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I'm sure we all are sick and tired of seeing the same old character types rehashed to death in RPs, eg the tall, graceful elf archer and the burly, dwarven fighter. So why not create a list of variant character classes that are fresh, new and interesting?

I shall start things off with my current favourite class, the Aura Manipulator, but this thread is an open one, so please submit your ideas!

Characters:
1. Aura Manipulator
2. Shadow Shifter
3. Islander
4. Rune Knight
5. Golem Puppeteer
6. Land-Bound Paladin
7. Improvisor (aka Kozo: a prestige class)
8. Balanced Exorcist
9. Gambler Mage

Shadow Shifter

Description:
A shadow shifter a person who can utilize shadows to his or her will. Most of it involves shifting form with the shadows, but with enough knowledge and will, you can also bid the shadows to protect and manipulate. Not actually human beings, although they look a lot like them, these people are fashioned entirely from shadows with magic.

Shadows are actually not the shadows you see on the wall when a light's shined upon you. Although they're very similar. They can be diminished with enough concentrated light on them, but hard to hit when in shadow form. Since the attributes of the classical shadow is very similar to these types, there's little matter in the shadows themselves. Therefore, fight non-matter with non-matter and use light. But there is a slight catch, since they ARE different, the shifter can bring them into the material realm when shifting so that all the senses are covered.

Shadows can be gathered to a persons form to create a different image. The essence of the person remains the same, though. So with a strong enough mage or something, the shifter can be detected. If the image is smaller, then the shadows fall from the person. The shifted retains the abilities that they can use in the form they hold, but they must know what to do in that form. For example, if you become a bird and don't know how to use your wings, you cannot fly. The skills are acquired, not natural.

You can also use shadows in the defensive. If a person's will is strong enough, they can call the shadows to swirl around themselves and create confusion for the opponent. There are also ways to command the shadows to detect poisons and impurities. Along with using them as a ball shield for short bursts of time.

Unfortunately, you cannot use them in the offensive.

Examples of Shadow Shifters:
((Er...dunno what to say? ))
Basically, it's a race of people, rather than an acquired skill. You sorta have to be "born" that way. See, the people aren't actually given birth to, rather than made. From a couple of bindings and combinations, poof! You get a shadow shifter.

So, for example, my main character, Blueshadow, is a shadow shifter. She can change her form, or just become a shadow. Blue can also call upon shadows around her to create patterns in the air, create havoc, and other things. ^^

Most shifters have a basic knowledge of being able to shift their form into at least a basic shadow. But they have to be able to control their abilities to use shadows, so they have to learn and get used to it. ^^

Rune Knights have two requisites. Rune Knights must be skilled with the blade (or any other weapon for that matter, but most prefer knightly or warrior weapons, such as greatswords and greataxes). Rune Knights also must be well-versed in the language and nature of the Norse Runes, which they utilize in combat. However, the latter often comes during Rune Knight training.

Rune Knights are often capable individuals. They are tough, and they go through training that surpasses the training of normal knights, and that is for two reasons. Few can learn how to channel the Runes properly, and often are more of a hazard to themselves than others. Often the Runes do not respond correctly or as efficiently if one is not of Nordic or Germanic descent, and they (the Runes) will not respond to any language other than Norse or German, and while the former is a bit stronger, the latter is more common amongst Rune Knights.

During combat, Rune Knights can go into what is called a Rune Trance, which is essentially their magic. Rune Trances range in effect from granting the user the ability to warp from one point to another on a battlefield, or to heal a fallen comrade. Rune Trances often imbue the user's mind with more awareness, reaction time, or imbue their weapon with a stronger edge, or something to that effect. Rune Trances include a series of Rune Invocations, which involves saying the Rune's name. These Runes often spell out a given word in German or Norse that would allude to the Trance's effect, but most of the time this is so esoteric the foe does not know what is about to happen and is found helpless in the area of foresight.

Rune Trances are easily broken, and when they are it can cause a discharge of energy both harmful to those around the user and the user himself. There are instances where Rune Masters (High-Ranking Rune Knights) purposefully break a Rune Trance in order to cause damage en masse, though most of it is a knockback force.

Ranking within the Rune Knight order is diffiicult. As there is no set limit of Rune Trances a Rune Knight can learn, often there are varying Rune Trances each Rune Master may possess. It is a difficult thing to invent new Rune Trances, as it requires an intimate knowledge of the Runes, and often years and years of study. Some Rune Knights devote their entire lives in an attempt to create a new Rune Trance and never complete it within their lifetime.

