books and base classes [Archive] - Wizards Community

books and base classes [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Charlym_Zuardan
05-04-07, 08:53 PM hey i am looking at purchasing some D&D books in the near future and i see that a lot of them offer new base classes. this really interests me as my group is playing with just core classes (and 2 homebrew) and i would like to give them some more options.

i was wondering though if anyone could give me a quick list of which books give which base classes. just the name of the class should be enough to give me a general idea of what it does but if you want to throw in a quick description of what the class is about that would certainly be helpful too :D

greatly appreciate anyone who takes the time to help me out here :)

edit: I realize that there are tons of books out there, i meant to mention that i'm talking about just the Complete series of books :P
Nightbluejh
05-04-07, 09:18 PM The Player's HandBook 2 contains pretty much all of the new base classes that appeare in the Complete X series and other books.
Charlym_Zuardan
05-04-07, 09:20 PM The Player's HandBook 2 contains pretty much all of the new base classes that appeare in the Complete X series and other books.

thanks, thats great to know!
Crystal Monk
05-04-07, 09:28 PM The Player's HandBook 2 contains pretty much all of the new base classes that appeare in the Complete X series and other books.umm, I don't know why you'd say that. while the PHB2 does contain things that are meant to be used with those classes, such as personality-based stuff and alternate class features, the PHB does not actually contain those classes - the rules and so forth for playing one.

as for the Complete series, Warrior, Adventurer, Arcane, and Divine contain new core classes:
Adventurer: Ninja (self-explanatory), Scout (sort of a ranger-rogue-fighter hybrid), Spellthief (rogue-arcane mix, can steal spells)
Warrior: Hexblade (rogue-arcane-warrior mix, 'curse'-type powers), Samurai (self-explanatory), Swashbuckler (lightly-armored fighter-type)
Divine: Favored Soul (like cleric with sorcerer-style casting), Spirit Shaman (like druid with sorcerer-style casting and spirit abilities), Shugenja (elemental-style cleric)
Arcane: Warlock (arcane-ish class with incantations and blast instead of spells), Warmage (warrior-mage hybrid, focused on hurting people and breaking things), Wu Jen (elemental-style wizard)

Scoundrel and Mage do not have any new core classes. the PHB2 also contains four new core classes:

Beguiler: rogue-arcane mix, focus on illusion and enchantment
Dragon Shaman: dragon-based fighter-cleric with 'aura'-style abilities
Duskblade: warrior-mage hybrid
Knight: warrior-type based on honorable combat and drawing enemies' attacks

hope this answers your question, Charlym.
Charlym_Zuardan
05-04-07, 09:57 PM thank you very much Crystal Monk!

thats exactly what i was looking for and helps me out a ton.
glacialcat
05-04-07, 10:02 PM Here's some more.

Expanded Psionics Handbook
Psion -- INT based manifester, uses a PP system with augmentation, similar to a wizard.
Psychic Warrior -- WIS based manifester, combines martial prowess with buffing powers.
Soulknife -- Create semisolid blades composed of psychic energy
Wilder -- CHA based manifester, limited in versatility, but able to unleash his emotions to create powerful surges of psionic power.

Eberron Campaign Setting
Artificer -- master of creating, using, and manipulating items of both mundane and magical nature.

Heroes of Horror
Dread Necromancer -- Master of undeath, arcane caster with rebuke undead and large emphasis on creating undead.

Archivist -- INT based divine caster, seeker of ancient artifacts and forbidden secrets.

Magic of Incarnum
Incarnate -- manipulates the energy of souls to create magic items.
Soulborn -- similar to the incarnate, but with more martial bent and less actual meldshaping.
Totemist -- similar to an incarnate, but with melds that focus on the strength's found in magical beasts.

Tome of Magic
Binder -- binds forbidden spirits into their body to gain a number of abilities, which abilities they have can be changed each day.
Shadowcaster -- manipulates the power of shadow, spontaneous caster whose spells eventually become spell-like or supernatural.
Truenamer -- A caster based on a skill check, shapes the world by speaking single words.

