Playing Like Celebrim - NPC Classes

[Celebrim]

I never had much use for the 3.X default NPC classes. I understood where they were going with them, but I didn't see the point. Commoner gave 3.X backwards compatibility with 1e '0th level' fighters. Warrior and Adept gave 3.X backwards compatibility with 1e monstrous humanoids like goblins, lizardmen and orcs and their tribal shamans and witch doctors. Noble was basically an admission that they'd screwed up the design of fighters so much, that the class couldn't even cover its most basic medieval stereotype, despite having ripped Mounted Combat from the 1e Cavalier, and Expert gave 3.X backwards compatibility with expert hirelings.

Expert and was the only one I ever found myself much using - mostly for merchants and the like. The rest seemed to be locked into a design I'd largely abandoned before 3e came out, having long sense started giving class levels to NPC goblins and hobgoblins and the like, and more or less doing away with the notion of 0th level fighters.

However, I still liked the idea of classes that represented careers that the common, non-adventuring, average person might take and attain experience in. And I liked classes that let NPCs be skilled without stealing protagonist status from the PCs. But the question raised by the official versions was, "Why would anyone choose to go down this path?" Obviously, one answer is lack of opportunity and another might be lack of aptitude, but these answers didn't ease my mind fully. Wouldn't it make more sense if NPC classes were rational choices for NPCs given their situation.

Thus my NPC classes were born, each offering a reasonable non-heroic but effective career for a person in a given situation and in some cases, a way to come back from that path and become a hero.

I realize that not many people out there will find this useful, but I hope someone does. I find the classes to be very useful for populating the world with interesting low level NPCs. Some of the classes are actually quite fun at higher levels as well if you want a for a challenge to a mid-level party. And there is always the possibility that if someone is playing 3.0e still, that these classes might make sense as a dip class in certain builds.

One interesting variant might be to start play with all the characters members of the commoner class and even with several levels in it. Indeed, for that player that wants to do character exploration and insists on verisimilitude, it might be interesting to let them start as a 50 year old 4th level commoner rather than the usual 1st level youth. Certainly it won't be unbalancing to do so in the long run, but let's the player create something really weird without stealing spotlight from the other players.

 

[Celebrim]

The Brute - A class for the physically skilled ordinary

Brute
The world is filled with intractable things that resist change. Things that are not in motion, resist being placed in motion. A brute is up to the task. Brutes are experts in manual labor. When something needs to be shoved, dragged, pushed, lifted, hefted, tossed or hauled, a brute is your best bet.
Adventurers: Brutes are rarely adventures, but sometimes make their way into the adventuring life either by design or accident. It’s not unusual for brutes to be employed as henchmen by mercenaries, adventurers, or explorers that need heavy loads carried. A brute which survives this experience may eventually become a full-fledged adventurer in their own right. Likewise, the brute is naturally inclined to see his great strength as something that ought to be put to the purpose of either protecting or bullying others, and one or the other of these responsibilities may lead the brute into placing himself at risk and in conflict with others. But the brute, though strong, is not a true expert in martial affairs nor are they particularly well-suited to the extraordinary challenges of an adventuring life. Thus most brutes will eventually multi-class into complementary classes like fighter or fanatic if they are long in such careers.
Characteristics: Brutes are hard and hardened men, good with their fists, and used to employing force. The employ direct action, and get to the point quickly.
Alignment: Brutes can be of any alignment. Good aligned brutes tend to see themselves as protectors of their smaller and weaker comrades. Evil brutes tend to see their strength as giving them a natural right to rule over and take from the weak. Lawful brutes are likely to put their skills in the service of those persons or organizations they deem the most powerful, and to see themselves in the role of the willing hands and fists of that organization. Chaotic brutes on the other hand seem themselves as the natural counterbalance to the power of the many, and seek to make their own ways. Naturally, as common men with common concerns, many also care little for such things.
Religion:It is quite natural for brutes to gravitate to the worship of gods of strength, and those known for displaying overt power such as the gods of storms, seas and earthquakes.
Background: Most brutes are employed as teamsters, longshoremen, porters, litter-bearers, miners, lumberjacks, or stevedores. Crafts that require significant strength and hard labor, such as stone and brick masonry, sailing, whaling, or blacksmithing also have their share of brutes. Brutes often serve as assistants to skilled craftsman that need strong backs, and they work in foundries, warehouses, abattoirs, mills and factories moving the heavy loads and operating large machines. Brutes are also commonly employed as bouncers and bodyguards, and as professional thugs by criminal organizations. A few brutes may even work as professional athletes.
Races: Humans are most commonly found as brutes, though a good share can be found among the strong and hardy dwarf and orine races as well. Goblins often lack the strength and size necessary to obtain true skill as a brute, and hobgoblins are generally too proud to pursue such work – deeming it appropriate only for slaves. Elves, fey, and idreth are almost never brutes, as the entire ideology goes against their usual nature. Amongst the giants, and the monstrous and feral races however, brutes are one if not the most common class.
Other Classes: Most brutes work alongside commoners and share much of their outlook, but as actual experts in the field of manual labor they excel commoners in most regards, and are often well aware of this fact and so see themselves as being a cut above the common man. It’s not unusual for brutes to be leaders of work gangs or foremen, provided they have the intelligence, or to believe they deserve to be such leaders – if they do not. Many brutes have close working relationships with experts, and see themselves as valuable – if not necessarily equal - partners. Brutes admire the exercise of skill, but many tend to look with suspicion on anything that is subtle or uncanny. Sorcerers and shamans are generally feared if not actually reviled. Wizards are viewed much as strange but perhaps needful experts, and rogues are either distrusted or seen as expert comrades depending on the inclination of the brute. Explorers are generally viewed as natural and hardy comrades, and fanatics as being persons of similar character to themselves. Fighters, especially those that employ techniques involving great power and strength, often win admiration and fascination from brutes.

Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d12
Requirements: Str 12
Class Skills: The Brute’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Porter (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Run (Str), Swim (Str), and Use Rope (Dex)
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A brute is proficient with light armor. A brute is proficient with unarmed strikes, and gains proficiency with one of the following additional weapons each time the brute gains a class level: club, battle ax, footman’s flail, great ax, great club, hand ax, heavy mace, heavy pick, light hammer, light mace, light pick, morningstar, oar, sap or warhammer. If the Brute is already proficient with all these weapons, they may become proficient with any one weapon that they are not yet proficient in (if any).

