CHARACTER CLASSES (Descriptions, Functions, Levels)
 

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-	-	-	-	Unearthed Arcana

CHARACTER CLASSES TABLE I: HIT DICE, SPELL ABILITY, AND CLASS LEVEL LIMIT
 

Class of  Character	Hit Die  Type	Maximum No. of  Hit Dice	Spell Ability	Class Level Limit
CAVALIER	d101	10	no	none
Paladin	d101	9	yes2	none
CLERIC	d8	9	yes	none
Druid	d8	15	yes	23 (Hierophant of the Cabal)
FIGHTER	d10	9	no	none
Barbarian	d12	8	no	none
Ranger	d83	10 (+1)3	yes4	none
MAGIC-USER	d4	11	yes	none
Illusionist	d4	10	yes	none
THIEF	d6	10	no5	none
Acrobat	d6	12	no	none
Assassin	d6	15	no5	15 (Grandfather of Assassins)
MONK	d46	17 (+1)6	no	17 (Grand Master of Flowers)
BARD	d6	10	yes	23 (Master Bard 23rd)

Notes Regarding Character Classes Table I.:

1: The cavalier and the paladin have a hit-point range of 4-13 points at 1st level, generated by either 3d4 + 1 or d10 + 3 depending upon the social standing
of the character at the start of his or her career. See the description of the cavalier class for particulars.

2: Starting at 9th level, the paladin gains clerical spell ability, and may eventually cast spells of up to the 4th level of power.

3: The ranger begins with two eight-sided hit dice (2d8) and thereafter goes up one die per level, to a maximum of 11 HD at the 10th level of experience.

4: Starting at 8th level, the ranger gains druidic spell ability, and may eventually cast druidic spells of up to the 3rd level of power.
Starting at 9th level, the ranger gains MU spell ability, and may eventually CAST MU spells of up to the 2nd level of power.

5: Thieves of 10th level or higher and assassins of 12th level or higher gain the ability to read magic-users' (and illusionists') spells from scrolls.

6: The monk begins with two four-sided hit dice (2d4) and thereafter goes up one die per level, to a maximum of 18 HD at the 17th level of experience.
 

CHARACTER CLASSES TABLE II: ARMOR AND WEAPONS PERMITTED

Class of Character	Armor	Shield	Weapons	Oil	Poison
CAVALIER	any1	any	any1	no2	only if evil
Paladin	any1	any	any1	no2	never
CLERIC	any	any	club, flail, hammer, mace, staff, lasso, sap, staff sling	yes	only if evil
Druid	leather or padded	wooden	aklys, club, dagger, dart, garrot, hammer, lasso, sap, sling,  scimitar, spear, staff, staff sling, sword (khopesh), whip	yes	DM's option
FIGHTER	any	any	any	yes	DM's option
Barbarian	any3	any	any	yes	DM's option
Ranger	any	any	any	yes	DM's option
MAGIC-USER	none	none	caltrop, dagger, dart, knife, sling, staff	yes	DM's option
Illusionist	none	none	caltopr, dagger, dart, knife, sling, staff	yes	DM's option
THIEF	leather, studded leather,  padded, or  elfin chain4	none	bow (short), caltrop, club, crossbow (hand), dagger, dart, garrot,  knife, sap, sling, sword (broad), sword (falchion),  sword (long), sword (short)	yes	DM's option
Acrobat	as thief	none	as thief, plus lasso and staff	yes	DM's option
Assassin	as thief	yes5	any	yes	yes
MONK	none	none	aklys, atlatl, axe (hand), bo stick, caltrop, club, crossbow (any),  dagger, garrot, javelin, jo stick, knife, lasso, pole arm (any),  sap, spear, staff, sword (falchion)	no	DM's option
BARD	leather, studded leather,  leather, padded,  ring mail, elfin chain,  or magical chain mail	none	club, dagger, dart, garrot, javelin, knife, lasso, sap, scimitar,  sling, spear, staff, sword (bastard), sword (broad),  sword (falchion), sword (long), sword (short)	yes	only if evil

1: A cavalier or paladin will not wear leather, padded, or studded leather armor, because such garb is beneath the character's station.
Similarly, a cavalier or paladin will not use pole arms, missile weapons, or other types of arms that are commonly associated with the lower social classes.
See the description of the cavalier class for particulars.

2: The use of oil in personal combat is unacceptable to the cavalier and the paladin, but such characters may use oil in siege warfare.

3: A barbarian can wear any sort of armor, but does not gain the full benefit of the dexterity bonus of the class if the armor worn is of the bulky or fairly bulky variety.

4: A thief attired in anything other than leather armor must take adjustments to his or her chances of success in performing certain thieving functions.
See Thieves Table II for particulars.

5: An assassin cannot use a shield during a melee round in which the character is engaged in the act of assassination.

General notes: Weapons not permitted to a character of a certain class may be picked up and used, but the non-proficiency penalty for that
class will always apply (using the most severe penalty applicable for multi-classed characters) -- and such non-permitted weapons may not
be kept and carried by the character for USE later.

