Favorite D&D 3.5e Class and Why

[8BitNinja]

Name says it all. You know what to do.

For me, it might be obvious to those who know me here, but here is my story why.

My favorite class is the paladin. As a kid, I always liked the knight in shining armor, the sheriff who rode into town to fight bandits, and just the general idea of an uncompromising hero. I have always loved the idea of a holy warrior who is out to fight all that is profane and blasphemous and the hero who always does the right thing, even when no one is looking or the wrong thing may be allowed or excused. When I would play pretend games with my friends on the playground, I always was the first to volunteer to be on the side of good, and even today, my favorite superheroes are Captain America and Superman. So when I started playing role playing games (I started with flash games actually) I saw a strange name and wondered "What's a paladin?" So I looked it up and found a holy warrior with uncompromising morals and fought evil even when evil seemed to permeate everything. I said, "I wanna be that."

In short, the paladin is always what I always truly wanted to be. That's why I like paladins so much. To me, they are the best you can be.

[Reathin]

Wizard.

There are a bunch of reasons for that. Firstly, I've loved the idea of magic since I was a child. The wizard's particular style of magic, the sort that you don't need to be lucky to get as long as you're willing to put in the time, is also appealing. I enjoy the trappings of wizards, the robes and the staves and most importantly the books. I love reading, and secret books that contain the unleashed secrets of the multiverse obviously have their appeal. And there's the fact that they're often the scientists of fantasy. They analyze the way the world works, the underpinnings and how to change them with their minds.

Plus, there's the fact that they can do damn near anything eventually. I enjoy playing classes that always have something to help in a given situation. I'm much better at using magic for that purpose than conventional skills. Plus, they're basically using reality's cheat codes. That's fun.

[AnBe]

What you have said about Paladins is inspiring to me. They are an inspiring type of people, encouraging others to do good like them. And being a badass warrior while you're at it :smallcool:

However, Paladin is not my favorite D&D 3.5 class. They certainly are cool, but sometimes I feel that if one wanted to use the system to be a paladin, why not go Lawful Good Cleric instead? Maybe add in a level or two of fighter? Pretty much the same result, at least concept-wise. Mechanically speaking, though, Paladins are unique.

My favorite class in D&D 3.5 has to be Wizard. To me, they seem to be the most powerful. Mechanically and gameplay-wise they are the most fun for me to play. I love preparing spells and learning new spells from scrolls, having a familiar or a bonded object. They can do some of the most badass stuff in the game. Admittedly, they are physically weak but hey that's what magical enhancements are for. Bottom line, a well-prepared Wizard can take on anything.
I don't, however, like the whole School Specialization thing. Concept-wise it's a good thing to have but I always go with Universalist because I don't like to limit myself and it's just extra rules I have to worry about so eh.

[8BitNinja]

Wizard.

There are a bunch of reasons for that. Firstly, I've loved the idea of magic since I was a child. The wizard's particular style of magic, the sort that you don't need to be lucky to get as long as you're willing to put in the time, is also appealing. I enjoy the trappings of wizards, the robes and the staves and most importantly the books. I love reading, and secret books that contain the unleashed secrets of the multiverse obviously have their appeal. And there's the fact that they're often the scientists of fantasy. They analyze the way the world works, the underpinnings and how to change them with their minds.

Plus, there's the fact that they can do damn near anything eventually. I enjoy playing classes that always have something to help in a given situation. I'm much better at using magic for that purpose than conventional skills. Plus, they're basically using reality's cheat codes. That's fun.

Don't forget that they can be one man armies, so long as a meat shield is in front of them.


What you have said about Paladins is inspiring to me. They are an inspiring type of people, encouraging others to do good like them. And being a badass warrior while you're at it :smallcool:

However, Paladin is not my favorite D&D 3.5 class. They certainly are cool, but sometimes I feel that if one wanted to use the system to be a paladin, why not go Lawful Good Cleric instead? Maybe add in a level or two of fighter? Pretty much the same result, at least concept-wise. Mechanically speaking, though, Paladins are unique.

My favorite class in D&D 3.5 has to be Wizard. To me, they seem to be the most powerful. Mechanically and gameplay-wise they are the most fun for me to play. I love preparing spells and learning new spells from scrolls, having a familiar or a bonded object. They can do some of the most badass stuff in the game. Admittedly, they are physically weak but hey that's what magical enhancements are for. Bottom line, a well-prepared Wizard can take on anything.
I don't, however, like the whole School Specialization thing. Concept-wise it's a good thing to have but I always go with Universalist because I don't like to limit myself and it's just extra rules I have to worry about so eh.

Thanks for the comment, although paladins are more like a Lawful Good fighter with a few levels of cleric and has a bard's charisma (although they refuse to roll for seduction:smalltongue:).

I do think learning 10,000 spells is fun, but how exactly do you wizards find time to use them all?

[AnBe]

If you're a wizard and you want more time to learn/use all those spells, play an elf. Problem solved. However, if that still doesn't give you enough time, become a lich, baby :smallbiggrin:

As for Paladins rolling for seduction: "Hey, baby. Want to see how long my Holy Avenger is?"

[Teapot Salty]

To me, I've always had some kind of attraction to the ranger. My preference changes every week, but I always come back to the ranger. Maybe because it's a marriage of the fighter and the rogue, who represent the two areas I value most, martial training/skill from the fighter, and resourcefulness and craftiness from the rogue.

[8BitNinja]

If you're a wizard and you want more time to learn/use all those spells, play an elf. Problem solved. However, if that still doesn't give you enough time, become a lich, baby :smallbiggrin:

As for Paladins rolling for seduction: "Hey, baby. Want to see how long my Holy Avenger is?"

As for the first comment, I never thought about that. Maybe that's why so many wizards are elves.

As for the second one, that was well played (although we paladins would never go through with picking up a girl. Vow of Chastity)


To me, I've always had some kind of attraction to the ranger. My preference changes every week, but I always come back to the ranger. Maybe because it's a marriage of the fighter and the rogue, who represent the two areas I value most, martial training/skill from the fighter, and resourcefulness and craftiness from the rogue.

I always thought the ranger was more like a rogue/druid, but more rogue than druid. Kind of like how the paladin is a fighter/cleric, but more fighter than cleric.

The more you know.

[Teapot Salty]

As for the first comment, I never thought about that. Maybe that's why so many wizards are elves.

I always thought the ranger was more like a rogue/druid, but more rogue than druid. Kind of like how the paladin is a fighter/cleric, but more fighter than cleric.

The more you know.

I think that that's a values thing. I often even forget that rangers have spellcasting, because I mostly focus on being a sneaky fighter. If I wanted spellcasting, I'd be a druid.

[Lord Raziere]

Hm. If we're being completely technical on the "3.5" aspect......

Sorcerer:
I'm not much of a prep guy. I prefer to have a well-rounded toolkit for all situations rather than have to constantly change, and the Sorcerer just sounds cooler in many ways to me. I guess I just always liked the odd underdogs that the "proper" people like wizards hate because they don't do things they way people expect, like me.

If we expand to include Pathfinder, the question becomes a lot more complicated to answer, but the bloodlines definitely enhance the appeal of the sorcerer.

