Horror gothic class

[HorrorSith]

Hey

I'm looking to see in your all opinions what class would fit a horror/gothic setting?

[Abracadangit]

All about the refluffs!

I mean, heck, look at Darkest Dungeon. They stuck the landing with almost every D&D class, just by swapping the names and the "feel" around.

"Rogue" became "Highwayman"/"Grave Robber"
"Wizard" became "Occultist"
"Bard" became "Jester"
"Barbarian" became "Hellion"/"Leper"
"Artificer" became "Plague Doctor"
"Ranger" became "Bounty Hunter"/"Houndmaster"

You could even roll with some other classes, in ways Darkest Dungeon didn't.

"Cleric" could be "Exorcist" (instead of "Vestal")
"Druid" could be "Pagan"
"Monk" could be "Bouncer"

If you were sticking with classes as they're presented in the default D&D setting -- all the core martials and the Warlock, I guess? But with the magic of refluffs, everything fits into a darker, edgier setting. It's all about the art direction!

[Waterdeep Merch]

Any could work, really. It's about style.

Barbarian? A man grappling with his own inner beast.
Bard? A failed artist, a narcissist that can't admit to a horrible crime they committed.
Cleric? Once truly faithful, they witnessed something monstrous that has shaken them and filled them with doubt.
Druid? A practitioner of ancient magics, following a prophecy of doom and despair they feel they are fated to bring.
Fighter? A disgraced mercenary responsible for monstrous atrocities, seeking redemption.
Monk? An esoteric traveler from far away, seeking the meaning of a frightening nightmare his entire order has been experiencing.
Paladin? A child that survived the unthinkable, now relentlessly pursuing the monsters that ruined their life.
Ranger? The last member of a farming community that fell to plague and famine, fallen to bestial natures.
Rogue? A career criminal that has crossed some *thing* that they never expected.
Sorcerer? The proud scion of an ancient bloodline, searching for a parent that is more terrifying than they'd dare believe.
Warlock? A troubled mage made a deal with a monster they didn't know to save a loved one, and is now that their deal has been revealed, is on the run from it.
Wizard? A student of a strange old archmage that turned out to be an immortal horror, both attracted and repulsed by the power given them, wanting more.

Just think of something dark and personal. Remember that gothic horror is all about human failings first, personal troubles second, inhuman monsters third. Run with it.

[sambojin]

Druid. The answer is always druid.

Shapeshifter/ werething? Druid. Old haunted forest? Druid. Army of the "insert reskin here"? Druid. Wisewoman/ witch/ elder? Druid. Pretend super-fast vampire? Druid. Needs skelly army? Druid. Plaguedoctor? Druid. Cackling insane elementalist/pyro? Druid. Super-stealth wiseguy? Druid. Old-borne mystic archer ranger? Druid.

There's not many classes that get: Lvl1, yep, background flavour. Lvl2, yep, all my main class skills. Lvl3, yep, all my can-do spells. Lvl4 yep, ASI/feat and broken class skills. Lvl5, yep, it broke.

Extra attack at lvl5? Don't make a reflavoured druid laugh. They've been able to cast/ shoulder-sit that in since level 3 and summons work good, because fighter-less. By level 5 you have extra-extra attack in a spell form.

Ok, maybe druids don't cover all the tropes, but they do cover a fair few. There's more than this to them as well, it was just getting to be a long list already.

[Burley]

There's also the Blood Hunter class, which is (I think purposely) a rip from Bloodborne, the quintessential gothic-horror action-RPG.

Also, if your gothic-horror is of the eldritch variety, Warlock pact'd to a Great Old One is low-hanging fruit.

[nickl_2000]

Beast Barbarian is the closest you can be a werewolf without being completely broken as a PC.

Ranger Monster Slayer is basically Van Helsing

Bard College of Spirits is a medium/spiritualist

Whisper's Bard is pretty terrifying on it's own really


but you can do almost anything. Maybe you mention the class/subclass you want to play and there will be lots of people happy to help with a way to make it work.

[RogueJK]

In addition to being able to make any of the existing classes/subclasses fit that type of setting, there are a number of them that are already potentially geared towards that darker/horror direction as-is. Things like:

Spirits Bard
Alchemist Artificer
Long Death Monk
Undying/Undead/Hexblade/Fiend Warlock (and possibly Great Old One, if it's more Cthulu-style horror)
Necromancer Wizard
Spores/Moon Druid
Monster Hunter/Gloomstalker Ranger
Oathbreaker/Vengeance/Conquest Paladin
Grave/Death Cleric
Ancestral Guardian/Beast Barbarian
Phantom Rogue
Etc.