General Setting Outline and Classes

What do I want the setting to be like?

First things first, it should probably have a name. I'm very bad at thinking of names for things, but let's call it Carolingia, after the time period and places it emulates, for now. Hopefully I'll come up with a better name at some point. Anyways, Carolingia is based on Europe, mostly Northern and Western, in 840 CE. It's a fascinating period. Emperor Louis the Pious, son of the legendary Charlemagne, has just died, and his sons tear the empire apart in civil war. The Carolingians and the Byzantines dispute the title of Roman Emperor. There's fighting on all the borders of the empire, with the Umayyads in Iberia, the Byzantines and Lombards in Italy, the Slavs and Avars in Slovenia, Bavaria, Bohemia, and Germany, the Danes and Norse in Frisia, Francia, and Aquitaine. Outside the empire, the British Isles are also heavily raided by the Vikings, with both Scotland and Ireland being settled invaded in force. The Vikings, of course, are not entirely destructive. In Central and Eastern Europe, they establish trading posts, and begin to exert control over the river networks of what would later be Russia and the Ukraine.

Now, of course, I don't want to just directly mimic real life but with magic thrown in. That would be boring, and wouldn't make any sense. My goal is to capture the feeling of all these fascinating events and put that feeling into a weird, magical setting. Fantasy with longships and chain hauberks, with shield walls and bearded axes, with hewing spears and reasonable early feudalism, not your generic plate armor and monarchical capitalism thinly disguised as feudalism.

What elements of Early Medieval history create this feeling?

Of course, the technology level and political organizations of the period certainly help, but there's definitely more to it. A big part of the vibe is the plethora of competing tribes and cultures, as well as religions. There's the outwards pressure of Christianity against the various pagan religions, balanced with the inwards pressure of Christianity against itself (the pressures that would later lead to the Great Schism and far later the Protestant Reformation). No, I'm not going to put Christianity into the setting, but religion is going to be a huge part of it, one that will certainly have many other posts. Culturally, you have the Franks, the Lombards, the Visigoths, the Moors, the Burgundians, the Bavarians, the Avars, the myriad Slavs (Obotritites, Bohemians, Moravians, Poles, and on ad nauseum), the Saxons, the Frisians, the Danes, the Norse, the Swedes, the Geats, the Angles, the Jutes, the Saxons, the Cornish and Welsh, the Cumbrians, the Picts and Scots, the Irish, the Bretons, and I'm likely missing a few, all jostling and mixing and fighting. All of this is underlain by a backdrop of deeply felt history. There's only one empire, and that is the Roman Empire. If you call yourself an emperor, you are claiming to be *the* Roman Emperor. This is why Charlemagne (Charles the Great, if you prefer) was such a big fucking deal - the pope, the ultimate Christian authority, crowned him, thereby delegitimizing Empress Irene of Athens, which the Byzantines were not happy about in the slightest.

Religion

Religion is a huge part of what made the Early Middle Ages like what they were like. I'm not going to just make generic fantasy Catholicism but polytheistic #27, nor am I just going to port Christianity over. Instead, I realized that while a lot of medieval ideals are based in Christianity, a lot of them are also holdovers from pre-Christianity Rome. So the main religion is going to be similar to Roman polytheism, and I'm going to do my best to make it feel like genuine polytheism, not like what fantasy seems to think polytheism should be like. As far as other religions, I have a fond spot in my heart for D&D druids, despite them not really making sense as a religion, so there will be something sorta like that, either as the religion of the Slav-like people, or as a hidden cult in the main religion's area. I think the Viking-like people may be more monotheistic, or maybe something like Zoroastrianism (bi-theism, I guess).

Classes

With more general setting stuff out of the way, what classes are there going to be? This is going to largely leave mechanics out of the way and just talk about flavor and such. There are 8 classes I'm thinking of, four non-magical and four magical: the fighter, the cavalier, the scout, the specialist, the wizard, the witch, the chanter, and the priest.

The Fighter (d8 Hit Dice, d10 Damage Dice)

The fighter is pretty standard. They are the best class at using weapons on foot, and tend to be good leaders of men. Historical examples would be Alfred the Great, Brian Boru, Cnut the Great, Hastein of Nantes, Harold Godwineson, Harald Hardrada, Hrolfr/Rollo, Ragnar Loðbrok, Richard the Lionheart, Rorik of Dorestad, Sigurd Ring, Stephen of Blois, basically any great warrior and leader of a people who fought primarily on foot (there's a lot).

