@kennyskitchen for his awesome work on the 'Real Life - The Roleplaying Game' book.This has been such a pertinent metaphor for my own understanding of life, so I just want to recognise that.
In a recent post of his about personal vision, Kenny reiterated that he was very open for collaboration and also directly said this to me when I remarked excitedly on one of his posts.
With that being said, I was inspired to write this piece about character classes and how this aspect of the game translates to real life.
In the typical fantasy or RPG game there is usually a set number of classes which are defined by their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. This has always been one of the most fascinating aspects of 'the game' because it has such a direct relationship to life.
Generally we need to work together in groups in order to achieve great things, and each party member will play to their strength. In this way we can all excel at what we excel at. Efficiency and effectiveness get a massive boost, because a lot of time and energy gets wasted with the wrong people doing the wrong job. You don't send the 'squishy' mage in to the front line to take the brunt of the damage. Similarly although the rogue is good with traps, they are ill equipped to tend to the parties wounds. So in this way each character class has a specialized use, we recognize what we are good at and enjoy doing - and we use our time to do that. It's better for us and its better for everyone else too.
My spells might be just the right thing to pin down some dangerous monsters, leaving them open to your excellent arrow attacks. So we pay attention to each other and move in a way that in synergistic. I have found this kind of movement happens naturally in work environments such as kitchens, we develop our timing and intuitive link to become a highly effective team.
In the media I consume (which is admittedly mostly in the spiritual, new age, and transformational realms), there has been a big push of one message over all others. And that is to do with 'finding your purpose'. There seems to be a real sense that it's important to find the lifestyle and way of doing things that works the best for each of us. I have heard many stories of people who made the right adjustments and changes, sometimes completely altering their life course. This shift in direction has been so important for them that they feel inspired to share the journey. You could be a powerful arch mage who decided to become a rogue because of a childhood imprint!? We never know until we start experimenting and learning new paths.
Tools like astrology and numerology also put people into categories or personality types. This is the same thing. Your mind, your body, and your soul are naturally geared toward certain things. Whether by chance, environmental conditions, or past life imprints we don't really know. We do know what we get a kick out of doing though, and we also know what we struggle with.
In my own life I have slowly learned some of my inclinations, through conversation and reflection. I definitely have traits of the warrior, who likes to leap in first, and doesn't mind taking a bit of damage - whether that be social flak for speaking the hard truth, or grueling physical labour. I also had to accept 6 months into a front end development course, that my capacity for that kind of 'tech wizardry' was not huge. It felt wrong, and I sensed that I would end up frustrated and unable to express my energy through coding web pages. So perhaps there's a lot more room for me to grow in warrior training, because I enjoy it. Yet to progress in wizardry I might have to go with another 'school' of magic. Either that or investigate other kinds of magic such as nature magic (druid class), which I seem to have more of an affinity for.
So each player has a different style, and we have the freedom to choose the classes that work for us. It's never too late to change it up and try something new. If you start out again in a class that you have a natural affinity for your progress will be very fast, as you will receive natural bonuses. With informational prisons holding many talented minds, it falls to us as mythical adventurers to connect with them and free these potential bards, clerics, and dual class fighter/mages (and so on and so forth).
That is the great thing about being an adventurer, you have the ability to inspire the townsfolk to also 'take up the sword' and see what life has in store for them beyond tending to the NPC store.
In the yogic tradition, the inclinations of humans are broken down into the four elements. And for the purpose of yoga it is aimed toward your own self realization. Earth is karma yoga, which means moving the physical body for transformation. Water is bhakti yoga, which is transformation through devotion. Fire is kriya yoga, in kriya yoga we use specific practices to elevate and increase the energies of the system towards the same goal. The air element is Jnana yoga, which means to use the mind and the awareness its self to contemplate and meditate towards oneness. You could use all of the yogas or just one, each is sufficient on it's own and they work towards the same end.
These are just a couple of examples, the number of classes is only limited by our imagination. These constraints are only useful as a metaphor to describe our experience. Truly none of this limits us in any real or permanent way, and we can learn to level up any skill with the right attitude and patience. That being said, without recognizing these kind of inclinations we would not have an incredibly useful tool for team work and navigating life.
In some role playing games, the player has a lot of control on how to level their character. In this sense you can end up with a kind of balance that allows you to 'solo' parts of the game using a variety of skills. This character can still play a specialized role when they join with a party for a time. A rogue with some experience in spell craft and combat could make short work of a dungeon, perhaps simply by adding in certain consumables like healing potions. Or perhaps a friendly wizard or priest could write out a spell for you to use at a crucial moment.
Versatility and resourcefulness are very useful traits for any adventurer that spends lengths of time on solo missions. And this is quite a cool approach to life, learning a wide variety of skills and mindsets, using each as appropriate. High level characters have access to powerful abilities that make them self sufficient as well. So perhaps by spending 10 years training martial arts you only really levelled up the monk class, but by taking it to such a high level you unlocked special abilities such as bodily regeneration, super speed and concentration, and immunity to magical attacks.
It's useful to remember that we're not stuck in one class, and we can shapeshift to perform a new or different role when needed. If we use the metaphor in a more virtual or multi-dimensional sense, then it is more like we are the actor holding different masks. We simply activate the barbarian when we need to, and later on during the same mission we play the illusionist that charms our enemies into new friends. Multi dimensionality certainly opens up some interesting possiblities for what you can be and how you want to play. Have fun and try everything! :) It's all experience points in the long run so it's never wasted.
At the core of our being, we recognize it's just a game. And games are for having fun! Of course we want the story to be beautiful, and we also want to complete the mission. 'Power Gaming' is not always the most enjoyable option though. As the old saying goes: a Fighter/Mage with maximum Strength and Intelligence can sometimes end up with incredibly low Charisma and Wisdom scores, which can certainly limit dialogue options and all around party banter 😝.
It all depends on how you look at it, and I certainly have a lot of fun using this lens for life.
Namaste my friends - thank you so much for reading.
