thegreatbeyond

[Es'n'vee]

In this pole I am including RPGs such as both Dungeons and Dragons and the Final Fantasies. Every instance of a certain class type will have common features, I am referring to high warrior strength, high thief dexterity... So use which RPG you have on mind when answering this poll.

So, Warriors will include all fighters, blackbelts, rangers,or knights. Wizards would be the sorcerors and magicians. Priests would be clerics, druids, probably white mages, and Rogues would be thieves, ninjas and probably bards.

Some questions; What genre would be a D&D Monk, and what about an FF Red Mage?

[chromus]

A monk would go into the Warrior category. Warriors are those that use physical strength over anything else, and a Monk does just that. Instead of training with weapons, though, the monk trains to use the body itself as a weapon, eventually learning mystical powers through the perfection of body.

The whole point of a Red Mage (in Final Fantasy) was to bridge different classes. The Red Mage can cast offensive spells like a wizard, but can also cast healing spells like a cleric. They might also be good with both sword and sneaking around, though in all four cases, the red mage is not as good as any of the specific classes.

[Pez-Man]

Red/Blue mages would probably have their own category. I love the rouges, but most games underpower them.

[Es'n'vee]

Yepper, monks would be warriors, but i've seen them classified as priests before. Red Mages bear an uncanny resemblance to D&D bards, in my opinion. Bards too are a mixture Warrior, Rogue and Mage. But it seems, in my experience, that there has never been any doubt that a bard is classified as a rogue. I'm assuming this is because the bard's main ability, past the combat, stealth and magic, is it's interpersonal skills. Things like bluff, diplomacy and gather information. (I can't help feeling that my viewing of a red mage as thus is because of 8-bit theatre.)

[Pez-Man]

There are two different classical definitions of monks, those that use martial arts to attack, and those guys that chant in the church.

[chromus]

In some games, the monks which start out as hand-to-hand fighters can learn divine spells (or in the case of D&D 3E, ki attacks) which might contribute towards that confusion.

A Red mage classically (I mean the original Final Fantasy, here) is a bridge between offensive and defensive spell casting. The more general jack-of-all-trades would be a bard, so there is some sort of division.

[Es'n'vee]

Yeah, but in FF1 at least, Red mages had one of the highest dexterities, and they can usually equip a much wider range of weapons than the other mages, too.

[Pez-Man]

Hence jack-of-all-trades, even extending to rogue and fighter classes. Though, the DEX thing must have just been because they needed to have the red mage have a high stat in something.

[Es'n'vee]

Which was exactly my point to begin with. Both the bard and the red mage are defined as the jack of all trades. This is taken directly from the wikipedia entry on Red Mages.

"In the Final Fantasy series of video games from Square Enix, the Red Mage (or Red Wizard) is a character class similar to the Bard in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game."

Red Mage literally is a bard without the music abilities.

[Zornak]

In this RP group I am in, my Red Mage has nearly killed himself countless times with a cure spell. I'm not good with dice ^^;

[Es'n'vee]

In 8-Bit theatre's "Twinking out with Red Mage," RM has described the version 3/3.5 DnD Bard as a Red Mage many times. I agree! Even if it's a different class, they've the same basic principles.

[Zikashi]

Screw the Red, White, and Blue Mages!!! All shall suffer from the hands of the one and only BLACK MAGE!!!! He is the BLACK MAGE, he casts the spells that make the people fall down!!

[G byrd]

WARRIORS SHALL PWN ALL!!! ALL!!!