Classes of D&D 5e and Ravenloft

[Hell_Born]

Okay, I'm not really sure how to open this topic... Basically, one of the things I loved about the Ravenloft Gazetteers was the sidebar for each domain's resident hero, which talked about the races, classes and other traits it recommended to play a native hero. So, I was thinking of putting together an article examining how each of the current 5e classes and its variants might be disseminated throughout the Demiplane of Dread. I may just have a faulty memory, but I don't recall the current Ravenloft 5e netbook having such a thing as part of its content.

Beyond my need to find out if such a thing is redundant, I wanted to be sure that such a thing would be welcome here. I'm not intending to give away any mechanics as part of this project, it's strictly fluff ("Fighters are ubiquitous throughout the Demiplane, but Eldritch Knights are rare and are found here, here and here for reasons X, Y and Z" type profiling), but still, I wanted to be sure I wouldn't be breaking any rules by making this.

I was hoping to put this article/guidebook together as a submission for this year's Quoth the Raven, but I figured I'd start by doing it openly in public, so people can call me on any mistakes I make or debate about decisions - for example, if I suggest Bladesingers and/or Eldritch Knights could be found in Die Kaiserriech, I want to give that article's author the chance to call me out on that being totally wrong to even suggest.

[Dion of the Fraternity]

My suggestion is to keep the crunch to a bare minimum. Fifth Edition is about minimizing rules bloat; in the spirit of such, I suggest you do the same.

[alhoon]

I would respectfully disagree. 5E is about "do what you want, here's some tools" not about avoiding the rules bloat.
The system can totally support a myriad of rules and complications if you're so inclined.

Things like: If you get more than your constitution score in damage from a single blow, roll a constitution save with DC =5 + square root of the damage you took rounded down. If you succeed and have advantage for some reason, you don't suffer any penalties. If you fail and have advantage, you suffer a -1 to attack rolls. If you fail don't have advantage, you suffer that -1 to attack rolls and also take 1 hp/round until you or someone else spends an action to close the wound with a successful wisdom (medicine) check with DC 12 etc.

Obviously, nobody without a computer would make such a convoluted and complex rule. But you can. And the rules remind you all the time that you can.

Really, it's about making it as complex as you like while they provide you with basics and a give you hints on how to own the system and make it work for you.

[Ender]

I tend to agree with Alhoon, here, with a caveat: 5E has a heavy focus on DM empowerment and giving them the freedom to mess around with the system how they want. It's geared toward customization and innovation. BUT! The rules we're presented with show a clear design philosophy. Namely, simplicity is king. The rules have been structured to reduce a lot of calculation and hassle. The simpler, the better. If it looks like it's getting too complex, the rules will often be left open to a bit of DM interpretation... and that's by design. So in a way, it's made so the DM can create to his heart's content, but it maybe suggests that the DM not clutter things up too much. So my advice for designing mechanics would be this: do it and have fun with it! But (and this might be apparent from my participation in other threads), one might benefit from not straying too far from the way 5E likes to handle things.

Of course, this isn't actually what you asked about. You were asking about tying fluff to mechanics. Essentially, if I understand you, the question is how interested would we be in something like what the back of the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide did for non-Forgotten Realms settings. It gave you ideas for how to use the FR-specific material in Eberron, Dragonlance, and Greyhawk. You want to do the same kind of thing for Ravenloft. I think that's a great idea!

On a related note, would anyone be interested in an index of 5E Ravenloft content on these forums? We've got Jester's big work and then a handful of disparate threads and posts about other additions. It might be nice to be able to find them all from one place.

[Hell_Born]

Of course, this isn't actually what you asked about. You were asking about tying fluff to mechanics. Essentially, if I understand you, the question is how interested would we be in something like what the back of the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide did for non-Forgotten Realms settings. It gave you ideas for how to use the FR-specific material in Eberron, Dragonlance, and Greyhawk. You want to do the same kind of thing for Ravenloft. I think that's a great idea!

That is. essentially what I had in mind, I think.

Basically, in the Ravenloft Gazetteers, every domain has a sidebar called The (Domain-Native) Hero, which examines the likely races, classes, skills, feats, etc that a native PC from this domain could believably have. This is a tradition that the Fraternity's Survey's have continued - for example, this is the Souragne Hero's Class section:

Fighters and Rogues are the most common PC classes in Souragne. Fighters and rogues can be found in all corners of the domain, with rogues being especially common in the cities. NPCs mostly use Commoners, but also Experts classes.
In Souragne, the clerics are less numerous than voodan (DT&DL), and they are mostly devoted to Ezra. Voodans receive the highest degree of respect and deference, but anchorites are looked at favourably too most of the time. Due to the ban on arcane magic, sorcerers and wizards are very rarely encountered and they keep their skills hidden. Barbarians and monks are virtually unknown.
Rangers and druids are uncommon, but their skills in the swamp are highly valued as skilled hunters and fishermen. Bards are uncommon in Souragne since the class is believed to be parasitic; most artists and musicians in the domain are experts, with more down to earth profession skills as well.
Noble born often have a few levels in Aristocrat, as well as another class, often Fighter (Pistoleer) or Expert.

