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Hobgoblin

2017-08-03T03:28:04Z

2601:646:4200:AD72:DEA9:71FF:FEFF:4010:

{{stub}}
[[Image:2fa1c3e162bb169c0375f4e7f04d0548.jpg|thumb|right|x250px|alt=Hobgoblins|If anything, Hobgoblins can make some pretty good beer, making them good potential buddies with dwarven player characters. Think about bringing a few of these to your next game, but get that Diet Coke horseshit out of here. ]]

==Summary==
Tougher than Goblins, smarter than Bugbears, they're the Lawful Evil to [[Goblin]]'s Neutral and [[Bugbear]]'s Chaotic. Usually considered militaristic and malevolent, but often overlooked as cannon fodder like their smaller Goblin cousins, Hobgoblins can prove to be interesting and formidable enemies to a group of player characters, and have the capacity to be pretty badass if you want them to be. Also incredibly racist, and have a love of slavery.

Physically, Hobgoblins are generally portrayed as being very large and strong, usually at least as tall as a human. They range from rust to amber in color and sometimes have blueish purple noses or ears which is kind of cool I guess.

==Hobgoblins vs Orcs==
If you google something like "[[Dungeons and Dragons]] Hobgoblin", you'll get a lot of results where people are asking what the real difference is between Hobgoblins and Orcs. Aren't they just the same thing with a different name and drawn slightly differently and carrying different weapons? Well, not exactly.

The short but not especially helpful answer is, to quote the Daily Bestiary blog: "Orcs may have hordes, but Hobgoblins have ''armies''."

The longer and more expositional answer is that way back at the dawn of Dungeons and Dragons, [[Gary Gygax]] wanted to have a distinct monster with distinct stats at every early Challenge Rating (1-7). This distinction has been grandfathered in all the way down to [[Pathfinder]] and 5th Edition, though the exact differences in stats has changed over the years, and it's usually combined with the flavor portrayal - Orcs being the tribal savages, Hobgoblins being the well-organized and relentless force.

(For those of you who follow Tolkien, the traits of the [[Lord of the Rings]] Orcs were actually split between Dungeons and Dragons' Orcs and Hobgoblins. D&D Orcs are reminiscent of the cave-dwelling ambushers Bilbo met in the Misty Mountains or the hordes that Sauron used to attack Gondor, while D&D Hobgoblins are more like Saruman's Uruk-hai.)

[[Rule Zero]], of course, means you can choose to use both creatures, only one, or neither, as you feel like. If your campaign is likely to travel long distances and visit vastly different regions, it can be useful to have two creatures that fill a similar niche and yet are distinct in certain ways from each other. In addition, publishers sometimes give Hobgoblins the more exotic weapons, armor, and tactics.

==D&D 3.5==
Now playable. +2 Dex and Con, -2 Cha. Not a bad trade off, considering the sneaking bonuses. Good [[Fighter]]/[[Rogue]] but find it difficult to fit with human society. Who needs humans anyways? Wait, we do. Who else are we meant to enslave to build our 'lairs'?

==D&D 5e==
Nasty mid-level monsters. Low hitpoints, but good armor for monsters and have a faux-sneak attack that deals a shitload of extra damage when they focus-fire on a single target, which they ''will'' get off because your brain-dead party couldn't focus-fire on the squishy-but-deadly guys if their lives literally depended on it, right? ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'' added brutal monk/cops that can turn invisible and powerful blaster wizards that get faux-evoker powers and can apply that faux-sneak attack to all of their spells. Even the AoEs.

Added as a playable race in in ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'', along with both the other goblinoids. +2 Con, +1 Int, proficiency in light armor and some weapons of the player's choice, and the ability to "save face" by re-rolling a failed d20 roll with a bonus equal to the number of allies watching (+5 tops) rather than their iconic "monster power." Mockingly described as all being wizards, since Int bonuses are scarce and getting additional weapons and armor is a lot better for classes that don't already get them, but a Con bonus is welcome in any class.

=Gallery=
<gallery>
Image:Hobgoblin_Fire.jpg|A Hobgoblin Firebrand from the [[Pathfinder]] RPG
Image:Hobgoblin_Commander.jpg|An [[weeaboo|Oriental]] style Hobgoblin commander, also from Pathfinder
</gallery>

{{D&D1e-Races}}
{{D&D4e-Races}}
{{Pathfinder-Races}}

Duskblade

2017-08-02T22:12:51Z

2601:646:4200:AD72:DEA9:71FF:FEFF:4010:

The '''Duskblade''' is a character class for 3rd Edition D&D that can be found in the '''Players Handbook II'''.

The class itself is very similar to the [[Hexblade]] character class; being a martial class with access to INT based, spontaneous arcane spellcasting. The [[Pathfinder]] equivalent is the [[magus]], and the Hexblade is an archetype of the same.

It beats out the Hexblade in that it has better saves, earlier access to spells that continue on to a higher level, learns how to cast spells while wearing up to medium armour and the Duskblade is not bound to a non-good alignment. By contrast the Hexblade has better hit dice and is much more of a pain in the ass to fight against due to his curses.

The Duskblade spell list is quite limited, restricted to only damage dealing or buff spells. Which is perfectly fine since your party should already include a dedicated caster. Though when you get to the higher levels, you get to be able to cast a [[Awesome|phenomenal 10 spells per day]] of 1st-3rd level spells.

Compared to a dedicated fighter though, you miss out on raw killing ability, since nearly all of the class features of the duskblade are focused towards improving their spellcasting. Their big ability is Channel Spell, letting them ''just cast'' a touch spell as part of the attack actions, so they don't have to worry about casting defensively or holding it for a turn while waiting for someone to discharge it onto, letting them shank a motherfucker and electrocute him at the same time. This leads to fun shenanigans like using Vampiric Touch to attack and heal at the same time, or Abrupt Jaunt to teleport people off cliffs. They can even discharge touch attack spells against multiple targets if they know feats like Whirlwind Attack for horde rape. Add on the Arcane Strike feat to turn their many spells per day into even more damaging attacks, and duskblades can hit super hard.

Like many of the hybrid warrior-classes, they fit firmly into the second rank of fighting classes and make an extremely effective support warrior for your party's barbarian, fighter or paladin.

==Making it Work==
Prestige Class options for Duskblades ''should'' be looking into making them more killy and not into dedicated spellcasters; they'll just never cut it as the party's main caster.

So moving into warrior prestige classes is totally up to the player, as there are a multitude of different fighting styles all helpful to Duskblades, but generally sacrifice further spellcasting ability.

That said, prestige classes which continue to improve their spellcasting are helpful only if they have progressed far enough as Duskblades to earn the early class abilities which continue helping him at higher levels.

Unfortunately, several of the "hybrid" prestige classes are actually worthless to a Duskblade, as they tend to provide you with abilities that you already had. Such as the '''Bladesinger''' or '''Spellsword''', so avoid these as you get nothing out of them.

'''Abjurant Champion''' from Complete Mage works well by continuing your BAB and spellcasting progression fully. It also lets you "burn" uncast spells to give yourself temporary boosts, which can be handy considering the sheer number of spells you get to cast per day. But also it final ability really helps you out by allowing to use your base attack bonus as your caster level. The implication here is that after you have completed this 5 level prestige class you can move into any other combat heavy class that maintains your top rate BAB and continuing to improve your spellcasting ability, if not your actual spells known.

