Rogue - Rogues have little in common with one another. Some are stealthy thieves. Others are silver-tongued tricksters. Still others are scouts, infiltrators, spies, diplomats, or thugs. What they do share is versatality, adaptability, and resourcefulness. In general, rogues are skilled at getting what others don't want them to get: entrance into a locked treasure vault, safe passage past a deadly trap, secret battle plans, a guard's trust, or some random person's pocket money. Rogues adventure for the same reason they do most other things; to get what they can get. Some are after loot; others want experience. Some crave fame; others seek infamy. Quite a few also enjoy a challenge. Figuring out how to thwart a trap or avoid an alarm is great fun for many rogues.

Background - Some rogues are officially inducted into an organised fellowship of rogues or "guild of thieves." Some are self-taught; others learned their skills from independent mentors. Often, an experienced rogue needs an assistant for scams, secondstory jobs, or just for watching her back. She recruits a likely youngster, who then learns the skills of the trade on the job. Eventually the trainee is ready to move on, perhaps because the mentor has run afoul of the law, or perhaps because the trainee has double-crossed her mentor and needs some "space." Rogues do not see each other as fellows unless they happen to be members of the same guild or students of the same mentor. Infact, rogues trust other rogues less than they trust anyone else. They're no fools.

Racial Notes - Adaptable and often unprincipled, humans take to a rogue's life with ease. Halflings, elves, and half-elves also find themselves well suited to the demands of this career. Dwarf and gnome rogues, while less common, are renowned as experts with locks and traps. Half-orc rogues tend toward thuggery. Rogues are common among brutal humanoids, especially goblins and bugbears. Rogues who learn their arts in savage lands, however, generally don't have much experience with complex mechanisms such as traps and locks.

Religion - Although they are not renowned for their piety, most rogues revere gods of thieves. Evil rogues might secretly worship gods of death, or gods of slaughter. Since rogues are so diverse, however, many of them worship other deities, or none at all.

Relationships - Rogues love and hate working members of other classes. They excel when protected by warriors and supported by spellcasters. There are plenty of times, however, that they wish everyone else was as quiet, guileful, and patient as they. Rogues are particulary wary of paladins, so they endeavor to prove themselves useful when contact with paladins is unavoidable.

Sorcerer - Sorcerers create magic the way a poet creates poems, with inborn talent honed by practice. They have no books, no mentors, no theories - just raw power that they direct at will. Some sorcerers claim that the blood of dragons courses through their veins. That claim may be true in some cases - it is common knowledge that certain powerful dragons can take humanoid form and even have humanoid lovers, and it's difficult to prove that a given sorcerer does not have a dragon ancestor. It's true that sorcerers often have striking good looks, usually with a touch of exotic that hints at an unusual heritage. Others hold that the claim is either an unsubstantiated boast on the pat of certain sorcerers or envious gossip on the part of those who lack the sorcerer's gift. The typical sorcerer adventures in order to improve his abilities. Only by testing his limits can he surpass them. A sorcerer's power is inborn - part of his soul. Developing this power is a quest in itself for many sorcerers, regardless of how they wish to use their power. Some good sorcerers are driven by the need to prove themselves. Marked as different by their power, they seek to win places in society and to prove themselves to others. Evil sorcerers also feel themselves set apart from others - apart and above. They adventure to gain power over those they look down upon.

Background - Sorcerers develop rudimentary powers at puberty. Their first spells are incomplete, spontaneous, uncontrolled, and sometimes dangerous. A household with a budding sorcerer in it may be troubled by strange sounds or lights, which can create the impression that the place is haunted. Eventually, the young sorcerer understands the power that he has been wielding unintentionally. From that point on, he can begin practicing and improving his powers. Sometimes a sorcerer is fortunate enough to come under the care of an older, more experienced sorcerer, someone who can help him understand and use his new powers. More often, however, sorcerers are on their own, feared by erstwhile friends and misunderstood by family. Sorcerers have no sense of identity as a group. Unlike wizards, they gain little by sharing their knowledge and have no strong incentive to work together.

Racial Notes - Most sorcerers are humans or half-elves, but the innate talent for sorcery is unpredictable, and it can show up in any of the common races. Arcane spellcasters from savage lands or from among the brutal humanoids are more likely to be sorcerers than wizards. Konolds are especially likely to take up this path, and they are fierce, if inarticulate, proponents of the "blood of the dragons" theory.

Religion - Some sorcerers favour gods of magic, while others revere gods of death and magic. However, many sorcerers follow other deities, or none at all. Wizards typically learn to follow a deity from their mentors, but most sorcerers are self-taught, with no master to induct them into a religion.

