Where's my priest? How can I enjoy this dungeon without mommying the boys and kissing their booboos?

I usually pick Mage, because you can Warrior or Rogue IRL, but you can't Mage. That makes it more interesting to me.

Mage. I like using strategy to solve problems. Explosion is a strategy.

Spellblade if it's an option. Why choose when you can have both.

Otherwise mage. Most rpg systems have ways for mages to do all the jobs of other roles to some extent.

Rogue. Assasinate applies bleed and if you manage DOTs, you can attack multiple enemies at once to keep trash off of the tank or healer while they do their thing. Plus, sneaking in and out of a place, picking off enemies one by one makes a lot of stuff easier.

Mage, because I'm always a caster

Mage, I guess?

But my favorite D&D character I ever played was a Bard. I wasn’t really the talkative, persuasive type. I was more the jack-of-all-trades, Swiss Army knife of the party. I loved it.

Warrior. I've always loved tanking.

Warrior, due the simplisticy and straightforwardness of it. Big sharp stick always works.

In addition, from fantasy, mountain of muscle coverd in metal swinging a huge sword or an axe is just awesome.

Rogue.

Always liked the idea of showing courage from afar.

Monk is my favorite if we're going for classes. Because speed. But also versatility and lots of hitting. Pf2e monks are super fun.

But in this question, I'd go Rogue. Sneaky beaky acrobatic stabby boys? Absolute fun.

Warrior. Just give me armour and a sword + shield.

Two-handed-hammer-wielding paladin for me, please. Ideally with a dash of elemental or holy magic. 👌

And because it's cool AF, ofc. Testosterone and brutality/violence, but with faith and glasses!

Rogue for thievery and, to a lesser extent, assassination.

There are few things more fun than sneaking around places you shouldn't be and collecting things you shouldn't have.

Rogue.

No matter what my intentions, I always wind up being a stealth archer. May as well own it

Not that I could just play a PC, forever GM 😭

I would play a warrior. I can make combat as interesting as I want. If I want, I can plan out grand tactics of pushing enemies into each other and into traps. If not, I can turn to the reliable "I stab the goblin with my sword" even if I am wielding a mace and fighting a dragon.

I cannot play mage because I am too loss averse and hate using mana/spell slots. I would never play rogue because the idea of playing a close range damage dealer that wears cloth armor is a good recipe to end up spending most of the combat on death saving throws.

Cleric

Wizards are nerds who you can easily punch.

I always start out as a mage, but end up as a stealth sniper.

So, generally mage is my favorite archetype for games and movies ect of the three listed.

But things get more interesting if I start asking follow up questions.

If I assume I'm getting these powers in our world, my immediate next question for mage is, what type of mage? Because one where I have to actually 'learn' spells is gonna be very useless in the modern world, unless I get a teacher. Furthermore what universe rules of magic do I get? Is this harry Potter magic or elden ring or dnd? using dnd is it sorcery, wizardy, warlock? How competent am I with whatever choice I make? A shitty mage is way worse than a shitty rogue.

Because in some of these cases I really would not want to be a mage. assuming I could pick my magic system, idk. Something useful in day to day life but also makes me functionally immortal? Maybe the correct answer is "The Force" but I'm not a big enough star wars nerd.

Furthermore there are some pretty interesting use cases for rogues in day to day life. I am, poor. Many rogues get invisibility/stealth of some kind. You do the math.

Warrior is a bit harder to justify unless its the type of warrior that gives mystical strength and durability. if I could pick up a car with one hand or survive a bullet to the head through sheer strength, I might pick it.

overall though I think I'd pick mage, but rogue is a close second or maybe higher depending on what type of mage.

Mage - because they won't expect that melee is also deadly

I'm a simple man. If I can shoot lightning out of my fingertips, I do that.

Shaman

Mage, because if I'm going to be bothered then I want magic.

Easy. I work hard, I like to take it easy when I game.

That is to say, in games that offer you these choices, Warrior is Easy, Rogue is Normal, and Mage is Hard. Mages have powerful spells, but they're limited by mana costs. They're also more fragile, and they're often pitted against people who can attack with no such cost and take more damage. Mages, thus, are at a disadvantage.

Rogues are limited by ammo if they use bows. They don't typically use swords, but can use daggers. They're quick, but not as strong as warriors.

Warriors can take a lot of damage and do a lot of damage.

Make it D&D and it's a different story. I typically roll a mage and subclass into thief or assassin, because those characters tend to think like I do. Strategy, planning.

With Skyrim, it's sneak thief every time because the game is geared for that.

Games are very seldom fair for all the choices you can make. I think D&D tries more than most. Most games are straight up unfair to mages. That's one thing I like about Hogwarts Legacy. You have to play a mage (a witch or a wizard). Despite the fact that the books were written by a bigot, you can be trans, and there's a trans character in the game. For some people, it's not enough. Fortunately, they don't have to play the game, and it goes on sale for ten bucks all the time. It was also free on Epic once. So you really don't have to pay that much for it, and once you get a broom, you got your money's worth because flying is awesome. Anyway, the game is geared towards magic use, and it makes magic fun. And it's never really hard, either. So you can play it casually.

With Cyberpunk 2077 I also went with the mage build. It's not immediately apparent which is which in Night City. Your first choice is Streetkid, Nomad, or Corpo. These are back stories. They don't matter, except Nomad gets you a cooler bike and Corpo gets you a cool line. No, the class choice comes down to your cyberdeck. If it's got the hacking modules, I forget what they're called right now, you're a mage. If you have a Sandevistan (slow time), you're a rogue. The berserker one is warrior. The latter two just make the game harder. This is another game geared toward mages, except mages here are called Netrunners. A Netrunner can hack several things at once, cause enemy guns to misfire, blind enemies, and even spread a plague amongst them. And that's low level stuff (that can level). The high level stuff is straight up nasty. I mean, if you're not a Netrunner in Night City, you're challenging yourself for some reason. Or you wanna be David Martinez from the Netflix anime about the game. But you'll never be as good as him because his Sandevistan was special. You don't get that one. And the berserker decks are just dumb. They're there to check a box.

Warrior. He can take more hits while I act like an idiot not paying proper attention.

Mage since I want to use Naj's Light Plate and mana shield.

None of those, but if I were to pick one that'd be rogue!

Warrior if it means I can use a giant hammer, otherwise mage so I can be the team healer.

Start with mage for the ice magics, every time

Not mage. One of the other two. I can play them without spreadsheets.

Dark mage/black magic for me. It's just aesthetically right up my alley. Second choice would be rogue/assassin.

Mage, but only glass cannon builds. Any ~~flesh shields~~ warriors lfg?

1 Cleric for armor and utility cantrips, and the rest goes into Wizard 😏