#44. Class-ic Problems

Been some while. Apparently real life strikes harder than ever, okay, not that hard but temporarily harder because I cannot get my hands on new Weirdo Whoever Plays D&D articles (if anyone reads that one at all, anyway). But having a job where your work could be idle at times means you can spare some time for a little chitchat or two, or like myself, post some random stuffs on blog. So here we go:

I have some friends (this fact alone sometimes surprises people, no wonder) who are into doing some creative activities. They are, like many others who shares my period of birth and growth, really into videogames. And as a self-proclaimed geek/nerd/weirdo mutliclass and a local smart-arse, I am often summoned to advise on their creative activities.

One thing that baffled me was, they often gets confused with the concept of job and class. Sure, you character is a warrior, a wizard, a rogue, or anything, yes, but what do they actually do for a living? I once found an example where my friend, after much contemplating and scratching their head, answered, "Dunno, maybe they go hunt monsters and find some coins lying around?"

No wonder I blame videogames for shallow inspirations. (I'm looking right at you, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.) I mean, yes, it's convenient game-wise, but if you're writing a story for a cartoon or a novel or something like that, I cannot help but feeling that it's not exactly right or well-thought. For some reason it sounds a bit... lame. Maybe it's because I DM'd a bit too much campaigns these days.

So, as an unsuccessful Dungeon Master, I would like to share my view on class and profession matters. I will be deriving many of my stances from Dungeons and Dragons, because that's what I'm familiar with, and I by far do not insist that my stance is absolute; after all, it's my idea, and while I do think it could be yours as well, I do not intend that it should be.

I think the problem stems on the translation of the word class is the problem in the first place. In Japanese and many Chinese-based part of the world, this is often translated as "profession (職業)", as in, things you do for a living. I, however, think this is very misleading, and it should be more on "role (役割)", as in, what you do in a particular situation, that is to say, what are you in your party.

This is because, the current practice of using class as a synonym of profession sometimes makes little sense. Say, you're a wizard. So what do you do for a living? In fact, what does a wizard actually do for a living? It's not self-explanatory, so ding, it's not a profession. (Just in case: Anyone with enough skills and guts can hunt monsters, perhaps for a living, but that still does not explain how come all wizards in the world are skilled monster hunters.) What do you do for a living as a barbarian? If your answer is unfortunately "mug some civilized people," then how different from you are from a bandit or a highwayman? Ding, not a profession.

Yes, the very idea of class is so gaming stuff in the first place. In many games, this is often mixed with professions, jobs, titles, and whatnots. Some classes are more inclined to specific professions, such as religious classes like clerics, druids, and paladins, or more thematic classes like barbarians, rangers, and warlocks.

However, I do believe that by separating classes and professions, a character could be more interesting and variable. For instance, take your typical shopkeeper (a profession), Mr. John Doe, who runs a grocery store near you. He could be a brawny ex-mercenary who retired from his famed past and settled down for a peaceful life (class: fighter); a part-time hunter and therefore guaranteed to provide fresh and bloody meat as much as you'd pay (class: ranger); an aspiring practitioner of arcane arts who spends his holiday brewing potions from his goods and attending a local Sorcery 101 class (class: wizard); or even an agent of local thieves' guild who, under the facade of happy-go-round store owner, smuggles illegal goods from other regions every night (class: rogue). See? Even a simple store keeper can be anyone, depending on his class.

This works vice versa. Say you have a warlock in your party (a class). This particular warlock could be a sellsword, who kills, maims, and pillages in the name of their patron (profession: mercenary); a local witch doctor who, in exchange for a pouch full of coin and some occasional treats, may concoct you a shady yet surprisingly effective healing ointment (profession: apothecary); the last of their cult, jealously guarding the last piece of relic devoted to their patron, lest it falls into the hand of some oppressive mainstream religion (profession: hermit); or even a noble whose family tradition includes music, poetry, inbreeding, and heathen worshipping (profession: nobleman). If you happen to play a roleplaying game, it's good to try out new combinations, because it makes one hell of joy by playing characters with some amusing class-profession combinations.

Oh, and this is just my idea, but I hate the idea of a character explicitly referring themselves as their class, rather than their professions and other titles. An introduction for a shaman sounds plausible and even awesome if she is "Layla Thorngrove, Daughter of Myria Thorngrove the Fair and Just, Speaker for the Azure Souls of the Viridian Worlds." Not as much if she, of all things she could use, uses something like "a 14th-level druid."

In short: I believe that classes are not professions by essence, and the two must be separated, because it makes more sense in gaming terms and also fleshes out character better with more combinations. As a roleplayer, I think something like this should be more integrated into videogames, especially Japanese videogames. (Yes, my eyes are still on you, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.) End transmission.