InDungeons and Dragons,players have no shortage of classes to choose from. Just about every category of fantasy character is covered by some skillset in the game, from hulking warriors in plate armor to wizened spellcasters and magically empowered servants of mystical beings. Even so, there’s room to expandDungeons and Dragons' class roster. Wizards of the Coast (WotC) recently proved that by adding the Artificer as a new Intelligence-based class, and Matt Mercer’s famed Blood Hunter class offers a compelling new martial option. SinceDungeons and Dragons' 5th edition isn’t going away anytime soon, WotC should keep pushing to add new classes.
One direction that 5e hasn’t explored is a class based on Constitution. To an extent, that makes sense; Constitution is merely the measure of a character’s health and vitality, so it doesn’t necessarily help define a character’s personality or skillsin the same way as a bard’s Charismaor a wizard’s Intelligence. Even so, Constitution could be a compelling root for a newDungeons and Dragonsclass if WotC thinks creatively with the statistic. After all, in the world ofDungeons and Dragons,there’s much stranger things than a person who draws power from their own health.
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Potential Constitution-Centric Classes
There are a couple of angles WotC could take in making a Constitution class. It makes sense to have a tanky martial class,similar toD&D’s barbarian. The Constitution class could differentiate itself by being less aggressive than a barbarian and less magical than a paladin, instead focusing on blocking attacks for allies and serving as an obstacle for enemies. Maybe this type of tank would be inherently good at healing themselves, giving them more opportunities to absorb damage. Letting this class make melee weapon attacks with Constitution instead of Strength would also make great use of the central stat, focusing on the character’s energy rather than muscular strength.
Although Constitution naturally points toward a character with a lot of Hit Points, that doesn’t mean a Constitution class has to be a tank. Instead, WotC could create a spellcaster that uses Constitution, drawing on internal vitality and life energy to cast spells.MostDungeons and Dragonsspellcaster classesfocus almost entirely on using spell slots, but Hit Points could become a valuable alternate resource for a Constitution caster. Although Hit Points probably wouldn’t replaceD&D’s all-important spell slots for this caster, Hit Points could be spent to empower or modify spells in the way of sorcerer Metamagic. What’s more, a Constitution caster’s connection to health could result in a valuable new healer class inD&D.
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The Case for a Constitution Class
Whether Wizards of the Coast opts for one of these class models or something completely different, it really ought to give Constitution a bigger role somehow. Constitution serves very few purposesinDungeons and Dragons5e, only commonly used to increase Hit Points and concentrate on spells. As important as these functions are, they’re also very specific and inflexible. It’s hard to find creative uses for Constitution inD&D5e. A class built around Constitution would be WotC’s opportunity to look at the stat in a new light by finding alternative uses for it.
Constitution is already seeing a little additional use in 5e. Certain fighter subclasses inTasha’s Cauldron of EverythingandXanathar’s Guide to Everythinguse Constitution to determine the DCs for features ot the number of daily uses a feature has. Even so, fighters are largely encouraged to prioritize Strength or Dexterity over Constitution, meaning it’s far from a true Constitution class. That means there’s still room for Wizards of the Coast to give Constitution its ownDungeons and Dragonsclass, and it should. The statistic has been undervalued for far too long.
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