Classes
Adventurers are extraordinary people, driven by a thirst for excitement into a life that others would never dare lead. They are heroes, compelled to explore the world's dark places and take on the challenges that lesser folk can't stand against.
Class is the primary definition of what your character can do. It's more than a profession; it's your character's calling. Class shapes the way you think about the world and interact with it and your relationship with other people and powers in the multiverse. A fighter, for example, might view the world in pragmatic terms of strategy and maneuvering, and see herself as just a pawn in a much larger game. A cleric, by contrast, might see himself as a willing servant in a god's unfolding plan or a conflict brewing among various deities. While the fighter has contacts in a mercenary company or army, the cleric might know priests, paladins, and devotees who share his faith.
Your class gives you a variety of special features, such as a fighter's mastery of weapons and armor, and a wizard's spells. Your class gives you only two or three features at low levels, but as you advance in level, you gain more and your existing features often improve.
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Notes
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In order to create a character, you need to make a reservation. Please see the character creation page.
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In BNB, subclasses are not restricted by race (you do not need to be an elf to be a bladesinging wizard, you do not need to be a dwarf to be a battlerager barbarian).
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Some classes are modified to fit with the structure of BNB. You don't need to worry about this until after being accepted.
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Subclasses marked UA are subject to modification by the mods at any time, as they are not official content. You may never have more than 1 UA per OC.
Artificer
In the world of BNB, arcane magic has been harnessed as a form of science and deployed throughout society. Artificers reflect this development. Their knowledge of magical devices, and their ability to infuse mundane items with magic, allows Lumivaara's most miraculous projects to continue.
During the Last Great War, artificers were marshaled on a massive scale. Many lives were saved because of the inventions of brave artificers, but countless lives were also lost because of the mass destruction unleashed by their creations.
Masters of unlocking magic in everyday objects, artificers are supreme inventors. They see magic as a complex system waiting to be decoded and controlled. Artificers use tools to channel arcane power, crafting magical objects. To cast a spell, an artificer could use alchemist's supplies to create a potent elixir, calligrapher's supplies to inscribe a sigil of power on an ally's armor, or tinker's tools to craft a temporary charm. The magic of artificers is tied to their tools and their talents.
Permitted subclasses
Alchemist | Armorer | Artillerist | Battle Smith |
Barbarian
Barbarians are defined by their rage: unbridled, unquenchable, and unthinking fury. More than a mere emotion, their anger is the ferocity of a cornered predator, the unrelenting assault of a storm, the churning turmoil of the sea.
For some, their rage springs from communing with fierce animal spirits. Others draw from a roiling reservoir of anger at a world full of pain. For every barbarian, rage is a power that fuels not just a battle frenzy but also uncanny reflexes, resilience, and feats of strength.
Their courage in the face of danger makes barbarians perfectly suited for adventuring. Wandering is often a way of life for these people, and the rootless life of the adventurer is little hardship for a barbarian.
Permitted subclasses
Ancestral Guardian | Battle Rager | Beast | Berserker | ||||
Giant | Juggernaut | Wild Magic | Zealot | ||||
Storm Herald | Totem Warrior |
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Bard
In the worlds of D&D, words and music are not just vibrations of air, but vocalizations with power all their own. The bard is a master of song, speech, and the magic they contain. Bards say that the multiverse was spoken into existence, that the words of the gods gave it shape, and that echoes of these primordial Words of Creation still resound throughout the cosmos. The music of bards is an attempt to snatch and harness those echoes, subtly woven into their spells and powers.
The greatest strength of bards is their sheer versatility. Many bards prefer to stick to the sidelines in combat, using their magic to inspire their allies and hinder their foes from a distance. But bards are capable of defending themselves in melee if necessary, using their magic to bolster their swords and armor. Their spells lean toward charms and illusions rather than blatantly destructive spells. They have a wide-ranging knowledge of many subjects and a natural aptitude that lets them do almost anything well. Bards become masters of the talents they set their minds to perfecting, from musical performance to esoteric knowledge.
Permitted subclasses
Eloquence | Glamour | Lore | Satire (UA) | ||||
Spirits | Swords | Valour | Whispers |
Cleric
Divine magic, as the name suggests, is the power of the gods, flowing from them into the world. Clerics are conduits for that power, manifesting it as miraculous effects. The gods don't grant this power to everyone who seeks it, but only to those chosen to fulfill a high calling.
Harnessing divine magic doesn't rely on study or training. A cleric might learn formulaic prayers and ancient rites, but the ability to cast cleric spells relies on devotion and an intuitive sense of a deity's wishes.
Clerics combine the helpful magic of healing and inspiring their allies with spells that harm and hinder foes. They can provoke awe and dread, lay curses of plague or poison, and even call down flames from heaven to consume their enemies. For those evildoers who will benefit most from a mace to the head, clerics depend on their combat training to let them wade into melee with the power of the gods on their side.
