BARD: “The Facilitator of the narrative”

Includes: Gamzee, Cronus, Dualscar

Observant readers will notice immediately the deviation of the Bard’s role definition. Humor me.

There is a thing in kabuki theatre, the kuroko or kurago. They are the stagehands of the performance, who move around the stage to assist in costume changes, to move props around, to strike the stage and set new pieces. They dress in head to toe black, wearing a veil over their faces, and as such they are a device of the theatre that is meant to (and reportedly does) fade into the background of the audience’s perception, as if they became invisible. The story could not unfold without them, but they aren’t actors or playing any specific role. They are the hand of the narrative itself, the embodiment of necessity and impetus.

The Bard is such a stagehand unmasked. They exist in the story only so much that they are ready to be plucked up and put into place to instantiate whatever must happen. And when the story doesn’t need them, they are no one of consequence.

As such, the Bard is not playing by the same rules as every other class. They are not playing at all. They are staff caught under the spotlight, they are the choragus asking direct questions from stage left, they are a tool. And as such are resigned to a non-arc. 

Gamzee is a nice, goofy, but ultimately not narratively significant character until he is activated as a villainous accelerant to the story, and his character arc is all but dumped into the trash. Cronus, stuck in a failed session that needs no facilitator anymore, is locked into the same maturity level as he died in and has no affect on the story. Dualscar’s influence peaks at a failed attempt at shitstirring.

It would be hard to define this class to someone. It is the diametric flip of the Heir in a sense. It is a blank slate. The Bard’s strengths are what the story demands. The Bard’s weakness is a lack of definition or purpose. You, dear reader, are not a Bard, I assure you.

HEIR: “Avatar of their aspect”

Includes: John, Equius, Mituna, John Crocker, the Helmsman

Note: The Heir is unique among the classes in that they are better understood if you know your Aspect first.

The Heir revolves around one core concept: the Heir is being played by their Aspect.

The Heir is interesting in that they are most defined by the qualities of their aspect. When reading the aspect of Breath, you may think “huh that’s just John” or when reading Void “huh that’s just Equius.” This is because yeah, the Heir can be considered the embodiment of the will of the aspect. 

This comes with a lot of baggage, as you may imagine. The Heir’s aptitudes are deeply ingrained in them; truly, what they do well comes to them as easy as breathing. The power curve rises very early for them and stays at that height. An Heir might find themselves pulling off something incredible and then stopping to ask how they even managed that. And they’ll never truly know.

But it is not fun to be propelled by an outside force. Brace yourself for a downer; the Heir will never truly feel in control of their life, and the amount of angst they feel is entirely dependent on how at peace they can be with that idea. Can the Heir find enjoyment from being tied to a comet? That’s up to them.

As such, Heirs have a more intense case of Single Player Syndrome than even Witches and Thieves. They have such trouble with making connections, they need other people to reach out, to reach back. When someone manages to take the Heir’s hand, it’s important not to let go, because getting back in touch again is a crapshoot. Personal growth is slow for Heirs, and they struggle with feelings of stagnation.

John Egbert is the pinnacle of the Heir, as his very existence in the story follows the ruleset of Breath, so fleeting and sinuous he slips from the very boundaries of the narrative through the gaps. Equius is also drenched in Void, and never wrests himself from its grip. Mituna is puppeted so aggressively by Doom, it does him irreparable changes he must live with. The Helmsman is similarly doomed.

It’s a rough one.

The Heir’s greatest strength is the biggest pro of their aspect.

The Heir’s greatest weakness is the biggest con of their aspect.

PRINCE: “In service to their aspect”

Includes: Dirk, Eridan, Kurloz, Bro Strider, The Highblood

Think of the Prince as the platonic ideal of royalty (as opposed to the reality). They are the rulers of their aspect, but the concept of fealty goes both ways. They must exert the will of their aspect, and in doing so the aspect empowers them to act with terrifying force. It is true that a Prince is capable of extremely destructive acts, but they are something of a sheathed sword. As soon as it is drawn and readied, shit is going to go down to a heretofore unseen degree.

Princes truly do strive to be worthy of their position and feel its weight very heavily. They hone themselves, do the work, and make the effort. They think their hot shit because frankly they have put in the time to get themselves to a level of ability that folks around them might frankly find exhausting. In return, a Prince is emotionally intense and dependent on validation. Big egos and big self-esteem issues simultaneously. As such, they crave connection, and unfortunately may feel kind of entitled to it. After all, they are royalty. Don’t you see the crown?

The true downfall of a Prince comes from isolation. They are at their lowest when they don’t feel appreciated for their work, and since the duties of royalty don’t just go away when you aren’t having a good time, the weight is crushing.

