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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 8251480" data-attributes="member: 53980">There's certainly some degree of correlation between the conceptual swashbuckler and the concept of the fighter class. However, it isn't a strong correlation IMO. Yes, you could play a fighter who is a swashbuckler. You could just as easily be a rogue, ranger or kensai monk though. In the case of swashbuckler NPCs, they might not have anything in common with any of the aforementioned classes beyond a propensity for poking folks with a sharpened bit of steel (custom made NPC).The "class fantasy" exists irrespective of whether a game has classes. I can make a character in Savage Worlds (classless system) who is a swashbuckler. Classes are simply a useful shortcut to that same end. The concept of a swashbuckler exists in the game world regardless.I don't agree that your examples bring the class into the game in a meaningful way. If all dragon sorcerers trace their lineage to the ancient Dragon Blooded figure, that's nifty but doesn't really add much IMO. I'll read it, think to myself "that's neat" or "whatever", and then forget about it unless it actually becomes relevant at a later date. I don't think it adds much, unlike organizations which can provide a variety of hooks. It's much easier to leverage an organization at the table than some obscure historical factoid that the players might or might not even read.I'm not saying it's bad or anything. If it works for you, go for it. I just don't agree that it's worth significant effort. I'd much rather a player give me a creative origin for their character, than provide one for them. They'll actually remember the one they come up with, and that's something that's easy to leverage at the table. They'll be far more invested, because they've made the investment of coming up with it themselves. That's not to say that you can't have an ancient mage who was called the Dragon Blooded and was a mighty and feared individual. That's just building a historical context for your setting, which is useful because it creates depth. However, if I were creating such a character, their "class" wouldn't be stated. It would left up to the players to guess what it might have been. There might be a myth which states that this figure sired a powerful bloodline whose magic is drawn from draconic ancestry, but I would leave it as no more than a myth. A player who wants to hook into that can, whereas a player who wants to go their own way with their custom origin is equally valid. It's a subtle but important distinction to me.</blockquote>

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