What I started out trying to do was to list up all the classes and their sub-classes, both from sourcebooks and, where applicable, from Unearthed Arcanas (so official playtest stuff, like the Skald Bard, Deep Stalker Ranger or Undying Light Warlock) and figure out "okay, which domains are these classes likely to come from? Why would they come from there?"

I really don't know why all of you have been going on about mechanics. I haven't been talking about anything crunch-related at all. it just came out of nowhere to me.


In fact, since I managed to get my materials together to draft the Barbarian entry last night, here's how it looks, so it hopefully clears up what I'm actually doing:

Barbarian
Wild and unconventional, barbarians are stereotyped as hailing from the more primal lands in the Realms of Dread. But barbarians come in many forms, and so can easily hail from particularly war-torn or militant domains as well. An unhinged Falkovnian soldier whose physical need to spill blood outweighs concern for his own life or a viciously brutal thug from the lawless streets of Nova Vaasa's cities is as much a barbarian as any woad-smeared claymore-waving Forfarian berserker.

Battlerager
Battleragers are a particular minority even amongst the ranks of barbarians in the Lands of Mist; the particular cultural zeitgeist needed to fashion them is extremely uncommon in the domains, either of the Core or elsewhere. Native battleragers are not restricted to being dwarves, as native dwarves do not have the extensive cultural histories that permit them to found this tradition in other worlds. Some of the more likely domains to produce battleragers are Falkovnia (where their breed of sadistic bloodlust is encouraged) and Forfaria (which has the strongest cultural tradition of barbarians in the Core, and so is likely to display all flavors of barbarian).

Berserker
Berserkers are the most common and widely spread form of barbarian, found wherever individuals can learn to tap into their rage and take power from it. Though most associated with more barbarous lands like Forlorn or Vorostokov, these barbarians can be found anywhere. From the woodcutters of Kartakass to the street-toughs and bandits of Nova Vaasa, where men can learn to fight through sheer toughness and fury, berserkers may come to be.

Totem Warrior
In many ways the most iconic of the barbarian variants, totem warriors are less common than the berserkers, but more so than battleragers. Unlike berserkers, totem warriors are restricted to domains where mortals live close enough the wilderness that they can learn to commune with the spirits. Forlorn, Verbrek and Valachan are the most recognizable sources of these warriors in the Core, whilst beyond those lands one can see totem warriors in lands like Vorostokov, Vechor or Saragoss. With some flexibility for fluff, totem warriors can be seen in other lands as well; "wildmen" who were reared by animals and who have become more like beasts then men, like those who rarely appear in Barovia, are one possibility for totem warriors, and would be Souragnean chevals who allow themselves to be possessed by a patron loa in battle. With a DM's permission, new forms of totem could be developed for specific domains; for example, a brutal ex-pirate escaped from Saragoss may still upkeep the pact with the shark-spirit that helped him do so.

[Ender]

Yes, that is exactly what I assumed you meant you were doing. A thought: is it better to organize it by class/subclass, or by region?

[Hell_Born]

I figured that doing it by class-subclass would be best, at least initially, but once I have that first draft done, I wouldn't be averse to changing it to a regional basis. I have the gazetteers and surveys, I just kind of lack any real Ravenloftian knowledge about canon domains outside of those.

[Hell_Born]

Alright, so far, I've gotten the Barbarian, Bard and Cleric done. I thought I'd post them here for feedback; I'm worried because I'm taking some liberties, due to the fact that the classes of 5e are a very different to the "spiritual heirs to 2e" that 3.x classes were - there's a lot less difference between a Nature cleric and a Druid than there used to be. Moreover, I've never been particularly caught up on all the faiths that exist in Ravenloft, so I'm particularly worried about the details I gave for the Cleric Domains.

The Colleges of Satire and Swords come from the Unearthed Arcana article "Classics Revisited" (January 2016) and represent the AD&D Jester and Blade bardic kits, just to give head's up.

Bard
Bards are without a doubt one of the most widely spread adventurer classes in the Lands of Mist. Rare indeed is the domain with no form of high culture or need for a keeper of the lore, making bards inappropriate only in the most savage and feral of domains.

College of Lore
This is unquestionably the most widely spread form of bard in the Realm of Dread, being found in domains both civilized and primal. Though the most famous Lore Bards come from Kartakass in the Core domains, there are few domains where they can't be found; while common in lands like Forlorn, Tepest, Mordent and Dementliue, even in lands like Barovia and Graben, there are representatives of this College.

College of Satire
Although highly cultured domains often have a well-developed tradition of satirical humor, bards of the traditional College of Satire are something of a rarity in the Lands of Mist; their teachings are based on the coarse humor and acrobatic stunts of the traditional jester, a very different creature. These bards are most likely to come from domains with a more medieval level of development, or else with pronounced divisions between lower and upper society. A jester in the Core may have come from Forlorn, where her cutting mockery towards chieftains and acrobatic skills amused the earthy clans, or they may be a self-taught "bard of the people" from a domain like Hazlan or Nova Vaasa, having survived by amusing the lowborn - or, much more rarely, the patronage of a noble. With a DM's permission, this College could be modified to represent the more "highclass" satirists of advanced domains like Dementlieu, Richemulot or Paridon.

