What Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Gets Right About Character Classes

Eugene Bard

Mischievously charming Chris Pine plays Ajin, a resourceful bard and de facto party leader. Bards in DnD are often musical and versatile, with a range of different talents that help them fulfill many roles. If you need someone to charm the guard with wit or surprise? You go to your bard. Do you need someone to inspire your adventure group and give them a burst of new energy? Just look at your bard. Bards are jack-of-all-trades, known for their charismatic personalities, and Ejin plays the role perfectly. In games, bards have a signature ability called “Bard’s Inspiration” where they buff a party member’s ability to help them succeed. While it is not explicitly stated in the movie, Egin’s inspiring words to his friends do end up pushing them to success, which is a realistic interpretation of the ability.

In the most classic bardic style, Ejin carries around a lute, which he uses quite skillfully and creatively: he entertains his friends with it as they travel from place to place, he plays a sublime tune to distract a guard, and even uses it to knock out one or two enemies with a comically realistic punch. While he is the least combat savvy of the main group, this never gets in the way of his contribution. He serves as the face of the group, taking on the role of spokesperson when it comes to recruiting new members or interacting with other important characters. However, Edgin is missing one notable feature: magic. Each edition of the bard in DnD has featured magical abilities capable of casting spells at will, such as illusions. Throughout the film, Ejin never shows any talent or potential for magic, but rest assured he’s bard enough to feel right even without arcane abilities. Edgin’s greatest tools are his wit, charisma, and heart, which are the most important traits of a bard and the reason why Edgin has shown amazing results.

Holga the barbarian

Michelle Rodriguez plays the group’s indomitable and resilient barbarian, Holga. Barbarians are the most physically imposing and formidable class in DnD. They are meant to be tanks that can take hits for the rest of the group, absorbing damage and dealing it back to their enemies. One of their tools for doing this is an ability called Rage, which allows them to use their anger to become more resistant to damage and more powerful in their attacks. Like many abilities translated into live action, this trait is not necessarily explicitly described, but can be seen in how her character is characterized both in and out of combat. During combat, Holga is Ejin’s bodyguard and muscle who can make up for his lack of combat prowess. She is fiercely wielded with axes, one of the weapons most associated with barbarians. The Barbarian class is one of the most combat-focused in the game, so the fact that Holga’s most defining actions are feats of impressive skill makes her precise to the core of what a Barbarian does.

Simon Koldun

Fulfilling the many magical needs of the group, Justice Smith played the role of Simon, the band’s sorcerer; although he wasn’t originally the most skilled spellcaster. Sorcerers in DnD derive their power from their bloodline, inheriting arcane abilities from the powers of their ancestors. He is a descendant of Elminster Omar, a wizard canonical to the Forgotten Realms DnD setting. All of the spells Simon uses are consistent with the game itself, including well-known spells such as Thaumaturgy, Lesser Illusion, and Shield. Some of the more specific spellcasting mechanics are even present in the movie when casters cannot hold Concentration on more than one spell at a time. However, Simon’s mastery of magic is questioned due to his lack of precision and skill. In the film, this serves as a narrative hurdle that he needs to overcome. For TTRPG fans, this is a fantastic interpretation of Wild Magic sorcery, a subclass of sorcerers who risk random bursts of uncontrollable magic known as Wild Magic Waves. From outright failure to cast a spell to an accidental change in gravity in a room, all of Simon’s bugs seem to be pulled straight out of the game. In every magical mishap that befalls Simon, DnD fans are sure to find a bit of humor and connection in the chaos this type of sorcerer is guaranteed to bring to the party.

Doric Druid

One of the most visually dynamic and entertaining characters is played by Sophia Lillis, who was the tiefling druid on the team. Druids are spellcasters whose magic is inextricably linked to nature and the natural world. Doric’s primary motivation is to protect the forests she and her community, the Emerald Enclave, call home. One of their characteristic features is Wild Shape, the ability to transform into various animals. This is Doric’s most commonly used ability, and the visual design and choreography of her transformations are captivating and dynamic. One of the most impressive scenes in the film includes a chase scene where Doric must use her Wild form to quickly transform and quickly escape from relentless pursuers. While Doric fully captures the essence of the in-game druid, it should still be noted that they took a number of liberties with the mechanics to make it appealing to the screen. In the game, druids have a limited number of wild forms per day and a limited list of animals they can transform into. In the film, Doric can transform at will for a seemingly infinite number of times, and can even transform into an Owl Bear, a fantasy beast that typical druids cannot transform into. That being said, Doric’s ability to transform into an Owl Bear is described as unique even in this world, which is a deliberate nod to strict rule-following fans who admit that this is not entirely accurate. But despite this inaccuracy, Doric’s character designs, transformations, and stats are more than adequate for the big screen.

Zenk Paladin

Royal as ever Rare Jean Page portrayed Xenok, a paladin dedicated to upholding his righteous principles. Paladins in DnD are powerful warriors who gain magical abilities through their vows to the divine beings in their world. To use their powers, they must adhere to principles or values ​​unique to each type of paladin. Xenck himself quotes some of his tenets throughout the film, maintaining the strict morality that defines paladins. This commitment and loyalty to a set of rules has cemented the paladin class’s reputation for being introverted, which is quite evident in Xenka. He is serious and focused, spending little time on humor and party jokes. Every witty remark from Edgin, Zenk responds with a serious but slightly condescending paladin-like response. One of the more notable features of the paladin that Zenk exhibits is his use of Divine Smite. Paladins can imbue their weapons with holy power to increase their damage. In his duel with the evil red wizards, Xenk uses this trait like any paladin in the game: with absolute superiority.

With so many traits and options for each class, it would be impossible to quote every detail taken from TTRPG and brought to life on screen. Even among these characters, there are a number of different abilities that make minor appearances. Xenk’s use of Divine Sense, a paladin’s ability used to detect evil, is depicted as a sense of smell, just like it is described in the books. Simon’s difficulty with Attuning to the magical item meant to empower him actually happens in games as well. Rest assured, DnD fans, the interpretations of your favorite character classes are pretty accurate and expertly translated into romp fun on the silver screen.