Table: The Brute

Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special
1st +0 +2 +0 +0 Brute Strength, Improved Unarmed Strike, Ordinary Challenges, Smash +1
2nd +1 +3 +0 +0 Master Porter
3rd +2 +3 +1 +1 Superior Unarmed Strike
4th +3 +4 +1 +1 Bonus Feat
5th +3 +4 +1 +1 Smash +2
6th +4 +5 +2 +2
7th +5 +5 +2 +2 Damage reduction 1/—
8th +6/+1 +6 +2 +2 Bonus Feat
9th +6/+1 +6 +3 +3
10th +7/+2 +7 +3 +3 Smash +3, Mettle
11th +8/+3 +7 +3 +3
12th +9/+4 +8 +4 +4 Bonus Feat
13th +9/+4 +8 +4 +4 Damage reduction 2/—
14th +10/+5 +9 +4 +4
15th +11/+6/+1 +9 +5 +5 Smash +4
16th +12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +5 Bonus Feat
17th +12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +5
18th +13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +6
19th +14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +6 Damage reduction 3/—
20th +15/+10/+5 +12 +6 +6 Bonus Feat, Juggernaut, Smash +5

Brute Strength:For each level of brute gained, a brute gains bonus skill points equal to his strength bonus. If Brute is taken at 1st level, he gains skill points equal to four times his strength bonus. These skill points may be only used to gain ranks in strength based skills.

Improved Unarmed Strike:At 1st level, a brute gains Improved Unarmed strike as a bonus feat. If he already has this feat, he may instead take any feat from the Expert bonus feat list which he qualifies for.

Smash: At 1st level, a brute gains a +1 bonus to hit when making unarmed strikes, a +1 bonus to strength checks to open or break an object, and a +1 bonus on bull rush and overrun combat maneuver checks. These bonuses increase to +2 at 5th level, to +3 at 10th level, +4 at 15th level, and +5 at 20th level.

Master Porter: At 2nd level, a brute gains Master Porter as a bonus feat. If he already has this feat, he may instead take any feat from the Expert bonus feat list which he qualifies for.

Superior Unarmed Strike: At 3rd level, a brute gains Superior Unarmed strike as a bonus feat. If he already has this feat, he may instead take any feat from the Expert bonus feat list which he qualifies for.

Bonus Feat:At 4th level, and again every 4 levels thereafter (8th, 12th, 16th, 20th), a brute gains a bonus feat. This feat may be any feat on the expert bonus feat list that the Brute has the prerequisites for.

Damage Reduction:Beginning at 7th level, the Brute gains Damage Reduction 1/-. This increases to DR 2/- at 13th level and DR 3/- at 19th level. This DR stacks with any other source of similar DR that the character may have from another source.

Mettle:Beginning at 10th level, if the Brute succeeds on a Fortitude save against an effect with a partial effect on a successful save, the Brute instead suffer no effects.

Juggernaut:At 20th level, the brute is counted as being one size class larger for the purposes of encumbrance limits, unarmed strikes, and combat maneuver checks.

Ordinary Challenges:Each day that a brute does 8 or more hours of manual labor, they gain 1 bonus XP. This XP can only be used to gain levels in the brute class.

 

[Celebrim]

The Commoner - A class for those who have nothing

Commoner
The adventuring classes are characterized by their ability to cope with extraordinary crisis, and particularly ones involving violent conflict or at least the potential for violent conflict. They live life on the edge, and in the margins, and on the frontier. But in the great sheltered societies created by the different free peoples, there is often little need for such skill and little room for developing them. A person might go decades or years with facing any threat which has violence as a practical solution. Life for them is an unending battle not with mighty forces threatening the universe, but with mundane poverty, tedium, hunger, and disease. Life’s battles and challenges require not diversity of skill, but simple persistence. Even if they had the natural talent to develop skills as a wizard or warrior, they generally lack need, opportunity, or desire to do so. For these persons, the simple skills of the commoner is enough to carry them through life – often with a measure of contentment.
Adventurers: Commoners are almost never adventurers. Indeed, the class represents almost the antithesis of the adventuring life. The commoner endures by acceptance, persistence, and by not getting involved. Powers and threats come and go, and great contests are fought. The commoner just endures in hopes of better times, content to let others fight their battles whenever possible. Nonetheless, though they lack any particular aptitude for it, a commoner will fight for what they love and believe in if cornered. If this becomes a reoccurring need, the commoner adapts by developing the skills needed for such contests, and it is oft discovered that many are diamonds in the rough.
Background: Commoners can be of almost any background provided that background is not a life of daring and adventure, but of daily routine.
Life does not deal to everyone an equal hand. At least half of any society must be below average, and each society has in it an unfortunate few that are below average in everything. The aged, the very young, the infirmed, the disabled, the fool, the drunkard, and sundry unfortunate wretches may have no option to gain a measure of security but the common one.
Likewise, there are many person who lack opportunity to make the investment in time and cost necessary to make something more of themselves. Not everyone is taken as an apprentice. Not everyone can afford tutors and books. Not everyone receives schooling and advanced and diverse education, nor does everyone undergo the hardships that make a necessity of learning in a school of hard knocks with survival as a teacher. However a person comes by their great skills, some never have the chance. Indeed, in a great many societies this situation is often considered desirable. The cogs that make up the bottom rung of society need not have broad skills to perform their essential task, and are perhaps more content with their lot if they do not. Maybe even more importantly, if these persons lack great skill, then they are easier to control and exploit. It’s desirable to many in secure and comfortable stations of life if the greater mass of peasants, serfs, slaves, and laborers are commoners. At the very least, these people are less of a threat if they do revolt.
In similar manner, gender segregated societies offer little roles for women generally relegate to most women the life of a commoner regardless of their station in life. The commoner class is not a rank. The pampered idle aristocrat needing to know not even how to dress themselves, is perhaps more likely than any other to be of the commoner class.
Races: Members of all races can be commoners. Indeed, the more successful the race becomes, and the more powerful and stable their institutions become, the less need there becomes for anyone to be other than commoners. As the human race is presently in ascendance, commoners are perhaps most common among humans living in their great and populace nations. Elves living solitary lives deep in sheltered woods are often commoners, as are dwarves living in their great delves and fortresses. But fey races on the other hand are more likely to advance as feybloods, even when they live comparatively sheltered lives. Idreth likewise are more likely to be akashics if they have the mental strength for the path, and few among that scholarly cloistered race lack opportunity for education. The orine and the goblin races live lives of comparative violence and hardship in harsh and wild lands, and so the lower rungs of their society contain a greater proportion of warriors. More feral races are seldom commoners.
Other Classes: The average commoner associates most closely with other commoners. The lives of the adventuring classes to them seem strange and alien, if not even frightening and wrong. The try not to meddle in the otherworldly affairs of these classes, and hope likewise that they are not interfered with. Of the adventuring classes, the one they feel most comfortable with and interact with most often is that of the Explorer, for members of many ordinary professions like teamster, mariner, prospector, and lumberjack are often also members of that class. Likewise, the Hunter, if he is a fur trapper or hunter of game, is a familiar personage with concerns not too far from their own. The commoner likewise sees the need of Clerics or Shamans, to intercede with and propitiate greater and alien powers on their behalf. But the vast majority of interactions by the commoner are with their own, or else with other non-adventuring classes. Should they have ambition, the average commoner most admires, envies, and wishes to be like Experts, particularly if the Expert shows great skill in the very sorts of things that they themselves use and see as useful. Thus a community of commoners will generally choose Experts to represent and lead them, if they have their preference. For their heroes, the commoner typically chooses Paragons, which they see to be most like themselves in their basic nature, or else sometimes Rogues if they are unsatisfied with their lot and mildly rebellious against the social order.

Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d4
Requirements: None
Class Skills: The commoner’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Boating (Wis), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Rope (Dex)
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A commoner is not proficient with any weapons, shields, or armor. However, see the common tools class ability.

Table: The Commoner

Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special
1st +0 +0 +0 +0 Common Tools +1, Ordinary Challenges, Salt of the Earth, Simple Living
2nd +1 +0 +0 +0 Common Sense
3rd +1 +1 +1 +1
4th +2 +1 +1 +1
5th +2 +1 +1 +1 Common Tools +2
6th +3 +2 +2 +2
7th +3 +2 +2 +2
8th +4 +2 +2 +2
9th +4 +3 +3 +3
10th +5 +3 +3 +3 Common Tools +3
11th +5 +3 +3 +3
12th +6/+1 +4 +4 +4
13th +6/+1 +4 +4 +4
14th +7/+2 +4 +4 +4
15th +7/+2 +5 +5 +5 Common Tools +4
16th +8/+3 +5 +5 +5
17th +8/+3 +5 +5 +5
18th +9/+4 +6 +6 +6
19th +9/+4 +6 +6 +6
20th +10/+5 +6 +6 +6 Common Tools +5, Resourceful +1

Common Tools: At 1st level, 5th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, the commoner may gain proficiency in one weapon chosen from the following list: baton, club, dagger, net, sickle, quarterstaff, unarmed strike, or whip. Alternately, the commoner may select a common item or tool in which no weapon proficiency can be gained that can be used as an improvised weapon such as a hoe, frying pan, rolling pin, shovel, pitchfork, barstool, etc. When using that item as an improvised weapon, they suffer only a -2 penalty to hit for being non-proficient rather than the usual -4 penalty.

Common Sense: Beginning at 2nd level, the commoner can add ½ his class level to any knowledge check with a DC of 15 or less. However, if even with this bonus the commoner fails the knowledge check by 5 or more, the commoner is convinced of the truth of some completely false but often plausible sounding tall tale, local legend, misremembered or misunderstood fact.

Simple Living: So long as the commoner only has levels in the commoner class, they gain a +2 bonus on fortitude saves to resist disease and a +2 bonus on endurance checks.

Resourceful: At 20th level, a commoner gains a separate destiny point pool, as the Paragon class ability of the same name. This pool contains a single destiny point, unless the character has the same class ability from another source, in which case the size of pool of destiny points increases by 1.

Ordinary Challenges: Each day that a commoner does 8 or more hours of manual labor, they gain 1 bonus XP. This XP can only be used to gain levels in the commoner class.

Salt of the Earth: The commoner is adaptable. Their lack of skill is usually the result of missed opportunity as much as lack of aptitude. If the commoner has the natural talent, once they receive opportunity, they are able to quickly make up for lost time. Commoners can replace levels in commoner with levels in another class by spending XP that they would otherwise use to gain levels. Commoners may not spend XP if in doing so, if they would have insufficient XP to attain their current class level. The cost of replacing a level in commoner with different class is ½ the XP required to gain an additional level neglecting all levels the character has in commoner. For example, a 1st level commoner could become a 1st level member of a different class at the cost of 500 XP. The same cost applies to a 3rd level commoner replacing one level in commoner for a different class. However, a 2nd level commoner and 2nd level rogue, needs to spend ½ the cost of advancing to 3rd level (1500 XP) to replace one of his levels in commoner with a level in another class (such as a 3rd level of rogue).
When a commoner class level is replaced with a level in another class, the character immediately gains all the class benefits of being of that level in the new class while losing any benefits associated with the lost level of commoner. The characters existing skill point allocation does not change, but the character gains new skills points to invest equal to the difference in skill points between obtaining a level in commoner and a level in the new class. Likewise, the character does not reroll already rolled HD associated with gaining levels, but gains additional hit points according to the size of the HD of the new class: 0 additional hit points if the new class HD is d4, +1 if the new class HD is d6, +2 if d8, +3 if d10, and +4 if d12. If the first level taken by the character was commoner, when a character replaces his last remaining level in commoner with a different class, the additional skill points gained are multiplied by 4 and the additional hit points gained are doubled.

 

[Celebrim]

The Expert - When you want to be good at everything but combat

Expert
For the vast majority of persons, the vast majority of the time, they are not involved in violent struggles. Instead, they are normally contending in the no less serious life and death struggles of daily living. The struggle to remain accepted in their social group. For most to maintain close and amicable relations which can help them in times of emergency, than it is to swing a sword or sling spells. The craftsman struggles with the daily affairs of his trade so that he may be productive and remain useful to others, and thereby profit from his work. The farmer struggles to tend and harvest his crops, so that his family will not starve in the winter. For most people, the struggle of daily existence is to be useful and skillful, and not lethal and mighty. For every trade that diligently practices the arts of combatant, there are a host of others with less martial concerns. These are the experts.
Adventurers: Experts are rarely adventurers save by absolute necessity. They consider adventuring the work of other professions devoted to the study of such arts are useful in violent contests, and while they do not necessarily scorn such professions they do not consider them their own calling. Despite this, many an expert have found themselves thrust into dangerous situations, and been forced to resourcefully apply their considerable skills to the problem of survival.
Background:Experts come from all sorts of backgrounds, but share in common that they have undergone extensive training for some purpose – usually a professional one. Many undergo lengthy apprenticeships under the tutelage of other experts, often a parent or other relative. Others – often of an aristocratic class - are tutored from a young age in all the skills essential for their station. A few attend special academies that promote the spread of skills and knowledge. Great empires generally have need of a great many expert scribes and clerks to manage their affairs and keep their accounts and so may fund universities to spread such skills.
Races: Experts are found within every race, but are most associated with the urban areas of highly civilized races. In such situations, persons can devote their time to specialized arts while secure behind the defenses and standing armies of their people. Any race that prizes craftsmanship and artistry in some degree will have in its ranks a certain number of experts, and the more highly it is prized the more common experts tend to be. Indeed, it’s probable that expert is the most commonly observed class among elves and dwarves, and is also quite common among the more prosperous human nations.
Other Classes: An expert views everyone through the lens of their skill and professionalism. Those that excel in their chosen profession earn a modicum of respect, while those that demonstrate poorly honed skills and a lack of respect for their craft will be almost inevitably looked down upon. If not of the noble class themselves, the expert still sees themselves as being a cut above the common man and deserving of the respect of the great and powerful.

Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8
Requirement: At least 1 ability score other than Constitution that is 10 or higher.
Class Skills: All experts pick 10 class skills as described under the Expert Knowledge class ability.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (8 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 8 + Int modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: An expert is not proficient with weapons, shields, or armor. However, see the class ability ‘Tools of the Trade’.

Table: The Expert

Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special
1st +0 +0 +0 +0 Expert Knowledge, Bonus Feat, Ordinary Challenges, Practiced +2, Tools of the Trade +1
2nd +1 +0 +0 +0 Bonus Feat, Practiced +3
3rd +2 +1 +1 +1
4th +3 +1 +1 +1 Bonus Feat, Tools of the Trade +2
5th +3 +1 +1 +1 Bonus Feat
6th +4 +2 +2 +2 Improved Tools of the Trade
7th +5 +2 +2 +2 Bonus Feat
8th +6/+1 +2 +2 +2 Bonus Feat, Practiced +4, Tools of the Trade +3
9th +6/+1 +3 +3 +3 Superior Tools of the Trade
10th +7/+2 +3 +3 +3 Bonus Feat
11th +8/+3 +3 +3 +3 Bonus Feat
12th +9/+4 +4 +4 +4 Well Practiced, Tools of the Trade +4
13th +9/+4 +4 +4 +4 Bonus Feat
14th +10/+5 +4 +4 +4 Bonus Feat, Practiced +5
15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +5 +5
16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +5 Bonus Feat, Tools of the Trade +5
17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +5 Bonus Feat
18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +6 +6
19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +6 +6 Bonus Feat
20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +6 +6 Bonus Feat, Practiced +6, Tools of the Trade +6

Bonus Feat: Experts gain a bonus feat on every level not divisible by three. (1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 20th). This feat can be chosen from any of the feats on the following list provided the expert meets the prerequisites: Academy Trained, Acclimated, Alertness, Ambidexterity, Always Vigilant, Catfall, Clean Fall, Clever Trickster, Combat Medic, Cosmopolitan, Craftsman, Crowd Tactics, Dabbler, Danger Sense, Dash, Deft Hands, Educated, Expert Gambler, Expert Ventriloquist, Imposing, Jack of All Trades, Lip Reader, Militia, Master of Anatomy, Master Detective, Master Diver, Master of Disguise, Master Juggler, Master of Stealth, Master Orator, Mastermind, Master Physician, Master Porter, Militia, Multicultural, Natural Linguist, Natural Scholar, Quick Feet, Pious, Poetry in Motion, Roofwalker, Run, Sage, Sea Legs, Second Career, Sentinel, Shrewd Mind, Simple Weapon Proficiency, Sixth Sense, Slippery Customer, Skill Aptitude, Skill Focus, Skill Mastery, Swift Tracker, Tall in the Saddle, Taunt, Temple Educated, Track, Trap Finder, Uncanny Intuition, Unnerving, Valuable Advisor, Wild Rider

Expert Knowledge: A 1st level expert must choose an area of focus. This area of focus must be based on one ability score of 10 or higher. Once an area of focus is chosen, the expert chooses any 10 skills to be class skills thereafter. At least four of these skills must be based on the ability score that is the expert’s area of focus.

This area of focus also influences other expert class abilities.

Some examples of typical experts:

Acrobat (Dexterity): Climb, Balance, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Perform, Run, Sleight of Hand, Tumble
Advisor (Intelligence): Appraise, Astronomy, Diplomacy, Leadership, Knowledge (Computation and Ledgers), Knowledge (History and Geography), Knowledge (Law), Knowledge (Religion and Philosophy), Sense Motive, Tactics
Alchemist (Intelligence): Alchemy, Appraise, Craft (Embalming), Craft (Glassblowing), Diplomacy, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Computation and Ledgers), Knowledge (Nature), Sense Motive, Survival
Clerk (Intelligence): Astronomy, Concentration, Craft (Calligraphy), Craft (Domestic), Decipher Script, Knowledge (Customs and Heraldry), Knowledge (Computation and Ledgers), Move Silently, Search, Speak Language
Con-Artist (Charisma): Appraise, Diplomacy, Bluff, Disguise, Escape Artist, Hide, Intimidate, Move Silently, Run, Sense Motive
Craftsman (Intelligence): Appraise, Craft (x7), Sense Motive, Use Rope
Diplomat (Charisma): Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Knowledge (Arts and Literature), Knowledge (Customs and Heraldry), Knowledge (History and Geography), Knowledge (Law), Perform, Sense Motive, Speak Language
Engineer (Intelligence): Appraise, Craft (Carpentry), Craft (Masonry), Craft (x2), Knowledge (Computation and Ledgers), Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering), Knowledge (Geology and Mining), Navigation, Use Rope
Entertainer (Charisma): Craft (Domestic), Craft (Groom), Diplomacy, Bluff, Disguise, Knowledge (Arts & Literature), Knowledge (Customs and Heraldry), Perform, Tumble, Ride
Farmer (Intelligence):Craft (Carpentry), Craft (Farming), Craft (Wood Cutting), Handle Animal, Knowledge (Nature), Porter, Sense Motive, Spot, Survival, Use Rope
Healer (Wisdom): Alchemy, Craft (Groom), Craft (Seamstress), Concentration, Diplomacy, Dreaming, Healing, Hypnosis, Sense Motive, Use Magic Device
Lawyer (Charisma):Craft (Calligraphy), Craft (Writing), Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Knowledge (Customs and Heraldry), Knowledge (Law), Perform, Sense Motive, Speak Language
Locksmith (Intelligence): Appraise, Craft (Blacksmith), Craft (Brownsmith), Craft (Machinist), Craft (Whitesmith), Disable Device, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering), Open Lock, Search, Sense Motive
Mason (Intelligence): Appraise, Balance, Craft (Masonry), Craft (Stone Cutting), Handle Animal, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering), Navigation, Porter, Sense Motive, Use Rope
Merchant (Intelligence): Appraise, Bluff, Diplomacy, Knowledge (Computation and Ledgers), Knowledge (Customs and Heraldry), Knowledge (History and Geography), Knowledge (Law), Search, Sense Motive, Speak Language
Messenger (Intelligence):Craft (Calligraphy), Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Navigation, Knowledge (Customs and Heraldry), Knowledge (History and Geography), Ride, Run, Speak Language, Survival
Mystic (Intelligence): Astronomy, Concentration, Dreaming, Knowledge (Arcane), Knowledge (Religion & Philosophy), Knowledge (Planes), Perform, Planeswalking, Spellcraft, Use Magic Device
Navigator (Intelligence): Astronomy, Balance, Boating, Craft (Cartographer), Navigation, Knowledge (Nature), Knowledge (History and Geography), Survival, Swim, Use Rope
Noble (Charisma): Bluff, Diplomacy, Knowledge (Arts and Literature), Knowledge (Customs and Heraldry), Knowledge (Law), Leadership, Perform, Sense Motive, Tactics, Use Magic Device
Scribe (Intelligence): Alchemy, Craft (Calligraphy), Craft (Drawing), Craft (Writing), Decipher Script, Knowledge (Arts and Literature), Knowledge (Customs and Heraldry), Knowledge (History and Geography), Search, Speak Language
Sentinel (Wisdom): Diplomacy, Leadership, Listen, Porter, Run, Search, Sense Motive, Spot, Survival, Use Rope
Servant (Intelligence): Appraise, Diplomacy, Craft (Domestic), Craft (Groom), Handle Animal, Knowledge (Customs and Heraldry), Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive
Translator (Intelligence): Craft (Calligraphy), Diplomacy, Knowledge (Arts and Literature), Knowledge (Customs and Heraldry), Knowledge (History and Geography), Listen, Perform, Speak Language, Spellcraft

Ordinary Challenges: Each day that an expert spends at least 8 hours practicing their trade, they gain 1 bonus XP. This XP can only be used to gain levels in the expert class.

Practiced: Experts gain a bonus on some saving throws depending on their area of focus. If the expert chooses strength or dexterity focus as part of their expert knowledge class ability, they gain this bonus on Reflex saves. If the expert chooses any other focus, they gain this bonus on Will saves. At 1st level, this bonus is +2. It increases to +3 at 2nd level, and then by 1 every six levels thereafter (+4 at 8th, +5 at 14th, +6 at 20th).

Tools of the Trade: At first level, an expert may select a common item or tool closely associated with his trade such as a hoe, frying pan, rolling pin, shovel, pitchfork, or barstool in which no weapon proficiency can be gained and which can be used as an improvised weapon. When using that item as an improvised weapon, they suffer only a -2 penalty to hit for being non-proficient rather than the usual -4 penalty. For each three class levels thereafter, they may select another such item. If the profession makes use of an item which can be readily used as a weapon and in which a proficiency may normally be gained, then the expert may instead choose to gain proficiency in that weapon. For example, stone cutters may gain proficiency in mattocks, butchers in knives or daggers, woodsmen in hand axes, and so forth.

Improved Tools of the Trade:Beginning at 6th level, whenever an expert wields one of his tools of the trade, he receives a +1 bonus to hit.

Superior Tools of the Trade:Beginning at 9th level, whenever an expert wields a tool of the trade that does lethal damage, he receives a +2 bonus to damage.

Well Practiced: If the expert has a bonus of Reflex saves from their Practiced class ability, then they gain Evasion as a class ability (as the Rogue class skill of the same name). If not, then versus any spell which offers as a saving throw type, ‘Will Partial’, if the Experts succeeds in his saving throw, he suffers no effect.

 

[Celebrim]

The Warrior - The Class for Part Time Combatants

Warrior
In most societies, a person fights because it is their profession - whether it is soldier, guard, or gladiator. As a profession, such persons pursue their craft and the skills of their trade full-time and intensely. Indeed, professionals of these sorts often pursue their craft with a special intensity, as those that fail to hone their skills sufficiently end up dead. In some societies, the profession of soldier is elevated to a very high degree, so that almost every member of the society holds that profession and is expected to participate in mortal combat on a daily basis. In other more secure or more peaceful societies, making ones living by might of arms is rare, and reserved only for an elite few. But there is a point somewhere between these two, on the fringes of secure societies or in the lower ranks of martial societies, where a person may live or desire to live an ordinary life, and yet is occasionally challenged by a life and death struggle. Such persons rarely have any formal training, and no experience except of the most practical sort, but crude skills in combat they have and need anyway. This group belongs to the class of warriors.
Adventurers: Many an adventurer began his career as a simple warrior, though if such path is followed as a career, it is rare for them to remain thus. For the warrior is the class of those who have need to fight, but not regularly.
Background: Warriors are found wherever survival requires an occasional life and death struggle with something that is trying to kill you. Warriors are generally not professional soldiers, but rather people who are occasionally called on to act as soldiers and part-time fighters – usually in self-defense or in defense of their homes and close kin. The hallmark of the warrior is they are untrained combatants, often self-taught and by necessity only. The fight with skill, but often without great refinement or subtly of technique, and without formal understanding of tactics or the marshaling of armies. When not bearing or wielding arms by necessity, they generally live lives indistinguishable from ordinary commoners. They are most commonly associated with the people of the frontier – the tough rural people of hill and mountain who often form the backbone of any society’s military tradition. They are the shepherds and herdsman, woodcutters and farmers eking out an often solitary hard scrabble existence deep in the woods, or the moors, or the arid steppes were few dare go.
Races: Warriors can be found in all races. Indeed, perhaps no other class is so ubiquitous, with every race in every circumstance finding some need for a warrior. Among the goblins and the orine, the majority of males and indeed many of the females are warriors rather than commoners. Wild elves of both genders are commonly warriors, and so are many high elves and hill dwarfs. Among the savage races, many lesser servitors, and even some of the giants, warrior is by far the most common class.
Other Classes: Warriors for the most part live lives identical to commoners, and prefer the same associations. However, where commoners who desire more from their lives are most likely to aspire to be Experts, the Warrior that desires to pursue fighting as a profession or who is seeking to deepen their own martial skill is likely to admire and associate with Fighters.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8
Requirement: Strength 9, Dexterity 9, or Constitution 9
Class Skills: The warrior's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Porter (Str), Ride (Dex), Run (Str), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str)
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The warrior is proficient in the use of all simple and martial weapons, medium and light armor, and shields.