'''Green Star Adept''' works alright, it is qualified for very easily and it is useful to the party in that it turns your character into a [[Tank|brick]]. Though it does reduce both your spellcasting and attack bonus by about half. But again can be countered by becoming an Abjurant Champion and maintaining your top attack bonus. ''(yes, the class gains spells-per-level are only every other level, the first class feature improves your overall caster level by the class level)''

'''Scion of Tem-Et-Nu''' from ''Sandstorm'' applies all on its own without needing assistance from the Abjurant Champion, and turns your character into a sort of River Paladin-lite. Although much of this class is situational, and it depends on your [[GM]]s particular view on the campaign setting.

If your character takes one class-level ''(or several feats)'' from the [[The Book of Weeaboo Fightan Magic|Tome of Battle]] then you can easily qualify for the '''Jade Phoenix Mage''' class. Which is actually pretty awesome since you can convert your buttload of unused spells into extra damage and gain additional stances and abilities which remarkably improve your fighting abilities, which when put together with Duskblade abilities can lead to [[Cheese]]-like levels of power.

{{D&D3-Classes}}

Hexblade

2017-08-02T21:51:31Z

2601:646:4200:AD72:DEA9:71FF:FEFF:4010:

A '''Hexblade''' is an arcane/martial hybrid [[class]] in [[Dungeons & Dragons]].

==3rd Edition D&D==
In [[3e]] he is more or less an arcane [[Paladin]], just slightly worse.

He has curses, full base attack bonus progression (+1 per level sweet fuck), a companion familiar (instead of a mount), has good will saves, casts magic spontaneously, has a big hit die and gets the occasional bonus feat dedicated to improving spellcasting.

The class is superficially like a [[Duskblade]], which is also a hybrid Arcane/Martial class. While he learns to cast spells later and only casts fewer spells-per-day, his spell list is improved, making him slightly more variable, but unfortunately that's where the comparison ends.

As a caster, he cannot wear anything bigger than light armor, his other saves suck dick and cannot be good (becoming so results in the loss of all your powers and your familiar). Also, his class features don't entirely mesh well with his function, since cursing and arcane resistance is all well and good, his spellcasting abilities do not make him a replacement for the group's primary arcane caster and without any combat features he doesn't stand up front as a fighter either. So the Hexblade doesn't really work as either a Caster or a Warrior. Duskblades do this much better.

He will also need a combination of Charisma (for his spells), Strength (for his attacks), Dexterity (to not die) and Constitution (also to not die), leading to heavy [[MAD]]. [[Pathfinder]] would later port the hexblade as an archetype of the [[magus]] class, called a ''hexcrafter''. They sacrifice their ''spell recall'' ability to gain access to curses in their spell list and the ability to learn [[witch]] hexes instead of magus arcana.

===Making Hexblades Work===
You will be best served by taking spells that increase your own fighting abilities and survivability through not getting hit: by picking your spells wisely you can fill up a few niches as they up, from flanking an enemy and serving as the rear guard to punishing enemy casters. Do note that the class is [[Tier System|not considered to be very good]], because while the Hexblade can fill certain openings as they fall he cannot fill them as good as someone fit for that job can.

Prestige class options are very similar to the Duskblade options, made slightly easier to qualify later in your career since you have a broader range of spells. Unfortunately it can't really be said which way you "should" go, since you picked a character class that didn't really have a job to start with.

'''Dragon Disciple''' from the core rules works for the Hexblade moreso than Bards or Sorcerers who have to give up much of their spellcasting potential in order to gain buffs that take them out of their comfort zones. As a "Fighting class" who can spontaneously cast, sacrificing most of your spellcasting ability ''(no great loss)'' for a series of permanent physical buffs that could help steer your character into a front line role, rather than the confused position the Hexblade normally occupies. Though unlike the Prestige class options noted below, the BAB of the Dragon Disciple follows the 3/4 progression of the cleric, so you do trade away some accuracy for the added strength ''(which net-outweighs the BAB loss unless you're looking for an extra attack early on)'' defense and class features, so it's your call...

'''Abjurant Champion''' from ''Complete Mage'' works acceptably, since it improves your combat abilities by allowing you to burn unused spell slots for temporary bonuses. Other features improve your survivability, but this is mostly situational since your caster list does not include Mage Armor as standard, so you'll have to settle by augmenting your other protection spells, such as Shield.

If you are Elf/Half-Elf, the '''Bladesinger''' class works alright with Hexblade levels, though it means fencing yourself into a duelist role by fighting one-handed and makes you more [[MAD]] considering that it needs INT to function to its best. Just don't take it too far, as you start losing out on class features as you can already cast in light armor.

'''Spellsword''' is where you want to be if you want to stick it as a Hexblade and improve your combat abilities, though you need to have both Medium/Heavy armor proficiency and level 2 spells, meaning you need be around level 8+ to take this class.

If you can pick up the ''Rage'' ability from somewhere, either by multi-classing one level of Barbarian ''(or taking the '''Eye of Gruumsh''' prestige class if you are Half-Orc/Orc)'' then '''Rage Mage''' might be the class for you, while it improves neither your spellcasting or your BAB to its best possible ability, the class features do synergize well with the Hexblade, allowing you to cast spells while raging and wear medium armor without penalty.

One thing that actually does kick ass about hexblades is their familiar. Normally, familiars kinda suck because they have to run off your stats, and you're a wizard living in fear of rats and [[Cat|kittens]]. Hexblades, however, get a familiar that runs off the stats of a combat class, meaning they have pretty good hit points and attack bonuses. This also opens up the possibility of improved familiars, which are featured in the same book, and some require a good Base Attack (which you have), meaning you can get yourself [[Space Wolves|a winter wolf]] instead of a cat. Alternatively, you can swap it out to gain a Dark Companion, which lets you give enemies a -2 to saving throws. Take a few levels in [[Paladin]] of Tyranny, and you're looking at a -4 in total, which means enemies are going to be failing their saves a lot. And even then, you can still use the Obtain Familiar feat to buy yourself a familiar back - which is actually the better option, because of how familiars work.

===When All Else Fails===
[[Mike Mearls]], the guy who created the hexblade, acknowledged that he'd fucked up a bit, and posted this on the WOTC forums. DMs will probably allow it, but ask first.

''The hexblade suffers a little because he came on the scene relatively early in 3.5's life. As R&D pushes the boundaries of the game, we learn that some things we thought were risky or potentially broken aren't. Other times, we learn things that look fine don't actually work in play. Armored mages fall into the first category. Them seem really powerful, but in the long run they aren't. Spells and magic items allow an unarmored mage to build great defenses. The spell mage armor is as good as medium armor, and its duration allows most mages to keep it active at all times. If you compare the hexblade to the duskblade from PH 2, you can see how the thinking has changed. If you want to boost the hexblade, I'd try the following changes:''

''Good Fortitude save''

''Curse ability usable 1 + the hexblade's Cha modifier per day''

''Curse ability usable as a swift action''

''Curse ability does not count as used if the target makes his saving throw''

''Ability to cast in light or medium armor and while carrying a light shield or buckler''

''At 6th level, the hexblade can cast one hexblade spell per day as a swift action, as long as its original casting time is a standard action or faster. He gains an additional use of this power at levels 8, 11, 14, and 18.''

''The key to the hexblade is his curse ability, but it's a little un-fun to have it so limited in use. The hexblade also has trouble casting spells and using his melee attacks, so shifting spells to swift actions fits in with the idea of an armored mage. (These are by no means official. They're just off the top of my head changes I'd consider making.)''

