D&D 5E What Seven Classes Would You Keep? (and why!)

Which Seven Classes Would You Keep? (please vote for all seven and thanks!)

  • Barbarian

    Votes: 61 25.0%
  • Bard

    Votes: 142 58.2%
  • Cleric

    Votes: 210 86.1%
  • Druid

    Votes: 134 54.9%
  • Fighter

    Votes: 224 91.8%
  • Monk

    Votes: 61 25.0%
  • Paladin

    Votes: 123 50.4%
  • Ranger

    Votes: 95 38.9%
  • Rogue

    Votes: 225 92.2%
  • Sorcerer

    Votes: 40 16.4%
  • Warlock

    Votes: 82 33.6%
  • Wizard

    Votes: 217 88.9%
  • Other (PLEASE post what and why!)

    Votes: 20 8.2%


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Yaarel

Mind Mage
If Cleric swallows Druid, the Wild Shape, could be a Channel Divinity.

The Cleric class needs to explicitly include so as to represent animism and other non-theistic sacred traditions.

The ‘Channel Divinity’ feature can go by the name Manifest Sacred.

Then a Druid that reveres nature is no problem.
 
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Yaarel

Mind Mage
Design better the Monk as a strictly nonmagical base class, maybe called Skirmisher, for no-armor gymnastic Dexterity fighting.

The Monk can be one of the magical archetypes of the Skirmisher.

A nonmagical archetype would be the Brawler focusing on mixed martial arts.

This Skirmisher can even represent well a magical shamanic Berserkr as an archetype, including an alternate beast form, outofbody projection, force armor, and so on.

Also magical ninja Shadow Monk.

Avatar-esque Elementals bender.

Maybe the Rogue base class as a Dexterity fighter, can gain proficiency with muliple-attack flurry − thus repersent all of these Monk archetypes.
 
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Sabathius42

Bree-Yark
Not reading 7 pages before I reply to explain my poll answers.

I voted Rogue, Fighter, Wizard, Warlock

I would have the wizard and warlock differentiated by memorized versus at will powers.

Id like to see added in...
1. A non-fightery divine class that memorizes spells.
2. A nature based class
3. A psion class

Then I would rework the classes so that multiclassing was almost expected and you could mix and match things to fit your concept.

Cleric=Fighter/Divine
Ranger=Fighter/Nature
Monk=Fighter/Psion
Bard=Fighter/Rogue
Gish=Fighter/Wizard
Druid=Nature/Cleric
Favored Soul=Divine/Warlock
etc...

This would give you a total of 42 "classes" in the game, 49 if you had a way of just picking one concept and pushing it to the limit.
 


I ditched (for the poll):
Barbarian (too niche)
Monk (too lonely—need their shugenja, Wu Jen, etc buddies with them)
Sorcerer (...)
Warlock (cool, but lacks seniority)
Ranger (I didn’t want to, but it’s a little disappointing in 5e and I had to pick a fifth)

Interestingly, the results indicate that those were the same 5 that were ditched the most. I guess I’m not very original in my grognardiusness (except for that word).
 

NotAYakk

Legend
I ditched (for the poll):
Barbarian (too niche)
Monk (too lonely—need their shugenja, Wu Jen, etc buddies with them)
Sorcerer (...)
Warlock (cool, but lacks seniority)
Ranger (I didn’t want to, but it’s a little disappointing in 5e and I had to pick a fifth)

Interestingly, the results indicate that those were the same 5 that were ditched the most. I guess I’m not very original in my grognardiusness (except for that word).
See, what I don't get is why people aren't ditching one of the Cleric or Paladin.

They are both priest-ish, one is a tiny bit more martial than the other.

I mean, 5e did an awesome job with the Paladin, but still.
 










See, what I don't get is why people aren't ditching one of the Cleric or Paladin.

They are both priest-ish, one is a tiny bit more martial than the other.

I mean, 5e did an awesome job with the Paladin, but still.

Here's the way I see it.

