Barbaric Commoner?

[Water Bob]

Commoner class has no place here.

I totally disagree. In "regular" D&D, the Commoner class takes the place of the Zero-Level NPCs from eariler editions of the game. Farmers, beggars, shepherds, alekeeps, merchants, wine growers, shop keepers--these are all perfect Commoner class NPCs.

And, I like how the Commoner class allows Commoners to advance, too, up to level 10.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

A good answer would be another question: Did the Apache Indians have anything that would be considered a Commoner class

While the Apache aren't from the North American plains or midwest, we do have archeological evidence that there were peoples who had members who were settled farmers (their skeletons showed evidence of malnutrition, back and join wear and pain, stunted growth, other diseases), and others who were free roaming hunter-gatherers (comparably taller and excellent health).

But another question would be whether those hunters and warriors needed to be represented by the barbarian class, or whether something like a non-casting D&D ranger is enough.

 

[krupintupple]

I totally disagree. In "regular" D&D, the Commoner class takes the place of the Zero-Level NPCs from eariler editions of the game. Farmers, beggars, shepherds, alekeeps, merchants, wine growers, shop keepers--these are all perfect Commoner class NPCs.

And, I like how the Commoner class allows Commoners to advance, too, up to level 10.

I fully agree, Bob.

The commoner does have a place - he's basically someone who lacks most everything else. ie: a non-noble, non-warrior, non-magical, non-skill having mook in the society he's attached to. Basically, and no offense to anyone who actually knows or is in a similar position, but they're likely a person with 2 or so skill ranks in whatever their career is. Put another way, he's a fine farmhand, but probably not the farm owner; a full-time smith's assistant, but never the smith himself; a fairly adequate lay preacher, who lacks the faith, skill and magic of the adept. Likewise, he's no warrior, and can slap on even the most threadbare and moth-eaten leather armour, and wield a wagon-spoke (club) in desperate times, but he's going to hide way behind the actual warriors of the tribe, village, or community; those warriors, in turn, are hiding behind the elites, like men and women who actually have levels in fighter or barbarian, actual levels man! My point is that the commoner can be a stand-in, but can be outclassed (rightly so) by basically anyone else in the community. Even an 8th level commoner, who can probably outshine the 4th level experts in some limited areas, are going to get beaten by any class of the same level. Another example? A 6th level commoner on the fringes might swagger around his fellows, having used his feats to rack up proficiency with a longsword and wear armour, but when the regent sends in a properly-made 6th level warrior to keep the peace, the 8th level guy, while potentially useful, knows his place.

Now, whether this happened because of lack of skill, chance, fortune, funds or opportunity, that's up to you. Nonetheless, there's definitely people who have one or two ranks in something - good enough to "get by," and even live a fairly comfortable life (insofar as commoners go) - but not enough to really master it, live the good life, affect real change within their larger community, and carve out a respectable niche (and possible lasting legacy) within their society.

 

[krupintupple]

But another question would be whether those hunters and warriors needed to be represented by the barbarian class, or whether something like a non-casting D&D ranger is enough.

This is a great point. Personally, there's nothing saying that even NPC trackers and huntsmen have to be represented by actual classed rangers or barbarians. I mean, a level of warrior could set them up with bows, spears and some armour use. If human, their bonus feat could be "Self-sufficient," whereas their first level feat could be "track," giving them an average chance, if a friend aids another, to find prey. Considering that 1st level warriors may be barely out of their teen-aged years, they'd probably accompany a higher level warrior as well. Furthermore, once they've gotten some experience, their second level could be expert, giving them a huge bump to their will saves, but also a large array of skills that could be used to sustain their tribal community; balance, climb, diplomacy, handle animal, heal, hide, etc., all could be of great use to a semi-nomadic tribe.

Or, they could begin as experts, benefiting the tribe in their early years. But, this results in a much higher net result, insofar as skill points go, and it is likely that most tribes would consider those 24+ skill points be better "spent" safely operating behind a high wall, rather than being risked in active combat.

 

[CL_meister]

Barbarians have a commoner class...

It is called...

The Barbarian.

D&D's logic would be that most of the fighting men of a barbarian tribe would be warriors. The Barbarian (class) is just the elite, in the same way that in the civilized world your common guard or soldier is a warrior, while the Fighter is the elite.

Personally, I'd get rid of the warrior and just use lower level Barbarians and Fighters.

 

[Water Bob]

The commoner does have a place - he's basically someone who lacks most everything else. ie: a non-noble, non-warrior, non-magical, non-skill having mook in the society he's attached to. Basically, and no offense to anyone who actually knows or is in a similar position, but they're likely a person with 2 or so skill ranks in whatever their career is. Put another way, he's a fine farmhand, but probably not the farm owner; a full-time smith's assistant, but never the smith himself; a fairly adequate lay preacher, who lacks the faith, skill and magic of the adept.

I'd go farther than that. Does the standard D&D game not have a Commoner class? Commoners, in the Conan RPG, are akin to D&D experts. They max out at level 10. They are intended as an NPC only class. They can multi-class into other standard Conan RPG classes. They have d4 Hit Dice, a set of class skills (like every other class), and they start with (2 + INT Modifier) x4 skill points and gain 3 + INT Modifier skill points per level. They are given a single Simple Weapon as a proficiency; they start the game illiterate (takes 2 skill points to become literate); and, at 5th and 10th level, they gain a bonus Feat of Skill Focus on any of the Commoner class skills.

Your standard Commoner starts out with 4 + CON Modifier hit points, one Feat, skills bought with skill points, and the single Simple weapon proficiency, at level 1.

These are ordinary people, unused to adventuring. They are the wealthy Merchant and the beggars on the street. They are the whores in the torchlight district and the temple dancers. They are the trader of furs, the fletcher, the pottery maker, the farmer, the woodsman, the hunter, the deck hand, the innkeep, the wine maker, and anybody who exists in a normal setting but is not considered an adventuring classed character.

So, if you go into a Town (in the Conan RPG, at least) the innkeep could be a 1st level Thief or a 5th level Commoner. The scribe could be an 6th level Commoner or a 3rd level Scholar.

The Commoner class is for "everybody else", outside of the standard adventuring classes.