==4th Edition D&D==
In [[4e]] they work differently. Like a [[Warlock]] a Hexblade has forged a pact with powerful entities like the Fey or Fiends, but instead of getting PHENOMINAL COSMIC POWAH he gets a sword instead. Most of the time the Hexblade's patron gives this so that it [[Khorne|can be used to shed blood/souls of the unbelievers for the glory of the <strike>blood god</strike> Hexblade's patron]]. They use their sword in one hand and an implement in the other, making for an offense-oriented character. As above, they require a combination of Charisma, Strength, Dexterity and Constitution to work, making them still [[MAD]] across editions.

{{D&D3-Classes}}
{{D&D4-Classes}}

Tier System

2017-08-02T21:28:47Z

2601:646:4200:AD72:DEA9:71FF:FEFF:4010:

The [[Tier System]] is a ranking of the player character classes for OGL d20 system (D&D 3rd, 3.5 and Pathfinder), devised by the [[Munchkin|mix/maxing nerds]] at [http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?board=9.0 Gamesologists Forums], that compares the relative power and versatility of the different character classes. After burning out the bump limit in the forums a few times over, it became clear that some classes are just useless, and some are [[CoDzilla|wickedly broken]]. The Tiers aren't about what classes you should *always* pick, but rather making sure the player characters in the party are balanced so that nobody feels like a fifth wheel. With a party of a Druid, Wizard, Bard and Monk, you can tell that the Monk player is gonna have much less fun because [[No Girls on the Internet|she'll]] be overshadowed by the others.

Some classes can move up and down, either with variants (already mentioned above, or with some serious [[Powergamer|min/maxing]] and [[munchkin]]ism. The original thread says that the "Truenamer" class is pretty broken (as in, not working as intended,) and usually ends up at Tier 6 or worse - unless it's min/maxed out the wazoo to be able to spam its abilities, in which case it rises to Tier 4. Even then, being in the same tier doesn't make two classes equal; just in the same range - the [[hexblade]]'s clearly shittier than the [[ranger]] or [[barbarian]], but it still ekes out a spot in Tier 4, and the [[samurai]]'s better than its NPC class bros just by virtue of having class features, even if they suck. The tier list also assumes that all the players are about the same level of skill and at least sort of know what they're doing; a druid who prepares nothing but heal spells and charges into combat with a scimitar while never wildshaping is a lot worse than a samurai who's minmaxed Intimidate enough to make every enemy within 30 feet shit themselves as a swift action.

The following is copypasta, mostly because the forum threads for this keep burning out over at Gamesologists, but partially so that fa/tg/uys can still look down their noses at the math nerds at Brilliant-Gamesologists-dot-Com.

Note that the tier lists measure general ability to get shit done, rather than pure, balls-out combat power. Some martial classes are unstoppable terrors in combat, but once the fight stops, they might as well go crack open a soda, while wizards and skillmonkeys generally continue to contribute all the time. In fact, that's half of tier 4; classes that are super good at one or two things, but suck ass at doing anything else.

* [http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5293 Tier System for Classes discussion at Brilliant Gameologists]
* [[3.5_Tier_Fixing|/tg/ turns socialist]] and tries to fix the class tier system.

__NOTOC__

:Note: Entries in ''italics'' are classes that the original author was not versed in, but had heard a lot about; take their tier placement with a grain of salt.

== Tier 1 ==
Capable of doing absolutely everything, often better than classes that specialize in that thing. Often capable of solving encounters with a single mechanical ability and little thought from the player. Has world changing powers at high levels. These guys, if played with skill, can easily break a campaign and can be very hard to challenge without extreme DM fiat or plenty of house rules, especially if Tier 3s and below are in the party.

:'''Examples:''' {{tt|Artificer|Eberron Campaign Setting, p. 29}}, {{tt|archivist|Heroes of Horror, p. 82}}, cleric, druid, ''{{tt|erudite|Complete Psionic, p. 153}} ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a Spell to Power variant]),'' wizard

== Tier 2 ==
Has as much raw power as the Tier 1 classes, but can't pull off nearly as many tricks, and while the class itself is capable of anything, no one build can actually do nearly as much as the Tier 1 classes. Still potentially campaign smashers by using the right abilities, but at the same time are more predictable and can't always have the right tool for the job. If the Tier 1 classes are countries with 10,000 nuclear weapons in their arsenal, these guys are countries with 10 nukes. Still dangerous and easily world shattering, but not in quite so many ways. Note that the Tier 2 classes are often less flexible than Tier 3 classes... it's just that their incredible potential power overwhelms their lack in flexibility.

:'''Examples:''' {{tt|Binder|Tome of Magic, p. 9}} ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frcc/20070718 Zceryll, "The Star Spawn" vestige]), ''{{tt|erudite|Complete Psionic, p. 153}},'' {{tt|favored soul|Complete Divine, p. 6}}, ''{{tt|psion|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 19}},'' sorcerer

==Tier 3==
Capable of doing one thing quite well, while still being useful when that one thing is inappropriate, or capable of doing all things, but not as well as classes that specialize in that area. Occasionally has a mechanical ability that can solve an encounter, but this is relatively rare and easy to deal with. Can be game breaking only with specific intent to do so. Challenging such a character takes some thought from the DM, but isn't too difficult. Will outshine any Tier 5s in the party much of the time.

:'''Examples:''' Bard, {{tt|beguiler|Player's Handbook II, p. 6}}, {{tt|binder|Tome of Magic, p. 9}}, {{tt|crusader|Tome of Battle, p. 8}}, {{tt|dread necromancer|Heroes of Horror, p. 84}}, {{tt|duskblade|Player's Handbook II, p. 19}}{{tt|−|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|factotum|Dungeonscape, p. 17}}, ''{{tt|psychic warrior|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 24}},'' ranger ({{tt|wild shape variant|Unearthed Arcana, p. 58}}), {{tt|swordsage|Tome of Battle, p. 15}}, {{tt|warblade|Tome of Battle, p. 20}}

==Tier 4==
Capable of doing one thing quite well, but often useless when encounters require other areas of expertise, or capable of doing many things to a reasonable degree of competence without truly shining. Rarely has any abilities that can outright handle an encounter unless that encounter plays directly to the class's main strength. DMs may sometimes need to work to make sure Tier 4s can contribute to an encounter, as their abilities may sometimes leave them useless. Won't outshine anyone except Tier 6s except in specific circumstances that play to their strengths. Cannot compete effectively with Tier 1s that are played well.

:'''Examples:''' Adept, barbarian, fighter ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a Zhentarim soldier substitution levels]), {{tt|hexblade|Complete Warrior, p. 5}}{{tt|−|Could easily be considered tier 5}}, {{tt|marshal|Miniatures Handbook, p. 11}}, ranger, rogue, {{tt|scout|Complete Adventurer, p. 10}}, {{tt|spellthief|Complete Adventurer, p. 13}}, {{tt|warlock|Complete Arcane, p. 5}}, {{tt|warmage|Complete Arcane, p. 10}}

==Tier 5==
Capable of doing only one thing, and not necessarily all that well, or so unfocused that they have trouble mastering anything, and in many types of encounters the character cannot contribute. In some cases, can do one thing very well, but that one thing is very often not needed. Has trouble shining in any encounter unless the encounter matches their strengths. DMs may have to work to avoid the player feeling that their character is worthless unless the entire party is Tier 4 and below. Characters in this tier will often feel like one trick ponies if they do well, or just feel like they have no tricks at all if they build the class poorly.

