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[Meph]

I recently had a look at Darkest Dungeon, a procedually generated dungeon-crawler thingy. It has 15 pretty well-thought out character classes, I thought it might be interesting to make the equivalent for DF adv-mode.

http://darkestdungeon.gamepedia.com/Heroes

Classes are those:

4.1 Abomination => transforms into monster, acid damage
4.2 Antiquarian => more loot, more xp
4.3 Arbalest => ranged crossbow, distraction
4.4 Bounty Hunter => bleeding damage and special damage against marked targets
4.5 Crusader => holy paladin type, healing
4.6 Grave Robber => poisons, darts, throwing knives
4.7 Hellion => heavy barbarian type
4.8 Highwayman => robber/thief type, invisibility, sneaking, crits
4.9 Hound Master => spawns animal companion, bleeding damage, tracking
4.10 Jester => aoe bard with sickle/bleeding damage
4.11 Leper => melee guy with heavy armor and big sword
4.12 Man-at-Arms => melee guy with medium armor and mace
4.13 Occultist => summons demons, spells
4.14 Plague Doctor => acids, poisons, healing
4.15 Vestal => damage undead, healing, good blunt weapons

Is there any interest for this? Does anyone want to help?

[IndigoFenix]

While they could be good for inspiration, copying character classes into DF doesn't really work so well because of its flexible nature.  Anyone can use any weapon and take on any role, and anyone can learn any spells existing in the world.  Why ruin that by shoehorning cut and dry character classes into the game?

What would be more interesting is to create new races with special abilities, personalities, or extreme stats that encourage particular play styles.  But these should be made with DF's behavior in mind.

[Meph]

Why ruin that by shoehorning cut and dry character classes into the game?

Because people love crossovers?

[IndigoFenix]

Why ruin that by shoehorning cut and dry character classes into the game?

Because people love crossovers?

Hey, I've got nothing against crossovers, but this isn't putting DD elements into DF's world, this is putting rather generic classes into a game with a basic system that is superior to the class system.  It would be like modding creatures with HP into DF; not impossible, but why would you do it?

Moreover, many of these classes are defined by their weapon and armor types.  When anyone in DF can pick up any weapon, how would this even work?  You can already modify starting skillsets, so giving them natural skills would be redundant.

Also, whatever you play as in Adventure will show up living in the world and taking regular jobs.  This could be a bit immersion breaking...

I think it would be more interesting to make a set of races with natural abilities resembling these classes.  DF's races are pretty boring, being distinguished mainly by size.  This includes the hundred or so animal people, who are a little more different but not much.  How about a race with a natural projectile weapon?  Or one that can deal a lot of damage but is fragile?  Or one that is a natural vampire or shapeshifter?  These would be interesting to play as, and would fit into DF better than job-based castes, I think.

[Meph]

When anyone in DF can pick up any weapon, how would this even work?

Natural skill, skill learn rates, and maybe spawning starting equipment, which might even use item-trigger to give the wielder special interactions.

But I do get your point.

I've never played Adv-Mode, I just remembered that Deon made an "Thief/Mage/Fighter/Archer" mod some time for it, and thought that if classic RPG classes would be interesting, these ones would be too.

[Deon]

I can share my experience. I did try with classes in Adventure mode for a while, but it looked very... far-fetched/strained, to the point that I decided that it is just taking the options away from a person.

I did end up just giving some classes extra interactions, that's all.
I just don't feel like DD type classes are feasible in DF, because of such different nature of two games. In DD the class is a tool you use to build a team. The limitations are there for a reason: to combine different playstiles into a custom team playstyle.

In DF you control only one character, so you immediately lose the reason why classes in DD exist.


Also IndigoFenix is right. In DD the classes had specific equipment which set the theme. It would be weird to see a "paladin" in tattered rags fighting with a bow in DF.

[IndigoFenix]

I did have an idea for wild fey that ambush adventurers in small parties of randomly-selected class-like castes.  Maybe some of these could be used as inspiration.

[kiwiphoenix]

One of the earliest modifications I made to DF, was to make all the subterranean animal people playable as outsiders.
Like IndigoFenix brought up, even these Vanilla creatures function remarkably like the class systems of other games:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

- Amphibian Men can make use of water features to ambush or flee, but their tiny size means makes them weak, fragile, and easily burdened.
- Reptile Men are also amphibious, and nearly as large as dwarves, but their tails are impossible to armour and present a permanent vulnerability.
- Serpent Men too are large and amphibious, with a deadly venomous bite - but being legless, they are hard to armour up and are easy to cripple.
- Ant Women come in a variety of shapes and sizes, all of which sport an extra set of arms for multi-wielding goodness.
- Cave Fish Men are medium-sized, obvious natural swimmers, and offer a rare chance to experiment with the novelty that is extravision.
- Cave Swallow Men can take to the sky, granting immense freedom, but woe betide if your unarmoured wing gets shot while you're three Z-levels up.
- Bat Men too can fly, but their wings are one with their arms - they can be armoured to a degree, but a broken arm will put a stop to both fight and flight.
- Rodent men have all the weaknesses and no special strengths. Essentially adventure on hard(er) mode.

- All animal people are smaller than the main races.
You're forced to travel light, scavenge or make your own equipment (your hands will never be protected due to the glove bug), and make full use of cunning and natural abilities to survive any scrap with the big people.

Easily the best fun I've ever had in DF was romping around the world as an improbably-successful bat-man adventurer.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Started off as a small naked rodent, lost and alone in a strange land. Spent the first days making a basic set of clothing and travel gear out of the local wildlife, spent the nights skirmishing with mercifully-groundbound bogeymen. Ducked into a hole in the woods one day to finally sleep in peace, got assaulted by a madman, and was forced to end him with my prized copper dagger in a vicious tooth-and-nail struggle.
Fast forward a bit, and our chiropteran friend is a local legend, a brutally-scarred emu-sized avenger, wielding a stolen steel spear; clad in assorted leathers, bones, refitted maille, and a giant-cheetah-skull helm; and sporting a long string of amulets made from the teeth and claws of mighty beasts.
When I left him, he was leading a small party of dedicated companions (who saved his life on multiple occasions), and operating out of a roost built (via AdvFort) with his own two hands over the lair where he made his first sapient kill. By day, he helps eradicate dangerous gangs and supernatural monstrosities with spear and sling; at night, he feasts on the most delectable fruits and berries fistfuls of blood-money can buy.
I like to think he's content, and that one day, he's going to find his way back to the old colony and let them know what had become of their bravest son.

It was one hell of a ride. Still have the save, but haven't touched it since DF2014 came out. Call me sentimental, but seeing this little guy finally meet the fate that awaits all adventurers would just be tragic - better to end the story there, at the peak of his success.

Infinitely more engaging and memorable than the elven skirmisher type I'd have defaulted to in any other RPG.