Hombrew Settings; 11 Base Classes, Which Ones Would You Choose?

[Voadam]

Two jump to mind:

Unfettered from Arcana Unearthed/Evolved by Malhavoc Press. Probably the best duelist base class I've seen. I like it better than CW swashbuckler, multiclassing fighter with rogue, prc duelists I've seen, UA fighter variant etc. for getting a swashbuckler feel mechanically.

Techonological Savant from The Fantastic Science by EN Publishing. I like the warlock style mechanics and the superwierd tech as a 4th type of magic next to arcane/divine/psionic that does not play nice with the others.

I would definitely want something that can heal.

For caster types I would go with something that learns limited spells known instead of the core druid/cleric paradigm of access to a whole spell list. I hate waiting for daily spell choices and having to plan around every caster having daily access to every spell on the list.

I would want some type of supernatural warrior type, something like the champion from AU/AE or holy warrior from Green Ronin's Book of the Righteous or a hundred paladin variants that are out there. Something flexible that can fit a lot of different uses compared with the restrictions of the core paladin.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Another variant: Use the AU/AE Mage Blade with the Bard's skill and spell list, making the PC's instrument his athame.

In addition, another good nature-themed divine caster is the Kingdom of Kalamar Shaman.

 

[Mon]

Bard--I don't care what you think, I like this guy. I'd probably boost his healing ability a bit, though. I want him to be a viable replacement for the cleric.

10. Bard. If you can find a more powerful variant, great. The "support" character niche is attractive to some players, and Bards have an interesting theme.

I hope these aren't responses to my throwaway line that bards a fruity and weak. I didn't mean to disparage as such, and if you feel offended or indignant then I apologise. They're just not to my personal tastes (and it is my "list of 11" so nya nya nya).

They're fine for most folks, of course, and a favourite for some. If you love them then more power to you. In actual play, outside of hypothetical lists, they are more than welcome at my gaming table.

 

[llamatron2000]

First, the core 4+1. These are the simplest and most classic of the 4 core archetypes needed to get through an adventure, as well as a fifth man because....well, bob wanted to play.

barbarian
rogue
wizard(forced specialization, given alternate specialist features)
favored soul
factotum

Anyways, the full list-

Defenders: these guys are essential tanks and melee combatants.

1)WARBLADE-A solid replacement for the fighter. More powerful out of the box, but with less encouragement of cheese due to more restricted feat gains. Can also play support with white raven.

2)CRUSADER-A fun holy warrior type of character. Better at support than the warblade, and a viable replacement for other leader-types since he can heal in combat.

3)BARBARIAN-"I hit him". Rage isn't hard to keep track of. A simple melee class is needed for those players who don't wanna bother with powers or more complex interactions. He can often sub in for rogues or scouts.

Strikers: They dish out high damage consistently and have good skill sets.

4)WARLOCK-They're a popular class, and fun, too. For those who want to play mages but don't like bookkeeping.

5)SCOUT-Nonmagical ranged attacker, wilderness-oriented. I know a lot of people who like playing rangers, and this guy will appeal to them.

6)ROGUE-Hard to replace. I almost went with the Akashic, but there's already a lot of exotic flavor with other classes here.

Controllers: Good at making enemies impotent, toolbox characters.

7)WIZARD(with forced school specialization and alternate specialist features)- Specialization and the alternate features cut down on the cheese and also get rid of troublesome familiars, without impeding too much on what a wizard can learn. The wizard's far more fun than the sorcerer, who can't compete for blastiness with warlocks, anyways.

8)MONK- Best when used as battlefield control, the monk has what it takes to make most enemies impotent, and against foes that he can't do that to, he's often the hardest to take down.

Leaders: Because you're crazy to go into a dungeon without a healer

9)ARCHIVIST-No clerics means no domain spells means no ridiculousness, to a certain degree. A good priest type, makes for great party support.

10)FAVORED SOUL- Cuts down on some of the cheesier aspects of the cleric as well. Plus, WINGS!

Jack-of-all-trades: Because Bob wants to play, and the other roles are taken.

11) FACTOTUM- The ultimate fifth man to have in your party. The ability to fill in any cracks your party might have is a huge asset.


