I'm currently building an extreme version of this idea- in my current high-leveled campaign, I am switching out my usual character (who got himself into trouble with a Deck of Many Things) with a changeling bard. Honoring a long-running inside joke within our party, they will be masking as about a hundred third-level characters of various silly names and classes, who will be cycled through CR15 encounters like an assembly line of improvised crash test dummies. My fellow players are expected to catch on sooner rather than later, as the concept is obviously ridiculous and can't possibly be sustainable for more than a few sessions before something goes wrong, but it's a fun idea that I'm excited to run, and it was a challenge for me to test my mechanics knowledge!
Now, some of my deception comes from a player-DM understanding- if I'm playing a monk and I declare that I'm using an Unarmed Strike, he understands that that means I'm actually casting Shocking Grasp, but most of my abilities are legit! I used up my Magical Secrets to nab handy (and often funny) low-level spells of various classes, took the Magic Initiate feat for some Warlock spells that I missed, and have the Metamagic Adept feat for some sorcery points. A College of Swords bard with that array of feats and abilities leads to an uncanny portrayal of almost any class, save for a Barbarian's Rage, Rogue's sneak attack, or mechanically accurate Monk's Ki powers.
Let's say you wanted to play a character who was pretending to be a member of a class that they weren't. Which class would you choose to be and which would you choose to masquerade as?
I would require a character pretending to be a mage, to roll an Arcana skill check, and a pretending to be a warrior, to roll an Athletics check. Rogue is trickier, but Stealth or History (crime) can be appropriate.
Not making skill checks doesn't prove that you are not a certain class. I can build you a mage that does not have the Arcana skill (History and Investigation) and rather uses a sword to pose as a fighter, but that is still a mage.
Which brings me to a concept I want to play. A noble that was forced to study magic because of standing that actually always wanted to learn the sword and serve at the front line. This has become easier since the bladesinger is a thing and should actually be viable now.
For posing as someone or something else, other than the abilities that have to be matched, I think a skill check of Deception should be the way to go. As long as a wizard can use a sword and attacks multiple times a round everything is fine. Though he should not be caught casting spells like fireball, when posing as a fighter. Same goes for a sorcerer that poses for a wizard or a bard that poses as a paladin. If something seems fishy they have to con their way out. Once someone asks the sorcerer to learn a spell from a scroll he better have a lie prepared why he can't or pretend to do it later (at level up).
Mimicing class specific abilities is something you can only talk about with your DM though. Only he can decide if a spell or something like the bardic flourish can be flavoured to look like a smite.
I have a character that does it for roleplay reasons. She is a thieving rogue, but her alter ego is a local hero who is a druid and helps the poor and donates to charities. A wand of tangle and disguise kit has helped. She has also pretended to be a Paladin to scam someone into trusting her, because a noble Paladin would NEVER con someone.
My rogue didn't immediately reveal to the party that she was a thief, playing herself more up as as a scrappy, mobile archer. I didn't like to the party oocly, and she didn't say impersonate a 'ranger' or a 'fighter' specifically.
Not me, but our other player has Totem Barbarian, dwarf Arbor Battleleaf who thinks he is a druid. He doesn't pretend. He is convinced deeply that he is a druid. So insight doesn't really work on him. We didn't know what he was, aside of a slightly unhinged person and we could even buy that he was a druid. Hell, our actual druid failed to speak to a forest diety on the encounter and he rolled a nat20. Until he pulled the bear paws and announced he is wildshaping into bear when he in fact didn't. He is extremely amusing
I have a character who is a Dwarf Paladin, who is actually a Celestial Warlock.
He is convinced that he's a Paladin. He wields the Warhammer of Invisibility, whose head is invisible (it's a Quarterstaff), refers to every spell as Smite (but doesn't have any smite spells). He was once told that if he shaved his beard off it would grow back thicker, and so he's been trying it every morning for 40 years with no success. If pressed for which deity he is a Paladin of, he will say "Well, you know when you've been working with someone for so long that it feels rude to ask them their name?"
He has an intelligence of 6, and is one of the most fun characters to roleplay. I have taken to asking if the oneshots are serious or not before pulling him out, because if they are serious, they won't be with Eccles!
I once played a cleric of Loki once - Ragnar Skulke - who pretended to be not just another class, but also another person, a great chief called Thorkild. Being a lazy trickster and a creature of comfort and convenience, poor Ragnar stumbled upon a fine steed, armor and sword in the snow, and took them as a gift from his god. Obviously.
Riding into the nearest town, he's immediately recognized as the great Chief Thorkild. To his great surprise. And he did his best to roll with that, pretending to be a great warrior - a fighter of much higher level - trying to hide the buffs he cast to achieve some semblance of skill at arms (this was in 3.5, so not entirely out of the question).
Much hilarity ensued, and I recall Ragnar as the most stressed-out character I ever played.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
An “elements monk” (thinking about using the new UA for it), who looks entirely like a Wizard…tattered robes, bushy beard, and a wide-brimmed hat with a floppy tail.
“Wizard Staff” optional with the quarter staff.
He’s look like a frail elderly man…and then would “flurry of blows” you before you’d even be able to say fool-of-a-took.
