D&D 5E Challenge: Invent a PHB Class List with 6 Classes

[Zardnaar]

Warrior
Rogue
Priest
Mage
Psion

Basically like 2E. Everything else is an MC or subclass

Could boil it down to 3.

Expert
Spellcaster
Warrior

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Man, thanks for the great and varied responses guys--one departing drastically from precedent and another doubling down on it.

Thanks for being a good sport, it's all just a creative exercise in the end.

My pleasure. The point is to foster a community of respect and discussion, after all.

I like the list of classes you ended with even though the class names weren't your focus--Warrior, Cleric, Shaman, Mage, Shadow, and Mystic--I feel like a lot of information is communicated by evocative names (my earlier comment about Shaman notwithstanding). "Defense-specialty Martial character" for example doesn't have quite the same oomf as defensive Warrior. Likewise, the MTG colors are super evocative with a lot of room for nuance.

Well, I would actually give names to each of the specialties, I was using that phrasing to try (however lamely) to adhere at least to the letter of the "only six classes" restriction rather than the true spirit of it. Because, if you actually give all those things names and at least one unique mechanic apiece, I don't see much difference between "six classes, where five of them have four named specialties each" and "actually twenty classes all organized into five super-class groups, plus one weirdo omni-class."

Warriors: Fighter (offense), Guardian (defense), Warlord (support), Rogue (control)
Clerics: Avenger (offense), Paladin (defense), Priest (support), Invoker (control)
Shamans: Barbarian (offense), Werebeast (defense), Druid (support), Ranger (control)
Mages: Sorcerer (offense), Swordmage (defense), Bard (support), Wizard (control)
Shadows: Assassin (offense), Ninja (defense), Siren (support), Warlock (Control)

And then Mystic stands alone, having no/minimal formal "specialties" of any kind. Individual Mystic-specific abilities are thus likely stronger than individual abilities specific to other classes, but (as noted) these would be balanced against having to build your synergy rather than starting with a cohesive foundation. Iterative testing becomes critical to ensure that the Mystic doesn't overshadow the others due to the true "anything goes" flexibility it offers, as opposed to the "you have a semi-fixed starting point, but can grow in new directions on top of it" nature of the other "specialties."

Overall, the idea is to try to ameliorate the concerns voiced about the Source/Role dichotomy, and the perennial fears of "bloat," while still offering distinct structures and ideas. This would also (as much as I dislike this overall approach) likely welcome a "single list of Talents per Class" approach, where all Clerics draw from the same pool of Prayers, but individual Prayers may have special effects if you have certain class features or the like. E.g., the Power of Justice talent may have a core effect like punishing an enemy that has dealt damage, but this could have extra riders or tweaks if playing an Avenger or Paladin, because the former is all about hunting down and destroying heresy, while the latter is all about protecting and inspiring the faithful. Meanwhile, a Tactical Precision Warrior Talent might have different riders for Warlords (who use it to coordinate others' precision) and Rogues (who use it to disrupt enemy action). Pulling this off with finesse would be a challenge, but it might be resolvable if individual "builds" (e.g. things like 4e "Artful Dodger" Rogues vs "Brutal Scoundrel" Rogues) are re-designed to hook in to Talents in some way, rather than Talents being designed to have build-specific riders--perhaps the use of keywords would be beneficial here.

There are also some other considerations. Warriors don't use "magic" in any meaningful sense, instead drawing on the beyond-Earth-physics grit, determination, perception, cleverness, and sheer plain luck that pervades fantastical universes, and they to some extent share this affinity for physical solutions with Clerics and Shadows (the former often associated with heavy armor; the latter wear lighter armor, but heavily use arsenals of many different weapons). Shamans and Mages manipulate the physical elements, the former more in a geomantic/environmental kind of way, the latter in a "classical elements"/Wuxing kind of way, while the other three sources are much less elementally-inclined (Martial especially, where such Talents would be rare to nonexistent). Shamans and Clerics are strongly associated with healing, and Martial with preternatural endurance; it isn't that the others can't heal, it's just not their strong suit. Shadow is the heart of BS tricks that Get The Job Done, but that attitude is shared with Warriors (with their focus on tactics and forms) and with Arcane (magical esoterica). All five have the potential to interact with non-corporeal entities (in order starting with Martial: Legends, Divinities/Angels, Primal Spirits, Elementals, Demons/Devils; Mystics have their whole psionics/telepathy/sci-fi stuff going on so there's plenty of room for them to have their own Stuff in that field.)

 

[Minigiant]

I mean snipers, assassins, espionage and special ops all have places in war.

Snipers and Special Ops would be fighters. The mechanics don't match because fighters lack a big damage attack.

Rogues are the opposite of war. Rogues realize they aren't warriors. So they cheat, hide, run, backstab, and sneak attack.

 

[Stormonu]

Honestly, you could boil it down to one class.

