With
@Adamska 's permission, I am doing a review of the various classes and variants from Dragon Magazine and books that are based around subsystems found outside of Vancian Casting, like Psionics
The first thing I will be covering is one of my personal favorite books in 3.5, Dragon Compendium.
For a bit of backstory, Ever since 1st edition there were two companion magazines that added new classes, races, items, ect to the base D&D game. The first was Dragon Magazine, which was aimed at players and DMs alike for new character options, settings, and guides, and then there was Dungeon Magazine, a magazine that until partway through 3.X was bimonthly, and was filled to the brim with prebuilt modules for all level ranges and sizes, some being one-shots and others being long-running adventures that get expanded within multiple issues. In 2007 Wizards of the coast decided to pull the plug on both, ending their run of over 30 years. It was pretty abrupt and from the people that worked on the magazine there were still many articles they came up with that were never published.
During the time before it was cancelled unceremoniously, they released a book that compiled many classes, races, items, feats, and articles from Dragon. Of note is that a large chunk of all of these things but the feats were originally exclusive to AD&D and were converted to 3.5 in this book. Unfortunately it is hard to tell how much this book is a "best-of", because, as you can see in the picture above, the full name of the book is Dragon Compendium Volume I. Due to the abrupt ending of not only the magazine, but 3.5 in general(Didn't even give it a proper send-off like AD&D got), they never made a volume II. Since they were most likely holding back on many nice things to put into at least one other volume, one can only wonder what could've been.
Anyways, here are the Classes and Prestige classes from this book:
Base Classes:
Battle Dancer
Have you ever wanted to play a chaotic-aligned Monk with full BAB and notable class features past level 6? If this very specific thing is exactly what you've been asking for, then Battle Dancer is for you.
On top of also getting bonuses on unarmed strikes and not wearing armor(albeit with Charisma instead of Wisdom), they get numerous abilities that use the Tumble skill(similar to bards and perform you need to keep max ranks to get new abilities). They also gain many ways to more mobile, from being able to tumble and fully move in one turn, to walking on water or magma, to full-on flight at higher levels. The biggest thing for them is that at level 11 they basically get the Pounce Ability. Pounce, for those unaware, allows you to make multiple attacks on a charge. This highly sought-after ability is the crux of many martial builds. And you don't even have to do anything fancy to get it.
However, not all is sunshine and rainbows. Its main way for overcoming damage reduction eats a standard action up, and due to having completely different class features from monk and being Charisma-based instead of Wisdom-based, it is much harder to qualify for many unarmed fighting feats, if you can get them at all. Additionally, like Monk it needs four stats to be good at its job, which is a lot to ask for. However, fun times can be had if you roll lucky(or alternatively, the DM is generous with Point Buy)
Rating:
Decent
Death Master
Death Master is an arcane caster that specializes in Necromancy, gets rebuke undead, and ultimately becomes a Lich at level 20. Sound Familiar? There is another class that is far more well known called Dread Necromancer, which fits that description, too. However, instead of being a spontaneous full-list caster similar to the Warmage and Beguiler, it is instead a spellbook user similar to the Wizard and Wu Jen. While Dread Necro is much better at the whole undead army thing, what this class gets in return is flexibility. It's spell list is pretty large, having many nice spells from both the wizard/sorcerer and cleric spell lists. It can do many things not directly related to Necromancy itself, like getting a good amount of spells related to Ice and Stone, and spells dealing with mind-control. It also gets an animal companion-like undead minion, which can be traded out at higher levels for better options, including many incorporeal undead.
One thing that makes it stand out from other arcane casters is its Chassis. Chassis is the term people use to refer to the basic frame of a class, which includes hit Die size, base attack bonus progression rater, and saving throw progression rate. Most full 0-9 arcane casters get d4 hit die, or if the designers are feeling generous, d6, on top of poor BAB progression and only good Will saves. While the latter is the same for Death Master, it gets a whopping d8 hit die and average BAB, basically the same as a Druid without a good Fort save. Note that chassis doesn't automatically make a class good or bad per say. Wizards have one of the worst in the game are the best class by far, while the Knight from Player's Handbook II has one of the best but is complete shit.
For low-level games, this is your best bet for necromancy because it gets the Animate Dead spell as a level 2 spell, so as early as level 3 you can start building and army. For comparison, Clerics get it at level 5, Wizards at level 7, and Sorcerers and Dread Necromancers at level 8.
It's biggest flaws overall is that it barely gets any class abilities and lacks the ability to gain the many powerful non-core Necromancy spells available to Cleric, Wizard, and Dread Necromancer.
However, Overall a solid class that gets some stuff to stand out from many similar ones.
