What would they be in D&D?

[Wik]

So, here's the game. I'll list a few well-known characters from fantasy movies and films, and you'll briefly describe what class/level they are, and maybe a few important build choices (I don't want friggin' character sheets, here). Pick at least two different editions of D&D to do this, or go all out and describe them in every edition's terminology.

Don't Read any other Poster's Replies Until you finish your post!

What I want to see is the range and potential in each edition of D&D, and how people approach the problem. This isn't an edition-specific thread, but what I'd be interested in seeing is if, when I ask you to describe Conan the barbarian, how many people said "in 1e, he was a fighter" against the number of people who would say "In 1e, he was the barbarian class". And so on. So, yeah, there's no wrong answers, though I'm sure there will be some interesting discussions!

So, the four characters for y'all to stat out:



1. Aragorn/Strider
The leader of the Fellowship of the Ring, from J.R.R. Tolkiens "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and the movie trilogy of the same name.

2. Odysseus
Sailor and wanderer from Greek legend, a hero in Homer's "The Iliad" and the main character of Homer's "The Odyssey".

3. Maximus
Roman general and gladiator hero, played by Russel Crowe in Ridley Scott's masterpiece, "Gladiator".

4. Merlin
Mysterious advisor to King Arthur

Have fun!

 

[Wik]

So, I'm going to describe the PCs in two different editions - 2e, and 4e. Mostly because I've been on a 4e kick lately, and I think 4e and 3e are a bit too similar in some ways... so it'd be more fun to use a weirder edition like 2e.

Aragorn

2E: Fighter, with many woodsy NWPs. The reasoning is, 2e Rangers were Two-weapon fighters and archers, and Aragorn wasn't really either of those. He was a leader, and this was kind of covered by the Fighter's Followers.

4E: Warlord, maybe with Avenger multi-class, and some woodsy-feat choices. Aragorn is a leader, and he was all about helping out his allies and being a strong front man. However, he did fight well in one-on-one battles (like the Avenger), and he has a strong vibe that supports that.

Odysseus

2E: Rogue. Rogue seems like the only class that really supports the versatility of a man like Odysseus. You could say Bard, but the bard's magic is too inherent in 2e to work well with a mythic hero like Odysseus. Rogues are often used to represent sailors, and Odysseus is no exception. A dual-classed Fighter/Rogue could work even better, to represent Odysseus' specialization in his bow.

4E: Ranger springs to mind, with an Archery specialization. Of the D&D classes, I can only see the ranger performing the "arrow through the rings" feat in The Odyssey. Plus, the ranger could be seen as something of a wandering sailor. A ranger that multi-classed into Warlord or (even better) melee bard would fit perhaps even better.

Maximus

2E: gladiator, if the DARK SUN class is allowed. After all, it fits the character perfectly - multiple weapon use, no true followers, and a tough SOB. If you're using core classes only, you'd have to use a Fighter to represent Maximus, and hope you weren't high level enough to worry about followers.

4E: Barbarian, with a few Warlord powers to represent the leadership abilities of Maximus ("has anyone been in the army? Here's what we're going to do..."). However, instead of portraying barbarian rages as "rages", I'd run them as sort of highly-skilled combat "stances".

Merlin

2E: Druid. I mean, this is supported in the myth... academics often connect Merlin with druids anyways. And he could change shape - like the druid - and his powers often seemed more druidic in nature. This one is an obvious one, I think.

4E: Druid, but with Arcane rituals. The flavour of Merlin is supported a bit better by the druid, and when you throw in the right rituals, it fits. As an option, I'd suggest ranged bard (since it's about illusions and deceit, fitting in well with Merlin in myth), but again with numerous Arcane Rituals (and maybe multi-classed into Wizard for a few useful utlities).

 

[Lord Xtheth]

1. Aragorn/Strider
The leader of the Fellowship of the Ring, from J.R.R. Tolkiens "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and the movie trilogy of the same name.[/quote]
Two weapon ranger maybe? Posibly a rogue. Definately a Martial Striker at least.

