Hot answers tagged class
24
It wasn't, it just wasn't in the first players handbook. Player's Handbook 2 defines classes for Avenger, Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Invoker, Shaman, Sorcerer & Warden.
My first, and so far only, D&D4 character is a bard. It works as a "Leader" type role, balanced between healing/buffs and some shiny damage effects.
I'd guess that they got stripped ...
18
Reading your description it sounds like you are interested in playing certain personality traits more so than the specific rogue skills and abilities. My advice is to play any class you want, giving your character those mannerisms you enjoy.
Instead of the fighter with 18 strength, a greatsword and platemail consider playing one whose highest stat is ...
16
In such cases, it's often best to let the original author speak for themselves. Fortunately, Doug Schwegman does so at the start of his article where he introduces them to D&D.
. . . I believe it is a logical addition to the D & D scene and the one I have composed is a hodgepodge of at least three different kinds, the norse ‘skald’, the celtic ...
14
From the DMG, pg176:
Prestige classes offer a new form of multiclassing. Unlike the basic classes found in the Player's Handbook, characters must meet requirements before they can take their first level fo a prestige class. The rules for level advancement (see page 58 of the Player's Handbook) apply to this system, meaning the first step of advancement ...
13
Classes:
Artificer
Assassin
Monk
Runepriest
Warlock
General Backgrounds:
Burglar
Circus Performer
Curious Archeologist
Cutpurse
Early Life - Imprisoned
Early Life - Test Subject
Martial - Guild Orphan
Occupation - Criminal
Occupation - Poison Master
Occupation - Thief
Penitent
Recent Life - Explorer of the Ancient
Recent Life - Freeing Slaves
Recent ...
12
A list of classes that start with thievery, ordered by ability:
Thief (Essentials)
These folks are rated the highest due to the Level 2 ability: Skill Mastery (which gives an extra success on a 20) and Dex is their primary stat. They also get rogue utilities which can enhance thievery significantly.
Rogue
Excels in thievery for the obvious reasons.
...
12
Adam, I designed three new 4E clases for Goodman's Forgotten Heroes and helped develop and playtest nine of my co-authors'. Here's what worked for us:
Decide what the key appeal of the class will be. How will playing this class be different from other classes with the same role? (It helps to answer this for all the existing classes within that role: how ...
12
Start by talking about the characters as people, not as game pieces. Use the background of the game appropriately to give you ways to find out about them beyond game stats.
Here are some examples of what I'm talking about:
In modern games, I have given players job application forms to fill out for their characters (we were playing a superheroes-for-hire ...
11
I'm going to take a strangely contrary position here.
Don't worry about it. Imposing or even suggesting classes without concomitant system mastery will not produce a good result.
I have found that, in starting a new campaign, peoples abilities to predict what they will and will not like to play are extremely poor. Instead of trying to make decisions for ...
11
In 4e divine power doesn't come with all the alignment constraints it had in prior editions; gods rarely involve themselves in the mortal plane, especially to empower/disempower individuals. If a follower of a god turns against their tenets (such as a servant of Pelor becoming unaligned or even evil), the god won't (can't?) just cut off the character's ...
11
Simple: he is a true believer of the true Pelor, The Burning Hate.
It’s just fanon, but it’s a pretty fun one. Might make for a really cool character, and a very interesting plot hook. Depends whether or not you had important plans that hinged on Pelor being as described in the books.
10
Dungeon World is an award-winning modern RPG with an old-school feel.
Yes on adventuring for fun, profit, and personal goals.
Yes on class-based system. There are eight classes, with the barbarian forthcoming.
Not rules heavy. You can make new rules, but, in general, fudging rules is not necessary. There are distinct spells, but they're also open to ...
10
Houses of the Blooded is an interesting, “anti-D&D” take on nobles. It's a game about honor, tragedy, and being hindered by one's passions and desires. You will be the source of your own downfall.
In Houses, you play a noble. A character with a past. A character with a family, with vassals, responsibilities and duties. The Law is an ever-present ...
10
Sorcerers vs. Wizards without Spell Points
The thing with Sorcerers is, their Spells Known table looks a lot like the Wizard’s Spells per Day table, level-by-level. That means that for all the Wizard has to prepare his day in advance, the Sorcerer has to plan his life in advance. The Sorcerer does not have a versatility bonus. The Wizard is massively ...
9
You may also enjoy a Bard.
Though they are often dismissed in 3.5, Bards can actually do some pretty awesome stuff.
I planned out a sneaky/trickster Bard for a campaign that never happened:
His spell choices were illusion magic, grease, expeditious retreat, etc. Almost all spells could be used to avoid or escape direct combat. And if it was inevitable, ...
