It’s fun to mix it up sometimes and play a class you’ve never played before! On the other hand, delving into an unfamiliar class can also be intimidating. On Friday, I posted about playing a spellcaster. Here’s the counterpart—playing a non-spellcasting class when you’ve never done it before!

Obviously this isn’t as much my strong suit, so I talked to my husband + Dungeon Master, who’s played a lot more of the martial classes than I have. These tips are some of the things we talked about!

Non-spellcasting/martial characters are the barbarian, the fighter, the monk, and the rogue. Paladins and rangers have less spellcasting resources than full casters, so they focus more on their weapons and other abilities than full casters.

Let’s get started!

Where do I start?

The equipment and weapons you use are very important! Look over your class features and find out what information matters to your character, mechanically speaking. For example, if you’re playing a rogue, you need to know which of your weapons have the finesse property. If your character has a crossbow, you need to understand how the loading property affects them. The equipment chapter of the Player’s Handbook is your friend!

Try making a weapon cheat sheet for your character, whether it’s in the equipment box of the standard character sheet or somewhere else. This cheat sheet will have the bonus to hit (what you add to the attack roll), type of damage, damage bonus (like your DEX or STR score), and any other information you need in front of you—its range, certain properties it has, et cetera.

It’s also worth asking your DM about how they deal with switching weapons in the middle of combat, so you know what your options are ahead of time! Speaking of combat…

What do I do in combat?

Some of this is obvious from just a glance at the class. You’re playing a rogue, so you’re gonna get stabby. You’re playing a monk, so you’re going to punch things (probably). You’re playing a fighter, so you’re going to… fight?

Combat feels a lot different between the magic and nonmagic classes. One thing you should nail down is your character’s fighting style (not the class feature). Do they get up close with the enemy? Or do they stand back and fire at range? Part of this is determined by which class you’re playing—monks and barbarians are generally up-close—but the fighter and the rogue have a great deal of flexibility here.

How does your character behave when it’s time to draw arms? Are they a well-trained soldier, or were they self-taught?

This is also a fun way to play with character archetypes. Generally, the cool-headed strategist is a ranged fighter, leaving the front lines to the brash and energetic ones, so how does your character defy or fit into those ideas?

One way to avoid decision paralysis is to come up with a combat routine, or an outline for how your character will generally behave once it’s initiative. Something like “my character will back up and start picking off the smaller enemies with their bow” or “my character will charge at the biggest target and start swinging with their longsword.” This can help you decide how to start off combat, and then you can adjust as your party members collaborate, the situation changes, and so on.  

Also good to keep in mind are the additional options for actions in combat in both the Player’s Handbook and the Dungeon Master’s Guide! Both of these sections are located in chapter 9 of their respective texts. Dash and disengage are easy to remember, but don’t forget the dodge or help action, too! If your DM uses the DMG’s additional options, consider looking at the disarm or mark actions.

Again, if your options are starting to overwhelm you, it’s good to take a step back and look at the outline you’ve established.

Okay, so what about outside of combat?

It’s easy to see your class abilities and wonder how your character can contribute to social scenes. But, look at the other facets of this character—their background, personality, and skills. Background features give characters helpful perks outside of combat situations, oftentimes connecting them to the world around them. Maybe it’s time to pull out that Rustic Hospitality?

What skills did you pick for your character? Does their Noble background help them with diplomacy, or a Criminal background with the shady side of town? Can you impress people with a feat of Athletics or Acrobatics (an arm-wrestling match, perhaps)? The rules for helping other characters also apply outside of combat—don’t be afraid to use them, advantage is always useful.

This is a great time to get creative and use those skill proficiencies! These interactions can help develop your character in different directions than you might expect.

Again, every class is unique, and there are various ways to play the same class/subclass. As long as you and your group are having fun, you’re all good!

Is there anything I missed or that you’d like to add? Let me know in the comments!