College of Swords
Although superficially similar to skalds, blades are a rarer breed and typically find a place in the more cultured domains like Richemulot, Borca and Dementlieu; there, they carve a niche for themselves in the city's duelling circles, often serving as teachers to the nobility. Blades in other domains are generally a rarity, and often have connections to the travelling circuses and carnivals - usually direct membership, but it's not unheard of for a blade to simply be inspired by the showmanship of a senior blade after witnessing their performance.

College of Valor
Commonly known as skalds, these are warrior-bards commonly hailing from more rugged or warlike domains, where the ability to fight is just as important, if not more so, than the ability to entertain. Forfarian and Valachani skalds are the most iconic examples of this breed of skald. Alternatively, they may come from more militarized domains, where their combination of bardic talents and fighting talents make them useful in supporting the domain's armies; Falkovnia, for example, has a number of these skalds in its armed forces, a rare exception to its traditional anti-magic bias.

Cleric
In the Lands of Mist, faith is one of the most important things that people have to help them through the darkness that surrounds them. From massive organized religions like the Churches of Ezra, the Lawgiver and Hala, to smaller, often domain-native faiths like the Morninglord, the Eternal Order and the Ancestral Choir, to simply small cults, the denizens of the Realms of Dread turn to the gods, and the gods answer in the form of clerics.

Arcane Domain
Without a doubt, clerics sporting this domain are the rarest of their breed in the Realms of Dread. In the vast majority of domains, arcane magic is at best regarded with superstitious wariness, and at worst seen as unholy, whereas divine magic is seen as inherently benevolent and good. Thusly, the idea of a god granting an affinity for arcane magic is unthinkable in most domains. That said, there are some exceptions. The Church of Hala quite notoriously does not see any difference between the two kinds of magic, and worships the Weave as the source of both; thusly, Halan witches and warlocks often sport the Arcane domain. Likewise, the voodans of Souragne don't see as much difference between the schools of magic, dividing them more on whether or not such power stems from the Loa. Arcane domain voodans would be a minority, and likely classified in their own country as bokors (witchdoctors, a term that carries an implication of evil), but would be possible. The other major source of Arcane domain clerics is domains in which worship of the Lawgiver is both strong and used to harshly oppress the populace; in domains like Hazlan and Nova Vaasa, life can be harsh enough to drive some souls to willingly embrace the worship of Mytteri, the maligned God of Chaos and Sorcery. Likewise, although shunned in Tepest, Math Mathonwy worshippers in Forlorn have been known to accept this branch of his powers. Beyond that, Arcane clerics typically either hail from Darkon, where they may have grown up in one of the countless "little faiths" that honored a foreign god with such traits (such as Mystara, Boccob or Wee Jas), or belong to small cults worshipping their own deities.

Death Domain
An exception to the general rule, clerics of Death are typically hated and shunned in the Lands of Mist, for their powers are too overtly similar to necromancy for the layfolk to tolerate, and the deities that bestow this domain are often forces of evil, such as Erlin or Arawn. The rare exceptions are those clerics who use their powers to better fight the undead and to try and compel the dead to stay dead; these individuals must struggle to avoid being mistaken for their darker kin, but so long as the distinction is clear, are welcomed. "Deathspeaker" clerics typically belong to the Eternal Order of Darkon, or are a particularly unusual class of Mordentshire Ezraite.

Knowledge Domain
Clerics of Knowledge are somewhat uncommon in the Realm of Dread, as few deities promote the tenets of understanding, discovery, craftsmanship or invention that fuel these clerics. Most such clerics worship "small gods", like Math Mathonwy of Forlorn and Tepest, the Ancestral Choir of Kartakass or the Eternal Order of Darkon, or else they belong to cults. The Lawgiver church has been known to use a twisted form of this domain, the Scrutiny domain, to better spy on the faithful "for their own good"; the Inquisition of Belenus from Tepest, and the twisted Belenus priests of distant Nidalia, likewise use this domain as part of their eternal wars on the fae and heretics, respectively; with DM permission, this domain could be altered to represent a player character from such faiths.

Life Domain
Most beloved of clerics for their focus on healing and protection, these clerics are quite common. Life clerics of Ezra, Hala and the Morninglord are found throughout the Core, but small gods with similar powers include Brigantia, Diancecht and the Ancestral Choir, among others.

Light Domain
Next to the clerics of Life, the clerics of Light are the most beloved of the common people. These clerics typically come from the faiths of the Morninglord or Belenus, as these are the two most prominent deities with an association with light, the sun or fire in the Core. Another major source of Light clerics is the distant Cluster of the Amber Wastes, where the Har'Akiri people traditionally worship a powerful deity of the sun as the chief god of their pantheon.

Nature Domain
These clerics are more common in domains with a greater respect for the wilderness around them, such as Valachan, Forlorn or Sithicus. Easily mistaken for druids by the uninitiated, in many domains the two classes are likely to coexist, being considered more different specialists in the same overarching faith than separate worshippers. Where they do worship specific patron deities, Nature clerics tend to revere small gods; the Forfarian clerics of Daghda or the voodans of Souragne, for example.

Tempest Domain
As this domain typically covers deities of destruction, violence, storms, the sea and catastrophe, clerics of this domain are quite individualistic. In many domains, they are worshippers of malevolent small gods or cults, often seen as forces of evil akin to the clerics of Death. In other domains, they worship powerful but dangerous deities and often act as intermediaries on their behalf - this is most common in coastal settlements or in lands plagued by natural disasters. There are no major faiths that support this domain in the Realm of Dread.

