Kit

Kits are a mechanical function for classes introduced in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

A kit can be summarized as a "sub-class" or a "class variant"; a way to take a specific class, such as a Fighter, Wizard or Rogue and to redefine its skills abilities to better fit a specific archetype. For example, an Anatomist Necromancer who is capable of surgically healing living beings and crafting flesh & bone golems, or a Blade Bard who fits the role of the Swashbuckler as defined by Eric Flynn.

Kits always have special, additional requirements in order to enter them. At the same time, they give special advantages and disadvantages that build onto those of the existing base class.

Kits were abandoned as a mechanic when Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition was released by Wizards of the Coast. Although Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition began to retouch upon their basic concept with the idea of built-in variant class features, the truest homage to the mechanic was done by Pathfinder, which introduced the Archetype system for its classes. Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition followed in Pathfinder's footsteps and actually made kits core, to the extent all classes now have to choose from a number of kits that is slowly growing with the release of Unearthed Arcanas. They are now class features though, rather than specializations that lock out other options.

List of Kits

Racial

• Dwarven Defender - Dwarf-exclusive fighter kit. Gets boosted hit dice, damage reduction, and a powerful defensive stance, all in exchange for not being able to put more than two points in non-axe/warhammer weapons and capped at four for those. Generally reckoned to be broken as shit in the hands of a halfway-competent character.

Bard

• Blade - Stabby bard. Gets some cool stances, but not good at the theif-y side of barding, and has a lower Lore.

• Skald - Heavy metal bard. Good at fighting and pumps up party with metal ballads, but even more shit at thieving than the blade.

• Jester - Uses music to inflict nasty status effects and penalties on enemies instead of buffing allies.

Druid

• Totemic Druid - Trades in shapeshifting for ability to summon spirit animals. Busted solid at lower levels by virtue of magic weapons being a hell of a lot rarer back in the day, and being able to call up creatures immune to non-magical weapons. By the time they fall off, the class is already starting to fall off a bit anyway.

Fighter

• Berserker - Barbarians before the class got fully introduced. Just get damage, AC, and hit-point bonuses rather than actual stat bonuses when they berserk out, but also gain very-useful immunity to many nasty conditions at the same time.

• Kensei - Monk-style fighters. Can't use armor, shields, or missile weapons, but get natural AC bonuses, boosts to THAC0 and speed factor, and a special damage-maxing Kai ability. Attract would be spellcaster dual-classers like diabetic piss attracts ants, since they don't lose out on armor when they get their fighter powers back.

• Wizard Slayer - Trades in ability to use any magic items but weapons, armor, and healing/recovery potions in exchange for magic resistance and boosted ability to inflict spell-failure chance when they hit. Can be very useful, but boring as shit to play if you like magic items and looking for fun loot.

Monk

• Dark Moon Monk - Locked to lawful evil. Trades in stunning fist and lay on hands for thief-style illusion spotting, icy fists, and a set of defensive illusion spells (and vampiric touch).

• Sun Soul Monk - Locked to lawful good. Trades in stunning fist and quivering palm powers for the ability to fire a wide array of solar-powered soul-lasers, DBZ-style, that fry undead, and to wreath his fists in holy fire.

Paladin

• Blackguard - Famed evil paladin, with evil versions of most of their powers. Practically a class unto itself, really, which might be why later editions just up and made it one.

• Cavalier - Can't use ranged weapons, but gain bonuses to hit and damage against demons and dragons, resistance to fire and acid, a nice pile of immunities and the ability to inspire allies. A huge source of inspiration for the 3rd edition base class and up, really.

• Inquisitor - Can use true sight and a supercharged dispel magic (at twice their level and speed factor one, which is incredible) a buncha times per day and are immune to charm and hold spells, but the price of being an unstoppable mage-slaughtering maniac is giving up most vanilla paladin powers, like lay on hands, priest spells, and turning undead.

• Undead Hunter - Good at killing undead (what gave it away?) and are immune to holds and level drains for the low-low price of their lay on hands power.

Ranger

• Archer - Trades in any armor above light, Charm Animal, and the ability to put more than one point into any melee weapons for absolute missile supremacy, able to put an otherwise fighter-exclusive five proficiency points into bows, get a scaling hit-and-damage bonus with them, and make called shots.

