Just like with races, I’m going to go through every class I have in PDF format and discuss how they fit in the world and where they may be present. Most of them will be fully unadjusted, so that makes game play easier, but I will probably add archetypes later and some prestige classes for those who choose to dedicate themselves to something.
Starting off with the Core Rulebook.
Barbarians exist in most of the remote or tribal areas of the world. The can be common in some organizations, usually as front line troops for groups like dwarves and halflings. Orc barbarians are also common, but hobgoblin barbarians are unheard of. While some are dedicated to chaos and losing themselves in battle, others have been trained to hone in on their rage and wield it as a tool to overcome their enemies. Not all barbarians are savages though, and many can still be found in more civilized areas, losing their control only when needed.
Bards travel the world and connect distant cities that once had frequent contact. While some are minstrels and entertainers, many more or brokers of knowledge and work almost as modern day reporters, bringing news of the wilds to the towns and villages. Elven bards are typically musicians, while dwarves take up the pursuit of knowledge to fill their pockets. More savage races have bards as well, usually performing duties improving morale and boosting the fighters.
Clerics are a varied lot. While there are a few remaining gods on Aerinwohl, there are not many. Mythkael leads the drow and some secret high elves. The Mad God of the halflings and gnomes has changed from a once protector of his chosen people into a seemingly random force of chaos. Nessyk works in full force as the raw power of nature and strength over all else. Rurik has come to lead the dwarves, though his human mother has created a divide amongst the dwarves after the apparent death of their old deity. The seas are ruled by Selaine who is worshipped by sailors, those living on the coast, and many of the submerged races. With the death of Illshanafiir, magic is now uncontrolled and the Godless elves have no one to guide them. The v’reen have no gods, having supposedly killed them in the distant past. Orcs have a single god as well, the Horde Father Gulgac. When the Devil War ended and much of Aerinwohl’s connection to the outer planes was severed, many deities were lost or became less powerful, leading to the rise in elemental worship. These clerics dedicate themselves to rebuilding the natural elements of the world and make pacts with elemental lords, though they rarely know their names.
Druids are a powerful force in the world and welcomed almost everywhere. While some choose to follow Nessyk and demand a return to a primitive lifestyle before the advent of agriculture, many now preach agricultural techniques and work to form a symbiotic relationship between civilization and nature. Xikhorn has a strong druid community, with many of its members also being psions as well, merging the two paths into one.
Fighters exist everywhere. They can be from any race, any alignment, and any background, from the lowly peasant who took up arms to the noble trained in military tradition and tactics. Fighters are welcomed for their strength of arms and work as soldiers, town guards, and even strong arms for the Thieves Guild.
The monk traditions are very common in Magachiro, especially among the humans and even halflings. Many other races have their own schools of monk training as well, even the orcs have developed their own style. There are also scattered through the world schools that teach wholeness of mind and body, leading to monk/psions who focus their very being into a living weapon.
Paladins can exist for most religions, but there are few actual orders of paladins. The Empyreal Flame of Jho’shikkur travels the world seeking to eradicate the evil races and monsters, to the point of zealousness. While possible for any race, most paladins are human.
Rangers fill a role as guides and trailblazers in the reclaiming the devastated countryside. Dwarven rangers are common and sell their services to the highest bidder, while elves mostly disdain the wilderness and choose to remain in their ivory towers. Human rangers are common as well and can be found living just on the borders of civilization, often times with druids. Feral halfling rangers can be found, but most tend toward hunter or druid classes.
Rogues are useful in any location, from diplomacy to trapfinding. The Thieves Guild is a world wide network, though each city is usually mostly autonomous. High elves often multiclass rogue with wizardry to boost their relic and magh hunting abilities. Ratfolk rogues are also very common, with their small size and near invisibility being a great boon.
Sorcerers are newcomers to Aerinwohl, having arrived after the death of Illshanafiir. While almost any race can be born a sorcerer, they are completely absent in the high elves. Sorcerers are most commonly linked to an elemental bloodline, which leads to their close cooperation with elemental clerics, often times blending the line between the two. Though casting arcane magic, sorcerers have no access to the outer planes, thus making them seem less a threat to the magehunters.
Wizards are found only in the high elven cities. Any non-elf learning wizardry is hunted down and killed, along with their books destroyed, and sometimes their families slaughtered with them as well. Wizardry is kept locked down by the Magehunters, who make it their lifelong oath to make sure nothing like the Devil War happens again. Any elf teaching a non-elf wizardry is dealt with as well, sometimes with a punishment worse than death.
Advanced Players Guide
Alchemists are found readily in the human areas, as their old tradition of magitech was lost and many moved over to alchemy. They can be found as herbalists and medics, or as those supporting the armies with their mutagens. V’reen have developed their own subschool of alchemy that allows them the tools to build biohacks and modify living creatures.
Cavaliers are rare since there are very few large standing armies or great battles. The time now is about survival and exploration into the remains of the old world, and much of the territory is unclaimed. When battles do arise, cavaliers can be found riding into battle with fighters and sometimes barbarians. Cavaliers can also be found in the service of Jho’shikkur, assisting their paladin brethren.
Inquisitors are found normally in cities, often times working for the government. High elves make frequent use of inquisitors in the Maghunter regimes, and often times one is assigned with each group sent out. The monstrous races have little use for inquisitors though.
