One of the most fun things about D&D for me is the fact that if you or your group does not like a specific aspect of the game, you can leave it out, change it, or write a whole new set of rules.
And although D&D is, and always will be, lacking in a few ways (rules for using tools or running exploration, to name a few), it is nice to see that almost everything is correct on a mathematical level. So too the different kinds of classes.
All classes in D&D boil down to five categories, magic wise, and a balance between the three pillars of dungeons and dragons: Combat, Exploration and Roleplay.
We’re only going to talk about the five categories of magic use in this article, though. So if you want to create a new spellcasting class in the rules of D&D that is not just a copy of what already exists, keep on reading.
| Class | Cantrips Known | Spells Known or Prepared? |
| Artificer | Fixed on Level | Prepared: Int + Half Level |
| Bard | Fixed on Level | Known: Fixed on Level |
| Cleric | Fixed on Level | Prepared: Wis + Level |
| Druid | Fixed on Level | Prepared: Wis + Level |
| Fighter (Eldritch Knight) | Fixed on Level | Known: Fixed on Level |
| Paladin (+Blessed Warrior) | 2 | Prepared: Cha + Half Level |
| Ranger (+Druidic Warrior) | 2 | Known: Fixed on Level |
| Rogue (Arcane Trickster) | Fixed on Level | Known: Fixed on Level |
| Sorcerer | Fixed on Level | Known: Fixed on Level |
| Warlock | Fixed on Level | Known: Fixed on Level |
| Wizard | Fixed on Level | Combo: Int + Level (but only from Spellbook) |
| Class | Focus | Rituals | Change Cantrips | Change Spells |
| Artificer | Yes | Yes | Each Level | Long Rest |
| Bard | Yes | Yes | Each Score Improvement | Each Level |
| Cleric | Yes | Yes | Each Level | Long Rest |
| Druid | Yes | Yes | Each Level | Long Rest |
| Fighter (Eldritch Knight) | No | No | No | Each Level |
| Paladin (+Blessed Warrior) | Yes | No | Each Level | Long Rest |
| Ranger (+Druidic Warrior) | Yes | No | Each Level | Long Rest |
| Rogue (Arcane Trickster) | No | No | No | Each Level |
| Sorcerer | Yes | No | Each Score Improvement | Each Level |
| Warlock | Yes | No | Each Score Improvement | Each Level |
| Wizard | Yes | Yes | No | Long Rest |
Fullcasters & Pact Magic
The first type are the classes that are entirely created around their way of using magic, with a gimmick to make them unique.
- Bards = Bardic Inspiration and Jack of All Trades
- Clerics = Channel Divinity
- Druids = Wild Shape
- Sorcerers = Metamagic
- Warlocks = Pact Magic and Eldritch Invocations
- Wizards = Spellbook
All these classes can use a spellcasting focus and can cast rituals (except for the sorcerer and warlock for some reason, so not all classes). They also have the most spellslots, cantrips and most of them can change up their spells during a long rest.
Halfcasters
Halfcasters have a thematic counterpart to the fullcasters, but are more focused on their gimmicks or fighting prowess than their magic.
- Artificers – What if wizards made magic guns?
- Paladins – What if clerics kicked more ass physically?
- Rangers – What if all druids multiclassed in fighter and became the weakest class?
These classes are the least consistent in their use of magic, artificers and paladins prepare a number of spells equal to their level and skill just like their fullcaster counterparts. But rangers have a fixed number of spells, even though that is not how the druid works.
Only the artificer is capable of casting rituals. And if your thought is: why is the artificer not a fullcaster then? The answer is simple, an artificer gains the same amount of spellslots per level as the paladin and the ranger.
Third- & No Casters
These guys either start out without any kind of spellcasting or can gain it by taking a specific subclass:
- Barbarian – No spellcasting
- Fighter – Only when taking the Eldritch Knight subclass
- Monk – No spellcasting
- Rogue – Only when taking the Arcane Trickster subclass
We won’t be talking about the monk and the barbarian, because this article is about the spellcasting, something they can’t do. But the fighter and the rogue are interesting, by choosing their respective subclasses, they gain a weak form of wizard spellcasting. A small amount of spellslots, a few cantrips, no spellcasting focus and no rituals. They aren’t even capable of changing up their cantrips (although I would let them if one of my players played as either of them).
Although not in this list, Matt Mercer’s Blood Hunter class falls into the same category as the fighter and the rogue, but instead of taking the wizard route, it’s subclass Profane Soul focusses on the warlock way of casting spells.
What to do with all this?
This leaves us all with the one question, what to do with all this information. Well, as I noticed when writing this, Wizards of the Coast left a few holes in their classes which can be filled with homebrew. Like a subclass for barbarians or monks that gives them spellcasting from a fullcaster class (Personally I would give the barbarian access to druid spells and the monk access to sorcerer spells, but go nuts!).
There is also a lack in halfcasters, where is the class that looks like a bard in the same way that a paladin looks like a cleric? Or the sorcerer? Or the warlock?
Or heck, go even further and create a whole new fullcaster class, that can only cast rituals, or only cantrips, or has to change up their spells every long rest.
I look forward to everything you’ll come up with. Have a good week!