For my next campaign, I'm thinking I want to run a race-as-class game, but I like the approach to that where there are classes specific to each demi-human race. (So you can play an "elf", but you can also play an "elven glade ranger" or whatever), and I'm looking for OSR games with this approach.
I know BECMI had a few such options via the Gazetteers, and I believe ACKS has a few. Fantastic Heroes and Witchery has quite a few (that's where I got the "racial classes" term), but I think it might spoil things --for my purposes-- by also giving Demi humans access to all the regular human classes as well.
Any other games that do this?
OSE Old School Essentials.
Adventurer Conqueror King System
I've ran D&D B/X with d12 subclasses, found here:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/119143/Dysons-Dodecahedron--Vol-1-Issue-7
The product is Pay What You Want, and the subclasses work really well in play.
Palladium has a lot of racial classes, but they're typically in the source books.
Also, I say, "a lot" because Palladium has hundreds of classes. Only a few are racial based, but they do exist.
For example, Rifts. It has both the Coalition "Dog Boy" mutant animal, and dragon hatchlings.
Dungeon Crawl Classics
I was checking out Crusader X's link and noticed this
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/148348/class-compendium
I have it, but I don't remember buying it or reading it, so I don't know how good it is. However, 50 classes and it mentions half ogre (which is one of the ole Dragon Mag races I have always loved), so it might be something that you are looking for.
Quote from: Lurker on May 26, 2024, 10:35:12 PMI was checking out Crusader X's link and noticed this
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/148348/class-compendium
I have it, but I don't remember buying it or reading it, so I don't know how good it is. However, 50 classes and it mentions half ogre (which is one of the ole Dragon Mag races I have always loved), so it might be something that you are looking for.
It's okay...I definitely prefer this guy's stuff:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/4528/new-big-dragon-games-unlimited
He is allegedly working on a compendium with lots of racial classes, but still hasn't materialized after several years. So maybe that doesn't help at all, but if you look at his blog, there are a ton of racial class PDFs posted.
Quote from: Armchair Gamer on May 26, 2024, 07:00:49 PMAdventurer Conqueror King System
Quote from: ForgottenF on May 26, 2024, 05:47:19 PM... and I believe ACKS has a few.
ACKS core has two each for dwarves and elves, but the Player's Companion adds more still for each of those plus gnomes, plus contains the class builder if there's still something else you want.
I've run ACKS to good effect and recommend it, but it's also underutilized as a resource for other games in the B/X family. The class builder and spell builder were reverse engineered from B/X, and are fully compatible by simply ignoring a couple of ACKSisms. (Or, adopting them - B/X fighters could benefit from cleave + bonus damage if you're not adding in weapon specialization or similar from elsewhere.)
Labyrinth Lord
Using the later Advanced Labyrinth Lord book gives you an interesting comparison/contrast of race as class and races with classes.
I wasn't aware of any besides ACKS before this thread. What I like about the ACKS approach is that there are a decent number of them, and it's pretty clear how you can slot in some more. Plus the stuff that adds extra of those options also adds a ton of human options.
I think I really like it because it takes the B/X (and OD&D) idea of "humans specialize and are diverse, demihumans are much more true to their blood" idea and expands it with a lot of human classes and a good number of demihuman classes, each tied to their race.
I think that approach was just better in general, and if it had been thought of back then, I bet later editions would have been much improved. For instance, 3.X's monster advancement could have allowed for playable-as-PC monsters, a historically desired things by some tables that is generally shut out by the idea of "apply adventurer classes to the base stat block" which 3.0 started to mildly disastrous effect.
Thanks for the recommendations, everyone.
A few more specific questions/responses.
Quote from: GeekyBugle on May 26, 2024, 06:22:05 PMOSE Old School Essentials.
I don't really understand how OSE's product line is organized, but I thought Basic Fantasy was just the standard Elf, Dwarf and Halfling options, and Advanced was race and class as separate. Which version would I be looking for?
Quote from: DocJones on May 26, 2024, 09:55:52 PMDungeon Crawl Classics
Again, thought they just had the base three. Is there a particular supplement that adds more racial classes?
Quote from: Lurker on May 26, 2024, 10:35:12 PMI was checking out Crusader X's link and noticed this
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/148348/class-compendium
I have it, but I don't remember buying it or reading it, so I don't know how good it is. However, 50 classes and it mentions half ogre (which is one of the ole Dragon Mag races I have always loved), so it might be something that you are looking for.
Had a look at it, and yeah, that's exactly the kind of thing I was asking about. Labyrinth Lord is a game I've never really given any attention to, but it looks like that and ACKS are the top contenders at the moment.
Quote from: ForgottenF on May 27, 2024, 05:15:13 PMThanks for the recommendations, everyone.
A few more specific questions/responses.
Quote from: GeekyBugle on May 26, 2024, 06:22:05 PMOSE Old School Essentials.
I don't really understand how OSE's product line is organized, but I thought Basic Fantasy was just the standard Elf, Dwarf and Halfling options, and Advanced was race and class as separate. Which version would I be looking for?
Basic Fantasy is it's own thing, not part of the OSE line.
Quote from: GeekyBugle on May 27, 2024, 05:21:03 PMQuote from: ForgottenF on May 27, 2024, 05:15:13 PMThanks for the recommendations, everyone.
A few more specific questions/responses.
Quote from: GeekyBugle on May 26, 2024, 06:22:05 PMOSE Old School Essentials.
I don't really understand how OSE's product line is organized, but I thought Basic Fantasy was just the standard Elf, Dwarf and Halfling options, and Advanced was race and class as separate. Which version would I be looking for?
Basic Fantasy is it's own thing, not part of the OSE line.
Sorry, that should have been "Classic Fantasy".
Quote from: ForgottenF on May 27, 2024, 08:57:06 PMQuote from: GeekyBugle on May 27, 2024, 05:21:03 PMQuote from: ForgottenF on May 27, 2024, 05:15:13 PMThanks for the recommendations, everyone.
A few more specific questions/responses.
Quote from: GeekyBugle on May 26, 2024, 06:22:05 PMOSE Old School Essentials.
I don't really understand how OSE's product line is organized, but I thought Basic Fantasy was just the standard Elf, Dwarf and Halfling options, and Advanced was race and class as separate. Which version would I be looking for?
Basic Fantasy is it's own thing, not part of the OSE line.
Sorry, that should have been "Classic Fantasy".
IIRC the difference between classic and advanced is the same as between B/X and AD&D
They used to have the free no art books on dttrpg, if they no longer do then google the B/X Essentials ones since that was the original name and were 100% OGL.
OSE Advanced adds racial classes for Half-elves, Half-orcs, Gnomes, Drow, and Duergar. Some of the Carcass Crawler zines add additional racial classes.
James Spahn and others have done class builder books for Labyrinth Lord that add lots of racial classes. I had a bunch of these at one point and we were over 60 classes for our B/X game and decided that was just too many so I traded or sold most of those supplements. Humanoid classes are in GAZ 10--Orcs of Thar. The Creature Crucibles from the B/X line have more.
The new version of Labyrinth Lord includes brownies and cyclops.
Is "Scots Man" a racial class?
Quote from: RPGPundit on May 28, 2024, 08:46:42 PMIs "Scots Man" a racial class?
Nah, it's a hybrid class. Everybody knows there's no true Scots Man...
Quote from: Eirikrautha on May 29, 2024, 06:56:50 AMQuote from: RPGPundit on May 28, 2024, 08:46:42 PMIs "Scots Man" a racial class?
Nah, it's a hybrid class. Everybody knows there's no true Scots Man...
That gave me a good laugh. Well played