Classes of The Dungeon Part I: Humans

Part of my slow world-building has been the introduction of the D&D classes in a minimal way that my group could take advantage of and craft their own takes. Needless to say, it didn't turn out as I hoped it would, and I ended up building much of the classes' backstory. Perhaps this had to do with my players being happy enough to be handed a general overview of the world and its classes, and build from there, instead of having the freedom to weave their own narrative into The Dungeon.

Whatever the case, I wanted to consult various sources before I could work on my version for each class. Out of the seven classes, I believe only the halfling is an original work. The rest are either slightly modified versions of existing B/X classes, or inspired/borrowed from well-known settings. This post will deal with the human classes, while non-humans will be included in a later post.

Cleric

Clerics have a two-fold role in human societies: on one hand they serve as guides, leaders and teachers in both peace and war times; on the other hand, they wander the world as zealots and holy warriors to vanquish the opponents of their patron deity. This two-fold role can be also seen in their composition of abilities, both martial and magical. Trained in Orders or Cults (Lawful and Chaotic, respectively; Neutral clerics are almost non-existent), clerics are chosen by the cosmic forces of Law and Chaos as their mystical champions, divine agents who bear the essence of the very force they so fiercely advocate and with which they gain their supernatural abilities. Aspects of each cosmic force appear as deities to humans and function as conduits between the cleric and the cosmic force, but they are not the ones who will judge their proponents by their acts. Instead, it comes upon each cleric to better understand the teachings of Law and Chaos and act accordingly. This is the ultimate trial from which true defenders of the cosmic forces emerge.

The class of the cleric was mainly inspired by Anders's take on the cleric as a mystical champion, namely the gish. Lawful clerics are required to wield blunt weapons (symbols of human dominance: club, mace, war hammer, sling) and seldom use reversible spells, while chaotic clerics must use bladed weapons (double-edged side of Chaos: dagger, short sword, hand axe) but have free access to reversible spells.

Fighter

Fighters are not just fighting men and women, but humans expertly trained in the arts of war. Able to defend themselves with powerful armour and wield whatever weapon they have in hand against their enemies, fighters make for a sure choice when peaceful methods fail. Kingdoms depend on armies of fighters and cities seek them out for their defence and order. Together with dwarfs, fighter can withstand blows that would prove fatal to others. It's therefore easy to assume fighters fill so many positions in conflict-centred human society, from the lowly thug to the grand general of the army.

The class of the fighter hasn't changed much. Along with the dwarf, the elf, and the halfling, fighters can fight while blinded, albeit with a -4 penalty to their attacks. At 5th level, fighters gain an additional attack when fighting, which may be with the same weapon or a different one.

Magic-User

Magic-users are mystifying folk, entwined with possibly the most powerful and dangerous power: magic. How mankind came into possession of such a power is lost in the ages, what is known though is that magic manifests into different facets and sources, where magic-users draw and empower their spells, from alchemical formulae to philosophical ideas, ancient texts of invocations to the Lords of Chaos, even dark pacts with creatures outside the known world. Magic-users do not serve any special role in human society, so they tend to be loners, their knowledge however is invaluable and can offer their skills as alchemists, scholars, physicians or prophets/astrologers in various communities. Even though magic is considered a product of Chaos, and some hunt it down, magic-users can differ and embrace any side of the cosmic struggle.

The class of the magic-user has no special modifications, other than flavouring. Magic-users can use alchemist's supplies (25 gp, 10 cns) to brew minor potions and antitoxins. At the start of each day, they can attempt to read signs and omens, rolling 2d6. A roll of 2-3 indicates bad luck for the party (-1 to all rolls for the rest of the day); a roll of 4-9 shows no remarkable signs; a roll of 10-12 shows favourable signs to the party (+1 to saving throws for the rest of the day). Along with elves, they gain more starting spells equal to 1 plus their Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). It is strongly recommended one of the starting spells is Read Magic.

Thief

Thieves consist of a special class in the human society, bringing forth a range of skills to aid them at their job. Weak in combat like magic-users, they specialise in bypassing obstacles towards their goal, which may be hidden behind traps, locked doors, cliffs, backs of guards and pockets of nobles. While thieves are called many names (scoundrels, gamblers, treasure hunters, bandits, scouts etc.), their methods are in many ways the same. They may be deemed as parasitic in human societies, but everyone sooner or later enlists their skills to find and obtain a certain target, either living or not.

The class of the thief has its skills been revamped, incorporating Dyson's 2d6 thief skill system. Skill were bumped a notch (generous by some) to have better chances of succeeding in any of its skills. As one pointed out some time ago in The Piazza, a thief with a measly 15% to open locks would be kicked out of any thieves guild instantly. Increasing the chances at 1st level between 30% and 40% gives the thief character more incentive to gamble on risky situations.

All thief skills, except for Hear Noise, are tested by rolling 2d6 and adding the thief's Dexterity modifier. If the result is equal to or higher than the number indicated, the thief has successfully made the check. Hear Noise requires an unmodified 1d6 roll. As for Pick Pockets, if a thief fails by 4 or more, then is being caught in the act!