For the first five levels you are a “commoner”, without class, but of Cimmerian, Aquilonian or Stygian origin. Then at level five you choose your base class from four archetypes: Mage, Priest, Rogue or Soldier.

At level twenty you get further three to four class selections for each archetype (14 in total).

Additionally you can pick one of four prestige classes at level 20, which gives an additional, parallel, path of development. You can be a Crafter (making things), a Master (earning you a full time squire), a Commander (adept at multiplayer gameplay) or a Lord - an expert on siege gameplay.