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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GSHamster" data-source="post: 6316764" data-attributes="member: 20187">I would say that it comes down to archetypes.By and large, D&D classes are based on archetypes from literature/movies/culture. Now most archetypes are defined by what they do, your "suite of abilities". Wizards cast spells, Fights hit things with swords, etc. But a few archetypes are defined by the way they behave. Paladins are the strongest of these behavioral archetypes. What makes Paksennarion and Michael Carpenter similar is not really the way they fight or the powers they command. It is the way they behave: their faith and their willingness to sacrifice. Their behaviour is what creates the archetype and so any class based on the archetype should try and emulate the same behaviour.But clerics and druids are also similar, and maybe warlocks. So if you have an archetype which depends on behavior, and then the player chooses not to emulate that behavior, what happens?There is an expectation that if a player chooses an behavioral archetype, she will live up to that behavior. For example, if you are a warlock, you will bargain for power with otherworldly entities. If you are a berserker, you will either go berserk every so often or maybe you will worry about going berserk. If you play a druid, you will venerate nature and not strip mine and pollute it.Now there's lots of room for variation with the archetypes. If you play a cleric of war, you could be a warrior-ish type on the frontlines. Or you could be a strategist and direct armies. Or you could even be a scholar and historian who undertakes pilgrimages to famous battlefields. But it is expected that your behavior is in some way connected to war.</blockquote>

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