Trickery Domain
In the Lands of Mist, trickster clerics are rarely allowed to worship openly; most domains lean towards the gods as forces of authority and rule, and so those that destabilize the land around them are unwelcome. Trickster clerics usually worship small gods, such as Mytteri, Daghda or the Eternal Choir, or else belong to cults - especially sinister cults that embrace chaos and crime - and in many lands are forced underground. This is not ubiquitous, and more benevolent trickster deities may be openly worshipped in some lands; for example, Daghda clerics are often admired as entertainers in Forlorn, whilst Kartakans respect the more mischievous clerics of the Eternal Choir for similar reasons.

War Domain
In the modern era, few deities actively call for war; only the Lawgiver faith gives much credence to military might, and even then this attribute is concentrated in Nova Vaasa. Most War clerics will either hail from highly militaristic domains, such as Falkovnia or Nova Vaasa, or will belong to small cults worshipping old, forgotten, potentially fictitious war deities from their domain's past.

[Hell_Born]

Well... nobody's offered any commentary here, so I figured I might as well post the remaining classes/subclasses. I don't know if that's what you were waiting for or if this forum is just dying.

Druid
Druids are an uncommon class in the Lands of Mist, where most people fear the wilderness that lies beyond their doors and huddle in the safety of the cities where they can. Only in domains with strongly rural populations tend to produce druids, and even then, they are often held at bay. Only in the wildest domains are druids truly welcomed and respected, for their skills with the natural world can mean the difference between life and death.

Circle of the Land
Druids following the Circle of the Land are the most common variety of druid, and can be found in all environments. Druids of the Desert roam the burning sands of the Amber Wastes, whilst druids of Forest and Mountain work together in Barovia or Tepest. Rare indeed is the terrain that doesn't have some druidic representation somewhere. Even the Underdark is possible, if your DM agrees; such a druid may be one of the calibans of sunken Timor, or may have struggled to understand the sunken world of the sewers in Richemulot.

Circle of the Moon
These druids, in contrast to their brothers, are a minority in the lands of mist. Even druids are wary of embracing the power to shift form too readily, fearing it may invite whatever strange feral intelligence it is that they can feel inhabiting the land around them into their bodies. Some even believe that this is the ultimate source of therianthropes, especially the savage werewolves of Verbrek. Druids of the Moon are generally most likely to arise in domains that have no major therianthropic presence, minimizing their inherent risk of being mistaken for creatures of the night.

Fighter
In all lands, warriors are ubiquitous, and the Lands of Mist are no exception to this. Wherever one goes, so long as there is some form of civilization, there will be fighters there.

Banneret
Bannerets are an uncommon class of fighter, at least in their conventional form. These warriors excel in the use of their skills to inspire and bolster their allies, and though such traditions are more associated with noble knights, as in Darkon, they find uses all over. Falkovnia is also a likely source of bannerets, even if the classical version of the domain is likely to foster a particularly cruel and intimidating breed. A samurai from Rokushimo Taiyoo is a possible banneret, as is a bandit leader or a mercenary captain Nova Vaasa or Invidia.

Battle Master
With their approach to fighting being based on the understanding and mastery of combat tactics, battle masters tend to be most common in domains that either actively uphold military campaigns and forces, or which have well-documented military histories. Thusly, while many battle masters in the Core hail from the militaries of Falkovnia, Darkon, Borca, Lamordia and Richemulot, they may also potentially hail from domains like Forlorn or Barovia.

Champion
As the most simple and straightforward breed of advanced fighter, there literally is no end to the possibilities where such a warrior could come from. The captain of a volunteer militia in Barovia, a brutal street gangboss from Nova Vaasa, a former gladiator, anything is possible.

Cavalier
These fighters only emerge in domains where mounted combat is upheld as viable and practiced in the modern era. Darkon, Falkovnia, Invidia, and Nova Vaasa serve as the main sources for Core-native cavaliers.

Eldritch Knight
These are unquestionably the rarest of all breeds of fighter in the Realm of Dread. With the fear the common folk have of arcane magic, fighters who are willing to embrace spellcraft to heighten their abilities are extremely rare, and rare indeed are the domains that produce them in serious numbers. Darkon and Hazlan are the most likely candidates for Core domains that regularly produce eldritch knights, given the prominence both domains place on arcane spellcraft. Talk it over with your DM before trying to create an eldritch knight native to Falkovnia; canonically, Drakov's prejudice against magic would prohibit such a character, but the DM may allow you to play a candidate from the "super soldier" training programs, or they may be using an alternative version of Falkovnia, such as Die Kaiserreich from Quothe the Raven #22.

Scout
Scouts serve as a tougher, more durable analogue to the ranger, and so can be found in similar domains; wherever the wilderness makes learning to fight with it rather than against it more effective, there will be scouts. Indeed, scouts are likely to take the place of rangers in some countries where the rangers' traditionally magic skills are disregarded or unwanted, in addition to or instead of the "magicless" branch of ranger. Lamordia is the perfect example of a domain from which scouts may appear.

