OSR games should have a lot of classes

I couldn't post to my blog due to life being a lot and various tech issues. I did however back the newest Shadowdark Kickstarter so now I feel it is time for a theory post, as I didn't post one in a while. 

From The Arcane Library
In OSR games, you die often. There are often around 4 to 7 classes (if the game sticks to the B/X model) and it doesn't take too long to play them all, at least each class's early levels. In shadowdark's newest kickstarter, there is plans for 20 classes to be in the one book. I like this. In modern games, having a lot of classes feels overwhelming as I am playing each class for a long period of time due to the lower lethality in those games so my choice matters a lot. In shadowdark, this isn't the case. Death is not only around the corner but right behind you and should your plans go south, that's the end of the character. It is unlikely I will be playing a character for a significant amount of time in shadowdark. 

The 24 classes the game will have doesn't seem as daunting as it isn't a 2 month commitment but more of a vague 2 session agreement. Each class is 2-3 features and a talent table so you can very quickly see what a class is about. If you do wish to stick to the traditional 4 classes,  maybe having the classes locked behind in world events would lead to more diagetic advancement. Maybe the Ras-Godai aren't willing to have their members wandering with a bunch of nobodies so if your party helped them get the law off their back, they might allow their members to join the party. Or only allow new players to pick the core 4 and each death unlocks a new class based on their behavior or in game actions. 

 

If you want to focus your campaign and feel the other classes take away from the feel of the campaign, try a shaker. I read Augury Ignored's post about a class shaker, that a specific set of OSE classes to tailor your campaign. 

From The Arcane Library
Here my own shadowdark class shaker. I am not sure if I will update this after all the classes release. Also, edit your own shaker with homebrew classes from third party's or your own.

d24 Shadowdark Shaker

  1. Fighter (core) 
  2. Priest (core) 
  3. Thief (core)
  4. Wizard (core) 
  5. Knight of St. Ydris (Cursed 1)
  6. Warlock (Cursed 1)
  7. Witch (Cursed 1) 
  8. Desert Rider (Cursed 2) 
  9. Pit Fighter (Cursed 2) 
  10. Ras-Godai (Cursed 2) 
  11. Sea Wolf (Cursed 3) 
  12. Seer (Cursed 3) 
  13. Rousabout (Western Reach)
  14. Basilisk Warrior (Cursed 4)
  15. Ranger (Cursed 4)
  16. Delver (Cursed 5)
  17. Weirdling (Cursed 5) 
  18. Bard (Cursed 6) 
  19. Duelist (Cursed 6) 
  20. Green Knight (Western Reach) 
  21. Monk of Yag-Kesh (Western Reach)
  22. Kyzian Archer (Western Reach) 
  23. Class 1 (Western Reach)
  24. Class 2 (Western Reach) 

I will only roll a d12 as 1-12 are the only ones I have access to currently. I will roll 4 times for base selection and 2 more times for unlocks or classes to switch out. 

Roll 1

2, 5, 6, 6, 11, 8

Starting: Priest, Knight of St Ydris, Warlock (all patrons available).

Switch: Sea Wolf, Desert Rider. 

 From the read of this, this campaign focuses on praying and intrigue between the unseen patrons and gods. Travel is rare, with most people staying within their villages, calling those who travel to farther places monsters and untrustworthy. The people aren't ruled by kings, instead they are ruled by fear and creatures beyond their comprehension. Interesting. 

Conclusion 

I believe that adding more classes that are specific to your world is great, giving the players the chance to hone in on a feature of your world that they like. More specific classes can lead to players playing the same world to approach it different ways. That's why I generally allow player to play any official class they want and they can play homebrew classes I have created or they suggest a homebrew class once they die and roll a new character. 

From How to RPG

Clickables!

Augury Ignored was a big inspiration, here's their OSE class shaker 

Elmcat supplys some knowledge on settlements

Tsojcanth gives us the gift of limitless casting 

Hexed Press teaches us how to read a hexcrawl adventure


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