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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 6767297" data-attributes="member: 29398">OK, let's say they're not concrete fictional entities in the game world.The question then becomes, what are they?And if the answer is that they're nothing more than game-mechanics and building blocks in pre-fabricated but malleable sections - malleable enough that you can easily swap bits in and out like some here seem to want to do - then [MENTION=7635]Remathilis[/MENTION] is right: you might as well just chuck 'em out and go to a classless building-block system.Quite right; one could argue your background sets your profession e.g. baker, jeweller, engineer, etc.; and if that's more important to your character than being a Fighter-3 or a Cleric-7 then so be it.Except it's your class that defines what you do as an adventurer; and as the game usually revolves around adventuring your at-the-table identity is quickly going to become Calime the Fighter (maybe even one day progressing to Calime the Demonslayer if you're lucky) and not Calime the Baker.And being Calime the Fighter kinda auto-suggests certain things about you, though with that particular class there's loads of room for variance.&nbsp; Being Detelia the Monk, however, suggest a much narrower range of things; among which are you really don't need weapons to hurt things, you're a part of some highly structured organization about which the average joe knows little, and while your powers and abilities aren't magical as such they're sure going to look like they are once you really get going.&nbsp; Chances are also high that you're of a culture not common to the area in which the game takes place, assuming standard proto-Eurpoean fantasy.Lan-&quot;in almost 35 years of doing this there is but one class I have never played: Monk&quot;-efan</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 6767297, member: 29398"] OK, let's say they're not concrete fictional entities in the game world. The question then becomes, what are they? And if the answer is that they're nothing more than game-mechanics and building blocks in pre-fabricated but malleable sections - malleable enough that you can easily swap bits in and out like some here seem to want to do - then [MENTION=7635]Remathilis[/MENTION] is right: you might as well just chuck 'em out and go to a classless building-block system. Quite right; one could argue your background sets your profession e.g. baker, jeweller, engineer, etc.; and if that's more important to your character than being a Fighter-3 or a Cleric-7 then so be it. Except it's your class that defines what you do as an adventurer; and as the game usually revolves around adventuring your at-the-table identity is quickly going to become Calime the Fighter (maybe even one day progressing to Calime the Demonslayer if you're lucky) and not Calime the Baker. And being Calime the Fighter kinda auto-suggests certain things about you, though with that particular class there's loads of room for variance. Being Detelia the Monk, however, suggest a much narrower range of things; among which are you really don't need weapons to hurt things, you're a part of some highly structured organization about which the average joe knows little, and while your powers and abilities aren't magical as such they're sure going to look like they are once you really get going. Chances are also high that you're of a culture not common to the area in which the game takes place, assuming standard proto-Eurpoean fantasy. Lan-"in almost 35 years of doing this there is but one class I have never played: Monk"-efan [/QUOTE]

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