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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aezoc" data-source="post: 1408973" data-attributes="member: 12124">My only experience using the generic classes thus far is in a new homebrewed rare-magic world with a custom generic spellcaster, but I'll mention the things I've discovered thus far.NPC Classes: Fortunately I've been able to avoid actually statting out the NPC classes thus far, but in the spirit of generic classes, I'm thinking that the NPC classes should simply consist of watered-down versions of the warrior, expert, and spellcaster.  IMO creating commoner or aristocrat NPC classes goes against the spirit of generic classes, since levels in either class implies a bit about the character's history or background. I think that a 0-level NPC expert would represent the average commoner nicely, and multiclassed NPC warrior/experts would work nicely as aristocrats, as you mentioned.Expanding the Spellcaster: My homebrew spellcaster is a fair bit different than the default generic one, but I think the same concepts apply. Again, in the spirit of keeping the base classes as generic as possible, I created different methods of spellcasting (runecasting, song magic, etc) but tried to balance them against one another without necessitating other differences between the subclasses (such as HD, skills, etc). You might not be able to recreate the core spellcasting classes exactly with this method, but you should be able to come pretty close. I would say that if a character chooses to limit his spellcasting ability upon taking a level in spellcaster (by preparing spells ahead of time, requiring a spellbook, or whatever), allow him to pick up one of the other core spellcaster abilities as compensation. Just be careful to keep the advantages/disadvantages system in check, or it will quickly go the way of 2e Skills & Powers.Generic Prestige Classes: Personally, I've found that making prestige classes fairly specific is a nice counterbalance to the generic classes.  I dislike the idea of having open-ended prestige classes because I feel like most of the time they can be closely mimicked by the core classes by (at most) adding a new feat or two.  Also, I chose to take most of the core class abilities (including the two you mentioned, unarmed combat and the barbarian's rage) and turn them into feats. Although the characters are still very low level, thus far it seems to be working nicely. For raging, I just made every improved version of rage a separate feat along the same chain. For unarmed combat, I made improved unarmed strike a feat that can be taken multiple times to improve the character's unarmed damage. The second time it's taken, the character gains the flurry of blows ability, and it improves when taken the third and fourth times. It's not quite as elegant as I would have liked, however it's the best way I've found so far to preserve the feel of the generic classes, which I love.</blockquote>

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