:'''Examples:''' Expert, fighter{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|healer|Miniatures Handbook, p. 8}}, ''{{tt|knight|Player's Handbook II, p. 24}},'' monk, {{tt|ninja|Complete Adventurer, p. 5}}, paladin{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|samuraiCW|Complete Warrior, p. 8}} (with {{tt|Imperious Command|Drow of the Underdark, p. 50}} feat), {{tt|samuraiOA|Oriental Adventures, p. 20}}, {{tt|soulknife|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 26}}, {{tt|swashbuckler|Complete Warrior, p. 11}}

==Tier 6==
Not even capable of shining in their own area of expertise. DMs will need to work hard to make encounters that this sort of character can contribute in with their mechanical abilities. Will often feel worthless unless the character is seriously powergamed beyond belief, and even then won't be terribly impressive. Needs to fight enemies of lower than normal CR. Class is often completely unsynergized or with almost no abilities of merit. Avoid allowing PCs to play these characters.

:'''Examples:''' Aristocrat, commoner, {{tt|samuraiCW|Complete Warrior, p. 8}}{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 5}}, warrior

==[[Truenamer]]==

[[Fail|A class so terrible it gets its own tier]], the {{tt|Truenamer|Tome of Magic, p. 198}} "is [[Pyrovore|just broken]] (as in, the class was improperly made and doesn't function appropriately). Highly optimized (to the point of being able to spam their abilities) a Truenamer would be around Tier 4, but with lower optimization it rapidly drops to Tier 6."

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Gamer Slang]]

Tier System

2017-08-02T20:14:44Z

2601:646:4200:AD72:DEA9:71FF:FEFF:4010:

The [[Tier System]] is a ranking of the player character classes for OGL d20 system (D&D 3rd, 3.5 and Pathfinder), devised by the [[Munchkin|mix/maxing nerds]] at [http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?board=9.0 Gamesologists Forums], that compares the relative power and versatility of the different character classes. After burning out the bump limit in the forums a few times over, it became clear that some classes are just useless, and some are [[CoDzilla|wickedly broken]]. The Tiers aren't about what classes you should *always* pick, but rather making sure the player characters in the party are balanced so that nobody feels like a fifth wheel. With a party of a Druid, Wizard, Bard and Monk, you can tell that the Monk player is gonna have much less fun because [[No Girls on the Internet|she'll]] be overshadowed by the others.

Some classes can move up and down, either with variants (already mentioned above, or with some serious [[Powergamer|min/maxing]] and [[munchkin]]ism. The original thread says that the "Truenamer" class is pretty broken (as in, not working as intended,) and usually ends up at Tier 6 or worse - unless it's min/maxed out the wazoo to be able to spam its abilities, in which case it rises to Tier 4.

The following is copypasta, mostly because the forum threads for this keep burning out over at Gamesologists, but partially so that fa/tg/uys can still look down their noses at the math nerds at Brilliant-Gamesologists-dot-Com.

Note that the tier lists measure general ability to get shit done, rather than pure, balls-out combat power. Some martial classes are unstoppable terrors in combat, but once the fight stops, they might as well go crack open a soda, while wizards and skillmonkeys generally continue to contribute all the time.

* [http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5293 Tier System for Classes discussion at Brilliant Gameologists]
* [[3.5_Tier_Fixing|/tg/ turns socialist]] and tries to fix the class tier system.

__NOTOC__

:Note: Entries in ''italics'' are classes that the original author was not versed in, but had heard a lot about; take their tier placement with a grain of salt.

== Tier 1 ==
Capable of doing absolutely everything, often better than classes that specialize in that thing. Often capable of solving encounters with a single mechanical ability and little thought from the player. Has world changing powers at high levels. These guys, if played with skill, can easily break a campaign and can be very hard to challenge without extreme DM fiat or plenty of house rules, especially if Tier 3s and below are in the party.

:'''Examples:''' {{tt|Artificer|Eberron Campaign Setting, p. 29}}, {{tt|archivist|Heroes of Horror, p. 82}}, cleric, druid, ''{{tt|erudite|Complete Psionic, p. 153}} ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a Spell to Power variant]),'' wizard

== Tier 2 ==
Has as much raw power as the Tier 1 classes, but can't pull off nearly as many tricks, and while the class itself is capable of anything, no one build can actually do nearly as much as the Tier 1 classes. Still potentially campaign smashers by using the right abilities, but at the same time are more predictable and can't always have the right tool for the job. If the Tier 1 classes are countries with 10,000 nuclear weapons in their arsenal, these guys are countries with 10 nukes. Still dangerous and easily world shattering, but not in quite so many ways. Note that the Tier 2 classes are often less flexible than Tier 3 classes... it's just that their incredible potential power overwhelms their lack in flexibility.

:'''Examples:''' {{tt|Binder|Tome of Magic, p. 9}} ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frcc/20070718 Zceryll, "The Star Spawn" vestige]), ''{{tt|erudite|Complete Psionic, p. 153}},'' {{tt|favored soul|Complete Divine, p. 6}}, ''{{tt|psion|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 19}},'' sorcerer

==Tier 3==
Capable of doing one thing quite well, while still being useful when that one thing is inappropriate, or capable of doing all things, but not as well as classes that specialize in that area. Occasionally has a mechanical ability that can solve an encounter, but this is relatively rare and easy to deal with. Can be game breaking only with specific intent to do so. Challenging such a character takes some thought from the DM, but isn't too difficult. Will outshine any Tier 5s in the party much of the time.

:'''Examples:''' Bard, {{tt|beguiler|Player's Handbook II, p. 6}}, {{tt|binder|Tome of Magic, p. 9}}, {{tt|crusader|Tome of Battle, p. 8}}, {{tt|dread necromancer|Heroes of Horror, p. 84}}, {{tt|duskblade|Player's Handbook II, p. 19}}{{tt|−|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|factotum|Dungeonscape, p. 17}}, ''{{tt|psychic warrior|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 24}},'' ranger ({{tt|wild shape variant|Unearthed Arcana, p. 58}}), {{tt|swordsage|Tome of Battle, p. 15}}, {{tt|warblade|Tome of Battle, p. 20}}

==Tier 4==
Capable of doing one thing quite well, but often useless when encounters require other areas of expertise, or capable of doing many things to a reasonable degree of competence without truly shining. Rarely has any abilities that can outright handle an encounter unless that encounter plays directly to the class's main strength. DMs may sometimes need to work to make sure Tier 4s can contribute to an encounter, as their abilities may sometimes leave them useless. Won't outshine anyone except Tier 6s except in specific circumstances that play to their strengths. Cannot compete effectively with Tier 1s that are played well.

:'''Examples:''' Adept, barbarian, fighter ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a Zhentarim soldier substitution levels]), {{tt|hexblade|Complete Warrior, p. 5}}{{tt|−|Could easily be considered tier 5}}, {{tt|marshal|Miniatures Handbook, p. 11}}, ranger, rogue, {{tt|scout|Complete Adventurer, p. 10}}, {{tt|spellthief|Complete Adventurer, p. 13}}, {{tt|warlock|Complete Arcane, p. 5}}, {{tt|warmage|Complete Arcane, p. 10}}

==Tier 5==
Capable of doing only one thing, and not necessarily all that well, or so unfocused that they have trouble mastering anything, and in many types of encounters the character cannot contribute. In some cases, can do one thing very well, but that one thing is very often not needed. Has trouble shining in any encounter unless the encounter matches their strengths. DMs may have to work to avoid the player feeling that their character is worthless unless the entire party is Tier 4 and below. Characters in this tier will often feel like one trick ponies if they do well, or just feel like they have no tricks at all if they build the class poorly.

