D&D General Which classes fill in this chart?

[Henadic Theologian]

I'd put Monk in the same lane as Sorcerer, both use points for their abilities, or Warlock, because both Warlocks and Monks regain there powers with short rests.

 

[Aldarc]

Not really. The “flow” is off. There’s no cennection between the fighter and cleric besides the paladin is a more fighty cleric. Same with the wizard to rogue, there’s no real connection between them.

Look at 4E and their roles and power sources. That will give you a better idea of what’s present and what’s missing.

You have it with the druid, ranger, barbarian flow in that they’re all nature-themed, or in the parlance of 4E have the primal power source.

Agreed. I don't think that caster to half-caster to non-caster is necessarily the optimal way to approach this exercise.

It would be easier to define classes by their functions: fight, cast, or sneak. Fighter, magic-user, thief. Then define the rest as combinations of those base three. Cleric is a fighty caster while a paladin a more fighty and less caster. A ranger is a sneaky fighter while a rogue is pure sneaky. But a bard is a fighty sneaky caster.

I would consider defining the class primary function/emphasis by four broad pillars as per Fantasy Age classes: i.e., Envoy (social/support), Mage (magic), Rogue (exploration), and Envoy (social/support). Then layer on top power sources as per 4e.

 

[Stoutstien]

I don't think the 5e class concepts fit into a stage progression like this. If anything it's more like a giant venn diagram or maybe setting up a 3 axis graph with martial/caster, divine/arcane, and 'role/function'.

 

[Minigiant]

I don't think the 5e class concepts fit into a stage progression like this. If anything it's more like a giant venn diagram or maybe setting up a 3 axis graph with martial/caster, divine/arcane, and 'role/function'.

I agree.

Classes like Monk are completely unrelated in power source, theme, and foci form all the 5e official casters. You would have to create a caster to match it. Same with the Fighter and Rogue.

The Warlock (and maybe Sorcerer) are similar in the opposite direction.

 

[Aldarc]

I don't think the 5e class concepts fit into a stage progression like this. If anything it's more like a giant venn diagram or maybe setting up a 3 axis graph with martial/caster, divine/arcane, and 'role/function'.

I'm not sure if the divine/arcane really makes much sense as part of this venn diagram. It's really something that's layered on top as a theme. 4e did this well with its role and power source break-down though it wasn't really too bothered by notions of caster vs. non-caster.

 

[Stoutstien]

I'm not sure if the divine/arcane really makes much sense as part of this venn diagram. It's really something that's layered on top as a theme. 4e did this well with its role and power source break-down though it wasn't really too bothered by notions of caster vs. non-caster.

That's fair now the spell list(s) have become homogenized. I miss spell casters feeling different.

Could have have specific notation for those who can use alternative spell focuses like clerics, paladin, and artificers so hand economy is different. assuming no feats and unique magic items that preform this role

 

[steeldragons]

Ok, I'll play. But I'm not going to use 5e's list of full casters. To engage in this sort of thought exercise, you need to determine the set of types of magics/casters you are intending to use. Then work "down" from there. Conversely -if one prefers a warrior kind of character- you can select what is your definitive list of non-casters and work your way "up." I prefer the former.

So, a filled out grid would shake out something like this...

Magic	Caster	1/2	Non
Arcane	Mage/Wizard	Swordmage (or whatever title for a true Ftr/MU is preferred	Fighter
Divine	Priest/Invoker	Cleric	Paladin (supernatural powers, no spells)
Nature	Druid	Bard	Ranger
Psychic	Psychic/Psion	Psi-Warrior/Mystic	Monk (preternatural powers, no spells)
Wild/Elemental/"Primal"	Witch	Elementalist (supernatural powers, spells limited by elements)	Barbarian
Other Various/ Specifically Skilled	Necromancer, Theurge, Sorcerer (if one must), Shadowcaster, et al.	Warlock (supernatural powers, some spells). Trickster, et al.	Thief/Rogue

 

[Ashrym]

Okay, rewrote the original...

Classes​
Full Caster​	Half-Caster​	Non-Caster​
Bard​	Arcane Trickster​	Rogue​
Cleric​	Paladin​	Warlord​
Druid​	Ranger​	Barbarian​
Sorcerer​	Monk​	Fighter​
Warlock​	Avenger​	Bloodhunter​
Wizard​	Artificer​	Tinker​

I did split up the fighter and warlord for the fans.