Rating:
Good
Jester
Jester is pretty much a bizzaro Bard. They have the same chassis, same spell slot/spells known progression, and get similar abilties at the same level. However, while the Bard gets many healing and support spells, and songs to buff allies, the jester uses both is performances and spells mostly for debuffing or disrupting foes.
As long as you keep maxing out Perform: Comedy, you will get a large number of skits that can lower the rolls of foes, and in one case even aggro one to walk towards and/or attack you. If that sounds bad for something as squishy as a bard, it gets many things like a scaling deflection bonus to AC and getting both the deflect arrows and snatch arrows feats for ranged foes that try to target them. Their spell list also has many gems. It still gets Grease and Glitterdust like Bard, but also gets many things Bard can't like Reduce Person and the extremely potent Polymorph spell.
However, similar to most of the classes both before and after it in this book, it lacks the splatbook support that even many non-core base classes get, so its spell list is pretty small and there aren't many feats to enhance its class features. It also can easily be a class that will make your DM and fellow players hate your guts if you ham it up too much.
Rating:
Decent
Mountebank
After three nice classes in a row, its time to get into shit. Mountebank is poorly designed and is only notable for being really edgy fluff-wise, since you are the faithful servant of a powerful devil or demon. It is a Rogue that can only sneak attack every other turn at best since the extra damage only works when they are "beguiled", a status effect exclusive to the class that they need to inflict on the target first and only lasts 1 round. Assuming they don't pass the save that is.
They also get many supernatural and spell-like abilities that are fueled by a resource similar to bard songs in how they are used, but almost everything you can do with them is outshone by a class ironically called the Beguiler, of all things.
The best part is that after taking 20 levels of a class that is like a rogue/beguiler hybrid but worse than both in every way, you gain the Half Fiend Template. That's fantastic and all, but what comes with it is your soul being dragged down into the lower planes, now the property of your evil patron and you are now considered an NPC. While it does say your party or the mountebank itself can try to free them from this fate via some plane-hopping ass-kicking, You're better off just rolling up a new character, fancy template or not. I mean, the Death Master is in the SAME BOOK and gets a similarly powerful template at the same level, does NOT become an NPC, AND HAS CLASS ABILITIES WORTH A DAMN.
Rating:
NPC Class (Would be Garbage)
Savant
Savant is an attempt at making a jack-of-all-trades class in the sense that they can do a little of everything. They get every skill in the game they can disarm traps and sneak attack like a rogue, they can make a general knowledge checks like Bards, and can dabble in both arcane and divine magic without the need to multiclass. Sounds pretty nifty, doesn't it?
Unfortunately, in practice, it's horrendously underwhelming. It's sneak attack caps at 3d6 by level 20, its arcane spells are limited to level 1-4 spells with half caster level and any good stuff it gets comes much later then almost anything else that gets those same ones. It's divine caster is the same, but even worse then that, since you don't get any until level 10. I'm sure that 1d8+5 HP worth of healing is worth it at a level where many martials have around 100 HP.
If I had to give it positives in any way, it gets a couple free feats, that unlike wizard and fighter bonus feats can be anything, and having access to every skill imaginable can give you all the cheesy stuff like Iajutsu Focus, Use Magic Device, and Use Psionic Device without multiclassing, and also can roll for an ally for a certain set of skills.
But the final nail in the coffin for this ever seeing any wide use is the existence of a significantly better jack-of-all-trades class known as the Factotum. It also has every skill as a class skill, but also is overall a lot better in most ways.
Rating:
Playable
Sha'ir
The Sha'ir is a very odd class. It has an arabian theme that makes it seem alien to every other base class, and gets a lot of weird genie-themed powers.
A Sha'ir is capable of casting level 0-9 Wizard/Sorcerer spells and has access to divine spells from a large swath of core cleric domains, meaning technically THIS class has the largest spell list in all of 3.5, not Wizard/Sorcerer.
However, the biggest speed-bump in all of this is actually how it casts spells. It is neither prepared or spontaneous, but both at the same time. Basically you use your special familiar to negotiate with the forces of the elemental planes to let you borrow spells to cast for a number of hours equal to your class level. You have a list of spells known like a sorcerer, and they take 1d4+spell level rounds to grab. Wizard/Sorcerer spells that aren't spells known can be retrieve for use over 1d6+Spell level minutes, and those domain spells(which are actually considered divine in nature), take a whopping 1d6+spell level hours to grab, whether or not they are spells known. Additonally, to get them within that time limit requires a DC 20 Diplomacy check, or else it will be delayed a bit. Prepare to have the rest of the party waiting for you to constantly grab spells every few hours at early levels.