9
Mages in 4e are actually not pathetic at low level; in general, the designers made a strong effort to keep classes balanced and effective from top to bottom. Most of the time, it worked.
However, I do think that in general some classes are harder to play than others, which I think is relevant to your question. I've bolded the classes that appear in the ...
9
I have not played with this variant before, but I still see two advantages that sorcerors have over wizards with this variant rule (besides the 7% more spell points).
Wizards must still prepare their spells according to their allotted spell slots per day. Though this variant rule allows wizards to ignore preparing a particular spell in more than one spell ...
9
First, you ask
is this considered fair enough?
My answer: No, it isn't. Sorcerers are behind Wizards on the power curve as it is, this variant rule as it is presented in Unearthed Arcana increases the difference.
Then, you ask
How can this be fixed?
My answer: Not easily. Any attempt (I can think of) to make the Wizard more point-based is going ...
8
Robin Hood is an iconic scout: moving through the wilderness unseen and dropping arrows through the hapless tax collectors' apple from a hundred paces. He can appear out of the brush, attack, and fade back without the opponent having a chance to reply. Usually scouts are part of a larger group, whether a band of merry men, as advance guard for a squadron of ...
8
Here is a comprehensive "X stat to Y ability" thread updated for 3.5 and pathfinder, with sources and editions listed.
As it says:
This is a complete rework of old and very much used thread. Someone tried to update it while back, but then pretty much abandoned it rather then hunting down all off the correct book and page number references. There's also ...
8
Warhammer Fantasy 3rd Edition
There is plenty of support for playing a noble character in the Empire power structure. The classes do not themselves have rules for the social benefits. Everybody has access to those abilities.
These are the general rules:
Non-combat social challenges (although these aren't as detailed as I'd like)
There are actions based ...
8
Separate from my response to your ideas:
My own suggestion
OK, so Soulknives are lightly-armored, highly-mobile strikers with a Wisdom focus and something of a “secret order” and “highly disciplined” flavor. Trained in special arts and lore, etc. etc. It’s pretty much the Psionic version of the Monk.
Actually, let’s ...
7
Flurry of Blows Attack Bonus as Phill's answer, but damage includes the full Strength bonus.
A monk applies his full Strength bonus to his damage rolls for all successful attacks made with flurry of blows, whether the attacks are made with an off-hand or with a weapon wielded in both hands.
7
I'm gonna introduce you to the marvelous world of... no, really, it's a good game.
It's called the Burning Wheel, and I think it addresses most if not all of your points.
You could play really different adventures than those, like "old human professor in alchemy school tries to defend his theories" but if you're all on the same track, adventurers are ok. ...
6
According to the Dungeons and Dragons Bard Wiki, the Bard as a class draws a lot of inspiration from the Pied Piper of Hamlin, which makes a lot of sense if you think about it mechanically. Someone who, in a mythological/archetypal standpoint, used wit and music to magic away children. In addition to that, the Bard finds inspiration from other fictitious ...
6
The main problem with Soulbow is that the projectile is always fired from mundane longbow (Complete Psionic, p36):
The bolt is identical in all ways (except visually) to an
arrow shot from a composite longbow. For instance, a
Medium soulbow materializes an arrow that speeds toward
the specified target, and if it hits, deals 1d8 points of damage
...
5
The wu jen date back to the 1st edition Oriental Adventures sourcebook for AD&D. According to this post, it's the Wade-Giles romanization for what would probably now be rendered as wú rén (巫人) and translated as "sorcerer person." So it's a plausible name for the concept, but not one that predates D&D.
As for some of the other OA classes: the sohei ...
5
The only way to playtest it is not only threw play, (not to say that you shouldn't use play, but no need to reinvent the horse everytime you want to take a buggy ride)
one can use all that playtesting already done by looking at the powers that are already out there mechanically and extrapolating from that. Its not perfect but it goes a long way to ensuring ...
5
(By "hardest", I'm going to assume you mean "most difficult to have survive while actually participating", rather than "most difficult to role-play", which is purely subjective, or "most difficult to use well, tactics-wise", something Bryant has answered in his usual (excellent) fashion.) Hmm. I think this question may be working from a false assumption ...
5
A scout deals entirely in mundane training and a "mundane" skill set gained through hard work, understanding, intuition and experience. Flavor-wise, scouts are those adventurers and soldiers who train to operate in exotic environments and apply intelligence, understanding, and agility to their problems. Mechanically, scouts are mobile combatants with a ...
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