How do the people of Golarion generally refer to the different classes in the game? This occurred to me when my players were trying to figure out just what an NPC was. He's a magus. It went something like this:
PC: "What kind of skills do you use in battle?"
Magus: "I blend sword and spells to defeat my enemies."
PC: "Ok. So what's your profession?"
Magus: "I work for my master doing whatever he requests of me."
Something like that. I was being intentionally cagey for my own amusement sure, but it got me thinking. Which classes are named professions? Which ones can be named but carry a stigma so the characters would want to call themselves something else? Which classes really can't be named because they are too gamey?
I'll get it started with some examples from my games:
Fighter: rarely called that. Warrior is better, or perhaps something based on their build: fencer for example.
Wizard: could be wizard, mage, or a slew of other fantasy names
Cleric: cleric or priest
Some of the others are tough though. And archetypes might make things even tougher. What are your thoughts? Is there anybody out there that tries to avoid class names entirely?
(P.S. I realize certain regions may have special terms or may not even have classes represented. I'm asking for in general or for major regions like Varisia, Cheliax, etc.)
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Seriously, though, I usually try to come up with a more realistic term for my characters as well. My fighters are usually soldiers, mercenaries, or thugs/bouncers. The mage gets super specific depending on the build, though most of my sorcerers give flippant non-answers to that question.
Rogues, though.. that's fun. When asked, you get to say whatever the freak, cause let's be honest, how many rogues don't max Bluff? :D
"Me? Oh... I'm a roofer. Your sup' told me to come check out this top-floor window. My permit? OH, i left it in my other pants?"
I'd say that anyone with a spell list is known by that name, possibly even as a title. Paladin Dane, Wizard Tristian and such.
For Barbarians, Fighters, Rouges, Cavliaers, and various PrCs that is totally up for debate.
My wizards always refer to themselves as "magi" or "Magus" despite the new ultimate magic class by the same name. Often i add "of the 7th circle" or what not to denote highest spell level they can cast. Of course the latter is only for the higher level wizards. I imagine it gets confusing.
How do the people of Golarion generally refer to the different classes in the game? This occurred to me when my players were trying to figure out just what an NPC was. He's a magus. It went something like this:
PC: "What kind of skills do you use in battle?"
Magus: "I blend sword and spells to defeat my enemies."
PC: "Ok. So what's your profession?"
Magus: "I work for my master doing whatever he requests of me."Something like that. I was being intentionally cagey for my own amusement sure, but it got me thinking. Which classes are named professions? Which ones can be named but carry a stigma so the characters would want to call themselves something else? Which classes really can't be named because they are too gamey?
I'll get it started with some examples from my games:
Fighter: rarely called that. Warrior is better, or perhaps something based on their build: fencer for example.
Wizard: could be wizard, mage, or a slew of other fantasy names
Cleric: cleric or priest
Some of the others are tough though. And archetypes might make things even tougher. What are your thoughts? Is there anybody out there that tries to avoid class names entirely?
(P.S. I realize certain regions may have special terms or may not even have classes represented. I'm asking for in general or for major regions like Varisia, Cheliax, etc.)
I don't think the classes are professions. Classes are just a mechanical suite used to make characters, and in the game it can have any profession. As an example a Ranger/Rogue might be a bounty hunter. Paladins might get called out as paladins because what they and what they do is so connected. Clerics may be called clerics or priest.
If anyone were to ask my character (a sorcerer/oracle/mystic theurge) I'd just say that I was a "mystic" and let them reach whatever conclusion they like. Being largely ignorant of the game's mechanics the other players in our group usually refer to my character as "our magic guy"; which is fairly accurate.
I generally dislike using classes as in game descriptions. But, individual PCs or NPCs for that matter might do so for their own reasons.
A Paladin will many times be proud to call himself one, perhaps using Paladin as a title.
But otherwise I don't think out of game classes should be referred to in game. From the game mechanics perspective we have Wizard/Sorcerer/Summoner/Magus and all the wizard specialists names to distinguish their builds, but in game they might all be valid descriptions or titles for arcane casters but used in different regions/castes or groups.
Likewise anyone who fights could consider themselves a fighter. Regardless of what style of fighting they use.
Fighter, Rogue, Ranger, Barbarian--all of these represent skills and talents the character has which don't really define their in-game profession, what they call themselves, or what others call them.
The more magical classes are a bit more defined, but even here, there can be some overlap. A Wizard is definitely a Wizard, for example, but the common man may not be able to easily distinguish a Wizard from a Witch. A Paladin and an adventuring Cleric have a great deal in common--and a Cleric is likely to define himself with the term 'Priest', which he would share with lay clergymen. In the case of Nethys, a Wizard might very well be a Priest!
Monks and maybe Alchemists are really the only classes where I see a very strong correlation between the class name and what they would be called in-game.
Yeah, I agree that some classes you could say you are, like a Wizard could rightly say "I'm a wizard" and a witch could rightly say "I'm a witch" but a fighter would probably not say he's a fighter, unless he did UFC or something. He'd be a soldier, a knight, etc.
Barbarians also might see themselves as barbarians, but on the other hand, that's also a cultural thing, so you could just as easily call a druid a barbarian in that case.
That's one of the things I liked about the 2nd Ed D&D Barbarians book. It had of course info on the Barbarian class, but also a Shaman class to go along with it, and much info about barbarians as a culture, more than just "Oh, yeah he's human born in Cheliax, but he's got anger management issues, so he's a barbarian"
Overall I think class can be how your character sees themselves, or it can be different. Like I have a bard character... Ask her profession? She's a dancer. Look at her stats and she's a Sandman (Bard Archetype from APG) with Perform (Dance).
Oh and yeah, a wizard could totally claim to be a priest of Nethys, and in game nobody should bat an eye.