Jobs and company building · Ascension Game Bible

Character level provides broad competence. Job rank unlocks abilities with earned JP. A unit equips one primary command set, one learned secondary command set, one reaction, one support trait, and one movement trait. Give the UI a complete explanation of job requirements. A character can change jobs freely in camp; field changes require returning to a safe location. Learned abilities persist.

Avoid permanent stat-growth traps: long-term character stats come mainly from character level and equipment, while the current job supplies a reversible modifier. A player experimenting with a healer should not ruin a swordsman. Ordinary equipment has strong identities and small upgrade ladders; avoid a constant flood of randomized loot.

Proposed launch job roster: twelve shared jobs

The later Academy class tree is canon for its own period. This proposal uses historical battlefield professions; it does not assert that future institutions already exist.

Job	Tactical identity	Sample ability	Campaign use
Vanguard	Shield positioning and safe approaches	Interpose: protect adjacent ally	Train defensive militia
Archer	Elevation and lane control	Pinning Volley: restrict movement	Patrol roads
Scout	Mobility, flank attacks, observation	Mark Route: safe traversal	Reveal raid routes
Apothecary	Finite supplies, stabilization	Field Dressing: stabilize and remove bleed	Reduce recovery time
Acolyte	Controlled elemental offense	Ember Line: narrow delayed strike	Evaluate local elemental hazards
Sage	Protection and sustained recovery	Hearth Ward: temporary safe area	Improve recovery camps
Knight	Guard breaking and holding ground	Shield Break: damage Guard	Fortification inspection
Lancer	Reach and positional commitment	Brace: punish approach	Train anti-charge levies
Engineer	Structures, bridges, siege devices	Field Ramp: temporary traversal	Repair roads and mills
Standard Bearer	Resolve and formation support	Rally Standard: area resolve recovery	Reduce desertion
Spellblade	Weapon magic and costly burst	Tempered Edge: elemental next strike	Train mixed detachments
Envoy	Surrender, support, misdirection	Terms of Mercy: conditional surrender	Negotiate passage and prisoners

Pyrrhus starts with a personal Wayfarer command set alongside ordinary jobs. Later Oathbearer abilities reflect relationships and hard-earned command, not proof that his blood makes him superior. Named companions get a small personal ability package rather than twelve additional bespoke jobs.

Example builds: a Knight with Apothecary rescue tools holds a corridor; an Archer with Scout movement reaches the mill roof; a Standard Bearer with Sage wards steadies a refugee escort; a Spellblade with Vanguard protection trades burst damage for an endangered ally's survival.

Recruitment comes from villages, freed captives, surrendered enemies, and contracts. Every recruit has a name, home province, one background trait, and a short personal note. Losing their home alters dialogue and willingness to accept harsh orders. Do not generate sprawling procedural biographies that the game cannot meaningfully acknowledge.

Equipment and progression boundaries

Five equipment slots: weapon, off-hand, armor, accessory, and supply kit. Two-handed weapons occupy the off-hand. Consumables draw from the equipped kit during combat and national supplies when replenishing at camp. Cosmetic armor variants are limited by job family; every item does not require a new body animation set. Personal keepsakes can carry narrative identity without occupying the strongest combat slot.

Earn most experience and JP from completing objectives, participating, and rescuing allies—not repeatedly striking a friendly unit. Training catches reserves up to a moving floor below the company median. Optional contracts consume campaign days and have finite rewards. This supports experimentation without an infinite grinding loop that makes war pressure meaningless.