My Bugbear believes he is a Frelf, which is a fur-bearing race of furry elves from the far north. His Dwarf father and Elf mother never had the heart to tell him he is a Bugbear, after taking him in as an infant, when they raided and killed his Bugbear tribe.
I have issue with this as a general rule because classes are not jobs. not every NPC monk has actual monk class abilities, nor does every NPC cleric have cleric class abilities. So to pretend to be another "class" is an exercise in meta, because of course a PC can pretend to be something they are not, but NPCs aren't going to test if a monk can use ki points or if a rogue can use sneak attack. They will care if it "looks" right or if the equipment and clothing are in line or if the right words are used. In some games, the abilities of the PC class are truly unique, there aren't any other monks that can generate astral arms or rogues flicking psychic daggers around
Pretending to be a different class is an attempt to fool players, not NPCs. That said, if there is reason (insanity, brain damage, gullibility) for a character to believe they are something they aren't, thats another story, but then you aren't trying to fool anyone but yourself.
I have issue with this as a general rule because classes are not jobs. not every NPC monk has actual monk class abilities, nor does every NPC cleric have cleric class abilities. So to pretend to be another "class" is an exercise in meta, because of course a PC can pretend to be something they are not, but NPCs aren't going to test if a monk can use ki points or if a rogue can use sneak attack. They will care if it "looks" right or if the equipment and clothing are in line or if the right words are used. In some games, the abilities of the PC class are truly unique, there aren't any other monks that can generate astral arms or rogues flicking psychic daggers around
Pretending to be a different class is an attempt to fool players, not NPCs. That said, if there is reason (insanity, brain damage, gullibility) for a character to believe they are something they aren't, thats another story, but then you aren't trying to fool anyone but yourself.
I see what you're saying. I would not pretend to be another "class" either. Saying I'm another race doesn't really affect anything.
If you think about it though, how much would one class know what another class can do? They might see them do stuff which seems "weird", or not be able to do something that they should, but I think nobody knows everything that someone else can do.
When I was playing a Bard, the Rogue (who aspired to be an assassin) wanted to "pass himself off" as a bard, so he took the entertainer background and played a musical instrument. It became comical for the party because usually I would out perform him in taverns and he couldn't cast spells. But the DM became annoyed when I became better at picking locks and stuff that this PC. In many ways, Bards can be better at sneaking and stuff than Rogues can be at persuasion stuff unless the Rogue completely sells himself out in Charisma and then one of his other attributes gets neglected. Bards are generally happy spending points in Charisma and Dexterity and buffing skills in charisma and dexterity things. With the aid of their spells, they can often do a great job as the party "thief."
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Borrowing from the recent “College of Dance” UA Bard subclass; a Bard who impersonates a Monk.
Shaved head, monk beads around the neck, robes…and they use their Expertise in Deception to spout ridiculous phrases or sayings; passing it off as sagely wisdom.
“Two rights don’t make a wrong; but three rights make a left.”
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I'm currently building an extreme version of this idea- in my current high-leveled campaign, I am switching out my usual character (who got himself into trouble with a Deck of Many Things) with a changeling bard. Honoring a long-running inside joke within our party, they will be masking as about a hundred third-level characters of various silly names and classes, who will be cycled through CR15 encounters like an assembly line of improvised crash test dummies. My fellow players are expected to catch on sooner rather than later, as the concept is obviously ridiculous and can't possibly be sustainable for more than a few sessions before something goes wrong, but it's a fun idea that I'm excited to run, and it was a challenge for me to test my mechanics knowledge!
Now, some of my deception comes from a player-DM understanding- if I'm playing a monk and I declare that I'm using an Unarmed Strike, he understands that that means I'm actually casting Shocking Grasp, but most of my abilities are legit! I used up my Magical Secrets to nab handy (and often funny) low-level spells of various classes, took the Magic Initiate feat for some Warlock spells that I missed, and have the Metamagic Adept feat for some sorcery points. A College of Swords bard with that array of feats and abilities leads to an uncanny portrayal of almost any class, save for a Barbarian's Rage, Rogue's sneak attack, or mechanically accurate Monk's Ki powers.
Anything is possible. Go wild.
Not making skill checks doesn't prove that you are not a certain class. I can build you a mage that does not have the Arcana skill (History and Investigation) and rather uses a sword to pose as a fighter, but that is still a mage.
Which brings me to a concept I want to play. A noble that was forced to study magic because of standing that actually always wanted to learn the sword and serve at the front line. This has become easier since the bladesinger is a thing and should actually be viable now.
For posing as someone or something else, other than the abilities that have to be matched, I think a skill check of Deception should be the way to go. As long as a wizard can use a sword and attacks multiple times a round everything is fine. Though he should not be caught casting spells like fireball, when posing as a fighter. Same goes for a sorcerer that poses for a wizard or a bard that poses as a paladin. If something seems fishy they have to con their way out. Once someone asks the sorcerer to learn a spell from a scroll he better have a lie prepared why he can't or pretend to do it later (at level up).
