EzekielRaiden
Follower of the Way
If we assume that all the things derived from D&D (like Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, etc.) remain even though they wouldn't exist without D&D having existed first...
As far as classes...
- Humans are a no-brainer.
- I'm obviously very biased, but "dragon-person" is a fairly popular concept. It might not have cashed out in the very specific way that it did, e.g. there might be a gracile subrace (along the lines of the "spellscale") and a beefy subrace (akin to what we have now), but some kind of reptilian option seems pretty likely, and tying it to dragons is a no-brainer for popularity.
- Elves have staying power. 'nuff said.
- Instead of dwarves, we might have gotten some kind of beastkin (cat-people are pretty popular, but wolf-/dog-/fox- or ungulate-people would both be reasonable options.)
- Plant-person and construct-person might also be a thing.
- Could use a hyperintelligent race...perhaps an energy-being of some kind? Or maybe this is where the "catgirl"-type species goes, the ones that aren't really beast-like but have just a light touch of non-human characteristics.
- One of gnome, goblin, or kobold would likely also fit. Kobolds have a surprisingly ardent following online these days, and PF shows that goblins can be well-loved. Gnomes can be kind of irritating but they too have some ardent fans (and, as the ridiculous 4e gnome brouhaha shows, sometimes it doesn't matter if it's actually liked or not...)
- Changeling might fit in well, especially with the modern emphasis on the fluidity of identity and embracing LGBTQ+/nonbinary/etc. characters.
- Tieflings are probably another no-brainer, mixed demon and human blood is an ooooold trope for both East and West. Might even have aasimar, tiefling, genasi, etc. as all one single race with varying magical bloodlines attached.
- Therianthropy is a popular trope, again in both East and West, with numerous representations in film/TV and video games, so I can't imagine there not being something like that, though whether it would cash out as the Eberron "shifter" option is much more debatable.
- Half-vampire--again, beloved East and West, edgy but flexible. Hard to go wrong there.
As far as classes...
- Paladin is pretty much a shoe-in, "knight in shining armor" is too classic. This might also end up absorbing the Fighter, who could have a purely personal oath/dedication/focus--e.g. the "Oath of the Champion" or the like.
- Likewise, Bard, via things like the Final Fantasy Red Mage and the existing Rogue/Thief archetype
- Sorcerer is a maybe, quite flavorful as a concept but perhaps cashing out in a rather different way (e.g. Clive from FFXVI is arguably a Sorcerer, just one who uses heavy melee attacks augmented with magic). Probably would have Dragon, Genie, Fae, and Demon/Devil/Darkness/etc. as choices.
- Druid, leaning almost exclusively on shapeshifting with a touch of magic rather than magic with a touch of shapeshifting, specializing in specific forms for specific subclasses
- Priest rather than Cleric--Cleric was very much a product of its time, and the really narrow "Van Helsing crossed with an ordained mendicant monk" thing probably wouldn't be a core thing, more likely a "grim and gritty" subclass of Paladin. Domains would probably still exist (they're a useful way to differentiate deities)
- Monk, perhaps by a different name, very very likely--between the sustained popularity of martial arts films and things like Avatar the Last Airbender, there's plenty of appetite for such things
- Instead of Rogue, something like "Ninja" or "Assassin," treated as a broader space that can hold more things inside, e.g. fully "mystic" Ninjas to capture the Naruto fanbase, "holy" Ninjas to capture the Assassin's Creed fanbase, etc.
- Some kind of Wizard would probably still exist, but I would expect MAJOR influences from Harry Potter, Dresden Files, and EverQuest/World of Warcraft here, so they would not necessarily be the highly-complex class we know today.
- If "Fighter" remains as a distinct class, it would be more focused on particular traditions of combat rather than being ultra-generic. E.g. the Samurai Fighter, the Swordmage Fighter, the Guerilla Fighter, etc.
- Ranger probably sticks around just because "hunter" is such a classic concept and we'd still have the influence of things like Green Arrow and Legolas, but I would imagine it having less overt nature association (could possibly get absorbed by Fighter)
- Barbarian definitely either continues to exist as its own thing (influenced more by things like Dragon Ball Z, Berserk, and superhero comics), or as a Fighter subclass
- Artificer steps up to take the place of Wizard as the "big brain" class, drawing on Iron Man, Batman, MacGuyver, Sokka/the Mechanist, the Cids of every FF game, etc. Someone who uses magical tools, and magic as a tool. Alchemist, Battlesmith, Gadgeteer...all good subclasses, each with solid representation in video games and usually other media as well.