Monk
In most of the Lands of Mist, monks in their traditional form are a rarity; only the domains of Hazlan, Rokushima Táiyoo and Sri Raji regularly produce adventurers of this stripe. However, alternative flavorings of monk can potentially emerge in other domains; the Celebrants of Paridon, for example, produce many trained fighters who learn to focus body and mind together to achieve miraculous feats.

Way of the Four Elements
One of the rarest of the monk styles to be found in the Lands of Mist, monks practicing the Way of Four Elements will most likely hail from Hazlan, whose native martial artists assimilate strange arcane elements into their fighting styles and traditions. Monks who practice only one elemental style may be found as the elite warriors of small cults and philosophical groups. The ninjas of Rokushima Táiyoo may include such exotic and openly magical practices amongst their sects, but they would be a distinctive rarity even in that group.

Way of the Long Death
Brutally effective as assassins, monks of the Long Death are most likely to come from Sri Raji, members of the dread cult of Kali that holds sway in that domain. Rokushima Táiyoo may also house monks of this style as part of the dread clans of ninja assassins, where they likely compete for prestige and power amongst themselves with their "brothers" of the Way of the Shadow.

Way of the Open Palm
The iconic form of monk, these monks are the most commonly seen in the lands of the Core. These monks can be found in any domain that supports monastic or pseudo-monastic training, including Hazlan, Sri Raji, Rokushima Táiyoo and Paridon.

Way of the Shadow
The largest source of these dread assassin-spies is unquestionably the domain of Rokushima Táiyoo, where they form the backbone of the infamous ninja clans of that domain.

Way of the Sun Soul
This is undoubtedly the rarest form of monk to exist in the Realm of Dread; as powerful as they are against the undead, their philosophies are mostly incomprehensible to those native to the Lands of Mist. Perhaps the largest concentration of Sun Soul monks is to be found, ironically, in Barovia, where they form the carefully hidden and trained elite warriors of the secret society of Dawnslayers, a militant anti-undead wing of the Morninglord faith. With its knack for assimilating outlanders and prevalent fear of the undead, Darkon may likewise possess small orders who practice the Way of the Sun Soul. DMs may agree that this philosophy could be an exotic branch of the practices and skills developed by the Celebrants of Paridon as well.

Paladin
Warriors who swear loyalty to a guiding power or principle with such fervor that it imbues them with mystical powers, paladins are a rarity in the Realm of Dread; not unheard of, but so rare that many individuals believe they are myths and legends. But they are very real, and can come from almost anywhere.

Discuss with your DM before taking the Paladin class; this class has changed the most since the days of 2nd and 3rd edition, but even then, many DMs refused to allow the class due to it being unfitting for a setting like Ravenloft.

Oathbreaker
Sworn to the service of the foulest powers, oathbreakers are both extremely rare and alarmingly common. They are rare in that it is extremely unlikely for a paladin to attain its powers in service to darkness from the beginning - the iconic blackguard may sometimes appear in the service of a particularly powerful Darklord such as Azalin of Darkon or Strahd of Barovia, or as the champion for a mad cult of fiend-worshippers. They are common in that in the Lands of Mist, many paladins find themselves ultimately falling from their goals and being embraced by the darkness, no matter their origins.

Discuss with your DM before trying to play this class; while some DMs will allow for Bryonic Heroes or characters accepting their inevitably tragic outcome in exchange for the power to fight evil on its own terms, others will reject playable Blackguards as anathema to their vision of Ravenloft heroes.

Oath of the Ancients
Undoubtedly this is the rarest of all paladins, for it requires swearing bonds to the fae powers of nature that the vast majority of mortals fear and shun in the Realm of Dread. Only two domains produce these paladins with any regularity. Those reared by the Arak and Sith of the Shadow Rift often become "fey-knights", swearing oaths of allegiance to their adoptive patron and receiving mystical powers in kind, adventuring on their behest or to prove themselves worthy of their ultimate acceptance into the society of the fae. In Forlorn, where the culture is dominated by druids, a small number of warriors swear themselves to the protection of nature against the evil forces defiling it, an oath that bestows them the power of this pledge.

Oath of the Crown
More common than most other oaths, these paladins emerge from domains with strong autocratic traditions, those realms with traditions of mighty leadership and aggressive expansionism that can reward a reverence for one's rulers. Paladins of the Crown march under the banner of the Iron Faith, fighting for domains such as Nova Vaasa and Hazlan. Others come from Darkon, sworn to the service of the mighty Azalin Rex. In far-distant Nidalia, paladins of this sort emotionlessly serve the cause of the mad knight-queen Elena Faithhold. Even Falkovnia may potentially hold paladins of this stripe in the ranks of its ever-restless army.

Oath of Devotion
The classic form of the paladin, the kind that all people think of when the term is mentioned, and assuredly so rare as to be almost mythical. The faiths of the Morninglord and, to a lesser extent, Ezra occasionally produce such mighty holy champions.

Oath of Vengeance
More than any other breed, these paladins proliferate in the Realm of Dread. Harried and harrassed by cruelties both supernatural and mundane, many call out into the night for the strength to avenge themselves or their people. And something in the darkness responds, eagerly sharing its strength and watching as they turn it against that which catches their attention.

