Classes: In and Out?

[Atlatl Jones]

This actually strikes me as odd, as elsewhere they have said that Vancean magic would only bey about 20% of a wizard's power. Why devote such a huge chunk of the book to something so minor? I love the current magic system, but I'd rather see it ditched than burn up disproportional space like that...

I believe it was said that the wizard's "per day" abilities account for 20% of his power. That still leaves a lot of space for spells that refresh "per encounter" and ones that are usable at will.

 

[Jhaelen]

But here it is...types are:

defenders (fighter, paladin)
leaders (cleric, warlord)
strikers (ranger, rogue)
controlers (wizard, ...)

It has also been mentioned that the sorcerer is still in. Thus we have 8 classes so far, two for each role. Nice symmetry, I'd say. I have a feeling that's the complete set for the first* PHB.

*: In a slightly different context they've been talking about a second DMG, so I assume we'll see a second PHB as well. Maybe as soon as 2009.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Thought one:

Some classes seem to change roles, as the game is currently played.

Let's look at the fighter and the wizard.

At low levels, the fighter can very effectively hold back one opponent, and the wizard is in charge of crowd control.

At high levels, the fighter is far better at managing multiple opponents, and the wizard is far better at taking out single opponents.​

Thought two:

When looking for who's in and who's out, my speculation runs towards how classes can be categorized:

Martial ability (BAB 1, 3/4, or 1/2)
Caster ability (spellcaster levels, and divine or arcane casting)
Skill points (2, 4, or 8)

If you think of these as three connected sliders, moving one up generally moves the other two down.

There's a potential 4th slider, Civilized vs. Wild, but it's really more of a toggle. The Wild classes generally have a more limited selection of spells (nature-based), skills, and equipment, but it seems in exchange they get a couple of extra skill points. (Fighter vs. Barbarian, Ranger vs. Paladin, Druid vs. Cleric).

Anyhow, if I were doing the redesign I would look at those basic classifications and see where there are holes that could be filled (where the bard used to be, I guess...), where there is redundancy that could be eliminated (sorcerer), and which classes don't fit into this design framework (monk).
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