[Dumb Though Experiment] 3 (Sub)Races, 8 (Sub)Classes

[Amechra]

Suppose you are designing a (sub)setting for a game of D&D. And, for some arbitrary reason, you have to abide by the following constraints:


You can only have three playable races running around, period. This includes subraces - a Wood Elf and a High Elf count as separate races in this set-up. You can choose whether or not the Tasha's rules vis-a-vis customizing races are in play, but if you use them, you can't pick Custom Lineage as one of your races.
You only have a grand total of 8 class + subclass combinations. If you want Battlemaster Fighters and Rune Knight Fighters to be a thing, that takes up two of your "class slots". Other than that, you can go wild — if you wanted to, you could make it so that the only "classes" available are a bunch of Cleric Domains.
The game that this (sub)setting is going to be used in may or may not include "first contact" with another (sub)setting built with similar constraints.


How would you approach this challenge? Would you try to pick as broad a collection of class concepts as possible within those constraints, or would you try to pick stuff with similar themes?

[MoiMagnus]

(1) Variant Human would be one of the races. And I might even make it the only playable race and select two other races just for worldbuilding but not accessible to players. Setting-wise, the idea would be that eventually fantastical every race breeding with one another (possibly through magic) resulted in an average race with nothing specific about which would be represented with the Human stat block. The only "non-human" remaining are part of factions that had manage to maintain some "purity" during multiple thousand years of civilisations rising and falling.

(2) Subclasses, I'll definitely consult the players for the selection, because not all player like every kind of class. To link it to the setting, I'd create a custom Pantheon of 8 heroes that ascended, one of each of those subclasses.
I had a similar setting in the past: a group of adventurer sick of the wars between gods decide to overthrow them and create a new universal order. While they're successful at solving most issues, even if that means annihilating a few of the problematic planes of existence, their lack of experience means they made a significant amount of blunders: one of them being screwing up the material plane so that a part of it is always under the sun, another part is always in the night, and only the small border between the two is actually a nice place to live in for advanced civilisations, another one being trying to channel the various energies associated to the 9 alignments, resulting to some significant unwanted personality changes for those new gods.

[da newt]

Simple Human, Wood Elf, Mountain Dwarf

Battle Master F
Evoker W
Thief R
Life C
Wild Magic S
Moon D
Devotion P
Lore B

I'd go classic / old school / scoop of vanilla - scoop of chocolate

I've always thought a 'settling a new land' (like the Americas) sort of theme could be interesting.

[RogueJK]

Clusters of heavily fortified theocratic human cities act as bastions of comparative safety within a dark and dangerous wilderness overrun with monsters and undead. The commonfolk humans cling to their overbearing religion of the God of Light for a modicum of comfort and safety in their grim and gritty lives, despite the Church leaders being decadent and corrupt, and the Church teachings being more about fear and violence than love and hope. Although the xenophobic humans fear outsiders and the unknown, they have developed an uneasy alliance with the shadowy fae Elves of the region, but the trust is often thin. The similarly mistrustful Elves inhabit fortified settlements in many of the mountains and forests, where they hone their natural and arcane magics with which they also attempt to continue to stave off the ever-present forces of evil. Small enclaves of the other race sometimes exist within the human and elven settlements, although these outsiders commonly encounter suspicion and discrimination. Half-Elves are the result of infrequent unions between Humans and Elves (or are themselves descended from Half-Elven parents) and are grudgingly accepted in either society, often acting as emissaries between the two races.

The Church sends frequent small-scale missions and large-scale military campaigns out from their walled cities to battle against the monsters and other evil forces massing on the edges of the pockets of civilization and infiltrating their towns, with the Elves sometimes aiding them, often partly in an attempt to prevent the overzealousness of a band of militant humans from spilling over into violence against the elves as well.



(Variant) Human, (Shadar-Kai) Elf, and (Standard) Half-Elf, all with customizable racial bonuses.

