C is for Classes

C is for Classes

A character's class in D&D represents a basic outline of their background, skills, and adventuring profession.  Players have been adding new classes since the early days of gaming.  There are multiple classes that have been printed in Dragon and other magazines.  When we originally developed Toldara for 3E there were several classes we wanted to add to the standard list.  

 

Assassin: I know there was a magic-using prestige class in 3E but I wanted a standard class like AD&D.  I never got around to getting this one done.  I did download a few Assassins from other players and some were very cool. 

 

Battle Mage: A combination of fighter and wizard that could enchant his own weapons and those of his allies. 

 

Elementalist: A character that harnesses the powers of the elements.

 

Priest: The Cleric represents the armor clad divine caster so why not have a robe wearing divine caster that performs miracles, cast spells, and can bless or curse people?

 

Witch: There has been a ton of Witch classes over the years.  We wanted something that represented the fantasy vision of a witch.  Someone that could put hexes on their enemies and had a familiar; only a limited list like cat, bat, and rat.  Play up the fantasy stereotype.

 

I believe only two of these were every fully detailed by one of us.  The other three saw various stages of detail but were never completed.  We continued to work on them with D&D 3.5E but mostly abandoned them when we got the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and the Advanced Players Guide.  My initial thoughts on converting any missing classes to B/X are detailed below.

 

Human Classes

 

Assassin: Look to the Blackmoor Supplement for inspiration.

 

Barbarian: Base it off the fighter but give them the ability to rage and more XP required to advance.

 

Bard: Not sure if I want to include this or not.  I think it may be worth looking into.

 

Monk or Mystic: It has been around since the early days.  I am thinking that it might better fit as a more western style monk.

 

Priest: Not sure what to do with this one. 

 

Witch: I think it will be much easier to do for B/X.  I am thinking of a spell caster with a familiar that is a bat, cat, or rat.  Each familiar would map to one of the three alignments.

 

 

Demi Human Classes



 

Anshu: Feline humanoids.

 

Gnome: I have never really used them so I do not know what to do with them.

 

Half-Elf: I probably need to do up a half-elf class because several players have used them.

 

Half-Orc: Human and Orc hybrid with a social stigma and some of the Barbarian abilities.

 

Karnin: Canine humanoids.

 

Oranian: A winged bird-like race from the Oran Mountains.

 

Slarn: Lizard Men.

 

That should cover all of the bases and give plenty of extra and custom options for the world of Toldara.  I am not even worried about a Psionic class or the chance of some sort of Psionic ability for characters so I am not even going to bother putting it on the list.

 

[Toldara] House Rules - Character Generation

After a long absence of too many years, I returned to role playing games with the release of D&D 3E.  One of the first things I did was start work on a campaign world, Toldara, for my own games.  With the release of 3.5, the rules bits of the setting had to be adjusted in a few areas.  Eventually, Pathfinder came out and I found myself tinkering with another 3.X iteration of the game.   

I enjoy playing the 3.X/Pathfinder versions of the game but I want less book keeping and rules referencing the older I get.  I have fiddled around with a few of the other games to see what they have to offer.  I like the idea of Microlite20 but I do want just a little more crunch than that; it is a great game regardless.  C&C may be "just right" but I need to purchase my own copy of the rules to make sure.  I have been looking at the retroclones to see which one catches my eye.  Of course, which ever game I decided on will include house rules and this is what I have decided on so far.   

Rules System

The Toldara campaign will be powered by the Basic Fantasy rules.  Following the link will take you to the downloads page that contains rules, supplements, adventures, and more.

Ability Score Generation

The generation of ability scores is done by rolling 9D6 and then splitting them up into sets of 3D6.  The three scores generated are then assigned to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution.  Another 9D6 is rolled and then split up among Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma using the previous method.  After all of the scores are generated the racial modifiers are applied to the scores.  The rolls must be used on the abilities rolled for and can not be switched between groups.

Hit Points

All beginning first-level characters begin play with the maximum available hit points according to the appropriate hit die for the class and any modifiers gained from the Constitution score.

Races

All of the core Basic Fantasy races will be available for play plus the addition of the following:

• The Gnome, Goblin, Half-Elf, Half-Orc (with appropriate changes), and Lizard Man (Slarn on Toldara) from the supplements on the download page. 
• The Anshu, Karnin, and Oranian races will need to be converted to the Basic Fantasy standard.

Classes

All of the core Basic Fantasy classes will be available for play plus the addition of the following:

• The Assassin, Barbarian, Druid, Illusionist, Necromancer, Paladin, Ranger, Scout, and Sorcerer classes.

Of course, this is all a work in progress.  As play progresses, things may change further.

2D6: Class, Role, etc.

After a player selects the race of their character and generates the attribute ratings, the next step in the character creation process is the selection of character class or role.  In my 2D6 system, this class or role will basically be a bundled together group of talents and a few other options that help to mold the character into a more focused direction.

I am attempting to detail the classes or roles in a manner that does not straight jacket the character into being useful in only limited situations.  Yes, I want the characters to be "better" or "best" in certain situations BUT I also want there to be situations where other classes would better handle the situation so the team aspect is encouraged.  

My initial impression on how the class or role information will be formatted is detailed below.

Name: The name of the class or role followed by a few sentences explaining the functions of that class.

Talents: The bundle of talents that will be the core building blocks of that class or role.

Other: A short list of special abilities, bonuses, and penalties related to characters playing this class or role.  This will include stuff like clerical healing, the ability to detect evil, or other similar abilities.  (This should be where the difficulty columns of the Action Result Table get the most use.  For instance, on a successful roll in the Hard column against knowledge, a mage can decipher a magic scroll.)

I would like a healthy amount of variation among the classes or roles so the players will have plenty of options to choose from.  A few ideas for the list of classes or roles are listed below:

Barbarian: a warrior of the wild that is prone to fly into an uncontrollable rage during combat.

Bard: a traveling minstrel type character desiring fame and fortune.

Cleric: a warrior-priest.

Druid: a nature priest.

Elementalist: a mage that uses the forces of the elements to aid him.

Knight: a noble warrior.

Mage: a worker of arcane magic.

Monk: a spiritual warrior that commonly groups together in a monastery.

Paladin: a holy warrior.

Ranger: a warrior of the woods; typically prefers bows.

Thief: an adventurer typically from the "wrong side of the tracks".

Warrior: a typical sword for hire.

Witch: a misunderstood magic user that is often thought to be evil.

That is just a basic list showing the general idea; not much detail yet and I am sure that much of it will eventually change.  I just needed to get it out there.  Besides, I still have a list of talents to complete.  More later...