History Main / FantasyCharacterClasses

** '''[[BlackKnight The Dark Knight]]''': Also known as "Death Knights", "Black Knights", and "Blackguards". The Death Knight class is the [[EvilCounterpart opposite number of the Paladin]], possessing offensive and often [[{{Necromancer}} necromantic]] or [[BlackMagic dark-magic oriented abilities]] that deal large amounts of damage to enemies, although often [[CastFromHitPoints with a price.]] They generally do not suffer the behavioral limitations of Paladins.

** '''[[DualWielding The Dual Wielding Ranger]]''': The Dual Wielding Ranger is inspired by the famed Drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden, who [[DualWielding uses two melee weapons]]. Very common in DungeonsAndDragons-based material, but less so elsewhere.

** '''[[BlackKnight The Dark Knight]]''': Also known as "Death Knights", "Black Knights", and "Blackguards". The Death Knight class is the [[EvilCounterpart opposite number of the Paladin]], possessing offensive and often [[MagicKnight necromantic]] or [[BlackMagic dark-magic oriented abilities]] that deal large amounts of damage to enemies, although often [[CastFromHitPoints with a price.]] They generally do not suffer the behavioral limitations of Paladins.

** '''The Gambler''': The Gambler is a fairly rare variation more often seen in video games than in pen and paper settings. The Gambler is a rogue who, in addition to the regular set of abilities, have a set of magical powers that [[SchrodingerFu rely more on chance than usual]]. They may have to draw a card, spin a roulette, roll magical dice, or activate a magical slot machine to get a desired effect which may be positive or negative depending on their luck. Very likely to attack with [[DeathDealer playing cards in lieu of throwing knives.]]

** '''The Priest''': Also known as the White Mage. A squishy dedicated healer with little abilities at offense aside from specific types of enemies, most commonly [[GoodHurtsEvil demonic entities]] and [[ReviveKillsZombie the undead]].

** '''[[StraightArrow The Sniper Ranger]]''': This version is totally reliant on archery, but usually does higher damage because of it. May have a variety of status-inflicting arrows to slow or otherwise annoy enemies. Keeps to the back of a battle.

** '''[[BarbarianHero The Barbarian]]''': Also known as a "[[TheBerserker Berserker]]", the Barbarian is a breed of Fighter focused more on damage than defense. Note that in systems where Barbarians have normal or greater than normal physical defense compared to other warriors, such as D&D, they will have no defense whatsoever against magic. Often characterized by wearing less armor, being less civilized, and being able to fly into a berserker rage that increases damage output.

** '''[[BlackKnight The Dark Knight]]''': Also known as "Death Knights", "Black Knights", and "Blackguards". The Death Knight class is the opposite number of the Paladin, possessing offensive and often [[MagicKnight necromantic]] or [[BlackMagic dark-magic oriented abilities]] that deal large amounts of damage to enemies, although often [[CastFromHitPoints with a price.]] They generally do not suffer the behavioral limitations of Paladins.

** '''[[RASalvatore The Drizzt Ranger]]''': The Drizzt Ranger is a character inspired by the famed Drow, who [[DualWielding uses two melee weapons]]. Very common in DungeonsAndDragons-based material, but less so elsewhere.

** '''The Priest''': Also known as the White Mage. A squishy dedicated healer with little abilities at offense aside from specific types of enemies (most commonly [[GoodHurtsEvil demonic entities]] and [[ReviveKillsZombie the undead]].

** '''The Priest''': Also known as the White Mage. A squishy dedicated healer with little abilities at offense aside from specific types of enemies.

** '''[[TheBeastmaster '''The Beastmaster Ranger]]''': AKA Beastmaster, Charmer. This class specializes in either taking temporary or permanent control of wild animals, and then allowing their pet to rush to the front lines while they support with healing and long-range attacks.

