D&D Class Diversity Through Different Editions

One of the things that struck me when the apprentices started their most recent adventure is that between their 4 characters and the other campaign's 6 characters I have zero overlap with classes and only 1 duplicate race. The first campaign: Eladrin Wizard, Human Fighter, Half-Elf Bard,  Human Warlock, Deva Invoker, and Goliath Barbarian. Second campaign: Dragonborn Paladin, Elf Ranger, Dwarf Warlord, Shifter Druid. I never had that kind of diversity in any previous version of the game - if we had one big 10-man party I can guarantee there would be at least 2 fighters and maybe 2 clerics. If we're talking 2 5-man parties then you would see at least 1 fighter in each party and at least 1 cleric in each party, probably a wizard in each party and maybe a thief in each. I really really like that in 4E this doesn't happen. I thought I would look at the variety of classes in each edition and discuss this idea a little bit.

Basic D&D - Cleric, Fighter, Magic-User, Thief, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling. That's it - seven choices. Later products added some races to this mix( like shadow elves) and some higher-level prestige class type things (Paladins, Avengers, Druids) but the 7 above were what most people had available most of the time.

AD&D:
Cleric
   Druid
Fighter
   Paladin
   Ranger
Magic-User
   Illusionist
Thief
   Assassin
Monk
[Bard]

Indented classes are considered sub-classes of the primary class above them. Bard was a weird sort-of prestige class for only humans that was overpowered in some ways but also rarely seen - I'm not counting it as a real class. So we had 10 mechanically distinct classes in 1E and that was fine with most of us, though new classes and NPC classes would appear regularly in Dragon all through the 80's in an attempt to add more. Typically these were more specialized versions of existing classes (The Archer) or an attempt to clean up the Monk and make it into a decent class : ).

AD&D Unearthed Arcana (Sometimes retconned as "1.5 E")
Cavalier
   Paladin
Cleric
   Druid
Fighter
   Barbarian
   Ranger
Magic-User
   Illusionist
Thief
   Acrobat
   Assassin
Monk
[Bard]

So now we're up to 13 mechanically distinct classes (still not counting Bard). The new additions here are Cavalier (which I loved but had it's limitations as horses rarely fit into dungeons well), barbarian (dramatically overpowered with ridiculous XP advancement requirements) and thief-acrobat (another class you could only enter at higher levels, maybe the original "prestige class"). Paladin becoming a sub-class of Cavalier was a change I hated and in my group we largely ignored it unless someone wanted to play a cavalier-paladin - we looked at them as separate classes in a lot of ways.

One thing that bears mention is multi-classing. Although it was restricted to non-humans only, this upped the class diversity quite a bit as these combos played differently than the sum of their parts:

Cleric/Fighter
Cleric/Fighter/Magic-User
Cleric/Ranger
Cleric/Magic-User
Cleric/Thief
Cleric/Assassin
Fighter/Magic-User
Fighter/Illusionist
Fighter/Thief
Fighter/Assassin
Fighter/Magic-User/Thief
Magic-User/Thief
Illusionist/Thief

That's 13 possible combinations. If you look at these as separate class options that takes AD&D up to 23 mechanically distinct class choices and 1.5 to 26. I can tell you that playing an Elven M-U/Thief is different than playing a Human Thief or a Human M-U, so I would count them as separate choices. AD&D had 6 races originally and by the time you combine the 6 races with the class and multi-class options, there's a lot of diversity there. Yet somehow we ended up with somebody playing a fighter and somebody playing a cleric in almost every party. Elements of customization are limited to race, class, and equipment, so 3 elements.

AD&D Second Edition 

Fighter
Paladin
Ranger
Mage
Specialty Wizard
Cleric
Druid
Thief
Bard

2E gets rid of the sub-class concept, drops the assassin, and makes the bard a normal starts-at-level-one class. It also goes back to the classic six races from AD&D So there are 9 mechanically distinct classes although specialty wizards were not much different from mages, effectively. Tome of Magic added Wild Mages, who were quite different. Various other books added specialty priests, many of whom were also quite different. So call it 11 different classes. Multiclassing options were the same as in 1E other than losing the assassin option and they were somewhat more restrictive (fighter/mages couldn't cast in armor anymore) but they were still pretty popular. So call it 11 more options. That puts us up around 22 separate options, pretty similar to 1st edition.

2E also added "Kits" which in some cases were nothing more than flavor with zero mechanical impact, and were sometimes massive in impact, creating almost a sub-class out of one of the standard classes. With the variety of class books, race books, and campaign-world-specific books there not a good way to classify those in a short article like this. Also many DM's didn't allow them or restricted them in various ways, so it's tough to say what was "normal" regarding kits.  Let's leave it at a possible third axis for diversity beyond race and class and put into roughly the same category as Feats in 3E and 4E - a flavor choice that typically has some  mechanical impact too. So we end up with race, class, kit, equipment, and non-weapon proficiencies - so 5 potential elements of diversity.

