Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this post. I hope it will be worth your time, and it is my belief that a lot of growth can come from understanding the points I will bring up.
As stated in the title, this post is about human fighters. Trust me, I know the stigma; if somebody rolls up to the table with those two words written at the top of their character sheet, they get ragged on immediately by almost everyone at the table. They're boring and commonplace. They're even the most played class-race combination, according to this article. Trust me, the reason I'm telling you to play a human fighter isn't because they're novel or uncommon.
The reason I'm urging you to play a human fighter is to force yourself to stop relying on class and race to make your character interesting. Of course, my intention by saying that isn't to accuse you of doing anything wrong; I have no clue if you do or not. But the mindset of characters as a combination of a class and a race will strangle the depth and beauty possible in a character you have created. Race is a guide for your characters inborn nature and birth characteristics; orcs are rarely born into wealth and have anger issues, for example. These guidelines recommended from the race can form the rock-solid foundation for the player character. When the race is used as the source of the nature of the character, the character is intricate and interesting. When the orc is not recognized by saying 'the orc,' but rather recognized by saying 'the big, poor one with anger issues,' the character is much more interesting. The problem arises when the player uses the race itself as the extent of the characters depth. When a player thinks their character is interesting because they are a member of an uncommon race, and give their character no traits that are reflected by the race, their character might as well be made of cardboard for the amount of depth it is. Simply being a member of a race is incredibly boring; make the race part of the character by letting the details of the race describe your character. By using those recommendations given by the race, you give your character a narrative presence. They immediately become more involved in the story because their desires, faults, and relationships become clearer. Race should never have a single-word effect on the description of your character.
By making the race of their character a human, the player loses the ability to rely on the name of a race to give depth to their character. Nobody is impressed when they say they play a human fighter. So, they have to search other places to give their character depth in regards to race. Maybe their family is noble, and their character has nobility in their blood. Maybe they really play into the fact that humans have a shorter lifespan, and make their character bolder or more innovative. No matter how they compensate for lacking the intrigue of playing an obscure race, their character gains depth and an interest value.
The many classes in D&D afford a very, very wide range of ability. Players sometimes rely on the versatility their class provides to make up for being creative and versatile themselves. It is easy for rogues to impress party members with their ability to disengage as a bonus action, but what skill is the player really showing? Wizards are the most subject to this phenomenon. The vast array of reality altering abilities given to them makes innovation and creativeness redundant; why be creative when you can just turn the locked door to sand, or teleport to the room on the other side? Why make your party think too hard about how they could convince the farmer to help them, when they can just cast a spell to force the farmer to help them? In less extreme cases, class abilities replace personal flexibility on the part of the players. More often than not, players begin shuffling papers and looking up class abilities when faced with obstacles, as opposed to asking the DM for more information on the environment. Fighters are pretty safe from abilities that help them outside of combat. When playing a fighter, the player can't cast their way past problems; they, as people, have to figure out a solution. And this promotes a level of responsibly and involvement from the players that makes the table come alive. This skill, once learned, can be translated to any class you play in the future; and it benefits will make your fellow players and DM look up to you. After enough time solving problems using your mind and environment, it will soon feel like cheating to be able to say 'I cast fly' to win an encounter.
The theory of playing a human fighter is to make playing the character harder. It takes more thought to make the character more interesting, and it becomes a struggle on the part of the player to surmount obstacles. This challenge can be magnified by limiting more and more factors, until you are such a good D&D player that you can invent a riveting personality for a rock, and find a novel solution to any problem your DM throws at you. Playing a human fighter, when played with the right intent, is a workout of all the skills you use to play D&D.
What if we came up with cool human fighter character concepts and posted them here? Even if we didn’t end up using them in a game we could have character creation practice that could help us in our other games and a cool sharing opportunity.
I don't have a name for them, but here we go. This character is a tactician. He is strong, militaristic, and intelligent. They watch battles play out like a game of dragonchess, both of which they are skilled in. While he may be on the front lines of battle, he is more concerned with creating openings and opportunities for others to strike. And outside of battle, he understands that maintaining one's health benefits the group. As such, they're a decent cook, even out in the wild.
I can't figure out how to insert an image here, so I'll simply describe them.
His skin is tan, and they have brown eyes and hair. Their hair is well trimmed when in town, and tied up and away from the face when a barber isn't around. He wields a rectangular shield with a curve along the vertical, and wears a brimmed kettle helm to keep the sun out of their eyes. He doesn't have any capes, horns, or other extravagant features, since he believes that they will only get in the way and/or give opponents points to grab on to.
And that's my entry. What do you think? Do you have any other ideas for making a human fighter that fills a role other than front-liner or archer?
Hey everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this post. I hope it will be worth your time, and it is my belief that a lot of growth can come from understanding the points I will bring up.
As stated in the title, this post is about human fighters. Trust me, I know the stigma; if somebody rolls up to the table with those two words written at the top of their character sheet, they get ragged on immediately by almost everyone at the table. They're boring and commonplace. They're even the most played class-race combination, according to this article. Trust me, the reason I'm telling you to play a human fighter isn't because they're novel or uncommon.
