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

TwoSix said:

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.

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A good option (outside of this thread) could be to have your regular D&D classes and a power system ala 4e, but each level where you gain a power, you have a power for each role, instead of having the class be all about its role.

So you could have a Barbarian with mostly ''support'' powers (shared rage, mass charge etc), or a Rogue based on ''defender'' powers (taunt, bait'n switch, deft avoidance etc). A ''support'' wizard would focus on transmutation spells (haste, stoneskin etc), while an artillery wizard would be all about fireball and such. Of course, a player could choose to avoid specialization and mix'n match tjeir powers selection.

Each non-power levels would be progression of either backgrounds, skills/tools/languages or races features.

I'd steal the ''paradigms'' of FF XIII for the ''archetypes powers'':

• Saboteur: controller, debuffer
• Ravager: mass/splash damage
• Sentinel: area denial, counter-attacks, aggro, defense
• Synergist: leader, buffer, healer
• Soldier: Mobility, defense, high damage spike granted by many attacks (multi-hit like eldritch blast, twin strikes, flurry of blows, fire rays, magic missile etc)

vincegetorix said:

I'd steal the ''paradigms'' of FF XIII for the ''archetypes powers'':

• Saboteur: controller, debuffer
• Ravager: mass/splash damage
• Sentinel: area denial, counter-attacks, aggro, defense
• Synergist: leader, buffer, healer
• Soldier: Mobility, defense, high damage spike granted by many attacks (multi-hit like eldritch blast, twin strikes, flurry of blows, fire rays, magic missile etc)

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Yea, the FF13 paradigm system would be great for a role-based class system. It demonstrates how you can reskin the same general powers to look very differently. Lightning as a Ravager didn't look anything like Vanille as a Ravager, just as an example.

Minigiant said:

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.

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I feel like Sun Tzu would highly approve of rogues.

Vaalingrade said:

I feel like Sun Tzu would highly approve of rogues.

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He wouldlike wizards too but they aren't martial.

Martial is weapons and armor skill and tactics. The 4e rogue was martial. The 5e rogue isn't.

Eh, I disagree. For D&D purposes, 'martial' means 'ends lives without magic'.

Warrior: d12
Expert: d10
Mage: d8

and about 50-60 subclasses for those 3.

THAT IS NOT 6! GOOD DAY!

squibbles said:

To the challenge then!

Can you come up with a list of 6 mega-classes that elegantly contain the essentials of every existing PHB class? (bonus points for including artificers too)

How would you collapse classes? What are the essential parts of each class? What do you do with the existing subclasses that are very thematically strong (beast master ranger) versus thematically thin (hunter ranger)?

Be as opinionated about the PHB classes as you like (read bard-hating), but make sure to get all of them in. And remember, the challenge is to get down to 6 classes not to the "core four"--that's what makes it a challenge.

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Here's my first, rather rough cut:

Warrior
Warriors are tough front-line combatants. In combat, they rely on weapons and armor; they can dish it out and take it equally well. In exploration, they are climbers, jumpers, and swimmers, benders of bars and lifters of gates.

• The fighter subclass offers an array of maneuvers and specialized fighting styles.
• The barbarian subclass grants a powerful but limited rage, and various passive benefits.

Hunter
Hunters are swift and agile. In combat, they inflict heavy damage and escape, but are weaker than warriors if forced into a toe-to-toe fight. In exploration, they are scouts and infiltrators, masters of stealth and ever-alert to subtle clues.

• The rogue subclass relies upon a deadly sneak attack, and is expert at all forms of deception.
• The ranger subclass grants animal companions or minor spells that augment the ranger's own attacks and scouting talents.

Arcanist
Arcanists are scholar-magicians who rely on prepared magic. In combat, they unleash powerful destructive spells and can shape the battlefield to their will, but they are themselves very fragile. In exploration, they use divination magic to detect threats at a distance (especially magical ones), and at higher levels they gain access to planar travel.

