4th edition D&D the spice is the life #2

Well a race has been chosen and dice have been rolled. I have almost everything I need, except a class. This is just a bit easier to narrow down then a race for my guy. It isn't due to lack of options, it is just I had narrowed the class choice down before I had an idea of who I wanted to be.

The amount of player classes is just amazing. There are the standard fighter, cleric, mage, and thief; and within each of these are two well defined choices of each class. I like that they give you two archetypes for each class and then there is my favorite, the third choice. This is where you see the two archetypes the book has given you, and then you scrap that to make your own build. This is probably what most people do. Still it is very polite of the designers to give the player a head start on a character class.

As I said the field was narrowed down to a few choices before I picked my race. They are...........

PSION

Psy powered classes were just too weird in 2nd edition and I stayed far away. This edition they are spelled out simply and are a "controller" class. This means I’ll be trying to control the battlefield movements of the enemy. This gives some great tactical advantages, but it comes at a price. The abilities of the Psion are not that destructive. They seem like a really cool point guard, lots of passing, calling the play and setting up the big shot for someone else. The chance to play this as a quasi-Jedi is very compelling. As is saying,” Vampire poosh!” (A great 30 Rock reference for you Philistines that don’t get that) or "Ewwwweee-oooo!" whenever use  telekinesis to move a monster.

ARTIFICER

This class can summon/create constructs, make tinctures, strange alchemical buffs and can throw out some defensive de-buffs as well. These seem like a steampunk-esq class for D&D. This is an Ebberon campaign class and is designated as a leader. They are not a damage sapping tank, but a party saver/enhancer. I like a lot of the abilities they grant the party and they have a great epic class, the Self-Forged! It must be the powerfist or Galaxy Ranger fan in me to want a character with a bionic punching arm. I just have to make it to level 11 and then I can choose to become a Self-Forged Artificer. It also appeals to me since I am a fan of Full Metal Alchemist. I really think of that show when it comes to this class for some strange reason.

WARLOCK

Yeah they are like a wizard and at the same time they are not. They sling spells and magic, however, their powers are based on a pact they have made with some otherworldly power. This ranged class can be a field controller, a damage dealer a self healer or a combination of these. They have to choose a pact, or what they get their powers from. These can be the cosmos, the fairy folk, demons or something darker. These guys have a few builds that intrigue me; the dark pact and infernal pact Warlock. Both of these are primary damage dealers, but the difference is how they do it. The Infernal has a bit of self healing and preservation built into their spells. The Dark has a bit of self/friendly damage to power their abilities. I like them both and would probably enjoy both.

When it all comes down to it though, I was told just make anything, except another thief. That really opens the door for me, but like I said in the first post, I had a class narrowed down before a race. It will mostly still be decided by the rolls as to what I run, but these are the fantasy careers I’m looking at.