Dungeons and Dragons(D&D) is a role-playing game created by Dave Arneson and E. Gary Gygax back in 1974 based upon their previous creation Chainmail, a tactical miniatures game. Since 1974, this game has gone through several permutations as it has evolved to suit the ever changing dynamic of the roleplaying world. No matter what the edition of the game is you play, however, there are certain basic choices that need to be made before you ever actually join in the game. The choices needed include what race to play, which class your going to be, where do you come from, what gender is your character, what is your character's basic outlook on life (alignment) who does the character worship (diety), what skills does the character focus on, what special feats are they adept at, and what are their personal quirks and personality traits, all these should at least be started upon before joining the game.
Of the choices outlined, probably the key choice, to which just about all the other choices are linked, is that of class. For someone who has never played D&D before, a class is the character's profession. What type of character they are, and how they go about solving the problems put before them by the Dungeon Master(DM) in the game. Throughout the various editions and supplements of D&D, there are literally thousands of classes and subclasses to discuss, so here let's focus on the most recent edition, 4th or 4e as it's commonly referred to, that came out just last year (2008). The classes currently available in this edition of D&D from the Core books(Player Handbook 1 & 2, or PH1 & PH2) only, are: The Avenger (PH2), The Barbarian(PH2), The Bard(PH2), The Cleric(PH1), The Druid(PH2), The Fighter(PH1), The Invoker(PH2), The Paladin(PH1), The Ranger(PH1), The Rogue(PH1), The Shaman(PH2), The Sorcerer(PH2), The Warden(PH2), The Warlock(PH1), The Warlord(PH1), and The Wizard(PH1)
As you can see, from the start, you have a choice of 16 different classes to make, and that's just in the core set. Of course, prior to the recent(March) release of Player Handbook 2, there were only 8 classes in the core set, and now there are 16. In addition to these core classes, there is currently 1 campaign setting published for 4e out there called Forgotten Realms, which introduces one other class, the Sword Mage, along with several digital copies of Dragon Magazine which every month puts forth new material including such classes as the Artificer, and bring out previews of the classes like Sorcerer and Druid from the PH2 prior to their official release.
Some will say that race needs to be determined prior to choosing a class, and this was more true in older editions of the game, however now it is important to know what class your going to play so that you can play a race that compliments that class. Now there are some who like to play unusual class/race combinations and there is nothing wrong with that, but the purpose of this article is to help choose a class in general that will make the game enjoyable without making it too challenging to play for the individual involved and their fellow players.
Now, each of these classes determines 3 basic things about the Player Character(PC), which are what Role they play in the party, what power source they call on in play, and what individual power sets, trained skills, and in some cases feats they have access to. The roles in 4e D&D are:
Controller: So named for their ability to control the battlefield. Controllers are most similar to Nukers in online/computer versions of Role-playing Games. They specialize in large Burst and Blast effects they can generally perform at range in order to take out large numbers of opponents at once, or at least weaken them. Classes that are controllers in the core set are: The Druid(PH2), The Invoker(PH2), and the Wizard(PH1), basically a Primal, a Divine, and an Arcane representative. At this time, in the core books, there is no Martial representative of the Controller role, which makes sense as the Controller's primary focus is generally outside the Martial power source's dynamic. A Martial Controller would more than likely be more a case of weapon choice instead of class choice as the only Controller type I could think of as a Martial character would be a grenadier (Grenade type weapon specialist)
Defender: Front-line fighting types who use their higher defenses to avoid being hit, higher hit points to soak up damage, and key ability to mark opponents to draw their fire away from other members of the adventuring party. Classes that are defenders in the core set are: The Fighter(PH1), The Paladin(PH1), and The Warden(PH2), basically a Martial, a Divine, and a Primal representative. At this time, in the core books, there is no Arcane representative of the Defender role, which makes sense as the Defender's primary focus is generally outside the Arcane power source's dynamic. The Sword-Mage from the Forgotten Realms is however a Defender and if you want to round out your Roles and Power Sources it could be included.
Leader: Unlike it's name implies, the leader is not the one in charge of the party, rather, a Leader is a role that's power base is used to enhance the party while hindering the party's foes. Leaders specialize in boosting moral, healing, rallying the troops, and weakening or intimidating the party's foes. Many leader powers include those that allow their allies to move outside of their normal turns to a better position, or even force their foes to move into worse ones. Classes that are leaders in the core set are: The Bard(PH2), The Cleric(PH1), The Shaman(PH2), and the Warlord(PH1), basically an Arcane, a Divine, a Primal, and a Martial representative. Every power source currently has a leader associated with it.
Striker: Strikers specialize in doing as much damage as possible to single opponents. They usually dart in and out of the battlefield using their maneuverability to their advantage and to the detriment of their foes. Some Strikers specialize in attacking from a distance, again focusing on putting a hurt on individual opponents. Unlike Defenders who's strengths are avoiding damage or soaking it up, strikers really shine in doing damage! Instead of heavy armor to avoid hits, they generally move around so that they aren't in the right spot to take damage when it comes about, or attack from far away using a variety of distance attack options. Strikers work best in concert with either other Strikers, or Defenders, where a Defender can draw away the focus of the attacks with their Marking ability, and the Striker then uses it's mobility to come in and flank a foe, increasing the Defender's chances to hit, as well as the Strikers, and usually increasing the Striker's potential to do damage in the bargain. Classes that are strikers in the core set are: The Avenger(PH2), The Barbarian(PH2), The Ranger(PH1), The Rogue(PH1), The Sorcerer(PH2), and the Warlock(PH1), basically 1 each for Primal and Divine, and 2 each for Martial and Arcane, given that there is no Martial Controller or Arcane Defender, an extra Striker is included to balance out.
