alternate base classes in Dragonlance - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

alternate base classes in Dragonlance

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
johnboy069
Jan 09, 2007 13:26:08 I have been a fan of Dragonlance for a long time. I loved reading the books up to the War of Souls Trilogy (I lost interest after that) and I have the AD&D Dragonlance Boxed set as well as the Wizards Campaign Setting. I was wondering where alternate base classes such as the soulknife, hexblade, dread necromancer, and warlock would come from. Would the warlock, hexblade, and the dread necro have to take the Test? What about other Psionic classes such as the ardent, divine mind and the psychic warrior? Would they be splinter groups of elite agents and thus very rare? Thanks in advance for any input.
#2
darthsylver
Jan 09, 2007 21:19:40 Well as far as the psionic classes go, officially psionics does not exist in Krynn, so the soulknife would not be there.

The Warlock and the Hexblade are both more akin to the Sorceror versus the Wizard, seeing as they all channel magic directly through intuition rather than study. So they would probably be renegades and almost never allowed to enter the orders. Especially as they are both more martial than most Wizards who belong to the orders.

The Dread Necromancer I am not sure about as I do not know what resource it is in. But if the Necromancer uses spells and casts them in a similiar manner as a wizard (hence preparing them for use later rather than spontaneously) then they would probably be required to take the test just as any other wizard type.

Now if you are running the campaign then you can do what you want. With the release of the chaos energy contained in the greygem, then you can pretty much use this as an explaination for just about anything as this energy wave could have affected anybody in strange and unusual ways.
#3
alchemyprime
Jan 10, 2007 13:27:30 Since I only bought DragonLance yesterday, but am a bit of a Spelljammer fan, I do have to say this:
If you are a psionicist, saty away from Krynnspace!
Psionics only work on that Z-planet, and even with the Chaos War and it's energies, it would only explain Wilders and PsyWars. Maybe Soulknives... maybe...

One thing you could use for a warlock, though: create a small cabal of warlocks who use the power of Chaos and call them the Order of the Shattered Gem. They might worship Chaos like a god. It might be fun.

Dread necromancer: Wizard of the Black Robe.
#4
johnboy069
Jan 10, 2007 13:39:27 Thanks to all who have replied. These are my favorite classes aside from the sorceror, fighter, and ranger from the PHB. I really like the soulknife due to the mind blade feature, the hexblade because of its curse, and the warlock for the Hideous Blow and Eldritch Blast combo (I tend to play all my characters as melee fighters). The Dread Necromancer is a new base class from Heroes of Horror (more akin to a sorceror, with special abilities at different levels, and eventually becoming a lich). As a HUGE fan of necromancers, I would really like to play one from Krynn.
#5
borris
Jan 10, 2007 21:42:32 Dread Necromancers cast spells just like sorcerers do. They can use their spell slots to cast any spell they know without preparing it ahead of time. Therefore, in DragonLance, they'd just be a variant of sorcerers, using ambiant magic rather than the magic of the Moons. Just like sorcerers, they wouldn't exist before the second Cataclysm. And just like other spontaneous arcane spellcasters, they'd be considered renegades by the Wizards of High Sorcery, hunted by some and ignored by others, but definitely not allowed to take the Test and join the Order of High Sorcery.

Hexblades would be martial characters with acces to a touch of ambiant magic, which they use to cause misfortune.

Warlocks are not truly spellcasters, as they can't use any spell. In Complete Arcane, they're said to be born of a supernatural bloodline, be it fiendish, fey or eladrin. In DragonLance, they may have been touched by the raw energies released during the Summer of Chaos, and drawing their powers from the remnants of Chaos itself. They wouldn't be allowed in the Order of High Sorcery anymore than sorcerers or dread necromancers.
#6
Dragonhelm
Jan 11, 2007 16:26:49 You might get some good tips from an article I wrote on this very subject:

Expanded Base Classes in Dragonlance

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 johnboy069 Jan 09, 2007 13:26:08	I have been a fan of Dragonlance for a long time. I loved reading the books up to the War of Souls Trilogy (I lost interest after that) and I have the AD&D Dragonlance Boxed set as well as the Wizards Campaign Setting. I was wondering where alternate base classes such as the soulknife, hexblade, dread necromancer, and warlock would come from. Would the warlock, hexblade, and the dread necro have to take the Test? What about other Psionic classes such as the ardent, divine mind and the psychic warrior? Would they be splinter groups of elite agents and thus very rare? Thanks in advance for any input.
#2 darthsylver Jan 09, 2007 21:19:40	Well as far as the psionic classes go, officially psionics does not exist in Krynn, so the soulknife would not be there. The Warlock and the Hexblade are both more akin to the Sorceror versus the Wizard, seeing as they all channel magic directly through intuition rather than study. So they would probably be renegades and almost never allowed to enter the orders. Especially as they are both more martial than most Wizards who belong to the orders. The Dread Necromancer I am not sure about as I do not know what resource it is in. But if the Necromancer uses spells and casts them in a similiar manner as a wizard (hence preparing them for use later rather than spontaneously) then they would probably be required to take the test just as any other wizard type. Now if you are running the campaign then you can do what you want. With the release of the chaos energy contained in the greygem, then you can pretty much use this as an explaination for just about anything as this energy wave could have affected anybody in strange and unusual ways.
#3 alchemyprime Jan 10, 2007 13:27:30	Since I only bought DragonLance yesterday, but am a bit of a Spelljammer fan, I do have to say this: If you are a psionicist, saty away from Krynnspace! Psionics only work on that Z-planet, and even with the Chaos War and it's energies, it would only explain Wilders and PsyWars. Maybe Soulknives... maybe... One thing you could use for a warlock, though: create a small cabal of warlocks who use the power of Chaos and call them the Order of the Shattered Gem. They might worship Chaos like a god. It might be fun. Dread necromancer: Wizard of the Black Robe.
#4 johnboy069 Jan 10, 2007 13:39:27	Thanks to all who have replied. These are my favorite classes aside from the sorceror, fighter, and ranger from the PHB. I really like the soulknife due to the mind blade feature, the hexblade because of its curse, and the warlock for the Hideous Blow and Eldritch Blast combo (I tend to play all my characters as melee fighters). The Dread Necromancer is a new base class from Heroes of Horror (more akin to a sorceror, with special abilities at different levels, and eventually becoming a lich). As a HUGE fan of necromancers, I would really like to play one from Krynn.
#5 borris Jan 10, 2007 21:42:32	Dread Necromancers cast spells just like sorcerers do. They can use their spell slots to cast any spell they know without preparing it ahead of time. Therefore, in DragonLance, they'd just be a variant of sorcerers, using ambiant magic rather than the magic of the Moons. Just like sorcerers, they wouldn't exist before the second Cataclysm. And just like other spontaneous arcane spellcasters, they'd be considered renegades by the Wizards of High Sorcery, hunted by some and ignored by others, but definitely not allowed to take the Test and join the Order of High Sorcery. Hexblades would be martial characters with acces to a touch of ambiant magic, which they use to cause misfortune. Warlocks are not truly spellcasters, as they can't use any spell. In Complete Arcane, they're said to be born of a supernatural bloodline, be it fiendish, fey or eladrin. In DragonLance, they may have been touched by the raw energies released during the Summer of Chaos, and drawing their powers from the remnants of Chaos itself. They wouldn't be allowed in the Order of High Sorcery anymore than sorcerers or dread necromancers.
#6 Dragonhelm Jan 11, 2007 16:26:49	You might get some good tips from an article I wrote on this very subject: Expanded Base Classes in Dragonlance