On the flipside, no one is more adept in a crisis. When the sword is finally unsheathed, the situation will radically change, in alignment with what their aspect can do with the circumstances. Hopefully its the right tool for the job, because a Prince has no concept of “disproportionate retribution.” Civis romanus, baby.

Of the Princes, everyone has a strong thread of legacy tying a noose around their necks. Dirk feels forced into his role by the destiny Skaia laid out for him, compounded by his idolatry of his ancestor. Eridan similarly models himself after the ideal of his ancestor, and gets extremely skilled in the service of what he thinks the Empire should be. Kurloz, in counterpoint, seems to undergo a traumatic event when he doesn’t march in service to Rage enough, and his path is forever altered. As the Highblood, he is basically ordained to be at the apex of society, and wields that power and influence with great relishment.

The Prince’s greatest strength is their dedication, a sort of clear-visioned selfless devotion to their domain.

The Prince’s greatest weakness is the fragility of their ego, and how reliant they are on outside validation.

MAGE: “Knowledge of the aspect to serve self”

Includes: Sollux, Meulin, the Disciple

The Mage is defined by natural aptitude for understanding their aspect. They are the students who ace every test they don’t bomb, who have no idea how to study, but who are experts in their chosen field. Everyone is baffled by the sheer depth and breadth of their knowledge, but boy is it specialized. Not every Gifted Kid has Gifted Kid Syndrome, but the ones who do are probably Mages. As such, they haaaate having to learn about anything outside their wheelhouse, because its hard, and they resent things that don’t come naturally to them.

While they are a wellspring of knowledge, they also know the value of it and don’t just hand that out to everyone.  It’s a lot of fun to show off their expertise, to give people a glimpse of their talents, but a Mage is not going to sit people down for a lecture. They aren’t here to be your tutor! You wouldn’t even understand all this stuff! So leave it to them.

There is definitely a martyr complex to Mages. Because they think only they fully understand their aspect, they are automatically the steward of that aspect, the suzerain, the seneschal. It is a solemn duty and they would prefer to be left to their work. Not that a Mage doesn’t enjoy talking to people and even hanging out, but they tend to be totally fine on their own for long periods of time. They’ll occasionally take a break to show off to friends, but temperamentally, they are never the people who are starting shit and instigating conflict. They will fucking end a fight with extreme prejudice though if they are forced into one.

Sollux had really comprehensive knowledge of his aspect but was always reluctant to share details. He wasn’t a teacher and had to be cajoled and dragged into doing anything he didn’t want to do. Meulin also kept much to herself and her closest allies and focused on her own interests, very solitary. This was mirrored in the Disciple, the keeper of the Signless’ teachings, who as we all know spent a loooooooong time in a cave.

(An extra clarifying note for those on the fence between Mage and Seer: the Mage should be associated with the High Priestess or the Gandalf, archetypically. The Seer should be associated with the Magician or Miss Frizzle.)

The Mage’s greatest strength is a truly staggering, if specialized, intellect.

The Mage’s greatest weakness is their reluctance to engage with topics they don’t already know. If it was important, they’d already know it!

THIEF: “Steals aspect for self”

Includes: Vriska, Meenah, the Condesce 

Greed is good. Greed works. Such is the creed of the Thief.

Among the classes, the Thief is the closest to a solo-player, a self-interested operator. There’s no need for a tank or a healer or a DPS when you’re a Thief. You’re going to figure out your own way through this alone, and damn the consequences! Being a Thief is inherently selfish, but its important to remember that selfishness is not an inherent evil or sin. A lot of people would benefit from learning the virtues of selfishness. It’s important to put on your own oxygen mask before helping the person next to you.

That latter bit is important to remember though; Thieves should keep in mind that sometimes people around them need help. Because a Thief is extremely capable and adept and self-driven, but when they are moving so fast, they run a very real risk of getting too far away from their allies, which at best leads to isolation and at worst leads to the Thief’s downfall as they fail at a task they could have beaten, if only they had anyone around to support them. Which is real rough.

Of course, a Thief is going to bristle at being told all of this. Ugh, obvious, much? They know what they are doing, they accept the risks, and don’t have time for a lecture. It takes a lot of guts and drive to be a Thief, and while they talk and play a big game, being so goddamn good at what they do is hard. It’s a skill they work at. It takes a lot of willpower. No one appreciates that, do they?

