Best WotC Core Classes for Swortd and Sorcery?

I am considering putting together a campaign setting that leans very heavily toward traditional Sword and Sorcery style fantasy -- you know, grit and blood and buxom enchantresses. Assuming I want to stick with WotC only 3.5 resources, what list of available core classes do you think would fit best?

Hmmm, adepts, aristocrats, barbarians, fighters, rogues, scouts ... not sure I'd add anything else.

I'd add the Beguiler, Spellthief, Duskblade and Dread Necromancer. Maybe the Bard.

"Buxom Enchantress" just screams "Beguiler" to me, and you need some kind of a Necromancer, or you'll have no shambling undead minions to cleave through.

These might all be NPC classes, though.

-- N

EDIT: I take it back. Grim S&S setting? No Bards for sure. Also, no Rangers! Why? No healing magic! Hell, I'd probably allow Sorcerers, but never a Bard, Druid, Paladin, or Ranger, and certainly no Clerics.

I think Warlocks would fit right in for bad guys, and they have the cheapo version of Animate Dead to make graveyard encounters entertaining.

Oddly enough, Hexblades might fit too.

You might look at the PHB II variant of the Barbarian.

Sword and Sorcery demands sorcerors, of course. And things like sorcerors...I think favored souls should replace clerics, as well, to keep the spontaneous magic thing.
Classes that aren't all magic should have no magic at all: barbarians, fighters, thieves, scouts, swashbucklers.
If you could find non-magical paladins and rangers, they'd be good, but you did say WOTC resources.

WotC base classes - did I miss any?

It all depends on individual's views of what makes Sword & Sorcery.

Skills: I increase the number of skills each class gets by +2/level, thus fighters get 4 + Int (x4 at 1st). Also, I remove the notion of the "Class skill". If you want your fighter to have Climb, Listen, Move Silently, and Tumble... go for it.

Classes that I think I would use for such a setting...

- Barbarian
- Battledancer
- Beguiler
- Binder
- Deathmaster
- Dragon Shaman
- Fighter
- Incarnate
- Knight
- Monk
- Psion
- Rogue
- Scout
- Shadowcaster
- Totemist
- Warlock
- Wilder


Rejected classes...

- Ardent
- Archivist
- Artificer
- Bard
- Cleric
- Divine Mind
- Dreadnecromancer
- Druid
- Duskblade
- Favored Soul
- Hexblade
- Jester
- Lurk
- Ninja
- Paladin
- Psychic Warrior
- Ranger
- Samurai
- Savant
- Shugenja
- Sorcerer
- Soulborn
- Soulknife
- Spellthief
- Spirit Shaman
- Swashbuckler
- Truenamer
- Warmage
- Wizard
- Wu Jen

Here's my list:

[sblock=PC Classes]Barbarian
Fighter
Knight (PHBII)
Marshal (MHB)
Noble (DLCS)
Paladin (no-spell varient, ComWar)
Ranger (no-spell varient, ComWar)
Rogue
Scout (ComAdven)
Swashbuckler (ComWar)

It wasn't too hard to par this list down. No divine magic, no arcane magic equals coolness.
[/sblock]

[sblock=NPC Classes]Adept
Aristocrat
Commoner
Expert
Warrior

Archivist (HoH)
Beguiler (PHBII)
Dread Necromancer (HoH)
Hexblade (ComWar)
Sorcerer
Warlock (ComArc)
Warmage (ComArc)
Wizard
Binder (ToM)
Shadowcaster (ToM)
Truenamer (ToM)

The standard NPC classes, plus the arcane classes. Personally, Any of these classes would be great for a BBEG, his minions, etc. The Tome of Magic classes also seem to fit in fairly well; demon binding and whatnot...
[/sblock]

[sblock=Rejected]Artificer (ECS)
Bard
Cleric
Dragon Shaman (PHBII)
Druid
Duskblade (PHBII)
Favoured Soul (ComDiv)
Healer (MHB)
Mystic (DLCS)
Spellthief (ComAdven)
Spirit Shaman (ComDiv)
-
Incarnate (MoI)
Souborn (MoI)
Totemist (MoI)
-
Crusader (ToB)
Swordsage (ToB)
Warblade (ToB)
-
Ardent (ComPsi)
Divine Mind (ComPsi)
Erudite (ComPsi)
Lurk (ComPsi)
Psion (XPH)
Psychic Warrior (XPH)
Soulknife (XPH)
Wilder (XPH)
-
Monk
Ninja (ComAdven)
Samurai (ComWar)
Shaman (OA)
Shujenga (ComeDiv)
Sohei (OA)
Wu Jen (ComArc)

Psionics, Oriental classes, Divine casters and the ragtags make up this list. Pretty much anyhting that doesn't fit... However, Dragon Shaman and the Mystic I could see as being classes for NPCs, if the theme were right. Possible the Spirit Shaman and Bard, too.

Magic of Incarnium and Tome of Battle I have no EXP with, so something might be out of lace with those...
[/sblock]

PCs: Barbarian, Fighter, Knight, (no-magic) Ranger, Rogue, Samurai (the one from OA), Swashbuckler, Thug, (no-magic) Urban Ranger [using the same changes as for standard Ranger, from CW], Warblade, Wilderness Rogue.

Bad Guys 'n stuff: Almost anything goes, really. Probably nothing with over-the-top healing or just way too much magic in general, however. Flavour should determine which are used, more than anything else.