1. Hunter: Wiremu

New Class Available: Hunter

YES! Finally, I got it. Three years I had been training under Master Ari the village hunter. Hunter is a difficult class to get. All but the simplest basic classes require you to be trained under someone of at least Journeyman Level. Huntmaster Ari has never told me what level he actually is. I think he must be at Master Level! Hunter is one of the more difficult basic classes to get as it requires more Skills than most other Classes. It needs Stealth, Skinning and Small Blades along with one other hunting Skill. I had finally met the last requirement, which, for me, was the Skinning Skill. I had been struggling with Skinning and had initially earned the Butchering Skill instead. It was a while before I lived that one down. Because Master Ari is a Master Trapper I got the Trapping Skill as my other Hunting Skill. The reward for Hunter being difficult to get is that it gives five attribute points per level whereas other Classes can give less.

I have just passed my fifteenth winter, and gained my first Class. I am now a man of the village with a new name! I am now Wiremu Hunter, son of Bryan Forester and Whetu Weaver. Master Ari never had more than a couple of apprentices at a time and in the three years I had been training under him none of the others had lasted long enough to get the Class. I know my training is not finished by any means. I still have so much to learn about Hunting from the Master, but I know enough that I got the Class to Level 1.

Humans, when they get their first Class usually have an average of 90 attribute points, spread over all the 9 attributes depending on their childhood growth. I was slightly above average with 92. My Status Sheet was not bad:

Wiremu Hunter

Hunter Class

Total

Type

Attribute

Level

1

Constitution

Physical

Strength (PS)

9

0

9

35

Agility (PA)

12

1

13

Perception (PP)

11

2

13

Mental

Strength (MS)

9

1

10

34

Agility (MA)

12

1

13

Perception (MP)

11

0

11

Spiritual/Magical

Strength (SS)

10

0

10

28

Agility (SA)

8

0

8

Perception (SP)

10

0

10

Totals

92

5

97

My Skills were: Fishing 3, Small Blades 2, Stealth 2, Trapping 2, Cooking 1, Butchering 1, Bow 1, Skinning 1.

Hunter automatically assigned three of the five attribute points. One went to Physical Agility and two went to Physical Perception. The other two points were mine to assign and I immediately put one to Mental Strength. This brought it up to 10 and with my Mental Agility already over 10, I could now form a bond with an animal companion. There were only two people in the village with animal companion bonds. My master had a big old Timber Wolf as his bond. I wanted to be just like him. The other I put to Mental Agility. Animal Bonds were a Mental based Skill rather than a Physical based Skill. It was controlled by Mental Strength and Mental Agility, which determined the strength and complexity of the Animal you could bond. I was going to be looking out for a wolf cub even though Master Ari had warned me more than once that a minimum level of Attributes was not going to bond such a strong and complex animal. I was going to show him that I could do it.

Your Attributes determine what Skills are available to you. While I train with a Spear, because my Physical Strength is below the minimum of 10, I can’t get the Spear Skill yet which then helps me in using it and gives bonuses with it. I probably should have put one of my free attributes toward Physical Strength to get the Skill, but I would rather have a bond. I will get it next time I level the Class. All Classes and Skills have requirements like this. Bow for instance required Physical Strength at 8 and Physical Agility at 10. Physical perception definitely helps with accuracy, but is not a requirement.

Levelling a Skill is easy until Level 5 when it becomes an Apprentice Level Skill. At Level 10 it slows again and this is the Journeyman level. However the Journeyman Levels usually also open up other related Skills. Bow at Level 10 plus the right attributes and a demonstration that you can do what is required, will open a Skill called Longbow. Master Ari has it. It adds Spiritual Strength to the Bow and means the range can be taken beyond the pure Physical. Spiritual Attributes aren't much use to me yet. There are all sorts of skills with all sorts of requirements. Part of life is exploring and growing in what you can do.

Levelling Classes is similar to Skills. It slows at the Apprentice Levels and then slows again at the Journeyman levels. However at the Journeyman level you can now teach your class and specialisations open up to you, all with their rewards and requirements. The main specialisations that would open to me as a Hunter are Ranger, Scout and Monster Hunter. Specialisations can then be levelled as well and almost always give a unique or hard to get Skill. Scout often gives a mapping Skill for instance, but Ranger will sometimes open up a second Animal Bond. However, that is a long way away for me.

Tonight I celebrate with my Master and my family. The village celebration feast and the week’s end will include my Naming Ceremony. At the end of the week the whole village joins together for a meal and we put down a communal hangi. Between now and then I am going to try to hunt a boar for the hangi as I like pork!