Ranger
In a land with the wilderness as untamed and widely spread as the Realms of Mist, it should be no surprise that rangers proliferate, for all that their more mystical powers can often alienate them from those too afraid to fight the darkness. Though rangers may originate from almost any domain, they are particularly common in the more rural ones, such as Barovia, Kartakass, Verbrek, Vorostokov, or Nova Vaasa.

Beastmaster
Beastmasters are only slightly less common than their hunter brethren, being more likely to occur in regions where animals suitable for taking as companions exist. Though the iconic beastmaster uses their animal companion to aid them on the battlefield, other uses do exist; Nova Vaasan and Har'Akiri beastmasters in particular have a tendency to bond with strong steeds to carry them into battle. A beastmaster's choice of animal companions is often shaped by the domain they hail from; a Barovian or Kartakan beastmaster is unlikely to take a wolf as a companion, given the fearful reputation such animals have in their homeland, whilst a Falkovnian beastmaster will usually take a loyal raptor.

Deep Stalker
With the general lack of deep cavernous environments that shapes these rangers, Deep Stalkers are a rarity amongst their brethren - but not impossible. In Richemulot, elite bands of deep stalkers may roam the sewers, striving desperately to hold back the seething tides of wererats and their verminous allies. In Zherisa, meanwhile, Paridonian deep stalkers try to stem the tide of horrors rising from the caverns below the streets and Timorian deep stalkers work desperately to feed and protect their tribes.

Hunter
Wherever the ranger exists, so too does the hunter exist, the most iconic of their kind.

Magicless
The magicless alternate class for rangers is a breed of ranger likely to exist in lands that have a serious need their skills, but which likewise particularly shun the wilderness skills. Lamordia is the most logical land for such a ranger to call home. Discuss with your DM before taking this class; they may prefer to replace the Magicless Ranger with the Fighter's Scout archetype instead.

Rogue
If any class in the Lands of Mist can be considered as ubiquitous as the Fighter, it is the Rogue. Where people come together, rogues are born, seeking to take what they want from the world by wits and cunning.

Arcane Trickster
Although one might expect arcane tricksters to be a rarity in the Realm of Dread, given the general aversion most have for arcane magic, that is not the case. Rogues already exist on the edges of civilisation, and as superstitious as they are, many are already considered damned, and thus willing to risk the use of magic to empower themselves. Arcane tricksters generally proliferate in realms that have strong enough traditions of written magical lore that they can learn such tricks, such as in Darkon or Dementliue - they are particularly common in the latter, where illusionists and enchanters proliferate as "mere" entertainers - but so long as they have at least a mentor figure, they can conceivably come from anywhere.

Assassin
When killing is profitable, there will be those who rise to fill the niche. Assassins can arise from all over, and whilst the stereotypical assassin hails from a more "civilized" domain, where those who wish others dead will call upon others to make it happen, this archetype has greater versatility than that. Any rogue who has learned to master the arts of killing, whether as an elegantly lethal knife-for-hire or a back-alleys mugger, falls into this subclass.

Mastermind
These rogues usually hail from more urbanized domains, for their natural niche is as the leader of criminal groups and as the center of webs of plots and plans. More rural "Masterminds" are typically gangbosses or bandit chieftains who rely on wits rather than brutal enforcement to lead their bands to successes.

Swashbuckler
With flashing blade and cunning wit, the swashbuckler is, whilst stereotypically associated with the refined pirates of coastal domains, a natural fit for more civilized domains as well. Many swashbucklers make a successful living as mercenaries, professional duelists, and even as instructors in the arts of swordplay, a niche they compete for with bards of the College of Swords.

Thief
Undobutedly, this is the most common flavor of rogue in all the Realms of Dread. Wherever there is a reason to be good at stealing, these rogues will come forth.

Sorcerer
For all that mortals in the Realm of Dread fear and shun magic, it is a part of the world around them. Sorcerers arise all over, and even in lands where the practicing of studied arcana is a rarity, sorcerers may appear. Indeed, some DMs may decide that sorcerers are more common in lands where the practice of wizardry is a rarity, acting almost as a living pressure valve for the pent-up forces of magic.

Dragon Ancestry
Undoubtedly, these are the rarest of sorcerers in all of the Lands of Mist, for dragons do not, as a general rule, haunt these blighted realms. The most likely source of such sorcerers is the land of Darkon; beyond its place as a gatherhouse for the weird and occult forces, it is home to the Realm's single confirmed dragon, Ebb. Even if she is not willing to sully herself with dalliances with mere mortals, her presence could taint children conceived or born around her, infusing them with draconic power, if not warping them into calibans. Aside from Darkon, Nidalia may also have a small population of such sorcerers, the proverbial scions of Banemaw, crafted by the Dark Powers to mock Elena Faithhold. Beyond that, discuss with your DMs; some may be okay with your character unknowingly having outlander heritage, or being warped by sin into a more draconic form.

Favored Soul
These are the mystics and prophets of the Realm of Dread, beings born with magical powers in their soul that relate to no specific origins. Many of the most blessed Halan covens house Favored Souls, usually of the powers of Life or Nature, within their ranks, considering them the most blessed of the Weave-Workers. In Barovia, Favored Souls of Light may be born to the faithful of the Morninglord and carefully nurtured by the Dawnslayers. In some lands, these mortals represent the touch of the strangeness in the land itself; Favored Souls of Nature are extremely common in Verbrek, for example.

