subclasses

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/29946919/Imagining_subclasses?sdb=1&pg=last#532639481

Fighter subclasses:

• • Warrior (the Basic Fighter)

  • Knight

  • Gladiator

  • Duelist

  • Warlord

  • Samurai

  • others, such as Cavalier

Magic-User subclasses ("Mage" for short): (In this way, the various iterations of names for "wizard" are given new life: BECMI and 1e "Magic-User", the 2e "Wizard Group" and "Mage (generalist) Class", and the 3e and 4e Wizard class.)

• • Wizard (the Basic Mage)

  • Illusionist

  • Sorcerer

  • Warlock

  • Enchanter

  • Necromancer

  • Diviner

  • Transmuter

  • Abjurer

  • Evoker

  • Wild Mage

  • others, such as Wu-jen and Sha'ir

Rogue subclasses:

• • Thief (the Basic Rogue)

  • Assassin

  • Acrobat

  • Scout

  • Vagabond

  • A subclass for each Playtest scheme? Treasure Hunter? Rake? (Need to distinguish Rogue Trickster from Cleric Trickster.)

  • others, such as Ninja and Pirate!

Cleric subclasses: (I suggest that the Playtest deity names become the subclass names)

• • Lifegiver (the Basic Cleric)

  • Lightbringer

  • Protector

  • Trickster

  • Warbringer

  • a Cleric subclass for each major domain of spells or divine portfolio

Paladin subclasses: (The 2e Red Steel setting has a name for "specialty paladins": Defender. But that name has different connotations since the 3e Dwarven Defender and 4e Defender role. If "Defender" or "Champion" were used as the class-name, then "Paladin" could be kept as the name for the standard LG subclass)

• • Honorbound (the Standard LG Paladin; the name is from the "Paladin of Honor" and Mystara's "Honorbound")

  • Warden (=Mystara's "Druidic Knight")

  • Anti-Paladin (a.k.a. Blackguard)

  • other Variant Paladins

Ranger subclasses: A distinct name for each of the Playtest options, such as Giantslayer.

Druid subclasses: A distinct name for each of the Playtest options.

Monk subclasses:

• • Initiate of Mercy

  • Initiate of the Phoenix

  • Initiate of Stone's Endurance

  • Initiate of the Four Storms

Barbarian subclasses: ?

Bard subclasses: ?

Even though in earlier editions, some classes were subclasses of others (Paladin and Ranger were Fighter subclasses), make these ten the Standard Classes. Except for Psion, might not need to make anymore Classes.

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/29946883/Cleric_subclass_names:_make_Lifegiver,_Lightbringer,_the_names_of_the_actual_subclass

Since other classes will have distinct names for each subclass (for example, the Fighter subclasses: Warrior, Knight, and Gladiator), how about making the existing generic deity/portfolio name from the Playtest the name of the Cleric subclass.

Cleric subclasses:

-Lifegiver (the Basic Cleric, the typical healer)

-Lightbringer

-Protector

-Trickster

-Warbringer

In this way, it will be clearer that a single deity could have Clerics from different subclasses. For example, Apollo could have Lifegivers and Lightbringers.

If more or better names are needed, appropriate specialty priest names from the Forgotten Realms might be "genericized". For example, if there were a Cleric subclass devoted to magic, the subclass could be called a "Magistrati".