[Kitten Champion]

I've never played D&D 3.5, outside of Neverwinter Nights 2 which I believe uses 3.5 as a base as far as I'm aware.

I have played Pathfinder however, for a year at least. I prefer a Cleric there.

I genuinely didn't care which class I played when I started, so I asked which could benefit the group mechanically the most as to quicken the whole combat thing somewhat and that was usually a Cleric or Rogue. I kind of grew attached to the Cleric. I have a personal interest in characters who express faith in positive, negative, and neutral ways in their lives as well as the complexities of religion as an institution and philosophy. Taking the step of world-building for the settings we used, having the ability to give some depth to these beliefs and institutions and play around with how my imagined theologies may subtly or not-so-subtly affect their respective civilizations is pretty neat overall.

Unlike a Paladin, my Clerics aren't default warriors. They're usually scholars or... any number of professional roles that clerics actually did or could fulfill in a fictional world. I like that, I can do a lot with it. My previous Cleric (though this was 5e) for instance was part of a religion that's attempting to build a living magical version of Wikipedia and serves to provide inexpensive education to as many children as they're practically able while he himself was an in-universe version of an embedded journalist. .

[Esprit15]

Factotums always stuck out to me. They're the guy who just figures things out has he goes, improvising from what he's learned, never sticking to one thing, but instead dabbling in everything in order to always be useful. Plus, I always wanted to play that guy who always has a story about something. "Oh yeah, I can do a little healing magic. I was a medic back during the war, you know." "When I was perusing Jerry the Wizard's spellbook, I learned that the arcane word for removing magic is αντι, and with this gesture I can expand the effect into a whole field around me. A little diamond to sacrifice and... BAM! Anti-Magic Field!" "Ah, this is like the time I had to disguise myself as a king's daughter. Boy was her husband disappointed that night! ...but yeah, I should be able to imitate our priestess."

A factotum is the guy who is good in a fight not because he used magic to hulk out, or trapped his enemies in a mass of tentacles (though he can), but because he's learned half a dozen different tricks in life and can pull of any of them at the drop of a hat. They're one of the few INT based classes that is not a mage.

[Nifft]

My favorite class to play is a Druid.

Being a Wizard is too much like my day job.


As for Paladins rolling for seduction: "Hey, baby. Want to see how long my Holy Avenger is?"

SMITE FIDELITY.

"Hey babe, I've got divine protection from diseases, and my touch can heal any aches or bruises after."

[JBPuffin]

Lemme see if I can narrow it down...

PHBII was a lot of different bard spin-offs in my eyes; knight always seemed like a fighter trying too hard to bard, duskblade was the mage-rogue people wanted to be without the hassle of multiclassing, but once again Bard can do the job, and Beguiler - guess what? Bard. Even the Dragon Shaman was rather bard-like from a story basis.

Mechanically, though, they were something else - a marshal/paladin/sorcerer/cleric amalgam wrapped in a draconic bow and served with a side of no spellcasting and d10 hit die. It struck me as incredibly out of the ordinary that they considered dragon shaman a PHBII concept, but if I were to play a 3.5 game, I'd probably play one of them.

Other classes score pretty high in my mind, but it's the audacity of dragon shaman that gets me. "You're a dragon-lover who plays like about five classes and a dragon had an orgy." Sure, why not?

Then gestalt with bard and sing about how your enemies will burn.

[SirBellias]

My favorite is probably Druid or Wilder. One is an omni tool while the other is just a psionic sorcerer, which I like the concept of.

Talking Homebrew, Xefas' Mythos classes bring the marshal classes roughly in line with casters. Which is both hilarious and awesome. I'm currently playing one of those...

[Blackhawk748]

Im never gonna get just one so heres my top 3.

Sorcerer: The combination of being magic, not having to prep and being a living automatic rocket launcher is just appealing to me. Plus with my system mastery i can do pretty much whatever i want with them.

Rogue: I can either be an Assassin or the ultimate Secret Agent. Im happy with both.

Barbarian/Fighter: I stopped playing these singly a long time ago, so thats why i list them together. I love just how freakin simple this is, take a stick of your choice and beat the crap out of the things over there.

[LibraryOgre]

The Mod Wonder: Moved. Please put system-specific questions in the appropriate subfolder.

[8BitNinja]

Hm. If we're being completely technical on the "3.5" aspect......

Sorcerer:
I'm not much of a prep guy. I prefer to have a well-rounded toolkit for all situations rather than have to constantly change, and the Sorcerer just sounds cooler in many ways to me. I guess I just always liked the odd underdogs that the "proper" people like wizards hate because they don't do things they way people expect, like me.

If we expand to include Pathfinder, the question becomes a lot more complicated to answer, but the bloodlines definitely enhance the appeal of the sorcerer.

I personally don't like to play arcane casters, but sorcerer seems better just due to not having to manage the 1,000,000 arcane spells.


I've never played D&D 3.5, outside of Neverwinter Nights 2 which I believe uses 3.5 as a base as far as I'm aware.

I have played Pathfinder however, for a year at least. I prefer a Cleric there.

I genuinely didn't care which class I played when I started, so I asked which could benefit the group mechanically the most as to quicken the whole combat thing somewhat and that was usually a Cleric or Rogue. I kind of grew attached to the Cleric. I have a personal interest in characters who express faith in positive, negative, and neutral ways in their lives as well as the complexities of religion as an institution and philosophy. Taking the step of world-building for the settings we used, having the ability to give some depth to these beliefs and institutions and play around with how my imagined theologies may subtly or not-so-subtly affect their respective civilizations is pretty neat overall.

Unlike a Paladin, my Clerics aren't default warriors. They're usually scholars or... any number of professional roles that clerics actually did or could fulfill in a fictional world. I like that, I can do a lot with it. My previous Cleric (though this was 5e) for instance was part of a religion that's attempting to build a living magical version of Wikipedia and serves to provide inexpensive education to as many children as they're practically able while he himself was an in-universe version of an embedded journalist. .

I like how you pointed out something that is sort of lost to mechanics (however much I like mechanics) is that clerics are clerics, not battle medics. Sure a cleric can be useful on the battlefield, but his job is to be a religious minister.


Factotums always stuck out to me. They're the guy who just figures things out has he goes, improvising from what he's learned, never sticking to one thing, but instead dabbling in everything in order to always be useful. Plus, I always wanted to play that guy who always has a story about something. "Oh yeah, I can do a little healing magic. I was a medic back during the war, you know." "When I was perusing Jerry the Wizard's spellbook, I learned that the arcane word for removing magic is αντι, and with this gesture I can expand the effect into a whole field around me. A little diamond to sacrifice and... BAM! Anti-Magic Field!" "Ah, this is like the time I had to disguise myself as a king's daughter. Boy was her husband disappointed that night! ...but yeah, I should be able to imitate our priestess."

A factotum is the guy who is good in a fight not because he used magic to hulk out, or trapped his enemies in a mass of tentacles (though he can), but because he's learned half a dozen different tricks in life and can pull of any of them at the drop of a hat. They're one of the few INT based classes that is not a mage.

Factotums are a class I don't seem to see a lot, but I hear a lot. They almost seem like D&D legends.