Vriska, Meenah, and the by extension the Condesce are all engaging in the narrative game like its a single-player adventure and have a lot of resentment rooted in every time they have to work with other people. Vriska’s entire arc is blighted by how her “pathologically competitive” nature is not shared among her peers and feels her attempts to “help” her team are not appreciated or understood. She literally refers to her impending battle with Jack as her final challenge as a gamer. Meenah is more than a bit of a loose cannon who decides how she thinks things should go and then will do anything to make that outcome happen, certain of her own correct vision of events. And the Condesce is a more extreme extension of Meenah’s habits, literally stealing the Life of people around her to perpetuate her singular vision until there is no one left to stand beside her.

The Thief’s greatest strength is their ambition, and how it gets them concrete results. They cut to the chase.

The Thief’s greatest weakness is their struggle to rein in their mean streak, going too fast even with people they like.

SEER: “Knowledge of aspect to serve others”

Includes: Rose, Terezi, Kankri, Alpha Rose, The Signless

The key to understanding Seers is to understand that their power is the power of Context. There is a whole collection of aspects, right? Not if you are a Seer. Everything about the Seer is channeled through their aspect, everything else is just shadowplay. Practically speaking, they listen to people talk about Other Aspects and internally just know none of that shit matters? It’s all about their aspect.

The philosophical concept of “the universe only exists in my perception of it” might be appealing to the Seer. Observation is existence.

Personality-wise, Seers are very active and driven people. Telling them to sit still or allow things to happen idly around them would drive them batshit. They are chronically allergic to idle hands. But this also leads them to be busybodies, and second only to Sylphs in the meddling department.

Talking is a free action for Seers. They are the kind of people who may not be extroverts, but who do feel restored or healed by having conversations. It’s important for them to remember when they want that much interaction and dialogue, especially with people who don’t gain HP from talking, that it will fall onto them to lead be steward of the conversation.

Rose and Terezi have a lot of operational overlap. Both are able to use their aspect to divine the paths of people around them and sort of skip past any lack of knowledge of other people’s aspects. Everything is Light to Rose. Everything is Mind to Terezi. Kankri was not a particularly successful Seer, but saw the world as a lattice of obligations connecting people. The Signless, however, was defined by how he saw the potential in everyone’s connections and aggressively tried to share that knowledge.

(An extra clarifying note for those on the fence between Mage and Seer: the Mage should be associated with the High Priestess or Gandalf, archetypically. The Seer should be associated with the Magician or Miss Frizzle.)

The Seer’s greatest strength is once they get ahold of a smidgen of confidence, they truly shine like a beacon.

The Seer’s greatest weakness is the struggle to gain that confidence. It’s an uphill climb.

ROGUE: “Distributing their aspect to others”

Includes: Roxy, Nepeta, Rufioh, Mom Lalonde, the Summoner

Rogues have sticky fingers and big ideas. They are the people with the ten foot view of the situation and are extremely ready to move, to act if that’s what’s needed. They have a lot of personal propulsion, and anyone around them would be lucky to get an ounce of that determination.

But it’s a bit like wading in a river with a bucket and getting soaked; their aspect does not come from inside. They just know where it is and how to move that shit around. This is to the benefit of everyone and they know that, but Rogues have a lot of issues with lingering, targeted resentment. Someone didn’t say thank you last time you helped them? They better say thanks twice next time, or it’s gonna stick with you.

Rogues are vital to unit cohesion. They see where there is lack and they work to fill those spaces. Without their contribution, everything is going to hell, it’s only a matter of time. If you are a Rogue, you may silently be of the opinion that your presence in your friend group is irreplaceable, which makes you feel important but also makes you frustrated no one appreciates what you do.

For the canon rogues, getting all the upside and and downsides of their aspect is rote. Roxy winds up being able to navigate impossible paths to do remarkable things, but is also drenched in Void’s pain points of addiction and obsession and fighting against restraints. Nepeta is able to speak to people and help them strip away the bullshit and get to the heart of who they are, she is keeper of many important emotional truths, but struggles to properly define herself to people around her. Rufioh is flighty and has trouble connecting to people, even as he provides them with outlets of expression and freedom from the systems that haunt them. And the Summoner spread revolution and freedom to many, but even as he influenced the societal systems around him, he didn’t have the mechanism to write any change, as Breath players have trouble even interfacing with The Rules, as they are.

A Rogue carries a powerful knife with the ability to help everyone around them. But they are doomed to keep fucking knicking their fingers on its sharp edges. That’s the compromise of wielding it.

The Rogue’s greatest strength is their ingenuity, finding unusual solutions, and being clever as hell.

The Rogue’s greatest weakness is the resentment that follows them like a shadow.