Rune Squires (Beginner Rune Knights) often go through grueling training, and they are taught by the finest Rune Masters known in their area. Rune Knight training, in the past, used to take place at Rune Chapels, but throughout time the Rune Knight order has fallen into myth and legend, heroes of old, and such things. Now, if any Rune Knights are left, they train their Squires informally, in their own homes, in fields, wherever there is room and a degree of secrecy.

In D&D terms, a Rune Knight could be a dual-classing or prestige class that involves Rune Wizard ranks and any kind of Fighter ranks. Rumor has spread that there are Rune Thieves, now, spawned from Rune Knights gone rogue. As a matter of fact, whatever brandishes a blade or weapon could have a Rune Variant within it. However I digress.

Rune Knights are often frowned upon in the New Era, especially in modern day, as most would believe they were doing something involving Satan or his disciples, but it is far from true. The Runes were spawned from the Norse religion, and Rune Knights adhere to this religion. Honor is stressed above all else, and while they encourage discipline, they also encourage imagination and unlike some orders, love. Rune Knights often produce progeny fit for Rune Knight training, and thus they keep a fresh supply of Rune Squires by allowing Rune Knights to marry and have children.

In most times, the Nordic side of the Rune Trances have been all but lost, with very few Rune Masters even bothering to teach them to other Rune Masters, Knights or Squires. Most Rune Trances are German-based, but those that are Norse-based are stronger.

Rune Trances are also sometimes invoked before a summoning incantation, usually to prolong the effect. Rune Knights are taught summoning incantations traditionally, as the most common one raises the dead bodies nearby to fight for the caster. This is usually the only summoning incantation taught to Rune Knights and Squires, but there are others that only Rune Masters possess.

(I probably forgot something... ><)

Land-Bound Paladin

Background:
We''re all familiar with the idea of paladins being the holy knights of a given god. (Or an unholy one--take your pick.) The traditional idea of them is that of straight-laced tea-drinking do-gooders who can't take a joke, ride around on warhorses, and whack things to death with their greatswords or what-have-you. Boring, right?

There is, however, more than one way to skin a cat. The land-bound paladin is one of those ways.

Generally, the future paladin is a child of no particular note. Usually the offspring of a farmer or low-class merchant, she (or he) may show no interest in the world outside the family business, though in many cases there's an early urge to get out and see the surrounding countryside. One thing is universal to all of them, though--affection for the land of their birth, be it cities or countryside. Even before she can walk, the paladin-in-the-making will be in love with the land and everything on it.

Around the onset of puberty (with a very high correlation to menarche in girls), the future paladin will begin to feel certain religious urgings. Her mind might drift during the sowing or reaping of fields. Running water or birdsong might induce a trance in her, leading her to depart her duties and lose herself for hours in the natural world. People-watching rapidly becomes a favorite pasttime for potential paladins who live in cities, who find themselves with a burgeoning (if amorphous) love for the mass of humanity itself.

At this point, if there are druids or other users of natural magic in the area, the paladin inchoate may find herself drawn to them--not to join their order or religion, but to learn from them. This can be very dangerous for all involved if druidism or shamanism is frowned on in the particular setting, but the potential paladin will try anyway--it's an almost inescapable urge.

In areas with a high concentration of organized religion, these beginning champions of the land will usually be found and scooped up a year or so after they first start showing signs of what they will become. Usually, the future land-bound paladin of a city or country is seen by her predecessor in a vision, and chosen by that predecessor to become a squire and trainee in the various combat and social arts required of her position. This is an intense process with little room for failure--paladins of the land need to know a great deal about a lot of things, from statecraft to commanding troops to holy magic, and as they inevitably die in the line of duty, there's only a certain amount of time for instruction.

When there is no organized religion, or the sitting religion doesn't recognize the "heretical" magic associated with land-binding, the paladin-to-be will usually experience fits of religious ecstasy and frequent visions. She'll be instructed through dreams by her dead predecessors, and will often wake feeling as if she hadn't rested at all. Friends and family will undoubtedly begin to notice changes in behavior and personality as the paladin-to-be struggles to understand what's happening and what will be required of her.

In either case, training is both rapid and intense--for when the land's sitting paladin dies, or when the god or goddess decides the paladin-in-training is ready, she will be called upon to sit a vigil and bind herself ritually to the land she is to protect. This is a form of holy blood magic, permanently tying the paladin's blood to the soil and the soil to her blood--so it isn't uncommon that children of paladins will often become paladins themselves!

