Aristocrat as a viable PC class.

[Hypersmurf]

Rogues are the best class for playing a noble, including the snoby court noble. Go back and actually look closely at the class skill list, is there anything missing that a noble needs? And the rogue has the skill points to get those skills too!

Yeah, Ride and Knowledge... but liek you say, they can buy crossclass ranks.

-Hyp.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

Just like all barbarians aren't Barbarians, not all aristocrats are Aristocrats...

And there's also a Noble class in the Wheel of Time.

My opinion of Noble/Aristocrats is that they are from cadet branches of noble families or major agents of merchant houses. They're not in line to inherit leadership in their houses, but they derive some benefit from their upbringing and their connections.

They should have access to things like the Wealth feat (from the free Wheel of Time download, if I recall correctly) and Leadership. What else, I don't know.

Other classes can be of the nobility, but unless they take a few levels of aristocrat/noble, they are disreputable in those social circles...

Though now that I think on it, a Noble Blood feat (first-level only) might work just as well... Hmmm...

And shouldn't this be in the House Rules forum?

 

[Gez]

I've modified the aristocrat class.

http://gez117.free.fr/dnd/aristocrat.html

 

[I'm A Banana]

Be a bard or a paladin. You just need to strip the flavor.

Paladin = noble knight. They're honorable, chivalrous, all that rot. They get edicts from their king that allow them to perform miracles on his behalf (kings of legends had powers to remove disease, cure illness, and smite evil...think of Aragorn's "noble" powers....). You may want to shift a few minor details...such as change smite to Chaotic instead of Evil (for those who violate your Lord), but it's not absolute. You may want to loosen alignment requirements and the code of conduct, too, but you probably want to keep *something* in there.

Bard = noble courtesan. They're persuasive, charismatic, excelent at oratory, and also trained in some martial abilities. They 'use magic' by virtue of courtly trianing as well, and their magic often includes a vow, a speech, or a command. They gain power from authority itself. You almost definately want to alter the alingment requirements, but otherwise it works fine.

Don't be so quick to say that paladin = paladin, and bard = bard, and they can't be anything else. Using those abilities with some minor tweaks is much easier than dredging up a whole new class that's not integrated with anything else.

 

[Pseudonym]

Thanks a lot for the various ideas and custom write-ups. I have a sneaky suspicion gift certificates to some of the local game stores are in my future, so I'll scope out some of the books mentioned.

The game that she wants use the noble class is pretty roleplay intensive, with strong political undercurrents. The game has one straight rogue, a rogue/cleric and a rogue/sorcerer, so she's looking to try a non-rogue. I've suggested to her that class should follow concept, not class dictating concept, but she's pretty new to RPGS, and a little stubborn.

Perhaps one of the custom builds or alternative core classes will be more to her liking.

Again, thanks for the input.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

I typically go with Samurai from OA. I'm working on tweaking it to make it a little less combat-focused, with more social abilities.

 

[Hypersmurf]

This has essentially turned into a House Rules thread, so I'll shift it now.

-Hyp.
(Moderator)

 

[AnthonyJ]

Bard = noble courtesan.

I think you mean noble courtier. While a bard could be a courtesan, it's not exactly what was being looked for

 

[Hypersmurf]

While a bard could be a courtesan, it's not exactly what was being looked for

Bards make the best courtesans!

-Hyp.