Post by talysman on May 21, 2013 14:12:20 GMT -6
In the discussion about approaches to simplifying the "busy-ness" (thanks, machfront!) of the usual subclasses, I mentioned briefly my own approach to building minimalist subclasses. It's a technique that's still evolving, but I thought it might be interesting to spawn a new thread and present what I've been using so far.
The genesis of my approach came from some really old blog posts where I tried to describe the four main classes in terms of exactly two abilities each. Eventually, this evolved into what I call the "build-a-class" table, which I'll try to summarize here so that people don't have to follow the link.
There are three main class types: Combat, Magic, Support, plus ... "Turning"; I haven't really settled on a name for that fourth mode, but it's basically the idea of relying on influence over others for your class abilities. It's the Cleric, but using the "Cleric Without Spells" approach (Cleric uses Turn Undead to influence spirits to cast spells.) Turning is used in hybrids of the main three classes (Combat + Turning, etc.) which use the highest XP advancement rate and the lowest HD advancement rate of the two combo classes. Combat+Magic, Combat+Support, and Magic+Support are also possible hybrids. All hybrids have a subset of the abilities of their source classes, possibly re-skinned, so there are thousands of potential classes built from these rules:
Classes I've built so far include a Sage, Miner, Smith, Beast-Master, Bard (using Turning for Charm abilities,) Leech (healer,) Necromancer, Alchemist/Witch, and the already-mentioned Hunter.
I've also been playing with a couple more ideas, like holy orders or limited elf-like multi-classing as forms of prestige class, or cultural classes (Barbarian, Cavalier/Elite Warrior, Noble, Tourist, Fool) that work a little differently and have more limitations.
The genesis of my approach came from some really old blog posts where I tried to describe the four main classes in terms of exactly two abilities each. Eventually, this evolved into what I call the "build-a-class" table, which I'll try to summarize here so that people don't have to follow the link.
There are three main class types: Combat, Magic, Support, plus ... "Turning"; I haven't really settled on a name for that fourth mode, but it's basically the idea of relying on influence over others for your class abilities. It's the Cleric, but using the "Cleric Without Spells" approach (Cleric uses Turn Undead to influence spirits to cast spells.) Turning is used in hybrids of the main three classes (Combat + Turning, etc.) which use the highest XP advancement rate and the lowest HD advancement rate of the two combo classes. Combat+Magic, Combat+Support, and Magic+Support are also possible hybrids. All hybrids have a subset of the abilities of their source classes, possibly re-skinned, so there are thousands of potential classes built from these rules:
- Combat: Fighter XP, Fighter HD, any weapons/armor. Drop one weapon class (one-hand meleé, two-hand melée, pole, ranged) and reduce armor to Leather in combos (restrict to No Armor, for Combat + Magic.)
- Support: Cleric XP, Thief HD, support abilities (stealth, cunning, surprise attack) or re-skinned versions of them. Drop one support ability in combos.
- Magic: Magic-User XP, Magic-User HD, use spells and magic items. Restrict spells to one theme and either restrict casting/prep to scrolls only (or other consumable) or otherwise limiting the prep method or casting ability.
- Turning: Cleric XP, Cleric HD, ability to turn/command creatures, limited to a given theme (undead and spirits, beasts, plants, people, etc.)
Classes I've built so far include a Sage, Miner, Smith, Beast-Master, Bard (using Turning for Charm abilities,) Leech (healer,) Necromancer, Alchemist/Witch, and the already-mentioned Hunter.
I've also been playing with a couple more ideas, like holy orders or limited elf-like multi-classing as forms of prestige class, or cultural classes (Barbarian, Cavalier/Elite Warrior, Noble, Tourist, Fool) that work a little differently and have more limitations.