While a race denotes some of a character’s cultural background, a character class is his profession. The character likely began training in it at an early age, and is now competent enough to set out on his own. While no longer a bumbling amateur and far above the average person in skill, a 1^st level character is far from being a master of his craft. Only experience will turn this journeyman warrior, rogue, or magic-user into a powerful Lord, a Chief Thief, an Archmage to be feared, or a Priest to be revered.

In 3^rd edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, there are three basic classes, Warriors, Rogues, and Magic-Users, reflecting the three main types of skills that adventurers use. Each basic class provides the character with a set of basic abilities, including Hit Dice, To Hit progression, Experience table, usable armor and weapons, and Saving Throw modifiers. Many of these can be improved by expending CP’s, or restricted to give the character more CP’s to spend in other areas. In this step of character creation, CP’s can be used to buy a myriad of class-specific abilities, or saved for buying proficiencies. CP’s can only be spent on abilities within the character’s class (or classes, for a combination class), or on "General" class abilities. These are abilities that either fit no specific archetype, or are so universal that anyone can pick them up.

Also included in each class are two Prime Requisites. A character with a 16 in either of his Prime Requisites, or a 13 or higher in both, gets a +10% bonus to all experience, in addition to or partially negating racial modifications to experience. Characters with a 13 or higher in one of their Prime Requisites get +5% to their Experience. A character with 16 or higher in both Prime Requisites only gets a +10%, because natural talent can only account for so much. Experience is much more of a factor. Should a character have abysmally low scores in his Prime Requisites, they suffer a penalty to all experience. For every 3 points below 9 a character’s Prime Requisite is, the character loses 5% on experience. Thus, the poor soul with a 5 or lower in either Prime Requisite will have a –10%, as will the person with 8 or lower in both Prime Requisites. In addition to experience penalties, it is likely that many of the core skills of the class will suffer due to the low ability scores… while this creates an interesting role-playing challenge, it can be very frustrating to play.

Warriors study all the martial arts, from unarmed combat to swordplay. While their wits and agility are important, many more warriors rely on strength and toughness to win the day. Prime Requisites for Warriors are Strength and Constitution.

Rogues are perhaps the most diverse lot, relying on skills that are neither based on war nor magic, and many not entirely based on the law, either. Because of the nature of many of their skills, the Prime Requisites for Rogues are Dexterity and Perception.

Magic-users either call upon the power of the Gods or manipulate natural forces (or both) to create amazing effects. This requires quick thought and a strong will, so their Prime Requisites are Intelligence and Wisdom.

Of course, within these broad classes, there are many variations, and characters with very similar abilities may identify themselves as completely different occupations. These broad classes also do not take into account those that combine certain skill sets, such as Warriors who also practice magic, or Rogues who know more than a little bit about fighting. There are two ways to approach characters with widely varied skill sets.

The first is through combination classes. Someone with a combination class spreads his character points over the abilities of two or more classes, and has the basic abilities that are the average of the two main classes. They also pay a slightly higher experience point cost for each level, representing the difficulty of spreading your training across several areas. To use a modern example, someone who went to college and got degrees in both Law and Naval Engineering would likely take much longer to graduate than someone who got a degree in only one.

The second option is open to characters that have accumulated some experience. If they wish, they may gain a new class, and begin to increase it along with their first class. This class will often be designed by the Dungeon Master, though he may, in rare instances, allow the player to design this new class. Any class added must be one of the base classes, though it may duplicate something a character already has in combination. Thus, a Warrior-Rogue could learn the Warrior, Magic-User, and Rogue classes over time, though she would advance very slowly, dividing experience and Hit Points so many ways. She could not add a Warrior-Magic-User or a Magic-User-Rogue class.

Characters who add a class must divide all further experience awards (save for those that are specific to one class or another, like the bonus a magic-user gets for creating a magic item) between the two classes. Each time one of their classes gets a level, they roll for Hit Points, and take one-half (or one third if there are 3 classes) of the Hit Points indicated, and a similar portion of their Constitution bonus, and add them to their total. The character’s To Hit abilities continue to increase at the first class’s rate, until the second class’s bonus would equal the first, then progressing by the better of the two. Saving Throws in defense are calculated using the class with the higher level, while those caused by the character are done at the level of the most appropriate class. For example, a 5^th level Warrior-Rogue, 3^rd level Magic-user would save as though he were 5^th level, but the saving throws of his opponents against his spells be calculated against his 3^rd level as a magic-user.