Table: The Warrior
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	Raw Material
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1
6th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+2
7th	+7/+2	+5	+2	+2
8th	+8/+3	+6	+2	+2
9th	+9/+4	+6	+3	+3
10th	+10/+5	+7	+3	+3
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+3	+3
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+4	+4
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8 +4 +4
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9 +4 +4
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9 +5 +5
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10 +5 +5
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10 +5 +5
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11 +6 +6
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11 +6 +6
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+6

Raw Material: The warrior lacks only a bit of training to become a full-fledged fighter. The relatively shallow depth of their skill is the result of lack of opportunity. If the warrior has the requisite strength, once they receive opportunity, they are able to quickly make up for lost time. Warriors can replace levels in warrior with levels in fighter by spending XP that they would otherwise use to gain levels. Warriors may not spend XP if in doing so, they would have insufficient XP to attain their current class level. The cost of replacing a level in warrior with fighter is ½ the XP required to gain an additional level neglecting all levels the character has in Warrior. For example, a 1st level Warrior could become a 1st level fighter at the cost of 500 XP. The same cost applies to a 3rd level Warrior replacing one level in warrior with a level of fighter. However, a multi-classed 2nd level Warrior and 2nd level fighter, needs to spend ½ the cost of advancing to 3rd level (1500 XP) to replace one of his levels in Warrior with a 3rd level of fighter.
When a Warrior class level is replaced with a level in fighter, the character immediately gains all the class benefits of being of that level while losing any benefits associated with the lost level of warrior. The characters existing skill point allocation does not change, but the character gains 2 new skill points to invest in fighter class skills. Likewise, the character does not reroll already rolled HD associated with gaining levels, but gains 1 additional hit point. If the 1st level taken by the character was Warrior, when a character replaces his last remaining level in warrior with a level of fighter, the additional skill points gained are multiplied by 4 and the additional hit points gained are doubled.

 

[Celebrim]

The Scholar - A class for the learned

Scholar
The universe, indeed the multiverse, is vast and complex beyond all mortal understanding. And yet, sound knowledge is still the most powerful tool a person can be equipped with. The scholar specializes in deeply contemplating one narrow facet of the universe in an attempt to come to know and understand that one thing, becoming a living repository of knowledge which they can then pass on to others who may find they have need understand their obscure lore.
Adventurers: Scholars are rarely adventurers, as they prefer to live secure well-provided for lives where they can focus all their waking hours on their oft expensive studies. Still, sometimes the hunger for knowledge is great enough however to drive scholars out into the larger world, either on a ‘sabbatical’ to some remote location, or to perform actual field work. To the extent that the scholar is actual able to assess the danger of such work, these situations are often more envisioned scholars hiring or accompanying guides and guards with more survival oriented skills, but quite often find the scholar having to deploy their theoretical and academic skills in a more practical life-and-death sort of manner. Some few scholars actually go on to find they are comparatively good at this and even enjoy it, or at least that the risks are worth the rewards. Knowledge, after all, is invaluable.
Background: Much like with experts, Scholars are the products of rigorous educational systems. But unlike scholars, these educational systems are not necessarily intended to or undertaken with the idea that they will produce practical professional results. Rather, the scholar pursues education for its own sake, with the goal of producing more education – either for himself or others. Stability and wealth breed scholars, and most are to be found near centers of power, operating under the patronage of some powerful lord capable of indulging their whims and catering to their oft expensive needs in return for acting as a reference when the lord needs questions answered. However, some scholars prefer a more solitary lifestyle free from obligation, and live as simple hermits in remote places where they will not readily be troubled with questions. In either case, newly minted scholars are the products of older scholars, and young scholars will have had to have sought the tutoring and mentorship of the experts in their field wherever they are found.
Races: All races capable of abstract thought produce some scholars, though those races which are more prone to contemplation and have higher rates of literacy produce greater percentages of them. Idreth especially are suited to the scholarly life, but elves, dwarfs, and humans all produce their fair share. Sidhe and other fey scholars are rare, but often legendary when they occur, having often had millennia to spend amassing knowledge. Goblins and orine produce comparatively few scholars, as these races prefer more active and practical approaches to problem solving.
Other Classes: Scholars normally keep mostly to themselves. Interaction with non-scholars is often seen as an unwanted interruption in their work, often by persons who don’t or can’t appreciate the subtleties or importance of what they are doing. Wizards however, if they are of an intellectual bent, are often treated as potential colleagues, and likewise Bards because of their accumulated lore, are seen as like-minded brethren. Clerics of deities who encourage scholarly pursuits and study are likewise seen as comrades. Experts are useful and highly in so far as they are capable of producing objects which further the scholar’s studies, and fellowship can be found if they are also interested in much the same fields of knowledge as the scholar. A scholar doing field work will find they have a great need of Explorers, and often sturdy Fighters to protect the expedition from harm. A scholar however is unlikely to feel any kinship with a Rogue, unless that Rogue presents and conducts themselves as an expert and a professional. And fanatics and other classes that tend toward incuriosity and favor swift action over thought are likely to seem strange and even distasteful to a scholar. Sorcerers are more likely to find many scholars see them primarily as objects of study and curiosity rather than as persons.

Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d4
Requirement:Int 12
Class Skills: Alchemy (Int), Appraise (Int), Astronomy (Int), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (Int), Search (Int), Speak Language (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Use Magical Device (Chr)
Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A scholar is not proficient with weapons, shields, or armor.

