Player's Handbook, Chapter Three

Today, we will talk about character classes. There are a few things to note right off the bat: First, there are no 'subclasses' anymore; barbarians are not connected with fighters, and druids are a separate beast from clerics. So, all classes are just that: Classes. No subclasses. It's not a big deal, just something I noticed real quick.

The second thing I noticed is that standardization is the core of this game. They are standardizing a LOT of stuff here. The most noticeable one thus far is that all eleven classes use the exact same experience point table. It doesn't matter if you're a wizard, a fighter, a monk or a rogue, you're using the same XP requirements for every class. And every class gets a feat every 3rd level. And an ability score increase every 4th level. I'm not sure I like this very much. One of the things I've heard a lot about 3rd edition (and other variants of it, such as Pathfinder and 5th edition D&D) is that there is an issue with 'game balance', where the goal was to have characters of the same level but different classes be just as effective as the other. Well, 1st and 2nd edition had a method for dealing with this issue: Differing XP tables for each class.

For example, let's say you are a 1st edition cleric. At 150,000 XP, you're 8th level. You've got 4th-level spells, you're pretty good at turning undead, and you've probably got a magical weapon and armor plus a few other toys to assist you in fighting the forces of evil. The fighter is also 8th level. But the druid...he's 10th level at the same number of XP. So he's dropping fifth level spells. Meanwhile, the paladin is lagging behind at 7th level, while the magic-user is actually at 9th. So, there's a bit more of a balance between the classes, since their abilities are coming at different XP totals rather than everyone having the same levels. And this gets even more pronounced at higher levels, as thieves top out at needing 220,000 XP to gain a level, while the wizard is needing a full 375,000 XP to move up after they hit name level. That is a massive difference, which reflects the different power levels of the two classes.

Well, in 3rd edition, that doesn't happen anymore. First of all, the XP requirements are much lower than they were in earlier editions; the fastest XP chart in 1e was for the thief, who needed 1,250 XP to get to second level. 3rd edition has everyone moving up to 2nd level at a mere 1,000 XP. Now, there are no prime requisite bonuses in 3rd edition like there were in first, but that's not going to offset the massive drop in XP requirements. 190,000 XP will get you 20th level in ANY class; that's what a thief needs to get to 10th level, and the poor paladin is stuck at 8th. So, there is a definite power creep in 3rd edition right from the start.

Setting all of that aside, let's take a look at the classes themselves. They are, in alphabetical order: Barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard. We've already met most of them in the Countdown articles, so I'll focus on the ones we haven't met yet, and just touch on some new info about the others.

Barbarians are the bad boys of the new game, with d12 hit dice and a decent number of skills. They can't use heavy armor (or at least, they aren't proficient with it), but they can use simple and martial weapons, as well as other armor and shields. Their abilities were pretty well covered in the Countdown article, so we'll check out the bard.

Bards have the mid-tier base attack bonus chart, and don't gain any other special abilities besides what was discussed in the Countdown article. The bard song is better described, and there are quite a few variants on it that you can gain over time as you improve your Perform skill. There's a note that bards who become lawful can't advance as bards anymore, although they don't lose what they already have.

Clerics are just as they were in the Countdown; nothing new to add here.

Druids weren't covered in the Countdown, so let's see what we have. First druids get a lot of special class abilities, many of them related to the wild shape ability. Starting at 5th level, druids can change their shape into a small or medium-sized animal. As they advance in levels, they can do it more often, or gain different and more powerful shapes, such as a Huge animal or even an elemental. A druid's alignment is no longer restricted to true neutral; as long as they have a neutral component in their alignment (lawful neutral, neutral good, etc.) they can be a druid. I think this is a good change, although purists may disagree. They, like clerics, also get 9th-level spells now, and I can't wait to see how powerful they are. The rest of their class abilities are pretty much what they were in earlier editions, adapted to the new rules. So they have 'woodland stride' (pass without trace), nature sense (identify plants and animals), resist nature's lure (save bonus vs. fey spells), venom immunity, and timeless body. Oh, and they also get an animal companion at 1st level, which is basically a big familiar or bodyguard. Quite handy.

Fighters are what they are; they fight. Their new abilities with feats have already been discussed.

Monks have a whole raft of special abilities. Many of them are updates from the 1e version of the class (wholeness of body, leap of the clouds, slow fall), but there are a few new ones such as Empty Body (become ethereal!) and Perfect Self (the monk becomes an outsider, which is an extraplanar creature type). So, that's quite something. They also get lots of unarmed bonuses, and at higher levels can have up to five attacks in a single round, all doing 1d20 points of damage. Ouch.

