Which less popular classes should come back

[Kobold Avenger]

I think it`s been said that every class that was in the 1st PHB of any edition will probably come back as a full class.

But for classes like Warden, Ardent, Truenamer, Shadowcaster, Factotum and so on, their fates in a new edition are probably less so. Many would undoubtably argue that a lot of them should just be subclasses or builds of another class. Even though I felt that some of them were quite unique at least in their flavour and deserve to come back as it`s own special archetype deserving of a class. So some of my choices:

Shaman, there`s always been a version of the Shaman class since at least 2e. Most of the time it`s been a more spellcastery Druid, but I think 4e got it right with it`s spirit companion as being a main feature.

Warden, I think there`s plenty of room for a transformational warrior type in the new edition. A lot of things will probably depend on how wildshape and other shapeshifting stuff will work. For a Warden they should probably focus mainly on the things that transformed them into living rock and so on.

Swordmage, as much as there`s the discussion of making a fighter-wizard viable, I always feel there`s probably going to room for a class that`s in between them, and the Swordmage wasn`t just a fighter-mage, but more of a teleporting caster that turned their sword into magic. Similar arguments could apply to the Duskblade and Hexblade too.

Battlemind (Psychic Warrior), it`s definitely not a matter of if they`ll be in the new edition, but when they`ll be there. In 4e there were many complaints about it, including the odd nature of its class features and potentially abusive class powers. The 3e version suffered from being too reliant on self buffs, and psionic feats which probably shouldn`t be feats anymore and just powers.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Knight? We still haven't seen it done well. I would much rather see a generic nonmagic knight than a paladin (with some sort of way to build a paladin out of it).

I also think some of the specialized late 3.5 casters (Warmage, Dread Necromancer, Beguiler) might be viable, in addition to truly functional core casting classes.

I really like to see the Dragon Shaman and Dragonfire Adept or some similar concept be revisited.

Does warlock count?

 

[MoonSong]

Knight? We still haven't seen it done well. I would much rather see a generic nonmagic knight than a paladin (with some sort of way to build a paladin out of it).

I also think some of the specialized late 3.5 casters (Warmage, Dread Necromancer, Beguiler) might be viable, in addition to truly functional core casting classes.

I really like to see the Dragon Shaman and Dragonfire Adept or some similar concept be revisited.

Does warlock count?

Don't think so, it was core in 4e so it's safe to assume it'll remain core.

I would like to see a spontaneous divine class -whether it is named mystic, favored soul, oracle or any other name-.

I would like to see shadowcasters and shugenjas done at some point

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

If I had to pick one class that hasn't been traditionally core, I'd go with something swordmage-like. Can we call it "elf"?

The game does need a good fighter-mage combination that blends better than a multiclass.

 

[Greg K]

The classes list that I want to see and supported variants:

Arcane Warrior (not bladesinger, duskblade, spellsword by default)
Barbarian (Rage Fighter)
- Urban
- Wilderness (various environments)
Bard (non jack of all trades)
- Arcane
- Divine
- Martial (Skald)
- Nature
- Roguish
Cleric (Martial Priest)
Fighter
- various Fighting Styles
- various themes (Cavalier, Gladiator, Knight, Mariner, etc.)
Holy Warrior
- Paladin
Monk (OA Shaman)
- Arcane
- Divine
- Nature
- Martial (no casting, more combat)
- various unarmed styles
Priest (Non Martial Priest)
- Specialty (default)
- Druid (Nature Priest)
Psychic
Ranger
- Urban (Non-Spellcasting)
- Wilderness (Non-Spellcasting)
Rogue
- Urban
- Wilderness
- Martial
Shaman (using Green Ronin Shaman as basis)
Sorcerer
Warden (Spellcasting Ranger)
- Arcane Caster
- Divine Caster
- Nature Caster
- Urban
Witch (using Green Ronin Witch as basis)
Wizard, Specialist (School of Philosophy)
- Abjurer
- Conjuror
- Diviner
- Enchanter
- Illusionist
- Invoker
- Necromancer
- Summoner
- Transmuter
Wizard, Specialist (School of Effect)
- Alchemist
- Artificer
- Geomancer
- Song Mage
- Wild Mage
Wizard, Specialist (School of Thaumaturgy)
- Dimensionalist
- Elementalist
- Force Mage
- Mentalist
- Shadow Mage

 

[Tallifer]

I will make rules for the Warden, Swordmage, Artificer and Shaman if the Fifth Edition does not have them.

I disliked the Avenger. I would prefer the Friar to take its place: a divine class should always be able to do some little healing and enhancing.

 

[Frostmarrow]

The Jester. I remember it from an old Dragon magazine. I think the game need a spot of madness. All classes are all too serious. We need something to liven things up. We've had comedy in D&D before. The Chaotic Neutral alignment was a great source of comedy for awhile but it transformed into pure greed as the years went on. The kender of Dragonlance was supposed to add a little bit of fun into a campaign but became too disruptive in many games. I think we need a class that add humour. –Something we haven't had since AD&D.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I disliked the Avenger. I would prefer the Friar to take its place: a divine class should always be able to do some little healing and enhancing.

The Avenger was my favorite 4E class. It was fun to be able to roll two d20's most of the time in combat. Plus, the flavor was new and engaging.

 

[FireLance]

Actually, I'd like to see a return of the 3e soulknife. Something about the concept of forging your own personal weapon out of pure will kind of appeals to me, I guess.

It did not make the transition to 4e, although the Essentials hexblade is quite close and would probably make a good starting point for a homebrew soulknife class.

 

[Steely_Dan]

if the whole every class from a PHB 1 thing is true, that would implicate the return of the Illusionist as a full class, which interests me very much.

I thought in the early days of 4th Ed the Illusionist would be a Shadow Controller (now it sounds like roles and power sources are going bye-bye).