I think the term "class" is an illusion!

[Sadrik]

I think the term "class" is an illusion!
Its not what we think.
I think the "power source" is definably your class as it is in 3.5. So for instance you will be Martial, Divine, or Arcane and then there will be martial/divine, martial/arcane, and divine/arcane. That is only six so there has to be two other combinations somewhere.

"Classes" are more like "kits" offering skill and special ability selections. This is how we can have more "classes" spoken about but still limited to ~eight!

 

[Fredrik Svanberg]

No.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think the "power source" is definably your class as it is in 3.5. So for instance you will be Martial, Divine, or Arcane and then there will be martial/divine, martial/arcane, and divine/arcane. That is only six so there has to be two other combinations somewhere.

Let's not forget the "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" combination.

Oh, wait, you said "Martial."

 

[MightyTev]

There must be a "power source" for rogues too.

 

[Odimax]

There must be a "power source" for rogues too.

The power source for rogues is Martial.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Arcane+divine+martial is one possibility. Frenzied Theurge.

 

[Jer]

I think the term "class" is an illusion!
Its not what we think.
I think the "power source" is definably your class as it is in 3.5. So for instance you will be Martial, Divine, or Arcane and then there will be martial/divine, martial/arcane, and divine/arcane. That is only six so there has to be two other combinations somewhere.

Hrm - that's not what it's sounding like so far. In fact, someone (James Wyatt in the YouTube interview, I think) made it sound like "role" was going to be more important than "power source" for defining how a class operates in combat, with out of combat "roles" being another way to differentiate classes.

If anything, I expect to see classes being defined more by a combination of power source and role - for example, the fighter would be a "martial defender", the paladin is a "divine defender", the rogue is a "martial striker", the wizard is an "arcane controller", etc. That gives the possibility of 12 class/power source combinations right off the bat if you ignore theme and non-combat roles as two additional dimensions of "differentiation" among classes, so getting 8 core classes out of those combinations shouldn't be too hard.

(One thing I wonder about is that we've heard of three different "martial" classes so far - Fighter, Warlord and Rogue that fit the Defender, Leader, and Striker roles respectively. The wizard is the only example that has been given out for a Controller role. I wonder if we'll see a second controller - and how you'd do a "martial controller" given that "control" usually indicates the type of broad battlefield control that you manage with area of effect spells.)

 

[Sadrik]

Jer, excellent. Tying the "role" together with the "power source" seems a natural fit. But using that and adding my point in- we could be seeing a potential here of what 4th edition is:

Select a role:
Defender
Controller
Striker
Leader

Select a power source:
Martial
Arcane
Divine
(With Psionics added w/ expansion)

Then,
Select a class:
(Known classes)
Fighter
Wizard
Rogue
Cleric
Ranger
Warlord
(But I have also heard mentioned)
Warlock
Barbarian
Paladin
Sorcerer

And this is sort of the point of my post. It could be that the combination of role and power source could be fundamentally more important of a factor mechanically than the class itself. So the classes would give the character access to certain feat trees or more aptly book of 9 swords disciplines (or whatever they are called) and class skills. The role-power source gives everything else (BAB, HP, Skill points, Caster level etc.) Each class would have to have certain requirements. For instance a wizard can be none other than an arcane power source.

More role and power source conjecture:
Arcane-controller: Gives you the ability to shoot like a warlock, endlessly all day.
Arcane-striker: gives you the ability to strike and do bonus damage, endlessly all day.
Arcane-leader: ?
Arcane-defender: ?
Divine-striker: gives you the ability to strike and heal, endlessly all day.
Divine-leader: heals, endlessly all day.
Divine-controller: ?
Divine-defender: ?
Martial-striker: sneak attack, endlessly all day.
Martial-defender: ?
Martial-controller: ?
Martial-leader: bard like bonus to hit and damage for everybody, endlessly all day.

 

[RigaMortus2]

No.

I concur...