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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
[Old-School Essentials] Less Is More: Enhancing Campaign Themes with Limited Classes
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9459131" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p>Although most OSR games tend to keep their number of classes on the low side, there are many zines and supplements that add more specialized and novel ones. However, it can be hard justifying new ones that are already served by the existing core options, and by adding too many that can result in option paralysis to players or feel too discordant in party set-up. Old-School Essentials' official magazine, Carcass Crawler, had an interesting account on mixing and matching a limited set of available classes based on a campaign's themes and genre:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Overall, I think that 10 to 12 total classes is a good sweet spot. Perhaps 6-8 for lighter clones and spinoffs, and 3-4 for those old-school minimalist systems. For the Fighter/Thief/Magic-User/Cleric being the baseline, 10 to 12 has just enough variation for things to fit into the four archetypes, as that number is the amount in official corebooks of most D&D editions. Discounting racial classes, the OSE classes divvyed up are slightly above the baseline number of 13:</p><p></p><p><strong>Martial:</strong> Barbarian, Fighter, Knight</p><p><strong>Sneaky:</strong> Acrobat, Assassin, Thief</p><p><strong>Godly Magic:</strong> Bard, Cleric, Druid</p><p><strong>Arcane Magic:</strong> Illusionist, Magic-User</p><p><strong>Hybrids:</strong> Paladin, Ranger</p><p></p><p>In looking through various classes, I was able to come up with some tightly-themed campaign styles just by what's available. For instance, here's a sample array I made for a <strong>Folktale Fairy Setting.</strong> Race and Class are the same in this one:</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Beast Master (Carcass Crawler)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Changeling (Carcass Crawler)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Druid</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Elf</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Fairy <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/xsb45i/fairy_class_for_bxose/" target="_blank">(Reddit Homebrew)</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Fighter</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Gnome</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Thief</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Warden (Carcass Crawler exclusive issue, Ranger if don't have it)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Witch (Oh My Lost Darklords)</li> </ol><p></p><p>I kept the Fighter and Thief, but ditched the Cleric and Magic-User in favor of more specialized types of casters. The Druid fits with one relying upon the powers of nature, while the Elf and Gnome both have spells drawn from Magic-User/Illusionist, but have their own distinct playstyles to make them feel different. The Warden is a variant Ranger, and the Witch is a folkloric arcane caster that favors more subtle magic. The Beast Master is all about befriending animals to fight alongside them, while the Changeling plays into the "face-stealer fey" archetype.</p><p></p><p>Let's try one for an <strong>Underdark Sandbox,</strong> where the PCs are natives of the dungeon...raiding other dungeons and fighting other monsters! In this case, race and class are separate. Old-School Essentials has drow, duergar, and svirfneblin in the Advanced Fantasy ruleset. Goblins and Mycelian (think myconids) are available in Carcass Crawler and are appropriate races, as are Mutoids whose various random features can reflect a variety of creatures.</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Assassin</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Bandit (Oh My Lost Darklords)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Barbarian</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Avenger (Oh My Lost Darklords) or Chaos Knight (Carcass Crawler exclusive issue)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Cultist (Oh My Lost Darklords)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Fighter</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Kineticist (Carcass Crawler)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Magic-User</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Necromancer <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/414657/old-school-essentials-the-necromancer" target="_blank">(standalone free product by Necrotic Gnome)</a></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Thief</li> </ol><p>For an Underdark campaign where characters are likely to be more anti-heroic, Oh My Lost Darklords is a great fit. Bandit and Avenger are good alternatives to the more Lawful Paladin and Ranger. Kineticist reflects weird psionic powers that are quite common below ground. Cultists are good for representing worshipers of a variety of foul deities, particularly Lolth, while the Necromancer is going to be less out of place than in more civilized above-ground realms.</p><p></p><p>I got one more. How about a <strong>Magic School Setting?</strong> In this one we'll make race and class separate, as nonhumans are a staple in such a setting.