Most of these here are chosen because of personal taste, as well as seeing what other people like playing. Choices were also made to cut down on cheese(such as the conscious omission of the fighter, who is disappointing to bad planners and GODLY to minmaxers, as well as the reduced toolboxes of divine and arcane casters.)

 

[Plane Sailing]

moved to 3e rules

 

[Dragonwriter]

Hmmm... Interesting topic. Let me start by saying I have no 3rd party stuff, so this is all WotC.

Fighter - Classic and somewhat versatile melee or ranged warrior. Allow "Barbaric Rage" (to give raging option) as a feat, with the later boosts to it as extra feats.

Rogue - Again, classic. Allow SA to damage normally immune foes, but dealing somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 normal damage.

Cloistered Cleric - Reduces cleric's role in up-close combat, but still powerful. Also, remove Divine Power and Righteous Might from their spell list.

Sorcerer - To fill the arcane mage spot. Personally, I prefer Sor to Wiz, but I like less bookkeeping and the "natural talent" way of things. Give them bonus Heritage feats to explain their natural ability (like Dannyalcatraz said earlier). Perhaps give them access to arcane or divine, chosen at character creation... Not both, though and remove Divine Power and Righteous Might from their divine abilities.

Warlock - An alternative to Sors, still flavorful and reasonably strong.

Dragon Shaman - Excellent support class, able to give everyone a hand at something. And great flavor, of course.

Beguiler (or Bard, with ability to trade bardic knowledge for trapfinding) - Allows sneaky-type/jack-of-all-trades person with some tricky spells.

Binder - Awesome jack-of-all-trades, able to change abilities every day. Very cool and has some awesome flavor, plus the "forbidden knowledge" feel.

Shadowcaster - Not as offensive, or really powerful a mage as Sor, more versatile than Warlock. Good at controlling the battlefield, misdirection and causing some really nasty status effects. Maybe use the fixes created by the class' designer...

Incarnate - Another versatile character, able to change abilities every day. Can stand with the Dragon Shaman, Fighter or Binder in melee, toss stuff into the mix with ranged combat, or use some fancy abilities kinda like the Sor or Warlock, but not as strong.

As for the final pick... I'd have to go with Totemist. They have some sweet flavor, allow different, changeable abilities and can fulfill a variety of roles. Maybe allow them the "Barbarian Rage", to illustrate their kinship with the wilds and the ferocious creatures.


Not necessarily the strongest choices, but they fulfill classic tropes and such, while allowing for diversity. This group of stuff gives an interesting blend and some neat abilities.

 

[Khuxan]

First, the core 4+1. These are the simplest and most classic of the 4 core archetypes needed to get through an adventure, as well as a fifth man because....well, bob wanted to play.

barbarian
rogue
wizard(forced specialization, given alternate specialist features)
favored soul
factotum

I liked that you outlined a classic 4(ish). However, since you've chosen the easiest class to play for each, I think you should place warlock in there instead of wizard. I know you've chosen fighting-man-thief-magic-user-cleric and defender-striker-controller-leader but I think you can do without a controller. If not, I suggest going the other way - choosing warblade instead of barbarian. That's because the warblade "feels" a lot more like a fighting-man than a barbarian does, even if it's more complicated.

Just my 2c.

 

[slwoyach]

Cleric: Cloistered variety only, PHB cleric is too powerful.
Fighter: Add in some marshal abilities to represent their position as military leaders.
Paladin: Gotta have paladins. Add in some knight abilities.
Ranger: Could also fill the shoes of the barbarian. Add a rage feat for those who want to play the classic barbarian.
Rogue: Rogue in name only, the abilities would be the same as the UA Expert.
Wizard: I'd highly modify it though, with spells being learned in different ways.

You know, I think that'd be enough classes for me. You can make pretty much any archetype from those classes.

 

[Drowbane]

my Homebrewed "11".