Adventurer.

Everything else just hangs on the class as one or two ability choices per level. Many would have prerequisites - either other abilities taken first, or level restricted.

For example, if you wanted to build a fighter-type:

1st level - All Weapon proficiency package, All Armor Proficiency package
2nd level - Fighting Style, Second Wind
3rd level - Save improvement, Attack Bonus (+1)
4th level - ASI, Feat
5th level - Extra Attack, Attack Bonus (+2)

etc.

For a wizard example

1st level - Arcane Spell Casting (cantrips), Arcane Spell Casting (level 1 spells)
2nd level - Ritual Casting, Arcane Spell Casting (+1 spellcasting level)
3rd level - Arcane Spell Casting (level 2 spells), Spell Specialization (Evocation)
4th level - Arcane Spell Casting (+1 spellcasting level), Metamagic (Silent Spell)
5th level - Arcane Spell Casting (level 3 spells), Arcane Spell Casting (+1 spellcasting level)

etc.

 

[Minigiant]

If I were allowed to go over 6 or do supplements

Core:
Barbarian (the Athletics Class)
Cleric (the Divine Class)
Druid (the Primal Class)
Fighter (the Martial Class)
Rogue (the Skullduggery Class)
Wizard (the Arcane Class)

Supplements
Aristocrat/Bard (the Social class)
Monk (the Ki Class)
Psion (the Psionics Class)
Ranger (the Nature Class)
Scholar (the Items Class)
Sorcerer (the Elemental Class)
Warlock (the Shadows Class)

But that would be cheating. I would have to combine them

Arcane + Elemental or Items or Shadows
Athletics + Martial
Divine + Elemental or Items or Shadows
Ki + Psionics
Nature + Primal
Skullduggery + Social

 

[le Redoutable]

my system, WAYCOT, as a decline with Classes and Stats :

Warrior -- Str + Con
Acrobat -- Str + DEx
Yoghi ---- Dex + Con
Creator -- Int + Cha
Orator --- Wis + Cha
Thinker -- Int + Wis

notice that Physical stats don't merge with Mental stats

 

[Aldarc]

Six classes?

IMHO, the key to mega-classes is to take a page out of how video games often approach class design: i.e., playstyle and theme are important. I recall that Elder Scrolls Online has a six class setup,** which actually represents a fairly good spread and distillation of the sorts of archetypes that I often find players drawn towards.

• Martial Heavy: heavily-armored strength-based fighters, knights, warlords, barbarians, etc.
• Martial Light: dex-based fighters, rogues, scouts, spell-less rangers, etc.
• Arcane/High Magic: arcane mages, wizards, sorcerers, etc.
• Holy/Divine/Psionic: paladins, priests, clerics, psions, mystics, etc.
• Primal/Nature/Fey/Green: druids, spell rangers, wardens, animists, etc.
• Shadowfell/Necromancy/Dark: necromancers, warlocks, edge lordy magic, etc.

I think you can get most of the essentials from that plus room for more.

If all else fail, one can also go the Worlds Without Number route: Warrior, Expert, Mage, Adventurer (covers Warrior/Expert, Warrior/Mage, Expert/Mage).

** Elder Scrolls Online Classes: Dragonknight, Necromancer, Nightblade, Sorcerer, Templar, Warden

Alternatively, dare I break the rules of the thread, Wizards of the Coast could also consider seven classes. Break-up the aforementioned Martial Class into two (Heavy & Light), but then create a more magically-inspired class designed around or inspired by the five colors of the MtG Color Pie: i.e., Blue, Red, Green, White, and Black.

 

[TwoSix]

Soldier (high defense front-liner)
Brute (high-damage front-liner)
Skirmisher (mobility and evasion, some ranged, some melee)
Lurker (back-line, focused on defense, buffs, surprise attacks)
Artillery (back-line, glass cannon, focus on high damage and AoEs)
Controller (back-line, focused on crowd control effects)

Classes focus on combat contribution, with powers that can be reskinned into non-magic or various flavors of magic depending on the campaign needs. Non-combat abilities come from race and background.

 

[TwoSix]

Alternatively, dare I break the rules of the thread, Wizards of the Coast could also consider seven classes. Break-up the aforementioned Martial Class into two (Heavy & Light), but then create a more magically-inspired class designed around or inspired by the five colors of the MtG Color Pie: i.e., Blue, Red, Green, White, and Black.

Or, to keep to the 6 class limit thread, have an Artificer class as the 6th class for colorless mana/artifacts. To stretch the 5e design a bit, being a caster or a warrior type for your class then becomes a subclass decision. Each color has their own dedicated list of both spells and fighting maneuvers, themed to their color.

 

[le Redoutable]

of course you could use the MADEPPS power sources ( 4E )
Martial
Arcane
Divine
Elemental
Primal
Psionics
Shadow