D&D 5E D&D's best on screen class depictions, as per ENWorld

[lowkey13]

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[Beleriphon]

I was hoping we'd see all the winners of the polls laid out together.

I'd posit that the Geoffrey Chaucer of the movie is so fictionalized as to be his own thing.

I think it's easier to take Paul Bettany as Geoffery Chaucer as a different character than the real one, who happens to have the same name.

Yes, it is supposed to be the historical person (and the events depicted are clearly supposed to have inspired the man to write Cantebury Tales) but honestly the depiction and real guy are so different they might as well be different people in context.

And he really is a totally awesome bard, in the D&D context, in that movie.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Oh wow! I had forgotten about that movie. Yeah, I don't think you should be using actual people (even fictionalized) for this. IMO.

Merlin and Robin Hood are one thing, but Chaucer?

I'm inclined to agree. Even fictionalised real people are a dodgy choice. I mean what about William Shakespeare (Shakespeare in Love) as a bard? How can you argue that the Bard is not the bard?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

If you've watched A Knight's Tale, that character could have been named anything. They called him Chaucer for a laugh.

Eh, Chaucer wrote the novel...

 

[Minigiant]

I still say Robin Hood is too low magic to be a traditional D&D ranger. He is too mundane and relies too heavily on his gang for survival. Hood has nothing that can withstand a moderately magical D&D setting.

The poll displays some of the D&Dism of the various classes. Classes like the bard, druid, ranger, and paladin are truly unique to D&D and D&D inspired games. It is visible how many of the poll winners lack iconic class features completely.

 

[lowkey13]

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[Ralif Redhammer]

So I went back to my 2e books, and looked through the list of examples for each class. Interesting stuff. There's nothing from movies or books, only folklore and history. Some of them are:

• Fighter: Hercules, El Cid, Beowulf, Alexander the Great
• Paladin: Roland, Sir Lancelot
• Ranger: Robin Hood, Orion (also mentioned, the Huntresses of Diana)
• Mage: Merlin, Circe, Medea (This is the only class that has more women than men listed as examples. For example, the Fighter lists not a single woman.)
• Cleric: Archbishop Turpin (He is the only person listed for clerics, but they also include the various orders like Templars and Hospitallers)
• Druid: No one (but they do mention Roman-era Germanic tribes)
• Thief: Reynard the Fox, Robin Goodfellow, Ali Baba
• Bard: Alan-a-Dale, Amergin, Homer

 

[Maestrino]

Eh, Chaucer wrote the novel...

He did, but "The Knight's Tale" from the Canterbury Tales is, well, different enough from the plot of the movie that it gives me PTSD flashbacks to that thread about whether or not you can call a videogame "inspired by" fifth-edition...

 

[Minigiant]

I feel a great disturbance in the Gygaxian Luminiferous Aether, as if millions of grognards suddenly cried out in terror ...

...only to be silenced by someone saying, "Sure, more magic, but is Robin Hood DROW enuff?"

Oh I bet the Ranger area of the Aether is constantly troubled by "But how does (insertname) fight a (insert giant class monster)" I wonder if one can even felt over this and the natural grumpiness of iconic rangers. The image of Strider's face weighing you down as you attune to the Rangerforce.