Class specific I

 

So class specific campaigns, madness to some creative limitation to others.  This will be the first in a series of posts about ideas for standard fantasy rpg classes.  Generally I will be using the first edition pathfinder core class list.  I think doing so will take a total of 4 posts to go into the level of detail that I want, but we will see.

Now I should note that ideas like this require a system with a fair degree of flexibility within each class, pathfinder 1ed works really well for this, other systems may not have enough options.  And generally when I talk about a class, related classes, hybrid classes or archetypes are considered to be part of that class.  So when I talk about Barbarians, all their archetypes, Bloodragers, Skalds and probably a few other options that grant rage at a low level should all be considered acceptable.

It is important to find that balance of options within the bounds of the idea, you don’t want 4 or 5 clones running around, but these limitations immediately give a campaign a huge amount of focus and theme.  However that focus and theme changes considerably depending on the class in question.  You will probably find that players come up with very creative ways to take advantage of what options they do have, and likely you will see spells, feats or class options like rage powers that you would never see in a more traditional campaign, or stacked in ways that you don’t normally see.

 

 

Speaking of Barbarians, Bloodragers and Skalds, they are the first expanded class I want to talk about.  Barbarians are a very evocative class, many cultures have tales of berzerkers and similar concepts.  A barbarian focused campaign is going to feel very different from a standard campaign, and probably be much more melee focused.  It will also likely involve the less civilized areas of your setting, but it gives people a chance to try some weirder barbarian builds; such as an archer with a composite bow using rage, or maybe a shield wielding barbarian.  Once you add in a bloodrager and skald you start getting a more rounded party that still has a very narrow focus.  

The first idea that struck me for a pure barbarian campaign was to lean very norse, give the party a longboat and make them raiders.  It would probably mainly result in conflict with other humanoids and could include trying to seize control of territory or growing to create an entire fleet of raiders.  I think it would actually be great to run this in a pathfinderized version of medieval europe. (note, I now need to write a blog post about a pathfinder conversion of medieval europe/mediterranean) This campaign could really challenge players to think strategically about where and when to fight, because once a fight breaks out there probably isn’t a lot of retreating happening on their side.

 

The second idea I had for a barbarian campaign is one that requires the party to complete an epic journey across some kind of highly dangerous terrain, say tundra, glaciers and mountains or into the heart of a jungle to find some relic required by their clan to face some powerful foe.  The environment should be as much of a foe as anything they directly fight and what gear they chose to bring or salvage should be important.  Dire animals, monstrous humanoids, magical beasts and dragons are all likely choices of foes in this kind of campaign.  There could also be hostile tribes whose territory must be crossed, which may force the party to negotiate or fight a running battle against pursuers for days.  The climax of the journey should be some kind of stronghold or dungeon that holds the relic, perhaps protected by constructs, undead or outsiders.  If you want to increase the tension, have one or more other groups also try to reach the relic, and leave clues along the way that other parties have already passed through the area.  Maybe one of these rival groups confronts the party at their moment of triumph attempting to seize the relic when the party has already had the fight their way through the guardians and are weakened.

 

 

Bards and other classes with some kind of performance class ability would clearly make sense as a travelling band or group of musicians.  A campaign about a band that is just trying to make enough money performing on a travelling show and most of their adventures are simply the dangers of the road or side jobs to make some spending cash.  It would be really fun to have the players determine what part in the band each player character fills.  As always, there should be rival or frienemy bands competing with the player’s party.  Maybe the party could attempt to choreograph a fight for a “music video” recorded by some kind of magical item.  Advertising the merits of your band will be important.  Having a skald as the lead singer would be really cool and add extra options to the group.  As the party increases in level, the locations of their concerts should become more and more exotic, cloud giant cities, other planes, having a dragon their patron should be the types of options that start getting considered. 

 

 

You will want a mix of builds of Bards and related options.  A Bard that focuses on being defensive and buffing, another on damage dealing and another on area effects.  However Bard is generally a very flexible class that is decent at everything, be ready to take advantage of any weaknesses your foes have.  Being decent at everything means you can target that weakness and don’t really have any specific weaknesses the hostile NPCs or monsters can target.

Hopefully you found this blog interesting and helpful.  Likely the next post in this category will cover Clerics, Druids and Fighters.  Let me know how you would run campaigns limited to one of these specific classes either the ones covered in this post or in the next one.