D&D 1E AD&D 1e Alternate Classes

[Celebrim]

You are absolutely correct -- most/all of those classes in Dragon were specifically indicated for use as NPCs only. Didn't stop use from using them for PCs in our games, though...

Hmmm... generous of someone.

Well, if we are listing unbalanced NPC classes, add the Witch to that list. IIRC, didn't the Witch have a 'no save and die' spell, 'Bones to Jello' or something?

Really, only a few of those are over the top - Beast Master being near the top.

I don't remember Archer, Duelist, Elven Cavalier, etc. being overpowered, unless you considered the UA classes overpowered to begin with.

A few of the NPC classes I remember being as slightly underpowered. Seems like I remember a Merchant and an Alchemist class. And of course, 2nd edition came out with a book of classes for ever trade - including things like Cook.

 

[T. Foster]

Well, in our defense we were 11-12 years old at the time. We learned the lesson of the beast master the hard way and that class was pretty quickly banned from PC use (not that it didn't stop that one guy from always trying to bring it back), but we did have a duelist, an elven cavalier, an alternate-bard, and maybe one or two other Dragon-classes as fairly long-term PCs, lasting pretty much all the way until we switched over to 2E, so none of those, at least, were obvious game-breakers.

 

[Thanael]

There's also a Dragon article about Gypsies where it is mentioned that Gypsy nobility are variant (1E) bards, gaining thief levels first, and then fighter levels. The bard abilities are changed a little too. Great article.

 

[grodog]

In addition to the ones Trent mentioned, I've liked and used (again, both as NPCs and allowed as PCs at various times): Timelords (Lew Pulsipher in Dragon 65; Lew also published the Detective class in WD, which we experimented with a little), Witches (various versions from TD3 [and in BoD1], 42, and 114), Dreamers (John Nephew in 132), and Ed Greenwood's Incantatrix from Dragon 90.

In general, though, I agree that the ones collected in Best of Dragon were the standard variants that we employed.

 

[smootrk]

There was a good Bandit class (npc I think), and the Witch class was very nice as well. My favorites were the Paladin variants... specifically the Paramander/Paramandyr neutral ones. One was a warrior to defend balance, and the other was more of an neutral terror, fighting to actively restore balance by cutting down whichever side seemed more powerful.

There was a really obscure reference in a Celtic oriented adventure for an Evil Ranger type... the Hunter, which I used as DM immediately.

 

[diaglo]

duh jock.

iirc it was in the same issue of Dragon as another class... maybe it was the cavalier.

diaglo "i forget and thus qualify for the class" Ooi

 

[HellHound]

duh jock.

iirc it was in the same issue of Dragon as another class... maybe it was the cavalier.

diaglo "i forget and thus qualify for the class" Ooi

I think Duh Jock was in with a version of the Jester.

It was an april issue.

I ran a Jock to level 8 in one campaign. Even had a Hockey Stick of Holy Terror.

 

[diaglo]

I think Duh Jock was in with a version of the Jester.

It was an april issue.

I ran a Jock to level 8 in one campaign. Even had a Hockey Stick of Holy Terror.

that's the one.

 

[Erekose]

There seems to be a fairly comprehensive list here:

PurpleWorm.org • View topic - Dragon Magazine Classes?

 

[TarionzCousin]

There seems to be a fairly comprehensive list here:

PurpleWorm.org • View topic - Dragon Magazine Classes?

Once again we see the Eternal Champion travel through time.