For D&D 3rd Edition it gets messy. We had the basic classes in the PHB but this was soon expanded enormously by the class books, race books, campaign world books, PHB2, and various supplemental books like the Psionics Handbook.Effectively, what would have been a kit in 2E became a full-fledged new class in 3E or a prestige class, a new wrinkle for 3rd that effectively added a tidal wave of specialized classes available only at higher levels. Combine that with a flood of new races and unlimited multiclassing and you have incredible diversity and choice that's a world away from AD&D. Now not all of those choices are good ones but the breadth of interesting combinations is unmatched in D&D and nearly unmatched in any RPG - I would say only Hero System is more flexible while retaining the detail. M&M is close too. GURPS has a narrower power range, Savage Worlds is less detailed, and BESM/SAS is also less detailed. the problem is that balancing that near-infinite level of choice is nearly impossible. power creep and broken combos sneak in and render the whole thing an unplaytestable mess. Part of the focus of the game (for some people) becomes finding those power combos that make your character unstoppable. Niche protection breaks down as well and your party starts to step on each other's toes until someone feels that their character is clearly inferior to another character and gets unhappy. Not all groups will experience this but at the sharp end of things it can get ugly after a few levels.

Now despite this off-the-charts diversity in 3E, we almost always saw at least one fighter and at least one cleric in every party, plus either a wizard or a sorcerer. Every party - same players, different players, low-level, high-level, it didn't matter, that's what I saw. For the axes of diverstiy we have race, class(es), prestige class(es), equipment, skills, and feats. That's 6 levels of choice but considering you could take 3 classes and 3 prestige classes and still have a reasonable build that gives you 12 different elements of flavor.

Then we come to 4th edition. One of the design goals was to have real math behind the system - normal damage at level X is this, AC's at level X should be in this range, etc - for monsters and for player characters.  Another concept was to incorporate certain expected roles within a party into the class designs and descriptions. Another was to incorporate different "builds" into each class, effectively going back to the 1E concept of a "sub-class" and making some mechanically different choices available even within a particular class. Below is a list of classes and builds using most of the 4E books that are out now:

Class	Build	Source	Role
Cleric	Battle Cleric	PHB 1	Leader
	Devoted Cleric	PHB 1	Leader
	Shielding Cleric	Divine Power	Leader
Fighter	Great Weapon Fighter	PHB 1	Defender
	Guardian Fighter	PHB 1	Defender
	Battlerager Fighter	Martial Power	Defender
	Tempest Fighter	Martial Power	Defender
	Brawling Fighter	Martial Power 2	Defender
Paladin	Avenging Paladin	PHB 1	Defender
	Protecting Paladin	PHB 1	Defender
	Ardent Paladin	Divine Power	Defender
	Virtuous Paladin	Divine Power	Defender
Ranger	Archer Ranger	PHB 1	Striker
	Two-Blade Ranger	PHB 1	Striker
	Beastmaster Ranger	Martial Power	Striker
	Hunter Ranger	Martial Power 2	Striker
	Marauder Ranger	Martial Power 2	Striker
Rogue	Brawny Rogue	PHB 1	Striker
	Trickster Rogue	PHB 1	Striker
	Aerialist Rogue	Martial Power	Striker
	Cutthroat Rogue	Martial Power	Striker
	Shadowy Rogue	Martial Power 2	Striker
Warlock	Fey Pact	PHB 1	Striker
	Infernal Pact	PHB 1	Striker
	Star Pact	PHB 1	Striker
	Vestige Pact	Arcane Power	Striker
	Dark Pact	FR Player's Guide	Striker
Warlord	Inspiring Warlord	PHB 1	Leader
	Tactical Warlord	PHB 1	Leader
	Bravura Warlord	Martial Power	Leader
	Resourceful Warlord	Martial Power	Leader
	Insightful Warlord	Martial Power 2	Leader
	Skirmishing Warlord	Martial Power 2	Leader
Wizard	Control Wizard	PHB 1	Controller
	War Wizard	PHB 1	Controller
	Illusionist Wizard	Arcane Power	Controller
	Summoner Wizard	Arcane Power	Controller
Avenger	Isolating Avenger	PHB 2	Striker
	Pursuing Avenger	PHB 2	Striker
	Commanding Avenger	Divine Power	Striker
Barbarian	Rageblood Barbarian	PHB 2	Striker
	Thaneblood Barbarian	PHB 2	Striker
	Thunderborn Barbarian	Primal Power	Striker
	Whirling Barbarian	Primal Power	Striker
Bard	Cunning Bard	PHB 2	Leader
	Valorous Bard	PHB 2	Leader
	Prescient bard	Arcane Power	Leader
Druid	Guardian Druid	PHB 2	Controller
	Predator Druid	PHB 2	Controller
	Swarm Druid	Primal Power	Controller
Invoker	Preserving Invoker	PHB 2	Controller
	Wrathful Invoker	PHB 2	Controller
	Malediction Invoker	Divine Power	Controller
Shaman	Bear Shaman	PHB 2	Leader
	Panther Shaman	PHB 2	Leader
	Eagle Shaman	Primal Power	Leader
	World Speaker Shaman	Primal Power	Leader
Sorcerer	Chaos Sorcerer	PHB 2	Striker
	Dragon Sorcerer	PHB 2	Striker
	Cosmic Sorcerer	Arcane Power	Striker
	Storm Sorcerer	Arcane Power	Striker
Warden	Earth Warden	PHB 2	Defender
	Wild Warden	PHB 2	Defender
	Life Warden	Primal Power	Defender
	Storm Warden	Primal Power	Defender
Swordmage	Assault Swordmage	FR Player's Guide	Defender
	Shielding Swordmage	FR Player's Guide	Defender
	Ensnaring Swordmage	Arcane Power	Defender