:'''Examples:''' Expert, fighter{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|healer|Miniatures Handbook, p. 8}}, ''{{tt|knight|Player's Handbook II, p. 24}},'' monk, {{tt|ninja|Complete Adventurer, p. 5}}, paladin{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|samuraiCW|Complete Warrior, p. 8}} (with {{tt|Imperious Command|Drow of the Underdark, p. 50}} feat), {{tt|samuraiOA|Oriental Adventures, p. 20}}, {{tt|soulknife|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 26}}, {{tt|swashbuckler|Complete Warrior, p. 11}}

==Tier 6==
Not even capable of shining in their own area of expertise. DMs will need to work hard to make encounters that this sort of character can contribute in with their mechanical abilities. Will often feel worthless unless the character is seriously powergamed beyond belief, and even then won't be terribly impressive. Needs to fight enemies of lower than normal CR. Class is often completely unsynergized or with almost no abilities of merit. Avoid allowing PCs to play these characters.

:'''Examples:''' Aristocrat, commoner, {{tt|samuraiCW|Complete Warrior, p. 8}}{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 5}}, warrior

==[[Truenamer]]==

[[Fail|A class so terrible it gets its own tier]], the {{tt|Truenamer|Tome of Magic, p. 198}} "is [[Pyrovore|just broken]] (as in, the class was improperly made and doesn't function appropriately). Highly optimized (to the point of being able to spam their abilities) a Truenamer would be around Tier 4, but with lower optimization it rapidly drops to Tier 6."

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Gamer Slang]]

Tier System

2017-08-02T20:14:19Z

2601:646:4200:AD72:DEA9:71FF:FEFF:4010: Who switched rogue and paladin, actually?

The [[Tier System]] is a ranking of the player character classes for OGL d20 system (D&D 3rd, 3.5 and Pathfinder), devised by the [[Munchkin|mix/maxing nerds]] at [http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?board=9.0 Gamesologists Forums], that compares the relative power and versatility of the different character classes. After burning out the bump limit in the forums a few times over, it became clear that some classes are just useless, and some are [[CoDzilla|wickedly broken]]. The Tiers aren't about what classes you should *always* pick, but rather making sure the player characters in the party are balanced so that nobody feels like a fifth wheel. With a party of a Druid, Wizard, Bard and Monk, you can tell that the Monk player is gonna have much less fun because [[No Girls on the Internet|she'll]] be overshadowed by the others.

Some classes can move up and down, either with variants (already mentioned above, or with some serious [[Powergamer|min/maxing]] and [[munchkin]]ism. The original thread says that the "Truenamer" class is pretty broken (as in, not working as intended,) and usually ends up at Tier 6 or worse - unless it's min/maxed out the wazoo to be able to spam its abilities, in which case it rises to Tier 4.

The following is copypasta, mostly because the forum threads for this keep burning out over at Gamesologists, but partially so that fa/tg/uys can still look down their noses at the math nerds at Brilliant-Gamesologists-dot-Com.

Note that the tier lists measure general ability to get shit done, rather than pure, balls-out combat power. Some martial classes are unstoppable terrors in combat, but once the fight stops, they might as well go crack open a soda, while wizards and skillmonkeys generally continue to contribute all the time.

* [http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5293 Tier System for Classes discussion at Brilliant Gameologists]
* [[3.5_Tier_Fixing|/tg/ turns socialist]] and tries to fix the class tier system.

__NOTOC__

:Note: Entries in ''italics'' are classes that the original author was not versed in, but had heard a lot about; take their tier placement with a grain of salt.

== Tier 1 ==
Capable of doing absolutely everything, often better than classes that specialize in that thing. Often capable of solving encounters with a single mechanical ability and little thought from the player. Has world changing powers at high levels. These guys, if played with skill, can easily break a campaign and can be very hard to challenge without extreme DM fiat or plenty of house rules, especially if Tier 3s and below are in the party.

:'''Examples:''' {{tt|Artificer|Eberron Campaign Setting, p. 29}}, {{tt|archivist|Heroes of Horror, p. 82}}, cleric, druid, ''{{tt|erudite|Complete Psionic, p. 153}} ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a Spell to Power variant]),'' wizard

== Tier 2 ==
Has as much raw power as the Tier 1 classes, but can't pull off nearly as many tricks, and while the class itself is capable of anything, no one build can actually do nearly as much as the Tier 1 classes. Still potentially campaign smashers by using the right abilities, but at the same time are more predictable and can't always have the right tool for the job. If the Tier 1 classes are countries with 10,000 nuclear weapons in their arsenal, these guys are countries with 10 nukes. Still dangerous and easily world shattering, but not in quite so many ways. Note that the Tier 2 classes are often less flexible than Tier 3 classes... it's just that their incredible potential power overwhelms their lack in flexibility.

:'''Examples:''' {{tt|Binder|Tome of Magic, p. 9}} ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frcc/20070718 Zceryll, "The Star Spawn" vestige]), ''{{tt|erudite|Complete Psionic, p. 153}},'' {{tt|favored soul|Complete Divine, p. 6}}, ''{{tt|psion|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 19}},'' sorcerer

==Tier 3==
Capable of doing one thing quite well, while still being useful when that one thing is inappropriate, or capable of doing all things, but not as well as classes that specialize in that area. Occasionally has a mechanical ability that can solve an encounter, but this is relatively rare and easy to deal with. Can be game breaking only with specific intent to do so. Challenging such a character takes some thought from the DM, but isn't too difficult. Will outshine any Tier 5s in the party much of the time.

:'''Examples:''' Bard, {{tt|beguiler|Player's Handbook II, p. 6}}, {{tt|binder|Tome of Magic, p. 9}}, {{tt|crusader|Tome of Battle, p. 8}}, {{tt|dread necromancer|Heroes of Horror, p. 84}}, {{tt|duskblade|Player's Handbook II, p. 19}}{{tt|−|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|factotum|Dungeonscape, p. 17}}, ''{{tt|psychic warrior|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 24}},'' ranger ({{tt|wild shape variant|Unearthed Arcana, p. 58}}), {{tt|swordsage|Tome of Battle, p. 15}}, {{tt|warblade|Tome of Battle, p. 20}}

==Tier 4==
Capable of doing one thing quite well, but often useless when encounters require other areas of expertise, or capable of doing many things to a reasonable degree of competence without truly shining. Rarely has any abilities that can outright handle an encounter unless that encounter plays directly to the class's main strength. DMs may sometimes need to work to make sure Tier 4s can contribute to an encounter, as their abilities may sometimes leave them useless. Won't outshine anyone except Tier 6s except in specific circumstances that play to their strengths. Cannot compete effectively with Tier 1s that are played well.