The Cavalier (d8 Hit Dice, d10 Damage Dice)

The cavalier is basically equivalent to the fighter, but focusing on horseback combat. The utility of this class is of course going to vary depending on what the campaign is about and how much time you spend underground, but they're still pretty good at fighting at foot. They're also just as good as fighters at leadership. Again, pretty basic. Historical examples are Charles Martel, Charlemagne, the 12 Paladins/Peers, William the Conqueror, Odo of Bayeux, and any other great warrior and leader of a people who fought primarily on horseback (there's also a lot). Horse archers probably won't be included in this class, because they are quite different from other cavalry, and will get their own class if I ever have to use this setting in a more easterly part of the world. Also, as an interesting side note, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are primarily based on Charlemagne and the 12 Paladins.

The Scout (d8 Hit Dice, d8 Damage Dice)

The scout has somewhat less basis in reality than the previous classes, but I feel it fills an important RPG role. It's a lot like a ranger or a hunter, with a little rogue/specialist thrown in. They're good in the wilderness in general, in their favored area/terrain in specific, and good at tracking and scouting. They're pretty good at fighting, and don't have spells. The only historical example I can think of is Hereward the Wake, with a favored area of the marshes of Ely, but this type of person probably existed and were just a lot less renowned than the fighters and cavaliers. Robin Hood (himself inspired by Hereward the Wake) is a fictional example of the kind of person I'm thinking of, with his favored area being Sherwood Forest.

The Specialist (d6 Hit Dice, d8 Damage Dice)

The specialist is definitely the non-magical class with the least basis in reality - it's mostly inspired by the LotFP Specialist. Basically, they have a lot of skills they can pick from and be really good at, including stabbing people in the back.

The Wizard (d4 Hit Dice, d6 Damage Dice)

Wizards are inspired by both the classic D&D wizard and medieval wizards/witches/sorcerers who gained powers from dealing with spirits and ungodly powers. They summon spirits and bind them into spells to be cast when they wish, as well as binding spirits into scrolls, wands, and other items to produce magical effects. Their casting ability is based in their Intelligence, their ability to create the complex rituals needed to summon and bind spells, and in their Charisma, their ability to impose their will upon the world. There are general wizard spells which are from more general easily-summoned spirits, but most wizards will also specialize in a specific kind of spirit (devils, fey, star-spawn, human souls, etc).

The Witch (d4 Hit Dice, d6 Damage Dice)

Witches are not just female wizards. They are people who empathize so strongly with the world that they can change it with focus and thought. They also tend to be skilled herbalists and potion-brewers. Since their magic doesn't involve spirits or summoning, it is less taboo than wizardry - but they have no less potential for dark and evil magic. Their casting ability is based in their Wisdom, their ability to empathize and connect with the world, and their Charisma, their ability to change the shape of the world to fit their vision.

The Chanter (d4 Hit Dice, d6 Damage Dice)

Chanters are the collective memory of a society. They know the myths, the legends, the epics, and they share them where a book could not, for both books and reading are expensive. The tales they tell are vested with power, and they know arcane words and chants of magic. Their casting ability is based in their Intelligence - remembering so many long poems and mystic chants is no easy feat - and their Charisma, their ability to lie to the world and have it believe them. Chanters are mostly inspired by A Wizard of Earthsea and its epic poems, as well as various other epic poems (Beowulf, the Icelandic sagas, Tolkien's lays, and of course the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid).

The Priest (d6 Hit Dice, d6 Damage Dice)

The priest is not your standard cleric with their daily prepared spells and turn undead. In fact, they can't even cast spells in the usual sense. They don't even have a monopoly on divine miracles. Anybody can sacrifice to any god and hope that god helps them out. Priests are special in two ways: Firstly, while they still worship all gods of their pantheon (Atalanta found out the hard way that you can't neglect the gods, or they will fuck you over), they are specifically devoted to one. Their miracles from this god are more potent, the aid more likely to come. They are initiated into the mysteries and cult of that god. Secondly, they are diviners. A haruspice, an augur, an oracle, anything of that sort. The gods do upon occasion give omens to normal folk, but you are blessed with many and trained in their interpretation. Your most relevant ability is Wisdom, your ability to connect to the gods and truly interpret their omens.