• Beast Master - Druid-y. Can't wield metal weapons or armor, but can summon animals to fight for them and gets some boosts to stealth.

• Stalker - Gets some nice wizard spells on their list and thief-style backstabbing and stealth in exchange for their heavier armor proficiencies.

Rogue

• Assassin - Trades in thief skills for backstab supremacy and poison use.

• Bounty Hunter - Ditto, but gets skill with setting traps instead.

• Swashbuckler - Trades in all backstabbing to be a fighter-lite, with scaling bonuses to hitting, damaging, and AC, eventually surpassing even the fighter if not for their thief-hit points and inability to specialize in weapons. Also a popular choice for dual-classers looking to make a mage with melee punch.

• Shadowdancer - Alignment-restricted to non-lawful, and loses out on thief skills and backstabbing in favor of saving throws, stealth, and a short-range teleport through shadows.

Sorcerer

• Dragon Disciple - Loses out on one spell per level per day in exchange for: boosted hit dice, resistance to one element that scales to immunity, boosts to AC and the Constitution stat, and a breath weapon. Unfortunately, losing that spell still hurts like a sonofabitch.

Wizard

Necromancer

The Necromancer is such a strongly iconic form of wizardry that it got its own handbook for 2e, and with it came a selection of specialized necromancer kits.

• Archetypal Necromancer - This is your iconic evil necromancer, the degenerate wizard who masters the black arts for the sake of perversion and destruction. Naturally, it requires any Evil character alignment, it has a slightly elevated affinity for weapons, and it taps into the otherwise optional rules about Dark Blessings (unique special powers like mundane weapon immunity, regeneration, shadow form, etc) and Fell Prices (curses, deformities, madness and incurable diseases) from the same handbook, gaining 1d3 Dark Blessings and at least as many Fell Prices.

• Anatomist - This kind of necromancer dabbles in the dark arts more for the opportunities it offers for understanding how the human body works. An anatomist is more lethal in melee with cutting implements, gaining free Specialization (Dagger) and the ability to wield cutlasses and shortswords. They are much more effective at surgery, which translates to increased proficiency with the Healing skill, and can use the unique Autopsy skill to examine bodies for information. As a drawback, they have to do at least one dissection of a humanoid corpse a month or lose their special surgical skills until they catch up on their practice.

• Deathslayer - Believing heavily in the adage "know thy enemy", the deathslayer is a warrior-wizard who studies necromancy solely for increased aptitude in killing the undead. Consequently, they need Strength 13 in addition to Intelligence 9 and Wisdom 16 to qualify for the kit, and have special traits that make them much more powerful against a specific kind of "higher" undead (ghost, vampire, spectre, mummy, lich or banshee). The drawback is that their compulsion to kill the undead is so strong it functions as an irreversible geas effect.

• Philosopher - The philosopher doesn't give a damn about the moral implications of necromancy and other black arts; their all-consuming hunger is to learn, study and understand dark magic, making them a theoretician of the occult and skilled, if unnerving, sages in the fields of dark lore. Consequently, philosopher-necromancers have a minimum Int requirement of 14 instead of 9, and must be a neutral and non-good (so Neutral Evil or L/T/C Neutral) alignment. Their advanced knowledge makes them potentially capable of instantly knowing anything relating to the topics of necromancy, necromantic items and the netherworlds (lower planes), advanced proficiency at learning necromantic skills, and an increased likelihood of having psionic wild talents. The drawback? Increased likelihood of being insane and a high penalty to learning any non-necromancy spells.

• Undead Master - The other sort of archetypal necromancer, this is a black mage whose obsession is with mastery and control, driving them to enslave the dead, the damned and the living for the sake of their own glory and ego. Restricted to the Neutral and Evil alignments, Undead Masters have access to the Enchantment school of spells (normally forbidden to necromancers) and can command and bind undead, fiends and extraplanar creatures as if they were necromancers. The downside is that they're much less adept at defending themselves (restricted to proficiency in only one wizard weapon) and their proficiency with Necromancy, Conjuration and Enchantment prevents them from using the Alteration, Illusion and Divination schools of spellcraft.