Fantasy RPG Classes

[Hexmage-EN]

This thread asks three main questions:

1) What type of character concepts do you expect to see in a Fantasy RPG?

2) Of these concepts, can you think of any mechanical executions of that concept that you particularly like?

3) Do you have any original concepts for a class, or a new spin on an old concept?

 

[Aus_Snow]

1) Warrior, Mage. 'Expect to see'. . .? Yes, just these.

2) Generally speaking, heavily modded d20 does these best, IMO. That is, when I want plenty of abilities to be explicit, rather than purely down to description / DM fiat, etc.

3) I doubt it. There's not much that hasn't been done countless times.

 

[Remathilis]

1.) Warrior/Tank/Melee Guy. Wizard with staff and robes. Healer/Priest. Thief/sneak/nimble guy. Archer/wilderness guy. Sometimes, the unarmed warrior-monk (depending on the source), the nature-priest/shaman or the warrior/wizard hybrid.

2.) Specifically? No. In general, I like a game where each class has a unique niche (and perhaps unique mechanics to do it) but none overshadow the other. A hard task no game has managed to pull off yet.

3.) Seriously? No. Its all been done under the sun at this point. I cannot think of a single class now needed (and apparently, neither did WotC come the end of the 3e line).

 

[xechnao]

This is a procedure that helps with archetypes:

Make action concepts independent of setting or genre. These are very iconic to the point of being totally abstract. For example a magician could be a character that can draw specific relations with the local elements of your world. A D&D rogue could be a character that can move himself from point to point. Etch. These are the distinct qualities of the archetypes and must be stronger in their iconic archetypes. I would recommend to limit yourself in 4 basic archetypes and then create combinations. Now fluff them according to your setting and you are ready to go -gameplay ready, you can't beat this procedure.

 

[Doug McCrae]

3) Do you have any original concepts for a class, or a new spin on an old concept?

Teacher/instructor.

 

[Chainsaw]

1) What type of character concepts do you expect to see in a Fantasy RPG?

For me, fighter, thief, cleric, magic-user are the primary colors of the RPG palette..

 

[Rechan]

This thread asks three main questions:

1) What type of character concepts do you expect to see in a Fantasy RPG?

Armor-wearing warrior. Light armored, fast guy. Spellcaster.

3) Do you have any original concepts for a class, or a new spin on an old concept?

Mystic/Medium. Rather than trying to control ghosts or spirits, the medium can just see/talk to them. The mystic/medium can be possessed by them, to gain insight/certain powers depending on what's possessing them (of course, it's possession; there's obvious drawbacks there). Toss in some astral projection/traveling into the realm of the dead or into dreams, some folk magic (like a little warding or protecting), and a little divination, and boom, done.

Definitely would enjoy some Thamutergy. Think voodoo, but extending beyond that. Maybe someone who deals with lots of wards and defenses.

Speaking of wards and defenses, I sure as hell would like to see a Trapper class. Someone who makes traps.

 

[TwinBahamut]

1) What type of character concepts do you expect to see in a Fantasy RPG?

Since this thread is explicitly about classes, I will use the following answer, but I would probably give a different answer if we were talking about a classless RPG.

There are actually a fairly large number of classes I would expect to see in any RPG. A conservative list would be...

The armored knight who can protect his allies.

The offensive magic-user who can rain down magical destruction on his foes.

The magic-user who is skilled at healing and has mastery over holy power.

The agile thief/skirmisher.

A dedicated archer and/or gun-user (depending on setting and tone of the game).

The classic monk/barehanded-fighter.

A lightly-armored warrior who combines swordplay and magic.

A mage who summons and controls powerful magic creatures.

Alternate melee combat concepts that use different styles or weapons.

Ninja.

A mounted combat fighter, preferably one that uses exotic and cool mounts, such as dragons or griffins.

Classes built around song and/or dance, that have powerful support or offensive effects.

The berserker/barbarian/wild-man class.

2) Of these concepts, can you think of any mechanical executions of that concept that you particularly like?

There are all kinds of versions of these that I like. For example, I am very fond of the Bard and Dancer classes from the videogame Final Fantasy Tactics, and the Bard from Final Fantasy III. While it is a bit complicated, I like the "class" used by the character Gau in Final Fantasy VI as a version of the Berserker archetype. The Sorcerer/Swordmage from Final Fantasy V is elegant and solid. The armored and mobile Dragon Knights of Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn are both a lot of fun and a testament to how you can create great classes without special mechanics whatsoever.

3) Do you have any original concepts for a class, or a new spin on an old concept?

Plenty. I'll save them, though.

Of course, any given class system is always going to be incomplete in comparison to the vast array of different character ideas seen throughout the fantasy genre that can be easily converted into distinct classes. As such, there are always more class ideas, and they tend to be more fun and interesting the further you get away from the default list.

 

[MichaelK]

1) What type of character concepts do you expect to see in a Fantasy RPG?

Well, it depends. Not all Fantasy RPGs are going to be the same sort of thing or genre. The entire spectrum of Fantasy is really too large to comment upon.

So for the sake of argument, I'll assume we're talking about Dungeon Fantasy. A group of adventurers going out to break into monsters' houses, punch them in the face and take their stuff.

First you've got to get to the monster's lair and since they're always a lengthy commute away, you need some kind of wilderness guy. This guy can track monsters, read a map and pack trail rations. He was probably a scout. In many games this will be the archery specialist.

Once you get there, you'll need to get the door open so you'll have someone who can tickle a lock. In all likelihood they're good at getting past traps too. In combat they're probably the fast, sneaky fighter.

Then you need to actually defeat the monster. This guy is probably a skilled generalist fighter, since they need to handle a wide variety of monsters. In high level D&D it's probably a mage that actually fills this role because... well, you know.

Then you need someone to carry the stuff. In order to be able to pick it all up in one go they'll need a high strength. Since they might need to take it over cliffs, across rivers and over pit traps they'll need the physical skills. This is what the D&D fighter is actually good at.

Since it's a fantasy game, you'll probably have a few extra options with strange and exotic powers just to get that fantasy feel. The choice of what kind of weird powers are on offer will heavily set the tone of the game. Give them voodoo powers and it'll be a very different fantasy game to one where they invoke the four elements.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

By the time you've got enough classes to cover every possibility you've got too many. Go classless!