</p><p></p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Bard</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Cleric</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Druid</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Illusionist</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Keeper (Black Pudding)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Magic-User</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Necromancer (as above)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Star Wizard (Black Pudding)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Summoner (Black Pudding)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Witch (Black Pudding or Oh My Lost Darklords)</li> </ol><p>The Black Pudding zine is a series of free magazines, so they're trivial to get without making a dent in one's pocketbook. By just using this free resource, we have a diverse cast of caster types. The Keeper is a distinct kind of nature mage different from the Druid, the Summoner specializes in calling forth various kinds of magical creatures, while a Star Wizard is a variant Magic-User that gains power from celestial bodies. The Witch from Oh My Lost Darklords is appropriate, but Black Pudding has its own class of the same name if one wants to minimize the amount of rulebooks in play.</p><p></p><p></p><p>I may have other ideas down the line, but I managed to get quite a bit of interesting ideas from one little suggestion!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 9459131, member: 6750502"] Although most OSR games tend to keep their number of classes on the low side, there are many zines and supplements that add more specialized and novel ones. However, it can be hard justifying new ones that are already served by the existing core options, and by adding too many that can result in option paralysis to players or feel too discordant in party set-up. Old-School Essentials' official magazine, Carcass Crawler, had an interesting account on mixing and matching a limited set of available classes based on a campaign's themes and genre: Overall, I think that 10 to 12 total classes is a good sweet spot. Perhaps 6-8 for lighter clones and spinoffs, and 3-4 for those old-school minimalist systems. For the Fighter/Thief/Magic-User/Cleric being the baseline, 10 to 12 has just enough variation for things to fit into the four archetypes, as that number is the amount in official corebooks of most D&D editions. Discounting racial classes, the OSE classes divvyed up are slightly above the baseline number of 13: [B]Martial:[/B] Barbarian, Fighter, Knight [B]Sneaky:[/B] Acrobat, Assassin, Thief [B]Godly Magic:[/B] Bard, Cleric, Druid [B]Arcane Magic:[/B] Illusionist, Magic-User [B]Hybrids:[/B] Paladin, Ranger In looking through various classes, I was able to come up with some tightly-themed campaign styles just by what's available. For instance, here's a sample array I made for a [B]Folktale Fairy Setting.[/B] Race and Class are the same in this one: [LIST=1] [*]Beast Master (Carcass Crawler) [*]Changeling (Carcass Crawler) [*]Druid [*]Elf [*]Fairy [URL='https://www.reddit.com/r/osr/comments/xsb45i/fairy_class_for_bxose/'](Reddit Homebrew)[/URL] [*]Fighter [*]Gnome [*]Thief [*]Warden (Carcass Crawler exclusive issue, Ranger if don't have it) [*]Witch (Oh My Lost Darklords) [/LIST] I kept the Fighter and Thief, but ditched the Cleric and Magic-User in favor of more specialized types of casters. The Druid fits with one relying upon the powers of nature, while the Elf and Gnome both have spells drawn from Magic-User/Illusionist, but have their own distinct playstyles to make them feel different. The Warden is a variant Ranger, and the Witch is a folkloric arcane caster that favors more subtle magic. The Beast Master is all about befriending animals to fight alongside them, while the Changeling plays into the "face-stealer fey" archetype. Let's try one for an [B]Underdark Sandbox,[/B] where the PCs are natives of the dungeon...raiding other dungeons and fighting other monsters! In this case, race and class are separate. Old-School Essentials has drow, duergar, and svirfneblin in the Advanced Fantasy ruleset. Goblins and Mycelian (think myconids) are available in Carcass Crawler and are appropriate races, as are Mutoids whose various random features can reflect a variety of creatures. [LIST=1] [*]Assassin [*]Bandit (Oh My Lost Darklords) [*]Barbarian [*]Avenger (Oh My Lost Darklords) or Chaos Knight (Carcass Crawler exclusive issue) [*]Cultist (Oh My Lost Darklords) [*]Fighter [*]Kineticist (Carcass Crawler) [*]Magic-User [*]Necromancer [url=https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/414657/old-school-essentials-the-necromancer](standalone free product by Necrotic Gnome)[/url] [*]Thief [/LIST] For an Underdark campaign where characters are likely to be more anti-heroic, Oh My Lost Darklords is a great fit. Bandit and Avenger are good alternatives to the more Lawful Paladin and Ranger. Kineticist reflects weird psionic powers that are quite common below ground. Cultists are good for representing worshipers of a variety of foul deities, particularly Lolth, while the Necromancer is going to be less out of place than in more civilized above-ground realms. I got one more. How about a [B]Magic School Setting?[/B] In this one we'll make race and class separate, as nonhumans are a staple in such a setting. [LIST=1] [*]Bard [*]Cleric [*]Druid [*]Illusionist [*]Keeper (Black Pudding) [*]Magic-User [*]Necromancer (as above) [*]Star Wizard (Black Pudding) [*]Summoner (Black Pudding) [*]Witch (Black Pudding or Oh My Lost Darklords) [/LIST] The Black Pudding zine is a series of free magazines, so they're trivial to get without making a dent in one's pocketbook. By just using this free resource, we have a diverse cast of caster types. The Keeper is a distinct kind of nature mage different from the Druid, the Summoner specializes in calling forth various kinds of magical creatures, while a Star Wizard is a variant Magic-User that gains power from celestial bodies. The Witch from Oh My Lost Darklords is appropriate, but Black Pudding has its own class of the same name if one wants to minimize the amount of rulebooks in play. I may have other ideas down the line, but I managed to get quite a bit of interesting ideas from one little suggestion! [/QUOTE]
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