Alrighty, my rundown on what core classes should have done with them. Apologies in advance for occasionally going ballistic.
In general2+Int skill points should not exist, ever, on a non-Int-based character. This is crazy, stupid and utterly unfair. Thus, for any non-Int-driven class (essentially, if you is not a wizard), the MINIMUM they should receive is 4+Int.
BarbarianNow, overall, we are plenty happy with barbs. The idea of giving them all pounce at 6th level is a damn good one, and I think it goes a long way to making it a very strong choice overall.
My biggest gripe about barbs? Their DR. Why? Because you don't give a toss about DR 1/- at character level 7! You can get this off adamantine light armour without ever having to invest 7 levels of the class, and you can actually pretty much forget about it by 7th level.
My solution? Make all barbs gain DR = class level. That way, it's actually something meaningful.
BardAside from making Diplomacy not be 'I win the game', I think these guys are OK.
ClericOh God, where do I start... (pun fully intended)
First and foremost, turning. Why in the name of everything holy (this sort of bad punnage WILL continue) does every damn cleric ever get this ability? Even when it makes utterly no sense? Honestly, this should be a domain ability, given by a certain few domains where it actually makes sense for them to have it. If we're worried about divine feat fuel, just fix divine feats instead to work off divine caster level, or divine spell slots, or something. Just let's kill this sacred cow dead, it makes no logical sense at all.
Secondly, clerics being 9th level casters who can just prance around in heavy armour and have two good saves and a d8 HD is utter bullshit. Wizards and sorcs have to bend over and take it in the backside, being unable to wear armour, having bad BAB, ONE good save and a d4 HD, just for THEIR 9th level spells, so why should clerics get exempted? Oh yeah,
this shit all over again. Fucking hell, I like MtG, but KEEP IT OUT OF MY DND!!!!
Then my next gripe - the cleric skeleton is made of clonage? Honestly, clerics, especially in core-only, all look waaaaaay too similar to each other. The differentiating factor of choice (their domains) actually mean two abilities and one spell per level, half of which are ones any cleric can prepare anyway. This is silly, as domains are meant to define who and what you are, not be a random addenum.
Lastly, clerics knowing every spell on their list is bullshit. Every damn book ever printed auto-grants them more power, while their arcane cousins, again, have to bend over and take it. This has got to stop. Full stop.
My solution? Make ALL clerics cloistered. You want a military focus or to be a warrior-priest? Let us write a PrC for that which doesn't suck donkey penis, or make a specialisation (a post on which I shall make soon) for that. Secondly, make turning a domain ability and give clerics something like a 'divine pool' which can be used for some minor effects, as well as to feed divine feats. As for domains, expand them to have, say, 3-5 spells at each level, as well as giving abilities at more than just level 1 (I propose 1, 5, 10, 15, 20). However, if the spell ain't on your domain list, you ain't casting it. Simple as that. Instead of gaining an extra domain ability at 5, 10, 15, 20, you can instead gain access to another domain, with 1st level abilities, provided it is offered by your god.
Oh yeah, and fix their spell cheese. But that goes without saying.
DruidAgain, much of what I ranted about the cleric above applies here. Druids need to get their base numerics, spell selection and spell power nerfed. Wild shape also needs cutting down, hardcore. Also, have their animal companion advance at half speed, while the ranger's goes at full - in 3.0, the animal companion was a RANGER class feature, until some wise monkey thought making druids more broken was a good idea.
My solutions? Bring the druid skeleton in line with the cloistered cleric. Instead of wild shape, use the
this here thing, with modifications. Have their animal companion advance at half speed, whereas the ranger's goes at full. And the spells. I propose the solution to this is similar to the domain solution for clerics - in fact, there is no reason why the two cannot be one and the same, although druid domains (I would term them 'affinities') would need some downtonage.
FighterThis is where my brain begins to disintegrate.
I believe, very firmly, that a fighter should be a master of feat use. They should get more feats than anyone else, be able to switch them around like a caster can do with spells, and be able to get more mileage out of their feats than anyone else.
My solution? This is pretty complex, and I hope to address it more in my forthcoming specialisation thread. However, I believe one easy fix would be to give fighters a bonus feat at EVERY level. However, there is a tonne more to address here, such as improving feats. Hope to get to that soon.
MonkOk, monks are warrior characters. They need full BAB. They really do. In order to make them worth anything whatsoever. Additionally, they should stop having to pay through the nose just to get the same numbers their friends the barbarian and fighter get.
My solution? Full BAB for the monk, and let their fists actually be able to be enhanced for prices which don't make us cry. AC too, for the record. There is more here, but again, future thread to fully expound my ideas on this subject.
PaladinYeah, OW4. End of discussion.
RangerMake the TWF fighting style not suck, give the ranger full animal companion advancement, and you have yourselves a winner, gents.
RogueThis is fine by me, as long as we give it something like penetrating strike.
SorcererOK, Skip Williams hates sorcerers. You know that, and I know that, but the monkeys were too busy huffing Drano.
My solution? Sorcs should be able to use metamagic without the stupid spont-delay someone thought was a good idea. Additionally, they shouldn't get the random CL delay which makes them tail behind the wizard all damn day long. I would also recommend some class features based on their bloodline, granted at the same time wizard bonus feats would be (1, 5, 10, 15, 20), with bloodlines being things like draconic, infernal, celestial, fey, otherworldly, and so on.
WizardOverall, I'm pretty happy, except for spell silliness, as well as the fact that being a specialist actually affects you about as much as being a cleric.
My solution? Some modification of
this here stuff should help.