Why So Many Themes? Understanding Thematic Paths and Origins in RISE

Wherein Dyo reveals the RISE secrets that helped her learn that sorcerers, wizards, and warlocks are related but not, in fact, redundant...

I don’t know about you, but when I first began RISE-ing, I was a little overwhelmed by the sheer variety of Themes available to me. Some of them, I freely confess, seemed redundant. (Please read the whole article before booing me down.) For example, I recall thinking:

Sorcerer, warlock, wizard— can’t we narrow it down to one guy whose job is explicitly to wield magic? If JK Rowling can’t even get it straight (Harry Potter is technically a sorcerer before he is ever a wizard) then how should I be expected to manage all of this? And isn’t a warlock just a male witch? How does a witch differ from a wizard?

You get the idea. And maybe, if I quizzed you right now, you would not be able to tell me the essential differences between an invoker and a phrenic, or between a rogue and an assassin. (Invoker calls upon the power of a god, whereas phrenic has less directly attributable sources of power that are less answerable to the phrenic; assassin and rogue are both doers of dirty deeds, but rogue may limit himself to hilarious or practical hijinks and avoid murdering anyone, or indeed engaging in conflict.) Let’s face it, some of these Themes seem to encroach on other Themes’ territories!

Behold, it turns out that some of this overlap is intentional, and I was not the first to notice it…but before I realized that, I spent some time trying to diagram which theme is like which other theme, i.e.:

Isn’t a Cleric like a combination of a sage, a shaman, and a paladin? I know he wouldn’t necessarily be in the thick of battle like a Paladin, but he would be tied to a religious cause like a paladin, be wise like a sage and spend time in study, and heal people with the help of a higher power, like a shaman would. But a Paladin and a Blackguard are both motivated by a root cause…

And then I tried to categorize them as NATURE, DEITY/OTHERWORLD POWER, HEALER, CREATORS, and CONFRONTATION. This had at least two problems:

1. Creator is its own Theme. Confrontation is a FOCUS here at RISE, and although some themes lend themselves to a confrontation focus, any player can choose Confrontation as that character’s specialty.

2. The folks behind RISE had already grouped the Themes into categories, so I don’t need

to ham-handedly re-invent the wheel! (Hint: this is why you ALWAYS READ THE BOOK!)

Yes, folks, RISE offers four theme-based PATHS that a character can follow (or blend!):

Mage: Bard, Invoker, Sage, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard

Warrior: Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Warden

Scoundrel: Assassin, Bard, Blackguard, Phrenic, Rogue, Warlock

Priest: Blackguard, Cleric, Druid, Invoker, Paladin, Shaman

You will notice that Blackguard and Paladin have the privilege of appearing under two separate paths: Blackguard is a scoundrel-priest hybrid, and Paladin is a warrior-priest hybrid.

The paths help you to see which themes readily combine, and which hybrids might add less or more subtle complexity to your character. Moreover, paths offer specific bonuses to those who use them (think of it as double-majoring— just as some college classes count for both majors, you can move up the ranks and acquire more power if you are working two parts of a path at once!)

Paths are not the only way to start making sense of how the themes work together (and against) one another. Besides the handy “flavor text” page for each theme, as well as the features and powers available to its practitioners, each theme also receives an origin, or the “direction” of a theme’s power. Origin has two components: the location (body, mind, or soul) most strongly associated with mastering that theme, and one to three specific adjective describing the type of power representative of a given theme. These adjectives appear on a spectra of externally versus internally governed power.

So, let’s choose the path that I found most confusing based on my initial wizard, sorcerer, warlock conundrum— Mage. The Mage path has six options, as noted above, but now I’ve added their origins handily next to them for your cogitative pleasure:

Bard: Arcane, Specific, Sporting Mind

Invoker: Arcane, Divine Soul

Sage: Specific Mind

Sorcerer: Arcane, Primal Soul

Warlock: Arcane, Divine Mind

Wizard: Arcane Mind

You can see the overlaps between each one, but the differences too. Honing in on the final three, the congruences and distinctions are handily summarized: all specialize in arcana, but one has the knowledge and power deep within, one gets it from an otherworldly source, and one acquires it by intellectual application. Simple, right? When in doubt, go straight to the origin.

If you compare different themes within a similar path, taking care to observe each theme’s origin as a starting point, the unique beauties of each theme will be more apparent, and you can decide which themes deserve further attention and study as you seek to make a character that is all your own. My next hybrid project is, of course, a sorcerer-warlock-wizard--just try to catch me as I blaze up that Mage path!

*If you fear Paths, try being a Commander or a Creator, neither of which are tied to a path. We really do have something for everyone here at RISE.