Another Core Class

[Roman]

The Noble in Arthurian Adventures: LEgends of Excalibur (by RPGobjects) is nice.

She can send Knights on Quests (which means that the knights get bonuses while they are on those quests, dependant upon the NOble's level). Mind you, these nobles are a bit souped up (the Diving Right of Kings is taken seriously, Nobles get an aura of command, can "unexcommunicate" people occasionally, etc.

Not sure how well it would generalize in this form, but it sure fits the campaign setting well!

Hey Particle_Man, how is it going? I am looking forward to our next session on Saturday! (Particle_Man is my DM in the Arthurian Adventures campaign he mentions.)

I think the Knight from the Arthurian Adventures would actually generalize very well to a core class.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

The noble, priest, and guilder classes from Fading Suns d20 work very well for characters whose primary power is social rather than in combat or supernatural powers.

Basically, they get d8 for Hit Dice, the BAB progression of clerics, 6+Int modifier skill points at every level, and a "Social Feat" at every level that can't be divided by three.

These Social Feats can be selected from a big list in the FS d20 book - basically, it buys you better noble titles, higher rank in the Church or the Guilds, gossip networks, allies, contacts, and much, much more. I really like this concept because it makes the classes highly customizeable and perfect for multiclassing - just as core classes should be...

 

[eyebeams]

Thanks to the Monk, et al, I think the only real criteria for core classes are how much "D&D tradition" they have or how central they are to the campaign. To this I'd add the idea of classes that fill in for character types that are in fantasy fiction but don't have the same feel as the current cores, and classes that take care of hiccups in the rules. Let's see what we can get from each of these:

"D&D Tradition"

Cavalier, Assassin (both of which have already had several treatments).

Central to the Campaign

We see examples of these in supplements like Dragonlance

In Fantasy Fiction

Nobles and Peasant Heroes have already been mentioned here. The Noble has social and economic advantages. The Peasant Hero should be a generalist with abilities that reflect more gumption than training. One of the few downsides with the 3e/3.5e Fighter is that it feels a lot less like the kind of guy who is forced to pick up a sword and work his way to glory, and more like a trained elite warrior. Some off you will of course dispute this, but this is the spontaneous feedback I've gotten from actual players.

The Mystic Talent or Hedge Wizard is another type. This is a character with a natural talent for magic who isn't necessarily that great at it, and who usually just sticks to mundane business. Often the Talent is a Cugel or Gray Mouser type of guy, but he might just be someone with "the Gift" and no training. Alternately (as the Hedge Wizard) this is a minor mage who trades raw power for knowledge and community ties. In game terms, he'd be a lot like a Bard with no music but the ability to occasionally get off impressive magic. In some world, this guy is also able to access some special form of magic thanks to *not* being trained, but in game terms this is likely dual-c;assing as a Sorcerer or special PrC.

Non-monk martial arts experts, duelists and weapon specialists are also in many games, and probably deserve some kind of base class, but it's always a headache to balance weapon specialists versus generalists, so feats are better here. What's really needed is better unarmed combat feats or a non-Monk martial artist, and I have seen treatments of such.

Finally, pulp wizards are usually really worshipping evil gods and using them as patrons and such, but the current Cleric is too buff for Theleb K'aarna and pals. I'd have a class like the Cleric but with improved spells and worse fighting ability.

Rules Hiccups

The only thing I can think of are classes that get around the way multiclassed casters get hosed. The pulp wizardy priest will do, as will all those mageblade types and such.

 

[zalgar07]

Keep it simple.

Just a little more generic.
Scratch the Monk & Paladin.

Add a spontaneous divine spellcaster, swashbuckler and/or generic Martial Artist, free the Rogue from required Sneak Attacks and the Ranger from their dependancy Spells, add a class that smoothly blends Arcane Magic and Combat. After that, classes that are particularly good at some types of combat MIGHT be in order (archer, cavalry)...

Paladin & Monk = Prestige Class
Noble = Base it off of feats giving character favors and/or an allowance of $$$, retainers and/or supplies.

Beyond that, adapt to the campaign world.

 

[Mokona]

Breaking it Down!

If you break the Player's Handbook classes down into their component parts it might look something like this...