Optional Rule: With the Dungeon Master’s permission, a character may select one or two abilities from another class, paying 5 character points for each out of class ability selected, in addition to the cost of the ability.

Each character class starts out with a certain number of character points that can be used to purchase a variety of abilities. Character points gained later through level advancement usually cannot be used to buy class abilities. Combination classes have the average of their various classes’ character points. Some of these abilities only take effect at higher levels, but can be forced into happening earlier, if the character expends more character points.

For every 2 additional character points a character spends, the ability may be gained at an earlier level. For example, the Warrior ability Followers has the option of being taken for 5 points, but the follower won’t be available until 10^th level. If the character wanted to gain this follower at 5^th level, instead of 10^th, he would have to spend 10 more character points (5 levels earlier * 2 character points = 10 character points), for a total of 15. Note that some abilities will have a limit to the total number of CP’s that may be spent on them. For example, the character above could not gain followers any earlier than 5^th level, as the Followers ability has a limit of 15 Character Points. A character that wishes to gain a small army (the 15 point version) would not be able to get them any earlier, since that is the maximum.

Similarly, some abilities may be learned later than normal, and at a reduced cost. For every level that an ability is delayed, the ability costs one less character point. To use the above example, a character who wanted the small army, but was willing to wait until level 15 to get it, would only have to pay 10 character points. No ability may be reduced below half cost (rounded up) by delaying it (so the character wishing a small army would only gain a benefit by delaying the army until 18^th level… after that, he gains no more character points). Any ability that is delayed, yet has level dependant modifiers, treats the level it was delayed to as 1^st level for purposes of determining those modifiers. If an ability does not note otherwise, assume that both options are available.

There is no archetype for General abilities, save perhaps the mythical "man-on-the-street". The average person will have anywhere from 5-30 character points in various abilities, and use a d6 for Hit Dice. These average people have no bonuses saving throws and don’t truly go up in levels, so they receive no improvement to fighting scores, save what is available through these abilities. For abilities that are modified by the character’s level (such as spell casting, though not, normally, hit dice), normal people with this are considered to have 1 level for every 10% of their lives they have lived and may not delay abilities. Thus, a human who had a maximum life span of 70 years would gain an effective level every 7 years.

Alter moods (5): When performing before a non-hostile group, the character can alter the group’s mood. This can be achieved via an inspiring poem, a tragic tale, a collection of jokes, or a lively tune. Everyone hearing the character’s performance must make a saving throw vs. paralyzation. For every three experience levels the character possesses apply a –1 modifier to each roll. If the save fails, the group’s current attitude can be shifted one level in the direction chosen by the character. See the reactions section of the Dungeon Master Guide for more details.

Empathy with animals (10): When dealing with a domestic or non-hostile animal, the character can approach and befriend it automatically. The character also can discern the health and nature of such animals. When approaching wild animals or those trained to attack, the animal must make a Mental saving throw to resist the character’s friendly overtures. There is a –1 penalty to the roll for every three experience levels of the character. For example, if the approaching character is 7th level, the animal’s saving throw penalty is –2. If the animal fails the save, the character can adjust the animal’s reaction by one category. If the character chooses to limit this to a certain kind of animal, such as horses or hawks, the penalty is –1 for every 2 levels of experience.

Followers (5/10/15): A character with this ability gains followers once reaching 10^th level. No more than 15 CP’s may be spent each time this ability is taken, though each individual option may only be taken once.

For the 5-point ability, a character gains a single, loyal companion, either a squire (low level character) or a mount of impressive proportions. If the companion is capable of having classes (as determined by the Dungeon Master), it will start out with one-half the experience of the character. If not capable of having classes, it will always have ½ of the Hit Dice of the character, gaining a new Hit Die every time the character reaches an even level.

For the 10-point ability, the character gains 2d6 followers, either normal but loyal animals, or adventurers who begin with 1/3 the experience of the character. While these adventurers can gain experience as normal, the normal animals will remain normal animals, unless altered by magic.