:'''Examples:''' Adept, barbarian, fighter ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a Zhentarim soldier substitution levels]), {{tt|hexblade|Complete Warrior, p. 5}}{{tt|−|Could easily be considered tier 5}}, {{tt|marshal|Miniatures Handbook, p. 11}}, ranger, rogue, {{tt|scout|Complete Adventurer, p. 10}}, {{tt|spellthief|Complete Adventurer, p. 13}}, {{tt|warlock|Complete Arcane, p. 5}}, {{tt|warmage|Complete Arcane, p. 10}}

==Tier 5==
Capable of doing only one thing, and not necessarily all that well, or so unfocused that they have trouble mastering anything, and in many types of encounters the character cannot contribute. In some cases, can do one thing very well, but that one thing is very often not needed. Has trouble shining in any encounter unless the encounter matches their strengths. DMs may have to work to avoid the player feeling that their character is worthless unless the entire party is Tier 4 and below. Characters in this tier will often feel like one trick ponies if they do well, or just feel like they have no tricks at all if they build the class poorly.

:'''Examples:''' Expert, fighter{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|healer|Miniatures Handbook, p. 8}}, ''{{tt|knight|Player's Handbook II, p. 24}},'' monk, {{tt|ninja|Complete Adventurer, p. 5}}, , paladin{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 4}} {{tt|samuraiCW|Complete Warrior, p. 8}} (with {{tt|Imperious Command|Drow of the Underdark, p. 50}} feat), {{tt|samuraiOA|Oriental Adventures, p. 20}}, {{tt|soulknife|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 26}}, {{tt|swashbuckler|Complete Warrior, p. 11}}

==Tier 6==
Not even capable of shining in their own area of expertise. DMs will need to work hard to make encounters that this sort of character can contribute in with their mechanical abilities. Will often feel worthless unless the character is seriously powergamed beyond belief, and even then won't be terribly impressive. Needs to fight enemies of lower than normal CR. Class is often completely unsynergized or with almost no abilities of merit. Avoid allowing PCs to play these characters.

:'''Examples:''' Aristocrat, commoner, {{tt|samuraiCW|Complete Warrior, p. 8}}{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 5}}, warrior

==[[Truenamer]]==

[[Fail|A class so terrible it gets its own tier]], the {{tt|Truenamer|Tome of Magic, p. 198}} "is [[Pyrovore|just broken]] (as in, the class was improperly made and doesn't function appropriately). Highly optimized (to the point of being able to spam their abilities) a Truenamer would be around Tier 4, but with lower optimization it rapidly drops to Tier 6."

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Gamer Slang]]

Tier System

2017-08-02T20:13:02Z

2601:646:4200:AD72:DEA9:71FF:FEFF:4010: Pretty much every version of the list puts rogues in Tier 4, and a few even push them up to 3.

The [[Tier System]] is a ranking of the player character classes for OGL d20 system (D&D 3rd, 3.5 and Pathfinder), devised by the [[Munchkin|mix/maxing nerds]] at [http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?board=9.0 Gamesologists Forums], that compares the relative power and versatility of the different character classes. After burning out the bump limit in the forums a few times over, it became clear that some classes are just useless, and some are [[CoDzilla|wickedly broken]]. The Tiers aren't about what classes you should *always* pick, but rather making sure the player characters in the party are balanced so that nobody feels like a fifth wheel. With a party of a Druid, Wizard, Bard and Monk, you can tell that the Monk player is gonna have much less fun because [[No Girls on the Internet|she'll]] be overshadowed by the others.

Some classes can move up and down, either with variants (already mentioned above, or with some serious [[Powergamer|min/maxing]] and [[munchkin]]ism. The original thread says that the "Truenamer" class is pretty broken (as in, not working as intended,) and usually ends up at Tier 6 or worse - unless it's min/maxed out the wazoo to be able to spam its abilities, in which case it rises to Tier 4.

The following is copypasta, mostly because the forum threads for this keep burning out over at Gamesologists, but partially so that fa/tg/uys can still look down their noses at the math nerds at Brilliant-Gamesologists-dot-Com.

Note that the tier lists measure general ability to get shit done, rather than pure, balls-out combat power. Some martial classes are unstoppable terrors in combat, but once the fight stops, they might as well go crack open a soda, while wizards and skillmonkeys generally continue to contribute all the time.

* [http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5293 Tier System for Classes discussion at Brilliant Gameologists]
* [[3.5_Tier_Fixing|/tg/ turns socialist]] and tries to fix the class tier system.

__NOTOC__

:Note: Entries in ''italics'' are classes that the original author was not versed in, but had heard a lot about; take their tier placement with a grain of salt.

== Tier 1 ==
Capable of doing absolutely everything, often better than classes that specialize in that thing. Often capable of solving encounters with a single mechanical ability and little thought from the player. Has world changing powers at high levels. These guys, if played with skill, can easily break a campaign and can be very hard to challenge without extreme DM fiat or plenty of house rules, especially if Tier 3s and below are in the party.

:'''Examples:''' {{tt|Artificer|Eberron Campaign Setting, p. 29}}, {{tt|archivist|Heroes of Horror, p. 82}}, cleric, druid, ''{{tt|erudite|Complete Psionic, p. 153}} ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a Spell to Power variant]),'' wizard

== Tier 2 ==
Has as much raw power as the Tier 1 classes, but can't pull off nearly as many tricks, and while the class itself is capable of anything, no one build can actually do nearly as much as the Tier 1 classes. Still potentially campaign smashers by using the right abilities, but at the same time are more predictable and can't always have the right tool for the job. If the Tier 1 classes are countries with 10,000 nuclear weapons in their arsenal, these guys are countries with 10 nukes. Still dangerous and easily world shattering, but not in quite so many ways. Note that the Tier 2 classes are often less flexible than Tier 3 classes... it's just that their incredible potential power overwhelms their lack in flexibility.

:'''Examples:''' {{tt|Binder|Tome of Magic, p. 9}} ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frcc/20070718 Zceryll, "The Star Spawn" vestige]), ''{{tt|erudite|Complete Psionic, p. 153}},'' {{tt|favored soul|Complete Divine, p. 6}}, ''{{tt|psion|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 19}},'' sorcerer

==Tier 3==
Capable of doing one thing quite well, while still being useful when that one thing is inappropriate, or capable of doing all things, but not as well as classes that specialize in that area. Occasionally has a mechanical ability that can solve an encounter, but this is relatively rare and easy to deal with. Can be game breaking only with specific intent to do so. Challenging such a character takes some thought from the DM, but isn't too difficult. Will outshine any Tier 5s in the party much of the time.

:'''Examples:''' Bard, {{tt|beguiler|Player's Handbook II, p. 6}}, {{tt|binder|Tome of Magic, p. 9}}, {{tt|crusader|Tome of Battle, p. 8}}, {{tt|dread necromancer|Heroes of Horror, p. 84}}, {{tt|duskblade|Player's Handbook II, p. 19}}{{tt|−|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|factotum|Dungeonscape, p. 17}}, ''{{tt|psychic warrior|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 24}},'' ranger ({{tt|wild shape variant|Unearthed Arcana, p. 58}}), {{tt|swordsage|Tome of Battle, p. 15}}, {{tt|warblade|Tome of Battle, p. 20}}

==Tier 4==
Capable of doing one thing quite well, but often useless when encounters require other areas of expertise, or capable of doing many things to a reasonable degree of competence without truly shining. Rarely has any abilities that can outright handle an encounter unless that encounter plays directly to the class's main strength. DMs may sometimes need to work to make sure Tier 4s can contribute to an encounter, as their abilities may sometimes leave them useless. Won't outshine anyone except Tier 6s except in specific circumstances that play to their strengths. Cannot compete effectively with Tier 1s that are played well.