SMITE FIDELITY.

"Hey babe, I've got divine protection from diseases, and my touch can heal any aches or bruises after."

Crap, what did I start? It's like hearing 20 bards simultaneously performing seduction checks.

Okay bards, I know not all of you are like that, you can put the rapiers and daggers down.

[Draconium]

In terms of fluff, I've always liked the dragon-emulating classes, for... obvious reasons. Dragon Disciple, Dragon Shaman, etc. Unfortunately, most of those classes are absolutely horrible mechanically, with the Dragonfire Adept being the only one that I found to be really worth playing. For a game with "Dragons" in the name, there really isn't a lot of good, playable draconic options out there...

Other than that, I really enjoy the Psion class. I highly prefer the psionic manifesting system to the Vancian casting system used by most magic classes, and being able to mess with people's brains in a literal fashion is always fun. I also like the Tome of Battle classes, especially the Swordsage, as they really give more options as a martial character.

[Nifft]

In terms of fluff, I've always liked the dragon-emulating classes, for... obvious reasons. Dragon Disciple, Dragon Shaman, etc. Unfortunately, most of those classes are absolutely horrible mechanically, with the Dragonfire Adept being the only one that I found to be really worth playing. For a game with "Dragons" in the name, there really isn't a lot of good, playable draconic options out there...

To be fair, there are even fewer playable dungeon options out there.

It's almost like the PCs are supposed to be on the other side, fighting against the dragons & dungeons in the game...

- - -

But seriously, Dragonfire Adept is great, and you can do fun stuff with a dragon-themed Sorcerer, and even more fun stuff with a Sorcerer who is literally a tiny Dragon(wrought Kobold).

[Draconium]

To be fair, there are even fewer playable dungeon options out there.

It's almost like the PCs are supposed to be on the other side, fighting against the dragons & dungeons in the game...

Well, that's just crazy talk.


But seriously, Dragonfire Adept is great, and you can do fun stuff with a dragon-themed Sorcerer, and even more fun stuff with a Sorcerer who is literally a tiny Dragon(wrought Kobold).

You know, you're not wrong... :smalltongue:

[Quertus]

It depends on your point of view. Thematically, either Illithid Savant or Dread Necromancer.

I've had a lot of luck playing jealousy- / envy-based characters, who learn to do the cool things they see others doing. Illithid Savant is that, in spades.

Animate Dead is what really got me into D&D. And the Dread Necromancer's immortal lich capstone has certainly been the goal of many of my characters.

But, back in my day, we didn't have this newfangled array of options. So, for Animate Dead, we had the choice of Wizard or Cleric. The Wizard, who studies and catalogs the mysteries of the universe, really spoke to me.

However, back in my day, characters started at 1st level. Clerics got Animate Dead sooner than Wizards, and were a lot less useless at low levels. So I played a mix of Clerics and Wizards, with the occasional "something else" thrown in for variety, and continue to do so to this day.


I do think learning 10,000 spells is fun, but how exactly do you wizards find time to use them all?

Use them? Who cares about that? It's the self improvement of learning them that matters to a Wizard.


SMITE FIDELITY.

"Hey babe, I've got divine protection from diseases, and my touch can heal any aches or bruises after."

Wow. I never noticed how well Paladins are designed for fun.

[Remuko]

Monk.

Ive always been a fan of martial arts movies and I took martial arts as a kid. A lot of shows animated and otherwise that I like tend to involve lots of hand to hand combat. I love the idea of becoming so good at martial arts and using your own body that you are able to achieve impossible (by irl standards) feats. While at high levels even the boring fighter can technically do this as well, a high level fighter doesnt FEEL like its doing it.

Yes I know MAD etc etc, but I'll always love the Monk class above all others. I've turned down playing certain RPG video games simply because it doesnt have a monk-like class. That's how big a deal it is to me.

[khadgar567]

for dnd warlock for pathfinder though choice probably syntesist summoner with spheres of power

[Erit]

It used to be Fighter before I came to grips with ToB's workings, at which point it became Warblade. Much for the same reason OP likes Paladins, actually, except that a Paladin's code of conduct always rubbed me the wrong way. I've always loved the larger-than-life kind of heroes, the ones who enter a room and treats everyone like an age-old friend even if they just met. If you make them a military commander they're the father to their men who bends the letter of regulation to keep to the spirit of the group, the kind who make you feel like they're your long-lost brother. Being rather bookish and withdrawn in my younger days, raised by a single mother, I always wondered how those Chaotic Good forces of personality did it; I wanted to study under them and be more like them, these—in my eyes—great men who could shoulder all the world and sprint headlong into the fire with a certainty and a smile. Fighter and Warblades, to me, are people who don't succeed in life because they have access to the debug console or because they got lucky enough to be born a dragon's great-grand-godchild, but people who succeed because of a strength both within and without. They don't train from a young age to be holy warriors or defenders of the faith, they're just everyday people who decided to take up the mantle of a hero in the classical sense.

A Wizard or a Druid might start and end the story, a Paladin might lead the charge and a Bard might sing of it later that night, but it takes a warrior to have a hero.



SMITE FIDELITY.

"Hey babe, I've got divine protection from diseases, and my touch can heal any aches or bruises after."

I will never unsee the mental images this has given me.

[Manyasone]

In the early days I liked the rogue, because of the sneaky infiltrator type and my love for 'Thief: The Dark Project' and 'Thief II: The Metal Age'. Garrett was an amazing protagonist and I wanted to emulate him...
Later on I liked the sorcerer because of, as mentioned earlier here, no diving in books or the prep, so just had to make solid choices in spells, once.
Now, I really like the Warblade because he, unlike the Fighter, isn't what a warrior looks like, but he is what a warrior IS
Psychic Warrior has an honorable mention, because Jedi.

In PF, I really like DSP's Aegis and Soulknife; Daevic and Vizier; Warlord, Warder, Stalker and the Harbinger. Actually most reworks of DSP I hold in high esteem.
Also the Spheres of Power classes deserve an honorable mention.

[Val666]

I've been playing d&d 3.5 for 4 years now. It may be a short time compared to others here but I still remember that after my friends & I were introduced into d&d it took no more than a month to be searching for lots of stuff related to the game. That was when I found giantitp :smallredface: After looking at many classes, prestige classes, etc I found that the martial adepts were my kind of thing but in the end, thanks to the "Tome of Battle", I found the Tome of Magic, where my favourite class, the Binder, resides. I know it may lack power at some point but hey, we got Zceryll. I like it's adaptavility and versatility. Yeah, I know, full casters are far more versatile blablabla but I don't like full casters and the theme of the Binder was everything I wanted. The only thing that pissed me a bit was the lack of support both "Tomes" got and I know why they didn't got more stuff but whatever, Homebrew is a thing c:

[ryu]

Wizard.

While all previous points about sheer effectiveness, versatility, and enjoyment of the inherent paranoia of a properly prepared wizard stand there's just something about being the person with the plan and control that appeals.

Have you ever experienced the joy of gradually removing all of your opponents' options and resources brick by bloody brick as you nail them in place like a metaphorical butterfly and watch as all hope and confidence descends into desperation, and/or the flailings of the mad? That is what it means to have a caster fight against an actually challenging opponent. It's chess with a much more violent and emotionally charged nature.