For the 15-point ability, the character gains a small army, including 60-120 0^th level warriors, 20 levels of 1^st and 2^nd level Warriors or Warrior combinations, and one Captain, who is the equivalent of the Squire from the 5-point ability. Smaller armies will almost always be better equipped than larger armies, so a character with 120 troops is likely to have the equivalent of peasant infantry in light armor, while the character with 60 troops will tend to have heavy cavalry. Characters without a permanent base of some type will have to take their troops along with them, or face losing them. Characters with a permanent base can leave them under their Captain with general orders for a long time, though extremely long absences may still cause them to dessert. The DM decides the precise composition of the troops, and at which point they will no longer wait for the character to return.

Improved Hit Die (10/20): For 10 character points, a normal person uses a d8 for a Hit Die instead of a d6. For 20 points, the character uses a d10.

Improved proficiency (5): The character gains one Non-Weapon proficiency, and the character’s skill automatically improves by +1 for every three levels. For example, a 10th level character improves his proficiency score by +3. This may only be taken once.

Inspire/enrage allies (5/10): Through his prayers and exhortations, the character can inspire his allies in battle, giving them a +1 bonus to their attack rolls and saving throws, and a +2 on Morale. The character must do nothing but chant for at least three full rounds before his allies gain bonuses, and the effects last for 1d3 rounds after he stops. All allies within 10 feet of the character. As a 10-point power, his allies become enraged, increasing the bonuses to +2 (or +3 to Morale). The character can do nothing else while using this power.

Minor Spellcaster (20): The character has minor training in the use of magic. He may purchase Lesser access to schools at 5 points higher than normal, but may not have Greater access. His level for the purposes of spell range, damage, etc., is considered to be level 1 at the first level he can cast spells, and increases once per level afterwards. Thus, someone who did not delay this ability would always cast spells at his own level of experience, while someone who gained it at 5^th level would cast at his current level – 4. This character may never learn spells higher than 6^th level, and gains one new spell level every 3 levels (so at level 4, he can cast 2^nd level spells, 3^rd level at 7^th, 4^th level at 10^th, and so on). He also has a pool of spell points, equal to (level-1) X 4, plus the modifiers for high stats at every level, meaning a 2nd level character with a 16 charisma and otherwise average stats will have (2-1) X 4 + 1 + 1, or 6 spell points.

Proficiency group crossovers (5+): Normally, a character may only select proficiencies from the his class and background/racial groups, and must pay a penalty in character points for choosing proficiencies out of these groups. At a cost of 5 CP’s each, the character may select another NWP group that may be learned without penalty.

Reaction Bonus (5): The character is especially well received by a certain class of people; peasants, nobles, academics, etc. Thus, the character gains a +2 to all reaction rolls with people of that class.

Secret language (5): Certain groups (such as Magical and Rogue guilds, religions, and secret societies) with this ability share a secret form of communication that only they and those in their select group understand. This ability grants proficiency in one language appropriate to the character’s background (and the DM’s world). This permits secure conversations in almost any setting.

Special Resistance (5): A character with this ability gains a +1 to saving throws vs. a certain kind of attack. Possibilities include spells, poisons, torture, or even fire. These bonuses should not get much more specific than that, however, and the DM has final say as to whether or not a category is too broad or not.

Can never retain wealth (5/10) For five points, the character can keep enough treasure to support him or herself, pay his henchmen, and so on, but all excess monies must be disposed of. Giving it to other characters does not count as disposed of, though giving it to charities or organizations (such as a church, a government, or a guild) does. For 10 points, the character can retain only what treasure he and his mount can carry. All other treasure must be disposed of, somehow (donated to a temple or other cause, but not invested to gather interest or something like that).

Conspicuous Consumption (10): The character either has little head for money or is simply unable to even consider the though of buying "common" quality items. Thus, the character pays at least 10% more for everything he buys. Note that while the items are actually higher quality, this rarely has an effect beyond role-playing considerations.

Reduced hit points (10): A normal person with this limitation uses a smaller Hit Die than normal. For 10 points the character uses a d4 Hit Die.

Special Weakness (5/10): The opposite of Special Resistance (above), the character has a –1 against a certain kind of attack. While the player may make this ability as broad as he or she likes, the DM must determine if the selected weakness is too narrow to warrant the full bonus. For 10 points, this ability can apply to an entire category of saving throws, such as a –1 to all Reactive or Arcane saving throws. No more than 15 points may be gained from this ability.