Character Classes - Rules

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Not all of the races and classes listed in the Dungeons and Dragons books are compatible with the Lasair setting. The following information will help you create a character in the setting (or, if you're a GM, will help you decide what sorts of NPCs to include).
This page covers character classes; for character races please see Character Races - Rules

Classes

Unless otherwise stated, all subclasses are treated the same as their parent class.

From the Player's Handbook

• Barbarians exist, though are fairly limited in number, especially within civilized lands (such as the City-States Region). Some members of the Mercenary Guild that follow this class are gifted with such a wild fighting and are organized into shock units designed to crash into and disrupt enemy formations. The class is also fairly common among the more wild peoples, such as the orcs and ratlings in the Savage Lands.


• Bards are full members of the Mage tradition and follow the same guidelines regarding apprenticeship and career path. They are traditionally associated with maintaining histories of the lands and can often be found poring through ruins, taking notes on whatever they can find.


• Clerics function as normal, except that they do not select a deity (no deities are currently known to exist). Instead, clerics in the human cultures dedicate themselves to one of seven virtues; their personal dedication and strength of will are what power their spells rather than direct intervention by a deity. Non-human clerics act in a similar manner, though their belief structures may be different.

  A cleric's choice of which of the seven Virtues to devote themselves to determines their available domain in the same way as selecting a deity. The correlating Virtues and Domains are as follows (note that the domains are chosen for the character of the spells, not necessarily for the character of the example deities):
  

  Courage: War Domain

  Respect: Tempest Domain

  Integrity: Order Domain (from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)

  Wisdom: Knowledge Domain

  Loyalty: Peace Domain (from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)

  Benevolence: Life Domain

  Honor: Light Domain

  The Grave domain (from Xanatha's Guide to Everything) is used by clerics tasked with the hunting of rogue undead. See the Graveguard for more information.
  For players wishing to use other domains, check out the Mage Schools article to see where these land within the world.
  If you wish to play a Domain from another source, speak with your GM about fitting that within the world.



• Druids are considered to be Mages, following a path focusing on communal interactions with nature and the land. They are rarely seen within the City-States, simply because they tend to spend so much time away from population centers.


• Fighters are unchanged in role or philosophy: they live by their swords, whether soldiers, adventurers, or bodyguards. The Eldritch Knight subclass is treated as a minor school within the Mages and falls under their auspices.


• Monks are considered part of The Virtues hierarchy, but are of a far more contemplative bent than clerics or paladins. Monks generally cloister themselves away from the world at large, spending their time perfecting their minds and bodies to better contemplate and understand the nature of the power granted by adherence to the Virtues. They occasionally venture out into the world at large to further explore the application of the Virtues, either through observation or through testing their own abilities.


• Paladins function as normal, though like clerics they do not select a deity. Instead they are dedicated to a code of personal honor and are sworn to uphold all seven of the Virtues in their actions and associations. Paladins do not generally exist outside of the human-centered lands, though it is possible that certain elves have created a similar order of knights.

  At 3rd level, when choosing a Sacred Oath, choose one that fits with the character's experience at the time, or with an aspect of "being a paladin" that fits with your character concept. Discuss with your GM how that might mesh with upholding the Virtues. Devotion is the most common as the description within the PHB hews very closely to what is described in The Virtues and serves as a good default.



• Rangers exist largely as expected. They serve as scouts, explorers, and experts on the wilderness. Some human rangers learn small magical abilities through encounters with wilder races; rangers with such interests will often seek out a Mage for apprenticeship though this is not considered a formal school. Those who show particular talent for natural magic will be guided into the druidic school of magic. Rangers outside of the reach of the Mages will show no such limitation on their powers.


• Rogues: In any society, there exist those that move outside the rule of law. Rogues exist in Lasair with no modifications. Arcane Trickster rogues notably do not operate as part of the Mages - they have instead picked up a handful of spells through self-study - but cast those spells just as Mages do and so while they might be looked at with some scrutiny they won't be considered "wurmborn".


• Sorcerers are outlawed. Sorcerers are considered dangerous manifestations of power. Sorcerers will be killed on sight by any knowledgeable citizen of Lasair, and probably by everyone else, too. No sorcerers have been documented to have been born in the last decade, though some mysterious deaths have been tenuously associated with strange outbreaks of fires in cities or with odd weather patterns in villages (that stopped, in each case, shortly before an adolescent was found dead).

  Playing a sorcerer would, of course, be extremely difficult and is not recommended except for experienced role players.
  
  Those wishing to simply use the sorcerer abilities can discuss with their GM the possibility of reskinning the class as something else - for instance, Orc shamans sometimes can be best represented by the sorcerer class. That said, almost all human (and human-adjacent) spellcasters within human-controlled lands will fall under the umbrella of the Mages or Virtues. Outliers would be distrusted at best, confused-with-sorcerers-and-executed at worst.



• Warlocks: In human-controlled lands, those that spontaneously perform magic are greatly feared and often suspected of harboring draconic blood. Warlocks exist within Lasair, but the type of pact determines the nature of their existence:

  Archfey warlocks are considered to be Mages in full - learning the magic of spirits and the fey is a fully sanctioned magical school.

  Celestial warlocks (from Xanathar's Guide to Everything) fall under The Virtues hierarchy - they follow the same monastical bent as the Monk class, seeking enlightenment through contemplation, only instead of finding a pure physical form they achieve a more mystical approach.

  Hexblade warlocks (from Xanathar's Guide to Everything) are also considered to be proper Mages, focusing their study upon the magic of shadows and (literal) darkness.

  Fiend and Great Old One warlocks are not sanctioned by either Magic organization of the human lands on Lasair. They may exist, but they will be seen with distrust, outright hostility, or even marked for death as potential Wurmborn. Such warlocks hide their abilities, and will usually “fake” the motions of traditional arcane spells. A DC 20 Arcana skill check allows another character to detect something amiss with the Warlock's magic use.

  The same applies to Fathomless and Genie warlocks (from Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)



• Wizards: Arcane magic is strictly controlled in Lasair (see: Mages), and all wizards must spend time apprenticed to a master to be accepted by their society. Arcane magic users associate themselves with a specific school of magic, and take great pride in their schools. On the whole, it is very difficult to acquire the necessary knowledge to advance as a wizard without an apprenticeship (though an “apprentice” may often see their master no more frequently than once every six months as the master sends the student out on various tasks designed to challenge their abilities). Rogue wizards are generally hunted down and punished in some manner, though rarely are fully imprisoned or executed (except in particularly dire cases). The term "wizard" is generally unused in Lasair, as "Mage" is the official title for a sanctioned magic-user, whether wizard, druid, etc.

From Tasha's Cauldron of Everything

• Artificers: Artificers fall under the umbrella of the Mages and may be chosen as a player class without issue.
• Psi Warriors (Fighter subclass) and Soulblades (Rogue subclass) do not exist on Lasair.
• Rune Knights do not exist as a player class as of yet. This may be incorporated as part of the culture of the Dwarfs though it's more likely to be associated with another Sentient Species.
• Bladesingers (Wizard subclass) is a school of Magic within the Mages

From Xanathar's Guide to Everything

This does not include the Warlock additions, noted above.

• Arcane Archers (Fighter subclass): this subclass is considered to have just picked up a couple of whispered spells, often from a caster friend or teacher. Their limited magical ability is not considered sufficient to need to enter a Mage school, and the visible rudimentary nature of the magic is not considered to be Sorcery
• Samurai (Fighter subclass) may be used as an alternate, non-magical version of the Paladin. Such a character will still be part of the Order of The Virtues, they simply do not have spellcasting abilities.