Your Character Is Not Your Class

I’m sure this topic has been broached a million times before (Check here for one of the best ones) but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be spoken about again. I’m sure you have yourself or have heard someone else introduce their character as Bob the fighter or John the barbarian. Or maybe a fellow player or even the GMs NPC asks “but aren’t you a rogue?” No, no I am not a rogue, I am so much more than that.

A class is just a set of abilities that separate different types of characters, but a class is not who you are. A rogue is not a rogue is not a rogue. Especially with the advent of archetypes in pathfinder characters of the same class can be vastly different. I’ve played a rogue who was an archaeologist, one who was a pit fighter and one who was a professional security tester.

When you look at your character the last thing you should think is I am Bob the fighter. No you are Hendrick the swordsmen, Ser Anthus knight of Andoran loyal servant of lord so and so. Even classes that seem like the name of the class does fit what your character is, don’t have to be. You don’t need just to be Kellen paladin of Abadar. You can be Kellen Knight of the order of the book, servitor of the maker of laws and protector of the civilized world. Kellen the Paladin is just not epic enough.

But how do you decide who and what your character is? That’s not such an easy thing to do. You have to look at your stats and skills but more than that you need to look at your goals and ambitions. Your fighter wants to be the greatest swordsman in the world, but why. Is he just Jun the swordsman, or is he Jun master of the flat blade, Jun the as yet undefeated Aldori sword, Jun, student of Master Kun the Whirlwind.

So next time you look at your character sheet, remind yourself you are much more than just a druid, or a monk, or a bard. What you are is totally up to you and not dictated by just your class. Look at your character now and tell us who he is and what he does without using the name of the class his abilities come from.