C is for Class

Repost from http://otherworldminiatures.co.uk

To class or not to class? That is the question.

A good friend and I have been kicking around a classless system for a bit, but there's a very good reason why distinct character classes remain a staple of RPGs, both of the pencil-and-paper and MMO type: They provide a solid archetype to hang your character on, a one-word description that instantly tells someone what they are:

Fighter: A warrior, whether a noble knight or wandering sellsword; Conan, King Arthur, Aragorn, etc.
Cleric: A holy warrior or mystic, blessed by God or the gods with powers beyond mortal ken.
Magic-user: The archetypical wizard, like Gandalf or Merlin . . . or one less skilled and noble, like Schmendrick from The Last Unicorn.
Thief: The rogue, the trickster, like the Grey Mouser or Cudgel, a man who lives by his wits rather than by the strength of his sword-arm or by mystic powers.

(B/X treats each demi-human as its own "class" as well as a race, but we'll get to that in the next installment.)

AD&D of course introduced a number of "sub-classes," which got picked up on by later additions. Unfortunately, many of those sub-classes are either so specific to their literary sources or else aren't thought through in terms of how they relate to the existing classes that the very idea of the archetype is lost.

Paladin: Hogar from Three Hearts and Three Lions, but with a few other abilities co-opted from the cleric. Seriously, if we already have a "holy warrior" archetype, why do we need two?
Ranger: Strider from LotR, right down to being the only fighter-type who can use a crystal ball.
Druid: The pagan, nature-worshiping priest. Had the cleric retained something of its quasi-Christian roots, this would have been a cool concept, but given that you soon had clerics for gods of every alignment and sphere of influence--including nature--one wonders why we should bother with a druid.
Assassin: Thief who sucks at picking locks and backstabs a lot.

Unearthed Arcana and 3rd Edition added a couple more:

Barbarian: Basically, Conan the Cimmerian, with a touch of Fafhrd.
Cavalier: A knightly fighter with a lot of special abilities. Why bother playing a fighter if you can have one of these? Or why playing one of these if it's just a rich, noble-born fighter?
Thief-Acrobat: Not necessarily a bad idea--basically a Western ninja--but poorly implemented. Basically, you play as a thief until 6th level, then sacrifice further progress in a bunch of "dungeoneering" skills (e.g., remove traps) to get a bunch of abilities in leaping and tumbling that are far more interesting and useful in combat. It did, however, serve as a model for what would eventually be called prestige classes.
Bard: A somewhat musically-based jack-of-all trades, and master of none.


The monk is is the only sub-class that actually stands out as its own archetype, albeit one that isn't wholly appropriate to D&D's default European setting. I have other problems with the way the class is implemented, but that's for another time. The bard could be a strong archetype--the wandering minstrel, the spell-singer--but definitely needs work to stand out as anything other than a "red mage."

Following the 3rd Edition craze, in which every sourcebook had to offer new races, classes, and prestige classes, the Kalamar Player's Guide had its own offerings. Some, like the brigand and spellsinger, were pretty pointless. Others, like the Basirian Dancer (basically, a sword-dancing variant on the bard) and shaman (similar to the druid, but gaining their power through special "fetishes"--idols, not kinks), were set solidly in the Kalamar setting and with a slightly better implementation would have been excellent offerings.


In any case, as we can see, the original 4 classes are broad archetypes, while the sub-classes impose certain assumptions (based on the literary sources that inspired D&D in the 70s) on your setting. That is not to say that I consider the original four (which didn't include the thief) as the only possible archetypes. I think D&D could use a hunter class--not as a sub-class of the fighter, but as its own woodsman / barbarian / ranger / Robin Hood archetype. And if the cleric is based in a view of Law that is "properly" quasi-Christian (going back to its roots), there's definitely a place for a shaman/druid-type "pagan" priest.

