How do your characters call their own classes?


Gamer Life General Discussion


Greetings!

I am interested in alternative class names that players can use in-game to describe what their character is doing, instead of saying: "I'm Hendrik and I am a witch." Or maybe "I'm Bob the fighter".

Some names that describe other aspects of the class, specializations (I always write this word wrong) or names that just avoid a cliché (i.e. the witch).

Probably well known examples might be: Hendrik the hexweaver (instead of witch) or Bob the warden (instead of fighter, because Bob has a huge shield and protects others).

What are your alternative names? How do your characters call themselves? Please share.


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My suggestion is to completely wipe the class from your mind.

Your character isn't 'a witch' or 'a fighter' he/she is whomever he or she is, and have developed skills/powers/competencies in whichever fields they pursue.

"Yo, names bob. If you need a good sword then I'm your man" etc.

Liberty's Edge

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It depends on the character, I'll give you examples using some of my play-by post characters here on the boards:

Allie "Cat' Calico is a human rogue. She doesn't identify by anything other than by name. She is a cutpurse (archetype), and she isn't about to advertise that fact.

Broccan Dunchad is a human fighter. He identifies himself more by his former profession, a miner. When he talks about fighting, he usually refers to his uncanny ability to stay alive. Most people who meet him don't mistake him for anything else, though. He's wearing spiked full-plate, and lacks the manners expected of a cavalier or paladin.

Devhyn Rhyker, human inquisitor. Devyhn speaks as if he is a priest. He calls himself a Servant of Pharasma, or one of Pharasma's disciples.

Hope that helps a little!


My witch Tatya referred to herself as a healer, an alchemist, and a binder of fortunes. She did refer to her magic as witchcraft, though.

My sorcerer Gwyn calls herself a sorceress, and makes very strong comparison about how she's not a wizard.

My crusader (3.5 version) Siobhan refers to herself as a Templar.

My zen archer monk who I'll be starting Age of Worms with shortly doesn't refer to herself as anything (she even refuses to give out her name, though she'll accept nicknames people give her so long as they're not insulting), though she will agree that she was trained in a monastery if asked. If asked what she is, her usual first answer is vagabond, or archer if people specifically ask what she brings to a fight.


I once played a fighter/rogue who was an ex-enforcer for a now defunked thieves guild. When the party got together and he was asked what he did, he answered "Survive"

My wife quite often when she plays a halfling rogue (which is quite alot, she is a kender at heart) tells people she is "a finder of lost things, some of which people dont know are lost yet"


Depends.
My summoner will say he is a noble and he will candidate for westcrowns vacant majorship.
My Inquisitor 1 will say this is non of your business and you do not want to know. But you can call him godfather and he will help you solve problems.
My Paladin 1 will say he is a Servant of Pelor and handy with a bow.
My Sorceress will say she is very charming and an explorer.
My Arcanist will say he is a bibliothecarian and dabbler in the arcane arts.
My Samurai will shout that he is a Samurai and devot servant of his lord.
My Paladin 2 will say that he is a sword and shield in iomedeas service.
.....

Scarab Sages

kyrt-ryder wrote:

My suggestion is to completely wipe the class from your mind.

Your character isn't 'a witch' or 'a fighter' he/she is whomever he or she is, and have developed skills/powers/competencies in whichever fields they pursue.

"Yo, names bob. If you need a good sword then I'm your man" etc.

I'll second this. I don't usually describe my character by class unless it's something very cut and dry (I am a wizard). That said, if you were to press my kensai for a class description, he would tell you he was a wizard who happened to be proficient with a sword.


Artanthos wrote:
if you were to press my kensai for a class description, he would tell you he was a wizard who happened to be proficient with a sword.

If you were to press my bard for a class description, he would tell you that he could tell you... but he'd have to kill you.


The vivisectionist alchemist I'm currently playing in RotRL claims to be medical doctor. A surgeon, to be precise. The veracity of this claim is somewhat questionable.


My characters always refer to themselves by their profession, not their class.

For example...

My necromancer in a(sadly aborted) Carrion Crown PbP referred to himself as a physician. Which was totally true.

My cleric of Desna in a Cheliax-based game refers to herself as a troubadour. Which is also true.

My gnome sorceress in a Skull & Shackles game refers to herself as "Commander," as she's the first mate of the ship, or more directly as a "sailor" or "pirate" (depending on who's asking).

My fighter in the last 3.5 game I played referred to himself either as as "Baron," (his noble title) or "Major" (his military rank in the King's Army).