Shadow
More than any other of their kind, Shadow Sorcerers proliferate throughout the dark lands of the Realm of Dread, drawing their powers from the eerie forces that resonate in the land's corrupt soul and take form in the ever-writhing mists.

Storm
These sorcerers are most common in realms where violent storms wrack the skies. Though coastal and island domains are most iconic, any land where the heavens are violent can see the birth of these sorcerers. Barovia is a perfect example. If your DM agrees, Lamordia is another likely source for them, and may be one of the largest populations of them in the core.

Wild Magic
The purest form of magic, these are the definitive epitome of sorcerers in the Lands of Mist, born wherever the forces of the occult are strong enough to see them come into being. They proliferate in lands where raw magical energy abounds, such as Darkon, Hazlan and Vechor. At a DM's discretion, Lamordia may also be an ironically populous origin for these sorcerers, where they embody the wild magic that spills from the land even as Lamordians try so desperately to stifle it by denying its existence.

Warlock
Without a doubt, these are the most common form of arcanist in the Realm of Dread. Not all lands may host the resources to teach wizardry, and only those born to the magic may wield the power of the sorcerer, but anyone with the courage, desperation or malice to call out to the powers of the night may wield the power of the warlock.

Pact of the Fae
Four domains in particular give rise to these warlocks; the Shadow Rift, Rokushima Táiyoo, Forlorn, and Tepest. Those of the Shadow Rift are favored servants of the Sith and the Arak, swearing allegiance to fey-queens and faerie kings in exchange for their magic. Those of Forlorn view their pledges as being made to spirits of nature, oaths made to try and fight against the foul goblyns and worse that haunt their lands. Similarly, in Rokushima Táiyoo, mystics known as wu jen pledge themselves to the various spirits, or kami, and wield their magic in exchange. Warlocks of the Fae Pact are hated and reviled in Tepest, and those who live there often take up their oaths out of hatred, seeking to strike back against Wyan's inquisition for crimes committed against the once-innocent warlock.

Pact of the Fiend
In truth, a fiend-worshipper may hail from any domain in the Realm of Dread. That said, they are often found in lands where civilisation has flourished, allowing such foul lore to spread through backalleys and in secret societies.

Pact of the Great Old One
Warlocks of this stripe are a true oddity, even amongst their own kind. Though Gwydion, the foul monster that lies entombed at the bottom of the Shadow Rift, is the most obvious source for such pledges, the Great Old Ones exist beyond the mists, and who knows what strange powers may answer the call of one foolish enough to pledge their soul to the forces of the outer dark, wherever they may be?

Pact of the Undying
The Realm of Dread abounds in powerful undead horrors and beings that have cheated the cycle of life. From bokors in Souragne to Setites in the Amber Wastes to members of Darkon's Kargatane, these twisted necromantic warlocks abound throughout the domains.

Pact of the Undying Light
A truly rare and little understood pact, these warlocks seem to exist only to bedevil and plague the Darklords who serve as the damned rulers of the Realm of Dread. Where the undead proliferate, or the night is openly strong, these warlocks come into being, mortals selling their souls to burning powers in hopes of driving back the dark. The Dawnslayers of Barovia are home to many of these warlocks, but they may also be found combating the walking dead of Darkon, or battling the werewolves of Vebrek.

Wizard
Ironically, for all their power, wizards are amongst the rarest arcanists in the Lands of Mist. Most mortals fear their power, shunning it as something anathema to mortal souls and the balance of the world. Some domains avert this, to the point of being notorious for their mystical might; Darkon and Hazlan are the most famous examples of this. Others ignore magic, clad in the arrogance of their "civilized" status, such as Dementlieu and Paridon. In most domains, though, wizardry is a hidden art where it exists at all, passed down in small enclaves or, more likely, down a chain of masters and apprentices.

Abjurer
The irony of the populace's fear of magic is that they thusly shun this school, which serves so well for protecting people and nullifying baleful magic. Most abjurers arise in domains where the arcane is respected and accepted, such as Darkon and Hazlan, as they know that there is a real risk of facing rival spellcasters. Other abjurers are reared amongst theocratic sources, learning arcane magic to defend the faithful against evil spellcasters; this may be done out of benevolent intentions, such as amongst the Halans, or it may be done out of theocratic bigotry, such as amongst the Iron Faith of Nova Vaasa.

Conjurer
Much like necromancers and warlocks, conjurers arise all over the Realm of Dread, seeking to call upon powers from beyond the mists. With the maxim "do not call up that which thou cannot put down" alive and well within the Lands of Mist, it is rare that conjurers gather in great numbers, even in domains like Darkon or Hazlan. Most exist alone, operating in at most small cults or master-apprentice chains.

Diviner
These are the rarest of all wizards in the Realm of Dread, and many consider such talents to be restricted to the Vistani tasques. The mists cloud the unseen eye, impeding the efforts of these wizards to work their talents, and so it is a path usually seen as unreliable even amongst fellow wizards.

Enchanter
These wizards are quite common, flocking to more urbanized and civilized environments. With their subtle magics easily concealed and granting such opportunities, they make prey of their fellow man. Enchanters are especially common in Dementlieu, where they often operate in plain sight as "stage magicians".