Whether or not you can get the free time to cast your spells all day, you also get the ability to summon various types of Djinn, though it costs money and XP to use, and you get planeshift as a spell-like ability at level 9 that becomes at-will at level 18, but you can only go to the elemental planes with it.
It's pretty odd overall, it took multiple reads to completely understand how its casting works, it seems the class with the game's largest spell list has that perk countered by its cumbersome, confusing, and time-consuming way of getting spells to cast for the day. It's up to you to decide if it is worth it.
Rating:
Decent
Urban Druid
Urban Druids are basically just Druids that love cities instead of nature. They get level 0-9 Divine spells, can transform into various humanoids, vermin and animated objects, and have a spell list full of some decent choices at every spell level, but a lot of crap too.
The biggest boon they have over normal Druid is their Urban companion. While normal Druids are mostly regulated to animals without feats, Urban druid has many urban-themed animals, vermin, animated object, and even a few monsters(like carrion crawler and otyugh). While its spell list is objectively worse than its nature brethren, it still gets some important options like Disintegrate and Shapechange. It lacks any summoning spells or many direct damage options, but if you are creative enough you can at least be disruptive with spells like Hold Monster and Rusting Grasp, and even be the party face complete with access to Glibness and most social skills as class skills.
One last thing I should note is that since it doesn't get summoning spells, it instead spontaneously casts the Repair Damage line of spells. It's basically healing spells for objects and constructs, the usefulness of this ability is highly dependent on if you picked an animated object for your urban companion or not. Don't play Warforged with this class, they get penalties to their main casting stat, and you can use normal healing spells if you want to heal yourself, just not spontaneously(Unless you take the Spontaneous Healer feat).
Rating:
Good
Prestige Classes:
Aerial Avenger
Do you like flying a lot? Do you REALLY like flying a lot? Do you want a class that focuses on nothing but improving your ability to fly with nothing else of note? That is pretty much this class. Even the description notes that the most common members of this class aren't even playable races, mostly various types of flying monsters. Your fly speed increases in both distance and maneuverability, you gain bonuses to attack and damage rolls when flying, and you gain a weird AoE effect to panic foes as a capstone. This class is seemly designed for things that don't even have class levels. There is very little else to actually say about it.
Rating:
NPC Class (Would be Garbage)
Arcanopath Monk
This is a prestige class for monk that is created solely for the purpose of countering arcane casters. Putting aside the fact that it's an exercise in futility to consistently counter spellcasters without any magic of your own, the class gives the character leveling in it many ways to inflict various stats effects on characters with their unarmed strikes(if they fail a saving throw, that is), most of which are ways to hinder or disrupt casting, like deafness and silence.
Two particular class abilities that stand out are the slap of forgetfulness, which makes the arcane caster lose 1d4 unused spell slots, and the capstone called sundering strike of oblivion, which increases the power of that by also making them completely forget how to use those forgotten spells at all(even via other slots of resting), unless they make a spellcraft check to remember it or reach their next level in that arcane casting class. Sounds pretty powerful, but these class abilities are shackled to the sub-par monk class, a balancing factor that weighs it more towards the "bad" side. Better than full monk at least.
Rating:
Playable
Blessed of Gruumsh
A class made solely for Orcs or Half-Orcs that worship the god of orcs. This class is pretty unique in that it is one of the few martial-themed classes where the text-trumps-table rules comes into play. Due to the text, this class gains a luck bonus to AC equal to its Blessed of Gruumsh level (So a whopping +10 AC at level 10).
To round it out its levels it gains many 1/day abilities divided into two main categories: Ones that boost attack or damage, and ones that inflict gaze attacks that act as spell-like abilities that debuff or inflict status effect on the foe. The best of the former is Thunderous Roar of Gruumsh, which doubles the number of attacks you make in a full-round action. This effect is pretty much identical to a level 9 Maneuver from the Tome of Battle book, so it's pretty powerful.
The capstone though is kind of situational in some ways, but good in others. You inspire all orcs within a 100 foot radius, giving them a +4 morale bonus on attack rolls, skills checks, and saving throws for 10 minutes. The Blessed of Gruumsh himself, too, so he can take advantage of it even if he is the only orc in the party.
Rating:
Decent
Cerebrex
This is one of many casting-based prestige classes in this book, and this one, along with the rest of them(with one exception) only gains more casting every other level. This one requires you to be an arcane caster, preferably one with INT-based casting, and what you get is mostly increased senses(with things like scent and blindsight), and the ability to add either your intelligence bonus or 1/2 your Cerebrex level to many different things like saving throws, skill checks, and ability scores. It also gets what is essentially a worse version of what the Arcanopath Monk can do(make the foe lose spells). Not worth the worse casting, like at all.
