I am going to start another thread about this, but here's my wicked-cool setting idea that I'd love to see an m20-oid handle. Think of an intrigue-filled wild west set a thousand years after victorian steampunk (not severe magic chaos like eberron's last war).
I'm a firm believer that PC classes tell the story best:
Gunslinger
(Like a Ranger, no animal companions, must go ranged combat). Part of a brotherhood that has tremendous respect but very little political power. Code binds the gunslingers (i.e., must accept duels) but it's not alignment-based, so gunslingers can be on opposing sides of all sorts of conflicts. Code includes being impartial and sticking to the terms of a bargain. Non-gunslingers with guns are hunted down by the gunslingers, as are major violators of the code. Gunslingers must aid each other when someone breaks the terms of a gunslinger's contract. No weapons may be drawn in the presence of a gunsmith (gunsmiths are the non-combatant judges / craftsmen / trainers of the order).
Shaman
Setting's spirits are all incorporeal and unseen, but run the gamut from fickle tricksters to ancestor ghosts to nature spirits. There are also demons in the world, but they're your enemies.
Advocate
(Ninja-like abilities, esp. momentary invisibility and lethal strikes) Played as trained members of Houses, which are like crime families in a world with no police to get in the way. Imagine if rather than the Cavalry showing up, all you could hope for in the wild west was the arrival of the currently dominant local crime family. They are the political powers of the setting. These Houses span the setting - so if you make enemies of a House in one place, you've got enemies in lots of places. Houses know better than to try to acquire firearms, and they know well enough to hire Gunslingers when necessary. Advocates' secret fighitng style, including their ability to move undetected and make deadly strikes is passed from one generation to the next in a kind of assassin's apprenticeship. Advocates reach the highest levels of power within their Houses, although Advocates don't reveal that they are anything more than other gentlemen belonging to their Houses unless they have to.
Warlock
(somewhere between the concepts of warlock and binder in D&D) You made the deal, maybe under duress, or maybe for good reasons. Now you get the benefits. There are many demons in the world, and they can be used... but they can use you too. What's important, though, is that you stay alive, because you're not looking forward to what's waiting for you on the other side.
Tetsujin (metal men)
Fighters are tetsujin, and tetsujin are fighters. Played largely as-is (using stats for Warforged or Ironborn or whatever). They are found in some ancient ruins, and about a hundred years ago someone figured out how to wake them up. They don't know who they are, they don't know how they were made. Often this means they can be used by others, and they're sought after by the Houses.
These options are designed to provide cool character options but also require some kind of conflict to be built into each character.
Characters start at level 3 and cap at level 10, after which they gain feats only. Since each class has a very specific "order" or cultural context, no multiclassing. However, characters besides Fighters could become Warlocks if they make a pact and do an hour long ritual involving the consent and agreement of an actual demon, losing all other abilities in exchange for a Warlock's abilities.
Imagine this as a dusky setting, with ruined castles covered by vines found in the wilderness in a world that has not seen a "nation" in a thousand years. The great conflicts have played themselves out, and while the scars have healed, this is not an age of rebirth. Small towns and large towns are the rule throughout the setting. Centres of power are fortresses. Characters are humans only except for fighters (see below). Alignment is not used, magic is strange, and resurrection is impossible.
NPCs have NPC classes.
Monsters in the setting are the result of demons messing with the natural environment - which is why they pop up near peaceful settlements. Magic items are rare, and are either from demons, relics of the people who built the Warforged, or both. Any evil outsider is a candidate for a demon, are any intelligent evil monsters.