Permitted subclasses
Ambition | Arcana | Death | Forge | ||||
Grave | Knowledge | Life | Light | ||||
Nature | Order | Peace | Protection (UA) | ||||
Solidarity | Strength | Tempest | Trickery | ||||
Twilight | War | Zeal | Blood |
Druid
Druids revere nature above all, gaining their spells and other magical powers either from the force of nature itself or from a nature deity. Many druids pursue a mystic spirituality of transcendent union with nature rather than devotion to a divine entity, while others serve gods of wild nature, animals, or elemental forces. The ancient druidic traditions are sometimes called the Old Faith, in contrast to the worship of gods in temples and shrines.
Druid spells are oriented toward nature and animals—the power of tooth and claw, of sun and moon, of fire and storm. Druids also gain the ability to take on animal forms, and some druids make a particular study of this practice, even to the point where they prefer animal form to their natural form.
Permitted subclasses
Blighted | |||||||
Dreams | Land | Moon | Shepherd | ||||
Spores | Stars | Twilight | Wildfire |
Fighter
Fighters are perhaps the most diverse class of characters in the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons. Questing knights, conquering overlords, royal champions, elite foot soldiers, hardened mercenaries, and bandit kings—as fighters, they all share an unparalleled mastery with weapons and armor, and a thorough knowledge of the skills of combat. And they are well acquainted with death, both meting it out and staring it defiantly in the face.
Fighters learn the basics of all combat styles. Every fighter can swing an axe, fence with a rapier, wield a longsword or a greatsword, use a bow, and so on. Likewise, a fighter is adept with shields and all types of armor. Beyond that basic degree of familiarity, each fighter specializes in a certain style of combat. Some concentrate on archery, some on fighting with two weapons at once, and some on augmenting their martial skills with magic. This combination of broad general ability and extensive specialization makes fighters superior combatants on battlefields and in dungeons alike.
Permitted subclasses
Arcane Archer | Battle Master | Banneret | Brute (UA) | ||||
Cavalier | Champion | Echo Knight | Eldritch Knight | ||||
Monster Hunter (UA) | Psi Warrior | Rune Knight | Samurai | ||||
Scout (UA) | Sharpshooter (UA) |
Monk
Monks make careful study of a magical energy that most monastic traditions call ki. This energy is an element of the magic that suffuses the multiverse—specifically, the element that flows through living bodies. Monks harness this power within themselves to create magical effects and exceed their bodies' physical capabilities, and some of their special attacks can hinder the flow of ki in their opponents. Using this energy, monks channel uncanny speed and strength into their unarmed strikes. As they gain experience, their martial training and their mastery of ki gives them more power over their bodies and the bodies of their foes.
For a monk, becoming an adventurer means leaving a structured, communal lifestyle to become a wanderer. This can be a harsh transition, and monks don't undertake it lightly. Those who leave their cloisters take their work seriously, approaching their adventures as personal tests of their physical and spiritual growth. As a rule, monks care little for material wealth and are driven by a desire to accomplish a greater mission than merely slaying monsters and plundering their treasure.
Permitted subclasses
Ascendant Dragon | Astral Self | Drunken Master | Four Elements | ||||
Kensei | Long Death | Mercy | Open Hand | ||||
Shadow | Sun Soul | Tranquility (UA) | Cobalt Soul |
Paladin
A paladin swears to uphold justice and righteousness, to stand with the good things of the world against the encroaching darkness, and to hunt the forces of evil wherever they lurk. Different paladins focus on various aspects of the cause of righteousness, but all are bound by the oaths that grant them power to do their sacred work. Although many paladins are devoted to gods of good, a paladin's power comes as much from a commitment to justice itself as it does from a god.
Paladins train for years to learn the skills of combat, mastering a variety of weapons and armor. Even so, their martial skills are secondary to the magical power they wield: power to heal the sick and injured, to smite the wicked and the undead, and to protect the innocent and those who join them in the fight for justice.
Permitted subclasses
Ancients | Conquest | Crown | Devotion | ||||
Glory | Oathbreaker | Redemption | Treachery (UA) | ||||
Vengeance | Watchers | Open Sea |
Ranger
Warriors of the wilderness, rangers specialize in hunting the monsters that threaten the edges of civilization—humanoid raiders, rampaging beasts and monstrosities, terrible giants, and deadly dragons. They learn to track their quarry as a predator does, moving stealthily through the wilds and hiding themselves in brush and rubble. Rangers focus their combat training on techniques that are particularly useful against their specific favored foes.
Thanks to their familiarity with the wilds, rangers acquire the ability to cast spells that harness nature's power, much as a druid does. Their spells, like their combat abilities, emphasize speed, stealth, and the hunt. A ranger's talents and abilities are honed with deadly focus on the grim task of protecting the borderlands.
Though a ranger might make a living as a hunter, a guide, or a tracker, a ranger's true calling is to defend the outskirts of civilization from the ravages of monsters and humanoid hordes that press in from the wild. In some places, rangers gather in secretive orders or join forces with druidic circles. Many rangers, though, are independent almost to a fault, knowing that, when a dragon or a band of orcs attacks, a ranger might be the first—and possibly the last—line of defense.
