"Some" traditional classes to get the axe - Which ones do you reckon?

[amethal]

If it's done like Star Wars, five clases only:

Cleric
Fighter
Rogue
Wizard
NPC

At first level and even levels you get a talent. Talents trees are class specific.

Barbarians are fighters with a mix of power attack and hunting / animal totem talents.

Monks are fighters with a mix of unarmed strike and celerity talents.

Rangers are multiclass fighters with TWF or ranged talents and clerics with nature talents.

Makes sense to me. With 3.5 you have so many class level subs. No two wizards are alike, so you might as well make talent trees. It's great for optimizers and at the same time simple to introduce to new players.

Yeah, if they go down the talent tree route then in theory we only need 4 classes - cleric, fighter, rogue and wizard.

Paladins could be fighter / clerics
Bards could be rogue / wizards etc.

However, I'd hate to see druids reduced to a cleric talent tree. That would also make rangers just another fighter / cleric.

 

[delericho]

If it's done like Star Wars, five clases only:

Cleric
Fighter
Rogue
Wizard
NPC

That's more or less what I'm expecting, although I think they may go for more than 5 classes (not sure the exact breakdown, though).

If Tieflings are in the PHB, does that mean they won't be an LA race? Or will LA be revamped/dropped? Or will the race be presented as-is, and LA races supported heavily in the PHB?

 

[takasi]

As long as the talent trees are as varied as the traditional classes (perhaps even more so) then I think there will be plenty of character variety.

The thing is, how many pages are wasted on tables showing Base Attack Bonus and Saves for classes when it's almost always the same?!?!? Think of all the saved space in the class section if you didn't have to print the same BAB, 3/4 BAB, 1/2 BAB over and over and over!

Classes should determine BAB, hp, skills you can train in and weapon proficiencies. Everything else should be talents. I think they can narrow the former down to four basic PC classes.

 

[Shade]

Based on a recent podcast, Mearls and Noonan consider the bard "the class that wandered in from another game". I'd say it's 100% gone.

After that, I can see paladins going the prestige route, monks being dropped for a martial artist, and rangers replaced with something more akin to the scout.

If half-elves finally get the boot, that will go a long way towards getting me interested in 4e.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Barbarians get the Axe.

Fighters, Rangers, and Paladins all get the Long Sword.

It has always been thus.

 

[The Souljourner]

One thing I just thought of.. talent trees only work if you get something every level. We already know from the fighter that if you don't get something every level, your class sucks. And I don't mean that as hyperbole. Look at all the "good" classes. You get something every level, even if it's just more spells.

I think a fighter/cleric replacement for the ranger could work, but the talent trees would have to be spectacularly well written, and I'm guessing you couldn't do it without opening it for abuse. That was the nice thing about all the new base classes... you controlled exactly when and how abilities were given out, and you didn't need to worry about who would take the ability and how it might unbalance one of innumerable classes.

-Nate

 

[KingCrab]

A lot of hate on the half-elves going on here. They basically made half elves weak enough no one wants to play them, so as far as I'm concerned they've already been removed in 3.x.

I hope it's the gnome that gets it. Damn gnomes!

 

[Glyfair]

Ug... why keep barbarian? It only has one thing that makes it unique - rage.

That's all it has now. However, it's one of the classes that could stand out with the "Bo9S-like" system. I can see giving them a whole array of fierce combat type maneuvers.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

If Tieflings are in the PHB, does that mean they won't be an LA race? Or will LA be revamped/dropped? Or will the race be presented as-is, and LA races supported heavily in the PHB?

I assume they'll just beef up all the races to be equally crunchy and powerful, and that "LA" races will go away until the inevitable race-book.

As for the Bard wandering in from another game, that makes me sad, because I played Bards pretty much constantly in D&D, since 2E, and I love this class which has magic, melee, thieving skills AND a unique ability or two. I sincerely hope we'll be able to replicate it fairly easily, without being forced into simply being a Rogue/Mage.

 

[Kaodi]

I think it would be for the best if they got rid of half-elves and half-orcs. We already know the tiefling is in, I would hope that the aasimar is too, but my guess is that it may not be. In any case, the tiefling ought to be +0 LA now, which is good. Assuming LA has a meaning anymore...