Themes: 6 + 1 = Infinite!

[Bob Whitely]

In Cosmothea 5.0, 6 + 1 = Infinite! By that, I mean that we offer 6 sample career paths + 1 specialist (or professional) path (kind of like a class, but very flexible). Together, you can build an infinite (or nearly) variety of themes for your character! The specialist is basically a step by step build your own theme path!

Want to build a plumber who doubles as a time-traveling superhero? Done! Itching to play a karaoke singing who doubles as a deep space scavenger? Piece of cake! Okay, those are off the wall examples, but you get the idea. With the 6 + 1 offering, you can build any theme you can imagine. The only limitation I put on it is that the character should fit the setting (yep, just like in any game).

So, what are you in the mood to play? Yep, we've got that covered!

[Bob Whitely]

Path: A collection of talents that identify a core career concept. i.e. Warrior (Includes iconic talents and then a list that you can purchase, so lots of flexibility there).

Theme: A character concept. A punch line. In some cases, a few words would suffice, summarizing major feature, race and path. i.e. Selfless dwarven vigilante, Lazy xeelotian adept of Chronus, Greedy grey-elven dignitary. These words don't stifle, nor are they all your character is about. They are but a guide, a summary of highlights and can be longer as needed to deliver the punch line. This theme might change over time as the character evolves.

Here's a very brief summary of the 6 +1 from the core rulebook 5.0:
SAMPLE CORE PATHS
Adept: A divine miracle worker
Dignitary: Social Insider with secret information and the talent to sway a crowd
Runner: One who runs in the shadows, performing covert operations relying on stealth
Shaper: An arcane spellcaster
Technomancer: A salvager, inventor and blender of magic and science
Warrior: A combat-centric adventurer with extensive armor and combat training

ADVANCED PATH
Specialist: A Kitchen sink path that enables you to create anything from a superhero to a filmmaker

[Bob Whitely]

Each core path also has sub paths.

Sub Path: A specialized path linked to a core path. i.e. A Paragon is a type of warrior. In place of some of the iconic and related warrior talents, the paragon would instead focus on divine aspects gaining a host of paragon talents in place of more iconic warrior talents, in a manner not unlike a paladin.

In an effort to slim down the core rule book so we can get it out sooner, keep the price point down, etc. we have moved the sub paths out of the core rulebook, but you'll see most of them again! They will resurface—lots of really cool concepts there, most of which have been fleshed out and playtested for years in previous versions of the game. Many of them have been part of Cosmothea since Cosmothea 1.0!

Here's a few off the top of my head, but it's not exhaustive: Nexus Disciple, Paragon, Bounty Hunter, Gatekeeper, Gaterunner, Gun Mage, Biomancer, Monster Hunter, Nature Adept, Wild Adept.

We are currently brainstorming on how we will introduce these sub paths in the days ahead. All of them could be built with the specialist path, of course, just as all the core paths can. Anything can be built with the specialist! I'm not claiming the specialist is some miracle path. It's no different than providing rules for building your own paths just as some universal/generic games do. It fits the vastness of the Cosmoverse Campaign Setting, and the theme of putting choices into the hands of players so it is included. It is a simple system with no extra rules - it's just a simple guide to making your own path, but we are very excited about putting it in 5.0 for obvious reasons. We also have done something similar with species!

The advantage of using a core "sample" path over creating one from scratch using the specialist is simply saving time and having all the talents that fit your theme in one place. And of course each time I made a path, I also made talents to support that path, which means more talents for the specialist to choose from to fill a concept.