KNIGHT: “Guardian of their aspect”

Includes: Dave, Karkat, Latula, Alpha Dave, Redglare

Knights are the class of protectors and proficiency with their aspect, while not conjuring their aspect from within themselves, but standing guard over it. They might be unmatched in the actual utility of their aspect. This shit comes naturally to them, as if they have been moulded their entire life to this specific type of work. More than anyone, they would have trouble doing another job, another role.

If you are familiar with the RPG Party Composition Meta of DPS/Healer/Tank, the Knight is a tank, and they are the Main Tank. They set the pace and everyone else in the party kind of has to march to that tune or risk being left behind. But that role comes with a lot of responsibility to the party and the Knight knows this intrinsically. Everyone is in good hands.

But man, is it fucking work. That cliche “if you love your work you’ll never work a day in your life”? Knights laugh at that. They make this shit look good, but fuck it’s work every damn day. When you’re carrying the entire party, your back starts to hurt. This is the greatest struggle of the Knight, the battle with burnout and fatigue. They often find themselves positioned as the load-bearing pillar of the situations they are involved in. They are the people who don’t feel like they’re allowed to take a sick day. It sucks.

If a Knight’s sword is their unparalleled use of their aspect, their shield is emotional repression and cognitive dissonance. You’re a Knight, you’re observant and smart, you can extrapolate. You know the world around you sucks, right? Nah, no, fuck that, everything’s fine. You don’t want to handle that on top of all your other responsibilities, so you choose not to. Holding up that shield can get fucking exhausting sometimes though.

Our canon Knights are all unified in specific ways. They have an innate, powerful understanding of their aspects, and all of them feel the need to compartmentalize their emotions about the world around them and hide behind a shield of bravado. Dave is plagued by the expectations human masculinity dumps on him, from his emotions to his sexuality to his duty to the narrative, and hides behind a cool aloof persona. Karkat is haunted by the violent nature of his society that would consider him worth nothing but a culling, and hides behind a paper-thin facade of self-aggrandizing importance and lies about how he feels about Alternia’s culling. Latula struggles to stand out, to be likeable, to be unique among her group, and has a strong persona of Radness to cover up her vulnerabilities. Even Redglare wears the mask of the dutiful public servant over her hidden emblem of the Signless, of justice and equity.

Such is the plight of the Knight.

The Knight’s greatest strength is the satisfaction of having their desire to help those around them matched by their abilities. Confident aptitude.

The Knight’s greatest weakness is fatigue, the looming spectre of burn-out, and hella anxiety.

PAGE: “Served by their aspect”

Includes: Jake, Tavros, Horuss, Grandpa Harley, Darkleer

Ah, the Page. The slow burn class. The low-powered class. The class that can’t keep up. 

There’s no one else here, so let’s tell the truth: Pages are one of the most powerful classes. They are served by their aspect with a loyalty that cannot be shaken or dogged. It has always been with them, and as they grow in power, so does the singularity of their aspect. This is a subtle process; imagine finding a dragon egg under your bed as a child and keeping it a secret from everyone. After it hatches, you feed it every night, letting it grow until suddenly you show up to see your friends riding a fucking full-sized dragon, and it loves you, and no one knows how you managed to pull that off.

Pages are the class of subtlety, of getting the things they want with soft power. They have boatloads of intuition and understanding of their circumstances, but god forbid anyone catch on. No, it’s always better to remain underestimated. Of course, the flipside of this is the guilt; Pages are plagued with guilt, as the gap between what they know and what everyone around them assumes gives them the heebie-geebies, like peering over the edge of a canyon.

The Page’s power, their connection to their aspect, is a steady hand. That aspect is very much not inside them, but something they can direct and lead. For the most part, at least. That’s the thing about big friendly dragons; they can slip your control if you’re not careful. This very much happened to Darkleer, who’s inability to break from his restraints made him largely ineffectual. But Tavros was for a time an exceptional Page, who didn’t give a damn about the objectives the game and only wanted to pursue his own freedoms, and was aided by Aradia, Kanaya, and Vriska, often despite their misgivings. And Jake? Blithe manipulation and plausible deniability were his left and right hands, held out open-palmed until he got the things he wanted.

It would be easy to say don’t underestimate the Page, but most people cannot help it. Which does become a problem when the Page gets in over their head. And when they lose grip on their aspect, everyone is going to get burned.

The Page’s greatest strength is their ability to manage situations, to keep themselves and others comfortable and avoid rocking the boat. Their intuition is unmatched.

The Page’s greatest weakness is the guilt constantly dogging their heels, that little suspicion they struggle with, the fear that deep down they might not be a good person.

