New Classes

Here is a list of New Classes I am preparing to add to the RPGs I run. These classes are divided into four settings, but you can take any of them.

A brief summary is provided. Full details, when written, will be available on request, or the classes will receive their own pages.

Occasionally my ideas are jotted down as reminders for classes not yet finished.

I will probably publish the full details of the classes in proper campaign sourcebooks.

Also see Racial Classes

HEROES OF THE SUNDERING
''The Gods That Were wove a great spell of peace before leaving the world, binding their successors in unity. But each younger god is determined to rule alone. A trick, and the first one falls. The spell breaks. The pantheon divide. The planes are colliding. The multiverse will burn.''

These classes are from the 2nd Age of the World. The main campaign takes place in the 4th Age, but these classes are also available to you.

Alchemist
...

Avenger
...

Binder
d8, light or medium armour. Arcane caster to L9 spells, with Wisdom. When a god or powerful mortal is lost, exiled or destroyed, sometimes a trace of them remains in the void between worlds. Binders call upon those traces and channel their power. The bound being grants spells prepared, like for the Elementalist or Invoker, and the Binder can rebind different beings on a short rest (or quicker, with archetype). Mostly defensive/utility spells but can bind beings granting skills, some control spells and melee ability.

Why not just play a Cleric/Warlock/Wizard?

Flavour; repreparation mechanic; party role somewhere in between the casters and flexible during the day; doesn't specialise in any one thing but can change multiple minor specialisms

Engineer
d6, unarmoured. Creates anything from traps to clockwork steeds to entire dungeons. Crafts various items, often over a short rest. Capable of making minor constructs to act as body shields and allies in battle.

Why not play a... Some other class? Because no other class does this, the closest could be a summoner wizard, but what if I don't want be magical, or I want to have permanent creations?

Favoured
d8, light armour. Functions like a divine Sorceror with spells to L9, un-versatile but with immense firepower on their chosen spells. The chosen war-champion of a deity. (Clerics generically serve the pantheon for guarded peacetime)

Why not just play a Cleric or Sorceror? A player may want to be specialist in a particular few spells or a niche role a Cleric is too general for; May want the teamplay and healing of a divine caster with the augmentation of metamagic, in trade for versatility and utility

Invoker
d6, unarmoured. Thematically the opposite of the Favoured, functionally like the Elementalist with L9 spells (mostly Cleric spells). Invokers 'borrow' power from 1-4 gods at once, changing their power source and prepared spells on a short rest (or quicker with archetype). Wisdom.

Why not just play a Cleric or Warlock? Stealing from the actual gods themselves is cool; Might want to focus on divine spells themselves as opposed to the Cleric's "automatically a tank"; May want some Warlock's selfish flavour but with a divine caster's spell style; Forgoes a flexible spell list for the rebinding mechanic

HEROES OF LIGHTHOLD
''A brave new world. A great and terrible war to forget. Many scars to heal. Fledgling civilisations spread under a new pantheon of united but inexperienced gods. A time of relative peace and rediscovery. But new powers rise, and the malevolent forces who rent the cosmos asunder may be buried, but are far from dead...''

These classes are from the 4th Age of the world, where the main campaign of the Lighthold setting takes place.

Archivist
d8, light or medium armour, casts L9 divine spells (Cleric initially) but in the wizard's style, using Int. Can collect other divine spells e.g from the Druid or Sage. Has the class feature Dark Knowledge, calling out the secret weaknesses of foes and giving allies advantage.

Why not just play a Cleric or Wizard? Doesn't rely on gods but does have a divine caster's team-buff/heal role; Flexible rather than specialised

Bladedancer
d8 or d10, light armour or Cha to AC if unarmoured. Dances in a flurry of blades in battle, functioning as barbarian rage. Plays like a barbarian (with some monk and rogue elements), trading raw power for finesse, skill, and dilettance. Archetypes include increasingly reckless attacking, evasive maneuvers, shadowdancing, or tapping into arcane magic.

Gets Battlemaster manoeuvres?

Why not just play a Barbarian/Rogue/Monk/Fighter? ... If the Barbarian and Monk have their own classes for a particular battle style (smashy bashy and eastern martial arts), why shouldn't a Bladedancer? Distinct enough to be more than just an archetype: A fighter shouldn't suddenly ditch armour at level 3 because now they can use their charisma. What if I want to use weapons and dashing swashbuckler rather than be a meditant hermit?

Elementalist/Primalist
d8, light armour. Can cast up to L9 spells using Charisma, mostly Druid spells, by channelling fragments of one or more lost Primordial beings (up to 4 eventually). On a short rest (or more often with archetype) they can swap which beings they are bound to and change their prepared spells.