:'''Examples:''' Adept, barbarian, fighter ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a Zhentarim soldier substitution levels]), {{tt|hexblade|Complete Warrior, p. 5}}{{tt|−|Could easily be considered tier 5}}, {{tt|marshal|Miniatures Handbook, p. 11}}, ranger, rogue, {{tt|scout|Complete Adventurer, p. 10}}, {{tt|spellthief|Complete Adventurer, p. 13}}, {{tt|warlock|Complete Arcane, p. 5}}, {{tt|warmage|Complete Arcane, p. 10}}, paladin{{tt|-|Could easily be considered tier 5}}

==Tier 5==
Capable of doing only one thing, and not necessarily all that well, or so unfocused that they have trouble mastering anything, and in many types of encounters the character cannot contribute. In some cases, can do one thing very well, but that one thing is very often not needed. Has trouble shining in any encounter unless the encounter matches their strengths. DMs may have to work to avoid the player feeling that their character is worthless unless the entire party is Tier 4 and below. Characters in this tier will often feel like one trick ponies if they do well, or just feel like they have no tricks at all if they build the class poorly.

:'''Examples:''' Expert, fighter{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|healer|Miniatures Handbook, p. 8}}, ''{{tt|knight|Player's Handbook II, p. 24}},'' monk, {{tt|ninja|Complete Adventurer, p. 5}}, {{tt|samuraiCW|Complete Warrior, p. 8}} (with {{tt|Imperious Command|Drow of the Underdark, p. 50}} feat), {{tt|samuraiOA|Oriental Adventures, p. 20}}, {{tt|soulknife|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 26}}, {{tt|swashbuckler|Complete Warrior, p. 11}}

==Tier 6==
Not even capable of shining in their own area of expertise. DMs will need to work hard to make encounters that this sort of character can contribute in with their mechanical abilities. Will often feel worthless unless the character is seriously powergamed beyond belief, and even then won't be terribly impressive. Needs to fight enemies of lower than normal CR. Class is often completely unsynergized or with almost no abilities of merit. Avoid allowing PCs to play these characters.

:'''Examples:''' Aristocrat, commoner, {{tt|samuraiCW|Complete Warrior, p. 8}}{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 5}}, warrior

==[[Truenamer]]==

[[Fail|A class so terrible it gets its own tier]], the {{tt|Truenamer|Tome of Magic, p. 198}} "is [[Pyrovore|just broken]] (as in, the class was improperly made and doesn't function appropriately). Highly optimized (to the point of being able to spam their abilities) a Truenamer would be around Tier 4, but with lower optimization it rapidly drops to Tier 6."

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Gamer Slang]]

Truenamer

2017-07-25T22:10:10Z

2601:646:4200:AD72:DEA9:71FF:FEFF:4010:

The Truenamer, from the Tome of Magic, is possibly one of the worst [[class]]es ever printed: [[Dungeons and Dragons]] or otherwise. Truenamers use a casting system that's just as horrible as they are. Having to constantly spend resources just to have a reliable chance of using your utterances successfully, coupled with the utterances being usually just bad versions of other spells that you could get at a lower level, is not exactly something that makes you excited to try playing a truenamer.

They start ok, then get worse as their utterances are still stuck copying wind wall and other lower level spells and then they get a pretty much at-will Gate at level 20 which does NOT contain the usual extra rule that gated in creatures cannot summon other creatures, [[Awesome|meaning that with enough turns]] and a good cause (and a way to work past the Law of Sequence) you can end up balls-deep in [[Exalted|Solars]] and pretty much kick all the ass (that's worth 19 levels of shit, right?). The utterances often include lots of spelling errors and other omissions that make them completely different from what they were intended to do. In short, their editing and playtesting were non-existent and it shows.

However this is only the tip of the iceberg. Since their casting is tied to a skill (Truenaming) and the fact, IIRC, they get unlimited usages of utterances per day (though it gets harder with each successful uttering), with enough min-maxing you can crank your Truenaming skill high enough to never fail an Utterance but this is for naught as it becomes very difficult to get your save DCs for Utterances high enough to make that matter. Most things will shrug off your saves even with Munchkinry due to how shitty the calculation for them equates (it's based on Charisma for some reason).

==Ways to increase your true name skill==
* Put ALL the points into it, well as much as you can, there is a maximum (duh).
* Feats, obviously:
**Skill Focus
**Item Familiar from Unearthed Arcana to get a bigger bonus than you would normally have from spending skill points.
* A couple levels in Exemplar.
* Maxing out your Int would help, although that would take a while.
* Items.
* Join the Paragnostic Assembly (CC)

==Ways to make yourself feel better about playing this class==
So you decided to play a Truenamer because surely it can't be THAT bad, right? You were wrong. Luckily, the utterances are just as poorly written as the class itself, so there are a few things you can do to make those 20 levels of suck almost worth it. Almost.
* The Incarnation of Angels gives a target the Fiendish/Celestial template, which makes them extraplanar, and therefore subject to Banishing! Where do they go? Who knows but they're sure as hell not your problem anymore.
*Word of Nurturing, as written, allows you to effect "your target" and then lets you give "a creature" fast healing. Buy a rabbit, target it with the utterance for a DC 16ish truespeak check, give whatever you want fast healing. This works for a surprisingly high number of utterances because whoever edited Tome of Magic was blind.
*The reversed version of Greater Seek the Sky removes the target's ability to fly. Unlike the lesser version, it has an instantaneous duration, so that flight is gone forever if it succeeds. Ether Reforged (turns a creature ethereal) appears to do the same thing.
*Despite coming at 10th level, Rebuild Item is actually pretty good, letting you repair pretty much anything as long as it was broken in the last round. This gets fun when you realize how many single-use magic items out there require you to break them to activate them. There are even variant rules for "potion tiles", meaning this utterance lets you recycle potions.
*You have one utterance that gives a +5 bonus to skill checks, another that gives a +10 bonus to your next Knowledge check and the ability to count as trained in it, a free +3 to Knowledge checks, an Intelligence focus, all Knowledge skills as class skills and not much else to spend them on, and you're probably part of an organization that gives a +5 or +10 to Intelligence-based checks. By 3rd level, you should be able to narrate the GM's own campaign to them... you know, if you want to be the exposition dump.

==Most interesting thing about Truenamers==
So over all Truenamers are shit as far as classes go, but Truenamers have one very interesting feature to them: It's mentioned in a side box that some people's true name gets harder and harder to say the older and more experienced they get, noting that many people who show this 'phenomenon' become leaders, heroes or villains. The Truenamers think that this is because the universe takes an interest in people as they achieve more, become more powerful and more important to the universe, their true name becomes harder to say. But the Tome of Magic says it's because the person is gaining levels and hit dice, thus their DC to speak their true name goes up as well. To the NPC's to which the world is real, with hit dice as an abstraction, they only have a, quote, "vague sense of what's going on".

Stew on that for a second: the NPC's of a game, are able to detect to some degree the influence of the 'player' and are able to sense when that 'player' gets enough 'XP' by shiving enough crabs to make a person in the world stronger by go up a 'level'. We are not sure if that's [[fail]] or [[awesome]], you decide.

{{D&D3-Classes}}

Tier System

2017-07-25T21:49:39Z

2601:646:4200:AD72:DEA9:71FF:FEFF:4010: Most listings put the paladin outright in Tier 5.