Four classes for Humans or Human-Raised Half-Elves:
Crusader (Conquest Paladin)
Priest (Light Cleric)
Inquisitor (Celestial Warlock - Either Tome Pact for the more magical/scholarly or Blade Pact for the more martial)
Zealot (Zealot Barbarian)

Four classes for Elves or Elf-Raised Half-Elves
Bladesinger (Bladesinger Wizard)
Gloomstalker (Gloomstalker Ranger)
Shifter (Moon Druid)
Trickster (Arcane Trickster Rogue)

[Sorinth]

I'd go with theme. If it's human centric then the theme would revolve around magic so draconic theme where all magic classes revolve around dragons and then sprinkle in the non magical human centric stuff like Battle master and Swashbuckler. You could do themes like Fey or Psionics fairly easily as well, probably an Angel/Demon one as well.

That said I would personally probably do a non human centric setting. Maybe a prototypical Dwarf society that has started to experience a wild magic surges so wild magic sorcerer/barbarians are starting to pop up all over for unknown reasons and they are throwing society into flux.

[RogueJK]

Dragonborn, Kobold, and Lizardfolk, all with customizable racial bonuses.

Draconic Sorcerer
Evocation Wizard
Drakewarden Ranger
Beast Barbarian
Land Druid
Tempest Cleric
Ascendant Dragon Monk
Rune Knight Fighter (Draconic runes, instead of Giant)


The Elder Dragons (gods) created the three primary races in their own image, and all magic and magical abilities stems from the Elder Dragons' powers. Lesser dragons are manifestations of fragments of the Elder Dragons' elemental power. The Dragonborn are equivalent to the "humans" of the world, with Kobold clans traditionally living in underground mountain halls similar to "dwarves", and Lizardfolk commonly living in harmony with nature in the wild similar to "elves".

[Amechra]

To throw my own fuel on the fire... how about:

Races: Aasimar, Eladrin, and Tieflings.

Classes: The classes available to everyone are Ancestral Guardian Barbarian, Astral Self Monk, Battlemaster Fighter, Horizon Walker Ranger, and Thief Rogue. Some classes are restricted to certain races: Archfey Warlock (Eladrin only), Celestial Warlock (Aasimar only). and Fiendish Warlock (Tiefling only).

The Spirit Realms are in the midst of a cold war between the Angels (Aasimar) and the Fiends (Tieflings), which has lasted longer than anyone can remember. The Faeries (Eladrin) form a bunch of independent "courts" scattered throughout the land, which tend to reflect the season of the majority of their inhabitants (or is it vice-versa?). While the Faerie Courts aren't technically involved in the War, they also play host to a number of Angels and Fiends there to pursue legitimate business, live out lives away from the constant tension of their homelands, or play spy games against each-other.

Unlike the races of the mysterious Mortal Realms, there are only two recognized forms of magic within the Spirit Realms — either you can work to hone your natural gifts (represented by the Monk and Warlock classes). or you can attune yourself to the Realms and learn to navigate the paths leading to the Mortal Realms as a Horizon Walker.

[strangebloke]

rock gnome, deep gnome, auto gnome

4e monk
glamour bard
wild magic sorcerer
wild magic barbarian
great old ones warlock
swarmkeeper ranger
shepherd druid
order cleric

[Joe the Rat]

I'm liking the ideas here - y'all are having fun with the themes.

I would totally run or play in a game like this - changing the options can really change the flavor of a campaign or setting. This would definitely be one that takes discussion and buy-in from players.

Two ideas, playing with magic:

1) "Everyone has a wand up their butts."
Firbolg, Drow, Tiefling (standard). Tasha's stat assignment. Classes: Artificer (Alchemist, Artillerist), Fighter (eldritch knight), rogue (arcane trickster), Paladin (Ancients, +1), ranger (horizon walker, +1).
I'm picturing a heavily metropolized setting - something in a Ravnica or Sigil vein, with a heavy abutting of nature. All of the races have fairly deep inherent magics, and every class has at least a third of casting... but no full casters, making magic common, but not overwhelming. The relative spell cap means things like bulk teleportation, dimensional travel, resurrections, and the like are in the realm of theory and science-fiction, with more "realistic" magics being known The twist of the elves being the city folk is just fun.
Internally you have the conflict of civilization vs nature, with literal devils as your mediating aspect, both as adjudicators and (using default attributes as the "norms") technologists.
Give the world a history of dimensional incursion (demons, far-realmers, or the like), and have your new discovery being a seemingly more benign visitation - beings from another Prime.