* [[ForestRanger '''The Ranger Classes''']]: {{Ranger}}s are woodsman skilled at surviving in the wild. They may be lumped in with Fighters or Rogues (above) but more often than not are a separate tree of classes all their own. Archery is generally their favored skill, although most can fall back on swordplay if necessary. Rangers may also be skilled in some form of wilderness or nature magic. Rarely, a Ranger may have access to guns as well as bows.

** [[TheBeastmaster '''The Beastmaster Ranger''']]: AKA Beastmaster, Charmer. This class specializes in either taking temporary or permanent control of wild animals, and then allowing their pet to rush to the front lines while they support with healing and long-range attacks.

[[redirect:CommonCharacterClasses]]

See also AnAdventurerIsYou, ClassAndLevelSystem, RogueElephant.

** [[BarbarianHero '''The Barbarian''']]: Also known as a "[[TheBerserker Berserker]]", the Barbarian is a breed of Fighter focused more on damage than defense. Note that in systems where Barbarians have normal or greater than normal physical defense compared to other warriors, such as D&D, they will have no defense whatsoever against magic. Often characterized by wearing less armor, being less civilized, and being able to fly into a berserker rage that increases damage output.

** [[ThePaladin '''The Paladin''']]: The Paladin is a Fighter with a side of Healer, using WhiteMagic to be more defensive; their devotion to their God or Deity gives them various prayers, healing abilities and spells that protect themselves and others. Naturally, they tend to fall under MagicKnight. They are also quite good at [[GoodHurtsEvil laying the smite down on undead, demons and other evil supernatural creatures]]. However, they may have behavioral limits: some rulesets impose varying penalties on taking actions that stray too far from LawfulGood, which can lead to weakening of abilities, loss of abilities or sometimes even being kicked out of the "Paladin" class entirely.
** [[BlackKnight '''The Dark Knight''']]: Also known as "Death Knights", "Black Knights", and "Blackguards". The Death Knight class is the opposite number of the Paladin, possessing offensive and often [[MagicKnight necromantic]] or [[BlackMagic dark-magic oriented abilities]] that deal large amounts of damage to enemies, although often [[CastFromHitPoints with a price.]] They generally do not suffer the behavioral limitations of Paladins.

** [[TheEngineer '''The Engineer''']]: Also known as the Tinker, Gunner, Machinist, Gadgeteer, etc. This is a character class that relies on technology, often of the SteamPunk variety, to achieve ranged controlling effects similar to a wizard. They most likely have guns and bombs as primary weapons, and employ stationary and/or mobile machines on the battlefield. May be seen as "too sci-fi".

** [[BarefistedMonk '''The Martial Artist''']]: Aka Monk or Blackbelt. Close-ranged fighters that either use their bare hands or a staff. The Martial Artist uses Asian-inspired training to go toe to toe with horrible monsters simply by punching them with hardly anything on, relying on their agility to survive, making them a BadassNormal group. Commonly, they may have access to some variation of KiAttacks. May stray too far from "European" settings, because at the time, martial artists weren't that well known outside of the far east.

** '''The Barbarian''': Also known as a "[[TheBerserker Berserker]]", the Barbarian is a breed of Fighter focused more on damage than defense. Note that in systems where Barbarians have normal or greater than normal physical defense compared to other warriors, such as D&D, they will have no defense whatsoever against magic. Often characterized by wearing less armor, being less civilized, and being able to fly into a berserker rage that increases damage output.

** '''The Paladin''': The Paladin is a Fighter with a side of Healer, using WhiteMagic to be more defensive; their devotion to their God or Deity gives them various prayers, healing abilities and spells that protect themselves and others. Naturally, they tend to fall under MagicKnight. They are also quite good at [[GoodHurtsEvil laying the smite down on undead, demons and other evil supernatural creatures]]. However, they may have behavioral limits: some rulesets impose varying penalties on taking actions that stray too far from LawfulGood, which can lead to weakening of abilities, loss of abilities or sometimes even being kicked out of the "Paladin" class entirely.
** '''The Dark Knight''': Also known as "Death Knights" and "Blackguards". The Death Knight class is the opposite number of the Paladin, possessing offensive and often [[MagicKnight necromantic]] or [[BlackMagic dark-magic oriented abilities]] that deal large amounts of damage to enemies, although often [[CastFromHitPoints with a price.]] They generally do not suffer the behavioral limitations of Paladins.

