Classes and Kits

Classes

After choosing your character's race, you select his character class. A character class is like a profession or career. It is what your character has worked and trained at during his younger years. If you wanted to become a doctor, you could not walk out the door and begin work immediately. First you would have to get some training. The same is true of character classes in the AD&D game. Your character is assumed to have some previous training and guidance before beginning his adventuring career. Now, armed with a little knowledge, your character is ready to make his name and fortune.

The character classes are divided into four groups according to general occupations: warrior, wizard, priest, and rogue. Within each group are several similar character classes. All classes within a group share the same Hit Dice, as well as combat and saving throw progressions. Each character class within a group has different special powers and abilities that are available only to that class. Each player must select a group for his character, then a specific class within that group.

Fighter, mage, cleric, and thief are the standard classes. They are historical and legendary archetypes that are common to many different cultures. Thus, they are appropriate to any sort of AD&D game campaign. All of the other classes are optional. Your DM may decide that one or more of the optional classes are not appropriate to his campaign setting. Check with your DM before selecting an optional character class.

Warrior: There are five different classes within the warrior group: Fighter, Templar, Barbarian, Martial Artist, and Ranger. All are well-trained in the use of weapons and skilled in the martial arts.

The Fighter is a champion, swordsman, soldier, and brawler. He lives or dies by his knowledge of weapons and tactics. Fighters can be found at the front of any battle, contesting toe-to-toe with monsters and villains. A good fighter needs to be strong and healthy if he hopes to survive.

The Templar is a warrior bold and pure, the exemplar of everything good and true. Like the fighter, the templar is a man of combat. However, the templar lives for the ideals of righteousness, justice, honesty, piety, and chivalry. He strives to be a living example of these virtues so that others might learn from him as well as gain by his actions.

Barbarians are warriors who live and fight in highly unorthodox ways. Barbarians develop and implement crude weaponry mixed with intense strength and endurance to succeed on the battlefield. Additinally, barbarians almost exclusively live in exotic, sparsely populated regions over the confusing hustle and bustle of the city.

The Ranger is a warrior and a woodsman. He is skilled with weapons and is knowledgeable in tracking and woodcraft. The ranger often protects and guides lost travelers and honest peasant-folk. A ranger needs to be strong and wise to the ways of nature to live a full life.

The Martial Artist is a warrior who has eschewed the typical arms and armor to find a new path of combat training. The martial artist primarily focuses on unarmed and unarmored combat preferring to rely on a high degree of technical skill and mental focus, though there are exceptions to the rule.

Wizard: The wizard strives to be a master of magical energies, shaping them and casting them as spells. To do so, he studies strange tongues and obscure facts and devotes much of his time to magical research.

A wizard must rely on knowledge and wit to survive. Wizards are rarely seen adventuring without a retinue of fighters and men-at-arms.

Because there are different types (or schools) of magic, there are different types of wizards. The mage studies all types of magic and learns a wide variety of spells. His broad range makes him well suited to the demands of adventuring. The illusionist is an example of how a wizard can specialize in a particular school of magic, illusion in this case.

Priest: A priest sees to the spiritual needs of a community or location. Two types of priests--clerics and druids--are described in the Player's Handbook. Other types can be created by the DM to suit specific campaigns.

The Cleric is a generic priest (of any mythos) who tends to the needs of a community. He is both protector and healer. He is not purely defensive, however. When evil threatens, the cleric is well-suited to seek it out on its own ground and destroy it.

The Druid is an example of how the priest can be adapted to a certain type of setting. The druid serves the cause of nature and neutrality; the wilderness is his community. He uses his special powers to protect it and to preserve balance in the world.

Rogue: The rogue can be found throughout the world, wherever people gather and money changes hands. While many rogues are motivated only by a desire to amass fortune in the easiest way possible, some rogues have noble aims; they use their skills to correct injustice, spread good will, or contribute to the success of an adventuring group.

There are three types of rogues: Thieves, Psions, Bards.

To accomplish his goals, for good or ill, the Thief is a skilled pilferer. Cunning, nimbleness, and stealth are his hallmarks. Whether he turns his talent against innocent passers-by and wealthy merchants or oppressors and monsters is a choice for the thief to make.