Relationships - Sorcerers find that they have most in common with members of other largely self-taught lcasses, such as druids and rogues. They sometimes find themselves at odds with members of the more disciplined classes, such as paladins and monks. Since they cast the same spells as wizards but do so in a different way, they sometimes find themselves in competition with wizards.

Familiar - See Wizard for more information about Familiars.

Spirit Shaman - Master of the spirit world, the spirit shaman follows a different divine tradition than the cleric or the druid. Her world is filled with powerful, living spirits, some helpful and some malign. By bargaining with these spirits, the spirit shaman gains power over the natural world and mighty divine magic with which to aid her comrades of smite her enemies. Spirit shamans exist to mediate between the human world and the spirit world and make sure that humans (and dwarves, elves, orcs, and all other humanoid races, of course) respect the spirits as is only right and proper. Spirit shamans adventure to advance the causes of whichever spirits they favour. Those who venerate helpful spirits seek to assist people deserving of the spirits' protection. Those who revere dark and vengeful spirits promote the chaos and suffering in which their patrons delight. Through their actions, spirit shamans prove the power of their patron spirits and earn prestige and status in the spirit world.

Background - Spirit shamans are first taught by older shamans. When a tribe's spirit shaman feels that the time is right, she chooses a potential successor from among the young folk of the tribe. Taking the youth into her own home, she spends years teaching her student the ways of both the natural world and the spirit realm. Typically, when the young spirit shaman is ready, the older shaman then sends her student out to wander the world for a time in order to gain the wisdom and experience necessary to serve as the tribe's spirit shaman on his return. Sometimes, a young shaman impatient with an overly cautious master strikes out on his own to seek out the knowledge he feels his master is withholding.

Racial Notes - Halflings, humans, and half-orcs are the races that more commonly give rise to the tribal cultures in which shamans flourish. While rare groups of barbaric dwarves, elves, or gnomes favour a shamanic tradition instead of a cleric or druid one, these communities are uncommon at best.

Religion - A spirit shaman reveres the essence of religion more than the practice. She gains her magical powers from the spirits that inhabit all things, living and dead, animate and inanimate. She combines ancestral worship with animal and nature worship. The typical spirit shaman, like a druid, pursues a mystic spirituality of transcendent union with nature rather than devoting herself to a divine entity. Still, some spirit shamans give honour to deities of nature or woodlands.

Relationships - Spirit shamans perceive a world that no other class truly understands. As such, they feel it is their duty to advise their comrades and protect them from the wrath of the spirits. Spirit shamans respect druids and get along well with them, but feel that clerics do not pay sufficient respect to the spirit world, and often form long and bitter rivalries with clerics they meet.

Spirit Guide - All spirit shamans have a spirit guide, a personification of the spirit world. In some sense a spirit shaman and her guide are one being, both knowing and seeing and experiencing the same things. Unlike a familiar, a spirit guide is not a separate entity from a spirit shaman. She is the only one who can perceive or interact with her guide. It exists only inside her own mind and soul. Therefore the spirit guide grants her some abilities, such as heightened senses with the 'Alertness' feat at 1st level. The exact form of the spirit guide is chosen by the spirit shaman at 1st level, usually for the qualities it represents. The exact form of a spirit guide is purely personal preference, and confers no special advantages or disadvantages.

(Feel free to think up your own animal and what it represents as your spirit guide.)

Badger - Orderliness, tenacity
Bear - Strength, endurance
Buffalo - Abundance, good fortune
Cougar - Balance, leadership
Coyote - Humour, trickiness
Crane - Balance, majesty
Crow - Intelligence, resourcefulness
Eagle - Perception, illumination
Elk - Pride, power, majesty
Fox - Cleverness, discretion
Hawk - Awareness, truth
Lizard - Elusiveness
Otter - Joy, laughter
Owl - Wisdom, night
Rabbit - Conquering fear, safety
Raccoon - Curiosity
Scorpion - Defense, self-protection
Snake - Power, life force, potency
Spider - Interconnectedness, industry
Turtle - Love, protection
Vulture - Vigilance, death
Wolf - Loyalty, interdependence

Notes about Spirits - In the spirit shaman's worldview, elementals and fey are simply spirits of nature, and incorporeal undead are the spirits of the dead. (Elementals, fey and incorporeal undead are what count as spirits when the spirit shaman uses her special abilities)

Swashbuckler
The swashbuckler embodies the concepts of daring and panache. Favoring agility and wit over brute force, the swashbuckler excels both in combat situations and social interactions, making her a versatile character indeed. Swashbucklers adventure for a variety of motivations, based on their alignment and background. Some seek to right injustices, while tohers seek only fame and fortune. All swashbucklers, however, share a tendency to leap into action when the call comes, regardless of their personal views.