** '''[[{{Necromancer}}The Necromantic Magician]]''': A magic-user that wields power over the dead, blood, and "death energy". Are usually antagonists, but if DarkIsNotEvil, may be a playable class. Often they employ a ZergRush - creating hordes of weak undead and sending them after a problem till it dies. Any other abilities will likely be curses that weaken or sap away strength.

*** '''The Shamanic Magician''': A nature magician with a Summoner twist. This class generally has a mix of offensive and defensive powers that revolve around the careful employ of things (mostly devices) like spirits, totems, etc.

** '''The Gambler''': The Gambler is a fairly rare variation more often seen in video games than in pen and paper settings. The Gambler is a rogue who, in addition to the regular set of abilities, have a set of magical powers that rely more on chance than usual. They may have to draw a card, spin a roulette, roll magical dice, or activate a magical slot machine to get a desired effect which may be positive or negative depending on their luck. Very likely to attack with [[DeathDealer playing cards in lieu of throwing knives.]]

* '''The Ranger Classes''': {{Ranger}}s are woodsman skilled at surviving in the wild. They may be lumped in with Fighters or Rogues (above) but more often than not are a separate tree of classes all their own. Archery is generally their favored skill, although most can fall back on swordplay if necessary. Rangers may also be skilled in some form of wilderness or nature magic. Rarely, a Ranger may have access to guns as well as bows.

** '''The Beastmaster Ranger''': AKA Beastmaster, Charmer. This class specializes in either taking temporary or permanent control of wild animals, and then allowing their pet to rush to the front lines while they support with healing and long-range attacks.

** '''The Engineer''': Also known as the Tinker, Gunner, Machinist, Gadgeteer, etc. This is a character class that relies on technology, often of the SteamPunk variety, to achieve ranged controlling effects similar to a wizard. They most likely have guns and bombs as primary weapons, and employ stationary and/or mobile machines on the battlefield. May be seen as "too sci-fi".

** '''The Martial Artist''': Aka Monk or Blackbelt. Close-ranged fighters that either use their bare hands or a staff. The Martial Artist uses Asian-inspired training to go toe to toe with horrible monsters simply by punching them with hardly anything on, relying on their agility to survive, making them a BadassNormal group. Commonly, they may have access to some variation of KiAttacks. May stray too far from "European" settings, because at the time, martial artists weren't that well known outside of the far east.

** '''The Magical Ranger''': A version of the ranger who can uses enchanted or trick arrows to take advantage of ElementalRockPaperScissors, or slow down and disable enemies with "net arrows" or "freezing arrows" and the like.

** '''[[StraightArrow The Sniper Ranger]]''': This version is totally reliant on archery, but usually does higher damage because of it. May have a variety of status-inflicting arrows to slow to annoy enemies. Keeps to the back of a battle.

** '''The [[WanderingMinstrel Bard]] Magician''': A hybrid class that employs MagicMusic. Bards are the [[SpoonyBard butt of a lot of jokes in fantasy settings]], however, they can be [[LethalJokeCharacter very useful if employed carefully]]. They use songs to employ beneficial effects, healing, and sometimes damage. They usually have high stats for dealing with NPCs, making them [[MundaneUtility ideal for role-playing, barter, diplomacy and negotiations]] - aspects of the game often overlooked in favor of swords and spells.