Note: while the more usual situation is that there's a single land-bound paladin in any given country, there can be many of them with a single champion, or a loose affiliation of paladins who are all bound to the land and support it with their collective lifeforces (see below for more on this).

In situations where there is an organized religion that supports, recognizes, and trains paladins, the "lucky" paladin who ends up bound to the land will also act as a chief advisor to the church elders and any rulers of the country. In the opposite case, where there is no organized religion or the magic of the land is not recognized, the paladin might still become an advisor to the land's rulers, but might also operate as something of a holy vigilante--protecting the land where required, but maybe not always following the rules thereof!

Description:
A land-bound paladin is first and foremost a champion of the land itself. "Land" is something of a fuzzy term--it can refer to a country as large as a continent (though it's rare indeed that you have a SINGLE paladin bound to that much land, but it does happen...) or a single holy city and the surrounding pasturelands. What's important is that a god or goddess has called the paladin to be the guardian of that land.

As such, the paladin is something of a hash between a druid and a holy warrior. He or she has intense sensitivity to the condition of the land, such that its health reflects that of its paladin, and vice versa. The paladin also has an innate appreciation for the resources and people of her land--enough to have an instinctive feel for such things as drinkable water or veins of useful metal, as well as the state of her people and certain magic sites. It's hard to hide things from a land-bound paladin, too, for she'll notice if a hostile army crosses into her area of influence or a great work of black magic is accomplished, just as you or I would be aware of wounds or symptoms of illness.

Her magic is also somewhere between druidic and holy. The combination of natural magics and the blessed power of a god generates a harmonious union of magic of renewal and purification. While most paladins will be more strongly aligned with their religious magic, there are some few "wild" paladins who can ask the land itself to fight for them in cases of dire need, and who are almost like feral things themselves in the fanatical defense of their homes.

It's interesting to note that the larger a parcel of land a paladin is bound to, the more she becomes like the land itself. Paladins bound to a single city retain most of their humanity, though they eventually gain a foresight and patience that seems almost inhuman. A single paladin bound to a continent, though, might become almost deific in terms of her patience and her far-ranging vision--thinking the slow thoughts of mountains in the extreme long-term. In such situations as an entire country or continent needing protection, though, it's more likely you'll have a network of several paladins all bound to the same land, linked through a spiritual bond that also bolsters the health of their country.

Balanced Exorcist

The balanced Exorcist is a very strange class indeed, taking a very strong moral fiber and a strong will, and often some divine intervention as well. A very small, monastic sect of Catholocism, the balanced Exorcists are often seen in the garb of monks or preachers, but usually appear as if they are hiding something. Most of the time, they are.

Balanced Exorcists have found that the most efficient way to expunge evil is to know how it works, and therefore not only be one with God, but keep one side of yourself in evil. Balanced Exorcists, though they are devout followers of God, can often be found in bars, strip clubs, and so forth, dabbling in vices to keep in touch with evil beings.

In most extreme cases, Balanced Exorcists have two burns placed upon their body, typically upon the palms. On the right hand, a cross is burned into their palm, and is blessed with holy water, bestowing the wielder of this cross the power to not only expunge demons, but also to physically harm creatures of evil (vampires, demons, and to a lesser extent werewolves) greater than they would be able to normally. The cross can also heal humans.

On the left palm, which is typically concealed by bandages, a pentagram is burned, which has a variety of functions as well. Elemental magics, such as spells of fire, ice, lightning, and so forth can be cast from this palm, and in addition to this, the Exorcist can absorb demons into himself.

There is a price, however, for absorbing demons, though the relationship can become symbiotic. The presence of a demon within oneself can be maddening, and the absorption of more demons can do something very strange indeed. Instead of multiple demons, it seems that in every case of a multiple-demon absorption, the demons seem to merge with one another within the Exorcist, creating a demon conglomerate. However most Exorcists cannot handle more than one demon within them; to exceed this usually drives the Exorcist mad and can literally rip him to pieces.

Of course the symbiotic side of this relationship is that in exchange for always having to compete with the demon's own will, the Exorcist can assume the form and traits of the demon within him, or in some cases the forms of the demons within him.

But note that not only are these Exorcists very difficult to find, they are small in number, due in part to the decline of the church, and due to the decline in moral fiber of humanity itself.