The Bard is also a rogue, but he is very different from the thief. His strength is his pleasant and charming personality. With it and his wits he makes his way through the world. A bard is a talented musician and a walking storehouse of gossip, tall tales, and lore. He learns a little bit about everything that crosses his path; he is a jack-of-all-trades but master of none. While many bards are scoundrels, their stories and songs are welcome almost everywhere.

A Psion is someone who is trained in the "magic" of human conciousness. A psion derives their spell-like powers form their internal will, connection to the divine, and years of contemplative study - they do not need to pray or study arcane literature to use or master their craft.

Saving Throws THAC0 Chart

Kits

Sometimes it's just not enough to be a Fighter, Templar, Ranger, etc. Each class is a lot of fun, but there's nothing which says you want to be restricted only to a few types of fun.

So, here, we're going to show you how to create and play other sorts of characters.

Kits, typically, consist of the following elements:

Description: This paragraph talks about what the warrior is. It's a general description of the appearance, manner, cultural background and use of the character in a campaign. It also lists any requirements necessary for the character to take the Kit; for instance, to be an Amazon, a character must be female. (Surprise!)
Role: This paragraph describes the role of this warrior in the society that spawned him and in an ongoing campaign. A Samurai has a different cultural role from a Wilderness Warrior, even if both, say, are Templars.
Weapon Proficiencies: Most of these Kits will require your character to take specific weapon proficiencies. A Samurai wouldn't be the same without his katana, or a Noble Warrior without his lance, for example. When required to take a specific Weapon Proficiency, the charcter must take that from the number of slots he has available to "spend" unless it is marked as "bonus."
Nonweapon Proficiencies: Many kits require your character to have specific nonweapon proficiencies. (For instance, it's foolish to be a Pirate without Seamanship, or a Wasteland Rider without Riding.) Most kits outline several types of NWPs - "Bonus" (it is added, for free, to your character), "Reccommended" (you are encouraged to spend NWP slots on it, but not required to do so), "Barred" (your character may never have these NWPs), and "Required" (your charcter must spend their NWP slots to acquire these to have this kit.).
Equipment: Some Kits gravitate toward certain types of equipment. Noble Warriors tend toward heavy armor and weapons such as swords and lances; Pirates lean toward cutlasses, throwing knives, light or no armor, and the like. These equipment listings aren't really restrictions or hard-and-fast rules. A Pirate on shore may wish to deck himself out in full plate, for instance. But in normal circumstances, a character should gravitate toward the types of equipment appropriate for him, and the DM must steer him toward such equipment types. For example, the pirate who keeps his full plate on while aboard ship will be knocked overboard time and time again as a reminder of why pirates don't usually wear such cumbersome stuff. As he's being dragged to the ocean bottom, he can reflect on his mistake. A noble warrior who wears leathers when jousting will almost certainly get what he deserves for his folly.
Special Benefits: Most Kits have some special benefits that others don't. Often, they're defined as special reaction bonuses among certain classes of society, special rights in certain cultures, and so forth. Other benefits are more unusual or dramatic: The Berserker can call on hidden resources of strength and vitality when in combat, for instances.
Special Hindrances: Likewise, each Kit has certain disadvantages which hinder him. Pirates are sought by the authorities; Amazons face discrimination in maledominated societies.
Wealth Options: Some Kits have special rules regarding their wealth. The Noble Warrior, for instance, will begin play with more starting gold than some other kits. However, he's also required to maintain a higher standard of living than the others. If he fails to do so, he temporarily loses some of his Special Benefits.
Races: Each of these Kits is written with the human character in mind, and this paragraph describes what happens when you have a demihuman character instead.

An Important Note

In the following sections, several kits get reaction bonuses and penalties as part of their Special Benefits and Special Hindrances. A word of caution needs to accompany them.

In the AD&D® game, when a character is very charismatic, he gets what is called a "reaction adjustment." When the character has a high Charisma and receives a bonus, it's expressed as a plus: +2, for instance. When he has a low Charisma and receives a penalty, it's expressed as a minus: –3, for example. However, when you roll the 2d10 for encounter reactions, don't add the bonus (+) or subtract the penalty (–) from the die roll. Do it the other way around. If the character has a Charisma of 16, and thus gets a +5 reaction adjustment, you subtract that number from the 2d10 die roll. (Otherwise the NPCs would be reacting even more badly because the character was charismatic!)