Characters of under 5' in height cannot effectively employ a long bow or any weapon over 12' in length.
Likewise, characters of less than 100 pounds body weight cannot USE a heavy crossbow, any pole arm weighing more than 200 gp, or a two-handed sword.
These prohibitions override the stipulation in the preceding note; the non-proficiency penalty is immaterial, since these weapons cannot be wielded at all.

chrisspiller wrote:
Gary, IIRC, you've mentioned that all of the UA classes were used at one time or another in your campaign. I was wondering, however, did any of your players ever make use of the Hunter class you designed for Trigee?

In case you're interested, the class write up is actually posted on DF at http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=52737#52737

Pax,

Chris
 

I went and read the material, and I only vaguely remember the article and the Hunter Cless detailed therein.
To the best of my recollection, the only play of such a PC was done in an offhand manner by my son Luke for a single game session with me as the GM.
 

Quote:
Originally posted by MerricB

[snip]

Gary, you introduced the new classes of Cavalier, Barbarian and Thief-Acrobat to us in Dragon Magazine and later Unlimited Adventures...
were those classes being played by players in your campaign?

Cheers!

Hi Merric

We had one cavalier, a couple of barbarians, and one thief-actobat ex post facto...
I actually worked up a barbarian just to use as an annoyance factor when playing with a group that had greedy mages in it.
Of course I made sure to have a goodly number of sympatico PCS around to avoid undue retribution for his destruction of "stinking magic!"

Heh,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally posted by MerricB
Gary - thank you muchly for your answer about the cavaliers, barbarians, and acrobats. Or, the ABCs if you prefer. 

You played a barbarian just to annoy your group's magic-users? Right - time to start a new character. I don't think Meliander the Mage would enjoy such a companion. You weren't pilfering the items already possessed by the magic-users, were you?
 

But of course!

Merric, we played a LOT. An average of seven gaming sessions a week was typical even when I was busy working. Often I played more than that. Rob would DM for me one-on-one where I mostly roleplayed because i was doing manual work at the same time. So, understanding that, the number of PCs I created and played should be likewise understandable. Playing seriously and intensely a good deal of the time, I varied that by playing otherwise--such as with my half-orc cleric-assassin <eek>

When I played a barbarian, I would indeed atempt to get at newly discovered magic items and rid the world of their bane, and if some mage was foolish enough to flaunt such an object before the character, and he could lay hands on it, then... Because the barbarian was otherwise cooperative and put the overall interest of the party first, he survived quite a number of adventures, and his demise was not at the hands of a fellow PC. Some monster got him--which I don't recall, but it seems to me it was a basilisk. No cleric or mage in the group was much interested in having the poor chap returned to life <rolleyes.gif>
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray Mouser
Hey Gary, just thought I'd post a more on topic question for you 

Have there been any classes that you did not personally have PC's for? From what I have read you seemed to favor M-U's (Mordenkainen, Bigby), Fighters (Yrag), and Clerics (Riggby). I've never heard mention that one of your PC's was a thief (except for a Gnome Illusionist-Thief). Did you ever play a Paladin, Assassin or one of the Unearthed Arcana classes (Cavalier, Barbarian, Thief-Acrobat)?

I've played all the demi-human races, so I've had characters in most classes, but as multi-classes ones. I had a great half-orc cleric/assassin, but he got wasted at third level or so. I did have a monk character for a short time too. Never played a paladin.

I have played a straight barbarian PC but no cavalier or thief-acrobat. By the time those classes got solidified, I had precious little gaming time...

You should see my Metamorphosis Alpha PCs--all either PSH or human mutant. the one with triple life leech is great fun when his "brothers" (Ernie's and Luke's similar PCs) are with him. there aren't even any vermin alive in an area after that trio hes been operating 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray Mouser
Also, any thoughts on a favored class? Personally, I prefer Magic-Users but as I get older have a soft spot for straight up Fighters developing, and have always liked Thieves, a la Cugel and my namesake In fact, my first ever PC was a thief who met his demise in The Keep on the Borderlands

Gray Mouser

PS
Sashimi? I've had it a few times. Quite good but I love sushi!

Actually, I can usually have a good time playing just about any sort of character.
The more complex ones, though, such as an m-u in AD&D, require in-depth rules knowledge.
Thus they are reserved for game systems I know well and played only when I am in top form.
Otherwise, the less complex sorts, such as a fighter, serve well indeed.

While I love sashimi, I don't care much for suchi because the rice and seaweed detract from the seafood IMO. My wife Gail agrees with you...

Cheerio,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Deuce Traveler
Gary, do you think you might oversee a C & C book with the character class concepts you had previously planned to do before leaving TSR? I'd love a chance to see what the montebank might have been like, for example.

I might assist in the development of some new character classes for the C&C system if the Trolls ever begin such a project. However, time is most precious, and I do not think I would spend a great deal of it thus. If I could fine my old notes in the Jester, Mountebank, Mystic, and Savant I would gladly pass them along to Steve and company. There was another possible class I was considering adding, but blamed if I can recall it now 

Cheers,
Gary
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by gideon_thorne
Welp, at some point I'll get that Mountebank I did with your assistance polished up. ^_^

Well stop posting and hop to it! 
 

Gary