DnD Classes: Which Ones Could Have Spiciest Backstories

Dungeons and Dragons, one of the most renowned tabletop RPGs. Known throughout the world for its fantastical world and unique adventures, but one thing that is easily overlooked when faced with the many stats and combinations of race, class, and subclass; is the story building of one's character(s). Such a diverse and large world with many layers is a writer's playground when looking to make a unique character story. In this post and my next (6 in this one 6 in the next one), I'm going to analyze every DnD class in terms of backstory, giving a few examples, along with the class's stereotypes. There's not really any official scale I'm going to use, really just my own opinion, with no particular order. If you disagree, feel free to reply in a blog post. I wouldn't mind the free inspiration of fighting with another blog. I'll just be covering the main classes described in the Players Handbook, no subclasses for now. If I run out of inspiration later in the year (or even if I just feel like it), I might cover subclasses, backgrounds, spells, or races. Anyway, I've been stalling long enough, let's get started.

Barbarian: 7.5/10

Usually thought of as thoughtless brutes, barbarians specialize in raw strength and generally being tanky. Barbarians have a unique feature that makes them go into an insane rage, which has many uses in their backstories. This rage could have them made into the hero of their village, or have them accidentally kill everyone there. They can be very in tune with nature, taking on characteristics of animals such as bears and eagles, which they could have as an interesting pet. They could even be extremely spiritual, perhaps a former druid who went into a rage when they saw their home forest being desecrated by others. However, they still have to be strength-based and fairly chunky, so you can't really do anything interesting with their appearance. I haven't worked with them much, but there's a very solid stereotype that could easily be subverted, except for a few aspects.
As for a barbarian story I would personally think interesting... perhaps a Warforged in the form of a little girl. They would be small, cute, innocent, and made completely out of metal and wood. Perhaps originally made for psychological war tactics, they now seek love and affection like a real child, but whenever they throw a tantrum, they end up destroying half a village.

Bard: 8.5/10

Bards are generally made around a high charisma stat, which unlike strength, can be interpreted in many different ways. Are they physically very attractive, or maybe are very good with words. Their magic revolves around music, which could be the voice of an angel, or being the Beethoven of bagpipes. You can make bards very seductive, very friendly and innocent, or even people who suck so much at the music that the spells work because the gods just to make the noise stop. Even the fact that they have spells makes them much more interesting. What's also interesting is that there are canon bard colleges, so you could write about a gaggle of bards or students having adventures, almost like Harry Potter, but with more musical numbers. Very creative people I know have made extremely trope-subverting bards, so I've seen firsthand how flexible they are as characters, hence the generally high rating.

A bard story I think would be cool, would maybe be of a retired traveling musician, worn out and old after their glory days in the spotlight, who now use their magical musical talents to sing their grandchildren to sleep. However, a prophecy comes to fruition about 100 years late due to like, messed up godly paperwork or something, and all of a sudden this 120-year-old half-elf who just wants to relax, is swept up into a dastardly quest and has to remember all of the fighting spells they learned decades ago.

Cleric: 8/10

Clerics get their magic from a divine being, which they must have a devotion too. They're primarily wisdom-based, and have a reputation for being healers, which can easily be subverted by taking spells like Waterbending" (Control Water) and "Sight Be Gone" (Blindness). Due to the amount and variation of deities in the Dnd-verse, you can make your cleric anything from a servant of Tiamat, to a champion of Venus. Spells, once again, allow for insight into your character's personality. If your patron god is based around nature, take spells that let you manipulate plants and earth. If your patron god is based around death, take necromancy spells. Or, be a dark cleric manipulating the hurtful side of love. A kind cleric, who knows with storms, there comes much-needed rain. The only fault with clerics that I see, is that they have a devotion to their god. No oath they're forced to keep even though they secretly hate their patron, they genuinely like their chosen deity. Even though this can be varied due to the number of gods in the Dnd universe, it's still a bit restricting.

Wavelicker. I don't quite know why, but the idea of a cleric whose sole goal in life is to lick the waves is extremely satisfying to me. Perhaps they were born far, far inland, and have yet to see the vast expanse of an ocean. Perhaps their patron god is that of fishers or oceans, guiding them on their quest to lick the waves

Druid: 8.5/10

Druids are pretty much medical tree huggers. They derive their magic from the nature around them and use it to protect their chosen land. They, like clerics, are wisdom-based. One thing I particularly like about druids is that they can shapeshift into animals they have seen before, with the complexity depending on how skilled they are. Druids can have chosen biomes, whether they be dessert, forest, ocean, or swamp, that give them certain spells. While, of course, you could have the stereotypes of their chosen biome reflect your character's personality (ex. 'evil' for dessert, nurturing for forest) you could also reflect the unknown side of biomes onto your character. Have a bubbly, lively dessert druid with a dark past represent how life can thrive even in the worst of conditions. Have a dark, two-sided forest druid reflecting how the forest can be cruel and unforgiving as every other biome. Druids don't have to take a biome though, they could also be a champion of wild animals. I for one really like this, paired with their ability to shapeshift. They more often than not can be seen with some sort of animal by their side.
The idea of the bubbly dessert druid is something I really enjoy. A young tabaxi, perhaps, who grew up in a barren desert village, learned druidic magic to bring life and prosperity to their home.

Fighter: 9/10

Fighters are perhaps the most simple Dnd class. They're pretty self-explanatory, but there's so much range to them. The only special things about them is that they're really good at using weapons, so they can have extremely carrying backstories, from a noble who wants to protect their land, to an old soldier hardened from the scars of war, to a simple peasant who is really good at stabbing things. Honestly, the thing about the peasant may be why I like this class so much for story building. In my opinion, it's the only class an average joe could be part of. It doesn't have any super special abilities or magic (unless race permits). It's literally just someone who is really good at stabbing things.
I think it would be really cool for let's say the introduction or first (few?) chapter(s) of a book to be focused around this super special and good-with-magic person who seems like they're definitely the Child of Prophecy. Then, when the time actually comes to reveal, the Child of Prophecy is actually the magic child's twin sibling who can use a crossbow like no one's business.

Monk: 6.5/10

Monks are usually dexterity based, although there are some subclasses that use other stats. They have a special ability called "ki" and study monk arts. They study manipulation of the world around them and focus on balance, both internal and external. You can't really do much with their backstories, seeing as they must spend at least a good amount of their childhood in a monastery (unless the character is a child), so all you can really manipulate is their personalities. There aren't many special stereotypes about them, nor are there any things such as the chosen biomes of druids or the chosen patrons of clerics. Honestly, they're probably best for the gameplay aspect of Dnd, but not very good if you want to make an extremely interesting character, in my opinion.
Though, as I mentioned before, you could have your monk character be a child. Perhaps they were not able to fully complete their training due to a freak accident and they are off for revenge. Or perhaps they realized their monastery was corrupt and ran away. Either way, it would give you a nice subversion of a typical monk and get some of that juicy angst-filled backstory that every good character needs a bit of.

So, there we have it. Half of the 12 main Dnd classes. Once again, I'll be doing the next 6 in a month or two. Uhh, remember to like and subscribe, and before I leave off, a big thanks to our sponsor: Raid Shadows Legs! Raid Shadows Legs is a-