Why not just play a Druid?

Raising or preventing the raising of dead beings, power stealer, not having to be animals, not respecting nature

Runepriest
d8, medium or heavy armour. The gods may be gone, but they left traces. As divine fades to arcane, the Runepriest picks up the mantle of service and taps into the lost words of creation. Like a defensive-only cleric, casts to L9 spells. Casts runes of protection and buffing on allies. Has Runescribe mechanic to recover spells on one short rest a day like the Wizard's Arcane Recovery. (?)

Why not just play a Cleric? (Apart from the fact the Cleric no longer exists) ...

Sage
d6, unarmoured. Divine bard. Casts to L9 spells.Not a slippery troubadour but a living inspiration. Spell choice even less aggressive (no charm or dominate person) but recovers some spell slots on a short rest once per day, like the Wizard's Arcane Recovery.

Why not just play a Bard? ...

Swordmage
d8 or d10, medium or heavy armour, combines mêlée with arcane magic, casts to L5 spells like the Paladin. Archetypes are the Duskblade who casts damaging spells as they hit, the Hexblade who curses and debuffs with more utility spells, and the Shieldmage who can for example cast Shield on allies and defends the party from mêlée attackers.

Why not just play an Eldritch Knight? The Swordmage is somewhere in between the EK and a Wizard. Why should magic just be an afferthought? Puts equal focus on spells and combat (who needs extra attacks with more spells?); Hexblade's debuffs and Shieldmage's ally-buffs offer completely different party roles than an EK

HEROES OF THE LOST WINTER
''They're gone. No gods, no leaders, no trace to follow. A biting cold as life begins to fade. New powers rise in the dark, nightmares haunt the bleak outside world, and the line between real and unreal begins to unravel...''

These are from a different campaign setting to the Lighthold world but are also available.

Ardent
d6, light armour. Psionic bard. Up to L9 spells with Cha. Empath channelling and controlling the tides of hope or fear. Less about charm/dominate than buffing and debuffing. Limited healing.

Why not just play a Bard? ...

Echomind
d6, unarmoured or light armour. Psionic caster to L9 spells using Intelligence. Powerful psionicists and other beings can ascend past mortal form to become Uncarnate. Their minds linger on, watching the world. An Echomind can contact these ascended minds and fuse their minds together for power and knowledge. Eventually an Echomind can transcend their mortal form and become partially Uncarnate themselves. Works like a Psionic Binder, but less creepy and more cerebral.

Why not just play a Warlock or Wizard? ...

Psion
d6, unarmoured. See Psionics. Casts to L9 spells using Intelligence. Plays somewhere between a Wizard and a Sorceror. Knows limited in-built spells (4-22, as the Bard), plus those from a particular Discipline (like a Cleric Domain or Druid Circle). The most and versatile of the psionic fullcasters.

Why not just play a Wizard or Sorceror? ...

Psychic Warrior
d10, medium or heavy armour, casts Psionics to L5 spells using Wisdom. Combining mental and physical prowess, their psionic powers are mostly self-buff.

Why not just play an Eldritch Knight or Paladin? ...

Shifter
d10, unarmoured, light or medium armour. Mêlée shapeshifter. Taps into the unused parts of their own mind to overwrite their body and mutate their body into either disguise or a nightmarish form. Does not receive spells or spell points, primarily using 1-4 mutations (chosen like an Echomind chooses Uncarnates, on a short rest, or quicker with archetype), but does get some spells and utility abilities via Manifestations (as the Lurk/Warlock Invocations).

Why not just play a Fighter? ...

Zenith
d8, light or medium armour. If the Ardent's area of influence is the emotions, hope and fear, the Zenith's areas are truths - causes - concepts. A little like a psionic cleric, choosing a Mantle (Domain), although have less flexibility than a cleric as they will only learn up to 15 spells. buffer/debuffer/utility caster with melee ability. Limited healing.

Gets domain type abilities (eg proficiencies, wis to damage, detect at will, etc.). instead?

Why not just play a Cleric? (Apart from the fact the Cleric no longer exists) ...

HEROES OF AVERON
...

=== Aethermancer === d6, unarmoured, casts L9 arcane spells like Sorceror but using Wis. stealthy. Not aggressive. mostly travel/utility, some control. Specialises in either shadowcasting or dreamcasting and has defence, control and travel/escape class features.

Why not just play a Sorceror? Some players like the more niche abilities such as manipulation of dreams; Spells and class features are suited to careful control instead of mindless blasting; Wisdom-based character has a more reflective, advisory social role

Dilletante/Socialite
...

Hexer
...

