D&D 5E Fivethirtyeight Article About D&D Race and Class Combos

[cbwjm]

Worth mentioning:

I wonder how many of those human fighters were made just so that people could use them to argue about GWM/SS/PM
Partially a jab, but look at that insanely lop-sided the race distribution when compared to every other combination, and remember that variant humans get a feat at level one, which makes them ideal for both low level feat testing and circumventing the main penalty when multi-classing (which is not getting ASI on time)

More interestingly:

The Cleric has been knocked out of the "core 4".

Aasimar are the rarest of all characters, even more rare than birdmen. Though it doesn't specify if this is the DMG's or the Volo's Guide's take of the race.

I'm not sure that human fighters would have been chosen for the feat since this is looking at the free content which includes a total of two feats, so the majority of these likely aren't taking variant human as only those who have invested in the app would have a reason to do so.

From memory, the free aasimar is the DMG version.

 

[Mephista]

Most traditional fantasy and mythic heroes tend to be what D&D calls fighters. And human. Plus both are some of the most relateable class and races. I seriously doubt that it's merely just new players gravitating towards them.

Well, I agree about the human part, but the fighter part? Not so much.

Aaragorn is totally a paladin. Or a ranger, depending on your view. Gimli, Sam and Merry might be fighters, but Frodo and Sam are not. Bilbo is a rogue.
Conan the Barbarian. Its right in the name.
Robin Hood is totally a Ranger.
Wu Xia stories default to the monk class.
You've got Eragon with the mix of magic and swordmanship, but the magic comes from the oath to the dragon, so paladin to me once again over Eldritch Knight.
King Arthur is pretty much an iconic paladin as well.
D&D novels tend to have wizards and rangers and rogues and clerics as main characters. Kelemvor is about the only actual fighter that I'm aware of, and there were a ton of characters in that story arc.
Heracles is totally a barbarian.
I know of a few stories with tactician / warlord types, and that's supposed to be part of the fighter chasis in 5e... but that's not the intent I think you're going with here.

So, who are these legendary Fighter types? Most of the ones I can think of actually fit other classes better than Fighters. The only real exception I can think of is the main character stories of some MMOs seems to default to a fighter/warlord mix type.

 

[Leatherhead]

I'm not sure that human fighters would have been chosen for the feat since this is looking at the free content which includes a total of two feats, so the majority of these likely aren't taking variant human as only those who have invested in the app would have a reason to do so.

From memory, the free aasimar is the DMG version.

It would be more accurate to say the list excludes race options that are only available when you pay for something. Kobolds of any stripe are right out, but if you have a Eldritch Knight Human Fighter, that is counted on the list, despite being premium content.

 

[Gladius Legis]

I wonder how much of the Ranger's relative popularity has to do with the Revised Ranger.

 

[cbwjm]

I wonder how much of the Ranger's relative popularity has to do with the Revised Ranger.

Is the revised ranger available in DnD beyond? I thought it was only the original.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Well, I agree about the human part, but the fighter part? Not so much.

Aaragorn is totally a paladin. Or a ranger, depending on your view.

Did he cast spells? Heal with a touch? Have an animal companion? No. He was the inspiration for the ranger, but since then there've been skills added to cover what spells did so haphazardly for the early ranger, and the ranger has 'evolved' to use all sorts of actual spells much earlier. He might have been a 4e ranger or UA spell-less ranger, but not a PH ranger. Paladin is right out. In 5e, Outlander Fighter.

Gimli, Sam and Merry might be fighters, but Frodo and Sam are not. Bilbo is a rogue.

Bilbo was at least mistaken for a Rogue.

Conan the Barbarian. Its right in the name.

Howard's depictions of Conan didn't go in so heavily for the Rage thing, and certainly didn't invoke totems... Fighter or MC works at least as well. And, Barbarian, should have been a background like it was a kit in 2e. ;P

Robin Hood is totally a Ranger.

Doesn't cast spells, doesn't do anything D&D-identity-crisis-rangery, really.
Folk Hero Fighter, archery style, off you go.

Wu Xia stories default to the monk class.

Wu Xia use weapons, lots of them, often armor.

King Arthur is pretty much an iconic paladin as well.

Sure, always healing people by laying on hands and casting spells.

Lancelot had a 'fall from grace' that was paladin-appropriate enough. And Galahad, of course, is the prototypical paladin. They never cast spells, though.

D&D novels ...

Are self-referent.

Heracles is totally a barbarian.

He'd likely fly into a rage and snap you neck if you said that to his face. Y'know, in ancient Greek... ;P

Seriously, though, the one time he famously did 'Rage,' it was because Hera had driven him mad.

So, who are these legendary Fighter types?

Most of the characters you just mentioned. The rest of the Knights of the round table. Basically every other 'knight' that didn't run around casting spells and laying on hands. Roland and almost all of Charlemagne's Paladins, ironically (and one of them was vaguely a Warlock or something, too, weirdly enough). Beowulf. Hector. Pretty much the cast of GoT who aren't clearly rogues.

I mean, process of elimination: do you sneak around and stab people in the back? Do you go berserk? Do you have magical abilities? Three strikes and you're a fighter, there's nothing else left in 5e.

 

[Parmandur]

No, they're statisics: characters per 100k characters. There aren't 109k characters in DDB, there could be any number, less than 100k (if it were a lot less the numbers'd start looking weird) or more - could be a lot more, even millions.

Essentially, percentages to the third decimal point.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Robin hood was an assassin, I read it in White Dwarf years ago...

 

[cbwjm]

In 2e, Aragorn was a paladin. I read it in a Wizard magazine years ago.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Robin hood was an assassin, I read it in White Dwarf years ago...

Actually, I always thought of Robin Hood as a Rogue - "steals from the rich to give to the poor" with either a noble or outlander background, depending on the tales you read. If I were to choose an archetype, then maybe the Swashbuckler would fit, although you'd want to base it on ranged combat if you could.

Anyway, not a Ranger - which I think is more akin to Aragorn or Jon Snow. They have a terrain that they guard, a quarry to hunt and a people or noble cause to protect. For me, totally different concept to Robin Hood.