D&D General 6 Core Classes: You are in charge

[mellored]

Str: Brute
Dex: Scout
Con: Channeler
Int: Alchemist
Wis: Shaman
Cha: Warlord

 

[Minigiant]

• STR: Warrior- Masters of Weapons
  • Fighter
  • Paladin
  • Ranger
  • Warlord
• DEX: Rogue- Experts of Skullduggery
  • Assassin
  • Bard
  • Swashbucklers
  • Thief
• CON: Wanderers- Adventurers of Other Path
  • Berserker
  • Monk
  • Summoners
  • Warlock
• INT: Sage- Adepts of the Arcane
  • Alchemist
  • Artificer
  • Runecaster
  • Wizard
• WIS: Priest- Voices of the Faiths
  • Cleric
  • Druid
  • Oracle
  • Shaman
• CHA: Talent- Innate Magicians
  • Adept
  • Elementalist
  • Psion
  • Sorcerer

 

[Horwath]

Strong hero
Fast hero
Tough hero
Smart hero
Wise hero
Charismatic hero

 

[Autumnal]

Str: Druid
Dex: Ranger
Con: Bard
Int: Sorcerer
Wis: Cleric
Cha: Warlock

 

[Li Shenron]

Hypothetical: you have been put in charge of a new D&D PHB, but you have a mandate: there shall be but 6 core classes, each tied to one of the 6 Ability Scores (ie that's their "prime stat"). You are allowed to create however many subclasses that will fit in the book, but you MUST maintain 6 core focused on individual stats.

STR: Barbarian -> damage-dealer, athlete
DEX: Rogue -> nimble explorer, acrobat, handyman
CON: Fighter -> front-liner tank, damage-soaker
INT: Wizard -> sage, investigator, magic expert
WIS: Ranger -> scout, watchful guard, trapfinder
CHA: Bard -> face, diplomat, persuader, deceiver

Argument for not including the Cleric:

I don't think Cleric is the best representation of WIS. I think historically it might have been originated by a generic "religious people are wise" idea, except that "wisdom" in D&D represents things others than actual common-sense wisdom, most importantly it represents alertness and perception, for which I would rather pick the Ranger. "Willpower" is a bit bogus, since IRL being wise hardly has any correlation with strong will. Wisdom affecting a Cleric's spellcasting effectiveness is only an artifact of the rules, widely accepted mainly out of tradition, but in other games a Cleric's spellcasting could be based on Charisma, another ability, or nothing at all. I also don't think it's necessary to leave the Cleric in, only because "we need a healer", that is an afterthought, and a bad way to design a game backwards. The hypothetical 6-classes game could have healing capabilities boosts on the Ranger and Bard, or it could open up the possibility of healing spells for the Wizard, or it could even spread healing capabilities to all classes, making none of them dedicated to healing more than the others.

 

[Distracted DM]

Str: Warrior
Dex: Rogue
Con: Warden (Ranger and Druids are subclasses)
Int: Wizard (Warlock as a subclass, see: DCC wizards)
Wis: Priest (Could encompass clerics and monks)
Cha: Bard/Herald

The one I had the hardest time with was Charisma- because Bard could fit under Rogue like it originally did.

I love how varied everyone's answers are.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Strength: Paladin
Constitution: Zealot (superclass covering Barbarians and Monks)
Dexterity: Ranger
Intelligence: Wizard
Wisdom: Cleric
Charisma: Sorcerer (pre-5e playtest style)

Paladin absorbs Fighter. Zealot, as noted, absorbs Barbarian and Monk. Ranger absorbs Rogue, Wizard absorbs Artificer, Cleric absorbs Druid.

Bard and Warlock are kind of left out, sadly. The price paid due to championing class reductionism as some kind of inherent good, rather than what it actually is, at best a trade-off.

Just another reminder to myself that I should draft up a proper analysis of that list of 18-24 core class concepts folks tend to expect from D&D-like games. Whether or not I actually do it is, of course, a completely different question.

 

[CreamCloud0]

STR: Paladin
- fighter, cleric, ranger
DEX: Monk
- rogue, ranger, fighter
CON: Barbarian
- fighter, ranger, sorcerer
INT: Artificer
- wizard, rogue, fighter, cleric
WIS: Druid
- ranger, cleric, wizard, sorcerer
CHA: Bard
- sorcerer, cleric, warlock, rogue

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

WIS is obviously the class for Commoners. Only people with low Wisdoms are foolish enough to become adventurers, it is just too dangerous. Since Clerics are all just Warlocks anyway, this will work out fine.

STR - Fighter
DEX - Rogue
CON - Monk (includes Barbarians)
INT - Wizard
CHA - Warlocks

 

[Shiroiken]

Fighter (Str)
Rogue (Dex)
Psion (Con)
Mage (Int)
Priest (Wis)
Bard (Cha)