Artificer: as ECS
Druid: as PHB.
Elementalist/DragonSorcerer: As PHB Sorc; Lose: Familiar. Gains: eschew materials at 1st level. Spells talents at 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, 18th. Elemental Mastery can replace any one Spell Talent except the one at 1st level. Spell-list: Wu Jen spells and all “draconic sorcerer” spells.
Fighter: HD raised to d12, combat mastery: 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th. Some new fighter feats lines: Berserker, Favored Enemy, Knighthood, etc.
Jackel: as spellthief; gains deceive item, detect magic, eldritch blast, imbue item and invocations when a warlock would have. Loses normal spell progression (can still steal spells, but only learns SLAs). (named after an obscure 2e kit... or was it a class?)
Psionicist: as Psion; unique non-psion powers (such as Psy-warrior or Mantle powers) placed amongst the 6 disciplines or ignored.
Rogue: gains special abilities at 4th & 7th level. Special abilities (and minimum level to select); Bonus feat 4+, camouflage 10+, crippling strike 7+, death attack 10+, defensive roll 4+, hide in plain sight 10+, improved evasion 4+, opportunist 7+, slippery mind 7+, skill mastery 4+ (list in progress)
Swordsage: HD raised to d10. gains access to devoted spirit.
Templar: as cleric; gains aura of courage, divine grace, divine health, and lay on hands. (keep in mind that the majority of the clergy are lay-priests… experts).
Warblade: HD reduced to d10. gains access to devoted spirit.
Wizard: as specialized wizard; exception, still restricted to wizard spell list for 7 schools, may learn and cast spells from any spell-list that are within specialized school. Conjurers can heal, for example.

note: each class gains 2 (per level) skill points more than WotC. Also, no such thing as a “class skill”.

 

[Shin Okada]

Of course, any generic world could be run with only standard classes in PHB. And yet, it is no t so hard to incorporate any standard/prestige classes to your world with some modification or interpretation.

But anyway, If I were to choose standard classes for different, I may take the following approach.

1. Fill all the 4 the basic roles (Warrior, Thief, Mage, Healer/Divine Caster).
2. Avoid preparation-type casters (for making the games fast).
3. Avoid the use of complex alternative rule concept beyond core rules (No psionic, no incarnum, no Bo9S, etc.).
4. Choose classes easy to play.
5. Make as many spells and feats usable as possible in the campaign world.
6. Avoid using classes which rely too much on times/day abilities. Such as Barbarian.

So,

# Warrior

1. Fighter
This is not a "easy to use" class. But by including this players can create almost any warrior type characters with right selection of feats. And having this class will allow you and players to use fighter-only feats in various supplements.

2. Paladin
This is one of the most "easy to use" warrior type class. Recommended for beginners. A kind of Warrior/Healer, too.

# Thief

3. Rogue
This is the basic thief class.

4. Scout
Alternative thief class. Simple and yet effective. Different enough than the basic rogue.

# Mage

5. Warmage
Pure-damage-dealer mage class. This can be the default mage class recommended for beginners. Must learn the effects and mechanic of many spells. But in my experience, it is not so difficult to learn this class if a player start playing this class from early levels (L1-4).

6. Sorcerer
With right choice of spells known, this class is very effective and yet allow players (and you ) to use all the Sor/Wiz spell list in your gaming world. Maybe you should allow retraining (replacing of spells known) more freely than usual, for the convenience of beginner players.

# Healer/Divine Caster

7. Favored Soul
This class is weaker than cleric. If I were playing usual DnD 3.5e and cleric class is available, I will definitely avoid using this. But again, for making the games faster, I will avoid preparing spell casters and make this class to be the basic divine casters in the world. As cleric class is considered to be the strongest standard class by many, this class may be OK if cleric class is not there from the beginning.

8. Sprit Shaman
Another non-preparation caster which uses Druid spell list instead. This class, instead of cleric, may become "undead busters" in the setting. A little bit similar to preparation type casters and I want to avoid using this if there is better alternative. But I can't think of any.

# Multi-Role/Non-basic role Class

9. Duskblade
Warrior/Mage. Effective as it is and yet easy to use.

10. Beguiler
Thief/Mage. This is for experienced players. But an interesting class and effective.

11. Warlock
Another alternative mage class. But more like a striker than to be a controller (from 4e-like point of view). So I do not classify it as one of basic mage class. Yes this class does need different rule set. But one of the simplest one. And different enough than other mages.