[rrwoods]

Maaaaan favorite class? That's tough.

If I had to pick I think I would say Cleric. Extremely versatile and powerful in the right hands, and very rich opportunities for roleplay and character story. You can play a religious zealot, you can play a helpful healer, or anything in between.

It's funny, because I've never actually played a spellcaster for any length of time. I always gravitate toward melee (sometimes with a side of skillful) rather than support or blaster or face or anything else. But clerics in my experience always add something to a group no other class can.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Pick one favorite out of the 40~ish* base classes? Woof, that's tricky.

Hrmm... Gotta go with fighter. The options for how you swing your pointy stick can be surprisingly varied and you still have to think beyond your class features to get through things. It's just the right blend of having a huge selection build options and difficult to do well to really appeal to me.

Puttin' paladin in second place for the role-play challenge if you've got a DM that's good at that sort of thing. Way more solid mechanically than it's given credit for, too, if you're familiar with its options.

I was tempted to put down sorcerer or wizard but I -never- play them straight. I always blend it with something for either a gish or a theurge. Love me some sorc/ wiz/ ultimate magus or wiz/ psion/ cerebremancer.


*or was it closer to 50?

[Kelb_Panthera]

I do think learning 10,000 spells is fun, but how exactly do you wizards find time to use them all?


I personally don't like to play arcane casters, but sorcerer seems better just due to not having to manage the 1,000,000 arcane spells.

There's only about 4000 spells printed for 3.5 altogether but, really, there's only about 50 or so that are really great. At any given level there's about 6-10 actually really good spells with the upper levels tending toward the low end of that. You don't have to remember all of them, just the 15 or so that are relevant at your level from about level 5 and beyond. Of those, the only ones that are complex enough to really take some work are the summon X, planar binding/ally, and polymorph lines.

To answer your question, you learn it the way you learn anything else that's complex; one manageable piece at a time.

EDIT: honestly didn't think that'd be a double post. :smallconfused:

[Jack_McSnatch]

Mechanically I love using duskblades. I like their combination on magic and melee in a base class, but my favorite class is definitely ranger. I like how they live somewhere between man and beast, and maybe it's cause my introduction to high fantasy was Lord of the Rings, but when I think "Stalwart hero" I don't think of the knight in shining armor with the holy sword. I think of the guy in the dark leather, sniping from the treetops because he doesn't want or need recognition. Just to do the right thing and live his life without being bound by the laws of men or gods.

[Hogsy]

My favourite class would be Diploma-err, I mean the Bard. Is it the fact that you know everything there is to learn of your world, and others? The fact that you have high enough charisma to distort and shape the very fabric of reality itself in ways a Wizard or a Druid could never even dream of? Or is it that you can make your DPSers hit like gods, while enjoying the beautiful dawn with two sexy dragons or something? Man, it's all of those. You are Robin Hood. You are Batman. You are whatever you want to be, and everybody believes you! You can be a dashing hero who adds his Charisma 15 times to his attack roll and 20 times to his damage roll to save the day, you can sing(or dance, or play a musical instrument, or have your blade do that, or your armor, OR YOUR THOUSANDS OF FOLLOWERS! AND THEIR BLADES AND ARMORS!) so amazingly good that you attract otherwordly entities who simply want a piece of your voice, while buffing your allies and ruining the day of whoever dared to cross you. As a Bard, I feel like the only limit is the sky. You literally hold creativity as your weapon, and in the right hands-or right moments- it's responsible for the most memorable sessions. That amazing speech you gave to inspire an army, or that epic twist you created by lying to everybody only to save the day at the end, or even simpler, how you made an epic of your party's achievements. The Bard is it for me, because the Bard can be anything. Holy Warrior(Seductor) of Light? Check. Brooding anti-hero who ends up saving the party in order to face a bigger threat? Check. A guy who sings and stuff happens? Double check!

[Pugwampy]

Barbarian

Anything a fighter can do he can do better . More Hit Points , More Damage , more move speed . Damage reduction . He has more skills then a fighter . He makes a great scout . His rage is just a cherry on the chocolate cake . He is there to remove HP and he does it very very well . Bone crunching damage is extremely satisfying also that gamble of rolling a 20 or 1 is so addictive .


Specialist Healer

This is tough to define , Something martially weaker then your standard cleric . I agree that clerics are useless at healing others in combat so they may as well do something better .

You have no idea how cool it is to have monster damage you for 5 hp only to have someone heal you for 10 hp on his or her turn . A good healer means your party can fuff around and go nuts.

There is so many options for a divine castor but i guess lets just say a good example is Healer from miniatures handbook but not quite the best you need a mish mash of classes . My ultra healer hero was one level cleric with mixed levels of healer and presitige class healing hand .


Wizard

I find this class attractive in that he has no AC or HP . He can learn and collect any spell he likes but he needs to prepare that one perfect spell that takes down the entire encounter . On the one hand he is the most useless worm in combat and yet on the other he is capable of being the ultra god of combat .

[ZamielVanWeber]

I have a soft spot for Tome of Battle classes. I love playing monstrous races and the Tome of Battle classes really helps out by putting those monstrous hit dice to use.

If I am not being monstrous then my choice easily goes to paladin with a close followup from mystic ranger.

[8BitNinja]

Monk.

Ive always been a fan of martial arts movies and I took martial arts as a kid. A lot of shows animated and otherwise that I like tend to involve lots of hand to hand combat. I love the idea of becoming so good at martial arts and using your own body that you are able to achieve impossible (by irl standards) feats. While at high levels even the boring fighter can technically do this as well, a high level fighter doesnt FEEL like its doing it.

Yes I know MAD etc etc, but I'll always love the Monk class above all others. I've turned down playing certain RPG video games simply because it doesnt have a monk-like class. That's how big a deal it is to me.

I always viewed the Monk as a lawful rogue of sorts. This post changed my mind.

[Afgncaap5]

Two favorites:

Rogue: There's just something so, *so* satisfying about being allegedly mechanically inferior and *still* coming out on top. I once put down a weird demi-lich/Voldemort-ish thing (one guy had turned himself into six different demi-liches, I think) by using rogue-ish charm to make a new card game become the most popular crazy in the continent and then working a Deck of Many Things into the mix. "Three-Card" Monty du Carabas, AKA Monty the Uncanny should have died so, so often, but wow. To this day, rogue is my favorite class.

Healer: Unlike Monty, my Healer started off as a joke character, but like Monty he became super effective. I couldn't do much for the party, but what I *could* do I did so well. I started throwing the phrase "Cripplingly Overspecialized" around a lot, but it kept working. And, yeah, I know that by the numbers a Cleric can technically be a better Healer, but... well, frankly, I don't care. Being able to regrow limbs and turn petrified people back to flesh without needing spells for it is fun, and having skill focus in Healing, while likely unnecessary, makes it nice for those rare times when you come to a place where magic is illegal.