• The wizard subclass has a spellbook and can prepare a different array of powerful spells each day.
• The artificer subclass imbues magic into devices and items which can be given to other characters.

Mystic
Mystics have innate supernatural abilities that are always available. In combat, they use quasi-magical at-will attacks, supplemented with a fast-refreshing pool of energy. In exploration, they are masters of mobility, able to get to places no other class can reach.

• The monk subclass uses physical attacks that channel mystical power to disrupt and disorient foes, and is capable of supernatural feats of acrobatics and balance.
• The sorcerer subclass wields innate elemental powers to unleash raw destruction, and to travel easily through air, water, or earth.
• The psion subclass uses psychic abilities to control enemies physically or mentally, and to travel in spirit form or via teleportation.

Priest
Priests call upon the power of gods or divine forces. In combat, they heal and strengthen their allies and can smite supernatural enemies with holy fury; they have a limited number of powerful, miraculous abilities that refresh on a short rest. In exploration, they favor social skills, persuading or intimidating NPCs into helping the party.

• The cleric subclass can heal allies and cast powerful defensive control spells.
• The paladin subclass relies on armor and weapons to stand in the front line with the warriors.
• The bard subclass can empower its allies with spells and chants.

Witch
Witches make alliances and pacts with supernatural powers that are not divine. In both combat and exploration, they summon allies to their aid or transform themselves.

• The druid subclass calls upon the forces of nature and can call animal allies or become a beast.
• The warlock subclass strikes bargains with extraplanar powers. They can summon fiends, elementals, undead, and other such magical allies, and can take on aspects of those creatures themselves.

Hmmm i think i'd divide them up into:
Heavy Hitter: Fighter, Monk, Druid and the Barbarian
Lots of HP, Heavy armour or high unarmoured AC, good with dealing lots of straight up basic damage with weapons and direct fighting, No magical casting abilities but various techniques: fighter maneuvers, ki techniques, wildshape, rage stuff.

Light Striker: Rogue, Ranger, (Combat Oriented)Bard, Paladin
Has mid-level HP and Medium armour, lower base damage with limited martial weapons but uses a shared core bonus dice mechanic that scales to deal extra damage in certain circumstances that is expressed differently for each: sneak attack, hunter's mark or animal companions and bardic inspiration on their own or other's attacks, smite, Some magic access but 1/3 caster at most.

Researcher: Wizard, Artificer, (Knowledge/Skill Oriented)Bard, Rogue, Ranger
Medium HP Low AC, if they have magic then not many offensive spells, various combinations of lots of skills or lots of bonuses to the skills they do have, utility party members, simple weapons mostly, Good with social mechanics/npc interactions.

Magic User: Wizard, Warlock, Sorcerer, Cleric, Bard
Low HP, Low-Med AC, Full casters lots of spells, not great in melee, simple weapons, you know the drill.

Healer and Support: Cleric, Ranger, Druid, Paladin
Medium HP and AC, Some martial weapon access, Full caster but mostly healing, buffing or support magic, not great at dealing damage by themselves but good at facilitating other people to do damage.

Magic Warriors: Paladin, Ranger, Artificer, Druid, Bard
Med HP and AC again, martial weapons, half casters, magic is mostly damage dealing or self-focused buffs

Like others have suggested, I would only need four:

Warrior. All other melee-focused classes would be subclasses (barbarian, fighter, monk)
Priest. All other buff and/or half-casters would be subclasses (cleric, druid, paladin, ranger)
Mage. All other arcane and/or full-casters would be subclasses (sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Sneak. All other skill-based classes would be subclasses (artificer*, bard, rogue)

*I maintain that the artificer should be considered a skill-based class, because I consider building and inventing things to be skills, and I think science is a completely different animal from magic. But if you have strong feelings one way or another, you can pretend I put this under "mage" because sCiEnCe iS mAgIc! or whatever.