2) "Yer a Wizzard, Hedwig"
Human (variant, natch), Gnome, Owlin. The eight traditional Wizard schools.
Take all the best parts of Strixhaven, worst parts of the Unseen University, and weirdest parts of Hogwarts, stir, and bake at 420.
It's the Magic-User University of Magic ("MUUM's the word!"), and your Majors are the Eight Schools. Clearly General Education is a big deal here. College shenanigans, magical mishaps, and bad things coming out of that Department of Inherently Evil Magics (Enchantment) are your foundations for adventure through three tiers of play (Undergrad, Grad School, Post-Doc). With a requisite knowledge attribute and a relative lack of hit points, you might actually see creative and nonviolent solutions to problems, at least from the non-Evokers.

Your strange new worlds could be in the form of interdimensional exchange students from Toril A&D (Agriculture and Druidism), or rivalry with one of those "Dragon League" schools that only takes Sorcerers. Or Vecna. Vecna is always an option.

[RogueJK]

How about Low Magic/Steampunk... "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Races:
Tower Folk (Variant Human, the "white collar/upper class" of technological inventors, designers, engineers, and academics)
Town Folk (Hill Dwarf racial traits, the "blue collar" human workers/miners/smiths/craftsmen/tinkerers)
Wild Folk (Orc racial traits, the beefy but non-technologically-adept nomadic human hunter/gatherers from the hinterlands)
All with customizable racial bonuses. But being all different flavors of Human, none of these races have Darkvision, although it can be accessed through Artificer Tech via the spell itself or Goggles of the Night.

Classes:
Totem Barbarian (Wild Folk only)
Scout Rogue (Wild Folk Only)
Thief Rogue
Battle Master Fighter
Artillerist Artificer (Town Folk or Tower Folk only)
Armorer Artificer (Town Folk or Tower Folk only)
Battle Smith Artificer (Town Folk or Tower Folk only)
Alchemist Artificer (Town Folk or Tower Folk only)

The Tower Folk and Town Folk live in sprawling metropolises, teeming with Tech gadgets able to achieve seemingly magical effects. The upper crust Tower Folk are primarily the academics who think, plan, and design the Tech, while the lower class Town Folk are primarily the workers who actually gather the raw materials and produce the Tech creations. Meanwhile, in the ever-shrinking wilderness areas around the edges of the metropolises, a nomadic subculture clings to their traditional way of life in the face of the constant march of technology.

[RogueJK]

Variant Human, Sea Elf, and Triton, all with customizable racial bonuses.

Moon Druid
Battle Master Fighter
Swashbuckler Rogue
Beast Master Ranger
Fathomless Warlock
Open Sea Paladin
Tempest Cleric
Transmutation Wizard (Human Only)

The world consists of mostly ocean, with scattered archipelagos of land. The Sea Elves make their homes in the shallower areas of the sea, with the Tritons inhabiting the deeper ocean, and the Humans residing on land and using traditional sailing ships to get around while leveraging arcane Transmutation magic to aid them in travelling and surviving on/under the sea.

