Fantasy Aficionados discussion

What class of character to you personally enjoy reading about the most(Mage, Warrior, Assassin, Thief, etc)?

I for one have a hard time picking, I would probably have to go with a Mage or some kind of magic user.

I used to think I liked mages best but in another club someone asked who our favorite mages were. I drew a blank past naming one. Most of my other favorites are rogues and assassins. So that's my answer.

I used to love reading about bards but now I find the concept of "spell-singing" pretty hokey. I mean, how does that even work? It's always so vague. The only time I've ever seen it portrayed in detail is in the Spellsinger series, and that was for laughs.

I like thieves and bastards (the kind not born on the right side of the sheet).

I would say my favorite are the rogues - in my mind this includes thieves and such.

I enjoy the character development that often goes with characters such as this. Those that are forced to endure either at the outskirts of society or have a second secret life.

A few memorable rogues: Arakasi (Empire Trilogy), Jimmy The Hand (Rift War Saga), Keliser (Mistborn) ok the list goes on and on...

I'm quite fond of assassins mainly because it is always interesting to see how they happened to fall into that particular profession and the training that they go through to gain those skills.

I love characters who are assassins and thieves...I read any book I can find with that kind of character. I also like warriors who have to use some finesse, as opposed to just brute force smashing and bashing.

I like female warriors who aren't extra masculine. After that I really like mages. My favorite mage: Vanyel Magic's Pawn (directly after than comes Belgarath).

I like whoever is the sarcastic one, be it a mage, an assassin or a brawler.

^what ala said. Sarcasm.

I love characters that just refuse to lose. No matter how bad things get or the setbacks they may suffer they just find a way to win. It's usually warriors that fit my particular definition I suppose

^this

Harry's just a Warrior with some magic.

Ala wrote: "Harry's just a Warrior with some magic."

A Battlemage then.

What do people think. Is it role playing games or literature that has defined the class of character?

Stuart wrote: "What do people think. Is it role playing games or literature that has defined the class of character?"

I think it's become a combo of both at this particular junction in time. MMRPGs have a great following in people who read fantasy/sci-fi.

Reading about... all the above. For video games, I'm usually a Mage/Wizard or Paladin if there is a choice.

Stuart wrote: "What do people think. Is it role playing games or literature that has defined the class of character?"

Role playing games, IMO.

Kernos wrote: "Reading about... all the above. For video games, I'm usually a Mage/Wizard or Paladin if there is a choice."

I tend to be as well. Though in LA Noire, my current game, you don't get those options. Still you get to wear a nice suit, it just some of your colleagues don't seem to be much different to the folks you are trying to stop...

Tracey wrote: "^ What Leighann said. Like lots of folks, I'm fond of the thieves, assassins, and rogues (I used to hang out on the International Brotherhood of Rogues, Scoundrels, and Cads website quite a bit . I love a good cat burglar or heist.
(F..."

OT butif you read mysteries as well, and like burglars/heists you really should read "Metzger's Dog" by Thomas Perry. Dated, but funny. Another is Westlake's Dortmunder series that starts with "The Hot Rock". Both of those books are on my "re-read often" shelves and I laugh every single time I read them.

I think early authors like Tolkein created classes of characters, which early RPGs were based on, at which point it became acceptable to use those classifications to write a book based off the game.

I like the average guy. Minimal magic. Minimal fighting skills. And somehow gets stuck in these situations.

In every MMO I've ever played, I've been the healer. I dunno why.

Ala wrote: "In every MMO I've ever played, I've been the healer. I dunno why."

Control...cause really, healers control it all. Only know one else usually realizes it.

I don't really care, as long as the character is sufficiently ill-tempered. I guess Warrior, if I had to choose.

I love assassins. I will read pretty much any book that has assassins as long as I like the storyline.

Second choice, black sheep characters who are rejected by society.

I've loved characters from all of these classes and temperaments I honestly think it just takes a great character to suck me in. I do think I tend to like snarky types and mages the most if I have to pick.

Look at my screen name...now guess. LOL

I find a lot has to do with how the character is written. Scott mentioned liking Bards but then finding them hokey. It's not the Bard...it's the way the character is written. I love the idea of the Paladin, but it's hard to find one well written.

So, good warrior, holy warrior, but handles straight and so on.

I've read a couple of good assassin books (still have to get to Robin Hobb, that's the one everyone always tells me about). Have you read Gemmell's Waylander books?

Scott wrote: "I used to love reading about bards but now I find the concept of "spell-singing" pretty hokey. I mean, how does that even work? It's always so vague. The only time I've ever seen it portrayed in..."

This is explored in depth and most beautifully in Janny Wurt's Wars of Light and Shadow series....

