Looking at the 5th Edition SRD - part 4 - Class Basics

    There seem to be 4 pillars that define a character in the 5e SRD: Race, Background, Class and Equipment.  Spells are a big deal as well, but only to those classes that have them.  Those four seem to be universal to how a character is created and played.  So let's move on to looking at Class and see what we can find as a skeleton to build off of.  Unlike Backgrounds, we have a lot of classes to look at: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard - for 12 total; a good spread (compared to 9 Races and 1 Background, this is the most detailed category).  From those, let's see what universal features apply to classes...

Hit Dice
    Every class gives a Hit Die between d6 - d12.  That is maximized at first level and added (rolled or take middle) each level thereafter; everybody adds Constitution modifier.
    Let's check out the distribution:
   
d6 - Sorcerer, Wizard
d8 - Bard, Cleric, Druid, Monk, Rogue, Warlock
d10 - Fighter, Paladin, Ranger
d12 - Barbarian

    Huh.  A lot of d8s (twice as many as any other type).  Little surprised at the Monk being d8, I would have said d10 (Monks being "fighter-types"), and the Barbarian is the only d12.  Not a perfectly even distribution (quite arguable if it should even be so), but in general those who rely on spells are near d6, those who rely on fighting d10, and the rest in the middle.  Okay, it's a starting point.

Proficiencies (which my spell-checker doesn't seem to think is a word :)
    There are a lot of profs, so we'll have to examine them by category-
   
Armor
    Is rated by the heaviest type you can wear.  If you wear armor of a type you are not proficient with you have Disadvantage on any check that involves Strength or Dexterity and you cannot cast spells.
    Again, let's see how the classes break down:
   
none - Monk, Sorcerer, Wizard
light - Bard, Rogue, Warlock
medium - Barbarian, Cleric, Druid*, Ranger
heavy - Fighter, Paladin
shields - Barbarian, Cleric, Druid*, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger
    *not made of metal

    So we have "heavy fighters" with the Fighter and Paladin, "medium fighters" with the Barbarian and Ranger, and the Monk is more like a spell-caster with no armor prof.  "Semi-fighter" Clerics and Druids are medium, "non-fighter" Bards and Rogues are light.  "Spell-casters" are none, except the Warlock with light.  All main fighter-types can use a shield, and the Cleric and Druids as well.

Weapons
    Get tricky, each Class either lists a group of weapons (simple or martial) or else a specific list of weapons.  There are 10 simple melee weapons, plus 4 simple ranged weapons for a total of 14.  There are 18 martial melee weapons, plus 5 martial ranged weapons, for a total of 23 (almost twice as many as simple).  The older 3.5 SRD had another category called "exotic" which was dropped, but I think some weapons should still belong to; for example the "blowgun" is a martial weapon, but how many Paladins would really have been trained with it?  Oh well, we'll go off what we've got for now.
    So what classes get access to a weapon group?

simple (14) - Bard+, Cleric, Monk+, Rogue+, Warlock
martial (23) - Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger

    And what classes have individual weapon lists?
   
+Bard - hand crossbow, longsword, rapier, shortsword - 4 plus the 14 simple for 18 total
Druid - club, dagger, dart, javelin, mace, quarterstaff, scimitar, sickle, sling, spear - 10 total
+Monk - shortsword - 1 plus the 14 simple for 15 total
+Rogue - hand crossbows, longsword, rapier, shortsword - 4 + 14 simple for 18 total
Sorcerer - dagger, dart, sling, quarterstaff, light crossbow - 5 total
Wizard - dagger, dart, sing, quarterstaff, light crossbow - 5 total

    So we have 5, 10, 14, 15, 18 or 23 total weapons between the classes.  Kinda fiddley, I'm not so sure about some of the lists, but whatever, I'll go with it for now.

Tools
    Not many classes give tool proficiencies.

Bard - 3 instruments of choice
Druid - herbalism kit
Monk - choose 1 artisan tool or musical instrument
Rogue - thieves' tools

Languages
    No classes have any language proficiencies.

Saving Throws
    All classes are proficient in 2 saving throws:

Barbarian - Str, Con
Bard - Dex, Cha
Cleric - Wis, Cha
Druid - Int, Wis
Fighter - Str, Con
Monk - Str, Dex
Paladin - Wis, Cha
Ranger - Str, Dex
Rogue - Dex, Int
Sorcerer - Con, Cha
Warlock - Wis, Cha
Wizard - Int, Wis

    or:
Str, Con (2) - Str, Dex (2) - Int, Wis (2) - Wis, Cha (3)
with Dex, Cha and Con, Cha the singletons

    For the heck of it, there is no:
Str, Int
Str, Wis
Str, Cha
Dex, Con
Dex, Int
Dex, Wis
Con, Int
Con, Wis
Int, Cha

    Well, the pattern is at least simple, everybody gets 2.  Generally speaking both are physical (str, dex, con) or both are non-physical (int, wis, cha) and only 2 classes (the Bard and Sorcerer) cross-over.
    The real hard part about saving throws is that their utility entirely rests on how many attacks of each type there are.  If only 1 thing in the entire game forces a Charisma save, then that save is essentially useless.  I haven't gone through the whole SRD to see just how many there are of each type (dear gods, I see a project I'm going to regret in my future...) so it's hard to say specifically how useful a particular save is.  You can say that generally there should be as many physical saves as non-physical saves, and that's why each class focuses on one or the other (it's then debatable if the two cross-type classes are better or worse).

Skills
    There are 18 skills total.
   
Cleric - choose 2 from a list of 5
Barbarian - choose 2 from a list of 6
Monk - choose 2 from a list of 6
Paladin - choose 2 from a list of 6
Sorcerer - choose 2 from a list of 6
Wizard - choose 2 from a list of 6
Warlock - choose 2 from a list of 7
Druid - choose 2 from a list of 8
Fighter - choose 2 from a list of 8

Ranger - choose 3 from a list of 8
Bard - choose 3 from a list of 18

Rogue - choose 4 from a list of 11

    Okay, so 9 classes choose two, 2 classes choose three and 1 class chooses four.  Most classes choose from a list of 5-8, one class from 11 and one from all 18.  Okay, random and all over the place, but okay.

Equipment
    All classes start with a few items, which are chosen from a list.  I'm not even going to break them down, it's basically a weapon, or weapon and armor and a "pack" of related (or semi-related) non-weapon gear.  It might be interesting to calculate the gold piece value, but that would be an exercise in futility.  I like that everybody does start with some stuff and it's themed to each class, so you don't have to spend as much time at the equipment tables counting every coin (which I find to be tedious, and I'd debate just how much better the game is for tracking every penny in the character's pockets - sure money can be a strong motivator, but creating a fictional economy seems to come with as many down-sides as up-).

    And that covers all the things that define each class.  The rest is in the specific class abilities and the levels those abilities are received at.  With this groundwork laid out, I'm going to stop here - next post I'll delve deeper into classes.  Until then!