[Eldariel]

It's a tough choice, really, particularly with all the wonderful prestige classes. There are some classes where I like the fluff, some where I like the crunch. I think Clerics are kinda awesome; especially the smart, neutral, negative-energy-channeling undead minionmancing types. The "I know I'm using the powers of darkness but I'll be damned if I'm not bringing balance to the universe"-kind. Sadly, the class itself features no class features. A Cleric is basically never a mere Cleric but a Divine Disciple/Contemplative/etc.

Design-wise, I'm partial to Tome of Battle-classes, but I feel they get few too few different counters and few too few different maneuvers overall, particularly early on. They certainly hit a lot of chords; versatile warriors capable of replicating most fantasy warrior feats and archetypes. You have your angry brutes who focus single-mindedly on an opponent and abandon their own defenses; your smart swashbucklers who control the flow of the fight with an array of attacks and counters; your martial mystics; your shining champions; et cetera. However, playing one for a long time, while not as monotonous as playing a Fighter, still gets somewhat repetitive. Thus, while they get good points from me, I'm wary of granting them full score.


Ultimately, perhaps the class I consider the best marriage of interesting and successful in 3.5 is Ardent. Mechanically it's a well-written Psionic class (okay, let's not talk about Dominant Ideal here) expanding its dominion over different spheres of power. They have really the only successful caster multiclassing system in the whole game, which is quite worth noting. Psionics in general are something I was always drawn to and I feel Ardent is just about the best realization of the concept to date. I always found it an incredibly cool idea that one could invert the mental world and push it outwards and infringe upon reality instead of reality infringing upon the mind like normal. They're also an incredibly customizable shell: an Ardent can be about basically anything. The only constant is that they are masters of the mind.

A close second in my books would be Artificer; doesn't multiclass at all and has no PRCs which is why I'm not putting it on rank 1, but the idea of a magic gadgeteer who is constantly making right tools for the job and capable of literally making anything, having a horde of constructs serving him and just making do with magitech is pretty awesome. It's also designed as a class that can get more out of items than most and constantly gets more and more abilities to craft stuff. It's not as "powerful" a concept (note, concept, not class) as Wizard and their power is not as direct but I like some bumps in the ride. I find direct power is a bit less interesting than something more difficult to master (says the man who just claimed to love Psionics).

[Remuko]

I always viewed the Monk as a lawful rogue of sorts. This post changed my mind.

Yay! :) I'm glad!

[rrwoods]

while enjoying the beautiful dawn with two sexy dragons
... Are you my spirit animal or something?

Man, I want to play a bard now >_>

[danielxcutter]

My current avatar is a Psychic Warrior. I always had a soft spot for melee warriors with abilities neither arcane nor divine, so once I discovered the class I fell in love with the idea, and it's actually part of what pulled me to these forums. In fact, I'm making a OotS-style comic, where the main character is, you guessed it, a Psychic Warrior.

[8BitNinja]

My current avatar is a Psychic Warrior. I always had a soft spot for melee warriors with abilities neither arcane nor divine, so once I discovered the class I fell in love with the idea, and it's actually part of what pulled me to these forums. In fact, I'm making a OotS-style comic, where the main character is, you guessed it, a Psychic Warrior.

That sounds a bit overpowered.

[danielxcutter]

That sounds a bit overpowered.

As in I like the class too much? Possibly, but by the time I'd been exposed to a large amount of other cool classes(like the duskblade or warlock, and for prestige classes Arcane Trickster was first) I'd already started to plan out the comic. Plus, lots of other characters will get the spotlight too - psionics are somewhat regional in the comic world, so while there might be an arc with lots of psionics, there will be many more that don't, and in fact there might be ones where the only psionic character is the MC.

Sorry for the rant/plug/whatever, since this isn't the thread for this kind of stuff and the comic's nowhere near ready for reading yet. If you want to talk more about it, send a PM.

[Kelb_Panthera]

That sounds a bit overpowered.

Literally all he's given you is that his MC is a psychic warrior. Unless you're in the "psionics is overpowered" camp, I don't see how you got to this conclusion. Are you, perhaps, unfamiliar with psionics?

[danielxcutter]

Literally all he's given you is that his MC is a psychic warrior. Unless you're in the "psionics is overpowered" camp, I don't see how you got to this conclusion. Are you, perhaps, unfamiliar with psionics?

He's said in other forum posts that the games he plays in often use house rules or use older rule sets, so maybe. I heard psionics were really crazy back then.

[Kelb_Panthera]

He's said in other forum posts that the games he plays in often use house rules or use older rule sets, so maybe. I heard psionics were really crazy back then.

In 2e I understand it was sometimes a problem but from what I recall of the 3e psionics handbook (before XPH) it was a bit weaker than now and it's not overpowered now unless you know the tricks, same as vancian magic.

[Nifft]

He's said in other forum posts that the games he plays in often use house rules or use older rule sets, so maybe. I heard psionics were really crazy back then.

1e: "Every PC rolls on a table to get Psionic powers randomly every level. They're balanced by the fact that if you actually use them, you have to roll for a random encounter with Psionic monsters who want to eat your brain, and who don't have to pay for psi combat modes, so you'd better have a party who can kill them quick for you before you're tapped out."

2e: "We threw out the random-encounters-as-balance part and you're not allowed to roll for random powers any more, you have to take the Psionics class which is balanced when you compare it to the Bladesinger. Monsters can still do horrible things to you because they don't pay for their combat modes."

3e: "We threw out the whole psionics-is-different thing so Dispel Magic will work on Psi powers, and Psi powers don't ignore magic resistance, but we kept the 1e balance thing where monsters can use combat modes without limit, but you still have to pay for them."

3.5e: "We threw out the whole combat modes thing. Also now powers are actually kinda balanced against spells, except when spells are ridiculously better."


... so yeah. In 1e they were fine, if the DM was a rat bastard about enforcing the random encounter rules. I have no idea what the 2e designers were thinking, but it's not like anything else in 2e was balanced, so whatever. 3e also started out poorly, but 3.5e did a fantastic job of making Psionics both reasonably easy to use, and reasonably balanced in play.

[danielxcutter]

Bladesinger?

[Nifft]

Bladesinger?

Yup (https://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?580229-2e-Why-all-the-hate-for-the-Bladesinger/page2&).

Bladesinger.

[8BitNinja]

Literally all he's given you is that his MC is a psychic warrior. Unless you're in the "psionics is overpowered" camp, I don't see how you got to this conclusion. Are you, perhaps, unfamiliar with psionics?

I should've explained. My comment was sort of off topic. It's just that a fighter stays balanced because he only has physical attacks. A psionic stays balanced because if a goblin farts a mile away he dies. Combine the tankiness of a fighter with the power of a pain, and you got some overpoweredness.

You can never like a class too much

[digiman619]

I should've explained. My comment was sort of off topic. It's just that a fighter stays balanced because he only has physical attacks. A psionic stays balanced because if a goblin farts a mile away he dies. Combine the tankiness of a fighter with the power of a pain, and you got some overpoweredness.

How is a PsyWar any more OP than a Bard or a PF Magus or Warpriest, or any other 6th caster?

[Kelb_Panthera]

I should've explained. My comment was sort of off topic. It's just that a fighter stays balanced because he only has physical attacks. A psionic stays balanced because if a goblin farts a mile away he dies. Combine the tankiness of a fighter with the power of a pain, and you got some overpoweredness.

