Kitbashed Classes

Paladins (First Edition AD&D)

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© Daniel S. Wall, October 17, 2026.

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What follows is an alternative approach to Paladins in first edition, Dungeons and Dragons.  The original rules for AD&D included only the straight forwards, Lawgul version of a Paladin, but Dragon Magazine published a Chaotic Evil class called the Anti-Paladin, thus creating a class that was diametrically opposed to the standard Paladin in nearly every respect. That works, of course, but my fiends and I had another approach. At our game tables, the Anti-Paladin was Lawful Evil. Eventually, we added a third option, called a Keeper, which was Lawful Neutral. In the end, we had a game system featuring 3 different orders of knights, each of them highly honorable, but each is very different in their regard for others and the greater causes they choose to serve.

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Paladin: Here, we follow the rules as written.

Anti-Paladin: Here we reverse most of the abilities of a Paladin, or at least those with an obvious moral dimension. The benefits of being a Paladin are modified as follows:

  • Detect Evil becomes Detect Good.
  • Saving throws are the same.
  • Immunity to disease works the same.
  • Laying on hands causes damage instead of healing it.
  • The ability to cure disease now becomes the ability to cause disease.
  • The emanation of Protection becomes Protection from Good.
  • The ability to affect undead, demons and devils gained at 3rd level now works much as it would for an evil cleric, albeit done at the reduced levels of a Paladin.
  • The war horse of an Anti-Paladin works pretty much the same, except for perhaps the flavor of the horse.
  • Instead of a Holy Avenger, an Anti-Paladin gets an Unholy Raver. (This is a +2 sword, +5 in the hands of an Anti-Paladin. Its magic resistance works the same, and the +10 applies to Chaotic Good opponents.)
  • Cleric spells work the same, albeit as one might expect for an evil Cleric.

Everything else works pretty much the same.

Keeper: Here we divide some of the abilities of a Paladin into helpful and harmful variations, while redirecting the moral dimensions of the Paladin towards supporting law and fighting chaos. The benefits of being a Paladin are modified as follows:

  • Detect Evil becomes Detect Chaos.
  • Saving throws are the same.
  • Immunity to disease works the same.
  • A Keeper may lay hands on for either healing or causing damage. She may use each once per day.
  • A Keeper may cause or cure disease. The number of times she may use this ability per day remains the same, but she has the option to do either at her discretion.
  • The emanation of Protection becomes Protection from Chaos.
  • The ability to affect undead, demons and devils gained at 3rd level now works much as it would for a lawful neutral cleric, albeit done at the reduced levels of a Paladin.
  • The war horse of a Keeper works pretty much the same, except for perhaps the flavor of the horse.
  • Instead of a Holy Avenger, A Keeper gets an Sword of Law. (This is a +2 sword, +5 in the hands of a Keeper. Its magic resistance works the same, and the +10 applies to Chaotic Neutral opponents.)
  • Cleric spells work the same, albeit as one might expect for an Lawful Cleric.

Everything else works pretty much the same.

Note that the Keeper gets a net benefit in the extra laying on of hands per day as well as the option to cure or cause disease, but this is offset by the decreased relevance of her powers to confront chaos. Simply put, dedicated good and evil powers are more prevalent than those of strong lawful or chaotic presence, so the combat abilities of a keeper are less likely to come into play. The extra chances of using her ability to lay on hands or cure/cause disease is at best a partial compensation for this.

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Honorable Combat: This approach to Paladins and Paladin variant works a little better if one enhances the honor codes of each. Of course, first edition approaches to alignment, and in particular the alignment if Paladins, can be frustrating for some players, but the significance of the class is brought out more when Paladins (and Paladin variations) can be expected to fight honorably, at least in certain circumstances. I suggest the following:

Paladins and their variations will try to attack opponents from the front and not by surprise. If possible, they will allow fallen enemies to get back to their feet or to retrieve a lost weapon before attacking them. Finally, they will not gang up on a known opponent of comparable status. This is not about goodness; it is about honor. All of these classes expect to win their fights honorably. One might be more likely to spare a fallen opponent, and another might slay him or even reduce him to slavery, but they will want to win the fight with honor.

Note that these expectations need not be taken to the point of caricature. The honor these characters uphold means they will give an opponent a chance; it does not mean they will stand idly by while an active enemy ignores them. Less sentient creatures need not be treated with such respect. This includes many undead or golems as well as animals. Some creatures, such as a dragon, might be thought to be something of a group project, so ganging up on them will be fine, and fighting in a general melee will not raise much of an issue, at least not until a Paladin variation finds herself with several allies against a single opponent.

