The Classes

Since leaving the Underdark, the dark elves have found a new place that is ripe for adventure. This requires some old fashioned professions that amount to adventuring.

## Classes from Core

**Barbarians:** Only the Rustfanhel dark elves are regularly barbarians. The forests they lived in gave them a savage outlook. Dark Elf barbarians often practice tattooing and body painting and worship a number of totems. Since moving topside, the barbarian totems have changed to what is more recognized.

**Bards:** Bards, also called *lorekeepers*, are more responsible for keeping the dark elf oral traditions alive than for any adventuring. Still, in a new land, the bards can be travelling minstrels, finding new stories to add to the Poetic Edda of the drow. When a bard retires, it's often that he writes a masterpiece of song and poetry, adding it to the Edda. After this, he then teaches the young.

**Clerics:** Mostly female, most clerics are parish priests or cloistered monks worshipping in their various religions or administering Drowism to the masses. However, the faith allows for wandering priests and clerics. Some do join adventuring groups.

**Druid:** Druids are mostly found among the Selfanhel and are mostly male. Druidism is considered a male specialty. Druids are the scientists among the Dark Elves. They educate people about nature. A few druids can be seen adventuring with adventurer groups.

**Fighters:** Fighters either defend the cities, fight wars against monsters, or participate in raids on the surface for beasts (in the way of the Angoren and Celebenhel). Lately with being driven above ground, the drow are forced to do battle with both beasts and monsters. Groups that explore the pristine wilderness at least includes one fighter to deal with beasts and monsters. Fighters and warriors typically are for defense.

**Monk:** Also called athletes. Monks learn martial arts and apply them in unarmed combat. Martial arts can be done as a collection of feats (although I have a copy of the Martial Arts Guidebook from Rite Publishing and it can be used -- within reason).

**Paladin:** Paladins are the epitome of all that is good and true shining forth in a warrior. They are rare among dark elves of any type. It's because the idea of a holy warrior isn't all that needed amongst the dark elves. Therefore, there isn't a knighthood for paladins and thus they have little support. Most dark elves do not like to be around paladins. Unlike certain priests that preach temperance, the zealous attitude of the paladin to defeat evil does not attract friends. Despite this, some adventuring groups do welcome these holy warriors. Otherwise, they walk a lonely path.

**Ranger:** Rangers can be male or female, and they too, walk a lonely path. Typically trained as warriors in the beginning, they walk the ways of wilderness and discover spirituality through being at home with the woods and in nature. Rangers often gain the trust and companionship of animals through their career, sometimes gaining the strangest of followers. While most people think of the Paladin as self righteous, others just find the Ranger's spirituality completely annoying. Despite this, only the Celebenhel and the Selfanhel train rangers on a regular basis.

**Rogues:** Rogues combine aspects of the thief and the scout, and the spy. In Angoren society, rogues make up most of the shadows of the city, and have since came out. Rogues are often celebrated in bardic verse often for one reason: they are represented with golden hearts and the rage against the (oftenly portrayed) priestesshood. A lot of dark elves train as rogues. Some of these are put to use by the leaders, and others are not. Some adventuring rogues are drawn to the romance, unlike their gunslinging counterparts (see the gunslinger, below).

**Sorcerer:** Arcane magical power runs through a dark elf's veins as if it were a river. Many dark elves are born with the power of magic, such as many who are counted among the Angoren and the Celebenhel. Those with the money or connections are accepted into House Magister to be trained as wizards. Those who cannot, learn their powers through trial and error. These are called the sorcerers in Elven tradition, and they are typically derided by their wizardly counterparts.

**Wizard:** Trained by House Magister, the Wizard is the highest hopes of all Dark Elf civilization. While the priestesshood runs society, only the wizards are allowed in politics and typically rule Dark Elf society behind the scenes. While the women rule and make the laws, the men make dark elf society work. Two times in the history of the Dark Elves, the Wizards transported all the men in dark elf society away, forcing the priestesses to understand that without men, society cannot function. In an adventuring party, however, the Wizard is often given respect but sometimes not trusted. Despite this, in a battle, minds tend to change quickly.

## Classes from the Advanced Player's Guide

**Alchemist:** Alchemists are scientists that work with chemicals in various applications. They provide services, such as the creation of gunpowder (for the gunslingers, below). Adventuring alchemists tend to be bombers, healers, or beastmorph alchemists.

**Cavalier:** Self Righteous, armored, chivalrous, going to battle on his mighty steed. Cavaliers, called Knights, seemed to appropriate this from human culture. They are looked upon as backward, overbearing, and pompous windbags that go looking for danger and something heroic to do. They are beloved by the peasantry, which makes them all the more annoying. What is worse, they are typically drawn from the young amongst the noble class, most of which follow a Goddess of Nobility (and the few dark elves that actually epitomized her tenants were transformed into Angels after their death, I might add).

**Inquisitor:** *No one expects the Dark Elf inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our \*three\* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the High Priestess.... Our \*four\*...no... \*Amongst\* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again.*

 Inquisitors are almost always female in Dark Elf society. Their duty is to root out heretics and apostates, and convert them back to the faith of Drowism. Thus all dark elf Inquisitors are trained as dominatrixes and are trained in the use of many kinds of torture. Although most Dark Elf inquisitors do not use these methods, most do. As a result, more than a few are actually followers of the Queen of Spiders.

**Summoner:** Specializing in magic of summoning and conjuration, Summoners are not trained by House Magister, but an off shoot called the House of Summoning. They control strange beings called Eidolons. These summoners are viewed as weird, strange, way out there. In an adventuring party, however, they can fill a variety of roles.

## Classes of Ultimate Combat

**Gunslinger:** When on a surface raid, the drow actually captured a contingent of human gunslingers called *the musketeers.* They then took them down into the Darklands and had them train the first dark elf gunslingers. Figuring that having a chance at the youth of the dark elves, the musketeers performed this admirably. The result is something the dark elves never expected -- a whole army of dark elf musketeers trained with a code of honor and high panache. This army is perhaps the weak link in the drow government; for all of them are trained to believe in honor, and the right to life. The result is a dark elf that is highly energetic, knows how to use a firearm, and has a penchant to do what is right.

**Ninja:** A rogue specializing in the art of Assassination, often called assassins or hired killers, these are represented by the *ninja* class. They are not glorified killers or spies, but they do their job efficiently and with cunning and guile. They are trained in the art of stealth and are more than capable of putting down a political opponent. They are a deadly addition to a party.