Introduction to AD&D Hubworld Edition

The first principle in designing this edition was to preserve all the classes and terminology of 1st Edition in their original form, tweaking only as necessary to fit the campaign world. The second was that the introduction of any new major types would be from among 1st Ed. NPCs (sage, alchemist, shaman, pirate, wokou, dervish, merchant). All other new classes are alignment, environmental, cultural, racial, or niche variations on these 1st Ed. sources.   Power balances have been maintained by adding a limitation or vulnerability to a class for every perk or unique power. It shouldn’t be easy to pick a class and some of the editions after 1st laid so many perks on some classes that others seem pointless—why wouldn’t everyone be a Ranger or a Bard if they can do whatever a Fighter or Thief can and more? To avoid easy decisions, such factors as spell use, advancement rate, hit points, special abilities, adaptability, limitations, obligations, and damage potential have all informed the creation of new classes and tweaks to the originals. In the process, a number of classes have been created and deleted, built to fit a niche, and deemed redundant. What remains could be more streamlined, but answers to the needs of the campaign setting. Because players will be given the option of hailing from any part of the world (they just need to either work out a story with the DM about how the different characters came together or take the Solo Start option), and because Hubworld is culturally and environmentally diverse, the Eurocentric original set and the Oriental Adventures supplement are inadequate to capture the full range of possibilities.   These original classes are mostly unaltered and serve as the templates of others:   Cleric, Druid, Shukenja, Sohei; Cavalier, Samurai, Paladin; Fighter, Ranger, Bushi, Kensai, Barbarian/Oriental Barbarian; Magic-User, Illusionist, Wu Jen; Thief, Assassin, Ninja, Yakuza; Monk (PHB)/Monk (OA Bard.   The Cleric has been separated into the Votary (priest of one deity) and Reverend (minister for a pantheon or set of gods), the two versions of Monk have been collapsed and the Barbarians and Druids have been divided by environment type. Other core classes remain virtually unchanged.   These NPC types have been made into character classes:   Shaman/Witch Doctor, Wako (Wokou), Sage, Alchemist, Pirate, Merchant, Dervish.   Further classes are niche or cultural variations of the above.   Classes are now grouped by a slightly different taxonomy. There are four orders of classes, corresponding to the four combat tables in 1st Ed. Each order has its own special ability. Further divisions into categories and groups are for the purpose of generalising classes that share progression tables and certain abilities. The four orders are as follows:   Warriors are career combatants, rolling on the Fighters combat table.   Agilists use stealth or persuasion to achieve their ends and roll on the Thieves table.   Divines serve the gods, cultivate their inner strength, and guide their communities. They roll on the Clerics table.   Philosophers hold that knowledge is power and pursue it with various ends in mind, depending on class and alignment. They roll on the Magic-Users table.   Each Order divides into two or three categories:   Warriors fall into three categories:   Knights, elite warriors who serve a cause, community, or master;   Freelancers, who fight where and when they see fit;   Freelanders, whose abilities derive from their intimate knowledge of a particular natural environment.   There are two categories of Agilists:   Talkers, who put their charisma to either profitable or heroic uses;   Stalkers, who use stealth to rob, kill, or gather information.   Divines come in three categories:   Theists, who serve particular gods or pantheons;   Animists, who devote themselves to nature and its spirits, viewing the gods as extensions of these;   Physicalists, whose religious devotion takes the form of disciplined self-development.   Philosophers fall into two categories:   Mages, who conduct their researches primarily for the sake of mastering mystical energies;   Sages, who are committed to the discovery and preservation of knowledge for its own sake or for the benefit of others.   There are additionally apprenticeships and nonspecialist classes.   Certain classes require an apprenticeship (Martialist, Naturalist, Stealthist, Purist, or Scholar) prior to entry, and one may be undertaken optionally by other players for the early benefits it confers (bonus HP, Proficiencies, stat boosts).   Nonspecialists are simply ordinary people, Nobles, Commoners, and Freefolk, who haven’t begun to specialise in any sort of adventuring class. It is also possible to play as a “Monster”—an unconventionally played intelligent creature from the monster manuals.