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History of the Classes

Writer and game designer Brandes Stoddard explores the history of each of D&D’s classes, from OD&D to 5e.

D&D 3.5eHistory of the Classes

The Barbarian Class, Part Three

Welcome back to the History of the Barbarian, this time getting into the barbarian of D&D 3.0 and 3.5. Why did they drop the A? Because they finally admitted that the Accidental Death & Dismemberment wasn’t so Accidental – especially ...
D&D 2eHistory of the Classes

The Barbarian Class, Part Two

In the first article of this series, I left out an important item: the Oriental Adventures barbarian class. My plan for this article is to cover it as briefly as possible, then move on to 2e’s Barbarian kit (from the ...
D&D 1eHistory of the Classes

The Barbarian Class, Part One

Today I realized that it’s been almost three years since my last History of the Classes article. Today I’m starting in on the Barbarian, a class that goes back to an article by E. Gary Gygax in Dragon Magazine #63, ...
ClassesD&D 5eEberronHistory of the ClassesReviews

The Artificer Class, Part Seven

Now that my review copy of Eberron: Rising from the Last War has arrived, I’m starting my breakdown of it by finishing up the History of the Artificer series. As a reminder, this class went through multiple rounds of public ...
ClassesD&D 5eHistory of the Classes

The Artificer Class, Part Six

Today I’m finishing my exploration of Rich Howard’s Alchemist class, with the Irezumi, Metamorph, Poisoner, Pyromancer, and Re-Animator subclasses. Have I mentioned that Rich created an impressive array of subclasses? The best part, though, is how none of them tread ...
ClassesD&D 5eHistory of the Classes

The Artificer Class, Part Five

My text for today is a little unusual, in that I’m covering something from Tribality Publishing. One of our earliest and most successful releases is Rich Howard’s Alchemist class. It includes an Artificer tradition among its subclasses, so it belongs ...
D&D 4eEberronHistory of the Classes

The Artificer Class, Part Four

Now that GenCon 2019 is done, I can come back to the History of the Artificer. This week we’re taking on 4e and the Eberron Player’s Guide. By coincidence this is the one version of the artificer I’ve seen in ...
D&D 3.5eDragonlanceHistory of the Classes

The Artificer Class, Part Three

Thanks to several Alert Readers including Trampas Whiteman and Cam Banks, another chapter in the story of the artificer came to my attention: War of the Lance, the 3.5e Dragonlance supplement coincidentally written by Cam Banks, Trampas Whiteman, et al. ...
D&D 3.5eEberronHistory of the Classes

The Artificer Class, Part Two

Welcome back to the History of the Artificer. Here in the third* article, we’re finally going to see a version of the class that is called an artificer, and is 100% different from the Clockwork Mage kit and the tinker ...
D&D 1eDragonlanceHistory of the Classes

The Artificer Class, Part Zero

Thanks to the urging of my readers, particularly Episteme and Dave(s) 4 Goombella, I have to go earlier for the invention of the artificer. I’m looking to Official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dragonlance Adventures this time, with the tinkers, found ...