Time for the next installment of my E6 Campaign Setting Design Diary:
Character Classes in the World of Mord
To me, part of the fun of E6 is using lots of the splatbook core classes, as the sheer number of feats and the lower-level sweet spot make a lot of them more viable choices. Because of this, I'm not restricting core classes at all - if a player wants to play a Spellthief, they can go nuts!
To emphasize the dark, pulp feel of the setting, I'm focusing on two non-core classes, the warlock and hexblade. Warlocks fit the setting very well, and with the addition of a feat that lets them take additional Lesser Invocations (provided they always have more Least ones), they can gain the flexibility they need to compete with E6 casters.
The Hexblade is a bit trickier, but thankfully, PHB2 and Dragon Magazine have expanded Hexblade options considerably. PHB2 offers an incorporeal companion that gives adjacent foes -2 to their saves, and Dragon offers a range of exciting new curse options. With the addition of a capstone feat that grants Hexblades the Greater Curse ability (normally acquired at 7th), and a substitution level that lets them pick up a Lesser Invocation instead of their first-level spells, the Hexblade is ready for the prime time.
Flavor-wise, I'm going to keep some of the Sorceror system flavor with the Hexblade companion, and make them warriors powered by the spirit of a demon -- the ghostly "companion" becomes the manifestation of it.The more I think about it, the more I want to give each class with the ability to call a familiar the ability to choose a "dark companion".
For those wondering what I'm babbling about here, in the original setting, magic-users gain their powers by calling upon "demons", which are the spirits of dead things: a lost language, a powerful leader, a fallen civilization, etc. Having most magic (with the exception of Atlantean "psience") linked to these demons would do a lot to restore the flavor of the setting. The trick is just finding alternate familiar-equivalent abilities that lend themselves to this sort of thing...