Tome of Battle
Crusader -- Similar to a paladin, but uses maneuvers instead of spells. Maneuvers can be used to heal, attack, and provide a defensive wall.
Swordsage -- Similar to a monk or rogue, but uses maneuvers which allow it to simulate an akido master, deadly assassin, or desert warrior. It has less direct physical prowess than other Martial Adepts, but makes up for it with mastery of maneuvers not approached by either the Crusader or Warblade.
Warblade -- Similar to a fighter or barbarian, but uses maneuvers which focus on raw skill in combat, being a great leader, or a ferocious berserker.

Complete Psionic
Lurk -- Psionic-powered assassin.
Divine Mind -- Martial character who uses his psionic gifts as a way of worshiping his deity
Ardent -- Philosopher kings, who believe the universe can be defined by certain basic principals and gain power from understanding these principals.
Erudite (technically a variant on psion, but similar enough to its own class) -- similar to a psion, but they are not limited to a small list of powers, potentially being able to learn every power a psion could know. In return they have a much smaller list of things they can do each day.

Dungeonscape
Factotum -- Even more of a Jack of All Trades than a bard. INT based for the most part, they have trapfinding, all skills as class skills, and limited ability to mimic the effects of arcane or divine spells.
Charlym_Zuardan
05-04-07, 10:07 PM Very cool, thanks Glacialcat!

could you give me a quick little description of what the swordsage and warblade are?
glacialcat
05-04-07, 10:25 PM Its hard to give an accurate description of the swordsage and Warblade without explaining the maneuver system introduced in Tome of Battle. Similar to spells in some ways (organized into 9 levels, and limited uses) they are different in numerous ways, such as the fact that they are refreshed at the end of each encounter, not each day. Sometimes they can be refreshed during a battle. Also most of them are Ex. instead of Sp. or Su., with only two schools focusing on Su. ones, and most can only be performed after a successful melee attack.

The Swordsage gains access to the most supernatural of the martial disciplines, Shadow Hand and Desert Wind. Shadow Hand focuses on stealth, ability damage, and such, Desert Wind on fire damage and speed. They also get access to Diamond Mind, which allows them to act like fencers or iajutsu masters, concentrating on the perfect time to strike in one fluid move, Tiger Claw with which they can simulate a feral warrior, and Setting Sun which focuses on throwing techniques and counters. Swordsages have a medium attack bonus, so they rely mostly on their maneuvers to do damage.

Warblades are similar, but with a full base attack bonus and different discipline access. They don't have access to the more supernatural disciplines, sticking with Tiger Claw, Diamond Mind, Iron Heart, and White Raven. Iron Heart focuses on pure mastery of fighting, many of the maneuvers are similar to feats such as Whirlwind Attack. White Raven is the school of leaders, focusing on leading the charge and setting up the rest of your party to shine. They have less maneuvers than a Swordsage, but make up for it with a higher base attack bonus, hit dice, and better armor.
Charlym_Zuardan
05-04-07, 11:15 PM nice, thanks again.
kelvinaw273
05-05-07, 07:42 AM The Player's HandBook 2 contains pretty much all of the new base classes that appeare in the Complete X series and other books.

No it doesn't!
Nightbluejh
05-05-07, 12:20 PM OMG!!! since, even though, that has been pointed out already (refering to above comment) people have seen fit to reitereate that in fact that statement as it appears is false, allow me to explain.

When I was writting that my computer decided it needed to run it's monthy virus scan and caused all sorts of chopp. Thu,s there was more in between the words "classes" and "that appear in..." MAINLY THE FOLLOWING " I am not sure of the classes that..." is that better??

Sorry, but I did not have time to fix it last night as my guests arrived at my home just as the debocle went down.
Borris
05-05-07, 06:04 PM And let's not forget

