The most unconventional class you've played

[Zloth]

In Neverwinter Nights 2, one of your companions is a dwarven fighter. I believe that, among the dwarven people that are into adventuring, 85% are fighters with the other 15% being clerics that specialize in healing fighters. I was quite surprised, then, when my dwarven companion wanted to <<15+ year old spoilers here>> become a monk! Not just a fighter that specializes in hand-to-hand fighting, a proper monk! I was dubious that he would be a better help in combat, but I also knew I would probably never get a chance to play a dwarven monk ever again - so I went for it.

I've had more strange ones over the years, too. What odd classes have you folks played, either as the main character or an NPC you've had full control over?

 

[mainer]

When it comes to character creation in a D&D game (though I'm including Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2 here as they felt similar) I tend to create traditional type characters, whether I'm creating just the main character or a party of characters. I very rarely dual-class or multiclass as I prefer to get the higher level feats and/or spells usually only available to a single class. It might sound boring, but I have a lot of fun that way as I'm comfortable with certain party compositions.

If creating only a single character, I'll often play as a ranger specializing in either ranged weapons or dual wielding. I'll pick subclasses when they become available, but never anything that I'd consider unconventional.

When thinking of NPCs/companions that you come across that join you and you have control over, I think Grieving Mother from POE1 was the most unconventional character I've ever played. A sad, depressed, mousy looking peasant woman who could rip enemies apart with her mind, using her Cipher abilities.

Grieving Mother

Grieving Mother is a female Cipher. She is one of the possible companions in Pillars of Eternity. She can be found and recruited in the southeast corner of Dyrford Village. "Grieving Mother" is a seemingly middle-aged woman with brown hair. Beyond that, little information is immediately given to...

pillarsofeternity.fandom.com

But when I eventually get to Baldur's Gate 3, I may try something different, as the way Larian has build the classes and subclasses looks really interesting to me. Especially after reading the recent PCG article (which I believe you've read) where they list of few subclasses. Of special interest to me there are the subclasses of College of Swords Bard, Gloom Stalker Ranger, and Wild Magic Barbarian.

The 6 weirdest, most exciting subclasses in Baldur's Gate 3 that we can't wait to play

Optimal? Not necessarily. Fun? Definitely.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Brian Boru]

Frat Boy Super Soldier

Far Cry 3 introduces us to the innovative concept of a California brat dropped into an island jungle to become a savage machete killer, with exceptional weapons skills acquired in a few days.

And that's not all. No Siree, our Jason Brody is not only a natural-born killer, he's also a natural-born tower climber!

Bad-Ass Mama's Boy

After Jason's phenomenal success, Far Cry 4 brought us Ajay Ghale, another nondescript sumpin-or-other just fulfilling his mom's last wish to scatter her ashes in Kyrat [aka Tibet]. However…

Turns out he's also the son of the revolution's former leader, and therefore a threat to the current dictator. Oh well, why didn't you say that first? Now I can become Jason 2, in the style of Rambo 2—and yes, superior tower climber to boot!

Rookie of the Year

In Far Cry 5 we meet …uh, someone… who at least has fired a gun in training. Junior Deputy, aka Rookie, with the most unconventional ability of 'em all—the power to decide whether se wants to be male or female before embarking on hir epic adventure! Not only that, a cosmetic surgeon is on hand to create whatever the magic mirror on the wall decrees—so sadly, no definitive pic available.

Rookie didn't have the sense to skip the initial arrest, but at least se seems to have some idea of hir limitations—recruiting multiple accomplices to fight beside hir. Whether you prefer Adelaide Drubman or Cheeseburger may be an orientation thing… or maybe a teeth preference.

 

[Zloth]

I did read that article - which got me thinking about some of the weirdness I've seen and played.

In Shadowrun 2 and 3, I played a dwarven mage that also carried a shotgun around as backup. The whole Shadowrun setting seems set up for craziness, with its fantasy/cyberpunk crossover.

Fall-from-Grace was a strange one from Planescape: Torment - a succubus that was a Lawful Neutral cleric. I don't even know what class Morte, a disembodied skull, was in the game.

Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines had some strangeness for sure. My first playthrough was essentially a mage, just using blood instead of mana - nothing surprising there. My second, though, was as a Malkavian, and those vampires are flat-out nuts. They are a bit psychic and prophetic, too, but these are the kinds of vampires that can get into an argument with a stop sign. ("No, YOU stop!")

I think another Troika game, Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura might be the king of odd characters, though. It's got the classic Tolkien races mixed up with steampunk, a bit like Shadowrun, plus it has the ability to make characters that are a bit insane. Sadly, I only played it for about half an hour - mostly just to see the character creation. (It goes on sale on GOG for, like, $2.50.)

Hehe, good point @Brian Boru - those shooters have some folk leading them that seem a rather odd choice. Gordon Freeman is some pencil-neck scientist, how's he the protagonist in Half Life!?

 

[Colif]

I think Grieving Mother from POE1 was the most unconventional character I've ever played. A sad, depressed, mousy looking peasant woman who could rip enemies apart with her mind, using her Cipher abilities.

Would that be Path of Exile 1 or Pillars of Eternity? I can sort of guess which but using acronyms for games is something we could do without. Is MW2 Mech Warrior 2 or Modern Warfare 2?

Grim Dawn let you combine 2 roles into one for up to 15 classes, but none really stood out as that different.

 

[Zloth]

Pillars of Eternity - you can see it in the link description.

 

[ZedClampet]

Sadly, I'm not very creative when it comes to character creation. A small part of my small brain always whispers, "You're going to regret this if you do it," and I end up changing it.