Or, in other words, characters who believe they have a completely different class in-game than what's written on their sheet.
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| A witch? Oh no, darling, I am merely a vessel of the old gods of the forest. |
Identifying a Class-Confused Character
I've said this before, but your character's class is (for the most part) a meta concept. Just because it says barbarian on your character sheet doesn't mean that Juro Blooddrinker has that title on his business cards. The party rogue can just as easily be a private detective or a watch captain as they are a pickpocket or an assassin. And so on, and so forth.
So whenever your character concept is, "They think they're X, but on their sheet they're really Y," it inherently relies on this meta knowledge being a part of the game world itself.
As a for-instance, absolutely anyone can be a monk as a job. Typically the word "monk" refers to someone who has devoted themselves to ascetic living for religious or philosophical reasons. Under that definition monks could be fighters, barbarians, wizards, sorcerers, or really any class at all... because it's about being a monk as a job.
The monk class refers to someone who is a deadly unarmed fighter, and whose dedication to their particular ways and philosophies have allowed them to unlock certain supernatural abilities. However, there is zero requirement for someone who has monk as a class to actually have monk as their job. They could be a member of an elite special forces regiment, a devotee of a knightly order, a wandering duelist, or a fanatic of a cult dedicated to a god of battle.
In other words there's no requirement that what a character does for a living, and the class (or classes) on their sheet, have to match. Also, for more on the major examples, check out my 5 Tips For Playing Better Barbarians as well as 5 Tips For Playing Better Monks respectively.
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| Brother Skullcrusher, at your service. Yeah I've got 9 Rage rounds on my sheet... why? |
Class Features Sort of Ruin The Joke
Why does this idea fall flat? Well, even if you take it as writ that certain classes exist as a description in the setting (wizards, sorcerers, druids, paladins, etc.) much like the Fantasy Flat-Earther, it's because easily-observed facts sort of undermine what you're trying to do with it.
Take one of the most common examples out there; the sorcerer who is utterly convinced they're a wizard. Even if those are the words used to describe certain practitioners of the arcane arts in a setting (they usually are, but not always) this concept sort of falls apart if the character themselves has any functional knowledge of the world, and how magic actually happens; because there's a clear difference between prepared casters (wizards) and spontaneous casters (sorcerers). Sorcerers take 15 minutes to focus and relax, while a wizard takes a full hour to prep their spells. Sorcerers can cast any spell they know at any time provided they have slots left, while a wizard has to choose their spell layout beforehand (though the can leave empty slots for preparation throughout the day). Sorcerers have bloodline powers, wizards do not. Wizards can learn new spells by inscribing scrolls into their spellbook... sorcerers don't have a spellbook, and are very limited in the spells they can actually know.
This same issue basically undercuts every Class-Confused Character concept. The fighter may be convinced they're a barbarian, but without any actual rounds of Rage, or any Rage Powers it's pretty clear that they're not. The barbarian might tell everyone they're a bard, but with no rounds of bardic music, no spells, no other class features, they're clearly not. The ranger might be delusional, convinced they're a paladin, but paladins have an aura, the ability to lay on hands, and divine smite... rangers get none of that.
These abilities manifest in tangible ways. They're facts, used to recognize the presence or absence of certain classes as surely as you'd examine breed characteristics for a certain kind of dog to know what it is. And you can claim you're a husky all day long, but if you're a Chihuahua, you're not fooling anybody.
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| Not better, not worse, just distinct from one another. |
Trying To Pass Is Something Else Entirely
There is another character concept that is occasionally mistaken for the Class-Confused Character; the Cuckoo. A Cuckoo is when a particular character attempts to mimic the look, feel, and powers of another class, but they are fully cognizant of the fact they're wearing camouflage.
Let's go back to the sorcerer trying to be a wizard for a moment.
Now you could play this up in Pathfinder, choosing the Arcane bloodline to get a bonded item or familiar just like a wizard would. You might even go through the motions of reading from your "spellbook" every day to kind of get yourself in the zone. You may have credentials from a prestigious magical university, and a deep knowledge of arcane lore. You could even call yourself a wizard, wearing the necessary robes and accouterments, hoping to really sell your status.
But you know you're a sorcerer, even if the others don't.
That's the difference, here. A Cuckoo is trying to pretend to be something they're not. Maybe it's because sorcerers are considered dangerous and unpredictable in your setting, while wizards are respected and given preferential treatment. Maybe the character has a hang-up, wanting to be acknowledged for their hard work and scholarship rather than the idea they were just born into power they never had to work to master.
That fighter who puts on shining armor, who fights for the cause of righteousness, and who uses potions and scrolls to mimic divine bearing is still a fighter... but they might convince a lot of people they're a paladin because they look the part. Alternatively, an alchemist might mimic barbarian rage with their mutagen (particularly if they're a ragechemist), relying on brutal mutations to make their altered form seem similar to traditional barbarians who are held in high regard by their people as chosen tribal defenders. And so on, and so forth. But, at the end of the day, your character still knows what they are... they're just trying to be something else in the eyes of onlookers.
Subvert PLAYER Expectations, Not Character Ones
If you want to mess with meta expectations of what characters are and aren't, the best way to do it is to present your character with a particular job or skillset, but then to have a subversive class choice the table doesn't expect to go with it. Such as playing the gritty, no-nonsense bounty hunter, but instead of being a ranger you're a druid who uses their animalistic powers to track someone's trail, and who questions the beasts and the trees about where your target has gone. Or a diviner, whose spells can find someone no matter how hard they try to hide.
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| Don't worry, he'll be here. Yeah, I looked in my crystal ball, just shut up, we're on stakeout. |
This method uses the meta assumptions of the other players against them, and the surprise and amusement is the punchline. The fire and brimstone "cleric" turns out to be a devout bard who's a part of the church, the war vet in the tattered officer's coat is actually an evoker whose bonded item is their old service sidearm, and the stubbly, scarred bruiser with the eyepatch and the sour mood is actually a paladin under all that grit. Playing against type and expectation in your flavor, while still having an effective build on your sheet, works. It makes for a memorable character that can add a lot of fun to the game overall, and it can really stretch your imagination and creativity.
Most importantly it avoids the issue that a Class-Confused Character is, at their core, a joke concept. Their whole purpose is that it's funny they're so painfully unaware of what they truly are, and like the Fantasy Flat-Earther who refuses to believe magic is real while fighting a necromancer riding a dracolich, the comedy wears real thin, real fast.
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That's all for this installment of Unusual Character Concepts. Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.
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