And my arcane trickster in the last Pathfinder game I'd played in called herself whatever was most convenient in a given conversation, based on the disguise she wore or the con she was running. For those in the know, she was either an "Actress," "Artist," or "Adventurer."

Sovereign Court

kyrt-ryder wrote:

My suggestion is to completely wipe the class from your mind.

Your character isn't 'a witch' or 'a fighter' he/she is whomever he or she is, and have developed skills/powers/competencies in whichever fields they pursue.

"Yo, names bob. If you need a good sword then I'm your man" etc.

This. I keep mechanics under the hood when I play. Though some of these descriptions are pretty cool. I'd leave it as fully optional at my table if players wanted to do that.


My current character is an exorcist(Vivisectionist/Beastmorph alchemist).

His career doesn't look like it has much to do with his class choice, though his career is about monster slaying, curing disease, and solving other problems and he is big on philosophy.


My Inquisitor of Erastil refers to himself as a 'Hunter'.
My Inquisitor of Torag calls himself a 'Hammer'.
I can see both organizations taking those names on.

My conceited Oracle simply calls himself a 'Badass'.

Silver Crusade

I've never had a fighter refer to himself as a fighter.

One paladin refers to his kind as "paladins" or "Annointed Blades".

Another paladin refers to himself as "companion" or "prostitute" depending on how frank he needs to be. "Relationship counselor" if there's sensitive company about.

My barbarians never refer to themselves as barbarians. "Warrior" or something culturally appropriate.

Rogues? Depending on the character, "thief", "spy", "scout", "assassin"...

My clerics tends to simply call themselves priests more often than not.

Rangers - "Ranger", "scout', "hunter", "tracker"...

Bards - "bard", "minstrel", etc.

Magus - mage-knight, spellsword, guardian

Warpriest - Paladin >:)

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

They don't. Classes are a game construct for player/dm reference, just like hit points.

My Magus describes her self by what she does, she casts spells and swings her blade, frequently channeling her spell power through it.

My Wizard/Loremaster bridles at being referred to as a mere adventurer, as far as he's concerned he's a master spell caster and archivist. He gets particularly annoyed by a certain
elven noble who keeps referring to him as his scribe. The elf pays him well enough to tutor his ward, so he puts up with it.

Scarab Sages

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LazarX wrote:
They don't. Classes are a game construct for player/dm reference, just like hit points.

For most classes I would agree. A few classes, however, have names that very closely tied to practitioners identity.

Wizard is as much a sense of self identity as a class name. While an individual wizard may choose to be more specific in his title, conjurer for example, when explaining to a commoner what he is, the word wizard will still be come up.

Paladin is even more specific. There is never any doubt as to what a paladin is going to be called, only which order he serves in. Even if he holds other titles or military rank, Paladin of the order of " " is still in there somewhere on formal occasions.


Except when said character is not a 'Paladin' or a 'Wizard.'

For example, I have a Ninja whose class is wizard. Mikaze has a Prostitute whose class is paladin. I also have a grizzled old war veteran with a cynical view of justice but who still follows through on it, whose class is paladin.


Artanthos wrote:
Paladin is even more specific. There is never any doubt as to what a paladin is going to be called, only which order he serves in. Even if he holds other titles or military rank, Paladin of the order of " " is still in there somewhere on formal occasions.

I'm not a paladin, I'm a crusader!

I'm not a paladin, I'm a cleric!

I'm not a paladin, I'm a priest!

I'm not a paladin, I'm Donovan!

I'm not a paladin, you get the idea!

kyrt-ryder wrote:
a Prostitute whose class is paladin.

Lymnieris!

Silver Crusade

MrSin wrote:
kyrt-ryder wrote:
a Prostitute whose class is paladin.

Lymnieris!

But of course.

Good deeds done truly get a discount.


And dirty deeds get done dirt cheap.

Silver Crusade

I went ten years believing it was "Dirty Deeds and the Thunder Chief". Like some awesomely bad 70's Hanna-Barbera cartoon.

I think I remember being disappointed by the truth...

Shadow Lodge

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If I work with electronics, I say "I'm an electrician!"; I don't say "I'm a charming handyman who dabbles in energy!"


Avatar-1 wrote:
If I work with electronics, I say "I'm an electrician!"; I don't say "I'm a charming handyman who dabbles in energy!"

You're certainly welcome to call yourself that, but you may be opening yourself up to a lawsuit if you really ARE a handyman who dabbles in electronics but call yourself an Electrician.

One is a piece of the setting (a Guild, or a certification, something meaningful storywise) the other is a description of what you do.

