Let’s say if I wanted to make it a halfling who simply went off to see the world outside of his hometown, no divine oath, no knowledge of magic, just an average joe who was just curious about what else is out there.
Fighter and Rogue are really your only options. Every other class has some sort of magical ability. The Scout Rogue might fit that well- wanders out in the world, can take care of themselves in a fight or in the wild, good at exploring, no magic, and is a relatively decent class for someone who's not driving toward some sort of goal.
I'd argue you could pick Ranger too. While they do have some spellcasting, you could honestly flavour most of that as your characters connection to and knowledge of the land.
Average Joe halfling stumbling into the world sounds very much like rogue to me, too.
Thief or Scout or Inquisitive come to mind.
You could also use your rogue's expertise for skills like Animal Handling or something like that instead of stealth or thief's tools, if you got them from your Background.
Depends on starting level and such, partly; the thing is that PC's are not meant to be "average Joe's" trait-wise. Compare the stats you can get even just from Standard Array with the Commoner block; purely by those numbers your character is going to be exceptional in a few ways. And the higher level you start at, the more it's implied that you've been doing adventurery things in the background before the campaign started. Rogue and Fighter are definitely the best "just folks" type classes, but even then the concept is that you're not just some random civillian; you've had some kind of training/prior experience learning how to handle yourself in a fight and/or acquire other skills.
I agree that an "average Joe" would not have a class they would be a commoner. A fighter is a highly trained soldier even at level 1, proficient in all weapons and armor, they might be Normal but far from average. Rogues are highly skilled and dexterous and the same applies to them.
One way in which you can make ranger work is that at level 1 they can not cast spells early on in your adventures you might be surprised that your experience not only makes you more powerful but also you gain magical skills. Alternatively you might be able to flavor them as not being magical, for example beast bond could be you have learnt the body language on animals and can imitate that in a way that allows you to communicate simple messages with a beast.
Barbarian has not been mentioned, I think of these as more primal fighters, rather than being trained they are effective in combat through instinct, you won't take a specific path until level 3 so can chose that on the way you would like your character to develop.
Let’s say if I wanted to make it a halfling who simply went off to see the world outside of his hometown, no divine oath, no knowledge of magic, just an average joe who was just curious about what else is out there.
What class should I pick (besides fighter)?
"Burglar" is the canonical occupation for hobbits halflings going off into the world, so that's probably Rogue. :)
It's really the only class that works as a basis for "I have no special training or background". Fighter and monk are too trained, Barbarian too specific.
Warlock also works if you got a bit too curious about what was out there, and you could justify Sorcerer, but I don't think either of those are the vibe you're looking for.
The character will, in short order, develop some skills and abilities he/she does no start with. With that in mind, almost any class will fit that doesn't have any magic at level 1. You could even flavor all the 1st level spells a class gets to be something odd and interesting he/she discovers as they begin their adventures. For a Halfling, wandering away from home into the forest, Ranger speaks loudest. Druid not far behind, as they may have an innate love of nature that blossoms magical gifts.
Fighter or Rogue would fit as well, they are good with a blade, sturdy and thus either profession could be a fit. Starting a character with no "class" per-say will be tricky and you'll be using some creative RP/flavoring of things to begin. Once they start to buy in to their new role/life, it will get easier. It sounds like a fun way to build a character, with no clear objective or final goal in mind. I hope you enjoy it, whatever path you take!
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
Let’s say if I wanted to make it a halfling who simply went off to see the world outside of his hometown, no divine oath, no knowledge of magic, just an average joe who was just curious about what else is out there.
What class should I pick (besides fighter)?
Fighter and Rogue are really your only options. Every other class has some sort of magical ability. The Scout Rogue might fit that well- wanders out in the world, can take care of themselves in a fight or in the wild, good at exploring, no magic, and is a relatively decent class for someone who's not driving toward some sort of goal.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I'd argue you could pick Ranger too. While they do have some spellcasting, you could honestly flavour most of that as your characters connection to and knowledge of the land.
Even if you discount the Ranger's spellcasting, most of its subclasses aside from Hunter have abilities that are fairly explicitly magical.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Average Joe halfling stumbling into the world sounds very much like rogue to me, too.
Thief or Scout or Inquisitive come to mind.
You could also use your rogue's expertise for skills like Animal Handling or something like that instead of stealth or thief's tools, if you got them from your Background.
Depends on starting level and such, partly; the thing is that PC's are not meant to be "average Joe's" trait-wise. Compare the stats you can get even just from Standard Array with the Commoner block; purely by those numbers your character is going to be exceptional in a few ways. And the higher level you start at, the more it's implied that you've been doing adventurery things in the background before the campaign started. Rogue and Fighter are definitely the best "just folks" type classes, but even then the concept is that you're not just some random civillian; you've had some kind of training/prior experience learning how to handle yourself in a fight and/or acquire other skills.
I agree that an "average Joe" would not have a class they would be a commoner. A fighter is a highly trained soldier even at level 1, proficient in all weapons and armor, they might be Normal but far from average. Rogues are highly skilled and dexterous and the same applies to them.
One way in which you can make ranger work is that at level 1 they can not cast spells early on in your adventures you might be surprised that your experience not only makes you more powerful but also you gain magical skills. Alternatively you might be able to flavor them as not being magical, for example beast bond could be you have learnt the body language on animals and can imitate that in a way that allows you to communicate simple messages with a beast.
Barbarian has not been mentioned, I think of these as more primal fighters, rather than being trained they are effective in combat through instinct, you won't take a specific path until level 3 so can chose that on the way you would like your character to develop.
"Burglar" is the canonical occupation for
hobbitshalflings going off into the world, so that's probably Rogue. :)It's really the only class that works as a basis for "I have no special training or background". Fighter and monk are too trained, Barbarian too specific.
Warlock also works if you got a bit too curious about what was out there, and you could justify Sorcerer, but I don't think either of those are the vibe you're looking for.
The character will, in short order, develop some skills and abilities he/she does no start with. With that in mind, almost any class will fit that doesn't have any magic at level 1. You could even flavor all the 1st level spells a class gets to be something odd and interesting he/she discovers as they begin their adventures. For a Halfling, wandering away from home into the forest, Ranger speaks loudest. Druid not far behind, as they may have an innate love of nature that blossoms magical gifts.
Fighter or Rogue would fit as well, they are good with a blade, sturdy and thus either profession could be a fit. Starting a character with no "class" per-say will be tricky and you'll be using some creative RP/flavoring of things to begin. Once they start to buy in to their new role/life, it will get easier. It sounds like a fun way to build a character, with no clear objective or final goal in mind. I hope you enjoy it, whatever path you take!
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
Bard. If they can play an instrument, have them find a “magic” one that gives them spellcasting.
fighter and rogue