The last few weeks I have been focussing on various classes and it dawns on me that I need something along the lines of a B/X Class Compendium for myself. Not to publish or anything, but just my own use. I also have to admit that I have been following (but commenting as much as I would like)
+Jonathan Becker's analysis of the
Holmes classes and
subclasses. If you have not read it, please do, it is great stuff. Yeah it might be nostalgia and navel-gazing, but who cares, it is fun stuff.
Like Becker I am a fan of B/X, aka Moldvay/Cook/March era D&D. So my class choices will be ones that are largely compatible with that. It's also no big surprise that most of the classes I like also tend to be magic ones.
Lets see what I have.
Witch
Covered many times and many places here. Yes, I am partial to my
own witch, but I am also rather fond of the witches from other designers. While some have this class as a sub-class of the Magic-User but I have the Witch as her own thing.
Warlocks have always been problematic for me. It was not till I started working on for Pathfinder.
I looked a few of these as well. I am still not 100% certain which is my favorite to be honest. Maybe the one from
Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.
But if I am going to have witches and warlocks then I am going to need a
witch hunter.
I looked at a few, but I think I will have to go with the one from Jonathan Becker's
The Complete B/X Adventurer.
Fighters
I have maybe played two fighters, proper fighters, in the last 36 years. But I really enjoy rangers and paladins.
Knights/Cavaliers. I have not covered these guys yet, but I am rather fond of the Castle & Crusades Knights.
Beastmasters. I rather like these guys and my favorite is from
The Complete B/X Adventurer.
If I am going to have a paladin then I am going to want an
Anti-Paladin. My favorite is the one from the
ACKS Player's Companion.
Rogue
Covered
yesterday, the
B/X Rouge could be a replacement for the normal thief class. With this class I can make a thief, a bard, an arcane-trickster, or any other thief like class. There some templates though I can look at.
The Bard is of particular interest to me really. A really good bard would be great.
The Occultist is a class from
Fantastic Heroes & Witchery is another rogue-like class that I could build using the rogue.
Magic-Users
I would opt for the Wizard alternate I have in my Witch book.
For
Illusionists I am going with the Basic Illusionist from
+Nathan Irving. I think it is the best choice.
For
Necromancers there are
so many choices, I might have to make my own.
Psionics
For psychic classes,
+Richard LeBlanc has me covered with his
Basic Psionics Handbook. That gives me a Mystic and a Monk.
Clerics
I have always been fond of clerics. They were the first class I ever played. I would keep them as is, with the additional rule that they can use the same weapon as their god.
I will also keep Druids and add in a Healer class I made back in the early 80s.