[RogueJK]

Dhampir, Reborn, and Variant Human

Oathbreaker Paladin
Necromancer Wizard
Shadow Sorcerer
Undead Warlock
Spores Druid
Ancestral Guardians Barbarian
Phantom Rogue
Death Cleric

Dominated by clans of vampires, this is a gray and dreary world infused with undeath. However, it is not necessarily uniformly terrible. Rather than being an abomination, Necromancy and the Undead are simply a commonplace fact of life in this world. The Humans are actually assisted by their Vampiric masters' zombies and other undead, who take over positions of unskilled laborers, household servants, and similar, thus making the lives of the commonfolk easier. Humans willingly offer their blood as the food supply for their vampiric overlords, and those are careful not to drink too deeply, since they understand the importance of cultivating renewable resources and the loyalty of the masses. Upon their death, all Humans are raised as undead, and their bodies continue in service to their masters and their neighbors even beyond death. Dhampirs can result from the rare unions between a vampire and a human, but more commonly living humans will be made into Dhampirs by their vampiric masters as a reward for faithful service that doesn't quite rise to the exceptional level of full vampiric clan induction. The Reborn result from dead Humans who had gone through the Necromantic ceremony to raise them as undead, yet somehow they retained their sentience and a portion of their humanity. The mechanism for this is not well understood, but they hold a position of respect within human society.

[sithlordnergal]

While you would need to talk to your fellow plyers, my choices would be:

---Races---

- Variant Human
- Half-Elf
- Mountain Dwarf.

Since Tasha's is in play, those three give you the most bang for your buck.


---Classes---

- Moon Druid
- Ancients Paladin
- Lore Bard
- Order of Scribes Wizard
- Arcane Trickster Rogue
- Battlemaster Fighter
- Totem Barbarian
- Way of Mercy Monk

I feel like these would allow the most interesting class combinations, and allow for a pretty varied party. You have the more complicated classes, like Order of Scribes and Moon Druid, while also having some decent support options with Mercy Monk and Lore Bard, and some simpler classes, like Totem Barbarian and Ancients Paladin

[KorvinStarmast]

I've always thought a 'settling a new land' (like the Americas) sort of theme could be interesting. My nephew's home brew campaign is almost exactly that. :smallsmile: Sadly, it is dormant.

3 Races: vHuman, Half Elf, Goliath

8 Classes: Warlock (Celestial and GOO), Druid (Circle of Land), Rogue (Thief), Fighter (Rune Knight), Paladin (Ancients), Ranger (Gloom Stalker), Barbarian (Ancestral Guardian)
(I could switch to Battle Master F, and Hunter R, and Totem Warrior B easily, though, and I am still not sure I should not sub in monk (Open Hand) for ranger...still pondering)

No clerics: they are all NPCs and closely affiliated with their temples/shrines/locations. Clerical practitioners of divine magic are in a never ending battle to keep the portals/gates to the Hells and the Abyss closed; anyone with that kind of talent / power is assigned to that world protecting task regardless of the cult/religion/whathaveyou. (There is a little bit of an Aes Sedai vibe here).

No bards, since we can only have 8 and Warlocks as the only arcane caster appeals to me (Could probably be talked into WM Sorcerer over GOO for this exercise, but the player needs to be aware of the risks that they take on by doing that, see below.
I might expand the Warlock list to include some wizard spells; maybe, or allow Tome Pact to gather non ritual arcane spells in their book as they are found.

Like with old D&D, magic items with spells on them become really valuable - any "wizard / sorcerer" items are by default usable by warlocks (Which is mostly true anyway as I review the DMG magic item list).

The state of the world as play begins:

Human settlements all over the world are somewhat under siege, and somewhat isolated, since the two major empires fell during a magical cataclysm (a magic version of a mid-grade nuclear war) and thanks to the subsequent collateral damage from yet another eruption of the ages old conflict between the dragons and the giants. The staggering / trying to rebuild human civilizations got caught between the two sides in some locales even though they had no desire to be involved in the conflict - they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and either fled went into the wilderness seeking shelter, otherwise vanished, or in too many cases perished.

The extent of human habitation all over the world is substantially reduced from a couple of centuries ago. The vast majority of the world is wilderness, and there are ruins aplenty all over the world - destroyed cities, ruined temples, empty cave complexes (although the dwarves are rumored to be making a comeback) and there are substantial amounts of new growth forest.

