Step 3: Class/Race Decisions: Let's start with Class

For a D&D campaign, now I must look at the classes I'll allow my players to use. Why now? Mainly because it is one of the first questions people ask about a setting: What classes can we play? Can I play a (insert here weird, obscure class from an obscure book's appendix)?

For some, this is a very complicated step, for me it isn't. Usually, I allow all classes from the PHB, and for this one, the druid is out. I also like to tone down the cleric a bit by only allowing him to wear only up to medium armor. Heavy will not affect spellcasting, but they must take the feat or a level of another class to be proficient in it. While some of you may complain about this limited choice of classes, I must say that I am 100% open to adapting these classes for you a la Unearthed Arcana. I actually will have to with Paladins to adapt them to an ideal other than LGness. I could do it for Clerics too, but maybe domain will be enough. I'll give them the option either way.

So let's go through the allowed classes and any changes to them in my setting.

Fighters, Bards, Rogue and Rangers are unchanged, and Druids are out.


Barbarians: To me, barbarians don't have to be illiterate fools who can get really mad. They're just fighters who prefer a more chaotic, emotional style of combat. They are regarded as fools by soldiers because of how incompatible this style is to theirs, and as inelegant by most, but they are not necessarily people from outside civilization. That needed saying.


Wizards and Sorcerers: As I said earlier, everybody will be born with a cantrip/orison they'll be able to use (yes, I did go for that), with more spells popping up at higher level (details on the mechanics later). Some people push that gift farther naturally, and master more spells, more powerful spells, and become sorcerers. Some others, however, try to understand the phenomenon, study it, and by doing so understand how to push its boundaries, becoming Wizards. Both do the same thing, it is the way in which they manage to do it that makes the difference between the two. However, the spells people get as a "bonus" at creation is considered included in their spell slots. They're not limited to one spell for that slot, but they don't get a bonus one either. So it works mechanically and thematically, you can't become a sorcerer/wizard if your "gift" is an orison.

Clerics and Paladins: As I said previously, in this setting, Gods don't exist. In this setting, Clerics and Paladins do not represent a god or a church, but a cause. Just as a "regular" setting can have a Cleric of Pelor or of Yondalla, this one will have a Cleric of Strength, or a Cleric of Freedom. Clerics and Paladins are not linked to religion. However, some Clerics and Paladins are highly religious, followers of a faith that is linked to the ideal they serve, but not servants of that religion per se. That is, you could have a Cleric of Generosity that is also a Christian, but no Cleric of Christianity. Same goes for Paladins.

As such, Paladin abilities will most likely have to be rethought to fit their ideal, and Clerics will only get access to a single domain (the domain that represents their cause). The bonus linked to each domain will be enhanced a bit, given that they'll only get one.

Monks: I struggled a lot with them, with what I'd do with them in this setting. Monks are not as clear cut as Clerics and Pallys. They are portrayed as religious, but don't get powers directly from their patron. As such, I'd say monks are not necessarily members of a religion, nor are they necessarily followers of a cause. To me, a Sangoku would be a monk (well, if you bar the whole "shoots lasers" thing), and he isn't an example of any cause or a religious dude. He is just reaaaally serious about martial arts. That's pretty much what monks are in D&D, except we wrap them in religion for some reason. Not in here.

That's pretty much it for classes. I'll have to go more in depth in the mechanics, but that will most likely be a case by case basis. In the next post, we'll look at the different races present in this world, and the social importance of each.