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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.

ColumnsD&D 4eHistory of the Classes

The Warlock Class, Part Two

Last time in History of the Classes, I looked at the 3.5 Warlock and Binder classes, as two different approaches to a practice of creepy, forbidden, occult power. Both classes allow and encourage the character to surprise foes with unusual ...
D&D 3.5eHistory of the Classes

The Warlock Class, Part One

Now that my series on the Sha’ir has ended… again… I’m moving on to the Warlock, a class that first formally entered D&D in 3.5e in the pages of Complete Arcane. It has undergone radical changes in mechanics from that ...
D&D 3.5eD&D 4eHistory of the Classes

The Sha’ir Class, Part Two

I was overturned last week on my plan not to write a second post about the Sha’ir. I could have resisted writing about the 3.5 Sha’ir, by Dean Poisso in Dragon Magazine Issue 315; the 4e Sha’ir from Heroes of ...
D&D 2eHistory of the Classes

The Sha’ir, Part One and Only

The Paladin, at last, is put to bed, and I can start on the Warlock. Except that there was no official warlock class in OD&D, 1e, or 2e, so I’ll be starting with its appearance in Complete Arcane, in 3.5e. ...
ColumnsHistory of the Classes

The Paladin Class, Part Seven

To be honest, when I started this series I never would have guessed that I would need seven articles to talk about one class. On the other hand, D&D has a long and nuanced history, including a lot of offshoots, ...
D&D 5eHistory of the Classes

The Paladin Class, Part Six

In last week’s article, I talked about the 4e Paladin, where magical power takes center stage in the class and distances Paladins from the strictly chivalric-warrior-on-horseback roots. I also covered the 4e Blackguard, a Paladin build for tormented anti-heroes, tragically ...
History of the Classes

The Paladin Class, Part Five

Welcome back! Last time in History of the Classes, I talked about the Paladin and Blackguard classes of 3.0 and 3.5. This time, we’re diving into the 4e and 4e Essentials, though my text reference for 4e Essentials is a ...
History of the Classes

The Paladin Class, Part Four

My general sense of the Paladin class is that it really took root in the imaginations of gamers during the eleven years of 2e’s publication (1989 to 2000), but as soon as the 3.0 Paladin came along, its one meaningful ...
D&D 2eHistory of the Classes

The Paladin Class, Part Three

Last time on “History of the Classes,” we looked at the various Paladin iterations and conceptual cousins found in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (First Edition). Unearthed Arcana and Dragon Magazine meandered away from the class’s roots, in some ways, so ...
History of the Classes

The Paladin Class, Part Two

In last week’s article, we saw the origins of the Paladin class in OD&D; as we move into AD&D 1e, the class changes extremely little. The 1e Player’s Handbook cleans up the information presentation substantially and gives Paladins a different ...