Martial Classes

Designed for players looking for new options designed for use within Dawn of Hope (but not indelibly bound to that setting), this book contains multiple new classes and new subclasses for several classic classes, all martial (ie non-spellcaster in nature). It also references two new subsystems: Skill Tricks (mini-feats designed to expand the uses of skill and tool proficiencies) and Incantations (a take on 4e’s Rituals, bringing utility magic to the masses in a controlled way), each described in companion documents.

While these options were designed with Quartus (the main planet of the Dawn of Hope setting) in mind and have been played there, they should be setting-agnostic enough to play well in any fantasy-oriented setting.

Classes

A player character’s class is an important part of their interaction with the world of Dawn of Hope. But classes are instantiations of archetypes, not necessarily in-universe organizations. Most NPCs do not have classes, even if they have abilities similar to those of player characters. Some class names are close to being diegetic; calling one of the robed peacekeepers of Byssia a “monk” is reasonable enough and you’d be understood by people in the setting. But don’t look too closely.

This section presents multiple new classes (including variants of existing classes) and subclasses for others. Many of them use similar mechanics:

• Stamina is a general-purpose martial resource, generally equalling your Level + Constitution modifier if you don’t have the Spellcasting feature.
• Some classes (armsman, and warden) have extended Weapon Specialization features, which add abilities to specific weapon traits and add additional traits.
• All classes have access to Skill Tricks in addition to feats. These are described in the companion Skill Trick document. Skill tricks mostly provide horizontal growth, rather than bigger numbers.

Class Summaries

The classes and subclasses presented here are summarized below.

Armsman (Variant Fighter)

The Armsman is a re-imagining of the core Fighter. He is the weapon master, a heavy-armor, strength-focused warrior who can still used ranged weapons and move nimbly. It has three subclasses:

• Defender: Protect your allies even more
• Sword Saint: Elemental offensive hitter
• Warlord: Support-focused battle commander.

Barbarian

The core Barbarian gains two subclasses–

• Path of the Stormbound Fist: A lightning-themed unarmed barbarian.
• Path of the Whirling Blade: A dual-wielding tornado of death

Inventor

The Inventor is DoH’s take on an artificer. A non-spell-casting artificer. Basically a mad scientist, with alchemy. Gets a non-combat mechanical pet, mini-smites, and three very distinct subclasses.

• Chemist: All in on alchemy. Potions, munitions, etc.
• Gearhead: Makes and wears power armor. Melee/grappler.
• Trapsmith: Ranged combatant who deploys traps and gains some movement options.

Monk

The core Monk gains two subclasses–

• Way of Living Flame: A phoenix/fire-themed monk.
• Way of the Serpent Dance: Poison and dance.

Rogue: Mage Hunter

The core Rogue gains three subclasses–

• Mage Hunter: Specialized in fighting mages (and spell-casters in general).
• Scout: Ranged specialist. Sniper themed.
• Shadowdancer: Shadow-themed. Explicitly magical, but not a spell-caster.
• Trickster: A variant of the Thief, but more focused on applying conditions.

Warden (Variant Barbarian)

The Warden is a variant of the core Barbarian, where rage is split into two different pieces—the defensive Rage and the offensive Furious Blow. They gain increasing levels of protection from magic and even some quasi-magical abilities. They can gain Focus, which they spend to do other things. Their subclasses are

• Elemental Path: Element-focused barbarian. Gets to replace movement with teleporting and elemental resistances and related features.
• Juggernaut Path: Focused around implacability and being really hard to stop. Gets some features to protect others.
• Whirlwind Path: Focused around fast movement. Gains a fly speed at time.