Knight
d12, heavy armour. The opposite of a Barbarian. Entering a Martial Stance requires your bonus actions to maintain and halves your movement but provides resistance to damage and 2-4 renewable temporary HP each round. Later levels allow the learning of more advanced stances (resisting all damage but psychic, getting 2-4 bonuses on saves, checks, creating difficult terrain around them, and other defensive abilities)

Why have a Knight class at all and not just use a Fighter? ... If Fighter's meant to be the only martial mêlée class and general enough to cover everyone who uses weaponry and armour... What's a barbarian? (Or even monk and rogue?) ... ... What if I want a fighting style which is more than "loads of attacks" (fighter) or "I'm angry so I hit really hard" (barbarian) ... ... Knight fights but takes a passive, defensive role in combat, protecting allies, luring and counterattack. Not just "I'm a fighter so I hit things a lot" ... ... "But we already have the Paladin", yeah, who has magic all over the place, and spells. Some players like an all-mundane class, some a mechanic other than yet more spells ... ... Interesting Mechanic of switching defence styles and managing 'do I move fast and end t stance or move slow and risk flanking/allies attacked etc. Must anticipate which style is best for the approach, for upcoming mêlée, etc. ... ... Different tactical choices, different role, different mindset

Marshal
d10, medium armour or heavy with archetype. Forgoing raw combat power for team-leadership. Uses both Bardic Inspiration Die and team-based Fighter Battle Master's Manoeuvres.

Why not just play a Bard or Fighter? A player wants to buff her teammates, but should have to be a magical troubadour musician with level nine spells as well?; Likes the theme of a Fighter who doesn't just give the odd instruction but who dedicates their career to teamwork

Scout
d8, light armour. Somewhere between a spell-less Ranger and a Rogue. Keeping on the move allows her to use 'Skirmish' damage (up to 5d6) as she strafes enemies. Excellent out-of-combat and explorative features.

Why not just play a Rogue or Ranger? Some would like a wilderness wanderer who isn't magic again; Not every world has magic oozing so uncontrollably you get "I'm in touch with nature, ooh, now I'm magic at level 2"; The rogue lacks any wisdom abilities or outdoors skills; A more dedicated role to play than "I'm a slippery fellow"; An interesting mechanic makes the Scout function differently from Rogue or Ranger in combat

Erudite
NOW A PSION VARIANT

d6, unarmoured. Psionic Wizard. Casts from their Mindscape (a mental spellbook). They can learn any psionic spell from a willing or incapacitated mind and add it to their mindscape. Does not prepare a limited list of spells but begins the day with every spell they know open to them. However, they can only use a very limited number of different spells each day: each time they cast, they use up a 'unique spell per day'. (Having 1-10 or 1-6 of these through their career). When their Unique allotment is used up, they can keep casting as long as they have spell points, but only out of the list of spells they have already used that day.

Wilder
NOW A PSION VARIANT

d8, unarmoured. Psionic sorceror. Casts to L9 with Charisma. Has Psionics, mental powers using spell points instead of slots, which manifest without training or discipline. Can use metamagic like the Sorceror but using their normal spell point reserve (within limits). Inflexible (only learn up to 15 spells) but powerful within their role.

Why not just play a Sorceror? The flexibility and management challenge of the spell point system as opposed to slots; The flavour of mental manipulative powers rather than "hey look I was born funny! BOOM"

Expert
SPLIT INTO ALCHEMIST (SUNDERING), ENGINEER (SUNDERING), AND SOCIALITE (AVERON)

d6, unarmoured. A civilian who is excellent at their craft. Although a civilian, they have some use in a battle: an Alchemist can duplicate bombs and potions, a Crafter/Engineer can make miniature constructs to fight or perform tasks, a Scholar can call out an enemy's weakness to give allies advantage on attacks, checks, saves etc., and a Socialite can calm or charm the foe into submission or trick foes into fighting each other. Very competent skill money. Able Learner feature allows them to gain a few more combative proficiencies or cantrips as they adventure.

Lurk
(Stealth/Sneakiness theme absorbed into Psychic Warrior, Subpsionic theme absorb into Psion as 'Cipher' Discipline?)

Or 'Cipher', d6, light armour. Psionic, casts like Warlock to L5 and limited L9 spells, but using Wisdom. In the corner of your eye. The back of your mind. A Lurk taps into the unused, unguarded spaces of your mind, the metamind, the subpsionic. The hidden fears and dark spaces. Lurks are mostly a control/debuff caster focussed on stealth and controlling single targets. Apart from their spells and spell points, they also have Manifestations (like Warlock Invocations).

Why not just play a Warlock? ...

Reaper
Absorbed into Swordmage

Soulknife
Absorbed into Shifter

Swordmage (Split)
Split into Duskblade, Hexblade and Shieldmage. (Rejected: stay combined)