The reason I'm urging you to play a human fighter is to force yourself to stop relying on class and race to make your character interesting. Of course, my intention by saying that isn't to accuse you of doing anything wrong; I have no clue if you do or not. But the mindset of characters as a combination of a class and a race will strangle the depth and beauty possible in a character you have created. Race is a guide for your characters inborn nature and birth characteristics; orcs are rarely born into wealth and have anger issues, for example. These guidelines recommended from the race can form the rock-solid foundation for the player character. When the race is used as the source of the nature of the character, the character is intricate and interesting. When the orc is not recognized by saying 'the orc,' but rather recognized by saying 'the big, poor one with anger issues,' the character is much more interesting. The problem arises when the player uses the race itself as the extent of the characters depth. When a player thinks their character is interesting because they are a member of an uncommon race, and give their character no traits that are reflected by the race, their character might as well be made of cardboard for the amount of depth it is. Simply being a member of a race is incredibly boring; make the race part of the character by letting the details of the race describe your character. By using those recommendations given by the race, you give your character a narrative presence. They immediately become more involved in the story because their desires, faults, and relationships become clearer. Race should never have a single-word effect on the description of your character.
By making the race of their character a human, the player loses the ability to rely on the name of a race to give depth to their character. Nobody is impressed when they say they play a human fighter. So, they have to search other places to give their character depth in regards to race. Maybe their family is noble, and their character has nobility in their blood. Maybe they really play into the fact that humans have a shorter lifespan, and make their character bolder or more innovative. No matter how they compensate for lacking the intrigue of playing an obscure race, their character gains depth and an interest value.
The many classes in D&D afford a very, very wide range of ability. Players sometimes rely on the versatility their class provides to make up for being creative and versatile themselves. It is easy for rogues to impress party members with their ability to disengage as a bonus action, but what skill is the player really showing? Wizards are the most subject to this phenomenon. The vast array of reality altering abilities given to them makes innovation and creativeness redundant; why be creative when you can just turn the locked door to sand, or teleport to the room on the other side? Why make your party think too hard about how they could convince the farmer to help them, when they can just cast a spell to force the farmer to help them? In less extreme cases, class abilities replace personal flexibility on the part of the players. More often than not, players begin shuffling papers and looking up class abilities when faced with obstacles, as opposed to asking the DM for more information on the environment. Fighters are pretty safe from abilities that help them outside of combat. When playing a fighter, the player can't cast their way past problems; they, as people, have to figure out a solution. And this promotes a level of responsibly and involvement from the players that makes the table come alive. This skill, once learned, can be translated to any class you play in the future; and it benefits will make your fellow players and DM look up to you. After enough time solving problems using your mind and environment, it will soon feel like cheating to be able to say 'I cast fly' to win an encounter.
The theory of playing a human fighter is to make playing the character harder. It takes more thought to make the character more interesting, and it becomes a struggle on the part of the player to surmount obstacles. This challenge can be magnified by limiting more and more factors, until you are such a good D&D player that you can invent a riveting personality for a rock, and find a novel solution to any problem your DM throws at you. Playing a human fighter, when played with the right intent, is a workout of all the skills you use to play D&D.
Three bugs on a keyboard
Your character starts with a Background and has to pick a fighting style at level 1, both of which will help in creating depth.
What if we came up with cool human fighter character concepts and posted them here? Even if we didn’t end up using them in a game we could have character creation practice that could help us in our other games and a cool sharing opportunity.
Only spilt the party if you see something shiny.
Ariendela Sneakerson, Half-elf Rogue (8); Harmony Wolfsbane, Tiefling Bard (10); Agnomally, Gnomish Sorcerer (3); Breeze, Tabaxi Monk (8); Grace, Dragonborn Barbarian (7); DM, Homebrew- The Sequestered Lands/Underwater Explorers; Candlekeep
My character is Norman. He is a human. He is a fighter. He is white. He is straight.
He starts with PAM. He starts with a spear and shield. He starts with the dueling fighting style.
He will go battle master.
Later on, he'll switch to defense fighting style and pick up GWM at 4th level, then cap off his STR by 8th level.
There, I engaged in your exercise. I expected to make a neat character, instead I got a min-maxed fighter.
My character may or may not simply be a previously built character changed to human, but I like them better this way.
Stats and Progression:
Race: Variant Human
Class: Fighter, Battlemaster, Defense Fighting Style
Background: Knight of the Order
Ability Scores (Level 1): 16, 8, 14, 14, 14, 9
Maneuvers: Commander's Strike, Maneuvering Attack, Rally (3); Pushing Attack, Bait and Switch (7);
Feats/ASI: Chef (WIS +1) (1), Shield Master (4), STR +2 (6)
Roleplay:
I don't have a name for them, but here we go. This character is a tactician. He is strong, militaristic, and intelligent. They watch battles play out like a game of dragonchess, both of which they are skilled in. While he may be on the front lines of battle, he is more concerned with creating openings and opportunities for others to strike. And outside of battle, he understands that maintaining one's health benefits the group. As such, they're a decent cook, even out in the wild.
I can't figure out how to insert an image here, so I'll simply describe them.
His skin is tan, and they have brown eyes and hair. Their hair is well trimmed when in town, and tied up and away from the face when a barber isn't around. He wields a rectangular shield with a curve along the vertical, and wears a brimmed kettle helm to keep the sun out of their eyes. He doesn't have any capes, horns, or other extravagant features, since he believes that they will only get in the way and/or give opponents points to grab on to.
And that's my entry. What do you think? Do you have any other ideas for making a human fighter that fills a role other than front-liner or archer?