Old growth forests: such elves (mostly wood) as exist in the world who survived the dragon/giant conflict live there. They are, in general, pretty xenophobic. Most high elves died off during that magical cataclysm for {reasons not yet fleshed out}. Elves are NPCs only, but, the existence of half elves shows that some elves have maintained a connection with humans. Who they are/were, and why they occasionally breed with humans is a mystery that the PCs may or may not ever uncover the answer to. As the PHB points out, the half elf is almost destined to be an adventurer...any PC half elves are / were foundlings left in a human or goliath settlement before their 7th birthday.

In the mountains in selected parts of the world: dwarves fared very badly at the hands of giants, and are in two or three major enclaves mostly; as noted above are making a comeback, or trying to. Slow breeding rate does not help them. Dwarves are NPCs only.

What does the party hope to achieve?

Good question, but a significant part would be to reverse the general decline of human settlements (getting new lands under cultivation, new pastures under mostly human oversight, maybe rebuilding some old cities once they {bad things} in them are cleaned out...).
Goliaths want something similar, but they are deeply suspicious of human urban growth. They tend to be pastoralists but they do have some major settlements (big ones having a few thousand population) still intact in the generally wilderness regions where they tend to live.

About Wizards and Artificers: it's been almost two centuries since that magical war/cataclysm, but the general norm is that wizards and Artificers are to be hunted down and either killed or captured/jailed/fed to wild beasts...depends on the local culture's preferences. Sorcerers, due to their native power, are considered just as dangerous and are treated similarly.

Druid circles have been known to (occasionally) attempt to reincarnate slain sorcerers, hoping that in their new life form they do not manifest the stain of sorcery in their blood ... the druids have met with mixed success.

Bards (the PC class arcane magician) were tarred with 'guilt by association' as regards arcane magicks and their practice; when discovered practicing arcane magic they are treated as either sorcerers or wizards are. (Musicians are appreciated, Entertainer background is still alive and well).

Warlock players need to be careful in how they use their powers as they may run afoul of the prejudice against arcane magic and its use. That will depend upon the locale, reputation, location of major temples, etcetera.

[No brains]

Here's my weird, probably unbalanced take. It describes former mind flayer subjects that got cut off from everything else after the end of the prehistoric mindflayer war.

Githyanki
Githzerai
Duergar

'Bladesinger' or 'gish' Wizard
Oathbreaker Paladin
Arcane Trickster Rogue
Astral Self Monk
Stars Druid
Gloom Stalker Ranger
Battlesmith Artificer
Abberant Mind Sorcerer

I'm hoping this has a cohesive theme while still retaining some versatility. I was hoping to emphasize classes that didn't really owe their power to an outside source while still trying to cover multiple playstyles. I think I managed to keep this within the confines of the aesthetic I picked. A bunch of space weirdos who have authority issues. It can also play well with the the 'first contact' option, with a fleet of these jerks sailing to another world from a fallen star system or whatever spelljammer did.

[RogueJK]

In a relatively low magic underground world where arcane magic doesn't exists, the dwarven kingdom consists of three primary dwarf clans: The martial Mountain Clan, the devout Hill Clan, and the sneaky Gray Clan.

Mountain Dwarf, Hill Dwarf, and Gray Dwarf.

Battle Master Fighter
Rune Knight Fighter
Conquest Paladin

Life Cleric
Forge Cleric
Zealot Barbarian

Thief Rogue
Gloomstalker Ranger

[RogueJK]

A rupture of wild magic from a Fey prank gone wrong has caused the Feywild to spill over into a mundane world, suddenly unleashing monsters and magic into the otherwise historically-accurate medieval setting. The bewildered humans are forced to seek the aid of a couple of the more benevolent Fey races in order to get to the bottom of the cause and find a solution to put an end to the madness.

Eladrin, Fairy, and Variant Human, all with customizable racial bonuses.

