How to identify the class of a character in character?

[Anonymouswizard]

Warhammer would like to say Hi, with its requirements that you both buy the trappings and Roleplay & live the career.

Yep, I also liked how classes are handled in Dark Heresy 1e and Rogue Trader. If you came from an organisation you'd likely be in X career, but you'd still pick exactly what advanced you take.

My gnome illusionist never wears robes. He wears sturdy traveler's clothes, and carries a hooked hammer, which is actually his staff. Until he casts a spell, he will not be taken as a wizard.

[In fact, he owns no robes. Having been raised by artificers, he owns a lab coat, which he only wears when working in a lab. Wearing loose clothes in the wilderness is not very bright.]

One of the characters I really want to play is a Gnome priest of a god of craftsmanship. The very earliest version used a spear, but I'm considering dropping that for a good old hammer+shield combination.

Their standard town outfit? Robes held shut with a tool belt, with lots of pouches on the belt. A hammer hangs from the belt, as do screwdrivers, spanners, scissors, and a knife (in a sheath). His hair is long but tied back, and his skin is tanned from his wanderings in search of enlightenment (which involves a lot of talking to smiths). In the wilderness the robe is replaced by trousers and a shirt, with a cloak equipped with a fast release catch in the colder months, along with a backpack stuffed with various bags of components.

What's his class?

Spoiler: answer

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Barbarian (5e).

He wears a robe in town because he's a priest and lawful, and he wants people to know he's a priest. Those pouches hold various small components for easy access, larger ones are carried in his backpack.

[Glorthindel]

As a slight aside, the first edition of Hackmaster had a class called a Knight Errant who had to abide by a "strict" set of rules of engagement, that were based entirely around this idea. Granted, it was Hackmaster, so this was played for laughs, but amoungst the rules of engagement were such gems as: "If the target has no visible weapons and no locations where a weapon could be concealed, they are likely a monk, and can be attacked until proven otherwise", "If the target is waving their hands in the air and babbling in a language you do not understand, you can assume they are a spellcaster and attack", and "a white flag on its own has no specific meaning, a white flag could easily be a battle banner, so anyone bearing one can be freely attacked".

[Chronos]

Well, if you read the Arthurian stories, that's pretty much how most of the knights did behave.

[Mordaedil]

Hackmaster is wonderful.

[EldritchWeaver]

Eh, its a way to determine if a creature/character is stronger than the fighter in question, at least in terms of similar combat skill. Effectively if you are lets say level 10 fighter, use the ability and determine that thing has 53 levels in fighter maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't try stabbing it in the gibbly bits.

So an opponent with 53 levels in wizard is then an easy kill?

[Calthropstu]

My view is that "classes" generally aren't in-game concepts at all. One exception that springs to mind is a Paladin. A Paladin is a martial warrior belonging to some priestly order. Their class is their character's title. For most other things I can think of "class" is a meta-game construct.

Actually, it IS. It's not social class or what have you, it is your class of adventurer. You play characters all with the same base profession: adventurer.
I square it up with IT. What class of IT does one work for? There's security, networking, electronics, programming. If an IT person introduces himself as IT and the response is "what type" you can be sure the person asking knows a good bit of IT.

Same here. You introduce yourself as "Jimmy the adventurer," you can be fairly sure a fellow adventurer may flat out ask you what school of adventurer you are.

A cross specialist (say a druid paladin) may give one or both. Most likely they would use whichever they had more levels in to identify themselves. But when Bob the paladin suddenly shapeshifts into a bear and his compatriots ask "huh?" He will explain he used to be a druid of X before taking up his holy sword.

Basically I stick by my earlier point: you want to know someone's class, asking them is the best way (or using divination magic if they refuse to say)

[Anonymouswizard]

I've had characters who wet would answer that question with Mage, Wizard, Occultist, Magician, Sorcerer, None of Your Business, Illusionist, Enchanter, Necromancer and Summoner. And that's just for the Wizard class (yes, I've played wizards who call themselves sorcerers, these days the words are interchangeable everywhere except D&D).

Only recently moved to playing other classes, and I always fall back on wizards even though in bad at planning, but I can also have a go for fighters. Warrior, Knight, Sellword, Fighter, Champion, Tactician (all of these work for Paladins, for the record). Rogues? Treasure Hunter, Scout. There's many, many ways a character could answer 'what kind of wanderer/adventurer are you', including many that have little to do with their class.

For the record, the character I've always wanted to play calls themself a necromancer, but does not know any undead raising spells. They mainly use divinations and exorcisms to help people troubled by ghosts and to get ghosts to pass on.

[Jay R]

If he has arms on his shield or a badge on his quiver or saddle bags, he is of the noble class.

Otherwise (since he can afford to ride a horse) he is of the rich commoner class.

[Anonymouswizard]

If he has arms on his shield or a badge on his quiver or saddle bags, he is of the noble class.

Otherwise (since he can afford to ride a horse) he is of the rich commoner class.

If there's a sum on his shield he's of the maths class (badum tish).