Miniatures Handbook
Favored Soul (Same as in Complete Divine)
Healer (Spontaneous divine caster specialized in healing wounds and status ailments)
Marshal (Uses auras to augments the abilities of his allies)
Warmage (Same as in Complete Arcane)
glacialcat
05-06-07, 12:06 AM Healer is actually a prepared caster, not spontaneous. Its one of the class's biggest weaknesses, and many people assume its spontaneous because of its similarity to the warmage. Since the healer is usually believed to be the weakest class in the game, most people when they try to fix it start by making them spontaneous and able to cast all spells on their list.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Charlym_Zuardan 05-04-07, 08:53 PM	hey i am looking at purchasing some D&D books in the near future and i see that a lot of them offer new base classes. this really interests me as my group is playing with just core classes (and 2 homebrew) and i would like to give them some more options. i was wondering though if anyone could give me a quick list of which books give which base classes. just the name of the class should be enough to give me a general idea of what it does but if you want to throw in a quick description of what the class is about that would certainly be helpful too :D greatly appreciate anyone who takes the time to help me out here :) edit: I realize that there are tons of books out there, i meant to mention that i'm talking about just the Complete series of books :P
Nightbluejh 05-04-07, 09:18 PM	The Player's HandBook 2 contains pretty much all of the new base classes that appeare in the Complete X series and other books.
Charlym_Zuardan 05-04-07, 09:20 PM	The Player's HandBook 2 contains pretty much all of the new base classes that appeare in the Complete X series and other books. thanks, thats great to know!
Crystal Monk 05-04-07, 09:28 PM	The Player's HandBook 2 contains pretty much all of the new base classes that appeare in the Complete X series and other books.umm, I don't know why you'd say that. while the PHB2 does contain things that are meant to be used with those classes, such as personality-based stuff and alternate class features, the PHB does not actually contain those classes - the rules and so forth for playing one. as for the Complete series, Warrior, Adventurer, Arcane, and Divine contain new core classes: Adventurer: Ninja (self-explanatory), Scout (sort of a ranger-rogue-fighter hybrid), Spellthief (rogue-arcane mix, can steal spells) Warrior: Hexblade (rogue-arcane-warrior mix, 'curse'-type powers), Samurai (self-explanatory), Swashbuckler (lightly-armored fighter-type) Divine: Favored Soul (like cleric with sorcerer-style casting), Spirit Shaman (like druid with sorcerer-style casting and spirit abilities), Shugenja (elemental-style cleric) Arcane: Warlock (arcane-ish class with incantations and blast instead of spells), Warmage (warrior-mage hybrid, focused on hurting people and breaking things), Wu Jen (elemental-style wizard) Scoundrel and Mage do not have any new core classes. the PHB2 also contains four new core classes: Beguiler: rogue-arcane mix, focus on illusion and enchantment Dragon Shaman: dragon-based fighter-cleric with 'aura'-style abilities Duskblade: warrior-mage hybrid Knight: warrior-type based on honorable combat and drawing enemies' attacks hope this answers your question, Charlym.
Charlym_Zuardan 05-04-07, 09:57 PM	thank you very much Crystal Monk! thats exactly what i was looking for and helps me out a ton.
glacialcat 05-04-07, 10:02 PM	Here's some more. Expanded Psionics Handbook Psion -- INT based manifester, uses a PP system with augmentation, similar to a wizard. Psychic Warrior -- WIS based manifester, combines martial prowess with buffing powers. Soulknife -- Create semisolid blades composed of psychic energy Wilder -- CHA based manifester, limited in versatility, but able to unleash his emotions to create powerful surges of psionic power. Eberron Campaign Setting Artificer -- master of creating, using, and manipulating items of both mundane and magical nature. Heroes of Horror Dread Necromancer -- Master of undeath, arcane caster with rebuke undead and large emphasis on creating undead. Archivist -- INT based divine caster, seeker of ancient artifacts and forbidden secrets. Magic of Incarnum Incarnate -- manipulates the energy of souls to create magic items. Soulborn -- similar to the incarnate, but with more martial bent and less actual meldshaping. Totemist -- similar to an incarnate, but with melds that focus on the strength's found in magical beasts. Tome of Magic Binder -- binds forbidden spirits into their body to gain a number of abilities, which abilities they have can be changed each day. Shadowcaster -- manipulates the power of shadow, spontaneous caster whose spells eventually become spell-like or supernatural. Truenamer -- A caster