D&D General What is your favorite Class?

[Musing Mage]

I am usually the DM, but occasionally do get to actually sit and play as a PC... so my choices across the editions.

Basic D&D where I cut my teeth - I like the fighter. Straight up had the most fun with fighters back in the day when we played that system.
1st ed AD&D: I lean towards Rangers as my fave, but have a soft spot for Kensai. (Not that I've played in any game where they are allowed, except the one I run as DM)
2nd ed AD&D: Specialist Wizards are fun. Currently playing a Conjurer in an online 2e campaign.
3rd Ed: I don't love 3rd Ed, but I did have a Druid that rather enjoyed. So let's call Druid for that edition.
5th Ed: I have to admit, while I wasn't impressed with them at first, the Warlock has sort of become my favourite. They really do have a cool level of versatility. Barbarians are a close 2nd, but am champing at the bit to try out a Battlemaster - so opinions may shift.

 

[Ibrandul]

Cleric. That’s partly because I most often play in, and almost always DM in, the Forgotten Realms, where the pantheons are extensive (or bloated and overstuffed, take your pick) and the various faiths were rather fully fleshed out in some of the most impressive RPG lore supplements ever published (I’m talking about Eric Boyd’s four patheon books in the 2e and 3e eras).

It's definitely my favorite class thematically, and an underrated play experience mechanically, in 5e but also (at least in FR) in 2 and 3e. I doubt the current generation of players could make sense out of the “No one wants to play the cleric because they’re boring” trope. (“I don’t like clerics because [I take religion very seriously / I have a hard time taking religion seriously]” seems to be more common these days, I find, than the old “It’s no fun to run a one-trick healbot.”)

In 5e, I’ve played, or DM’d for players who played, clerics of Kelemvor, Mystra, Selûne, and Tymora. They all played differently enough to keep me coming back. (I’ve even played two different clerics of Kelemvor, both very different personalities and somewhat different builds despite both having the Grave domain).

 

[Lanefan]

It's changed over time, for me.

In days of old my favourite was the Ranger (1e version); and if I didn't roll well enough to get a Ranger, then Fighter.

Then I became a big fan of Illusionists (1e version; or 3e with every possible feat focused on Illusions, Evoking banned). I also went through a Nature Cleric/Druid phase.

Of late I seem to have been running a lot of Wizard/MU types but that might more be due to their fortunate survival rate than anything else. I also like War Clerics (a homebrew class) as a chaotic War Cleric can be completely gonzo and still stay perfectly within character.

But I'll happily play any "classic" class other than Monk or (as-written) Paladin.

 

[Mind of tempest]

It's changed over time, for me.

In days of old my favourite was the Ranger (1e version); and if I didn't roll well enough to get a Ranger, then Fighter.

Then I became a big fan of Illusionists (1e version; or 3e with every possible feat focused on Illusions, Evoking banned). I also went through a Nature Cleric/Druid phase.

Of late I seem to have been running a lot of Wizard/MU types but that might more be due to their fortunate survival rate than anything else. I also like War Clerics (a homebrew class) as a chaotic War Cleric can be completely gonzo and still stay perfectly within character.

But I'll happily play any "classic" class other than Monk or (as-written) Paladin.

may I ask why not those two?

 

[Ogre Mage]

In 5e, I’ve played, or DM’d for players who played, clerics of Kelemvor, Mystra, Selûne, and Tymora. They all played differently enough to keep me coming back. (I’ve even played two different clerics of Kelemvor, both very different personalities and somewhat different builds despite both having the Grave domain).

If you substitute Lathander for Kelemvor, these are my favorite deities in Forgotten Realms as well. Clerics have always been high on my list of favorite classes.

 

[Sacrosanct]

B/X: halfling (Jeff Dee's version, not Elmore's)
AD&D 1e: fighter or druid
AD&D 2: rogue
3e: rogue
4e: didn't play
5e: rune knight or battlemaster, or shadow sorcerer have been my favorites so far.

 

[Fenris-77]

Rogue as always been my favorite (although that's an approach as much as a class I suppose), and the expansion of tools for the social pillar in 5E hasn't changed that. Mask of Many Faces plus the Friends cantrip is all I need to have a whole evening of fun.

 

[Tinker-TDC]

Definitely like the Fighter most narratively, but the mechanics leave a lot to be desired.

 

[Fenris-77]

Definitely like the Fighter most narratively, but the mechanics leave a lot to be desired.

At least those mechanics are of the honest hitting people in the face until they stop being a problem variety.

 

[Tinker-TDC]

At least those mechanics are of the honest hitting people in the face until they stop being a problem variety.

In my experience if you want a good multiattack the class to take is monk. Two attacks at level 1 and three at level 5!