Characters
Character Classes / Professions
Barbarian
A warrior who uses brute strength and raw fury to excel in combat, instead of the honed skills of the Fighter or measured strength of the Monk. Barbarians can tap their inner fury to fly into a berserker-like rage. Once the rage is expended, the barbarian becomes fatigued for the remainder of the encounter. Rage provides bonuses to Strength, Constitution, and Will saving throws (which can make barbarians surprisingly resistant to harmful magic), and a glut of additional hit points which expire along with their rage. Rage also reduces armor class and interferes with any skill requiring patience or concentration. As barbarians gain in power, their rage can be used more often and provides even larger Strength and Constitution bonuses, while taking less of a toll on their bodies.
Barbarian
Bardic
Versatile, capable of combat and of magic. Bards use their artistic talents to induce magical effects. They are often poets, singers, song writers, story tellers. explicitly a jack-of-all-trade class, with a limited selection of thief skills (pick pockets, detect noise, climb walls, and read languages) a limited wizard spell progression, access to proficiency in any weapon, and some special bardic music abilities and bardic lore. like wizards, they have to keep a spell book and cannot cast spells while in armor. They can learn any spell they have access to (as a mage would). Bards' biggest advantage is their use of the rogue advancement table, which is the fastest in the game. Bards cast spells using their actual class level as their caster level. Since bards are usually higher level than the party's wizard, the spells they can cast are often more powerful than the wizard's. A bard who focuses on spells that improve with caster level (such as Magic Missile and Fireball) is a very potent magical threat. Their ability to use any weapon, combined with rogue attack strength, makes them a credible offensive threat even without magic, provided they have some form of magical Armor Class-boosting equipment.
Monk / Mystic / Cleric
Versatile, capable of combat and of magic. Bards use their artistic talents to induce magical effects. They are often poets, singers, song writers, story tellers. explicitly a jack-of-all-trade class, with a limited selection of thief skills (pick pockets, detect noise, climb walls, and read languages) a limited wizard spell progression, access to proficiency in any weapon, and some special bardic music abilities and bardic lore. like wizards, they have to keep a spell book and cannot cast spells while in armor. They can learn any spell they have access to (as a mage would). Bards' biggest advantage is their use of the rogue advancement table, which is the fastest in the game. Bards cast spells using their actual class level as their caster level. Since bards are usually higher level than the party's wizard, the spells they can cast are often more powerful than the wizard's. A bard who focuses on spells that improve with caster level (such as Magic Missile and Fireball) is a very potent magical threat. Their ability to use any weapon, combined with rogue attack strength, makes them a credible offensive threat even without magic, provided they have some form of magical Armor Class-boosting equipment.
Druid
Druids wield nature-themed magic. Unlike the cleric, druids do not have special powers against undead and, in some editions, cannot use metal armor. Druids have a unique ability that allows them to change into various animal forms, and various other qualities that assist them in natural settings. They are proficient in simple weapons and light armor, use staves and totems as implements, generally use Wisdom for power attack and damage rolls and, like all primal classes, their powers are called evocations.
Fighter
versatile, weapons-oriented warrior who fights using skill, strategy and tactics. The fighter's role is that of a defender, which involves high hit points, good defensive capabilities and the ability to protect other party members from enemies. Unlike the other core defender, the paladin, the fighter cannot heal allies and has more limited ranged combat capabilities, but has greater damage dealing and mobility control abilities. Fighter attack powers are generally weapon-based and use Strength for attack rolls, although they also have a number of powers which benefit from Dexterity, Wisdom or Constitution. Some fighter attacks have an additional benefit if used with weapons from a specific group, such as axes, spears or light blades.
Magic-User / Mage / Wizard
A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes. Wizards cast their spells by using their acquired magical knowledge (augmented by their Intelligence score) and experience. In particular, they learn most new spells by seeking out magical writings and copying them into their spell books, a method that allows them (unlike sorcerers) to master any number of permissible spells once they find them, assembling a broad and versatile arsenal of power. Many wizards see themselves not only as spell casters but also as philosophers, inventors, and scientists, studying a system of natural laws that are for the most part unknown and undiscovered. Wizards need to rest prior to spell casting. This may be in the form of sleep or meditation. A wizard who refuses to sleep and then goes on a spell casting binge (which is not entirely impossible, but rare due to temporal allowances) will grow weary - possibly delusional - and may experience many negative health effects.
Paladin
holy knight, crusading in the name of good and order, and is a divine spellcaster. compared to other classes the paladin class has one of the most restrictive codes of conduct in their single-mindedness and utter devotion to good. Paladin characters are expected to demonstrate and embody goodness. Other Paladin class abilities include the ability to detect evil at will, immunity to fear and disease, the ability to cure disease, the opportunity to use "holy avenger" swords with imbued divine spells or extra damage to evil creatures, and to summon a "special mount" - usually a heavy warhorse of unusual strength and intelligence.
Ranger
They are hunters, skilled woodsmen, and often live reclusive lives as hermits. the ranger gains a single animal companion and the ability to specialize in Archery or Two Weapon Fighting. Rangers have the Striker role, specializing in single-target damage, as well as mobility. They have the Martial power source, and, like all Martial classes, their powers are called exploits. Their special abilities make them better suited to hit and run tactics and focusing on a single opponent. Many of their new combat abilities encourage the ranger to use cunning and mobility as opposed to brute force. Other abilities allow the ranger to aid his companions with skill checks and avoiding ambushes.
Sorcerer
A sorcerer is weak in melee combat, but a master of arcane magic, generally the most powerful form of magic. Sorcerers' magical ability is innate rather than studied. Sorcerers create magic the way a poet creates poems, with inborn talent honed by practice." Sorcerers' attack spells generally use charisma, furthermore, many sorcerer spells benefit from high strength or dexterity. Compared to wizards, sorcerers' instinctive grasp of magic has more flexibility within the moment but less versatility overall. That is, they do not need to prepare specific spells in advance, but each sorcerer also acquires a much smaller number of spells, since they do not use spell books and cannot simply copy new spells from others' writing. Conversely, they do not worry about carrying spell books and having them stolen. Other effects of the sorcerers' intuitive approach are that they can cast more spells per day, but qualify for more powerful spells slightly more slowly than wizards.
Thief / Rogue
A rogue is a versatile character, capable of sneaky combat and nimble tricks. Rogues are swashbucklers, focused on getting to where the enemy does not want them and using the ability to "sneak attack" / "backstab" enemies who are caught off-guard or taken by surprise, inflicting extra damage. They are also highly skilled with training in stealth and thievery. The rogue is stealthy and dexterous, and capable of finding and disarming many traps and picking locks. The rogue also has
Warlock
Unlike sorcerers and wizards, who approach arcane magic through innate ability or a book of learned magic, a warlock invokes magic through their darkened soul. By harnessing their innate magical gift, warlocks can perform spell-like feats and abilities; since they are not users of true spells in the traditional sense, they can use their invocations while wearing light armor. Warlocks are often evil or chaotic in alignment. Warlocks receive their abilities through the influence of some unearthly being such as a Demon or Fey. They are either born with these powers or receive them through a fell pact, which turns their soul into a dark font of eldritch powers. Warlocks do not cast spells, but instead use spell-like abilities called "invocations", which represent the tapping of the power granted to the warlock. The most important of these abilities is the "eldritch blast" which is the warlock's main offensive ability, firing a blast of magical energy at the target. The major difference that Warlocks have from all other magic users is their ability to use their invocations "at will," without a limit on the number of times an invocation can be cast. In contrast, a wizard or sorcerer can cast a set number of spells every day from a wider selection of spells than a warlock.