Background
Many swashbucklers come from affluent backgrounds, but anyone valuing finesse over force can become a swashbuckler, regardless of background. A common shared element among swashbuckler's background is life in an urban environment, whether the back alleys of a slum or the cultured halls of royalty. Swashbucklers tend to see other swashbucklers as rivals rather than allies, even when sharing similar goals. The swashbuckler's need for attention often outweighs her better judgement, leading either to friendly competition or even outright distrust and antipathy.

Racial Notes
Swashbucklers are most oftne humans, elves, or half-elves. Humans and half-elves tend to have the daring nature required of a swashbuckler, and the natural grace of elves makes them well suited for the class. Halflings and gnomes often have the temperament to become swashbucklers, though their slower speed works against them. Dwarves tend to prefer fighting in heavy armor with big weapons, and thus rarely become swashbucklers. Among the savage humanoids, swashbucklers are virtually unknown.

Religion
Most swashbucklers pay atleast some small amount of homage to deities of thievery and luck. Lawful or chivalrous swashbucklers may revere the more lawfully-inclined deities such as Tyr or Torm. Swashbucklers who choose the open road over a fixed residence often worship a deity that encourages travel or the open road.

Relationships
Swashbucklers prefer to work with other quick, lightly armored characters. They get along best with rogues and bards, and appreciate the agility and combat talents of the monk (though chaotic swashbucklers may chafe at the monks ascetic nature). Lawful good swashbucklers often share the paladin's honorable nature, but otherwise the classes tend to clash in their approach to life. Swashbucklers have no particular distaste for spellcasters, and they appreciate the utility of a cleverly chosen, well-timed spell. They don't interact with barbarians, druids, or rangers very often, since these characters tend to prefer natural settings to the typical urban environment of the swasbuckler.

Warlock - Born of a supernatural bloodline, a warlock seeks to master the perilous magic that suffuses his soul. Unlike sorcerers or wizards, who approach arcane magic through the medium of spells, a warlock invokes powerful magic through nothing more than an effort of will. By harnessing his innate magical gift through fearsome determination and force of will, a warlock can perform feats of supernatural stealth, beguile the weak-minded, or scour his foes with blasts of eldritch power. Many warlocks are champions of dark and chaotic powers. Long ago, they (or in some cases, their ancestors) forged grim pacts with dangerous extraplanar powers, trading portions of their souls in exchange for supernatural power. While many warlocks have turned away from evil, seeking to undo the wrongs of their former colleagues, they are sitll chained by old pacts through which they acquired their powers. The demand to further the designs of their dark patrons, or to resist them, drives most warlocks to seek the oppurtunities for power, wealth, and great deeds (for good or ill) offered by adventuring.

Background - Warlocks are born, not made. Some are the descendants of people who trafficked with demons and devils long ago. Some seek out the dark powers as youths, driven by ambition or the desire for power, but a few blameless individuals are simply marked out by supernatural forces as conduits and tools. The exact nature of a warlock's origin is up to the player to decide; just as a sorcerer is not beholden to the magical-wielding ancestor that bequeathed his bloodline with arcane power, a warlock is not bound to follow the source that gifted him with magic. Warlocks are not half-fiends or tieflings by default (although many creatures of those kinds become some of the most powerful and terrifying representatives of the class). The mark that the supernatural powers leave on their servants is often a mark in the soul, not the flesh. In fact, many warlocks are created by nonevil powers - wild or fey forces that can be every bit as dangerous as demons or devils. Whatever their origin, warlocks are widely feared and misunderstood. Most are wanderers who rarely stay in one place for long.

Racial Notes - Ambitious and often unprincipled, humans are the most likely to seek out the dangerous shortcuts to power that lead to life as warlocks. Half-orcs are common as warlocks as well, since they often find that the powers that create warlocks do not discriminate against individuals of mixed heritage. Warlocks of other races are rare at best.

Religion - Warlocks know firsthand the power of supernatural beings, so they do not scorn religion. Evil warlocks sometimes seek the favour of cruel and bloodthirsty deities, while good warlocks often turn to the worship of noble and true deities for the strength to win the battle raging in their tortured souls.

Relationships - The warlock views sorcerers and wizards as bitter rivals. He values the strength and cleverness of resourceful fighters and rogues but rarely gets along with clerics or paladins. Of course, most warlocks understand that it's a bad idea to antagonise their comrades (especially those who hold the key to healing magic), and so they work out an uneasy truce with characters who otherwise might ostracise them.

Detect Magic - Beginning at 2nd level, a warlock can detect nearby magical sources at will if he concentrates. The longer he concentrates, the more he can work out about them. (IE. Which direction it is in, how powerful it is.)