchant might profit as a traveling performance troupe.  An Artificer-Merchant could inscribe runes or appraise Gems.  However, all would-be Merchants still require an approved application to operate in this Guild.

It takes time for even established characters to earn the expertise in a Profession.  Skills cannot be instantly bought like a character’s main or cross-Path skills.  Each Profession has its own requirements for progression.  For example, Artificers may only take one Skill per event-day, as their learnings come from in-game experimentation.  Merchants gain Perks from time set up, as reputation takes months to cultivate for the Realm at large.

Different Ways to Engage Events

Professions lend opportunities for a Game-within-a-Game, creating an intentional and inclusive space for non-combatants.  Such approaches introduce some manner of risk or cost to access greater rewards. 

For example, Merchants (1) invest coin to upkeep their Guild membership and (2) receive protections and Perks to expand their business and reputation.  Artificers spend resources creating schematics for powerful objects– which can be co-opted or stolen by rivals.

None of these examples are mandated by the Profession, unless Players want to deeply focus.  They simply offer expanded risks and benefits to Players donating their time and resources.  Merchants need not buy-in to be approved for business by the Guild.  Artificers need not to create Schematics to use Artificer Skills.  As more Professions release, the objective will be ways to tie-in mechanics or events with other Professions and create meaningful interplay between all varieties of Professionals.

What is not a Profession

Professions are not Main Paths– They are Embellishments

If a Profession gives benefits to mostly one Path, proposed Skills may be better suited for that Path. A Profession should not be a substitute for “[Main Path], but an embellishment!”  A Profession supplements Character Paths, but does not replace them, adding depth to a character. These beings we create should be 3 dimensional, have dreams, and pursuits beyond the dungeon, or quest for power, coin, and glory. There are no “Warrior Professions” or “Mage Professions.”  Benefits of a Profession are limited by resources and prevent min/maxing, so as to not overshadow Main Paths.

Professions are Main-Path-agnostic, being as attractive to Warriors as Mages.  As an Artificer, all Characters have advantages or disadvantages based on their Main Path, as to what they can make.  There is no Main-Path-monopoly on performance for Bards.  For Merchant, everyone can sell things; all Main Paths are interested in coin.

Professions are not hyper specific

Professions are broad categories for practical and game reasons.  There simply aren’t enough people to run 20+ Guild meetings. 

This means we need to have Broad Professions with distinctions within them to make them unique.  Consider Artificer: we celebrate Makers and have subsets of that Profession to Make Different Things, not have a separate Profession for each thing that can be made (tailors, machinists, etc.)  We celebrate Performers, but don’t have a Profession for each type of Performance.  The intention is to allow players to flavor their character, just like how they would for Character Paths.

Professions don’t focus primarily on combat

We have robust combat opportunities for all Character Paths.  Non-combatants are every bit as important to the community, and Professions should give options for them. Focusing too heavily on combat risks stepping on toes of Warriors, Healers, Mages, and Rogues.  When Professions do allow replication or simulation of Path skills or spells, they should be limited in frequency or require greater cost.  For example, despite replicating spell effects, the Artificer is limited by their Fusion Points, the number of Objects they can equip, and availability of Gems.  Merchants can create more wares than a typical Character, but only if they sell them at market value to others unassociated with their business.

Professions don’t solely benefit the individual

Professions are meant to grant benefit to others or the community at large.  Professionals have tradeoffs, costs, and responsibilities-- not just boons.  Professions shouldn’t feel required, but should benefit those who Give to the Game.  Rather than being in the space of the competitive, Professions are meant to create mechanics for RP and worldbuilding that Main Paths don’t inherently. Players earn cool character options in exchange for actively making the community better.  An Artificer gains flexibility in Skills/Spells by creating immersive phys reps / scenes.  A Bard takes the stage to tell stories, bringing art, history, and culture to the masses.  A Merchant earns coin and notoriety by spending time in their shops interacting with other players to help drive Osterra’s economy.  Likewise, these earned abilities extend further than the Professional themselves and can add to the game in so many ways.  Artificers create objects that friends and foes can use and may change the course of events. Bards perform so all can enjoy, but also can use their abilities at key moments to affect plot in subtle and sometimes pivotal ways.  Merchants can provide more stock, giving players an added boon and the opportunity to achieve their goals in play, but only to others, not themselves.

Changing Professions

When a Player first creates a Character, they have until Tier 3 to decide their Main Path and to switch around their initial Skills.  At the 7th event, Character choices ‘lock in.’  Likewise, you may modify your Profession-relevant choices as needed until 7 events from the first time you take a Profession Skill.  Keep in mind, this does not refresh upon selecting a second Profession.

After your 7th event: like real life, career pivots are not impossible; however– also like real life– it’s frequently not without cost.  Most early milestones allow dabbling in other Professions, creating meaningfully fun combinations of skills.  However, deep focus limits access to the Skills and abilities of other Professions.  If a Player decides to change Professions or to progress deeply into another, they lose access to the relevant Skills of the Profession they abandon.  Their Skill Points are not refunded.  For example, if a Character decides to become an Artisan Artificer (Tier 3 and 4), upon attaining the special requirements, they lose access to their Tier 3 and 4 Bard skills and spells (but not Tier 1 or 2, as an Artisan Artificer allows Tier 1 and 2 in other Professions.)  That Character does not have those Bard Skill Points refunded– they are simply lost.

Profession Playtests

Playtests are different.  Between events, playtest Professions will likely change based on results; if a Skill a Character took is removed, the Player may re-spend the Skill Points, as if the Character took another available Skill.  When Organizers mark the end of a playtest, you may choose to keep your progress (if the playtest was successful) or refund some/all of your Skill Points invested in the playtest Profession.

In rare circumstances, Organizers may allow a refund of Skill Points as a transition from a Character’s established Profession to a playtest Profession.  If a Player has a strong reason for a shift (essentially, the Character was this Profession, but the ruleset did not exist yet), those Skill Points might be refunded or abilities conferred.  However, this would not be a 1:1 transfer all at once; you would still be bound to the Progression of the Profession: for example, taking one Skill per event-day and/or promotion criteria to higher Profession milestones.  All large Character changes are subject to Organizer approval.