D&D General Non-Generic Core Classes and Races

[doctorbadwolf]

Okay a follow-up to this thread.

What if we pick an elevator pitch for a setting and make a list of ancestries and classes for that setting.

let's say no more than 6 of each.

Example

Elevator Pitch.

The world has entered an era of conflict and exploration, as airships rapidly become more common and three Great Powers meet in the skies above [continent or region name].
Albarona is a Spanish inspired empire with an immortal fey Queen. Capet is a failing French inspired empire with an unbroken line of rulers for over a thousand years that has been rivals with Albarona for centuries. The third Power is new and rising, called The United Federation of Free Nations, and it is basically a fascist regime that replaced a federalist empire after it's leaders coopted the revolution against that empire.

Ancestries - Gnomes, Dwarves, Elves (a new type not a dnd phb type), Shifters, Fir Bolgs, and Trolls or Orcs (big and scary looking)

Classes - Artificer, Ranger, Assassin, Bard, Warlock, Swordmage, I think.


So what is yours?

 

[Hussar]

I've been jonesing for a campaign if I can get the players to go for it inspired by the Wandering Village video game.

The World is dying. The goddess of the world is riddled with cancers that are slowly killing her. Your village rides atop her last avatar, an enormous beast that wanders the world, destroying the cancers that it can. The cancers, spawned from the flesh of the world goddess herself, are sprawling dungeons that are infested with the diseased flesh of the Goddess. When a dungeon is destroyed, those that the dungeon had spawned are freed of the control of the dungeon and some join with the Village on its journey.

Ancestries - pretty much anything. The weirder the better.

Classes - not too sure yet.

 

[Minigiant]

Pitch

After conquering Fae and Umbra, the gods of Jotun have opened the gates to another. They bless their followers at the front gates. Little that the Heimese know, Dracos is more fortified and prepared for assault. And they have tyrannical monsters who arent ready to lost their holding.

Premise

One setting invades another. The Feywild and Shadowfell are the previously conquered setting. The invaders are halted because the defenders' world have dragons.

Species: Goliath and Dwarf (Jotunhiem), Human and Aasimar (Shadowfell), Elf (Feywild), Dragonborn (Dragonland),

Classes: Fighter (All), Cleric (All), Barbarian (Jotunhiem), Warlock (Feywild), Necromancer (Shadowfell), Sorcerer (Dragonland),

 

[DammitVictor]

Hell with it, I'll put some skin in the game. This isn't how I'm handling my settings, but this should give you a pretty good idea of what I'm doing.

Shroompunk
The Pitch: Countless Worlds of adventure connected by a living, growing-- some say sentient-- megadungeon known as the Warp Zone. Worlds defined by magitech and fairy tale logic, where mighty barbarians ride pteranodons into battle against sky-knights in biplanes.

Ancestries: "Human", Tortle, Vanara, Autognome, Dromite, Leshy
Classes: Artificer/Gunslinger, Bloodrager/Brawler, Monk/Magus, Paladin/Bard, Cavalier/Hexblade, Witch/Shifter

Cosmic Rangers
The Pitch: Space fantasy Western, half all'italiana and half JRPG. You and your crew live and work in the lawless frontiers, far away from the hyperspace rails that connect the "unexplored" and "uncivilized" (but very very inhabited) planets you call home with the magnificent Throneworlds of galactic empires.

Ancestries: In the middle of a major revamp of this because this setting started as an homage to Phantasy Star and, well, now Phantasy Star is an homage to Phantasy Star. But definitely "normal" humans, all of the "normal" D&D races with abnormal twists plus Golarion-style androids. Elves are fey-abberations, like eladrin + elan; orcs are horrible spider-tieflings with the [elf] subtype; gremlins are magitech savants whose native language is Binary. Lizardfolk are half-Riddick, half-Spock, half Friar Tuck.

Classes: Cavalier, Maverick, Hunter, Technician; Psychic/Witch, Ardent/Cleric, Monk/Shaman, Druid/Sorcerer.

SDTJ 2197
The Pitch: Half Shadowrun, half Street Fighter, half Hearts of Wulin. (And probably less than half Buck Rogers XXVc.) Take modern urban fantasy, rip out all of the gothic horror and paranormal romance guts, and replace them with cosmic horror and xianxia guts. It's the cusp of the 23rd century, and humanity-- at least on Earth-- is trying to rebuild and heal after the horrors of the Fourth World War. The San Diego Tijuana Free Economic Zone is the Hong Kong, Hollywood, and Las Vegas of its time, the most diverse and volatile jianghu on Earth, and the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California is widely praised-- and shunned-- as the "Miskatonic of the West".

