This is one of the best alternative classes for d20 fantasy that I have seen to date. It's short and to the point, and it absolutely nails the concept of the ex- (or current) city guard as a D&D adventuring class.

The feats and abilities granted absolutely capture the flavor of a "D&D Cop" -- combat-ready character who is more focussed on defending and preserving life, than making war or collecting monster hides.

More importantly, the class design opens up play possibilities, instead of dictating how the player should run his or her character.

Like all the archetypal official D&D classes, The Guard class allows players and GMs lots of room for personal interpretation, while the core mechanics remain solid.

The design of the class makes it equally useful for designing city guard NPCs, or for running a campaign where all the players are current members of the local guard. Hmmm, now THAT could be a fun campaign!<br><br> <b>LIKED</b>: Everything! See above ...

This class, and the Holy Warrior class from Green Ronin, are the only two third-party character classes for D&D that I feel truly meet a need the official classes don't address.

Most third-party classes are just variations on what we've already got, but The Guard is an obvious background for a fantasy adventurer that's somehow been overlooked -- until now.<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: This product is great -- I'm just sad that others haven't taken advantage of the OGL liscence and used this character class in other d20 products.

Buy it. Use it. Love it. :-)<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

The Unlikely Heroes package offers some nice, balanced alternatives to the traditional D20 class system. My players loved the variation of choice.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Very Good<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

This PDF presents a new core class called "Guard". It is well written, with a short fiction piece included. The Guard has the flavour of your steadfast city guard, patrolling the neighbourhood, and starts out as a fresh recruit, knowing how to use only basic weapons and light armour. As a guard gains levels, he/she learns to use a select few martial or exotic weapons, and gets comfortable acting in heavier armour. They also get uncanny dodge as they get more street savvy. As usual, there's an illustration on the first page, which captures the feel of a city guard really well. <br><br><b>LIKED</b>: I liked the flavour of this character really well. To me, this class feels like the fantasy version of a British "bobby". Very well done!<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: Nothing.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Excellent<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Very Satisfied<br>

A great idea, I feel like one of d20s biggest weaknesses is the rabid early power progression, there is little time to watch your character grow, the jump from beginner to hero is a little too abrupt. The idea of starting as an every day guy/gal and having adventuring thrust upon you in some way is a great one!<br><br><b>LIKED</b>: Well written and presented. And I liked the little extra given to people who picked up the whole set, a good idea!<br><br><b>DISLIKED</b>: I think too much effort was made to balance these classes against existing classes which seems to miss the point a bit. I would actually have preferred weaker classes that you could use to transition into the main classes.<br><br><b>QUALITY</b>: Acceptable<br><br><b>VALUE</b>: Satisfied<br>