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chuckroThis is a random DriveThruRPG pdf (by Bards and Sages Publishing) that I bought on impulse for a dollar. It’s an interesting attempt at an all-rounder class, which there are several of in the D&D3E Open Gaming License universe. And it’s not great, because it’s trying to do three things at once, and they are kind of at odds with each other: It’s trying to be an all-round solo class, a hole-plugger group class, and a specialty theme gimmick class all at the same time.
At least in my opinion, the best all-rounder solo class in the D&D3E setup is just a Bard: You’ve got access to social skills, Bardic knowledge, trapfinding/stealth, healing, attack magic and general fighting skills. The jack-of-all-trades idea from earlier editions carried over decently into the 3E bard, but in a larger party is tends to get overshadowed by everyone being specialized and end up being the “sing a happy song” buffbot. There’s no need to build a solo class; if the adventure calls for a specific ability or spell that isn’t on the Bard list, you can just give them that.
The best group hole-plugger class of the 3E realm, on the other hand, was the Chameleon (from the Races of Destiny supplement). Every morning he could choose from a set of Aptitude Focuses let him take on the skills of a core classes; basically letting him sub in for whatever role was missing from the party that day. (And the class was heavily implied to be a Bard prestige class, though you could get into it from Rogue or other builds.) The Adventurer lets you take some of the core class abilities, but you have to take them as permanent feats, which locks you into a specific role. There’s no real benefit to being an Adventurer who puts their bonus feats into being a lousy spellcaster when you can just be a full-time spellcaster. (There’s a homebrew 5E Chameleon class build that looks pretty decent.)
The gimmick class setup is a collect of interesting but imperfect ideas: A favored weapon (which you have growing bonuses with), a Luck mechanic (bonuses you can apply to any role), a Renown mechanic (your level makes it more likely NPCs have heard if you), and “Adventurer’s Bond” (a Warlord-style ability that provides bonuses to your allies in combat). Combining the party buffs and the Renown idea into either a fighting class or a semi-Cleric set of healing/buffing abilities is basically a 3E version of the Warlord class.
A Luck mechanic and a “the right skill for the job” ability (a basket of skills that you can spend limited points to use each time, like Track, Pick Locks, casting certain spells, etc.) would be nice for a solo class, as it’s generally good to give them more variety and more ways to save themselves from dice disasters. The favored weapon ability was already in the books as the Ancestral Weapon optional ruleset.
This makes me want to make a 5E all-rounder class, though again, Bard is a pretty decent choice already and you can just tack on any strictly-necessary abilities or spells as part of their Bard College abilities.
Overall: I got a dollar’s worth of entertainment?
At least in my opinion, the best all-rounder solo class in the D&D3E setup is just a Bard: You’ve got access to social skills, Bardic knowledge, trapfinding/stealth, healing, attack magic and general fighting skills. The jack-of-all-trades idea from earlier editions carried over decently into the 3E bard, but in a larger party is tends to get overshadowed by everyone being specialized and end up being the “sing a happy song” buffbot. There’s no need to build a solo class; if the adventure calls for a specific ability or spell that isn’t on the Bard list, you can just give them that.
The best group hole-plugger class of the 3E realm, on the other hand, was the Chameleon (from the Races of Destiny supplement). Every morning he could choose from a set of Aptitude Focuses let him take on the skills of a core classes; basically letting him sub in for whatever role was missing from the party that day. (And the class was heavily implied to be a Bard prestige class, though you could get into it from Rogue or other builds.) The Adventurer lets you take some of the core class abilities, but you have to take them as permanent feats, which locks you into a specific role. There’s no real benefit to being an Adventurer who puts their bonus feats into being a lousy spellcaster when you can just be a full-time spellcaster. (There’s a homebrew 5E Chameleon class build that looks pretty decent.)
The gimmick class setup is a collect of interesting but imperfect ideas: A favored weapon (which you have growing bonuses with), a Luck mechanic (bonuses you can apply to any role), a Renown mechanic (your level makes it more likely NPCs have heard if you), and “Adventurer’s Bond” (a Warlord-style ability that provides bonuses to your allies in combat). Combining the party buffs and the Renown idea into either a fighting class or a semi-Cleric set of healing/buffing abilities is basically a 3E version of the Warlord class.
A Luck mechanic and a “the right skill for the job” ability (a basket of skills that you can spend limited points to use each time, like Track, Pick Locks, casting certain spells, etc.) would be nice for a solo class, as it’s generally good to give them more variety and more ways to save themselves from dice disasters. The favored weapon ability was already in the books as the Ancestral Weapon optional ruleset.
This makes me want to make a 5E all-rounder class, though again, Bard is a pretty decent choice already and you can just tack on any strictly-necessary abilities or spells as part of their Bard College abilities.
Overall: I got a dollar’s worth of entertainment?
