The Expert-A Viable PC Class?

[Tinker Gnome]

The DMG itself says the Expert could possible be a PC class. I recently made a 1st level Expert to see if this was true. He does not seem too bad, I admit since I wanted him to be a Tinker type I made up a skill called Craft(Tinkering) which, while I have not quite yet figure out the whole range of what can be made, I figure the player could tell the DM what they are trying to make out of the materials they have. From something simple like an improvised weapon made out of some shards of metal, wood, and some rope to complex clockwork mechanisms. I also gave him Handle Animal and Knowledge (Nature) because he would also deal with animal and plant species so he could study them.

But anyways, he still does not seem to bad. The ability to choose ten skills is really nice and it allows for a wide range of character options, and their hit die is not too bad either.


So, have you found the Expert ot be a viable PC class?

 

[S'mon]

I'd say it was not viable for a typical D&D campaign due to lack of offensive ability. In a skills or roleplay based game it may shine, it may well be better than the Fighter! To be a PC class I'd suggest increasing number of skills to 8 to match the Rogue (just feels better), plus occasional free feats related to their expertise, like Skill Focus.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I'd say it was not viable for a typical D&D campaign due to lack of offensive ability. In a skills or roleplay based game it may shine, it may well be better than the Fighter! To be a PC class I'd suggest increasing number of skills to 8 to match the Rogue (just feels better), plus occasional free feats related to their expertise, like Skill Focus.

That sounds reasonable. Maybeven increase the amount of skills they can choose to twelve, so they can really be different from the rest of the classes. A Bonus Feat every four levels doesnt sound too bad to me either.

 

[Turanil]

So, have you found the Expert ot be a viable PC class?

No, for me it's not viable (really too weak, far behind a rogue for instance). However, the Expert class in the Unearthed Arcana (p.77 generic classes section) would make a great PC expert class.

I'd say it was not viable for a typical D&D campaign due to lack of offensive ability. In a skills or roleplay based game it may shine, it may well be better than the Fighter! To be a PC class I'd suggest increasing number of skills to 8 to match the Rogue (just feels better), plus occasional free feats related to their expertise, like Skill Focus.

It's close to the UA Expert class. Basically this class proposes:

UA Expert:
-- HD: d6
-- BAB: as rogue
-- Skill Points: 6 per level; Skills: choose 12 skills as class skill, + Craft & Profession
-- Weaponry: light weapons, 1 martial weapon, light armors.
-- Bonus feats: at 1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th level. Some class features may be selected in place of regular feats, such as Evasion, Favored Enemy, Uncanny Dodge, etc.

 

[Tonguez]

The Expert is viable low level but as levels rise it starts to lose out due to lack of special abilities. If however you give it some extra feat slots it starts to become viable and even more so if you let experts take item creation feats

Aristocrat on the other hand is a viable class as it has both skills and combat prowess

 

[MonsterMash]

It looks like the UA version is more viable, like the others I think I'd say it needs to be given some bonus feats or abilities, and its not really suitable if the campaign has a strong combat focus.

 

[Samothdm]

I think there are elements to the Expert that could make it a viable PC class, depending on the campaign. As someone pointed out, it's not a great combat class. It makes a good starting class if you plan to multi-class in order to qualify for certain PrCs for for certain character concepts based on the ability to choose 10 skills and get some good skill points.

As a matter of fact, I'm just finishing up a book right now that is all about options and concepts for playing the Expert as a PC class.

 

[JoeGKushner]

That's the problem with the D&D class skill rankings.

Other games, like Hero and GURPS, don't have quite the same limitations, and some tweaks to the d20 system, like Black Company or Grim Tales, allow a bit more customization in skill lists, making the Expert hardly an Expert able to take on a standard D&D class.

 

[Cam Banks]

We needed to fill a PC niche for Dragonlance and the Expert didn't quite do it, so I came up with the master (which is to the expert what the fighter is to the warrior). We already had the noble, which is a PC version of the aristocrat, so the master's role in the game is to allow players to take the part of characters like Theros Ironfeld, Otik Sandath, even Flint Fireforge, all of whom have some kind of expert-like traits.

The master is essentially a means of drawing on the Craft, Knowledge, Perform, and Profession skills to create a skills-based character. Knacks, which work a lot like d20 Modern's talents, are chosen from one of the four groups or foci (craftsman, performer, professional, and sage) and allow the master to more or less keep up with other core classes. The master replaces the bard in pre-Chaos War Dragonlance, and even allows for people who want to play barmaids and blacksmiths without suffering from inferior traits or being forced to play a fighter or rogue when you don't want to.

The master appears in the War of the Lance sourcebook, from Sovereign Press. It's been one of the more popular additions to the setting.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[brehobit]

Considering that a true expert in a magical world probably uses magic to help out at being an expert, I'd consider taking the expert as written, maybe adding a few bonus feats, and then adding bard-like casting ability. The spell list would depend upon what they are supposed to be expert at. So an expert weapon smith might get spells like magic weapon, keen, and the like. An expert sage might have divinational spells.

Might not work for all types of "expert" or character concepts, but would work well for some and shouldn't be more powerful than a standard PC class. Just a thought. Erberon has an NPC class like this as I recall...