Since I think I should provide some gameable material at least once in a while, here's my take on the Hunter class:

Hunter

Hunter Experience Table
Level	XP	Hit Dice (d8)	Saving Throw	Camouflage	Climb Walls	Herbalism
1	0	1	14	10	85
2	2500	2	13	15	86
3	5000	3	12	20	87	15%
4	10,000	4	11	25	88	20%
5	20,000	5	10	30	89	25%
6	40,000	6	9	35	90	30%
7	80,000	7	8	40	91	35%
8	150,000	8	7	55	92	40%
9	300,000	9	6	65	93	45%
10	450,000	9+3 hp	5	75	94	50%
11	600,000	9+6 hp	4	85	95	55%
12	750,000	9+9 hp	4	95	96	55%
13	900,000	9+12 hp	4	100	97	60%
14	1,050,000	9+15hp	4	100	98	60%
15	+150,000	+3 hp/level	4	100	99	60%

Prime Attribute: Constitution

Hit Dice: 1d8 (Gains 3 hp/level after 11th level.)

Armor/Shield Permitted: Any medium (i.e. maile) or light (leather) armor, any shield

Weapons Permitted: Any. Hunters use the cleric "to hit" tables.

The Hunter is a man of the frontier.  He may be a ranger in the service of his lord or a barbarian from the wilderlands come down into civilized realms in search of adventure.  Though skilled in fighting, the hunter’s instruction is informal, and thus he lacks the finesse of the fighter or the training to use heavy armor effectively.  Nevertheless, on his own ground he is a force to be reckoned with, able to hide in the vegetation almost as well as a halfling and track his opponents over long distances until the perfect opportunity to strike arises.

 Hunter Abilities

Skulking: Hunters are surprised only on 10 or betteron 2d6; they may surprise others on an 8 or better if wearing light or no armor.

Camouflage:  Hunters are skilled at blending into the background, able to disappear into underbrush, beneath the forest’s carpet of leaves and needles, under a thin layer of sand and dust, or even into the crevice of a rock as long as they are wearing light or no armor.

Climbing walls or cliffs: The percentage chance is what the hunter needs to climb a wall or cliff that others cannot climb without proper equipment. If the wall is more difficult than normal (very slippery, for example), the referee may lower a hunter’s chances of success. In general, if a normal person has a chance to climb a wall, a thief can most likely do it automatically.

Tracking: Hunters are able to track creatures in wilderness and underground environments. The base chance is 90% when in the wilderness, with +2% for every creature more than one in a party to be tracked. There is a cumulative penalty of -25% for every hour of rain, or -10% for every day that has passed since tracks were made. In underground environments, rangers must watch a creature to be tracked for 3 turns prior to tracking it, to observe its manner. The base chance underground is 65%, modified in the following manner:

-40% if the creature enters a secret door

-20% if the creature enters a concealed door or passage

-10% if the creature enters a normal door or otherwise takes a deviation from a path

No adjustment if the creature continues on a path without much deviation.

Hunting: Hunters, naturally, receive a +1 to attempts to hunt and forage.  This increases to +2 at 7th level.  At 10th level, the hunter can provide enough food for a party of ten with ease in most areas and with an 80% certainty even in the desert wastelands.

Set Spear:  When facing a charging opponent a hunter with a spear may "set" it, causing double damage on a hit.

Herbalism: Starting at 3rd level, a hunter can begin to make poultices and potions, with a success rate as shown.  These are effectively half-strength potions of healing, delusion, or heroism.  The herbs that create these potions must be gathered fresh and lose their potency after 1-3 days.  The hunter can also create potions that cure disease or slow poison.  These must be made at the time they are needed, since the herbs must be gathered for the specific disease or poison.  Finding the correct herbs takes 1d4 hours. 

At 7^th level, the hunter may make potions just like a magic-user.  The costs will typically run about 200 gp and two weeks of time per level of the spell the potion emulates, but the referee can set costs or require special ingredients as he sees fit. 

Stronghold: At 9^th level, the hunter may construct a stronghold.  This will typically be a place of natural beauty with natural defenses, such as a cliff overlooking a waterfall.  Once the stronghold is constructed, the hunter will attract 1d6 hunters of levels 1-3, and 2d4 animal companions, some of which may be magical in nature (e.g., a werebear or pegasus) at the referee’s discretion.

Alternatively, a hunter may opt to receive a title and construct a fortress as a fighter and gain normal men-at-arms as such.

For the Shaman/Druid, I'm thinking about adopting something similar to what Grognardia came up with (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), and then adapting it to my own purposes. I like the idea that the Neutral powers "steal" clerics from the Law, but that's definitely a new spin on the setting.

It also occurs to me that having created classes for five out of the six main ability scores, I should create a class based on Charisma just to complete the set.