WITCH: “Sponsored by their aspect”

Includes: Jade, Feferi, Damara, Granda English, the Handmaid

Here is the ultimate test of the Witch: has your aspect ever tried to kill you?

Witches are incredibly potent. They can see their aspect everywhere around them, can draw it in, can touch the entire range of its domain. A witch is cloaked in their aspect.

But here is the caveat. Unlike Heirs and Maids and some others who sort of reach inside and unearth their aspect, Witches stand solidly separate from theirs. It is similar to the relationship between a sponsor and a warlock, and for the mastery of their aspect, they are gonna pay. Arguably a Witch has a quietly antagonistic relationship with their aspect. The rules of the universe are immutable to Jade and lead to her isolation and trauma. Damara is lousy with Time and her long, long, long life is horrific. Feferi’s position as royalty has her marked for death from the moment she’s hatched and its arguably what leads to her death.

A Witch gets all the power and all the cost to use it. They are casting from HP all the time. But the spells are so fucking useful! And even if they try to sit on their hands and try not to use them, the aspect is not kinder. It will not spare them, there is no Denying the Call. What Witches need, more than anything, is support. After all, they’re the high-damage DPS!

The Witch’s greatest strength is resilience, as they are just better at struggling through to the other side after so much practice.

The Witch’s greatest weakness is trouble forging meaningful connections because they believe knowing them must surely be a burden. Knock that off!

SLYPH: “Heals their aspect in others”

Includes: Kanaya, Aranea, Mindfang

Sylphs are the helpers, the healers, but they are not soft. The memetic image of the person in a labcoat with a gun saying “I’m a doctor, but” is the core of the Sylph. Alternately, the MO of the Sylph can be summed up by the quote from Mordin Solus from Mass Effect 2: “Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes heal patients. Sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps.”

And make no mistake, Sylphs are helpful! Their knowledge of their aspect is very strong, very innate and natural, though if someone asked them to explain how it works, they might struggle. But that’s fine; they understand well enough for everyone, and they can handle it.

There is an extreme clarity of vision and determination to the Sylph, and an emotional maturity that outpaces everyone in the vicinity. They are likely a realist, with a lot of understanding of what is possible. Decisive action is the medium they work best in, and while they seem reserved at first, when pushed to act, they are incredibly potent. Kanaya enforced her view of reality with a fucking chainsaw, and Aranea stepping into play single-handedly torpedoed the entire session.

It’s not all hardcore drama. Sylphs do get joy and fulfillment out of using their aspect, and in doing so gain a stronger connection to the people they’re helping.

The Sylph’s greatest strength is the genuine joy from helping people and being appreciated.

The Sylph’s greatest weakness is bitterness felt when their help is not appreciated, and a tendency to try to solve every problem with their aspect, even when it’s not quite the right solution.

MAID: “Burdened by their aspect”

Includes: Aradia, Jane, Porrim, Nanna, the Dolorosa

It is a silly pun, but still accurate to say that Maids are made of their aspect. They can be seen as a wellspring of their aspect, providing it to those around them, acting as a source of support and power that their allies are lacking in.

But having that much excess of an aspect is a heavy burden. Unlike Rogues and Sylphs, who also serve as support with their aspect, Maids are not really self-selecting. They start the story with a surplus, and its their job to dole it out. This can easily lead to a feeling of apathy and a sort of emotional disconnection from the aspect.

A friend once offered a useful metaphor to me, about the pitfalls of trying to help people. She said, “It’s hard to fill a cracked mug.” No matter how much you want to assist the people around you, when it never seems to stick, when people never seem to be fulfilled by your actions, things get frustrating. And that is the plight of the Maid; to have their aspect on tap for the service of others, but to struggle with feeling overdrawn.

One recurring motif with Maids is that they have an inexhaustible supply of their aspect, but they want something else. Being in an ocean doesn’t mean you are not thirsty, and the things Maids tend to want seem counter to the comfort of their Aspect. Aradia has nothing but Time, but becomes happiest when she breaks free from inevitable outcomes and gets to connect to people and make her own choices. Jane is drowning in affluence and castle comfort, but is always reaching for connections and truths that would shatter her domestic peace. Porrim has a strong struggle with being born into her caste of caretakers, wanting to escape that, but also wanting the ability to accept it on her own terms.

Ergo: If you know, deep down, that you are bountiful with something that should by all merits make your life easier but are still left wanting for something else, and you will not be happy until you get that thing, that’s a sign of being a Maid.

The Maid’s biggest strength is confidence in their aspect without being a know-it-all.

The Maid’s biggest weakness is frustration and lack of patience with their friends and allies who don’t share innate understanding of their aspect.