I left arcane trickster in even if it's a rogue subclass. There's little difference in spellcasting ability between half caster and casting subclass.

I went sorcerer -> monk -> fighter based on using internal power.

I slipped avenger in between warlock and bloodhunter. Avengers have been alternatives to paladins and in 4e the class cast prayers from the divine power source so it seems fitting.

Tinker is specifically the old Dragonlance class out of mothballs and possibly reimagined in 5e format somehow.

Wizard to fighter doesn't make sense to me. Someone might need to elaborate on that more in their charts.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Okay, rewrote the original...

Classes​
Full Caster​	Half-Caster​	Non-Caster​
Bard​	Arcane Trickster​	Rogue​
Cleric​	Paladin​	Warlord​
Druid​	Ranger​	Barbarian​
Sorcerer​	Monk​	Fighter​
Warlock​	Avenger​	Bloodhunter​
Wizard​	Artificer​	Tinker​

I did split up the fighter and warlord for the fans.

I left arcane trickster in even if it's a rogue subclass. There's little difference in spellcasting ability between half caster and casting subclass.

I went sorcerer -> monk -> fighter based on using internal power.

I slipped avenger in between warlock and bloodhunter. Avengers have been alternatives to paladins and in 4e the class cast prayers from the divine power source so it seems fitting.

Tinker is specifically the old Dragonlance class out of mothballs and possibly reimagined in 5e format somehow.

Wizard to fighter doesn't make sense to me. Someone might need to elaborate on that more in their charts.

Warlocks aren't divine casters, not even the Celestial Patron, Sorcerer is the one with none Arcane subclasses. I'd go with the Binder from 3.5e perhaps for the half caster, eerie, forbidden magics, and the Binder class became a Warlock paragon path called Vestiage Pact in 4e, so they do have ties. And the 3.5e Binder could cast some spells depending upon Vestiage, but only up to a certain level depending upon what was possessing them. Warlock and Binder fit mechanically and thematically better together then Avenger.

For Rogue/Bard half caster concider the Spellthief, from Complete Adventurer in 3.5e was half caster class and had sneak attack and skills and will cause less confusion then Arcane Trickster as a half caster class and a Rogue subclass.

 

[Ashrym]

Warlocks aren't divine casters, not even the Celestial Patron, Sorcerer is the one with none Arcane subclasses. I'd go with the Binder from 3.5e perhaps for the half caster, eerie, forbidden magics, and the Binder class became a Warlock paragon path called Vestiage Pact in 4e, so they do have ties. And the 3.5e Binder could cast some spells depending upon Vestiage, but only up to a certain level depending upon what was possessing them. Warlock and Binder fit mechanically and thematically better together then Avenger.

For Rogue/Bard half caster concider the Spellthief, which I believe in 3.5e WAS a half caster class and will cause less confusion then Arcane Trickster as a half caster class and a Rogue subclass.

It's easy for me to reimage the avenger, but binder would be better.

Classes​
Full Caster​	Half-Caster​	Non-Caster​
Bard​	Spell-Thief​	Rogue​
Cleric​	Paladin​	Warlord​
Druid​	Ranger​	Barbarian​
Sorcerer​	Monk​	Fighter​
Warlock​	Binder​	Bloodhunter​
Wizard​	Artificer​	Tinker​

The spell thief and arcane trickster are essentially the same thing, however. It's basically the PrE turned into a base class.

I think this is pretty much what we have before trying to add classes to fill it:

Classes​
Full Caster​	Half-Caster​	Non-Caster​
Bard​	​	Rogue​
Cleric​	Paladin​	​
Druid​	Ranger​	Barbarian​
Sorcerer​	Monk​	Fighter​
Warlock​	​	Bloodhunter​
Wizard​	Artificer​	​

Bloodhunter is 3rd party and monk is a bit of a stretch in the category (ki plus magical subclass abilities). Based on what I've seen so far there are forum posters who would like to see the expanded 4e power sources in a grid form. Maybe a helix because the Venn diagram comments earlier are valid.