(And then there's the fact that 'working with electronics' is an incredibly vast field which could range all the way down to 'car toys installer' or 'tv repairmen' all the way up to 'computer engineer' without ever actually crossing streams with the role of an Electrician.

Sovereign Court

My characters almost never think of themselves as their class. That is so restrictive.

Grand Lodge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Artanthos wrote:
LazarX wrote:
They don't. Classes are a game construct for player/dm reference, just like hit points.

For most classes I would agree. A few classes, however, have names that very closely tied to practitioners identity.

Wizard is as much a sense of self identity as a class name. While an individual wizard may choose to be more specific in his title, conjurer for example, when explaining to a commoner what he is, the word wizard will still be come up.

The word may come up. (or it might not... before Ultimate magic came out, my wizard would refer to himself as a Magus in classic Ars Magica tradition. (I will never forgive Paizo for using that name for it's gish class)) But it would not be used in the same context. He wouldn't be saying "My character class is Wizard", he would be saying "I am the Wizard of Blackmoor... Fear Me!"

My Magus never uses the word by the way... She refers to herself as a warmage. "Utility spells? That's what support casters are for!"


Thanks for all your responses so far!

However, my words might have been a bit ill chosen. I'm not very fixated on classes or that characters think of themselves in a rigid class system. But it was the first point of definition for many players and I was looking for good alternatives that can help making things more flavourful. On the other side, I believe that many characters were trained in some kind of facility or group that may let them think of themselves in classes, for example: "I'm Rich, a wizard graduated from the well-known academy of Paraibis" or "My name's Hira, a benevolent witch from the Coven of the Nine Pebbles." (Yay for names...).

But sometimes characters define themselves in other terms. A learned profession ("I'm a baker by trade, with a taste for adventure, mind you") or a great feat performed in the past ("Ha! I'm your girl! I've beaten flame drakes with my bare fists many times! Call me the Drakepunchess! Or Puncheress. Or whatever"). I think you'll get my point.

And sometimes, people just say: "I'm Dorn Buckman. I'm an adventurer."

Shadow Lodge

kyrt-ryder wrote:
Avatar-1 wrote:
If I work with electronics, I say "I'm an electrician!"; I don't say "I'm a charming handyman who dabbles in energy!"

You're certainly welcome to call yourself that, but you may be opening yourself up to a lawsuit if you really ARE a handyman who dabbles in electronics but call yourself an Electrician.

(paragraphs of etc)

Whoa, nelly! Here, I'm actually an electrician, just looking for a fancier way to describe myself. The description fits, there's not going to be any lawsuits.


No harm intended, I was just highlighting all the cases where a 'handyman who dabbles in energy' might not be an Electrician :P


My cleric of Death was always leery of being called "priestess", because she felt that was someone who tended a shrine or temple. She just referred to herself as "the Gatherer of Souls" or "the Gatherer". If asked what she did, she just said "I serve Death." When the healing lands, no one argues about what you call yourself :)


Depends on the class, culture and legal standing and profession.

A cleric will refer to herself as a cleric, priest, servant of X, or whatever (or any of the cool specific names the priesthood might have, like FR's gods tend to have).
Wizards will call themselves wizards, mages, arcanists, whatever. Sorcerers will call themselves whatever other magic-users are called in that area, unless the distinction is well known.

Fighters are fighters, warriors, [weapon]men, braves, soldiers, mercenaries, guards, etc.

Rogues are whatever they call themselves. Could be a guard, a butler, a soldier, a scout, ninja, shinobi, butei, specialist. Some are not shy about admitting they are thieves, burglars, robbers etc. Some are 'gentlemen of modest means', some are 'socialites'.

Bards are bards, skalds, minstrels, musicians, singers, etc.

Rangers: rangers, scouts, bounty hunters, hunters, woman of the forest,

Paladins are paladins, holy warriors, defenders of the faith, name of what ever order you belong to, etc.

Really, it depends so much on what setting they are in.


Well, the hobgoblin Witch from a primitive campaign called herself a Spirit Talker, as she spent most of her time speaking to dead people and using those spirit bonds to mess up other creatures day.

My Tiefling Rogue called herself a Tiefling, because she couldn't really hide that. If forced to clarify her profession in as few a words as possible, it would probably be 'Demon-Stabber.'

The Tiefling sorcerer/ranger gestalt called herself an enforcer, as she had worked as one for the local theives guild.

And my current Witch calls herself... a witch. She's a Jadwiga from Irrisen, where pretty much ANY magic casting female of her social class, especially one specializing in cold and winter magic as mine does, is going to be called a witch.


Quote:
How do your characters call their own classes?

"Pilates."

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