To overview all of the changes I've made, I'll first talk about some of the mroe global changes I've made to the table as a whole, and then go into each class by detail.

Probably the first change you'll notice is the fact that I've removed the ability to learn a lot of skills (mainly weapon skills) at just a basic level. Any skill you pick up in this game I feel you should at LEAST be able to achieve expertise in by its end. A large result of this is a seemingly more limited selection of weapons for each class, but I did my best to keep the choices as interesting as I possibly could.

You will notice that not everyone can pick up a bow and use it anymore. That made things way too easy, I felt. Thieves, Rangers, Archers, and Druids can still use bows, but everyone else is going to have to eithe ruse magic, or get up close and personal.

Grandmastery of a skill is a very major thing that I feel is not meant to be taken lightly. Excepting a few weapons, there is now only ONE class that can GM in each skill, and only one or two others can achieve mastery. One to four additional classes for each skill may gain general expertise. An interesting side effect is that excepting Paladins, each class now can GM a unique misc. skill that benefits the whole party. Paladins WOULD have had the Merchant skill, making it a full nine, but I'll get into that in just a second.

Yes, you might notice that Learning and Merchant have both been ENTIRELY removed from the game. This is my attempt to fix the economy of the game and keep it actually challenging even later into it. It also prevents exploiting the Enchant Item/Fire Aura/Vampiric Weapon spell with a merchant Grandmaster. It also might actually make Stealing an attractive skill. I don't know for sure, as these changes haven't been play-tested.

And now, on to each class in specific...

Knight

With a few adjustments, we see the Knight wind up as perhaps the absolute most specialized class of the game. Most of the skills left allowed to her are the ones that she will find herself GMing in. No self-respecting Knight, however, would limit herself to mere Swords and Spears, however. Knights now have the the option to choose to GM in four different weapons, of course as well as the Shield (Bows, however, are noticeably absent now). Armsmaster remains a GMable skill, though Body Building was scaled down to mere mastery in both an attempt to nerf the class somewhat and create more of a difference between Knights and Monks. Knights are now the only class that can GM Repair Item, as well.

Thief

No matter how much NWC would like to think so, Thieves are not tanks second only to Knights and Ninjas in tankliness. GMed Daggers are all fine and well, and I even upped the Bow skill to mastery to reflect a stealthy class. Armsmaster, however, was dropped to expertise and Body Building was kept there. On an interesting side note, since the Thief was already GM in, well, Stealing, Disarm Trap was lowered to mastery to give the Monk a GMable misc. skill (whom I would expect to be adept at disarming traps, anyways). And, of course, elemental magics can now reach expert level, making the Thief more useful on that front.

Monk

I tried really hard to make Monks something other than a halfassed Knight. All weapon skills besides Unarmed and Staff were dropped, and Leather Armor gets a nerf to mere expertise, forcing focus on where it matters. Grandmastery of both Body Building and Meditation allow this class to display itself as one focused entirely on excellent stats without any equipment on. Self magic mastery is now available on either side, and the class is now capable of Disarming Traps at a GM level, as well.

Paladin

Ah, the Paladin... Probably the most noticeable change here is the fact that Sword has been upped to GM, seeing as that Paladins and swords go together like nipples and abuse. And since these guys are just Knights with religion, I upped Armsmastery to, well, mastery to reflect that obvious relationship, thus making the Paladin a powerful (well, more powerful) frontline fighter. Heroes can now find themselves with expertise in Light magic, but Dark magic is no longer allowed for Paladins, and rightfully so.

Ranger

If there was any one class that needed an overhaul, it was the Ranger. Aaragorn would be ashamed to see his namesake in such a shabby representation as MM7 gives it. So I fixed it. First off, mastery of Sword and Spear give a few different weapon options to this versatile class, though the Axe is still the preferred weapon at GM status. Armsmastery and Body Building both get raised to master level as well, again representing the Ranger's close relationship to the Knight class. Rangers can also achieve mastery of the Repair Item skill now, placing them no par with Paladins in that respect.

Archer

The Archer still has quite a few weapon options available, and for some known reason I've left the Spear/Dagger dual-weild option available, mainly because it would have been too hard on me to take away their daggers altogether. Spears have been upped to GM, reflecting the Archer's focus on defending themselves at close-range. Knights they aren't, and Chain was lowered from GM to M to substantiate the inherent fragility of any class that can achieve mastery of elemental magics. As compensation, the intelligent Archer can now master both Disarm Trap and Identify Item. They also can reach expertise in Dark magic, but no Light magic for the Master Archer.

Cleric

The Cleric sees herself with some interesting changes in my table. While the Mace remains available, Grandmastery of the Staff now becomes avilable to utilize basic expertise of the Unarmed skill if the Cleric so chooses. This reflects the staff as a real-life Clerics most likely weapon of choice, as well as makes them semi-decent fighters. Meditation gets dropped to expertise in an attempt to nerf a huge MP pool of possibly some of the game's most kickass spells. Since the Cleric now has enough to worry about, Repair Item was lowered to expertise, though Alchemy is now a masterable skill. And of course, while a Priest of the Light can still Grandmaster Light magic, only expertise is avilable in Dark magic to a mere Priest of the Dark. If you want Souldrinker, you're gonna have to find a Lich.

Druid

I tried to reel in the Druid as much as possible by removing nearly all of its fighting power and nerfing Meditation to mere mastery. Alchemy is still a GM, though there's little else to mention now in the field of misc. skills. Perhaps the most important change made reflects the power of Archdruids and Warlocks by giving them the ability to master their respective schools of magic. Can you say "ouch"?

Sorcerer

And the Socrcerer, perhaps the most pwoerful class in the game, finds itself not much changed from the original version. Dagger mastery becomes available, indicating daggers as as much of a valid weapon choice for these guys as staves. Like Druids, all they really get to choose from in the armor department is expert Leather or expert dodging. The misc. skills are about the same, except ID Monster was lowered to make the Ranger to sole possessor of that skill, and Stealing was raised to mastery just for ****s and giggles. Other than that, the only real nerf to this class is the denial of Divine Intervention- only Priests of the Light can GM Light magic now. Archmages pretty much get to settle for expertise.

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And that's about it. I welcome criticism, so please let me know what y'all think.