Kits and Classes

In general, each "core" Kit can be used with any of the classes in their grouping. Your character can, for instance, be a Barbarian Fighter, an Amazon Templar, or a Samurai Ranger. Also, their are specific kits for specific classes allowing for even more choice. Some choices may be a little questionable. For example, it's not likely that you'll be playing a Pirate Templar. However, it is possible. If your band of pirates, in happy-go-lucky movie tradition, attacks only the wicked, frees all innocents, and performs in an otherwise mostly-honorable fashion, they're obviously not an evil group and a templar could adventure among them. If that's the sort of pirate campaign you and your DM agree to play, then that's fine.

When one class cannot choose a specific Kit, the exceptions will be noted.

Kits and Character Creation

You can only take one Kit for your character.

You can only take a Kit for your character when that character is first created unless specifically approved by the DM.

Once you've taken a Kit, you cannot change it. Later in the character's life, he can possibly abandon his Kit; see "Abandoning A Kit."

Kits and Multi-Class Characters

These Kits are designed to add depth to a character. But if the character is already multi-class (for example, an elf fighter-mage), he doesn't need anymore depth. Therefore, only single-class can take one of the Kits described above (unless they are specifically designed for a mult-class character).

However, with your DM's permission, there's no reason why a multi-class warrior can't use his weapon and nonweapon proficiency choices to simulate one of the Kits... and, again with DM permission, the characters possessing that Kit can consider him "one of their own" within the context of the campaign.

For example, let us say that your campaign features an elvish Amazon tribe and you want to play an elf fighter/thief who belongs to that Amazon tribe. Build her this way: Have her take Spear and Long Bow Weapon Proficiencies. For her Nonweapon Proficiencies, have her take Riding (Land-Based) and Animal Training (she doesn't get either of these for free, like the "real" Amazon, but she can still choose them). For her Equipment, limit her to the equipment choices of the Amazon. If you do all this, and have your DM's permission, within the context of the campaign, your character will be considered an Amazon. That is, she comes from the Amazon tribe and the other Amazons consider her to be a shield-sister and one of their own. You know, and the DM knows, that she doesn't have all the special benefits of the Amazon Warrior Kit. And the DM is within his rights to assign the character the special hindrances of the Amazon - after all, you've chosen for her to be identified with a race of people with those hindrances. But to all outward eyes, she is indistinguishable from any other elvish Amazon.

Kits and Dual-Class Characters

The same is not true of dual-class characters.

If a character starts off as a warrior, for example, he may take any of the Warrior Kits above. If, later, he decides to change classes according to the normal Dual-Class Benefits and Restrictions rules, he doesn't lose any of the benefits or hindrances of the Kit he chose; he is still that sort of fighter. If that second character class also has a range of Kits available to it, he may not choose a new, additional Kit.

If a character starts off as some other character class, does not take on a Kit appropriate to that class, and then later switches to one of the warrior classes, for example, he can choose a Warrior Kit at that time... though the DM may insist that certain campaign events be accomplished in order to allow him to do this.

For instance, let's say that a human mage decides, later in life, to become a Fighter, and he wants to be a Gladiator. Well, there's nothing wrong with that. But the DM should insist that the next several adventures deal with that transformation. The character must be hired by (or, alternatively, captured and enslaved by) an arena or fighting-stable owner, trained, and pitted against other Gladiators. The other characters in the campaign could also be entering the gladiatorial arena, or the DM could contrive things so that the current adventure involves gladiatorial elements and still get all the PCs involved. To better simulate the wait involved for the character to learn his new trade, the DM is within his rights to insist that the character not receive his Warrior Kit until he's reached second experience level in his new class.

Abandoning A Kit

Sometimes it happens that a character is created with a Kit and circumstances later force him to reconsider his character's role. For example, a Noble Warrior could become disgusted with the corruption and excesses of his class and decide to renounce his ties to the nobility. Or, a Savage could become increasingly comfortable with the civilized world and increasingly uncomfortable with his savage kin. In such a case, the player should think about abandoning the Kit.