Evoker
The fear of wizardry makes evokers a minority amongst their brethren; although their destructive powers are potentially devastating, they also excel at whipping superstitious peasants into frenzied mobs that blindly absorb fireballs and lightning bolts in their frightful dementia to destroy "the evil wizard". Evokers most commonly arise in domains that accept magic and recognize its talents for war; although popular in Darkon and Hazlan, check with your DM being playing an evoker from Falkovnia - most "textbook" depictions of this domain forbid such casters, given Drakov's bigotry against battlefield magic.

Illusionist
Brothers to enchanters in all manners that matter, illusionists are found throughout the Realms of Dread, using their powers to bewilder and beguile others. They are more isolationist than enchanters, using their powers to establish sequestered rural lairs for themselves.

Necromancer
The most common, notorious and feared of all wizards in the Realm of Dread, necromancers may be found anywhere, for their dark secrets have a peculiar knack for passing on from one master to the next.

Transmuter
The pursuit of alchemy is widespread in many domains, and even in ostensibly 'rational' domains such as Paridon, Mordent or perhaps even Lamordia, individuals may unknowingly practice arcane secrets in pursuit of the mysteries of shaping energy and matter.

Artificer
Associated with the most advanced and developed of magic-using domains, these are unquestionably the rarest of all wizards in the Realm of Dread. Discuss with your DM before using them. That said, there are two potential sources for them in the Core; Drakov canonically enslaves the wizards of Falkovnia and monomaniacally directs their power towards crafting enchanted arms and armor, and such a character, escaped from slavery, could be an artificer. Likewise, if a DM agrees, an artificer may arise from Lamordia, their vaunted "science" really nothing more than magic in a peculiar guise.

Bladesinger
Like artificers, these wizards are incredibly rare. As with the battleragers, bladesingers should not be restricted on racial grounds. Possible sources of bladesingers include the sylvan knights of Sithicus and the fey-trained warrior-wizards of the Shadow Rift, elite warmages of Darkon and Hazlani slave-masters.

[Mortavius]

I really enjoyed those bits too in the Gazetteers.

My advice would be to do it like they did it; by domain. Also, I wouldn't go through every class for every domain. Instead, highlight the classes that are common, and just ignore ones that aren't. If any class is especially rare in a domain, note that. Then you can also note any skills that are common (if skills are still handled the same way in 5E). I also always took the Weapon Focus entry to be an indicator of what weapons were commonly used in that domain.

[alhoon]

I just want to say, that according to canon necromancers are actually the rarest of wizards, because of curses, the risk of controlling undead and power checks.

[Hell_Born]

My only problem with that, Mortavius, is that while I have the gazetteers and surveys, I don't actually know anything about other domains beyond those, like Sri Raji or Rokushima Taiyoo, so I'm worried about misrepresenting the possible options there. If folks are willing to help me discuss what classes/kits they feel fit where, I'm game to give it a try, but I need help to make this work.

And I could buy that, alhoon, especially given the rather biased crunch of the setting, but what I meant was that, even if their numbers are uncommon, necromancers and warlocks are widely spread, in that they show up everywhere. You look hard enough, you'll find one, somewhere.

[Jester of the FoS]

Having done some of this for my Ravenloft Player's Guide I approve the idea and effort.

[Hell_Born]

Thank you for the compliment, Jester. As I said going in, 5e is a whole 'nother beast to the 3rd ed, so there's huge differences in how the classes are handled. As I tried to keep in mind when I drafted this all up, you can potentially find classes where they wouldn't be before, by Gazetteer lore - for example, I think a "classic" Lamordia would probably only produce Scouts or Magicless Rangers rather than the "they have rangers, but look down upon them for their mysticism" of the original Gazetteer.

[Ken of Ghastria]

I really appreciate the work you've put in to these! I promise to give them a thorough appraisal over the next week.

My only problem with that, Mortavius, is that while I have the gazetteers and surveys, I don't actually know anything about other domains beyond those, like Sri Raji or Rokushima Taiyoo, so I'm worried about misrepresenting the possible options there. If folks are willing to help me discuss what classes/kits they feel fit where, I'm game to give it a try, but I need help to make this work.

For sorcerers, you can customize a sorcerer to a particular domain by swapping out the dragon heritage for a different monster that's connected to that land. For instance, I made a 5e sorcerer for a friend's campaign -- but I really liked the Bloodlines for sorcerers in Pathfinder, and wanted my sorcerer to come from an Asian-type culture and have an oni ancestor. So I swapped out the dragon-flavored benefits for oni-flavored ones. In Ravenloft, such a sorcerer would fit nicely in Rokushima Taiyoo.

In Darkon, for example, you could have someone who ventured too close to Necropolis and eventually gave birth to a person with wight- or shadow-flavored sorcerous powers. In Dementlieu, the sorcerous powers might be more illusion-based (let's say the dragon heritage's bonus to AC comes instead from a reflexive blur effect) and essentially become something more like Pathfinder's mesmerist.

I think the key (as others have said) is simplicity. So if a class' existing benefit sounds cool but the flavor doesn't work for Ravenloft, hand-wave it away by keeping the benefit but reflavoring it for the appropriate domain.