Eladrin and Fairy classes:
Stars Druid
Glamour Bard
Trickery Cleric
Wild Magic Sorcerer
Fey Wanderer Ranger

Variant Human classes:
Scout Rogue
Battle Master Fighter

Available to any race:
Archfey Warlock

[Corran]

Races (using Tasha's variant)
1) Dwarf (mountain).
2) Elf (wood)
3) Halfling (lightfoot)

Classes
1) Barbarian (berserker) - It was either that or battlemaster for anyone who wants to play the big dumb brute. I wanted EK from the figher to cover gishing, 1/3 casters, both STR/DEX approach as well a potentially smart martials, as well as any fighting style they want (EK's are so versatile), so it didn't feel right to include battlemaster too. Besides, nothing says big dumb brute like a berserker does.
2) Bard (lore) - wanted one caster with known spells, bard made the cut cause what is life without some music? Covers for face too.
3) Cleric (war) - wanted a prepared caster and the I chose cleric (between that and druid). Covers for lacking paladin and the absense of druid is mitigated by including ranger in the mix.
4) Fighter (EK) - covers for gishing, archery, DEX and STR melee approach, 1/3 casters, smart martials.
5) Monk (open hand) - last minute pick, so no one may call me biased.
6) Ranger (hunter) - archer/twf's, exploration, nature, half caster
7) Rogue (thief) - backstabbing and all the roguish fun. Also pretty versatile when it comes to fighting (STR/DEX, melee/ranged).
8) Wizard (evoker) - "what do you mean you didn't pick the fireball class?"

I think the above is a wide range of choices. Moon druid and warlock (fiend) gave me some pause since they have some unique mechanics (wild shape and pact magic). Though a cleric prepares spells the same way as a druid and the ranger covers nature stuff already. And although the patron is an interesting spin thematic wise, having already many spellcasting classes and another CHA-based fullcaster in the bard, I decided to do away with the warlock as well. Still secondguessing not including moon druids though, but any attempt at trying to creates a lot of changes and I am generaly happy with what I've got above.

[RogueJK]

Variant Human, Tiefling, Hexblood

Eldritch Knight Fighter - "Bruisers"
Arcana Cleric - "Healers"
Arcane Trickster Rogue - "Sneaks"
Scribes Wizard - "Scribes"
Watchers Paladin - "Watchers"
Horizon Walker Ranger - "Walkers"
Wild Magic Barbarian - "Ragers"
Wild Magic Sorcerer - "Flukes"

A few generations ago, magical Rifts of varying sizes began appearing across the landscape, with additional new Rifts opening from time to time. Through these Rifts, monsters and other oddities make entry into the world. The Rifts also scar the surrounding area, causing bizarre effects to the flora and fauna. Exposure to the arcane energies of these Rifts can awaken latent magical powers in a certain portion of the population, known as the Gifted, with their abilities being categorized in one of eight subgroups. The energies of the Rifts also cause mutations, with a small percentage of births resulting in Gifted children with twisted forms but even further innate magical powers, known as the Damned.

The Order seeks out and recruits the Gifted and the Damned, training them to harness and control their specific magical abilities through study and practice, and employing them to guard existing Rifts, hunt down monsters that have escaped into the world, and seek out new uncharted Rifts.

[Luccan]

The Little War

Deep, Forest, and Rock Gnomes

All 4 Artificer subclasses, Eldritch Knight, Arcane Trickster, Illusionist and Transmutation Wizard

Of all the violent feuds between gods and their followers in D&D (Surface Elves and Drow, Elves and Orcs, Dwarves and Dwarves-That-Live-Slightly-Deeper-Underground, Goblins and anyone else really) gnomes vs kobolds is actually the most active and organized, even if the two races as a whole don't themselves realize it. The game explores the bloody but clandestine conflict that is the Gnome-Kobold war. Gnomes trained in their classic magical styles are recruited to combat otherwise unnoticed hordes of Kobolds that would wipeout their hated foes if left to their own devices. Before coming for everyone else. The game focuses on Gnomes and Kobolds, obviously, but in an otherwise fairly standard D&D world. Players will interact with humans and other big-folk, halflings, and their dwarven cousins. And they'll still run into non-Kobold threats. But they're also fighting a secret war, because the vast followers of Tiamat's lieutenant are a real threat if left unchecked. And if they think they're exposed, it would be chaos as they tunneled up from under every major settlement in the world.