Summoners need some work. If I can change them to summoning a creature from the elemental planes, then maybe they can fit. But their connection to the outer places does not work in Aerinwohl, so they may be scrapped altogether.
Oracles are frequently found in remote areas where they have been touched by deific power, without knowing the source. They can be clan advisors, though rarely leaders, or prophets and seers.
Witches are extremely common in the hobgoblin nation to the north. In other areas, they are usually reclusive and feared, for the source of their power is not truly known or understood. Humans and halflings can sometimes be witches, but dwarves and elves are rare.
Advanced Class Guide
Arcanists do not exist. High elves cannot become sorcerers, and all other races are killed for wizardry, so arcanists would be killed within days of being exposed.
Bloodragers came into being when sorcery started showing itself. A warrior who can enhance his rage with magic energies is to be feared. Orcs and half-orcs are often bloodragers. There have been a few feral halfling bloodragers as well, utilizing the tiny ferocity inherent in their race.
Brawlers can be found anywhere and in any race. They have the unarmed attacks of monks without the long training. Brawlers are most often found in cities, fighting in back alleys over bets and deals. Brawlers are frequently employed by the Thieves Guild.
Hunters work as bounty hunters both in and outside of cities. High elven Magehunters often start their lives as a combination of hunter and wizard, making the death of wizards their one goal. Hunters can be any race, but humans and dwarves are most common.
Investigators are a new field still being developed. High elves have started branching into this realm for magehunting, but a few other races have learned the skills as well. Very few investigators exist at this time though.
Shamans need some looking into. While they could be useful, I like the idea of elemental clerics better than shamans as presented in these rules. They may exist, they may be heavily modified, I’m not sure yet.
Skalds are found anywhere barbarians are found, usually among the orcs and feral halflings. Order and law has set its foot on most of the other races, making a chaotic performer more difficult to incorporate.
Like hunters, slayers also work as bounty hunters, though usually in a city and often in the employ of the Thieves Guild. They can also work as political assassins for a noble house, seeking to take out rivals from other houses. Drow have many slayers in their number, sending them out in silent night raids to eliminate leaders and soldiers before sending in a ground force.
Swashbucklers live on the seas, and as such, any race that sails can be a swashbuckler. Because of their innate fear of water, dwarves are never swashbucklers. Many halfling and human swashbucklers exist in the Magachiran Navy. There have been a few airships that also employed swashbucklers, but with the decay of magitech and thus the few remaining airships, these are becoming less common every day.
Warpriests exemplify the strength of their god in battle. Many elemental clerics become warpriests, forcing the will of their patron and the expansion of their element onto others. Followers of Jho’shikkur also have warpriests that fight with the cavaliers and paladins in their sweeping campaign. Warpriests of the Mad God do exist as well and are often terrifying engines of chaos.
Occult Adventures
None of these classes exist. Not at all. Instead, Aerinwohl uses the psionic rules from Dreamscarred Press’ Ultimate Psionics.
Pathfinder Unchained
I’ll probably just use the rules from Unchained to replace the classes of Barbarian, Monk, and Rogue. As Summoners are a problem, they don’t matter. Still researching though.
Ultimate Combat
Gunslingers exist, but gunpowder is a very new rediscovery. It was known of before the Devil War, but with the ensuing destruction, the knowledge was lost. It is now being reworked and rediscovered, so that gunslingers may exist, but are extremely rare.
Ninjas exist and are trained almost exclusively in Magachiro. Halfling ninjas are sneaky, stealthy, and deadly.
Samurai also exist in Magachiro.
Ultimate Intrigue
The Vigilante class exists in cities, but is so rare, most people have never heard of one or would even know if they encountered one. Vigilantes are almost exclusively human.
Ultimate Magic
Magus I need to work on as well. Magus are a blend of Fighter and Wizard, and obviously Wizards don’t work here. I’m trying to figure out a way to turn a Magus into a blend of Fighter and Sorcerer, keeping them mechanically the same but saying they learn new secrets and techniques from ancient texts and thus learn how to unlock new powers without having a physical spell book. This keeps them safe from the Magehunters without ruining the class.
Ultimate Psionics
There are a lot of new classes added in Ultimate Psionics. Some of them good, some of them not so much. Some I just don’t understand why they need to be a class at all. Because of that, Aerinwohl will be limited to Psion, Psychic Warrior, Soulknife, and Wilder, just as were available in 3.5.
Psions have been around for ages, but most recently developed schools of training and classification of the ways to control psionics. Psions are mostly trusted by the worlds populace, though some fear they may use their abilities for illegal activities like reading minds. Some psionics are outlawed in cities, though psions can be found as investigators in law enforcement and even psion/inquisitors.
Psychic Warriors are also usually taught to hone their body and mind in schools. The remote battle schools can sometimes also have training for monks and psions and monk/psychic warriors are not uncommon.
Soulknives are a rare breed, but not unheard of. Xeph and dusk elves make excellent soulknives, with dusk elves often multiclassing into druids as well. Rogue/soulknives or ninja/soulknives are frequently used assassins since they literally summon their weapon out of nowhere.
Wilders are found most often in the savage races with orcs and feral halflings being frequent users. To most of teh world, they are no different than psions and generally accepted.