The [[Tier System]] is a ranking of the player character classes for OGL d20 system (D&D 3rd, 3.5 and Pathfinder), devised by the [[Munchkin|mix/maxing nerds]] at [http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?board=9.0 Gamesologists Forums], that compares the relative power and versatility of the different character classes. After burning out the bump limit in the forums a few times over, it became clear that some classes are just useless, and some are [[CoDzilla|wickedly broken]]. The Tiers aren't about what classes you should *always* pick, but rather making sure the player characters in the party are balanced so that nobody feels like a fifth wheel. With a party of a Druid, Wizard, Bard and Monk, you can tell that the Monk player is gonna have much less fun because [[No Girls on the Internet|she'll]] be overshadowed by the others.

Some classes can move up and down, either with variants (already mentioned above, or with some serious [[Powergamer|min/maxing]] and [[munchkin]]ism. The original thread says that the "Truenamer" class is pretty broken (as in, not working as intended,) and usually ends up at Tier 6 or worse - unless it's min/maxed out the wazoo to be able to spam its abilities, in which case it rises to Tier 4.

The following is copypasta, mostly because the forum threads for this keep burning out over at Gamesologists, but partially so that fa/tg/uys can still look down their noses at the math nerds at Brilliant-Gamesologists-dot-Com.

Note that the tier lists measure general ability to get shit done, rather than pure, balls-out combat power. Some martial classes are unstoppable terrors in combat, but once the fight stops, they might as well go crack open a soda, while wizards and skillmonkeys generally continue to contribute all the time.

* [http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=5293 Tier System for Classes discussion at Brilliant Gameologists]
* [[3.5_Tier_Fixing|/tg/ turns socialist]] and tries to fix the class tier system.

__NOTOC__

:Note: Entries in ''italics'' are classes that the original author was not versed in, but had heard a lot about; take their tier placement with a grain of salt.

== Tier 1 ==
Capable of doing absolutely everything, often better than classes that specialize in that thing. Often capable of solving encounters with a single mechanical ability and little thought from the player. Has world changing powers at high levels. These guys, if played with skill, can easily break a campaign and can be very hard to challenge without extreme DM fiat or plenty of house rules, especially if Tier 3s and below are in the party.

:'''Examples:''' {{tt|Artificer|Eberron Campaign Setting, p. 29}}, {{tt|archivist|Heroes of Horror, p. 82}}, cleric, druid, ''{{tt|erudite|Complete Psionic, p. 153}} ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20070629a Spell to Power variant]),'' wizard

== Tier 2 ==
Has as much raw power as the Tier 1 classes, but can't pull off nearly as many tricks, and while the class itself is capable of anything, no one build can actually do nearly as much as the Tier 1 classes. Still potentially campaign smashers by using the right abilities, but at the same time are more predictable and can't always have the right tool for the job. If the Tier 1 classes are countries with 10,000 nuclear weapons in their arsenal, these guys are countries with 10 nukes. Still dangerous and easily world shattering, but not in quite so many ways. Note that the Tier 2 classes are often less flexible than Tier 3 classes... it's just that their incredible potential power overwhelms their lack in flexibility.

:'''Examples:''' {{tt|Binder|Tome of Magic, p. 9}} ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/frcc/20070718 Zceryll, "The Star Spawn" vestige]), ''{{tt|erudite|Complete Psionic, p. 153}},'' {{tt|favored soul|Complete Divine, p. 6}}, ''{{tt|psion|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 19}},'' sorcerer

==Tier 3==
Capable of doing one thing quite well, while still being useful when that one thing is inappropriate, or capable of doing all things, but not as well as classes that specialize in that area. Occasionally has a mechanical ability that can solve an encounter, but this is relatively rare and easy to deal with. Can be game breaking only with specific intent to do so. Challenging such a character takes some thought from the DM, but isn't too difficult. Will outshine any Tier 5s in the party much of the time.

:'''Examples:''' Bard, {{tt|beguiler|Player's Handbook II, p. 6}}, {{tt|binder|Tome of Magic, p. 9}}, {{tt|crusader|Tome of Battle, p. 8}}, {{tt|dread necromancer|Heroes of Horror, p. 84}}, {{tt|duskblade|Player's Handbook II, p. 19}}{{tt|−|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|factotum|Dungeonscape, p. 17}}, ''{{tt|psychic warrior|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 24}},'' ranger ({{tt|wild shape variant|Unearthed Arcana, p. 58}}), {{tt|swordsage|Tome of Battle, p. 15}}, {{tt|warblade|Tome of Battle, p. 20}}

==Tier 4==
Capable of doing one thing quite well, but often useless when encounters require other areas of expertise, or capable of doing many things to a reasonable degree of competence without truly shining. Rarely has any abilities that can outright handle an encounter unless that encounter plays directly to the class's main strength. DMs may sometimes need to work to make sure Tier 4s can contribute to an encounter, as their abilities may sometimes leave them useless. Won't outshine anyone except Tier 6s except in specific circumstances that play to their strengths. Cannot compete effectively with Tier 1s that are played well.

:'''Examples:''' Adept, barbarian, fighter ([http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060327a Zhentarim soldier substitution levels]), {{tt|hexblade|Complete Warrior, p. 5}}{{tt|−|Could easily be considered tier 5}}, {{tt|marshal|Miniatures Handbook, p. 11}}, ranger, {{tt|scout|Complete Adventurer, p. 10}}, {{tt|spellthief|Complete Adventurer, p. 13}}, {{tt|warlock|Complete Arcane, p. 5}}, {{tt|warmage|Complete Arcane, p. 10}}, paladin{{tt|-|Could easily be considered tier 5}}

==Tier 5==
Capable of doing only one thing, and not necessarily all that well, or so unfocused that they have trouble mastering anything, and in many types of encounters the character cannot contribute. In some cases, can do one thing very well, but that one thing is very often not needed. Has trouble shining in any encounter unless the encounter matches their strengths. DMs may have to work to avoid the player feeling that their character is worthless unless the entire party is Tier 4 and below. Characters in this tier will often feel like one trick ponies if they do well, or just feel like they have no tricks at all if they build the class poorly.

:'''Examples:''' Expert, fighter{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 4}}, {{tt|healer|Miniatures Handbook, p. 8}}, ''{{tt|knight|Player's Handbook II, p. 24}},'' monk, {{tt|ninja|Complete Adventurer, p. 5}}, {{tt|samuraiCW|Complete Warrior, p. 8}} (with {{tt|Imperious Command|Drow of the Underdark, p. 50}} feat), {{tt|samuraiOA|Oriental Adventures, p. 20}}, {{tt|soulknife|Expanded Psionics Handbook, p. 26}}, {{tt|swashbuckler|Complete Warrior, p. 11}}, rogue

==Tier 6==
Not even capable of shining in their own area of expertise. DMs will need to work hard to make encounters that this sort of character can contribute in with their mechanical abilities. Will often feel worthless unless the character is seriously powergamed beyond belief, and even then won't be terribly impressive. Needs to fight enemies of lower than normal CR. Class is often completely unsynergized or with almost no abilities of merit. Avoid allowing PCs to play these characters.

:'''Examples:''' Aristocrat, commoner, {{tt|samuraiCW|Complete Warrior, p. 8}}{{tt|+|Could easily be considered tier 5}}, warrior

==[[Truenamer]]==

[[Fail|A class so terrible it gets its own tier]], the {{tt|Truenamer|Tome of Magic, p. 198}} "is [[Pyrovore|just broken]] (as in, the class was improperly made and doesn't function appropriately). Highly optimized (to the point of being able to spam their abilities) a Truenamer would be around Tier 4, but with lower optimization it rapidly drops to Tier 6."

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Gamer Slang]]