based on a skill check, shapes the world by speaking single words. Tome of Battle Crusader -- Similar to a paladin, but uses maneuvers instead of spells. Maneuvers can be used to heal, attack, and provide a defensive wall. Swordsage -- Similar to a monk or rogue, but uses maneuvers which allow it to simulate an akido master, deadly assassin, or desert warrior. It has less direct physical prowess than other Martial Adepts, but makes up for it with mastery of maneuvers not approached by either the Crusader or Warblade. Warblade -- Similar to a fighter or barbarian, but uses maneuvers which focus on raw skill in combat, being a great leader, or a ferocious berserker. Complete Psionic Lurk -- Psionic-powered assassin. Divine Mind -- Martial character who uses his psionic gifts as a way of worshiping his deity Ardent -- Philosopher kings, who believe the universe can be defined by certain basic principals and gain power from understanding these principals. Erudite (technically a variant on psion, but similar enough to its own class) -- similar to a psion, but they are not limited to a small list of powers, potentially being able to learn every power a psion could know. In return they have a much smaller list of things they can do each day. Dungeonscape Factotum -- Even more of a Jack of All Trades than a bard. INT based for the most part, they have trapfinding, all skills as class skills, and limited ability to mimic the effects of arcane or divine spells.
Charlym_Zuardan 05-04-07, 10:07 PM	Very cool, thanks Glacialcat! could you give me a quick little description of what the swordsage and warblade are?
glacialcat 05-04-07, 10:25 PM	Its hard to give an accurate description of the swordsage and Warblade without explaining the maneuver system introduced in Tome of Battle. Similar to spells in some ways (organized into 9 levels, and limited uses) they are different in numerous ways, such as the fact that they are refreshed at the end of each encounter, not each day. Sometimes they can be refreshed during a battle. Also most of them are Ex. instead of Sp. or Su., with only two schools focusing on Su. ones, and most can only be performed after a successful melee attack. The Swordsage gains access to the most supernatural of the martial disciplines, Shadow Hand and Desert Wind. Shadow Hand focuses on stealth, ability damage, and such, Desert Wind on fire damage and speed. They also get access to Diamond Mind, which allows them to act like fencers or iajutsu masters, concentrating on the perfect time to strike in one fluid move, Tiger Claw with which they can simulate a feral warrior, and Setting Sun which focuses on throwing techniques and counters. Swordsages have a medium attack bonus, so they rely mostly on their maneuvers to do damage. Warblades are similar, but with a full base attack bonus and different discipline access. They don't have access to the more supernatural disciplines, sticking with Tiger Claw, Diamond Mind, Iron Heart, and White Raven. Iron Heart focuses on pure mastery of fighting, many of the maneuvers are similar to feats such as Whirlwind Attack. White Raven is the school of leaders, focusing on leading the charge and setting up the rest of your party to shine. They have less maneuvers than a Swordsage, but make up for it with a higher base attack bonus, hit dice, and better armor.
Charlym_Zuardan 05-04-07, 11:15 PM	nice, thanks again.
kelvinaw273 05-05-07, 07:42 AM	The Player's HandBook 2 contains pretty much all of the new base classes that appeare in the Complete X series and other books. No it doesn't!
Nightbluejh 05-05-07, 12:20 PM	OMG!!! since, even though, that has been pointed out already (refering to above comment) people have seen fit to reitereate that in fact that statement as it appears is false, allow me to explain. When I was writting that my computer decided it needed to run it's monthy virus scan and caused all sorts of chopp. Thu,s there was more in between the words "classes" and "that appear in..." MAINLY THE FOLLOWING " I am not sure of the classes that..." is that better?? Sorry, but I did not have time to fix it last night as my guests arrived at my home just as the debocle went down.
Borris 05-05-07, 06:04 PM	And let's not forget Miniatures Handbook Favored Soul (Same as in Complete Divine) Healer (Spontaneous divine caster specialized in healing wounds and status ailments) Marshal (Uses auras to augments the abilities of his allies) Warmage (Same as in Complete Arcane)
glacialcat 05-06-07, 12:06 AM	Healer is actually a prepared caster, not spontaneous. Its one of the class's biggest weaknesses, and many people assume its spontaneous because of its similarity to the warmage. Since the healer is usually believed to be the weakest class in the game, most people when they try to fix it start by making them spontaneous and able to cast all spells on their list.