Class Compendium Random Setting-by-Class Generator

Using Class Compendium as a Setting Generator

You could actually pull a random selection of classes from the Class Compendium and core rules to make thematic campaigns pretty easily....try it! Here's a random generator to get you started....roll 3D6+3 times on the chart to get a selection of classes, then imagine what sort of weird campaign would result in an adventurer selection like that. I've added the LL Advanced Edition class options as well for extra fun:

Campaign by Class Generator:
Roll 3D6+3 for # of classes available (or roll 2D6+3 or even 1D6+3 to limit total choices). Then roll D100 that many times and determine class options from the following; re-roll duplicates.

Special Option: Default Core--if you roll a class under one of these cores (marked in bold) then you include the core class in your list (i.e a knight option will de facto include fighter).

Roll/Class
1-3 Magic-User
4-5 Illusionist
6 Alienist
7 Familiar
8 Thopian Gnome
9 Wild Wizard
10-13 Dwarf
14 Raging Slayer
15 Rune-Smith
16 Warchanter
17-20 Elf
21 Dark Elf
22 Greensinger
23-24 Half-Elf
25-26 Sylvan Elf
27-30 Halfling
31 Burglar
32 Feast Master
33 Huckster
34 Lucky Fool
35 Tavern Singer
36-39 Cleric
40-41 Paladin
42-43 Druid
44 Angel
45 Friar
46 Inquisitor
47 Undead Slayer
48-52 Fighter
53-54 Ranger
55 Commander
56 Dragon Slayer
57 Knight
58 Barbarian
59 Berserker
60 Gladiator
61 Samurai
62 Sword Master
63 Dragon
64 Goblin
65 Half-Ogre
66-67 Half-Orc
68 Treant
69 Fairy
70 Lost Boy
71 Pirate
72-76 Thief
77-78 Assassin
79 Acrobat
80 Explorer
81 Fortune Teller
82 Wanderer
83-85 Bandit
86-88 Bard
89 Bounty Hunter
90 Watchman
91 Cultists
92 Damphir
93 Death Knight
94 Eidolon
95 Automaton
96 Investigator
97 Metaphysician
98 Shootist
99-00 Monk

Example:

I roll 3D6+3 and get 11. For my 11 classes I roll for each and get:

Raging Slayer, Druid, Monk, Elf, Angel, Undead Slayer, Knight, Feast Master, Alienist, Thief, Samurai. I'll use the core class option, which means magic-user, cleric, dwarf and halfling are de facto included.

So...what does our class selection tell us about our new setting?

Core classes allowed are all there (fighter, magic-user, cleric, thief, elf, dwarf, halfling) so that's good. But some clerics can in fact be angels, druids and undead slayers. Fighters could also be monks, knights or samurai, and magic-users could also be alienists. Halflings could be feast masters, while dwarves have a special group of raging slayers in their midst. This world has some interesting implications!

1. There's a war between law and chaos that's more pronounced...with alienists, angels, and undead slayers wandering about.

2. There's probably an east-Asian setting or something comparable, which is where the monks and samurai come from.

3. maybe the dwarves use their raging slayers to stem the tide of evil that the alienists also seek to harness?

With this idea, I envision a setting where magic is generally accepted, but the world is threatened by alien forces..the Old Ones, perhaps...and some mages have learned to harness their magic as alienists. This threat is pervasive; the forces of good have even called upon angels of their gods to defend the world from this evil encroachment beyond the stars.

Amongst elves, they stand resolute and quiet in their woodland kingdoms, while dwarves have an entire culture of raging slayers dedicated to fighting the monstrous evil which is most likely to manifest in subterranean realms. Haflings remain an innocent and prideful folk known for their food, especially with their trade as feast masters.

The human kingdoms of the west (sure, why not) are dominated by a feudal society of knights. clerics and fighters; an entire special order of undead slayers has worked long and hard to stop the encroaching undead that are a byproduct of the Old Ones' manifestation. To the east is an island kingdom of isolated but powerful warrior samurai and their enclaves of militant monks. Thieves are everywhere, of course, that there is civlization. Lastly there is an old way, the pagan beliefs the druids vehemently adhere to with their elven allies.

Campaign by Class Example #2:

For this one I go limited (1D6+3) and exclude core classes except if it makes sense. I roll and get 8. For the classes I roll D100 and get:

Alienist, Half-Elf, Shootist, Ranger, Watchman, Fighter, Illusionist, Commander.

Nice list!

This is a world without demihumans...except for half-elves. I'm excluding regular elves (so no core classes that aren't rolled), which means in this world elves are an aloof mystery race of fey who are unsuitable for mortal minds to play as characters....but the idea of half-elves being viable is cool, so they are the product of baby-swapping unions with elven fey and humans; half-elves in this world are changeling, essentially.

Mages are limited to illusionists and alienists....this is a world where magic is either insubstantial and limited to the trickery of illusion and enchantment, but real mages go for broke and contact alien entities to secure their powers.

For fighter types we have the shootist, ranger, watchman, fighter and commander....this is suggestive of a magic-light world, one in which swordsmanship and a brace of pistols make right over magic. I'm inclined to allow thieves in to the mix as well, but for now, they can sit this one out (thieves exist, just not as honorable adventurers unless a player convinces me otherwise). There are no noble classes, either: this world is a rough place, and it is likely that skill and determination make a man rather than bloodline inheritance.

