Atlas wrote:
In DnD the Classes follow a power hierarchy and arch type system.
Can you cite that in any way? If not that is just wishful thinking.
Atlas wrote:
A Fighter starts off as a lowly mercenary and can possibly work his way into a lofty station as a Knight for instance, but a Paladin is a lawful good religious holy Knight on a crusade by virtue of class selection in the character creation screen.
Also not true, the position a paladin or fighter holds is entirely dependent on roleplay. A person can be born in a noble house and knighted despite being a level 1 fighter, or a rogue. A paladin isn't a knight unless he has been knighted by some paladin order, which requires RP. A "harper agent" isn't a harper unless they actually join the harpers. In the same way a PC can be a priest without taking any divine levels. The idea that a PCs station in the world is a function of character class selection is wholly 100% untrue.
Atlas wrote:
The Man at Arms is a completely made up class for BGTSCC derived from the secular Knight class of DnD, which had a lawful restriction. The premise is that you could be a Villainous Warden or Evil Baron or Duke who oppresses the peasantry type.
And? Any martial character could still introduce himself as a man-at-arms, since the title simple means, typically, professional soldier (It was also typically applied to heavy calvary of a certain period of history, but BGTSCC has neither earth's history nor mounted combat).
Atlas wrote:
The base class arch types are in fact supposed to be the most important role playing aspect of this game. Your character is first and foremost supposed to be known for what base class he is.
That is also simply not supported by anything in the rules. I have played plenty of campaigns where I simply lied about what my character was, including one notable tabletop campaign where I played a necromancer but was a good enough bullshitter that literally EVERYONE, PC and NPC alike, thought I was a paladin. Only the DM and I knew what my actual class was.
Atlas wrote:
The only discrepancy in this is that some base classes like the Fighter and the Rogue, are supposed to be so mundane and common that that character who is one isn't exalted above his or her peers for it. So a Rogue could use his skills to become a Bounty Hunter and capture or kill wanted men with his trap skill, and so forth.
Actually, the only discrepancy is classes like druid, paladin, and perhaps a few others. You could also RP a sorcerer as a witch, a shaman as a witch doctor, a rogue or fighter as a scout. And the classes I mentioned above are known as paladins and druid specifically because of the (gasp) extremely heavy role-play requirements of the class.
What does that mean? It means that RP > mechanics. Class name is OOC knowledge, the only reason paladins are known as paladins and druids as druids is because they are required to follow specific and narrow supporting role-play.