KATARRADon't read your story. Be it.
From Aspirant to Ascendant
Every character begins as an Aspirant. The opening levels are meant to be lived before a permanent path is chosen, giving players time to learn the world and discover what kind of life they want to pursue.
The beginning. Explore, survive, learn systems, meet people, and discover possibilities. Every character begins without a chosen primary path. Through exploration, decisions, experiences, and personal development, they eventually reach The Choosing—a defining moment when they select their primary path.
At The Choosing, a character permanently chooses between Adventurer or one of ten established Professions: Alchemist, Artificer, Blacksmith, Cook, Jeweler, Merchant, Miner, Scholar, Survivalist, or Wayfinder. Adventurers pursue exploration, combat, and Legacies across four roles (Offensive, Defensive, Restoration, and Utility). Professionals pursue mastery, knowledge, commerce, craftsmanship, and influence. Neither path is inherently superior; both offer meaningful long-term progression. A chosen path determines specialization, not everything a character is permitted to experience.
Chosen, Proven, Exalted, and Ascendant represent increasingly demanding stages of mastery, reputation, and accomplishment.
Legacy abilities deepen through five mastery tiers primarily by being used meaningfully in play.
Level alone is not the whole measure of advancement. Organizations, reputation, Legacy development, and other accomplishments shape access and standing.
Katarra is built around accumulated decisions. Progression records what you achieve; the world remembers how you achieved it.