D&D 5E (2014) Pick only one: What should the next class be?

[Nebulous]

Psion with Dark Sun.

 

[Garthanos]

I was thinking Warden is like a Druid mixed with Green Knight flavor Paladin

 

[Undrave]

Thanks for the write-up.

You suggest this might be a sub-class of Barbarian but this write-up makes me think more of some sort of cross between Ranger (as in the 1e version that was more Fighter than Rogue) and [Druid or Nature Cleric]. It'd get the fighting (Defender) prowess from the Ranger side and the transformations as a variant on Druid wildshape.

Or, it could end up as a variant of Shaman which is another option in the poll.

Traditional shaman concepts are pretty much covered in bards, druids, and clerics. I would expect the warden to fall under the druid subclasses but I'm intrigued by the barbarian concept and can see it.

I can see the Druid variant, after all it already has Wildshape, but I think the full caster chassis is a bad match up for the concept.

The Warden was a rough and tumble warrior type who stood at the front line and had melee powers. The Barbarian already stole its CON to AC schtick as well and I think modifying Rages with subclass abilities is a better way to properly focus on the concept of the forms, which I think is the key aspect of the 4e Warden worth exploring.

The Warden was also described as not having as strong a connection to the Primal Spirits as the Druid or Shaman and that a Warden who hadn't tapped into all their forms in the day would often go into a form to meditate because it allowed them to be closer to the Spirits. So thematically I think a Druid isn't quite there?

The Warden also had some of his identity stolent by the Oath of the Ancient Paladin so MAYBE you could finagle something with new shapeshifting spells for Paladins but I don't know... You'd end up in plates and that doesn't match the primitive warrior feeling.

I was actually working on the Barbarian variant for a while... I could always dig up the file later.

 

[Vael]

Outside of the Psion, the only other option that I would advocate making the jump to a full class is the dedicated Summoner. Sorry, I liked Warlords a lot in 4e, but between the Bard and Fighter taking a lot of their shtick and that 5e is just a less tactical game, I don't see the need for a Warlord class.

 

[akr71]

I voted "Other" and my other would be none.

 

[Eltab]

The Dedicated Summoner seems to also need:

• an explanation of the reasoning behind how the summoning spells work
• relate the summoned monster CR to the character's level
• Summon XYZ spells that cover the range of summon-able creatures / beings
• its own Monster Manual of creatures to summon.

To date, the Ranger's beast companion has been a beast (ahem) to get right. I can only imagine the Summoner is harder to balance out.

 

[Vael]

Oh, I get why a Summoner is a big ask. There's many reasons not to do one: hard to balance, action economy is tricky, the size of the class (it'll need a lot of it's own material, like stats for summons) not to mention what type of Summoner is it? A Necromancer, reanimating the dead? A Fey Summoner, shaping spirits into animals? The Psion forming Astral Constructs? Putting all those under one umbrella class seems like you'll run into the Mystic problem, the class is spread too thin and loses its identity.

That said, it does have a play style different that'll set it apart from the other classes, and it's certainly unique. Also, it's a class that can take some of the Lazy Warlord design space. And if we are going to see more crossing streams with Magic the Gathering, the game is centered on summoning creatures to fight for you, so not having a class that really highlights that is ... a missed opportunity.

All told, I'm not really expecting WotC to do a Summoner. I think we'll get a Psion/Mystic as the 14th class, and I'm skeptical there will be a 15th at all.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I start to wonder about the summoner class should be the remake of the sha'ir. Maybe its game mechanic could be like the vestige pact magic, you summon a genie and this gives you a special list of powers.

 

[Tallifer]

Angel Summoner...

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

Oh, I get why a Summoner is a big ask. There's many reasons not to do one: hard to balance, action economy is tricky, the size of the class (it'll need a lot of it's own material, like stats for summons) not to mention what type of Summoner is it? A Necromancer, reanimating the dead? A Fey Summoner, shaping spirits into animals? The Psion forming Astral Constructs? Putting all those under one umbrella class seems like you'll run into the Mystic problem, the class is spread too thin and loses its identity.

That said, it does have a play style different that'll set it apart from the other classes, and it's certainly unique. Also, it's a class that can take some of the Lazy Warlord design space. And if we are going to see more crossing streams with Magic the Gathering, the game is centered on summoning creatures to fight for you, so not having a class that really highlights that is ... a missed opportunity.

All told, I'm not really expecting WotC to do a Summoner. I think we'll get a Psion/Mystic as the 14th class, and I'm skeptical there will be a 15th at all.

Yeah, that's my thing. It would be a serious pain to balance, would introduce a bunch of extra mechanics, and would prolly be some flavor of complete mess.

However, I think it would be super cool, and if they did it, that would be awesome, if they don't? eh, you win some you lose some. Besides, the rest of the game is cool, and I could find a good homebrew that might work.