Sometimes for a character concept, the mechanics of class "A" are a perfect fit, even if the "fluff" text seems to contradict it. I'm looking to start a thread for fun and/or interesting examples.
I'll start: My character Seth was obsessively devoted to honor, chivalry, and the protection of king and country. He was highly-disciplined, trained in a style of swordsmanship in which the practitioner fell into a meditative "battle-trance" that enabled him to temporarily ignore wounds and strike more powerful blows. Seth wore a hat with a big feather in it, and light armor, and he rode a warhorse that I devoted a lot of time to naming and statting out. Finally, he had a few other abilities bestowed by the gods to enable him to fulfill his sworn duty.
Others? (I'm hoping TOZ will talk about his street urchin/circus acrobat).
Unfortunately, this would never fly in my group...our regular GM often talks about the 'mistake' one player made GMing, when he made the 'mistake' of having a ship captain be a barbarian. Because wild brutes constantly raging are bad to have as a ship captain...because that's all that a barbarian is in Pathfinder, right? apparently fifty-ish rounds of rage at level twenty means you're raging from dawn until dusk...
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Unfortunately, this would never fly in my group...our regular GM often talks about the 'mistake' one player made GMing, when he made the 'mistake' of having a ship captain be a barbarian. Because wild brutes constantly raging are bad to have as a ship captain...because that's all that a barbarian is in Pathfinder, right?
<<Headdesk>>
This makes me want to drink cyanide. I mean, seriously, way to tell people how to play their characters. "All wizards in my game are REQUIRED to have a pointy hat and a wand and a cat familiar (no other kind!) and a big beard and robes with stars and stuff on them! Or else you get kicked out of the group!"Part of the intent of this thread is to hopefully illustrate that (a) your GM's view is not the only one, and (b) it's not even necessarily the "best" one for a lot of people.
So you want to pick the players vs GM argument? Look they're bringing the torches!
But seriously, yeah sounds like an inflexable GM classes can get reskinned as can monsters or anything else the fluff is the fluff IMHO.
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Can I post a link to my Halfling Duelist (who happens to be a Barbarian)?
Too late! I already did!
Classes are just packs of mechanics. Fluff texts are just really good suggestions.
Well, at least that's how I see it.
Can I post a link to my Halfling Duelist (who happens to be a Barbarian)?
Too late! I already did!
Classes are just packs of mechanics. Fluff texts are just really good suggestions.
Well, at least that's how I see it.
Totally stealing for an inigo montoya based character.
add to this list my druid circus master.
Nice!
Wait... Is that Kirth Gersen, creator of Kirthfinder, approving of my build?
Hah! I knew Foxy Slicey was awesome!
Kirth Gersen endorses creativity when it comes to non-standard use of classes.
I'll remember that.
Here's one that TOZ did in my home game (alluded to above): PC is a street urchin who got in a lot of brawls as a kid. Eventually he joined the circus, becoming a trapeze artist. Class: monk, with max ranks in Acrobatics.
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Varisian gypsy trickster with a handful of magic and a bladed scarf. Ninja class focused on ki abilities for the "gypsy magic."
I've used rage as a Battle Trance before. :D
I have a gestalt Monk/Sorcerer who's spells are by special effects Ch'i based powers.
When 4E came out I talked the GM into letting me have the assumed level based AC as a special ability, and a weapon 1d6 as martial arts. Then I played a ranger and renamed all his multi-attack powers with the "Thunderstrike of the water dragon" kind of names.
There are entire games build around that philosophy - you have a mechanic, but the fluff of the mechanic is completely up to you.
I'll just add that a class doesn't define what your personality is.
You can be a greedy good cleric, a crusading rogue, a spiritual fighter who is in tune with nature, a charismatic leader ranger, a dim-witted wizard, a shy bard, a regal barbarian, or even a self-obsessed Paladin.
It's all in how you play it.
Sometimes it is the most fun to play the opposite of your class.
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I'll just add that a class doesn't define what your personality is.
Of course, but we're past that, and into your class doesn't define your profession, or type of character, or anything else except a package of mechanical abilities that you can then flavor as you see fit.
Varisian gypsy trickster with a handful of magic and a bladed scarf. Ninja class focused on ki abilities for the "gypsy magic."
One back at 'ya: Katarina was a ninja hit woman, into using stealth, deadly touch attacks to kill targets, blinding explosions and smoke to cover her getaway. Class: sorcerer.
Louisiana 'gator wrestler. Tetori monk.
Had another one in the "player entitlement" thread. Guy wants to play a Gunslinger. DM for some reason is stuck on a Tolkien-specific setting. Character declares his "firearm" is actually an actual sling -- he's just so good with it that he can hit unarmored parts of enemies (read: make touch attacks). But the metals for making his sling bullets are rare and expensive, and sometime when he's whirling his sling to cast a bullet, it gets all tangled up on him ("misfires").
I had a character who was similar to The Shadow. He was given divine gifts in order punish the wicked, by the god of vengeance. He was a sorcerer who knew spider climb, true strike, obscuring mist and such.
This was 3.5 btw
I had a character who was similar to The Shadow. He was given divine gifts in order punish the wicked, by the god of vengeance. He was a sorcerer who knew spider climb, true strike, obscuring mist and such.
Nice -- a lot like Katarina, above.
I love all this, though I've not had experiences with such drastic dissociation between the standard thought for a class and the actual character.
Then again, most of the people in my usual group tend to play really weird stuff in the first place, so there's value in that, I guess. ^^;
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so I recently threw a hobgoblin "shaman" at a party last sunday. The power of his god fuel his ferocity and attacks. his class...quigong monk.
Had another one in the "player entitlement" thread. Guy wants to play a Gunslinger. DM for some reason is stuck on a Tolkien-specific setting. Character declares his "firearm" is actually an actual sling -- he's just so good with it that he can hit unarmored parts of enemies (read: make touch attacks). But the metals for making his sling bullets are rare and expensive, and sometime when he's whirling his sling to cast a bullet, it gets all tangled up on him ("misfires").
I like that idea. With a lack of a slinger archetype, I've been curious as to how I could play an effective slinger. I was thinking of using the fighter archer archetype, just modifying it for a sling.