Permitted subclasses
Beast Master | Drakewarden | Fey Wanderer | Gloom Stalker | ||||
Horizon Walker | Hunter | Monster Slayer | Primeval Guardian (UA) | ||||
Swarmkeeper |
Rogue
Every town and city has its share of rogues. Most of them live up to the worst stereotypes of the class, making a living as burglars, assassins, cutpurses, and con artists. Often, these scoundrels are organized into thieves' guilds or crime families. Plenty of rogues operate independently, but even they sometimes recruit apprentices to help them in their scams and heists.
A few rogues make an honest living as locksmiths, investigators, or exterminators, which can be a dangerous job in a world where dire rats—and wererats—haunt the sewers.
As adventurers, rogues fall on both sides of the law. Some are hardened criminals who decide to seek their fortune in treasure hoards, while others take up a life of adventure to escape from the law. Some have learned and perfected their skills with the explicit purpose of infiltrating ancient ruins and hidden crypts in search of treasure.
When it comes to combat, rogues prioritize cunning over brute strength. A rogue would rather make one precise strike, placing it exactly where the attack will hurt the target most, than wear an opponent down with a barrage of attacks. Rogues have an almost supernatural knack for avoiding danger, and a few learn magical tricks to supplement their other abilities.
Permitted subclasses
Arcane Trickster | Assassin | Inquisitive | Mastermind | ||||
Phantom | Scout | Soul Knife | Swashbuckler | ||||
Thief |
Sorcerer
Sorcerers are rare in the world, and it's unusual to find a sorcerer who is not involved in the adventuring life in some way. People with magical power seething in their veins soon discover that the power doesn't like to stay quiet. A sorcerer's magic wants to be wielded, and it has a tendency to spill out in unpredictable ways if it isn't called on.
Sorcerers often have obscure or quixotic motivations driving them to adventure. Some seek a greater understanding of the magical force that infuses them, or the answer to the mystery of its origin. Others hope to find a way to get rid of it, or to unleash its full potential. Whatever their goals, sorcerers are every bit as useful to an adventuring party as wizards, making up for a comparative lack of breadth in their magical knowledge with enormous flexibility in using the spells they know.
Sorcerers have no use for the spellbooks and ancient tomes of magic lore that wizards rely on, nor do they rely on a patron to grant their spells as warlocks do. By learning to harness and channel their own inborn magic, they can discover new and staggering ways to unleash that power.
Permitted subclasses
Clockwork Soul | Divine Soul | Draconic | Giant Soul (UA) | ||||
Phoenix (UA) | Aberrant Mind | Pyromancer | Sea (UA) | ||||
Shadow | Stone | Storm | Wild Magic |
Warlock
Warlocks are driven by an insatiable need for knowledge and power, which compels them into their pacts and shapes their lives. This thirst drives warlocks into their pacts and shapes their later careers as well.
Stories of warlocks binding themselves to fiends are widely known. But many warlocks serve patrons that are not fiendish. Sometimes a traveler in the wilds comes to a strangely beautiful tower, meet its fey lord or lady, and stumbles into a pact without being fully aware of it. And sometimes, while poring over tomes of forbidden lore, a brilliant but crazed student's mind is opened to realities beyond the material world and to the alien beings that dwell in the outer void.
Once a pact is made, a warlock's thirst for knowledge and power can't be slaked with mere study and research. No one makes a pact with such a mighty patron if he or she doesn't intend to use the power thus gained. Rather, the vast majority of warlocks spend their days in active pursuit of their goals, which typically means some kind of adventuring. Furthermore, the demands of their patrons drive warlocks toward adventure.
The magic bestowed on a warlock ranges from minor but lasting alterations to the warlock's being (such as the ability to see in darkness or to read any language) to access to powerful spells. Unlike bookish wizards, warlocks supplement their magic with some facility at hand-to-hand combat. They are comfortable in light armor and know how to use simple weapons.
Permitted subclasses
Archfey | Celestial | Fiend | Genie | ||||
Great Old One | Hexblade | Fathomless | Raven Queen (UA) | ||||
Seeker (UA) | Undead | Undying |
Wizard
Wizards' lives are seldom mundane. The closest a wizard is likely to come to an ordinary life is working as a sage or lecturer in a library or university, teaching others the secrets of the multiverse. Other wizards sell their services as diviners, serve in military forces, or pursue lives of crime or domination.
But the lure of knowledge and power calls even the most unadventurous wizards out of the safety of their libraries and laboratories and into crumbling ruins and lost cities. Most wizards believe that their counterparts in ancient civilizations knew secrets of magic that have been lost to the ages, and discovering those secrets could unlock the path to a power greater than any magic available in the present age.
Wizards live and die by their spells. Everything else is secondary. They learn new spells as they experiment and grow in experience. They can also learn them from other wizards, from ancient tomes or inscriptions, and from ancient creatures (such as the fey) that are steeped in magic.
Permitted subclasses
Abjuration | Bladesinging | Chronourgy | Conjuration | ||||
Divination | Enchantment | Evocation | Graviturgy | ||||
Illusion | Necromancy | Onomancy (UA) | Theurgy | ||||
Transmutation | War | Scribes | Blood Magic |
