There are a
great many different types of
character classes throughout all the RPGs in the world, however below is a
list of the most
common classes I have come across and a brief
description of their respective jobs.
The Standard Classes:
More or less, all classes can be further
categorized into one or two (perhaps even three) of the standard classes. In some RPGs
only the standard classes exist.
Mage - A spellcaster, versed in one way or another in magic (good or evil). Mages are traditionally the weakest and most intelligent of the party. Mages, for the most part, cannot use heavy armor as it restricts movement and impedes Magical ability. Quite often the strongest in terms of power.
Rogue - A rouge is not neccessarily a thief, but simply someone extremely dextrous (hence quick and usually small). They are masters of concealment, disguise and trickery, therefore quite often are a good hybrid-class of Mage-Rouge. For the most part, Rouges choose not to wear heavy armor as it restricts movement and impedes Dexterity. More often than not, the rouge character is a thief.
Warrior - A warrior is the brute strength of the party. Well trained in the arts of war and a master of one or more weapons, the warrior takes the brunt of the attack and defends the Mages and Rouges. For the most part, Warriors use the heaviest armor possible to best protect them from attack.
The Sub-Classes:
All of the sub-classes are
extensions or
variations of the standard classes. Sometimes they are
hybrid marriages of the two, combining the best of both worlds. These sub-classes are more commonly found in more in depth RPGs.
Mage sub-classes:
Sorceror/Sorcoress - More or less the pure mage. They concentrate primarily on intelligence and
magical power. They can commonly store a huge amount of
spells in their mind without the use of a
book and can cast an unlimited amount of spells in a day, however must
prepare before casting a spell. The Sorceror's main enemy is the Warrior, and such they require protection from other Warriors on their party.
Warlock/Witch: - Like a sorceror, however often
physically stronger and better versed with
combat. They are not neccesarily
evil. Warlocks commonly do not
memorize their spells, rather carry around a book with which they recite their incantations. This means they do not have to prepare before casting a spell, but commonly can only cast a limited number of spells a day. As Warlocks focus on physical strength more than Sorcerors, they are not as
powerful in their spells, and they quite often are versed in more combat related spells than any other. Hence, Warlocks have been dubbed "combat mages". The Warlock's main
enemy is the Sorceror.
Necromancer - Necromancers, despite common
misconception, are not completely evil. They must have some evil
incantation, however the
chaotic neutral alignment is often an acceptable alignment for a Necromancer in RPGs. Necromancers are Mages, however they do not study regular spells. Rather they concentrate on spells such as
Ressurection,
Curse and
Death. Necromancers are master of
Undead and can quite easily raise them, however they are quite physically weak and require protection from their undead
minions and other people in the party. Necromancer's main enemy is Warriors.
Illusionists - Mages who
concentrate primarily on illusions and pyrotechnics. They can
distract enemies with their illusions and harm them with their pyrotechnics. While they have strong illusions, their pyrotechnics are quite often used as those illusions so are not as powerful as a sorceror's or warlock's pyrotechnics. Illusionists are quite weak and find themselves
prey to all classes.
Clerics - Clerics use the power of their
Deity or
Deities to cast
spells. They must pray to their Deity in order to obtain a spell, so they must prepare like the Sorceror. Clerics are not unlike Sorcerors, however they can wear armor as they do not use hand motions to cast spells. They are weakest against warriors.
Mage-Rogue Hybrids:
Animal Masters - Animal Masters are not common classes, however they are probably the most common Mage-Rogue
Hybrids I have seen. They are not unlike
rangers, however they use magic
incantations more than animal
affinity, and master
magical beasts (such as
Nightmares and
Unicorns), rather than regular animals. They commonly are useful with
daggers,
scimitars and
bows, and have the dextrous traits of Rogues. Their main enemies are both Warriors and Mages, and must rely on tamed creatures for protection.
Tricksters/Pranksters: Another uncommon class, tricksters are commonly
theives who sacrifice some of their thieving/rogue
abilities for magical ones. It allows them to create minor
illusions and distract
potential marks, as well as protect themselves with some minor
pyrotechnics should they be caught. The trickster's main enemy is Warriors who can
outmatch them in strength, and Rouges who cam outmatch their stumped rogue
attributes.
Rogue sub-classes:
Thief - The thief is the most common rogue class. They are usually small, extremely
quick and mindblowingly
dextrous. They are not commonly altogether smart, however are usually smarter than Warrior classes. Quite obviously, thieves steal,
pick locks and get up to other
mischief (such as
poisoning). They are masters of small weapons, such as
daggers and
scimitars. They fall prey to all classes, except other thieves.
Archer - Archers are Rogues rather than Warriors as they are fast and dextrous and not versed in
hand-to-hand combat. Archers stand from afar and
lob arrows from a
bow or
crossbow, and quite often they use
poisoned arrows to enhance their attack. Archers main enemy is mages.
Ranger - Rangers, like Archers, primarily use bows however they do not focus all their energy into that one
skill. They are also masters of animal
taming, animal
affinity and animal
tracking. This means that Rangers can utilize animals in the
wild to the advantage of the party. For example, they could talk to an
owl and get it to survey what is up ahead for them, or get a
wolf to hunt for food. As such, a Ranger can also
pacify wild beasts and divert a
confrontation, or tame them and get them to attack an enemy. Rangers find themselves prey to all classes.
Rogue-Warrior Hybrids:
Assassin - Assassins are not a common class, however are the most common Rogue-Warrior Hybrids. The
combination of weapon mastery brought from the warrior class, with high dexterity and mastery of disguise and concealment brought from the rogue class, the assassin is a deadly character. Assassins often master only one class of weapon (most commonly
swords or
bows) and quite often use poisoning
techniques. They then
lurk in the
shadows and attack with the
intent of
decapacitating the target in one blow. Assassins are not good party characters unless the party is travelling through
enclosed areas, such as
woods. Assassins are
superior against all classes, assuming they do not get into vicious
hand-to-hand combat with a warrior (though they can hold their own in hand-to-hand for a time), and will find their main enemies Warriors and Mages, should their
initial attack fail to kill them.
Warrior sub-classes:
Axe Warrior - Master of
Axes, these warriors are an
anti-Mage class. They hit strong and hard, however are often much slower in their attacks than other warrior classes. Their main enemies are faster warrior classes.
Mace Warrior - Master of
Maces, these warriors are all rounders, hitting with a reasonably strong attack and with reasonable
speed. They are equally strong against all other warriors, and find their main enemies Mages, although they are not extremely weak against them.
Sword Warrior - Master of
Swords, these warriors have fast attacks and often carry
shields, however are not as strong as other warrior classes. They are quite easily the most dextrous, and can be called
fencers if they wear light armor to increase dexterity. They find themselves weak against Mace Warriors.
Spear Warrior - Master of
Spears, these warriors have
moderate speed attacks, and moderate strength. They have great advantages in being able to carry out hand-to-hand combat at a
range. They are most
vulnerable to Archers.
Paladins - Commonly Sword Warriors with an intense
Holy belief. They are strong against Undead
creatures as they can summon Holy strength against the
Unholy minions. They find themselves weakest against Macers and Mage.
Weapon Masters - Masters of all Weapons, they balance their mastery over all hand weapons rather than one, making them deadly against Rogues and Mages, however they find themselves rather
inadequate against specialized Warriors.
Others:
As I mentioned earlier, there are
many more classes, such as
blacksmiths,
fletchers,
healers etc. Alot of this are fairly
rare in
conventional RPGs.