20 Classes for a TTRPG about the Mongolian Empire

I am working on a TTRPG. Here are its classes!

Premise

You are the weakest and least loved of your clan. You have been betrayed and driven out of your ancestral herding lands by your former brethren, the cursed Shü Ebsö. It is only by the will of the sky god Dusassu and the host of lesser spirit-gods of grain, wolf, and copper that you all will survive the misty Endless Plains with no herd save the horses you escaped on. But you will survive.

A sandbox steppecrawl game of religion, survival, and discovery inspired by Genghis Khan's early life.

Classes

Classes offer a proverb (used to gain an additional die once daily) and special equipment. The stat in parentheses is a stat that each class typically specializes in, although this is only a suggestion. Classes are ordered from least to most prestigious. Roll randomly if unsure of what you’d like to play or to generate NPC clan members (see Clan Member NPCs for more information).

1. Captive Laborer (strength or core)

1. "Toil."

2. Most likely to be taken from raids of Tagdi villages or the smallest nomadic clans of the Endless Plains. Even within this new clan, your lot will be lowly. But perhaps this is an opportunity…

3. A memory of a different life.

2. Outcast (core)

1. “Brethren despite it all.”

2. A catch-all term for various people at the margins of the clan, including those who have committed crimes, behave in scandalous ways, or are otherwise stigmatized. Although kinship bonds demand that you be cared for, you are not exactly celebrated.

3. A shovel and a pick for digging wells for water. There are many shovels and picks in this world. But these are yours.

3. Shepherd (presence)

1. “Catch that sheep!”

2. Lowlier than a herdkeeper, shepherding is a task assigned to the young, the dumb, and the injured. 

3. A very young and dumb black and brown livestock guardian pup with a thick, double-layer coat. A long, thin lasso pole for herding horses from a distance.

4. Widow (spirit)

1. “It’s only a matter of wife and death.”

2. Upon the death of a husband, a widow often marries a brother or nephew of the deceased to maintain familial continuity and ward off the unlucky touch of death. Maybe this fate didn’t occur when you desired it. Or maybe this fate was undesirable to you.

3. Your deceased husband’s favorite riding sash, worn to keep the organs in place during long rides. Tools for making felt for clothing, rugs, and yurts.

5. Aged One (presence) 

1. “Wisdom comes to all yurts in time, but you must choose to let it in.”

2. Everyone ages, but not everyone becomes an elder. Whether due to a dramatic falling out, no remaining kinship ties, or a desperate clan, it is shameful but not unheard of that you might be abandoned.

3. Five-colored prayer flags representing the five elements of earth, water, fire, air, and sky, for use in rituals. A mental catalogue of clan stories.

6. Small Child (spirit)

1. “Little king, little king, tell us your wishes.”

2. Although children are showered with love and attention in the Ebsö culture, some can occasionally fall through the cracks, especially the children of captives or outcasts. But any clan worth its salt will still protect and care for you.

3. Colorful felt toys in the shape of a horse and rider.

7. Trapper (swiftness)

1. "Rodents survive underfoot of the horses."

2. Although a trapper’s work is lowly, it can singlehandedly keep a clan from starvation when the meat and milk of the six muzzles are unavailable. Through trapping marmots, squirrels, and other rodents, you have learned when to be patient and when to strike.

3. A pale-furred, tall, thin sighthound for hunting.

8. Cook (core)

1. “Meat and milk, salt and flame.”

2. An important, if relatively unprestigious, task handled often by women but also by men. You are a welcome guest at any yurt, as long as you’re willing to help with the butchering while you chat.

3. A well-made metal pot used for making hot pot. An otherwise unremarkable ladle and cooking knife that you swear by and do not let others touch.

9. Outrider (swiftness)

1. “As swift and sharp as an eagle.”

2. Scouts and message-carriers, outriders are integral to the communications networks and collective defenses of the Ebsö clans. You must have messed up big time to have been abandoned!

3. A young, dun-colored steppe horse, the tallest and fastest horse variety. Naming it after a spirit-god or person is a sure way to gain their favor.

10. Leatherworker (swiftness)

1. “Patterns for our ancestors, patterns for Dusassu.”

2. Leatherworking is a traditional craft for both the Ebsö clans and the Rilsian southerners and requires delicate precision and sharp eyes. Your talents are not just in the making of belts, bridles, harnesses, saddles, and boots, but in the decorating of them, through which you honor both the sky-god and your ancestors.

3. An intricately decorated waterskin that contains within its designs the essential patterns of the Ebsö clans that must be learned by all leatherworkers. Tools for leatherworking.