Mimicing class specific abilities is something you can only talk about with your DM though. Only he can decide if a spell or something like the bardic flourish can be flavoured to look like a smite.
I have a character that does it for roleplay reasons. She is a thieving rogue, but her alter ego is a local hero who is a druid and helps the poor and donates to charities. A wand of tangle and disguise kit has helped. She has also pretended to be a Paladin to scam someone into trusting her, because a noble Paladin would NEVER con someone.
When you play a social game, with very little dungeon crawl, as our groups tend to do, you focus a lot more on concept than capabilities.
My rogue didn't immediately reveal to the party that she was a thief, playing herself more up as as a scrappy, mobile archer. I didn't like to the party oocly, and she didn't say impersonate a 'ranger' or a 'fighter' specifically.
Not me, but our other player has Totem Barbarian, dwarf Arbor Battleleaf who thinks he is a druid. He doesn't pretend. He is convinced deeply that he is a druid. So insight doesn't really work on him. We didn't know what he was, aside of a slightly unhinged person and we could even buy that he was a druid. Hell, our actual druid failed to speak to a forest diety on the encounter and he rolled a nat20. Until he pulled the bear paws and announced he is wildshaping into bear when he in fact didn't. He is extremely amusing
I have a character who is a Dwarf Paladin, who is actually a Celestial Warlock.
He is convinced that he's a Paladin. He wields the Warhammer of Invisibility, whose head is invisible (it's a Quarterstaff), refers to every spell as Smite (but doesn't have any smite spells). He was once told that if he shaved his beard off it would grow back thicker, and so he's been trying it every morning for 40 years with no success. If pressed for which deity he is a Paladin of, he will say "Well, you know when you've been working with someone for so long that it feels rude to ask them their name?"
He has an intelligence of 6, and is one of the most fun characters to roleplay. I have taken to asking if the oneshots are serious or not before pulling him out, because if they are serious, they won't be with Eccles!
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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I once played a cleric of Loki once - Ragnar Skulke - who pretended to be not just another class, but also another person, a great chief called Thorkild. Being a lazy trickster and a creature of comfort and convenience, poor Ragnar stumbled upon a fine steed, armor and sword in the snow, and took them as a gift from his god. Obviously.
Riding into the nearest town, he's immediately recognized as the great Chief Thorkild. To his great surprise. And he did his best to roll with that, pretending to be a great warrior - a fighter of much higher level - trying to hide the buffs he cast to achieve some semblance of skill at arms (this was in 3.5, so not entirely out of the question).
Much hilarity ensued, and I recall Ragnar as the most stressed-out character I ever played.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
An “elements monk” (thinking about using the new UA for it), who looks entirely like a Wizard…tattered robes, bushy beard, and a wide-brimmed hat with a floppy tail.
“Wizard Staff” optional with the quarter staff.
He’s look like a frail elderly man…and then would “flurry of blows” you before you’d even be able to say fool-of-a-took.
My Bugbear believes he is a Frelf, which is a fur-bearing race of furry elves from the far north. His Dwarf father and Elf mother never had the heart to tell him he is a Bugbear, after taking him in as an infant, when they raided and killed his Bugbear tribe.
The BBEG (my character) is a Fighter pretending to be a Paladin.
I have issue with this as a general rule because classes are not jobs. not every NPC monk has actual monk class abilities, nor does every NPC cleric have cleric class abilities. So to pretend to be another "class" is an exercise in meta, because of course a PC can pretend to be something they are not, but NPCs aren't going to test if a monk can use ki points or if a rogue can use sneak attack. They will care if it "looks" right or if the equipment and clothing are in line or if the right words are used. In some games, the abilities of the PC class are truly unique, there aren't any other monks that can generate astral arms or rogues flicking psychic daggers around
Pretending to be a different class is an attempt to fool players, not NPCs. That said, if there is reason (insanity, brain damage, gullibility) for a character to believe they are something they aren't, thats another story, but then you aren't trying to fool anyone but yourself.
I see what you're saying. I would not pretend to be another "class" either. Saying I'm another race doesn't really affect anything.
If you think about it though, how much would one class know what another class can do? They might see them do stuff which seems "weird", or not be able to do something that they should, but I think nobody knows everything that someone else can do.
When I was playing a Bard, the Rogue (who aspired to be an assassin) wanted to "pass himself off" as a bard, so he took the entertainer background and played a musical instrument. It became comical for the party because usually I would out perform him in taverns and he couldn't cast spells. But the DM became annoyed when I became better at picking locks and stuff that this PC. In many ways, Bards can be better at sneaking and stuff than Rogues can be at persuasion stuff unless the Rogue completely sells himself out in Charisma and then one of his other attributes gets neglected. Bards are generally happy spending points in Charisma and Dexterity and buffing skills in charisma and dexterity things. With the aid of their spells, they can often do a great job as the party "thief."
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
Borrowing from the recent “College of Dance” UA Bard subclass; a Bard who impersonates a Monk.
Shaved head, monk beads around the neck, robes…and they use their Expertise in Deception to spout ridiculous phrases or sayings; passing it off as sagely wisdom.
“Two rights don’t make a wrong; but three rights make a left.”