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I've read a couple of good assassin books (still have to get to Robin Hobb, that's the one everyone always tells me about). Have you read Gemmell's Waylander books?"


Waylander is my favorite assassin! Love those books. Sensei, you might have just started a re-read!

Michael wrote: "I love reading about assassins and I love playing rogues and paladins in RPGs."

It's funny I am usually drawn towards characters who are rogues, assassins, theives, characters with lowered morals. But when I play a game like Dragon Age or Mass Effect I can't be mean to anyone.

I'm a huge Gemmell fan and Waylander may me my favorite character from his work.

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I'm a huge Gemmell fan and Waylander may me my favorite character from his work."

:-)

Traci wrote: "Michael wrote: "I love reading about assassins and I love playing rogues and paladins in RPGs."

It's funny I am usually drawn towards characters who are rogues, assassins, theives, characters with..."

I notice I am the same, I think to myself at the start of the game I shall be mean and find it difficult to follow through. I always seem to spare lives...

Ugh. SWTOR just... just no, man.

I'm not doing it again.


SWG broke my heart

Every game thinks it's going to be the WoW killer. So far, none has succeeded. SWTOR probably won't either. It has nothing spectacular or unique from what I've seen.

Also, I loved SWG. The game itself sucked ass, but the community was fun. And the reason the game sucked so bad was due to the idiots in charge who wouldn't listen to the beta testers when they said it was buggy as hell and not nearly ready for launch. Fucking twats.

Michael wrote: "WoW is on the decline. They just announced that it is free to play the frist 20 levels. All of the people that I used to play with (I played for 5+ years from launch) are all starting to quit or su..."

WoW has been on the decline since "vanilla" wow. I don't know that it will ever go away, and maybe decent gamers don't want it to because then where will all the trolls go? I quit playing a long time ago because it became so ridiculous. Besides, it sucks up too much reading time =D

Ala wrote: "Every game thinks it's going to be the WoW killer. So far, none has succeeded. SWTOR probably won't either. It has nothing spectacular or unique from what I've seen.

Also, I loved SWG. The game it..."

It's made by bioware and they promised a different story driven experience for each class, that's special enough for me. Best case scenario: it lives up to its hype and is the best MMO ever. Worst case scenario: I have a month to play a handful of (short) Bioware quality RPGs. I can't lose! :p

Promised and delivered are two different things :P

I guess we'll see, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Michael wrote: "WoW is on the decline. They just announced that it is free to play the frist 20 levels. All of the people that I used to play with (I played for 5+ years from launch) are all starting to quit or su..."

But Diablo3 should get released soon...

I like apprentices. Be it assassin's apprentices, apprentices in magic or warrior skills... I just like the 'mentor-apprentice' thing, I guess. For example, orphans who are picked up on the streets and show some talent at learning a skill or such.

Also, characters who show cunning and wit, a la Steerpike. The 'bad guy' you can't but feel sympathy towards. *stares into space dreamily* :P

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Second choice, black sheep characters who are rejected by society."

This.

An wrote: "I like apprentices. Be it assassin's apprentices, apprentices in magic or warrior skills... I just like the 'mentor-apprentice' thing, I guess. For example, orphans who are picked up on the streets..."

I like that too.

☠The Dread Pirate Grant☠ wrote: "I love characters that just refuse to lose. No matter how bad things get or the setbacks they may suffer they just find a way to win. It's usually warriors that fit my particular definition I sup..."

In agreement.

I like reading about mages and other magical beings but somehow, they're the ones who annoy me in films because they never stand up and fight like men. When playing video games, I hate taking mage classes, I always go for a warrior type.

Maybe try a fighter/mage LOL.

I quit WoW just before they released the Icecrown patch. Won't get into how much that game affected my life. Let's just say I've pretty much stayed away from playing any MMOs since and man it's been hard.

Back on topic, I like warriors who wield magic so yes the battlemage type. Lately though, I've had a thing for assassins. Finishing up Brent Weeks now, reading Jon Sprunk's latest and delving into David Daglish's Shadowdance. Seeing the mention of Gemmel's Waylander, I'll go have a look. I did start one of Hobb's but got side tracked for some reason.

Waylander. Love him.

I like mages, b/c who wouldn't want to have magic powers? That's be a dream come true. But when playing an RPG, I'm always drawn to the warriors, 'specially the heavy hitters and tanks.

Terry wrote: "Back on topic, I like warriors who wield magic so yes the battlemage type. Lately though, I've had a thing for assassins. Finishing up Brent Weeks now, reading Jon Sprunk's latest and delving into David Daglish's Shadowdance. Seeing the mention of Gemmel's Waylander, I'll go have a look. I did start one of Hobb's but got side tracked for some reason. "

You should check out The Last Wish. Geralt is an assassin, warrior and mage all in one package deal. :p