You can never like a class too much

Yeah... No. Fighters and psions are nothing akin to balanced with each other. They are, in fact, at opposite ends of a spectrum of breadth and depth of capability. Psychic warriors are close to the middle; miles behind a straight psion and even farther than that ahead of a fighter.

It's pretty close to where many experienced players (not necessarily those with the greatest nor the least system mastery) find the sweet spot between having enough options to be interesting without having a solution to every potential problem.

Don't give it too much thought though. The excessive desire for balance misses the beauty of having something for everyone all in the same system.

[danielxcutter]

I should've explained. My comment was sort of off topic. It's just that a fighter stays balanced because he only has physical attacks. A psionic stays balanced because if a goblin farts a mile away he dies. Combine the tankiness of a fighter with the power of a pain, and you got some overpoweredness.

You can never like a class too much

Honestly I'm not surprised, given that Knowledge(psionics) isn't a class skill for paladins, and did you see the skill points paladins get? :smallbiggrin:

No, but seriously, saying a Psychic Warrior is a gestalt Fighter/Psion is like saying a Paladin is a gestalt Cleric/Fighter. Spoiler alert: It's not. Not at all.

Let me elaborate. Let's start with the known powers(barring things like Expanded Knowledge), shall we? Psions get 36 by 20th level. Psychic Warriors get 20. And unlike the Wilder(with a total of 11 powers known by 20th level), the strongest powers are 6th level. They also get significantly different lists: the powers on the SRD Psychic Warrior list that directly deal damage(as opposed to buffs/debuffs) can be counted on one hand. Literally, there are 4. All the others are some kind of buff, debuff, or other kinds of utility powers like Psionic Dimension Door. The "warrior" part of the Psychic Warrior is also weaker than the Fighter, since without prestige classes they only get d8 Hit Die and 3/4 BAB. They also have less bonus feats; 8 of them, and since they primarily self-buff some of them have to be used for metapsionic feats. Finally, they get less power points than a Psion. That being said, full manifesting level means that Psychic Warrior buffs can be significantly better than Ranger or Paladin ones(although Holy Sword is a tough one to match, true) as you can spend more power points to increase the duration or make the effect stronger. The powers themselves are a gish's wet dream; Prowess gives you an extra AoO seperate from the ones you get from Combat Reflexes, Expansion ups your size category by one by default and can be augumented to up it by two, Personal Mind Blank comes a power level earlier than the Psion version, Psionic Lion's Charge allows you to full attack while charging... So yeah. Decent for a gish-in-a-can, good enough for tier 3.

Oh, and Psychic Warriors are on the SRD. Better than most gishs since you don't need to buy half a dozen splatbooks just to get +16 BAB.

[Pugwampy]

Healer: Unlike Monty, my Healer started off as a joke character, but like Monty he became super effective. I couldn't do much for the party, but what I *could* do I did so well. I started throwing the phrase "Cripplingly Overspecialized" around a lot, but it kept working. And, yeah, I know that by the numbers a Cleric can technically be a better Healer, but... well, frankly, I don't care. Being able to regrow limbs and turn petrified people back to flesh without needing spells for it is fun, and having skill focus in Healing, while likely unnecessary, makes it nice for those rare times when you come to a place where magic is illegal.


It is super effective . This game wants specialists . Who cares if you cannot do anything else except fart hp for your buddies . I have played two of these types .

May i ask what you created exactly ? :smallsmile:

[DigoDragon]

To me, I've always had some kind of attraction to the ranger. My preference changes every week, but I always come back to the ranger. Maybe because it's a marriage of the fighter and the rogue, who represent the two areas I value most, martial training/skill from the fighter, and resourcefulness and craftiness from the rogue.

I don't really have a favorite class in 3.5 because I've so rarely gotten the chance to be a player. I've tried rogue once for a short-lived adventure (about four sessions as 3rd level), a cleric for another short adventure (about 4 sessions as third level), and a wizard for a two-session really short adventure (2nd level... dang it, why do these campaigns never last?!) :smallfrown:

But after a couple years I've finally joined a local group and I'm trying out ranger!

Part of it was the group had no ranged combat support (we have a monk, a tank-bard, and a lock-picking illusionist wiz) and I do prefer to use ranged weapons over melee. The other part was the weirdness of the stats I rolled up. The method was 4d6 best 3 (& reroll 1s). I ended up with:

14, 14, 14, 14, 14, and 14.

And I'm human (randomly rolled). :smallbiggrin:

[Flying Nostril]

I can't believe no one has put this one out there: Artificer

I like this class because you can do anything with those infusions, and with some time you can have any tool or spell effect in the game, possibly including psionic ones. Add in the artisan crafting feats and you can make anything fast and cheap. This class can be played as a dungeon delver, as part of a kick down the door style, or as part of a long style of play with a slow moving story. They also have plenty to do while the wizard has to get new spells or something else, so they don't have to sit around.

My favorite character ever was a gnome artificer who was earning huge amounts of gold making jewelry who then began building magical catapults. He also was a master trap maker and weapon maker. He was followed around by his own personal army of Homunculi (The crossbow, the walking chest, the little steel defender, the crafting one, etc.) and he always has the right tool for the job.

[barakaka]

Shadowcaster.

You've got a wizard who's really edgy, and paranoid. Why is he paranoid? Because he's got a really small spell list, as a base class. He learns those spells like a sorcerer without a book, but he does that through research and planar experiments. He's got only enough spells known for maybe 3 full encounters if he's stingy. He's got the health of a rogue, so he survives things that an unprepared wizard might not, but that just means he was only nearly beaten to death by that bandit... Think of what that does to a man!

It's the perfect class for those who like to improvise and figure out ways to make a spell perform double duty. Every day is unknown to you and could spell the end for a Shadowcaster not worth his salt. To survive, you'll have to be sneaky, make use of your items to keep you safe while your spells are down, make use of your environment, and plan for what your enemies will do.

With planning and liberal use of feats, you can increase the number of times you can cast your big hitting spells, cast from your shadow avoiding AoO's, Still all your spells, and even give you a Shadow Familiar scout.

Shadowcaster is a spellcaster that can be used in low-mid OP games where your party is a bunch of mundanes. You run much less risk of overshadowing them, and you still get to dabble in magics not meant for man.

[GrayDeath]

Sadly I mostly play nonclassbased RPG`s which does make a single fav Class in D&D rather impossible.

So lets narrow it down to 3_

Nr 3: Warlock (with a few Houserules). Because of the Fluff, the way he scoffs at Vance with a "what, you`re only ultraawesome for 15 Minutes? I can be kinda awesome all day!".

Nr 2: Psion. Because telling the Universe what to do with your mind is really fun.

Nr. 1: Sorcerer. I am capable of playing a fully optimized Wizard. But I dont want to invest that kind of effort, it kills my fun.
So the more gifted, les flexible Sorcerer always was one of my Favs. Yeas, building and leveling take AGES. But Playing doesnt challenge you every m0orning ^^


Also honorary mention to my fav "no magic/Psy at all" Combo: Fighter/Kensai. Yeah, very narrow, but I adore the FLuff of the "Pure Sword Master, with his semisentient sword, nothing else"

[8BitNinja]

@Psion Conversation: I'm sorry about the lack of knowledge on psions. In the games I have been in they have been shunned.

