D&D: Evolution of Class and Race Over Time

OD&D (1974-1977)

Races (5)	Classes (8)
Man	Fighting Man
Elf	Magic-User
Dwarf	Cleric
Hobbit	+Thief
+Half-Elf	+Paladin
	+Monk
	+Assassin
	+Druid

Original D&D offered only 4 races and 3 classes, and quickly added one race, one class and 4 sub-classes. This brought the total to 5 races and 8 classes.

AD&D (1978-1987)

Races (7+3)	Classes (12+2)
Dwarf	Cleric
Elf	Druid
Gnome	Fighter
Half-Elf	Ranger
Halfling	Paladin
Half-Orc	Magic-User
Human	Illusionist
+Drow	Thief
+Duergar	Assassin
+Svirfneblin	Monk
	(Bard)
	+Barbarian
	+Cavalier
	+(Thief-Acrobat)

Advanced D&D added in all the iconic races and classes known in the game today. Gnomes and Half-Orcs were added to the race list, bringing the total to 7 races. Unearthed Arcana added in sub-race types, some of which qualified as separate races due to their strange and unique powers (drow, duergar, svirfneblin). Rangers and Illusionists were added to the class list, as well as bards, the first known “prestige” class which required dual-classing to qualify. Unearthed Arcana added in the barbarian and cavalier classes (making paladins now a sub-class of cavalier) and the thief-acrobat specialization class (also a “prestige” class). All totaled, this brought the number of playable races to 10 (including the underdark versions) and playable classes to 14 (including “prestige” type classes).

B/X or BECMI D&D (1980-1994)

Classes (7)

Cleric

Fighter

Magic-User

Thief

Dwarf

Elf

Halfling

Basic/Expert D&D brought the number of classes back to a manageable level. The iconic core classes were retained and all the sub-classes removed. All classes were meant to be Humans. If one wanted to play a demi-human, then they chose that as their class and advanced as the typical demi-human type for their race. This meant that all dwarves were essentially fighters, all elves were fighter/magic-users, and all halflings were sneaky fighters. All told there were 0 races and 7 classes.

AD&D 2^nd Edition (1988-1999)

Races (6)	Classes (4 or 9)
Dwarf	Priest (cleric, druid or specialty priest)
Elf	Warrior (fighter, paladin, ranger)
Gnome	Mage (wizard, specialist mage)
Half-Elf	Rogue (thief, bard)
Halfling
Human

2^nd Edition AD&D removed the Half-Orc from the race list and reduced the number of classes available by removing monk and assassin. Base classes had generic versions still (cleric, fighter, wizard, and thief) and sub-classes were more like specialized versions of core classes. The druid was removed as a “class” and relegated to the “specialty priest” category, and the same was done to illusionists as “specialist mages.” Therefore, there were only 6 races and 9 specific classes to choose from, but specialization allowed for a wide range of variation.

D&D 3E (2000-2008)

Races (7)	Classes (11)
Dwarf	Barbarian
Elf	Bard
Gnome	Cleric
Half-Elf	Druid
Halfling	Fighter
Half-Orc	Monk
Human	Paladin
	Ranger
	Rogue
	Sorcerer
	Wizard

3^rd Edition D&D was a step away from the Advanced D&D set-up perfected in the 1970s. The core races were reset to the same number and types as found in the original Player’s Handbook but the classes were tweaked to more resemble those of 2^nd edition, with the addition of the Sorcerer and Barbarian as actual core classes. This version of the game provides for 7 core races and 11 core classes. The major change was allowing all races to be all classes with unlimited level advancement. Many more races and classes were later added in to the core classes making this the edition with the most race and class options available to the players.

D&D 4E (2009-2013)

Races (8)	Classes (8)
Dragonborn	Cleric
Dwarf	Fighter
Eladrin	Paladin
Elf	Ranger
Half-Elf	Rogue
Halfling	Warlock
Human	Warlord
Tiefling	Wizard

It seems that the core classes and races were normalized in 4^th edition D&D. Some of the weaker classes were removed and replaced with combination classes that allowed for more customization. The removed classes were later restored in supplement materials, as were the missing gnomes and half-orcs. There were 8 races and 8 classes offered in the Player’s Handbook of this version.

D&D 5E (2014+)

Races (9)	Classes (12)
Dragonborn	Barbarian
Dwarf	Bard
Elf	Cleric
Gnome	Druid
Half-Elf	Fighter
Halfling	Monk
Half-Orc	Paladin
Human	Ranger
Tiefling	Rogue
	Sorcerer
	Warlock
	Wizard

The current version of the game has returned to the base races plus two races introduced in the 3^rd edition – namely the dragonborn and the tiefling. Some of the iconic classes of previous versions return along with the Warlock, first introduced as an alternate class in 3.5E and established as a core class in 4E. This brings the race total to 9 and the class total to 12. Undoubtedly there will be sourcebooks to increase this number over the next few years.

So technically speaking, there are as many classes in 1^st edition as there are in 5^th edition. There are also roughly the same number of races, although those races are quite different. Race and class have been increased and decreased over the years, with those preferring minimal numbers tending to like 2^nd edition and B/X D&D rules. Those who prefer more options tend to like 3^rd and 4^th edition when the numbers of both class and race increased dramatically. This is probably also due to the mechanic of assigning ability scores to all monsters. By defining these creatures in character terms instead of a monster stat block it opens the door for mixing and matching monsters and races. I do prefer allowing this for humanoids since this was begun in 1^st edition with shamans and witchdoctors for humanoids. Having a definable rule about which monsters can BE races and having them advance by character rules makes more sense to me. Other monsters, like dragons for example, should not have actual classes like characters.

I would like to see an edition where the 1^st edition AD&D rules are adapted with some of the later rules to make a more cohesive ruleset without losing the flavor of 1^st edition. For example, all those creatures listed in Deities & Demigods as having a deity should have clerics of those deities. Magic-using races should have spellcasting abilities. Humanoids should have clerics, magic-users, fighters, and thieves just like humans and demi-humans, as well as their own class level limits based on ability scores. We already know the average Strength scores of these creatures, as well as Intelligence ranges. Most, if not all, the humanoids would have higher levels in fighter than cleric or magic-user, and some might even be unlimited in thief (goblins, kobolds, bugbears, to name a few). I doubt that many would have access to sub-classes, although I would like to think that satyrs and centaurs could be rangers or druids and orcs and hobgoblins could be assassins. A monk would remain a strictly human class. Paladin is not a class suitable for any of the humanoids in the Monster Manual. I’m not against allowing unlimited advancement for demi-humans either, although I would only allow XP bonuses for high ability scores to humans in this case.