Conceptually, clerics are priests. They are most likely to be found at an altar in a church addressing/blessing a congregation; or in the inner chambers of a temple performing rituals to please/appease a deity; or at a hidden holy site tending the sacred flame that protects the world from a great evil; etc.

I know, I know. That's rarely how they are described in a PHB. But...this is where we have a pan-edition inconsistency. PHBs often describe them as warrior-priests, holy crusaders, or specially chosen individuals. But then the same editions go on to use that very same class in adventures and campaign settings to represent those priests I just described. And contrary to the PHBs, not as the rare exception, but as the norm. Almost every religious location is presided over by clerics and manned with lower level cleric assistants. I choose to believe what they do with the class over what they say about the class.

Why? For the exact same reason they do it: the game needs a way of representing powerful supernatural priests. The cleric works, so in D&D reality, it is the priest class. The idea that most priests lack magical powers, and only a few are actually clerics is a hassle that isn't natural to implement. They should just stop saying that and have the book describe how the game is actually presented in the rest of the material.

Paladins are knights in shining armor. They are most likely to be found on horseback pursuing some mighty quest against evil; or at a church, temple, or shrine kneeling and being blessed by a cleric; or charging their horse with lance raised at a dragon or fiend. They are not priests.

Mechanically, clerics have traditionally been limited in their choice of weapons such that most can't wield a sword, the most iconic weapon of a paladin. Paladins always have hit dice and attack accuracy (in editions where this varied by class) comparable to a fighter, while clerics never have hit dice equal to a fighter. Clerics have always been major spellcasters, while paladins have always been minor ones, which is a huge indicator of where your class fits with regards to the others. That thing about which HD you have and how well you can hit, as well as weapon options is also traditionally a huge definition of where your class fits with regard to other classes. Paladins have always been in the full warrior category, and clerics never have. As soon as paladins came into existence, any claim of clerics representing knight-crusaders rather than priests vanished in credibility.
 

Ashrym

Hero
Here's the way I see it.

Conceptually, clerics are priests. They are most likely to be found at an altar in a church addressing/blessing a congregation; or in the inner chambers of a temple performing rituals to please/appease a deity; or at a hidden holy site tending the sacred flame that protects the world from a great evil; etc.

I know, I know. That's rarely how they are described in a PHB. But...this is where we have a pan-edition inconsistency. PHBs often describe them as warrior-priests, holy crusaders, or specially chosen individuals. But then the same editions go on to use that very same class in adventures and campaign settings to represent those priests I just described. And contrary to the PHBs, not as the rare exception, but as the norm. Almost every religious location is presided over by clerics and manned with lower level cleric assistants. I choose to believe what they do with the class over what they say about the class.

Why? For the exact same reason they do it: the game needs a way of representing powerful supernatural priests. The cleric works, so in D&D reality, it is the priest class. The idea that most priests lack magical powers, and only a few are actually clerics is a hassle that isn't natural to implement. They should just stop saying that and have the book describe how the game is actually presented in the rest of the material.

Paladins are knights in shining armor. They are most likely to be found on horseback pursuing some mighty quest against evil; or at a church, temple, or shrine kneeling and being blessed by a cleric; or charging their horse with lance raised at a dragon or fiend. They are not priests.

Mechanically, clerics have traditionally been limited in their choice of weapons such that most can't wield a sword, the most iconic weapon of a paladin. Paladins always have hit dice and attack accuracy (in editions where this varied by class) comparable to a fighter, while clerics never have hit dice equal to a fighter. Clerics have always been major spellcasters, while paladins have always been minor ones, which is a huge indicator of where your class fits with regards to the others. That thing about which HD you have and how well you can hit, as well as weapon options is also traditionally a huge definition of where your class fits with regard to other classes. Paladins have always been in the full warrior category, and clerics never have. As soon as paladins came into existence, any claim of clerics representing knight-crusaders rather than priests vanished in credibility.
That was a well-laid out argument on the theory vs the reality of clerics. I could still make paladins a fighter subclass though. ;)
 

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