It is not necessarily a good idea to change the alignment of a Paladin and take away her class benefits simply because she fails to fight as honorably as a GM expects, but lesser punishments such as diminished use of abilities for a day or two may be enough to indicate that she is slipping out of grace with her god. Better yet, rewards through the church and its leadership may provide a reward for a Paladin (or a Paladin variant) that fights honorably, and this spreads the glory of her cause.

 

Samurai

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What follows is a simple means of giving Samurai a distinctive presence in a first edition D&D campaign. This is what my friends and I were doing back in the early 1980s. Somewhere in there Dragon Magazine started publishing their own Samurai class, but we preferred this rather simple modification to the standard fighter classes. I present it here in the hopes that some folks interested in the old school style of gaming may also find it useful.

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So, how do you make a Samurai?

  • Start with any of the known fighter classes (Fighter, Ranger, or Paladin). They get all the standard features of the chosen class.

 

  • Add 10% to the x.p. cost of the class, or if the character qualifies for a bonus of 10% to their experience points, then just ignore that and run the character using the base x.p. cost. This is to offset the extra ability they get for being a Samurai.

 

  • A Samurai can sever an extremity (leg, head, ar, tail, etc.) with a Katana much as if she were wielding a sword of sharpness. This happens under two conditions:

 

  • She must beat the actual AC with her attack by 5 or more points on the attack roll when fully adjusted for abilities and tactical circumstances.

 

  • The natural die roll must meet the minimum score necessary for their level when measured against the nature of their target (see below).

When a Samurai satisfies this function, she may choose to apply it or not as she sees fit, but she has no control over the extremity to be severed if she goes through with it. The extremity itself is rolled randomly by the GM, using only the limbs a Samurai could reasonably reach with her sword. If a Samurai is doing a called shot, then both effects may apply if and only if there is no contradiction. Otherwise, the Samurai must choose between her called shot and the severing of an extremity.

If wielding a katana of Sharpness, the Samurai simply adds one to the chance of success with its sharpness function, or (if this would work better against a given target), she adds 1 to the chance designated below when using  katana of sharpness.

Vorpral swords work normally. Their functions do not interact with this ability in any significant manner.

To determine the minimum roll needed to sever an extremity, consult the chart below.  Armor classes listed should be read as meaning the

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Character Level 1-4: Severs an extremity from a normal (man-sized) target on a natural roll of 20. Does not sever the extremities of armored opponents at all at this level, nor those of Larger than man-sized opponents or those made of solid metal or stone.

Character Level 5-8: Severs an extremity from a normal (man-sized target) on a natural roll of 19-20. Severs an extremity from an armored opponent on a natural roll of 20. Does not sever the extremities of Larger than man-sized opponents or those made of solid metal or stone.

Character Level 9-12: Severs an extremity from a normal (man-sized target) on a natural roll of 18-20. Severs an extremity from an armored opponent on a natural roll of 19-20. Severs an extremity from a larger than man-sized opponent on a natural roll of 20. Does not sever the extremities of solid metal or stone.

Character Level 13+: Severs an extremity from a normal (man-sized target) on a natural roll of 17-20. Severs an extremity from an armored opponent on a natural roll of 18- 20. Severs an extremity from a larger than man-sized opponent on a natural roll of 19- 20. Severs an extremity from solid metal or stone opponent on a natural roll of 20.

 

Bounty Hunter

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How would you make a Bounty Hunter in First Edition D&D?

Well, my old players and I had a pretty simple approach. It woks like this.

Run the character as a Multiclassed Ranger-Assassin. This of course violates the rule that an assassin has to be evil and a Ranger has to be good, but that’s okay. A Bounty Hunter has his own mindset.

As to alignment, the Ninja can be true Neutral or Lawful Evil.

We didn’t really think of this as one character combining two different skill sets. We thought of it as one skill set that simply tracked through the rules system as two different classes.

That’s it.

Ninja (D&D, First Edition)

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How do you make a ninja in first edition D&D?

Well, as I recall, Dragon Magazine published something to that effect a time or two, but my own friends and I found it preferred our own version cobbled together from conventional classes out of the Player’s Handbook. We just had to tweak a few core rules, but the essential concept was simple.

Run the character as a Multiclassed Monk-Assassin. This of course ignores either the rule saying that Monks have to be human or the rule that only other races can be multi-classed. I guess, you could ignore both, but you have to ignore at least one of them to do this. My preference is to say Ninjas have to be human, but that this specific combination is allowed.

We didn’t really think of this as one character combining two different skill sets. We thought of it as one skill set that simply tracked through the rules system as two different classes.

As to alignment, the Ninja can be true Neutral or Lawful Evil.

Any weapons appropriate to ninjas are automatically allowed.

That’s it.