Recommend a couple of classes!

[jeffh]

I'm thinking of starting a new 4E game now that I'm back in Houston, and I would like to be able to offer my players about 2 additional fan-made classes beyond those in the core rulebooks. I would particularly like to have a second controller available for them; a third defender would be nice as well.

I'd like these classes to be mechanically sound and follow all the conventions established by those in the books; these boards' much-praised Druid class, for example, has powers that use a move action but have nothing to do with movement, which is something official 4E products have studiously avoided to date.

I'd prefer if they were either especially creative and interesting, or brought back traditional classes neglected in the Player's Handbook. Brand-new is good and something with a lot of history behind it is good, but falling into the vast space in between would tend to be a strike against a class.

And needless to say, they should be of a comparable power level to existing classes. (That's my other knock against the ENWorld Druid - it doesn't read like a very good striker or a very good defender, so I'm worried it might be a little bit underpowered.)

 

[jeffh]

So...

• Are my criteria too demanding?
• Are people just not that impressed with the homebrew classes that exist to date?
• Or is it too soon (rules not fully absorbed, too few homebrews complete enough to judge fairly, etc) for my question to really be a reasonable one?

I can't imagine the lack of response reflects lack of interest in the topic...

(BTW, I'm fairly impressed with Saric's bard and druid, particularly the latter's use of stances, though non-Stance Wild Shape powers need some clarification. I might allow one or both of those. But neither answers the need for a second controller...)

Oh, and an additional criterion suggested by my third bullet point above is that the class should be complete enough that I wouldn't feel like an idiot offering it to someone to play. Let's say either the Heroic tier should be done (with a full range of options comparable to the Player's Handbook classes), or there should be enough done to play up to the end of the Paragon tier (with enough options to make a 20th level character, but not necessarily as many as a PH class, i.e. a minimum of two at-will powers, one power in each other slot, and one paragon path).

 

[chronoplasm]

I would recommend the Clown class I'm working on as a martial controller, but it's not done yet.

 

[ff6shadow]

Here is a list of my custom classes if your interested.

Blue Mage. This is undergoing a rewrite right now, so you may want to avoid it.

Dreadnought. This is another martial striker. Doesn't really fit you points, but if a character want to be a striker with a two-handed weapon, this class is a fit.

Lancer. My attempt at a martial controller.

Shapeshifter. THis is a primal striker, but it could pull defender lite with the right choice of tactics.

Summoner. An arcane Controller with a secondary in defender just by clogging the ground and reducing incoming damage.

 

[kodyboy]

I second the shapeshifter and the summoner.

 

[Inlicere]

The Historian (ala Indiana Jones / Tomb Raider) meets most of your criteria, but isn't really a Controller or Defender. (I left the role out originally to get community feedback, and it's become a Striker with a bit of Leader flavor added).

However, it's a very familiar concept to everyone, and after the most recent version we have general agreement that it's balanced. It's fully formatted as a PDF (including WotC artwork), and it's complete through all 30 levels, plus 4 paragon paths.