That's 4 Roles, 17 classes , 68 Builds, and that's not counting Eberron, the PHB 3 (still digesting that one), Psionic Power (haven't acquired it yet) or the new Heroes of the Fallen lands from the D&D Essentials line. Those will add another 6 classes and another 20-30 builds. I was very much against making "Roles" an element of a class description when I read 4E for the first time as I thought it was too meta-gamey and pointless as it wasn't part of the mechanics. I was wrong - once players understand what the roles mean as a general category they tend to gravitate to one or two of the roles and start looking at the different classes within that role, then at the different builds within that class - it's very much been a positive, helpful thing and not the metagaming distraction I expected. It's really the key behind the death of the "we need a cleric" phase of party composition, as leaders are quite diverse and cleric is only one type of leader, rather then an essential element of every party.

As far as diversity it's way beyond 1E and 2E on classes & builds alone. 4E is also up to 20-something playable races, most of which are good. Multiclassing is much more limited than in 3E but it still means every character could typically multiclass into any one other class and gain some of the benefits which is still pretty flexible. Beyond that is the option for hybrid classes which are more like 1E multiclassing than 3E multiclassing but add another layer of options. Instead of prestige classes we have paragon paths which come into play from levels 11-20 and Epic destinies which come into play from 21-30.  So for variety we have race, class, skills, feats, equipment, powers, paragon path, epic destiny, and multiclassing or hybrid classing on top of that. That's about 9 axes of choice with a lot of options at each one - the power choices alone at each level add another layer of flexibility comparable to spell choices for sorcerers in 3E.

So when I first read the 4E PHB I was convinced that everyone's options had declined drastically when it came to character diversity, and it had  - but it was still more choice than the 3.0 PHB had in it in many ways when it first came out. Now, 2 years in, I'm amazed at the level of customization and choice available. it's way beyond 1E and 2E and in the same ballpark as 3E with a bunch of supplements.

I put together this post because after looking at my party compositions and thinking about how it compared to earlier versions I was surprised at what I found and thought it was worth pointing out. One of the criticisms of 4E has been a lack of diversity and a sameness to all characters - I don't see that at all.

I admit that I did see a lot of sameness when I first read it as page after page of mind-numbing power lists in the PHB dulled and then killed my enthusiasm for this new game. After playing it though, all those words in those powers mean something - push, pull,slide,stun, shift, daze, close blast, area burst, - all those terms mean very different things in play and I suspect it's not until after you have played and seen the impact of those different description in actual play that it jumps out to you. That's where a lot of the flavor is in this edition - it's not in the class feature mechanics so much themselves as it is in the powers and what they do. Little things like "each enemy in burst" vs "Each creature in burst" and the effect of something like "...and slide the target 1 square" when fighting near a staircase or a pit trap or a well - The powers being all in the same format does look somewhat boring but they come out in play as being very different from each other.

I think more than any other version (and maybe any other RPG I have seen previously) that 4E plays much differently than it reads. I think the format has a lot to do with that. Maybe that's a failure of WOTC marketing or design, or maybe it's the price we pay for a mechanically balanced system. Mechanically and presentation-wise it's a huge change from prior editions but it still does a lot of the same things and IMO it does a lot of them better - it just presents them differently, to the point that I wonder if extensive prior experience is a hindrance in this case rather than a help. Maybe it is. I feel like I've gotten past it now and I really like what I see.

In the interests of the big picture, I will say that if someone I know decides to run a 1E, 2E, or 3E game (or Pathfinder too I suppose)  I would happily join in and play - I like all versions of D&D enough to play them. But if I'm the guy running it then I really see only 2 things I'm interested in right now - Basic/1E for the simplicity and old-schoolness and getting to run classic modules in their original form, and 4E because it just works, for both the players and the DM, and we have so much more to explore.

A lot of things can be said about 4E D&D but "lack of diverstity" or "all the characters are the same" should not be one of them.  Even at first level, there are major differences. Plus, it's the version that finally broke the "we need a cleric" mentality - finally! That alone is a major contribution to player freedom, and it shouldn't be overlooked.