Table: The Scholar

Level

Base Attack Bonus

Fort Save

Ref Save

Will Save

Special

Spells

1

2

3

4

5

6

1st

+0

+0

+0

+2

Educated, Scholarly Knowledge, Minor Thesis x1, Ordinary Challenges

2nd

+1

+0

+0

+3

Bonus Feat

3rd

+1

+1

+1

+3

Major Thesis x1

4th

+2

+1

+1

+4

Dilettante

0

5th

+2

+1

+1

+4

Bonus Feat, Minor Thesis x2

1

6th

+3

+2

+2

+5

1

0

7th

+3

+2

+2

+5

1

1

8th

+4

+2

+2

+6

Bonus Feat

1

1

0

9th

+4

+3

+3

+6

1

1

1

10th

+5

+3

+3

+7

Minor Thesis x3

1

1

1

0

11th

+5

+3

+3

+7

Bonus Feat

1

1

1

1

12th

+6/+1

+4

+4

+8

1

1

1

1

0

13th

+6/+1

+4

+4

+8

Major Thesis x2

1

1

1

1

1

14th

+7/+2

+4

+4

+9

Bonus Feat

1

1

1

1

1

0

15th

+7/+2

+5

+5

+9

Minor Thesis x4

1

1

1

1

1

1

16th

+8/+3

+5

+5

+10

2

1

1

1

1

1

17th

+8/+3

+5

+5

+10

Bonus Feat

2

2

1

1

1

1

18th

+9/+4

+6

+6

+11

2

2

2

1

1

1

19th

+9/+4

+6

+6

+11

2

2

2

2

1

1

20th

+10/+5

+6

+6

+12

Bonus Feat, Minor Thesis x5

2

2

2

2

2

1

[/TD] [/TD][/TD] [TD]
[/TD]

Educated: At 1st level, a Scholar receives Educated as a bonus feat. If the character already has the Educated feat, any feat from the Expert bonus feat list may be selected provided the character meets the prerequisites.

Minor Thesis: At 1st level, a Scholar completes a program of study in one specific area of knowledge that is a subdomain of a particular knowledge skill. When making Knowledge skill checks that relate to this specific area of knowledge, the Scholar gains a +3 insight bonus and may reroll failed checks and take the better result. Also, because of the Scholar’s broad familiarity with the literature, when researching an answer related to this topic, the Scholar requires only half the normal required time.

The scholar gains an additional minor thesis at 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter (10th, 15th, 20th).

Ordinary Challenges: For each full day that the scholar spends in contemplation and experimentation, the scholar gains 1 bonus XP. This XP can only be used to gain additional levels in Scholar.

Scholarly Knowledge: A scholar gains bonus skill points equal to his intelligence bonus each time a level in scholar is taken. If Scholar is taken at 1st level, he gains bonus skill points equal to four times his intelligence bonus. These skill points may be only used to gain ranks in Knowledge.

Bonus Feat: At 2nd level and every 3rd level thereafter (5th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, 20th), a scholar may select any feat from the Expert bonus feat list provided they have the prerequisites.

Major Thesis: At 3rd level, the Scholar completes a program of study in one very narrow area of knowledge that is a yet more focused subdomain of an existing minor thesis. When making Knowledge skill checks that relate to the major thesis, the Scholar gains a +6 insight bonus and may reroll failed checks and take the better result. Also, because of the Scholar’s broad familiarity with the literature, when researching an answer related to this topic, the Scholar requires only one third the normal required time,

The scholar adds a second major thesis at 13th level.

Dilettante: At 4th level, the Scholar gains some limited knowledge of spells acquired in passing during the course of his studies. The scholar must at this time choose one of two courses:

Occultist: The scholar learns arcane spellcasting, and may prepare spells like a Wizard, and may use and record spells in spellbooks. But other than Universal spells, all memorized spells must come from a single school of magic.
Theurgist: The scholar learns the secrets of divine spellcasting, and may cast spells like a Shaman, but all spells must come from one of two domain spell lists that the scholar chooses at this time.

 

[Celebrim]

Notes on the classes

That's it: five classes. I don't foresee any need for anymore, as the above for me fully covers the spectrum of mundane human endeavor, and I feel pretty comfortable putting any NPC I imagine in one of the above classes. Anyone that doesn't fit in the above, is an NPC with a PC class. Originally, I had a sixth NPC class, the Explorer, but that one was so capable that I just put it with PC classes. (For those that are interested, there is a separate thread on that class around here.)

My main goals should be observable from the design, but to be explicit, I'm addressing the following issues from a simulation perspective:

a) If NPC's are often more experienced than PC's, then why are PC's important even from 1st level? Specifically, is it the case that the PC's are just special, and most NPC's can't gain levels or take PC's classes as was assumed in 1e AD&D?
b) How do NPC's cope with problems in the absence of PC's?
c) Is it really necessary to have extraordinary combat ability in order to have extraordinary ability?
d) If NPC's could gain levels in PC classes, why don't they do so?
e) If NPC's pursue NPC classes as a matter of choice, why do they do so?

Each of the NPC classes is designed to be a rational choice for the characters that take the class, offering to that character equal or even greater ability to cope with daily mundane challenges than PC classes - particularly for someone without a PC's naturally broad or deep potential owed from an elite set of ability scores. If you want to make a living and not risk your life daily, the NPC classes are very rational career choices. In particular, most have called out a special ability to earn XP without doing things that are overtly dangerous. Presumably this is also true of PC classes, after all not every hedge wizard is gaining experience by dragon slaying, but whatever training that a PC class can take to up their XP slowly is probably more expensive and harder to come by. The NPC classes explicitly get better at what they do simply by doing ordinary labor.

I run a fairly low level gritty campaign world. An NPC with a PC class who is 10th level is often the highest level NPC with a PC class in a whole nation. In general, if you took typical Forgotten Realms demographics and divided every thing by two, you'd be much closer to where my campaign typically runs. But because the NPC classes below are in my opinion no more than half as effective as a PC class at being heroes, I don't feel bad sprinkling the world with 6th level, 9th, level or even higher commoners, experts, and scholars. A 9th level commoner, representing some aged matron who has lived a long and productive but ordinary life, probably doesn't have more than a CR of 1 between the inherent weakness of the class and physical ability scores of 5-7. But they can still be as mechanically well rounded and respectable characters as they are intended to be by color. A 10th level scholar with modest ability scores (something like an start array of 16 11 10 8 8 7) and no magic items of note or power, and no feats geared to combat, is probably at best no more effective delving into dangerous situations than a 2nd or 3rd level PC, and certainly is no threat to any PC party. Yet this same character in his knowledge vastly exceeds what most PC's will know even at fairly high level. So again, the color of being respectable and worthy of esteem doesn't clash with the mechanical implementation, and does so without creating problems with regard to why PC's have spotlight and narrative importance.

And further, one of the things this avoids is a problem I see so much in many campaign worlds which is an ability score of 10-11 isn't actually average, because in practice no character seems to have any ability score below 10.

