Classes

Method

Classes/subclasses must be approved by the DM and may require minor modification based on the homebrew setting. At some point, classes may be significantly modified; see Thoughts on Game Design below.

Thoughts on Game Design

Meta-Narrative

Fifth Edition D&D (5E) incorporates “meta-narrative” as an intrinsic part of its design to help generalize what can be complex ideas and rule sets. Both Race and Class (and, to a degree, published Adventures) are structured by stories (implied or explicit) on how the world works and how individuals exemplify their natures and destinies.

Class

Along with Race, the most distinguishing feature of Dungeons and Dragons is Class. In 5e, Classes have a very structured meta-narrative emerging from the design of character progression. In Basic, 1e, and the beginnings of 2e, Class was a combat role with a relatively small ability set. When characters progressed, they gained the ability to deal, receive, and otherwise mitigate more damage, and got better with their class-specific abilities (usually just a couple). There really wasn’t much of a set destiny for a character, other than spellcasters who could potentially cast high-level spells and warriors who did multiple attacks. There was a skeleton of a meta-narrative as characters received “titles” for their level advancement, but this was mostly “flavor” that had little-to-no mechanical influence before 9th or 10th character level. What truly made characters unique were the adventures they went on and the magical items they gained along the way. What distinguished one fighter from another or one wizard from another were the magical items that gave them bonuses and abilities apart from their Class and Level. Character progression and distinction was necessarily tied to magic item acquisition.

In the years that followed, D&D and other RPG systems explored more of the narrative side of character progression. Instead of relying on external magic items to define a character, characters developed more and more intrinsic qualities and abilities. This also helped with game balance as one could expect characters of a certain level to have a set range of abilities rather than the huge amount of possibilities derived from having magic items (which, again, were necessary to early design). To keep in line with mechanical progression, there was a sort of implied story of progression to each Class as they gained levels and abilities. This is the meta-narrative of how a character gains or receives additional power in the world by the descriptions of the abilities they gain at set milestones (levels). For example, the Rogue (formerly Thief) Class gains abilities early that emphasize a role of the “skilled” character by giving them additional or bonuses to skills as well as being able to “sneak attack”, providing a burst of damage in combat different from other Classes. As the Rogue gains levels, they get the ability to evade damage, take additional “quick” actions, and use magic items normally restricted to other Classes. Every Rogue gets these abilities in the same progression, spelling out the “path of the Rogue” or its meta-narrative.

By the time 5e comes about, this meta-narrative is very intentionally structured into “tiers of play” and attempts to balance the relative abilities of Classes as they gain levels. This takes out any dependency on using magic items to help progress a character and focuses completely on innate abilities. In fact, magic items are not necessary at all in 5e — one can easily play without them. Many times in 5e, all but the most powerful of magic items pale in comparison to innate Class abilities. These Class abilities generally reflect a meta-narrative in the genre of Heroic Fantasy — that the characters are extraordinary beings and have a power and destiny beyond most others in the world. That destiny is carried by a meta-narrative of the progression of power or the development of a “hero” behind the scenes whether or not a given DM chooses to craft adventure narratives around such ideas. In fact, most of the published adventures include an over-arching Heroic Fantasy meta-narrative, too — a destiny that the characters need to fulfill, whether that is defeating a particular villain or saving a city.

Class meta-narratives are tied into D&D even more than Race: Without Classes and their ability progression, it probably wouldn’t feel like Dungeons and Dragons at all. However, the meta-narratives of Class have been seen as limiting the imagination from even the earliest days. Multi-classing, Kits, Subclasses, Prestige Classes, Homebrew Classes…all point to the desire to break out of one of the given meta-narratives and to craft a new meta-narrative or destiny for a particular character. This desire is still strong in 5e. All classes have at least three Archetypes (“Subclasses”) that provide different flavors of meta-narrative to the main Class. Multi-classing (taking levels in multiple Classes) is still popular, too. Taking “Feats” (or “Features”) based on the abilities of other Classes is becoming more and more prominent in the officially published materials as an alternative to multi-classing, increasing more possibilities to shift Class meta-narratives. In any case, meta-narratives of Class both structure and limit the imagination in 5e. While there are plenty of class-less RPG systems, to make D&D so might take away the essence of D&D itself. However, I want to facilitate and encourage the ability to go beyond the current meta-narratives of Class if a player desires. This ties directly into overall 5e game design, so can be tricky without unbalancing or breaking the system.

Like the recent official releases, I feel that taking Feats that replicate features of other classes is likely the best and most balanced way of adjusting the meta-narrative of a Class without disrupting the balance of progression mechanics too much. Feats, then, come more to the forefront of character customization than before. At some point, I anticipate that character progression will have Classes, but choices of Feats or abilities at each Class Level rather than defined Subclasses. If one were to break down every Class/Subclass ability into a Feat, then allow a certain amount of Feats to be chosen along a set progression (with a default set to resemble current Subclasses), I think you may be able to still have a mechanically balanced D&D, still have Classes that feel like D&D, but open it up to way more imaginative characters. I think this may be the future of a Sixth Edition (6e) approach to Classes. While I have not yet jumped in to this task of remaking Classes based on Feats, doing something similar with Race (as above) seems to be a move toward a more open and imaginative game while retaining the “feel” of D&D.

UPDATE 2021-08-01

Recently a friend and fellow D&D gamer brought up Pathfinder 2nd Edition (PF 2E) in a discussion about Race and Class in D&D. While I knew of Pathfinder, I hadn’t explored it much beyond the video game adaptations and what I knew of D&D 3.5, and have never played it at the table. It seems that the Class structure in PF 2E (which came out in 2019, unbeknownst to me), does exactly what I talk about above. What little I have read into PF 2E appears to be an update to the PF system (which is itself derivative of D&D 3.5e) in answer to 5e. Nearly all of character customization is done through Feats, and the progression of Feat acquisition is (in a large part) character advancement. We will see if Wizards of the Coast (WotC) will itself play (or is currently playing) off of PF 2E design for a future D&D edition. However, PF 2E’s answer to Race through “Ancestry and Heritage” is still vulnerable to the criticisms of Race and racial essentialism I’ve made.