Fanfare for the Common Man

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Humour me for a moment. This is an analysis of how to make the
Commoner class PC-grade.

The only change from the SRD Commoner is:
For all purposes except xp and Epicness, treat the Commoner as being
twice his actual level.

So at 1st level (treat as 2nd), he gets 1d4+4 + 2xConBonus hp. He gets
+1 BAB, +0 for all saves, 5x(2+IntBonus+HumanBonus) skill points.

At 2nd level (treat as 4th), he gets another 2d4+2xConBonus hp, +2
total BAB, +1 total all saves, another 2x(2+IntBonus+HumanBonus) skill
points, and his feat for being 3rd level.

At 3rd level (treat as 6th), he gets another 2d4+2xConBonus hp, +3
BAB, +2 total all saves, another 2x(2+IntBonus+HumanBonus) skill
points, and his feat for being 6rd level. This can be Leadership. He
is now immune to Daze and Sleep.

When he gets to 11th level (=22nd), he's still not Epic, so follows
the same mathematical progression until he's really 21st (=42nd)
level.

Ultimately, it's approximately:
* Good BAB
* HP approximately as fighter, but very Con-dependent
* 4 skill points per level (very Int-dfependent), but few class
skills. Those class skills can get some really insulting ranks.
* A free feat every 3 levels. It can be anything, but the commoner
starts with just one weapon and no armour.
* Saves start at all Bad, becoming all Good by about 10th level and
all better than good by 17th
* Some early immunities.
* An uber-Cohort and a regiment of followers
* No special abilities whatsoever.

For the minmaxers amongst you: start with a level of something else to
get the proficiencies and class skills, and max out Int and Con. Human
is good for the bonus skill point.


--
Jim or Sarah Davies, but probably Jim

D&D and Star Fleet Battles stuff on http://www.aaargh.org