That covers the roles each class represents, and of course each class also includes a secondary role they can generally function in not quite as well as their primary, but enough to plug missing holes to some extent in a party's structure. Also mentioned in the roles were the 4 basic power sources currently in the 4e edition of the game, Arcane, Divine, Martial, and Primal(the newest, introduced in the Player Handbook 2) which are basically where their powers and abilities come from. Let's briefly define these before going on:
Arcane: Arcane heroes get their powers and abilities by studying the magical forces around us. Be it finesse or raw power, an arcane hero usually has the tool for the job. Arcane powers are generally known as spells. Arcane heroes include the Bard(PH2), the Sorcerer(PH2), the Warlock(PH1), and the Wizard(PH1) and cover 3 of the 4 primary roles, leaving only the Defender spot empty, however if the Forgotten Realms setting is used, the Sword-Mage does qualify as a Defender, and because there is no core defender, the Striker role has double coverage.
Divine: Divine heroes get their powers and abilities by the worship of deities and demigods, the powers that be. They are faith based classes that call upon their patron's might to slay their foes and help their allies. They worship specific deities in the game world and defend the overall ethos of these higher beings in the world. Divine powers are generally referred to as Prayers, as they invoke the God's might in the game world. Divine heroes include the Avenger(PH2), the Cleric(PH1), the Invoker(PH2), and the Paladin(PH1) and cover all 4 of the primary roles. A well balanced party could include nothing but Divine heroes and meet all the general needs.
Martial: Martial heroes get their powers and abilities through training and hard work. The majority of their abilities represent special techniques of fighting that they have mastered through their intense training and discipline. Martial powered heroes let their bodies become their ultimate weapons, not relying on external forces such as gods or magic to get the job done. Martial heroes include the Fighter(PH1), the Ranger(PH1), the Rogue(PH1), and the Warlord(PH1) and cover 3 of the 4 primary roles, leaving only the Controller spot empty, and because there is no core controller, the Striker role has double coverage. Also to be noted, the Martial classes currently all come from the Player Handbook 1 and have been around since the start of the 4e game era. Although there is no Controller in the Martial power set, a well balanced party can easily be formed of naught but Martial heroes with their increased focus on physical prowess. No-magic and low-magic worlds often rely solely on Martial characters for the bulk of adventuring companies.
Primal: Primal heroes get their powers from the forces of nature all around you. Unlike the divine characters that beseech gods and goddesses, or the arcane characters who tap into the elemental chaos where magic is born, Primal heroes commune directly with the spirits of nature and the base elemental forces themselves. Primal powers are called Evocations because they evoke the powers of nature into their attacks and abilities. Primal heroes include the Barbarian(PH2), the Druid(PH2), the Shaman(PH2), and the Warden(PH2) and cover all 4 of the primary roles. A well balanced party could include nothing but Primal heroes and meet all the general needs. Also note that all the primal classes come from the new Player Handbook 2 as primal is the newest power source to be introduced into the game. Savage worlds with less civilized cultural make-ups may include only primal classes to adventure.
Now, when choosing your class, the other main area that is determined about your character is which specific powers they will have access to in the game. There are far too many powers to detail in this simple article, so individual powers will simply have to be read about in the appropriate handbook, but a good idea now that you have the foundation of roles and power sources down is to decide your character's class based upon these 2 things, and the overall makeup of the adventuring party.
As you can see by the definitions of the roles, each class plays a part in balancing out the overall effectiveness of the group. This is not to say that a party comprised of nothing but Defenders could or wouldn't be a lot of fun to play, because it has been, assuredly, however a well balanced mix of roles helps make sure that the party has someone and some power for most foreseeable situations. The choice of power source on the other hand goes along with having the character that fits the image of what you want to play. Where do their powers come from, what kind of background does that suggest? By going with the power source that appeals to your sense of the character as a person, you have a better chance of insuring the overall enjoyment of the game for you, and also building the character into what you visualize him or her to be, without necessarily having to go through every single class and power in the books before deciding. Choosing a power source cuts your overall necessary research by 75% and if you also know which role you wish to play, that generally will narrow your class choice down to just 1 or 2 that you can then get in depth with and decide which will suit you better.
Hopefully this incite into the underlying attributes of character creation will help you when you make your first couple of characters. After you have played a few times, not only will you have experienced your own choices, but you will have also had a chance to witness those choices other players have made so as the game progresses, you will have more and more incite into what makes each class tick. By the time you've made your 5th character for D&D, you will most likely know which classes best suit your play style, what powers appeal to you and are most effective in your style of play, and how to put together a group that complements each other well. You will also be able to branch out and play those oddball combinations of class and race and background because you will understand the underlying workings a little better. Until next time, GAME ON!