The shootist suggests a higher level of technology, which could play into the weak magic idea; magic is no longer a force in this world, or never was, but alchemy has turned in to chemistry and engineering for many, leading to a renaissance period and the development of more efficient and deadly weapons. Watchmen are another interesting idea: in this world they may be the ordinary men and women who not only look out for thieves and cut-throats but also keep a vigilant eye for the evils of alienist magic or the ever-dangerous fey which steal children and bring them back "touched."

Rangers meanwhile remain a "wilderness" version of the watchmen.....looking for the monsters in the wilderness that might rise up to destroy remote settlements on the edge of civilization.

Best of all, this is a world with no religion or gods of any import: there is no clerical magic at all! With no PC clerics or healers, the world really is a grim land, a universe where whatever gods are worshipped are uncaring and bequeath no power to followers. The alien minds the alienists reach out to for power may be as closes as it gets....and even they may find little interest in this universe. Or...maybe they have already destroyed the benevolent gods of this realm, and quietly bide their time for when the world is ripe for their cosmic arrival at the end times.

I kind of want to run this campaign now.....hmmmm.....!

Capsule Review: Class Compendium for Labyrinth Lord and B/X D&D

The Class Compendium from Barrel Rider Games is at last available in a print format. As I understand it this is a compendium of prior classes which were sold individually, although it looks to me like there's a whole lot more in here....235 pages' worth, in fact. It's available in print and PDF for $29.99 or PDF only for $9.99. If you do a lot of OSR gaming, I suggest a print copy for the table.

The Class Compendium is aimed directly at Labyrinth Lord but as with most OSR content you can adapt it with minimal fuss to your preferred brand of retroclone (or just use it straight up with B/X D&D). Here's a quick run-down on the book's contents:

4 new wizard classes (alienist, familiar, thopian gnome, wild wizard)
3 new dwarf classes (ragins layer, runesmith, warchanter)
4 new elf classes (dark elf, greensinger, half-elf, sylvan elf)
5 new halfling classes (burglar, feast master, huckster, lucky fool, tavern singer)
4 new clerical classes (angel, friar, inquisitor, undead slayer)
3 new knight/fighter classes (commander, dragon slayer, knight)
5 new barbarian warrior type classes (barbarian, berserker, gladiator, samurai, sword master)
5 new monstrous classes (dragon, goblin, half-ogre, half-orc, treant)
3 classes based on the Lost Boys/Peter Pan (fairy, lost boy, pirate)
4 new thief type classes (acrobat, explorer, fortune teller, wanderer)
4 evil classes (cultist, damphir, death knight, eidolon)
4 urban adventurer classes (bandit, bard, bounty hunter, watchman)
4 victorian steampunk classes (automaton, investigator, metaphysician, shootist)
a page of new equipment (elf-shot bows and bullseye lanterns)
a page on mastery points and other classes (using some sword master class rules to enhance core classes)
three pages on firearms rules (and 8 weapons in detail) 
over 60 pages of spells (includes core LL spells and new spells; basically a spell compendium to support the classes in this tome)

That's a lot of stuff --52 new classes in total. What you get here is sufficient to provide a lot of flavor and thematic focus for any LL or B/X style campaign, and most of these classes (barring the racial classes) can be used as-is with Swords & Wizardry or OSRIC. The fact is....you could provide this book at your table, and baring specific setting limits (i.e. no monster or evil classes) you could readily end up with an entire table that does not contain a single one of the core classes in your campaign.

Without actually playtesting each class it's hard to comment on their mechanical viability, but each class I've read has distinct features and qualities to make them stand out from just playing "core." Nothing in particular looks overbearing....although I imagine you might not want to let someone roll up a death knight in your otherwise vanilla dungeon crawl, unless they plan on being the villain.

You could pick and choose classes from this book as well to flesh out a campaign idea: steampunk games, monster-centric games, urban adventures and even a setting focused entirely on non-magic users could be well supported with this book. The idea of a Lost Boys style Peter Pan adventure in Neverland is intriguing, too (sorry in an earlier blog I suggested you could to Alice in Wonderland due to a momentary brain lapse, I meant Peter Pan!)

Class Compendium also wisely avoids vampiric classes (which suffer in every iteration of D&D I've seen), although the damphir is done quite well.

Oddly there's only one east-Asian class here: the samurai. Perhaps a future tome will add the shukenja, wu-jen or kensai types that would let one flesh out a proper Asian fantasy campaign. Elves are another exception in this book: you get four new classes, but only one is a themed class (greensinger), whereas halflings get five unique classes and dwarves another three. So we now have "dark elf" for example, but no "dark elf ranger" or "dark elf matron" or even something like a bladesinger.

There are also a lot of spells....a huge number in fact, but many are reprinted from LL, adding the additional details necessary to support the classes in this tome. As such, if you have a spell casting character from this book, you can also use the Class Compendium to manage his spell lists.

In terms of style and art, the book is utilitarian in design, easy to print out if you choose not to go with a POD option, and the art is a mix of creative commons, royalty free and commissioned art....all of it looks good, nothing offensive or tonally off.

If you're like me and always felt that the racial classes of B/X D&D were the major stumbling block to properly enjoying the game, then Class Compendium definitely helps fix that. If you like diversity in class options, this book is for you. My advice is: get this, you will find it well worth your investment. A+