** '''TheGunslinger''': Exactly common enough to count, TheGunslinger is, as the name no doubt implies, the wielder of firearms [[FantasyGunControl in a fantasy setting that has them]]. Different from the Engineer in that guns are all he has, as opposed to bombs and such. Generally involves, well, guns, and all of the tropes that come with them. Often useless or weaker at close range. Sometimes given a nerf or weakness in order to keep people playing the ''Ranger'' class. (Sometimes actually ''merged'' with the Ranger class) A common example is to have guns be weak weapons but have a greater range than bows, or to also ignore or pierce armour.

** '''The Pirate''': Also known as a [[{{Pirate}} ''Privateer'' or ''Swashbuckler'']]. Currently a rare variation of the Rogue, but gaining popularity thanks to memetic mutation. The archetype for pirate hasn't really bet set that hard in stone, but in general, a Pirate Rogue will use a combination of weaponry instead of specializing - usually being able to switch freely [[TheMusketeer between pistols and swords.]]

** '''The Paladin''': The Paladin is a Fighter with a side of Healer, using WhiteMagic to be more defensive; their devotion to their God or Deity gives them various prayers, healing abilities and spells that protect themselves and others. They are also quite good at [[GoodHurtsEvil laying the smite down on undead, demons and other evil supernatural creatures]]. However, they may have behavioral limits: some rulesets impose varying penalties on taking actions that stray too far from LawfulGood, which can lead to weakening of abilities, loss of abilities or sometimes even being kicked out of the "Paladin" class entirely.

* '''The Ranger Classes''': {{Ranger}}s are woodsman skilled at surviving in the wild. They may be lumped in with Rogues (above) but more often than not are a separate tree of classes all their own. Archery is generally their favored skill, although most can fall back on swordplay if necessary. Rangers may also be skilled in some form of wilderness or nature magic. Rarely, a Ranger may have access to guns as well as bows.

** '''The Barbarian''': Also known as a "TheBerserker", the Barbarian is a breed of Fighter focused more on damage than defense. Note that in systems where Barbarians have normal or greater than normal physical defense compared to other warriors, such as D&D, they will have no defense whatsoever against magic. Often characterized by wearing less armor, being less civilized, and being able to fly into a berserk rage that increases damage output.

** '''The Sniper Ranger''': This version is totally reliant on archery, but usually does higher damage because of it. May have a variety of status-inflicting arrows to slow to annoy enemies. Keeps to the back of a battle.
** '''The Bow and Blade Ranger''': A version of the ranger that can handle bladed weapons as well, allowing them to defend themselves against approaching enemies or close in for the kill.

** '''The Gunslinger''': Exactly common enough to count, TheGunslinger is, as the name no doubt implies, the wielder of firearms [[FantasyGunControl in a fantasy setting that has them]]. Different from the Engineer in that guns are all he has, as opposed to bombs and such. Generally involves, well, guns, and all of the tropes that come with them. Often useless or weaker at close range. Sometimes given a nerf or weakness in order to keep people playing the ''Ranger'' class. (Sometimes actually ''merged'' with the Ranger class) A common example is to have guns be weak weapons but have a greater range than bows, or to also ignore or pierce armour.

** '''The Theurgist Magician''': Commonly known as ''Warlocks'' or ''Sorcerers''. The Magician makes a pact with a higher spirit (although not usually a god since those tend to be distinct in fantasy settings) which supplies them with magical power they usually don't have. This is usually flavored with a DealWithTheDevil. While healing class pacts are seen as good, a magician that makes a pact with an entity that gives them the power to [[BadPowersBadPeople harm or destroy]] is usually flavored in a darker light - and it may turn out to be with demons or [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]]. Thus, this type of magic is usually heavily offensive and nasty.

** '''The Bard Magician''': A hybrid class that employs MagicMusic. Bards are the [[SpoonyBard butt of a lot of jokes in fantasy settings]], however, they can be [[LethalJokeCharacter very useful if employed carefully]]. They use songs to employ beneficial effects, healing, and sometimes damage. They usually have high stats for dealing with NPCs, making them [[MundaneUtility ideal for role-playing, barter, diplomacy and negotiations]] - aspects of the game often overlooked in favor of swords and spells.