To abandon the kit, the player should privately tell the DM his intentions. If the DM has no objections to the abandonment, then it will take place. Unless the choice for abandonment were brought on by a sudden, traumatic event, the DM may have to have some time to work the abandonment into the storyline. Often, in the story, the character doing the abandoning will have to role-play out the situation: Publicly renounce his ties with the others of his Warrior Kit, and then suffer any consequences that might arise. (In Greek mythology, for instance, the Amazon queen Antiope abandoned her former life to stay with King Theseus of Athens... and she later died fighting her former countrywomen when they came after her.)

Once the character abandons his kit, he also abandons all the special benefits and hindrances it provides. Often, those benefits included free Nonweapon Proficiencies or Weapon Proficiencies. The character doesn't lose those, but he must pay for them from the next free slots he has available to him.

The character may not take another Kit to replace the one he's abandoned.

Once he gives up his Kit, he's an ordinary Fighter, Paladin, or Ranger for the rest of his playing life.

Modifying The Kits

The DM can, and should, modify the Kits presented above to represent his own campaign setting more accurately. For example, if there are no Amazons in his world, he should disallow the Amazon Kit. If Gladiators are all chosen from the ranks of savages despised in the civilized land, he should modify the Gladiator hindrances to reflect the fact that they have no respect in the campaign setting.

Creating New Kits

Similarly, if there's a special sort of warrior that the DM would like to have in his world, he can design a new Kit for that character. To design a Kit, you must answer the following questions about the character and his role in your campaign.

Description: What is this kit? What literary, mythological, or historical source is he drawn from? What special requirements are there if a character wishes to be one?
Role: What is this character to be in the campaign? How does his culture look at him? How do other cultures look at him? Is there a special sort of outlook he needs to have to belong to this Kit? And what does this character tend to do in a campaign - lead mighty nations? brutalize and betray his allies? upset the delicate balance of political strategies? have a good time without making waves?
Weapon Proficiencies: Many Kits seem to gravitate toward specific weapon types. Knights lean to swords and lances; Merry Men of the forest prefer the longbow. If the character you're simulating seems to prefer one or two weapons above all others, then, in this Kit, you require them to take the proficiencies for those weapons.
Nonweapon Proficiencies: Most Kits seem to have certain skills in common. It would be silly to have a Noble Warrior without Etiquette, for instance. So you may assign up to two proficiency slots to be given free to the character. If it's appropriate, the proficiencies may come from listings not appropriate to the class - the Priest, Rogue, and Wizard listings. (Though normally the cost in slots for such proficiencies doubles, since they are here being given free to the character, that doesn't matter.)
Equipment: If a Kit is best-known for having specific types of equipment, require that the kit have such equipment when the campaign begins. If many examples, but not an overwhelming majority, of this sort of character seem to prefer a specific type of equipment, simply list it among the types of equipment the Kit recommends.
Special Benefits: Every Kit should have some special benefit. It's up to you to choose what that benefit is, but it should fit in with the way this character appears to function in fiction, mythlore or wherever he comes from. Types of benefits include: Bonuses to reaction rolls, especially from certain categories of people; Bonuses to attack rolls and/or damage, especially against certain categories of enemies, or in special circumstances; A free weapon specialization; Resistance (immunity or a bonus to saving throws) against specific types of magic; Special rights in the culture in which the characters normally travel (for example, immunity from prosecution for certain alleged crimes, or the right to demand shelter and so on.
Special Hindrances: You should also provide a special hindrance (or hindrances) which limit the character as much as his benefits help him. Such hindrances can include: Minuses to reaction rolls, especially from certain types of people; Minuses to attack rolls and/or damage, especially against certain categories of enemies; Inability to learn specific weapon or nonweapon proficiencies; Vulnerability to specific sorts of magic (either a minus to saving throws, or the magic is automatically successful and Special restrictions in the culture in which the characters travel (for example, not being able to own property or get married, or excessive punishments for specific crimes).
Wealth Options: If the Kit has any restrictions or benefits in the awarding of his starting gold, or in the ways he can spend it, note them here.
Races: If there are variations to the Kit based on the character's race, note them here. Some races can't take a specific Kit; some will have different proficiencies, benefits and hindrances attached to them.