[Nifft]

I can't believe no one has put this one out there: Artificer

Love the power.

Hate the book-keeping.

[Ruethgar]

Sorcerer

The power and versatility of both background and spell selection culminate in a potent, thematic character.

[Eldariel]

I can't believe no one has put this one out there: Artificer

I most certainly did, if only as a second choice.

[SangoProduction]

Sorcerer. Possibly Psion (god damn it PoE, I kept typing "Scion").

Why? Because of a great diversity in what you can do from session to session, without the micromanagement of dealing with a spell book, and laying out your spells prepared.

No matter how strong your character is, if you're doing just one thing every session, it gets rather boring. This particularly pertains to combat. "Oh, hey, I charge for 1 billion damage...for the 574th time... Can we be done with combat now?"

The last time I played Sorcerer (You can see it in my journals in my Signature), was actually when I got bored of my rogue being incredibly one dimensional in his combat, so I set progression as him becoming a shadows caster (not the class). After his partymate was returned from the prison dimension (it wasn't given a name), due to his mother's ring...well, something had to be going on with it. It just so happened that the Devil Fever he contracted erupted, leaving him basically immobile.

Meanwhile, his mind's locked doors were worn open by the trauma, and the ancestral spirit that inhabited the ring was allowed to speak. To teach. He would learn the ways of the shadow.

[Luccan]

I like them all to some degree (except the CW Samurai) but favorite is either Sorcerer or Druid. I always liked the Sorcerer's flavor, especially when I was a kid and thought dragons were the coolest thing ever. Plus, I liked that picture of the Sorc in the book, because spears are cool. As time has gone on, I've come to appreciate the class for it's limitations. Sure other magic users can learn more spells or get special abilities, but I like the idea of being a little more limited in your tools, when it comes to magic. It seems more compelling.

Druids have my favorite power as a 5th level class ability. They also get spells, are decent fighters, have animal companions, and a bunch of other class abilities, some of these include some of my other favorites, like wild empathy. My longest running character was a Druid and it was a blast. Plus they get some really flavorful spells that just don't fit any other class that well.

[prufock]

My favourite class would be Diploma-err, I mean the Bard. Is it the fact that you know everything there is to learn of your world, and others? The fact that you have high enough charisma to distort and shape the very fabric of reality itself in ways a Wizard or a Druid could never even dream of? Or is it that you can make your DPSers hit like gods, while enjoying the beautiful dawn with two sexy dragons or something? Man, it's all of those. You are Robin Hood. You are Batman. You are whatever you want to be, and everybody believes you! You can be a dashing hero who adds his Charisma 15 times to his attack roll and 20 times to his damage roll to save the day, you can sing(or dance, or play a musical instrument, or have your blade do that, or your armor, OR YOUR THOUSANDS OF FOLLOWERS! AND THEIR BLADES AND ARMORS!) so amazingly good that you attract otherwordly entities who simply want a piece of your voice, while buffing your allies and ruining the day of whoever dared to cross you. As a Bard, I feel like the only limit is the sky. You literally hold creativity as your weapon, and in the right hands-or right moments- it's responsible for the most memorable sessions. That amazing speech you gave to inspire an army, or that epic twist you created by lying to everybody only to save the day at the end, or even simpler, how you made an epic of your party's achievements. The Bard is it for me, because the Bard can be anything. Holy Warrior(Seductor) of Light? Check. Brooding anti-hero who ends up saving the party in order to face a bigger threat? Check. A guy who sings and stuff happens? Double check!

I agree completely, and you said it much more emphatically than I could have.

[Jormengand]

Truenamer. The ability to have a weird and wonderful variety of abilities which, in many cases, no other class can emulate and which you can use forever, as well as the fact that you can make the archetypal "Underpowered class" into a know-it-all, flying, anti-magic, action-economy-breaking killing machine (nowhere near as good as a wizard, mind, but still pretty decent) with just a little bit of good build choice is kinda hilarious.

[8BitNinja]

I can't believe no one has put this one out there: Artificer

I like this class because you can do anything with those infusions, and with some time you can have any tool or spell effect in the game, possibly including psionic ones. Add in the artisan crafting feats and you can make anything fast and cheap. This class can be played as a dungeon delver, as part of a kick down the door style, or as part of a long style of play with a slow moving story. They also have plenty to do while the wizard has to get new spells or something else, so they don't have to sit around.

My favorite character ever was a gnome artificer who was earning huge amounts of gold making jewelry who then began building magical catapults. He also was a master trap maker and weapon maker. He was followed around by his own personal army of Homunculi (The crossbow, the walking chest, the little steel defender, the crafting one, etc.) and he always has the right tool for the job.

Artificers are great but...

Those charts

And more charts.

[supersonic29]

From my experience, keeping in mind there are so many classes I want to play that I haven't, I've gotta say Bard.

Bard is not an extremely strong class, but you can just swing it into doing so much and I love the flavor to death. Gets some spells early on its list compared to others, get's a variety of spells at that, gets the bardic music, can be pretty easily designed for weapon combat, etc. Really great for low power campaigns and for players who aren't sure what they want to do and lean towards being the jack of all trades. Not to mention, who doesn't like playing chaotic? :smallbiggrin:

[bean illus]

Rogue, or Factotum. I just love skillmonkeys.

There's little better than the look on folks faces when you intrigue and skill the plot to tiny pieces. It's all about looking at things differently than 'What's in my spellbook' or 'What items do i have.

[Ualaa]

For 3.5, I'd go with the Druid, usually into the 'Master of Many Forms'.
Mainly for flexibility.

Wildshape was a lot more exploitable in 3.5, than my current Pathfinder.
And the druid still had a lot of spellcasting power, allowing for blasts, control, or support healing.

[8BitNinja]

For 3.5, I'd go with the Druid, usually into the 'Master of Many Forms'.
Mainly for flexibility.

Wildshape was a lot more exploitable in 3.5, than my current Pathfinder.
And the druid still had a lot of spellcasting power, allowing for blasts, control, or support healing.

The druid: they speak for the trees, and the trees say to shut up.

[Neowulf]

I like Warblade because it's best

you've got Blade Magic, Full BAB, can syngergize WELL with many classes (Barbarian, Fighter, Ranger, & Swashbuckler coming fresh off my mind), it can let you change out feats that apply only to a single weapon, you get bonus feats, only problem is that you get so few maneuvers & stances to choose from

[Soranar]

Early on the paladin was , hands down, my favorite class.

With time (and after reading more books and moving beyond core) the warlock became a staple favorite due to the coolness of the powers and the at will abilities.

[Calthropstu]

I am going to say psion. I love the idea of being able to manipulate realoty with nothing more than my sheer will.

[8BitNinja]

Early on the paladin was , hands down, my favorite class.

With time (and after reading more books and moving beyond core) the warlock became a staple favorite due to the coolness of the powers and the at will abilities.

This is kind of ironic

Is this irony, or coincidence?