Paladins get most of their original abilities, such as lay on hands and remove disease, not to mention a special mount. Their protection from evil ability has been replaced with a protection from fear aura, giving allies a bonus on saving throws against fear. Meanwhile, paladins are immune to fear. This was an ability of the cavalier class from Unearthed Arcana, which was bolted onto the paladin as well. Paladins still have to be lawful good at all time, and have to follow a code of conduct or lose their paladin abilities. Like a cleric, they can turn undead (starting at 3rd level). Their one new ability is Smite Evil, which they can do but once per day. It just means you add your Charisma modifier to your attack roll and your paladin level to your damage on one attack. Just one. And it only works if the target is actually evil; if you accidentally attack a neutral creature, the smite is wasted. Well, that's disappointing. And the ability never gets any more uses per day even at 20th level. Which is even more disappointing.

Rangers were already covered, although I will mention their special fighting ability, in which they automatically gain the benefits of the Ambidexterity and Two-Weapon Fighting feats when they are in light or no armor. They have to fight with two actual, separate weapons, not a double-headed weapon like a double sword or a quarterstaff. But still, it's an effective ability and one I'm glad is there. Oh, I forgot to mention: Track is now a feat, which anyone can take, but rangers get it automatically as a bonus feat. Other than that, though, they don't get much else besides multiple favored enemies.

Rogues were already covered; they have a lot of class skills and get some ridiculous sneak attack damage at high levels.

Sorcerers are new, and were discussed in a Countdown issue. Like wizards, they get familiars, and their spells are innate rather than learned in a spellbook. Great for players who like to just blast things; not so much for the ones who prefer versatility.

Finally, the Wizard. They get bonus feats the same way a fighter does, although it's a different list and it's every 5th level. An interesting change in 3e is that wizards (and sorcerers) can wear armor, but they will suffer a penalty to their spellcasting in the form of a percentage chance that the armor will confound their spell and waste it. I don't think it's worth the risk myself, but then, I am a traditionalist who likes it when the spells go off as they are expected to. Other opinions may vary. The wider selection of protective gear is good, especially if you're out of spells anyway. Throw on some leather armor and give yourself a better chance of surviving (not to mention that you won't be automatically targeted as a spellcaster if you're wearing armor and not casting any spells).

Lastly, there's a section on multiclassing, which we covered before.

The last thing I'm going to mention about the classes is that each class description has a starting package to help new players. It lists their armor, weapons, feats and spells known (if any), as well as equipment and how it's carried. There's even a list of appropriate skills that can be picked from, so you can get to playing that much faster. What's more, there are variations for each race included, not just the default race (dwarf fighter, elf wizard, halfling rogue, etc.). So regardless of the kind of character you want to play, you can just copy out the stuff from the starter package related to your race and class, and you are on your way. Again, this is a great new feature and one I heartily approve of.

Okay, so I'm going to continue my character creation here, and my half-orc needs a job. Considering the abilities he's got, I'm going to pick something a bit out of the ordinary; I'm going to make him a ranger. I like the two-weapon idea, but I'm not keen on him using swords. Maybe he'll be an archer, although with his Strength bonus he'd be better in melee.

So, now that I have a race and class, let's assign his ability scores. Obviously, I'm dropping the 16 in Strength; his +2 racial adjustment makes that an 18. Being more comfortable in the wilderness, he doesn't need to worry about the social graces, so I'll use Charisma as his dump stat and put the 9 there; his -2 penalty makes that a 7. The rest of the abilities will shake out as follows:

Strength: 18

Dexterity: 11

Constitution: 15

Intelligence: 12

Wisdom: 14

Charisma: 7

As a ranger, he needs higher wisdom to cast his best spells, and he's going to be more of a brute-force fighter than an archer, so I'll leave the Dex at an average amount. The Intelligence of 14 was reduced to 12 (racial penalty), but he still gets a bonus skill point. Looking over the starting package gives me a few ideas, but I'm going to wait until I get to each chapter to pick his stuff; Point Blank Shot doesn't seem to be ideal for a character that I expect will be primarily a melee fighter. He starts with the maximum of 12 hit points (d10 + Con bonus of +2), and his base AC is 10.

He automatically gets the benefits of Two-Weapon Fighting and Ambidexterity if he uses light armor, so I'll be keeping his armor on the light side. Maybe a higher Dex would have been a better idea. He also gets the Track feat automatically, and his first favored enemy will be...giants. I've always seen ogres as an ideal choice to use in adventures for any level of characters; low-level characters will have a titanic battle with a single ogre, while higher-level characters will encounter them as elite guards for tough bosses. So they make a great favored enemy for rangers, who can expect to run into them a lot.

And that's going to wrap up our brief overview of the new classes in 3rd edition D&D. Next time, we'll look at Skills and how the new, non-optional system works. This should be fun.