Out of the classical D&D class line-up which ine would best represent the streotypical Sam Spade hardboiled detective?
I was thinking it could either be Paladin or Rogue
>>43995545
Traits of the typical Hardboiled detective
>Moral, but doesn't play by the books/doesn't mesh with the police forces enough to be a cop
>Can hold his own in a fight but prefers settling things with guile
>Drinking problem
>Prefers a handgun
>Generates Noir lighting wherever he goes
This archetype doesn't map well to any particular D&D class from the standard lineup simply because there aren't many fantasy detectives, so no classic D&D class was based on it.
>not making a barbarian detective
you're missing out on some fun here
>>43995545
In D&D terms Rogue works better, but honestly I get a fighter vibe from him.
>>43995610
Sounds like a rogue to me
>>43995610
Bard with a hand crossbow. Really anyone with a handcrossbow, most of those things are flavour.
>>43995627
They Fight Crime!
>One's an uptight Paladin from a tough neighborhood,
>The other's a loose cannon Barbarian who joined up to escape the false glamor of the city life.
>Together, They Fight Crime!
>>43995610
That literally sounds like a rogue, just replace handgun with dagger
>>43995545
In one of the old 2E Rogue splats, they had an Investigator class
>>43995670
Buddy cop series about them dealing with everything from Slav-inspired Drow Immigrants to corruption in the Mage's guild.
I want it.
I kinda like the idea of a punch-happy monk/rogue hybrid as a detective.... with some kind of strange modifier for intelligence or wisdom.
>>43995757
>slav inspired drow immigrants
Hey! i know that one!
>>43995545
I actually had this exact problem recently while trying to make an Occult Investigator and Inspector of Arcane Crimes. Bard can be a good fit for knowledge of magic and lots of skills like investigation. Rogue is a good fit for similar reasons. Can also go with a Divination Wizard for a more High-Fabtasy approach to criminal investigation. You can also go with an urban Ranger in settings where they exist for someone who's great at prowling the streets and Hunter down perpetrators. And of course, a Paladin with an oath to enforce the proper and lawful use of spell craft can certainly be a fun choice.
I kind of want a full party investigative team now. This seems like a cool set up for an intrigue campaign.
>>43995545
>Classical
>Paladin
Shit it's already 2015.
I'd say Thief.
i wrote this in another thread about magical crime:
First response team always has at least one divination initiate. They scan the scene with detect magic and if anything pings up then a special Magical crimes task force arrives.
If nothing turns up and the crime is severe like murder then Forensics arrives: A senior diviner, a necromancer, and a transmuter. The diviner uses zones of truth to interrogate witnesses, then minor augury to answer a few questions after his cabal has finished their respective jobs.If the augury turns up any interference in the portents such as magical obfuscation then the case may be kicked up to special crimes unit. The necromancer inspects the body of the deceased and if it has not been desecrated interrogates it, then halts decomposition and assesses the cost of a ressurection to hold a guilty party accountable for. The transmuter collects samples of various forensic evidence and determines their composition and purpose, fabricating and mending as necessary to repair damaged evidence, or uses flight to survey the scene from above. An illusionist often attends to scribe scrolls of persistent images and programmed auditory illusions so that the evidence gathered can be played back in a court of law later.
Special crimes consists of a squad of abjurers and diviners well versed in arcana who scour a scene identifying spells, wards, alarms, and any other kind of magical residue of spells or spell components before dispelling them. More modern squads bring reformed or trained spell thieves who capture spells instead of dispelling then and study things about them like "fingerprint" signatures of the mages who cast them, meta magic, type of magic, or what items might have been used. All this information is passed along to Forensics.
Investigators often include an evoker or abjurer for dealing with difficult suspects, Interogations are sometime conducted by an enchanter and a Mage skilled in telekinesis. The "Mind Shaper and Scraper" squad.