2. Odysseus
Sailor and wanderer from Greek legend, a hero in Homer's "The Iliad" and the main character of Homer's "The Odyssey".

I read the Odyssey when I was like 10, and can't remember a single word. But I think I can remember the overall idea, and am willing to say he was just a plain Fighter.

3. Maximus
Roman general and gladiator hero, played by Russel Crowe in Ridley Scott's masterpiece, "Gladiator".

Fighter for sure.

4. Merlin
Mysterious advisor to King Arthur

I'd have to give Merlin the "Sorceror" stamp for now, just because there isn't realy another class that fits him yet.

 

[Drowbane]

Aragorn/Strider
2e: Fighter w/forest-craft type NWPs. IIRC, all fighters got followers after level 8 or 9.
3e: Rog 1 / Fighter X with Leadership. Rogue for the starting skill ranks.

Odysseus (would have to reread the Iliad to better answer this)
2e: Fighter ?
3e: Fighter ?

Maximus
2e: Fighter w/gladiator kit (or if played during his time in the Legion, with another kit)
Edit: I wish I'd remembered the Dark Sun class.
3e: Fighter / Rogue. No worthy gladiator-type PrCs out there (that come to mind).

Merlin
2e: Druid/Wizard (so what if that wasn't usually a legal multiclass... its MERLIN!)
3e: Druid / Bard / Fochluchan (sp?) Lyrist

 

[arscott]

Aragorn:
3e: half-elven ranger with some fighter levels
4e: half-elven warlord, multiclass ranger

Odysseus:
3e: Human swashbuckler
4e: Human rogue multiclass warlord

Maximus:
Don't know a thing about him, but I bet his 4e version would make use of that sweet Gladiator article from dragon magazine.

Merlin:
3e: tiefling druid
4e: tiefling bard multiclass star-pact warlock and druid

 

[Spatula]

1. Aragorn/Strider
1e - Ranger. Indeed, the 1e ranger class is largely designed around emulating Aragorn's abilities in LotR.

4e - Ranger with Warlord multiclass, or vice versa.

2. Odysseus
Greek heroes don't fit too well into D&D's class structure, especially 1e/2e where you had to break the RAW to adapt such characters (see: 1e D&DG).

any edition - some combo of fighter & rogue, maybe. His defining trait (his cleverness) can't really be represented by class abilities.

3. Maximus
Not really familiar with the source, aside from the Crowe film.

3e - Fighter with Gladiator PrC?

4e - Fighter or Warlord.

4. Merlin
Which Merlin?

 

[jdrakeh]

1. Aragorn/Strider

Mid-Level Fighting Man

2. Odysseus

High-Level Fighting Man

3. Maximus

Low-Level Fighting Man

4. Merlin

High Level Magic User — or possibly an Elf (depending upon which mythical version of Merlin you're drawing on).

[Above stats are presented in Holmes Basic terms, using expanded advancement charts.]

 

[Aus_Snow]

Aragorn: 1e - Ranger, I guess; 3e - non-magic Ranger (Complete Champion) with Distracting Attack (Players Handbook II) or another animal companion replacement.

Odysseus: doesn't really fit well into any 1e or 3e class that springs to mind.

Maximus: Fighter, whatever the edition, more or less.

Merlin: No edition of D&D can (easily) model this kind of thing. The whole machine will just break, and look at you kinda stricken. Poor thing.

 

[Bold or Stupid]

Aragorn - I'd love to say ranger, but until they get a single weapon no pet build... Warlord with some ranger multiclass and many skill trainings.


Being a big fan of the Odyssey,

Odysseus- Human Resourceful Warlord with a ranger multiclass to get Hawks Talon (or some other single target slaying fun). Really the only time he uses the Bow is for the stunt at the end, the rest of the time he's a sneaky and cunning leader of men who kicks Trojan ass in hand to hand.

Maximus - I haven't seen Gladiator, So I'll say bard to be controversial.

Merlin- Bard with Druid Multiclass.

 

[ppaladin123]

I think Aragorn is (in 4e) a ranger multi-classed to warlord with the borderland marshall paragon path (must be a ranger and warlord).