For many NPC's, I apply the Civilized trait and the Noncombatant disadvantage, which ramps down the combat ability even further while generating exceptionally skillful characters at even very low level with very low ability scores. Thus, there is no need at all to load down NPCs with a bunch of combat abilities in order to make them very effective at what they do.

Brute: This began as an Expert variant, but it was easier to write up the mechanics by spinning it off as its own class. The Brute is an extraordinarily useful NPC class for urban adventuring at low levels, and I've used this class a lot to create foils and mooks for the PCs. The ability to create high skill but low intelligence characters without fudging it is just awesome. Brute 1/Rogue 1 makes a great mugger or tough for a thieves guild. A Brute 3 makes a great bar room brawler or pit fighter. Another great use I see for the class is as a henchmen for a smaller PC party, as the class has Nodwick like ability to tote stuff (indeed Nodwick could be a 20th level Brute and it would make perfect sense). The combat ability of the Brute is not that bad, about equivalent to a fighter of half its class level, and they are reasonably durable. I can easily see the Brute in an party henchmen role where the henchmen is beloved and valued without drawing spotlight from the PCs.

Commoner: The commoner looks a lot like the standard commoner from the RAW. But it addresses several major issues with the class. First, if you are a common, the Salt of the Earth ability ensures that you aren't permanently gimped by having that background. A commoner can always, if they get the opportunity, be retrained into something else. This addresses for me a major narrative issue that D&D has had for a long time. A very famous example would be the character Tika from the Dragonlance series, who has to portrayed as a barmaid who somehow became a midlevel fighter before becoming an adventurer to fit into the story. Making her a midlevel commoner that transitions into midlevel fighter as she is trained and becomes more experienced makes a lot more sense. The other issue addressed by the class is why anyone would ever become a commoner, as the 3.X RAW commoner has the terrible problem of not even being very good at facing the challenges of a common life. The class keeps the bad saving throws, but with the Simple Living class ability is not facing disease without at least ordinary advantages. You could always make reasonably effective professionals from commoners, but now it makes sense why the person involved never sought more training if they had the wherewithal to do so. While I've never had a 20th level commoner in my campaign, the comparatively minor capstone ability lets me imagine one in the role of legendary folk hero.

Expert: Of all the 3.X NPC classes, I felt Expert was the best designed and most useful. One thing I immediately wanted to do with the class when I saw it was tweak it towards being a viable dip class or even core class for a PC. In particular, I thought it would be cool to elevate the class up to the level you could play it as a Sherlock Holmes inspired PC. I've never quite succeeded at that, and I don't think you can quite get to where a pure skill monkey class is viable as a PC class in most campaigns, even with my upgrades to the usefulness of D20 skills, but the class in its current form is still pretty darn capable and certainly potentially more capable at everything outside of combat than anything but a high level spell caster. And certainly, experts of 1st to 4th level are hyper-competent at ordinary tasks without stepping on the PC's role as protagonists. They can match fairly high level characters in social skills, avoiding the problem of PC's trying to con merchants that can potentially lead to degenerate time wasting play if you have a large group. (If you have a small group, and they signal they want to play criminals, that's a different matter.) They also work really well in the role of expert hirelings without needing to be especially high level, while a mid to high level expert can be truly extraordinary craftsmen. If you want to throw in a 13th level expert as an acrobat, you have a character with amazing almost mindblowing movement skills, that doesn't necessarily have the combat skills to beat down a PC. This is great for when you want NPC's more as foils than straight up antagonists. You get a lot of variety in potential NPCs and I find it nicely provokes creativity to think about what you could build with this class. I also tend to build a lot of the important NPCs of a realm as mixed PC class experts. I like having NPCs be competent rather than helpless, but still needing the PCs. So you can have that clr6/exp6 leader of the church in an non-adventuring role, or that ftr6/exp6 in the role of noble leader and it still makes sense that they don't do the job for the PC's because the job would be trivial for a 12th level character or that the PC's can't just run to them as soon as they figure out what the problem is and expect the NPC to take care of it.

Warrior: This is probably the NPC class I get the least use out of. The vast majority of combatant NPCs in my game are simply fighters. This had been true even before 3e came along, as I'd long before started treating the monsters as people too. Not only does that make more sense to me in terms of world building, but its simply easier to challenge PCs with fighters than warriors without recourse to loading the NPC down with treasure or above average stat arrays. In general, keeping humanoids challenging is a much bigger problem than making them too challenging, especially if you enforce low level demographics on NPCs generally. However, I can still see some limited usage for the class and kept it in for those rare occasions I want to use it. Probably the main reason I kept it in is so that 'Hillbillies', 'Mountainfolk', 'Rednecks' or their cultural equivalents, can legitimately pound for pound and person for person kick the butts of 'cityfolk'. If that tells you something about my own culture background, give yourself a pat on the back for your perceptiveness. Like the commoner, the only real adjustment to the class was to make sure if you had the background of a warrior, you weren't permanently gimped by that. And note, the class is not straight up better than a commoner if you are living the commoner lifestyle. The only reason to take it is if you do have to fight something off once a year or so.

Scholar: Like the Brute, this started out as an Expert archetype, but it was just easier to spin it off as its own class. The primary impetus behind this class was to largely replicate the Sage NPC expert hireling in 1e. The Sage for me had long been the most interesting of the expert hirelings and the one that saw the most screen time in play. Like the other NPC classes, even a 2nd level Scholar is a mighty expert in his field, but lacks the ability to easily step into the role of traditional hero. One area I haven't gotten around to describing well is just what a subfield of knowledge looks like. It's not an issue because as an NPC class I just fiat decide that when it comes up, but eventually I'd like to have a well integrated set of book, library, research, and field of knowledge rules.

Dropped from the list of NPC classes are Adepts and Aristocrats. There is nothing particularly wrong with those NPC classes, I just literally never need them or use them. Adept like Warrior is a pure backwards compatibility class meant to recreate the witch doctor concept from the 1e MM/DMG. I'm perfectly happy however to use PC classed spellcasters in this role, and indeed had long before 3e been doing so. It's generally much more my problem that I need a worthy antagonist for a PC than it is that I find I need to nerf humanoid antagonists to keep them from being over powering. And anything I could do with an Aristocrat NPC class, I can do using other chargen resources, either with strait up expert, or multiclassing expert with whatever class or role is associated with the region's aristocracy, or by using straight up fighter and chargen options that add skills useful for a noble leader. As I said before, if your fighter class can't do a noble born knight, something is wrong with your fighter class. A fighter need not and should not necessarily imply stupid thug.