Novice Paths are the very first path characters can attain. They give out the basic playstyle for combat competent characters, allowing them to properly begin their adventures.
There are 4 basic novice paths to be chosen from: Magician, Priest, Rogue and Warrior. Adept, the fifth novice path, is introduced optionally in Forbidden Rules. They are all briefly described below, with the possible customizations introduced in supplements.
Magician[]
A spellcaster with a vast knowledge about magic. Compared to other novice paths, magicians have the largest amount of different spells a time, thanks for their initial number of traditions and spells learned and their Cantrip talent, that allows them to learn 2 rank 0 spells when they learn a tradition instead of just 1.
They have no variant paths, but there is plenty of customization with alternative talents described in In Pursuit of Power. There are talent options for each tradition of magic present in the game.
Priest[]
Priests, as their name imply, worship a god, deity or any strong being or belief. They draw their magic from that strong conviction, either by favors gave from their worshipped entities or by the power created by their creed. All priests have to choose their religion, cult or at least what they worship. They give access to three different traditions of magic associated with their faith.
The core book allows you to make a priest of the most common religions, including the Cult of the New God, Dwarfen Ancestors (aka Honored Dead), Old Faith and Witchcraft, without changing the talents gained.
Uncertain Faith[]
- Priest of the Old Faith - A priest that worships the Old Faith.
- Priest of Father Death - A priest that worships the Father Death.
- Priest of the Horned King - A priest that worships The Horned King.
- Priest of the Maiden - A priest that worships The Maiden in the Moon.
- Priest of Old Man Winter - A priest that worships the Old Man Winter.
- Priest of Revel - A priest that worships Revel.
- Priest of Summer - A priest that worships The Queen of Summer.
- Priest of the Seer - A priest that worships The Seer.
- Priest of the World Mother - A priest that worships The World Mother.
- Priest of the Honored Dead - A priest that worships The Honored Dead.
- Priest of Witchcraft - A priest that worships The Lord and The Lady of Witchcraft.
- Priest of the New God - A priest that worships The New God.
- Priest of the Dark Gods - A priest that worships The Dark Gods.
The Hunger in the Void[]
- Priest of the Demon Lord - A priest that worships the Demon Lord.
Scions of the Betrayer[]
- Priest of the Devil - A priest that worships the devil, Diabolus.
Kingdom of Skulls[]
- Cultist of the Dark Lady - A priest that worships the Dark Lady.
Curse of the Spider Wood[]
- Priest of the Spider Queen - A priest that worships the Spider Queen.
Nessus: City of Decay[]
- Priest of the Radiant One - Priests that worship the Radiant One of the Order of Light.
Rogue[]
Rogues can have many different specializations. They are a jack of all trades that can use pretty much every type of tool, even magic, as they see fit, with the drawback of being slightly less powerful and reliable as the other more specialized paths would be.
In Natural Born Scoundrels, the roguery talents are revised and expanded, giving rogues specializations with their own names. They are listed below.
- Academic
- Adventurer
- Dabbler
- Darksoul
- Dogmatist
- Factotum
- Inciter
- Killer
- Knave
- Ruffian
- Scoundrel
- Skirmisher
- Specialist
- Trickster
Warrior[]
A novice path that specializes in fighting with weapons, increasing their reliability and damage done.
Bred for Battle introduces several variant warriors to be chosen from.
- Armiger
- Barbarian
- Brawler
- Enforcer
- Gallant
- Hunter
- Monk - A warrior that focused on unarmed strikes.
- Soldier
- Spellguard - A Warrior who splits their focus between combat and magic
- Veteran - The basic warrior, introduced in the core book, The path benefits are the same, with the difference being descriptions, training tables and starting equipment.
Adept[]
A natural spellcaster with affinity to magic due to various fenomena. Introduced in Forbidden Rules as an optional Novice Path, they are closest to magicians in terms of mechanics.