Warrior that relies on damage through strength (Barbarian rage)
Warrior that relies on soaking up hit point damage (Barbarian HD & DR)
Warrior that relies on high armor class (Fighter, Paladin)
Warrior that relies on fancy training (Fighter feats)
Warrior that relies on archery (Barbarian, Fighter, Ranger, Paladin)
Warrior with skills (Barbarian, Ranger)
Semi-warrior that relies on non-weapon combat (Monk)
Warriors that rely on extra attacks per round (Monk, Fighter, Ranger)
Master of knowledge (Bard)
Musical inspiration of allies (Bard)
Stealing (Bard, Rogue)
Sneaking (Bard, Ranger, Rogue)
Spellcasting, spontaneous (Bard, Sorcerer)
Spellcasting, memorized (Cleric, Druid, Wizard, Paladin, Ranger)
Healing (Cleric, Druid, Paladin)
Defeating undead (Cleric, Paladin)
Religious devotion (Cleric, Druid, Paladin, and maybe Ranger)
Animal friends (Druid, Ranger)
Shapeshifting (Druid)
Wilderness stuff (Druid, Ranger)
Fast movement (Monk)
Internal alchemy, or mystic body enhancement (Monk)
Pillar of good (Paladin)
Good saving throws (Monk, Paladin)
Mounted combat (Paladin, Fighter)
Killing evil (Paladin, Cleric)
Favored enemies (Ranger)
Assassination (Rogue sneak attack)
Trapfinding (Rogue)
Social skills (Rogue, Bard)
Combat maneuverability, mostly for flanking (Rogue, Monk)
Lots of spells per day (Sorcerer)
Variety in spell choices (Cleric)
Powerful and flexible spell choice (Wizard)
Lots of skill points to spend (Rogue, Bard, Ranger)

As we see, some concepts are tied to other concepts when players might only want part of the package and not the whole deal.

Many combinations haven't been tried recently. Spontaneously magic fighters or clerics with skill points like learned european monks or archers that aren't equally good with swords.

 

[JVisgaitis]

I like the base classes as is, but I do think there is some room for others. My desired classes mostly mirror ones that were already touched on.

Noble. A social class is a great idea, but finding a way to do interesting mechanics without having him call in favors all of the time or have the most money is somewhat difficult. I think it could be done, but it would take some work.

Dexterous Fighter. A lot of people say multiclass a fighter or a ranger with a rogue. I say make a new class that focuses on speed, cunning, and wit. Give him inherent dodge bonuses to AC while wearing lighter armor, a kind of ingrained weapon finesse, and some sort of special abilities that show his speed. The unfettered is neat, but a little too generic for my tastes. I prefer something with a bit more flavor.

Unarmed Fighter. Don't get me wrong, I like the monk, but they are all mostly the same. With a standard fighter you can make a lot of variations through feats. I'd love to see a feat based monk type that you can customize along the way like a fighter. It would be really cool to focus on various styles such as wrestling, throws, or kicks.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Archer? I know that En Publishing has Three Arrows for the King with an Archer and an Archer Ranger.

Soverign Stone's core book has all sorts of core classes including an archer.

Me? I'm all for core classes. Back in 1st and 2nd edition, I had these three books, one with a blue cover, the Compleate Spellcaster, one with a green cover, the Compleate Adventurer, and one with a pink cover, the Completate Alchemist. They added a lot of options to my campaign like bounty hunters, alchemists, sorcerers, necromancers and other options that just didn't exist back in the day. Role Aids added things like dragon riders and other goods.

Green Ronin's line of Master Class books is hit or miss but I've enjoyed them overall.

Arcana Unearthed/Evolved has seen some use if for nothing else than experiementation. One guy played a mage blade who lost some spellcasting but could use regular D&D spells. Another dude played a Magister as is from the book using that magic system. Someone else used an unfettered with no problems and it works well.

I personally keep hoping that Mongoose will do an Ultimate Core Class book that collects all of the core classes and puts them in one easy to use book (as long as it's actually cleaned up and not a straight cut and paste...)

 

[JVisgaitis]

I had these three books, one with a blue cover, the Compleate Spellcaster, one with a green cover, the Compleate Adventurer, and one with a pink cover, the Completate Alchemist.

Those books were great! I also greatly enjoyed the variances that you could get in the Players Option Series. I know a lot of people hated those because of power gaming potential, but when used in moderation I thought they were the best.

A lot of suggestions that people are making for classes here could be will served with some slight tweaks to skills and maybe one or two new abilities. If every class had the option of taking skill packages which would change up the skill choices, and provide some new abilities, that would go a long way in alleviate a lot of unnecessary classes.

Hmmm, I REALLY like this idea. . .