Goodman Games

So, I'm almost ready to start my first DCC game, but the idea I'm going with is more pulpy/horror, very much Conan meets Cthulhu. As such, I'm wanting it to be a Human only setting. I'd prefer to do this without limiting the diversity of class selection much more than it already is (having only 4 classes might get result in some stolen thunder in a game of 5-7 players).
What I'm thinking is, altering the existing races into Human classes. I'm thinking Dwarf could be pretty easily altered to a Knight class and the same is true of Halflings and Ranger/Nomad.

Knight/(Dwarf)

Hit points: D10 (same)

Weapon training: Add lances

Alignment:Stays the same

Attack/Deed: Stays the same

Sword and Board: Stays the same

Infravision/slow: dropped (they basically pay for eachother)

Underground skill: I'm thinking switch this out for something about mounted combat, but I'm having trouble thinking up specifics.

Luck: Same

Languages: drop Dwarven

Action Dice: Same

Ranger/(Halfling)

Hit dice: raise to D8?

Weapons: Add Longsword and Longbow

Alignment: Same

2 Weapon Fighting: Same

Infravision/Small: Dropped

Stealth: Same

Lucky Charm: I want to switch this out for something along the lines of
Favored Terrain:Choose a terrain type (mountains, forest, desert, grassland, etc). Your luck bonus(minimum +1) applies to all rolls made in that terrain.

Languages: Drop Halfling

Action Dice: Same


Also, I can't think of anything appropriate to do with elves, as they're just basically Wizards that can fight better.
What do you guys think?

I think that this is a nice idea, and certainly one that fits into the style of many of the Appendix N books like Conan, which is very human-centric.

As far as the "elves" go there could be two orders of mage, one which is more like the wizard and the other more like the elf. The elf-like one could be a monster-slayer (as per VanHelsing) or simply a different variety (like the 3E Sorcerer versus Wizard; one casts through CHA and one through INT) or simply have access to different spell lists (maybe limit the "elf" list more since the class is more combat-based).

I've never liked how flavourless elves are. Why make them a fighter/magic-user when they could be something unique?

I'd give players two choices for an elf, both slightly different from the Basic/Expert or DCC-RPG versions.

(a) Elven Adventurer. Similar to the basic elf class from the games above, adding that the player and DM work to fill in the gaps in characterization with some creativity: Elf King or nature spirit patronage only, a special kind of armour that allows spellcasting but is rare or needs special maintenance, some connections to elvish society and knowledge that only elves know. The general idea is that this should not be considered a power gaming class, since elves have severe disadvantages that will be enforced: the cold iron allergy, extreme aversions to harming animals, eating human food or talking to dwarves, etc. (This option is for straight-laced, by the book, boring players who don't love adventure and trying new things.)

(b) Elven Ranger. For a human, being a ranger is just an occupation for a warrior or thief with survival skills, but in my world Elven Rangers have a guild, decades of training and the special powers that make them a class to themselves. They get minor Nature Magic spellcasting (that they only share with NPC druids, not any other PC classes), a slight bonus to ranged attacks, racial elf bonuses and a selected favoured enemy that ties into the back story. I like my classes to have a very close connection to the character - the favoured enemy isn't just a bonus to hit and damage against that race, it's a deep personal motivation, the ranger's reason for living. Like a burning, lifelong ambition to defeat the goblin king's plans for expansion, or an obsession for revenge against the ogre bandit that slew my character's parents.

I had a lot of crunchy rules about Rangers, like "Elf rangers dislike any metal armor or weapons - they only wear hide or padded armor, though they have the ability to wear mithril armor if they happen to be an elf prince or maybe the richest elf in the world. A 1st level elf ranger will own 1 mithril dagger, and 50 flint arrowheads." but I don't want to derail the thread.

Elves are spellswords, classic fighter-wizards like the Mages of Dessi from the Lone Wolf novels.

For the changes to the new-fangled Magus class:
*Remove infravision and immunities
*Remove vulnerabilities
*Increase Hit Dice to d8
*Keep heightened senses (Magi are keen observers of the world around them)
*Luck: This represents a Magus' intense focus on individual spell knowledge rather than longevity

I think I might end up dropping the Elf. A Warrior/Mage class doesn't really fit the theme I'm going for. Losing one class option isn't as bad as losing 3.
Any advice on the Knight class? I'm still having problems working up game mechanics for an ability to replace underground skills.

My suggestions: A) drop it and call it good. B) replace it with a simple +2 bonus to skill rolls related to a knightly steed (finding, training, handling, etc.). C) replace it with respectability - civilized folk tend to look at the night as respectable until his actions prove otherwise, giving them the benefit of hospitality (simple meal and free lodging in a barn, for instance) so long as they maintain the good opinions of the civilized folk.