Rating:
Garbage
Fleet Runner of Ehlonna
Another PrC for neutral good divine casters that worship Eholonna, that gives up five precious spell levels for the ability to go fast and little else. It gains both Evasion and Improved Evasion, ways to run both faster and longer, and even a pounce ability. Unfortunately the classes that could get the most out of it can't qualify due to alignment(Paladin), or lack the ability to gain enough Knowledge: Religion ranks before level 10(Ranger). The only thing that can really enter it with ease is Cleric, and they even though clerics that enter it get a third bonus domain, it's still a net loss overall.
Rating:
Garbage
Flux Adept
Once again a half-caster class, only it gains casting on odd numbered levels unlike most. This one is based around slowly evolving to survive many things, and gives you many situational immunities(like saves vs cold and hot environments, and ingested poisons, but not any other kind of poison), a few natural attacks that deal pitiful acid damage, and pheromones that give bonuses to various ability and skill checks, which get larger when facing a creature that has the Scent ability. It somehow is worse than the previous two classes, all things considered, since there really isn't a character type that seems like a shoe-in for entering this.
Rating:
Garbage
Force Missile Mage
This class does one thing and one thing only: Buffs Magic Missile. This 5-level prestige class advances your casting for all but the first level, which is a good start. What it gives is the ability to add more missiles to your magic missile (to a max of 7 instead of the normal max of 5), allows you to cast it without moving, can turn it into fire, cold, electricity or acid, and even make it easier to penetrate spell resistance, or even bypass the Shield spell and Brooches of Shielding, which normally completely negate the spell.
To round this off you gain protection from opposing magic missiles and can even reflect them back at the caster. While it can't be called the best option out there, since it is all based around a level 1 spell, it is still an interesting option none the less.
Rating:
Decent
Monk of the Enabled Hand
Yet another monk class. This one gets its best ability at level 1, which lets them use thier unarmed strikes as touch attacks a few times per day. However its number of uses is based on your level in this class, so you have to take more. The rest of this five level class gives you situational extra uses for attacks of opportunity, disarming, and bullrushing. It's an easy pass, since even in this very book there are better options for Monk.
Rating:
Garbage
Osteomancer
Another half-casting PrC that basically is themed on skeletons. Not in the necromancy sense, but manipulating the skeleton of yourself and others. The class seems to mostly be based around you making bone spikes and hitting people with it. You can also Paralyze or control others via manipulating their skeletons, and it works on things normally immune to both types of effects like undead, as long as they have skeletons.
Other abilities include the ability to make you skeleton disappear so you can slip into small spaces, scaring people via making your face covered in skeleton pieces, damaging skeletons to deal strength damage, and once a day liquifying someone's skeleton to instantly kill someone. Many of you may thing this sound "Metal", but in practice the class is an attempt to turn a caster into a melee fighter with edgy skeleton powers and fails at being effective.
Rating:
Garbage
Shaper of Form
This is a 10 level prestige class that progresses magic for six of these levels. Still a major blow, but it somehow gets far more powerful class features then the all of the previous 5/10 caster level classes.
You can the ability to transform and manipulate items into other items of the same size and material, even being able to increase their value via this method, at higher levels you can even effect magic items, at least temporarily, with this ability. Additionally every three levels you gain a permanent bonus of some sort, you can choose a +1 to any of your physical stats, +10 to your land speed, permanently change race or gender(you get every thing but stat adjustment and as long as said race has no level adjustment you can choose whatever you want), or gain +1 natural armor. You can take the same one multiple times.
On top of these abilities, you gain Polymorph and Polymorph Any Object as spell-like abilities, and at level 10 can once every two days cast Mordenkainen's Disjunction or Disintegrate on an item with no saving throw allowed. Depending on your campaign, it could actually be worth losing access to level 9 spells.
Rating:
Decent
Tiers (Dragon Compendium)
Tippy Tier: N/A
Amazing Classes: N/A
Good Classes: Death Master, Urban Druid
Decent Classes: Battle Dancer, Jester, Sha'ir, Blessed of Gruumsh, Force Missile Mage, Shaper of Form
Playable Classes: Savant, Arcanopath Monk
Garbage Classes: Cerebrex, Fleet Runner of Ehlonna, Flux Adept, Monk of the Enabled Hand, Osteomancer
Truenamer Class: N/A
NPC Class (Fuck you Book): Mountebank (Would be Garbage), Aerial Avenger (Would be Garbage)
As you can see I'm much harsher when it comes to determining ratings for classes, I hold very high standards for what makes a class actually amazing. I believe you can have a lot of fun with anything Decent or better, Playable is usable but needs some work, and Garbage just isn't worth touching.
Anyways the next things I will be covering will probably be variants of the core classes found in Dragon Magazine
