I have always liked the idea of specialist wizards, but have never really been fond of the implementation. A couple barred schools of magic (only one if specializing in Divination, because it sucks), in exchange for an extra spell slot per spell level and a +2 bonus to Spellcraft checks …
In AD&D 2e you could choose your weapon and nonweapon proficiencies (optional rule), thieves could choose how to distribute their skill points, and (in the Complete Priests Handbook) speciality priests could have different ‘spheres’ that controlled what spells they had access to and influenced the powers they received. D&D 3e started making …
GreyKnight is starting a campaign set in the world implied by Nethack, using Pathfinder RPG as his base rule set. Among other things, this requires him to build some new character classes. He has taken a run at the Valkyrie class and asked for some comments and suggestions. This post …
I’ve been writing up about the Arcane Academy of Ter Liatri. This is a big wizard guild in my campaign — Ter Liatri used to be the capital of the Empire before it collapsed, and the guild survived it. More or less. I have in mind a couple of prestige …
Advanced classes provide some additional ability, sometimes at the cost of constraining character options. Each class has prerequisites such that a character has to work toward becoming a member of the class. To become a Wizard you must have some spell casting ability, a cleric must be able to channel …
Basic classes are very flexible, but not particularly powerful when compared to Advanced Classes and Prestige Classes. They may be considered as something of an apprenticeship and preparation for later, more constrained ‘careers’. Some sample basic classes are described below. I give them somewhat descriptive names to help identify them, …