[Pugwampy]

Quote Originally Posted by 8BitNinja
I do think learning 10,000 spells is fun, but how exactly do you wizards find time to use them all?

They dont . The fun part is hoarding all those semi useless spells for bragging rights . :smallbiggrin:

[danielxcutter]

This is kind of ironic

Is this irony, or coincidence?

It's an ironic coincidence.

[Thaneus]

Here comes another psionic based class:
Erudite (even w/o Spell to Power variant)

I like the academic view on the power of will. Minds is the only "thing" which matters. The true aim is to tap into the potential of ones mind for omniscience and omnipotence e.g. godhood.
Their view on cosmic, mind and will is very to my preference. Psions always come way to ascetic for my taste.
They are the civilized Psion, well regarded in the city where they study and of good social standing.
They also can "steal" the power of other psionics for themselves (which does not prevent the good Erudite to just go to a teacher, colleague or Psion next door and ask nicely) witch can explain why he goes ot to adventure, he just wants more power.
Unfortunately they get a unbearing headache when using to much different powers at once per day.

Other classes I like:
Swordsage -> the class for all fans of Chinese martial arts, love it or hate it (preferred here shadow hand and tiger claw for teleporting to the shadow of the enemy and jump on his neck while painting the floor red)

the several times mentioned Bard. The friend to all GM who love to tell their story and have a lot of lore to give and I like to listen and remember. Also the powerhouse for more bifi in the party (PrC with Warweaver; Words of Creation and so one...)

Factotum -> i love diversity.!

[Clopin Silk]

I'm horribly inexperienced, and this is purely for fluff purposes, but I've fallen in love with the Swiftblade Prestige class. I just really like the idea of a magic user that every other caster looks down on as this weird little cutthroat loser who couldn't handle the big leagues, but who those other casters only really feel comfortable insulting when they know he either can't hear them or isn't allowed to do anything about it, because damn that guy is fast, and there's only so much that a wizard can do to protect against four feet of sharpened steel hitting them in three places in as many seconds. I just can't get enough of the mental image of this crazy bastard wizard or sorcerer with a sword slung across their back, moving so fast he's basically just a blur, slicing through enemies and always, always moving out of reach before the enemy can retaliate. Besides that, it's a wizard or sorcerer using their magic to do basically the only thing that wizards and sorcerers aren't made for; it just strikes me as a delightfully stubborn approach to life.

[137beth]

Sorcerer. It's the build-your-own-class class. The sorcerer class is capable of pretty much anything, but no one sorcerer can do it all (baring some very high optimization.) I've played in groups where every PC was a sorcerer, and no spell was taken by more than one PC. I love having all the power of a wizard, but only in my specialty. That way, you still need the rest of the group.

Also, sorcerers are actually quite beginner-friendly. If you have a more experienced player help a beginner with spell selection, it's relatively easy for a new player to learn how their spells work as they go. Moreover, if, halfway through the campaign, a beginner player sees a spell they think looks interesting, they can just take it the next level. No need to worry about taking 12 feat prerequisites just to get the one you want.

[8BitNinja]

Sorcerer. It's the build-your-own-class class. The sorcerer class is capable of pretty much anything, but no one sorcerer can do it all (baring some very high optimization.) I've played in groups where every PC was a sorcerer, and no spell was taken by more than one PC. I love having all the power of a wizard, but only in my specialty. That way, you still need the rest of the group.

Also, sorcerers are actually quite beginner-friendly. If you have a more experienced player help a beginner with spell selection, it's relatively easy for a new player to learn how their spells work as they go. Moreover, if, halfway through the campaign, a beginner player sees a spell they think looks interesting, they can just take it the next level. No need to worry about taking 12 feat prerequisites just to get the one you want.

All sorcerers? How did you survive beyond 1st level?

[ryu]

All sorcerers? How did you survive beyond 1st level?

I can't speak to their specific method, but a party of wizards has two options. Various temporary incapacitation spells like sleep or color spray coupled with scythes for coup de grace, or those same spells and reserve feats. It's easier in a wizard party because abrupt jaunt exists.

[gooddragon1]

In core: Dragonfire Adept. You could play it with 1s in all stats.

My homebrew: Focused Champion (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?501462-Focused-Champion-%283-5-Base-Class%29). Just a nice solid tank that can actually tank and still deal damage. Not as dependent on the magic item christmas tree effect either. DM can scale power level to fit their campaign.

[Chulehdoido]

All sorcerers? How did you survive beyond 1st level?

Unseelie Fey(Winter Chill) + Save or Suck spell = Died 100% time.

True Strike + Poison Sword + Unseelie Fey = enemie suck easily 100% time.
Launch Item(Cantrip) + Poison Arrow = Target suck

[Blackhawk748]

All sorcerers? How did you survive beyond 1st level?

Its not nearly as hard as it sounds, you just gotta be cautious for a bit. Also helps if someone grabbed an Orb of spell.

[digiman619]

This might be a stretch, as I'm going 2PP Pathfinder, but I'm a sucker for Dreamscarred Press' Soulknife. It's just an amazing improvement over the original, plus the archetypes let you have your mind blade be pretty much whatever you want, be it standard melee weapons, bows/ranged weapons, your unarmed strikes, floating blades of telekinetic force, whatever, it's great.

[Elkad]

As for the second one, that was well played (although we paladins would never go through with picking up a girl. Vow of Chastity

Bah. Years ago a friend played a Paladin to a Goddess of Fertility. He spread the "blessings of his goddess" to every female he encountered, or tried.

[weckar]

Warlock. There is something special about how elegant and simple its rules and bookkeeping are, yet in how many different ways they can be built and how many options they still have.
An excellent dipping class or one to take all the way, Warlock is the class for me.

[Lord Raziere]

This might be a stretch, as I'm going 2PP Pathfinder, but I'm a sucker for Dreamscarred Press' Soulknife. It's just an amazing improvement over the original, plus the archetypes let you have your mind blade be pretty much whatever you want, be it standard melee weapons, bows/ranged weapons, your unarmed strikes, floating blades of telekinetic force, whatever, it's great.

Yeah, Dreamscarred Soulknife is one of those that could legit contest the sorcerer for my favorite, because it can be:
-A Quincy
-Unlimited Blade Works user
-ki-blasting monk
-Any monster from Undertale
-Rand Al'thor
-a Jedi
-any of the benders from Avatar
-probably more that I can't think up of

and the best part, is that your mindblade can be as ridiculously impractical in its appearance as you want. If you want your claymore to look like Cloud's Buster Sword, your longsword with some enchantment to take the form of a chainsword, or your ranged weapon to be some ridiculous big cannon, thats only the tip of the iceberg of its potential appearances.

like imagine you wielding a miniature galaxy like a shuriken, or an axe made of constellations, or something silly and comedic, or even a sword made of a single leaf, or even a key blade. the sky is the limit, and its all plausible because its something your character imagined. you want to wield the most implausible weapon in existence? make it your mindblade, now its your signature weapon and no one will ever be able to take it away from you.

[TristanS]

I have always liked the self sufficient ranger ... gets to wield 2 weapons, spells .. fight ... especially if you can get Hank's Bow :) Loved that cartoon