Career paths

There are a number of official character classes that I've dismissed as just mixtures of other, more basic, character classes. It behoves me then to try to show how these basic classes can be combined to produce a result that is at least something like the original model.

The classes that I will concentrate on rebuilding are: Aristocrat (NPC class from the DMG), Barbarian, Bard, Paladin, Ranger and finally Templar, which is the name I give to the role fulfilled by the official Cleric class.

APOLOGIES THIS PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Aristocrat

Many campaigns feature a social setting with a powerful warrior elite, set apart from the common folk not only by their military equipment and training, but also by their social status and their education and cultural accomplishments. The typical historical models for these groups would be the aristocracy of mediaeval Europe or the samurai class of feudal Japan. Such people are trained from an early age in the arts of war, as well as in peaceful skills that are valued by their class and culture, be they cultural and artistic skills, or practical expertise in estate management or court intrigue. For the less exalted members of this class, the peaceful skills may be more mundane, such as the care of horses and battle gear.

You will notice that this career ends up, compared to the core rules Aristocrat, with slightly better attack bonus, overall better saves, though balanced towards Fortitude rather than Will, the same hit points, slightly better skills, and considerably better special abilities, specifically 9 extra feats, access to weapon specialisation and an extra ability score advance. So balanced, this career would be ideal for an aristocratic warrior such as a samurai or noble knight. As well as an extraordinary level of horsemanship, the character could have training in cultural and courtly skills such as literature, heraldry and diplomacy. The progression could also be used for other character roles, such as a wilderness warrior with survival and woodcraft skills.

The obvious way to vary the above scheme would be to alter the balance between Fighter and Expert. Reducing the Expert element would take you closer to a straight Fighter, while increasing the Expert element would make the character less capable of operating as a warrior in a context of enemies of comparable power. Probably the most useful for generating characters to fill roles in a campaign world would be to follow the progression given above for the first few levels, but at later levels, as the character ages and loses some physical edge but gains rank and experience, increase the proportion of Expert to reflect the increasing concentration on the skills of command and the transition to a more courtly role.

Barbarian

A staple of fantasy literature since its earliest days, the wild warrior is a favourite character. This simple career path demonstrates the use of the Berserker prestige class by even mixture with Fighter.

The balance of the career between technique and aggression can be changed by taking the 10 Berserker levels faster, or by forgoing some of them in favour of more Fighter levels. The element that may be missing for some versions of the Barbarian concept is skills, and extra points can be earned by using occasional levels of Expert.

Bard

Drawing on various historical inspirations, the DnD game has created a wandering minstrel archetype featuring spellcasting abilities, performing talents, skills for surviving by the wits and occasionally by the blade, and unique abilities related to music and lore.

***develop a table starting with apprentice level in Expert and Rogue or Fighter. Then develop a level or 2 in all 3 classes and add prestige class for the unique abilities. ***

Druid

This path shows how the Master of the Wild prestige class can combine with a deity-specific Cleric to emulate the core rules Druid.

***Begin with Cleric of the god of nature until qualify for MotW, then two levels of the prestige class for one of cleric up to 10/10. ***

Paladin

This career begins with a base of combat training. It is a demanding path and, from the start, the character should be of lawful good alignment and have a deep devotion to the God of Valour. The character's Wisdom and Charisma modifiers should total +6 - for example a score of 16 in each ability. Further, the character should be human or have at least 10 Intelligence, so that she can have a fair number of skill points. She will need to devote 6 skill points from the first three Fighter levels to the cross-class skill Knowledge (religion), and should also begin advancement in Ride.
Such a paragon of righteous valour and wise devotion can fulfil the requirements to take the prestige class Chosen of the God of Valour as the fourth character level, gaining key paladin abilities such as smite evil and channeling. Taking the second level of this prestige class at level 5 grants the detect evil ability and also fulfils the base attack bonus requirement of the Hero prestige class. By this stage, the character will have 4 feats (5 if human) and any of them could be Mounted Combat. As long as one is, and the character has been continuing to improve her Ride skill to at least 6 ranks, she will meet the requirements for the Hero prestige class. The first level of this class gives the Special Mount ability that is a signature of the paladin at middle levels, and also the aura of courage ability.
The remaining character class that contributes key paladin abilities is Cleric, so this can be taken as the seventh character level, bringing divine spellcasting and the lay on hands ability. It will also bring two domain powers, one of which could be a free feat - Weapon Focus (longsword).
Further levels of the Hero prestige class bring the charisma bonus to saving throws and an improvement in the power of the special mount, and through the mid-to-high levels additional levels of Chosen, Cleric and Hero improve combat, spellcasting and special abilities. Since all 3 of these classes suffer from having no improvement to attack bonus or saving throws at level 5, and Cleric also has none at level 7, then instead of CotGoV5 in the pattern that is estblished, it is suggested to take Fighter 4 to stiffen combat abilities at higher levels with an extra point of BAB and Weapon Specialisaton (longsword).

Note that the career given here is not a perfect substitute for the Paladin of the core rules. In particular the base attack bonus is considerably worse, the hit points are over 15% down, lay on hands is cut back and more powerful clerical abilities such as the number of 3rd and 4th level spells, and caster and turning levels are reduced. However, saving throws are on balance better, there are more feats to make up the combat abilities, and more low-level spells with a wider spell list. Also the additional special abilities introduced for CotGoV, Bless Longsword and Holy Avenger, will combine with the fuller range of divine buff spells to make the paladin a supernaturally-enhanced warrior to compare well with a mundane fighter.

Variations - this career has been assembled to give all the main abilities, including the most advanced special mount, casting of level 4 spells, and ability to use a Holy Avenger, while having the best possible combat abilities compatible with all these. If you want a fuller set of paladin-style spells and spell-like abilities, take the final level of Chosen of the God of Valour instead of Fighter 4. If you want a better combatant, you will have to sacrifice other abilities, and probably levels of Cleric should be the ones to go, or perhaps Hero 5, with extra levels of Fighter being taken instead. If you are prepared to wait an extra level for the prestige class abilities, you can have earlier spellcasting, less demand on ability scores and more efficient use of skill points if you take a level of Cleric before going into Chosen of the God of Valour.

Ranger

***start apprentice Fighter/Rogue? two-weapon fighting and tracking feats. Then add levels of Hunter and Cleric with animal and plant domains. ***

Shaolin Monk

*** start apprentice Fighter/Expert, then add approximately equal balance of Ki Master and Mind-body Adept. Perhaps some Fighter still. ***

Templar

***start apprentice Fighter/Cleric, then add levels as appropriate to get the right balance. Probably mainly Cleric. ***