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KyleG
2019-05-19, 02:52 AM
Are the classes of dnd an almost mystical force? I mean a soldier can fight for years and not be a fighter. A thief can live a life of crime without being a rogue. What separates the general warrior from a barbarian? And are there adventurers in the world who don't level into these epic classes but still manage to BE an adventurer with all that entails?
And in the fictional worlds of dnd are their adventurers that a slower to progress than others? Im curious about the timelines to greatness. With the first few levels coming relatively quickly it seems characters can become epic in a matter of years.

Kaptin Keen
2019-05-19, 02:55 AM
Glory.

You can slog across a dozen battlefields in fight formation with other unfortunates pressed into service, deathly afraid, hoping against hope that the men on your left and right will hold their own - and that you will too, and thus remain a soldier. Or you can dance a graceful ballet of blood and death, leaving in your wake not only dead enemies - but legend. And thus is born a Fighter.

Zhorn
2019-05-19, 06:28 AM
It's one of those "don't think too hard about it" scenarios, where the game mechanics and the setting narrative are not really made as a single unified system.
If you can, I recommend reading On the Origin of PCs (one of the Giant's OoTS books), where Haley and V have a conversation about being an adventurer somewhat just fast tracks you into being better at everything. You can spend years in military service or cloistered away in magical study and get so far... Or go on a week long trek through the mountains fighting kobolds and by the time you get back to town you'll have gained more practical skill and power in a fraction of the time frame.

Mendicant
2019-05-19, 08:47 PM
I try to think of it more as the character makes the class, rather than the class making the character. There's no mystical force at all, just an exceptional person in exceptional circumstances who learns exceptionally quickly. The class is just a meta layer.