D&D Classes The Martian Characters Would Play | The Martian March

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Welcome to my very first The Martian March post! If you have no idea what’s happening, you can find my announcement post here. But in short, I will be posting fun content around The Martian (which happens to be one of my favourite books) during the month of March! Today, I am giving you my take on what classes the Martian characters would play in D&D! I did my best to not double up on classes and give a little insight into why I’ve chosen them for each character. Let’s get into it!

The Hermes Crew

We don’t get to know all that much about the Hermes Crew, but I love them dearly. Their scenes are some of my favourites in the book and movie and I wish we had gotten more of them! It’s also a dream of mine to one day run a Martian inspired campaign, potentially playing as the Hermes Crew trying to get back to earth. I can also totally see them spending their free time playing D&D. So here are my ideas on which classes they’d play!

Mark Watney – Druid

Let’s start with the main man himself, Mark Watney. In the book, Mark mentions playing D&D in high school and playing a cleric. Now, I think there’s a good chance he might go for that class again…but I can also totally see him being a druid! You know, magic plant powers and all that. Fun fact, this one side comment in the book is now one of my favourite details in the whole story and the inspiration for this post! Personally, I think the crew would absolutely make fun of Watney for playing a druid…until he saves their asses with all the cool spells he can do. Botany superpowers for the win!

Melissa Lewis – Paladin

She’s the commander, she’s headstrong and cares about her crew. I don’t think she could stray super far from that in the game so I feel like she’d make a great paladin! Paladins are a great crossover between clerics and fighters and I can see Lewis being very into that. She’s definitely the mission-oriented player who is best at strategic thinking and planning. Not that any plan in D&D ever works the way it’s supposed to…but she’d definitely try to get her party to listen to her.

Beth Johanssen – Rogue

She’s our resident nerd and a problem solver! In the book, Mark remarks in a letter to her that she should try to be cooler. So of course, with Watney badgering her, she’d pick a rogue. Every D&D player needs to play a cool rogue dressed in all-black at least once, it’s a rule. I also can’t help feeling like Beth would get a great amount of joy out of all the sneak attack damage she can do as a rogue!

Chris Beck – Cleric

Chris Beck is our cleric. Come on, he already heals people! When picking characters, he’d be making sure the party is balanced and isn’t going to TPK in the first session. Yeah, the man’s the cleric. He’s also definitely the player who’s making sure that everyone is comfortable at the table and that roleplay doesn’t cross any boundaries. I could also absolutely see him taking on the mantle of the DM!

Rick Martinez – Bard

If he isn’t a bard then who is, really? Martinez is smart and funny and would absolutely use his quips to inspire everyone at the table. He would also make sure to annoy the hell out of Mark’s character. That’s what best friends do. I feel like he’s the player most likely to come up with crazy solutions to problems and misuse Bigby’s Hand at every opportunity.

Alex Vogel – Ranger

Ah, my German buddy. We don’t know a lot about him and he’s more the quiet type. Somehow I can absolutely see him be a human fighter. But ultimately, I decided to go with him playing a ranger. He gives me German eco parent vibes, he’d absolutely go hiking with his two kids.

Bonus Characters!

I simply couldn’t write this post without including my favourite NASA characters, the Houston trifecta as I call them in my head.

Mindy Park – Wizard

Mindy is the player who gets anxious about what dice to pick but takes the neatest notes at the table. I feel like she’d excel in a variety of classes but I can see her as a wizard! Personally, I’ve never played a wizard because the whole “learning spells from books” mechanic has seemed too complicated to me. But I know that Mindy would love it! I also 100% know that she would have a magical cat familiar.

Venkat Kapoor – Barbarian

Venkat is dragged into the game by Mindy and she helps him pick a class. He wants to go for a human fighter and Mindy laughs at him, so he ends up playing a barbarian instead. Every time he rages, Mindy is secretly proud but she would never tell him that.

Annie Montrose – Warlock

Annie says she doesn’t care about all this nerd shit, but secretly likes it. She’s definitely a warlock with no regard for her party. She’s here to fuck shit up and that’s exactly what she’ll do! The moment she gets hooked on the game is when she realises she can do almost anything. Ultimately, I think she’d be a very fun person to play with once she allows herself to be more of a team player.

Let’s Chat!

And that’s it for my obviously very accurate opinion on what D&D classes these Martian characters would play! I hope you enjoyed this post, I had a great time writing it!

🚀 Do you agree with my opinions or do you think the characters would pick different classes?

🚀 Have you ever played D&D? What class do you think your favourite character would go for?

I hope you have a lovely day,

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