Ancestries: Almost everyone on Earth is human. A few unfortunates and fetishists have pursued cybernetics and genetic engineering to the point they might be considered something else. Most extradimensional migrants-- 'edies'-- are human or human-passing, but the submerged ruins of the original San Diego and Tijuana are home to enclaves of more aliem-looking aliems-- squidtowns.

The White Martians are more or less fraal. The Green Martians are more or less kreen. The Red Martians are literally human, just with dark rust-red skin and a tendency to be a bit bigger than Earth humans. Venusians are heavy metal dragonborn tortles.

Classes: SDTJ 2197 isn't really built for a class-based system, but there are clearly some archetypes that could translate to classes: ninja, sorcerer, psychic, soldier, brawler, usw. usw. usw.

 

[Bae'zel]

Archipelago World

Making peace with nature and spirits in a vast shallow sea dotted with thousands of islands.

The inhabitants of this world do not know who their ancestors were: crash-landed visitors from another world? The last survivors of a great flood? Regardless, the people thrive on the thousands of islands, relying on each other and pacifying the Elder Gods of each island. Characters are the few who can navigate the shallow seas without getting lost by mysterious forces. They are the only ones who can freely communicate with the Spirits, navigate using intuition instead of tools, survive battles with Cambrian megafauna and explore the ruins of their ancestors.

Ancestries -

• Halflings (reskinned into diminutive bird-like dinosaurian people),
• Orcs (reskinned into shark-like humanoids with black eyes),
• Tortles (reskinned into Trilobite humanoids),
• Humans (but with distinctly different, brightly colored traits to match the Spirit of their home island)
• Aasimar (reskinned into moth-like humanoids).

Classes -

• Ranger (new subclass as hunters of megafauna),
• Rogues (new subclass who can unlock and explore alien ruins),
• Bard (new subclass that can speak with spirits),
• Warlock (new list of patrons and invocations centered on Island spirits),
• Fighter (new combat styles and subclass inspired by some South Asian and Polynesian cultures)
• Sorceror (new bloodlines focusing on world navigation and insight, True Names magick)

 

[Corinnguard]

A version of the Shadowrun RPG setting that's more Urban Arcana and less Cyberpunk.

The Pitch:

Like the tides, magic began to seep back into the world, changing everything and everyone it touched. Beings and creatures of myth and folklore appeared among Men, the Beasts and the Wilds of the land. The Way of Science faltered a bit till it was shored up the developing ways of Magic. Doors to other realms opened up.

The world entered a new era of magic and science, the mundane and the supernatural.

Ancestries:
1. the Moreau (anthropomorphic animals)
2. the Forged (living, thinking constructs)
3. the Planetouched
4. the Fey
5. the Dryadkin (sentient plants)
6. the Race of Man

Classes:
1. Artificer
2. Magus
3. Physical Adept
4. Arcanist
5. Elementalist
6. Shadowdancers

 

[Indagare Nogitsune]

You are asked to make a 3pp DnD 5e competitor. The ask includes some odd restrictions.

1. No Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, Wizard.

2. No Plain Human, or Tolkein style elves, dwarves, orcs, or halflings.

3. Replacements cannot be the same thing with a different name, but it can be designed to fill the same role or niche.

This is for Level Up, which I think meets the first criteria.

Elevator Pitch.
The Mysts once separated the many parts of Arras. What, exactly, caused their parting is still unclear. However, it has brought about an Age of Exploration and a Renaissance among cultures long staid in their old traditions. It has also brought some trouble, since nowhere is completely free of greed and some pirates have claimed it as their new Golden Age. I've no doubt that with our stalwart allies and Her Majesty's fleet we will teach those curs a lesson they'll not soon forget!
-Jacobod, Goblin Scribe

Heritages: |Goblin, Orc (Artisans)| |Kobold, Dragonborn| |Oxfolk, Birdfolk|
-Each block represents a different world which has its own 'theme':
The Goblins and Orcs live in a world akin to the Victorian age, which has airships, electric trains, submarines, and other Industrial Age wonders.
The Kobolds and Dragonborn live in a world akin to the Roman Empire where there is a Dragon Emperor and a Council of Wyrms.
The Oxfolk and Birdfolk live in a world that has largely untamed wildernesses, with the Oxfolk living in scattered, yet interconnected settlements and the Birdfolk living in Aeries, especially in flying islands.

The aforementioned pirates would mostly come from the first and second world: though the third does have ships, they are mostly made to travel along the rivers or shorelines rather than deep waters. That said, there are some even among the Oxfolk and Birdfolk known for wanting more and being willing to do anything to get it.

Classes - Artificer, Bard, Druid, Ranger, Savant, Sorcerer