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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 5439104" data-attributes="member: 4937">The Explorer class has its origins in the Mariner class from Dragon #107.  The Mariner class was a somewhat narrow class which in many ways has the same flaws as a modern PrC.  It wasn't truly worthy of a PC class, but back before non-weapon proficiencies, skill systems, and feats, D&D didn't really have a way to generate a profession without creating a completely new class.  However, the Mariner did, by virtue of having some useful skills that PC classes could get access to in no other way, like many other Dragon published classes of the time lend itself to being a 'henchmen class'.  You might not want to be one, but you were happy to have one as a retainer.The Mariner was therefore incorporated into my DM worldview through exposure to another DM's ocean going campaign, and thereafter when I created pirates, guides, sailors, and the like I imagined them not as fighters but as mariners.  When 3e rolled around, and I started to convert the way I viewed NPCs over to the new system, I found that the peg occupied by Mariner had no correponding niche in the new system.  They were somewhat like experts, but they had the full BAB progression of fighters.  However, there just wasn't a skillful full BAB progession base class, either NPC or PC.  The closest you could get to that was Ranger, but clearly every pirate out there wasn't a Ranger with all the flavor baggage that entailed.  So, I created the 'Explorer' class to be an NPC class that would fill the niche.Gradually, as NPC classes tend to do in order to keep up with the PC's and provide a real challenge, the Explorer began to evolve into more and more compotent of a class, and I eventually ended up realizing that the missing niche of a balanced 'adventurer' class that was skillful in and out of combat was missing from the player's options as well.   At that point, I decided to open up the Explorer as a full PC class.The resulting class is by experience quite capable under my rule set, and is an excellent dip with pretty much any other martial class.  I suspect however that 3.5 players - used to the power of stock Druids, Clerics, and Wizards and martial classes quickly forking off into 2 PrC's to keep up will be underwhelmed by the power level presented.  Likewise, I suspect that a person familiar with stock 3.X is going to think that this class steps to much on the ranger's toes, so keep in mind that I have no Rangers in the game.  If you are worried about whether this class can keep up at higher levels than 9th or so compared to for example the existing example of the Champion class I've provided, then we are closer to the same page.But, as with the rest of these threads, the central question is, "Is this a tier 4 class?".   And, if it doesn't make the tier 4 cut, what would be necessary to get there?</blockquote>

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