11. Warrior (strength or swiftness)

1. “May my arrow hit true and my whip find its mark.”

2. In Ebsö clan culture, all men, from the lowliest up to White Bones, train at some point as warriors. But although the powerful Ghogt Ebsö clan warriors might live lives of spoils, valor, or dread, yours is more mundane, concerned with drills, hunting, and occasional flashes of violence.

3. Two bows, a taller, long-range one for hunting or archery competitions, and a shorter one for use on horseback. 

12. Trader (presence)

1. “A word is as good as a gift.”

2. A task taken up by women, traders manage the gift and obligation economy of the Endless Plains, exchanging information, gifts, and tribute between clans of the Endless Plains.

3. Five colorfully embroidered snuff bottles, used in the customary gift exchanges when meeting someone for the first time. Blank scrolls and charcoal for note-taking or message sending.

13. Bowyer (strength or core)

1. “Horn on the belly and sinew on the back.”

2. Bowyers and fletchers are skilled craftsmen who can usually find work in any clan. You have learned to curse the rain for its danger to the animal glue inside your bows and worship the eagle for its prized tail feathers for fletching.

3. Five bows in various stages of repair, both of the larger long-range kind and the shorter, horseback-oriented kind. A set of tools for making said repairs.

14. Bard (spirit or presence)

1. “Horse-head fiddle, horse-head fiddle, play me your tune.”

2. Trained in throat singing and poetry, the bardic craft is prized not only in the Ebsö clans but as far away as the vast Ktebian empire. Being allowed to specialize in the arts, however, is usually a sign of a wealthy clan, and if fortunes change, you must adapt or perish.

3. A colorful double-headed fiddle with two strings made of horsehair. Tuned to fourths and played almost exclusively as accompaniment for singers.

15. Herdskeeper (core or swiftness)

1. "In the herd, the one becomes the stampede."

2. Herdskeepers are absolutely fundamental to the Ebsö way of life. You manage and provide medical care for the “six muzzles”, the most important animals of the plains. You may specialize in one particular species or care equally for them all.

3. A large and useful black and brown livestock guardian dog with a thick, double-layer coat. A long, thin lasso pole for herding horses from a distance.

16. Wrestler (strength)

1. “The strongest wrestler comes from the greatest care.”

2. The most important of the three Manly Skills (alongside horsemanship and archery) wrestling is important warrior training and an opportunity for prestige. From your teenage years onward, you trained by wrestling horses as well as men.

3. A short-range bow for use on horseback and an impressive silver-cased knife used for slaughtering animals or in close combat. Must be taken out of your riding sash and held facedown when entering a yurt.

17. Herb Healer (spirit or swiftness)

1. "Blood and leaves a healer needs."

2. Although shamans are the traditional healers, the Ebsö clans have learned through the years about other types of medicine from the settled Kteb people. You rely heavily on animal blood, powdered metals and stones, herbs, and water. You might specialize in acupuncture, bone-setting, or pulse diagnosis. 

3. A Kteban book of remedies, which, while not comprehensive, is far more reliable than traditional Ebsö shamanic healing (don't let the shaman hear that!). A set of blank scrolls for note-taking and message sending.

18. Caretaker (core)

1. "A baby on the breast, a helping hand on the horse.”

2. Within the clan, caretakers administer property and care communally for children, the elderly, and the injured or disabled. You have a celebrated and influential role within the community, especially if pregnant or breastfeeding children.

3. A baby, destined to be the pride and joy of your new clan. Tools for making felt for clothing, rugs, and yurts.

19. White Bones (presence)

1. "The root of the clan holds it firm."

2. White Bones is a term for the aristocrats of the Ebsö clans. To be abandoned as a White Bones is a question of politics rather than simple ostracism, and as a White Bones, you are in a special position of privilege and responsibility to your clan.

3. Silver embellished matching saddle, bridle, whip, and beast band for your horse in the traditional patterns of your familial lineage. A short bow for use on horseback.

20. Shaman's Apprentice (spirit)

1. "When the spirit-gods speak, eyes open."

2. The most important role for survival in the Endless Plains, a shaman protects against undead fiends, mediates with local spirit-gods, practices traditional healing, and leads clan rites of passage. Sadly, you’re just an apprentice. Good luck out there.

3. A revered object: a ceremonial milk spoon for splashing milk to the five winds (to the sky and the four cardinal directions) during rituals. A set of blank scrolls for rituals, note-taking, and message sending.