So you’ve chosen your race, and you’ve chosen your alignment. Now you are ready to choose the class of character you want to play.
I have broken them down in to the “Warrior Classes”, the “Holy Classes”, and “The Spellcasters”. For the specifics of each class, I would recommend reading the “Player’s Handbook” for Dungeons and Dragons.
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The primary “Warrior Classes” consist of Barbarian, Fighter, and Monk. These are the melee, and combat classes. Every party should have at least one of these classes for best results. In some circles, these characters are referred to as “tanks”. Send them in when something absolutely, positively, needs to die in a glorious fashion.
Barbarian
Barbarians are the wild-men, the nomads, the natural survivors. Focusing to hone their primal instincts, their rage, into a survival mode that rivals the beastly monsters of the world. Barbarians are not known for feeling “comfortable” or “at home” in normal civilization. Not they they are uncivilized, but that they feel the call of wilderness, and call it home.
If you choose to be a barbarian, think of your backstory. What led you to the wilds or were you born unto it? Did you commit some crime, or become a folk-hero? Humans, Half-Orcs, and Dwarves make excellent barbarians. Focusing on strength, forsaking heavy armor, they will be the first to go in, the last to leave.
If you remember the “Dungeon Crawl: Dwarves” article, you’ll remember Vandal Brawnanvil. The dwarven barbarian played by one of my players in our D&D session. While everyone else chooses to lob spells, or a volley of arrows, Vandal will rage, and charge headfirst into the conflict. While dealing the most damage, he often makes himself the target of most attacks.
Barbarian. Image from dndbeyond.com
Fighter
Fighters are the broadest of the combat forms. Any race can be a fighter. The weapon, and armor choices, are virtually limitless, only bound by the race, and stats of your character. Fighters can come from any background. Blacksmiths, soldiers, farmers, wannabe heroes, shop owners. Fighters can pursue down any path of alignment, and can fight for any reason they choose.
In the “Dungeon Crawl: Humans, Gnomes, and Halflings” article, I created a backstory for a human fighter that involved him seeking revenge for the loss of his wife, his child, and his village. A blacksmith who was the only survivor by either sheer luck, or a cruel twist of fate.
Really let the imagination run with this class. This is also a great class for those who may be new to Dungeons and Dragons.
Fighter. Image from quora.com
Monk
Monks are the ultimate in combat class in my opinion. Masters of the martial arts, generally refusing weapons preferring to use their own fists and feet. Imagine Bruce Lee, or Jackie Chan in a fantasy world. Many would think of monks as “Friar Tuck” from “Robin Hood”, but in Dungeons or Dragons they would be more like Jet Li in “The Forbidden Kingdom” as a warrior monk.
Monks belong to a monastic order in many cases, and live by a code. They typically follow their alignment very faithfully, and have their own rituals for training. Monks have a lot of benefits as well, including having multiple strikes, grappling abilities, and basically the freedom to go MMA on the enemy.
A story arc I am a fan of in my own monk characters, is that belong to an order of ninja-like assassins, who are not inherently good, or evil, but seek to right wrongs. Even the wrong was done against an evil person. This gives them the freedom to make their own choices, and allows the character to follow what they perceive as “right and wrong” based on their own monastic code.
Monk. image from oldschoolroleplaying.com
Be sure to tune in next week when we look at the “Holy Classes” of Paladin, and Cleric. Also, be sure to bookmark the Geek News Now website to not miss any of our coming information, articles, contests, and giveaways. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Twitch. Stay Geeky my friends.
