Character Class

What Dragon Warriors has to teach us about building character.
Dragon Warriors is a fantasy role-playing game originally released in 1985-86 in six paperback books and reprinted in 2009 in a collected hardcover. The original Book 1, titled simply "Dragon Warriors", included the rules of the game and two character classes, the knight and the barbarian. Neither used magic, which was introduced in Book 2, "The Way of Wizardry". Familiarity with Book 1, which contains the combat and adventuring rules, is necessary in order to use the material related to "magic" user classes found in Book 2. By starting with the non-magic using classes of knights and barbarians, Dragon Warriors eases the new players and referee into the basics before adding the additional complexity of the magic rules, thereby establishing a progressive learning method for mastering the Dragon Warriors character classes.
I am of the opinion that the active player characters in a role-play campaign or adventure act in a manner similar to the protagonists in a play or novel. It is they who determine (through the decisions and dice rolls of the players) what will happen and when during play and just how the whole thing will turn out in the end. By establishing what character classes are available for play, the referee exercises some narrative control over the type of story which is likely to develop during that play-through of the setting material.
Knights and barbarians represent two archetypal warrior groups. The knight is chivalrous, civilized and can be expected to follow a certain established code of behavior. The barbarian by contrast is relatively uncivilized (by definition), but often follows customs and a rough code of honor. Both can be expected to demonstrate competency with their cultural weapons and to frequently resort to violence when confronted with conflict. The two classes do differ in significant ways, however, and these cultural differences can become significant if the players so desire. This may actually be a goal of the referee's setting, such as I have found to be the case in the published material of the Dragon Warrior's default lands of "Legend".
A group of player character knights can be expected to serve a feudal lord, undertake quests in order to right wrongs and bring glory to their names and to the court they serve. By contrast, a group of barbarian player characters might seek treasure for the sake of adventure or wealth and power so as to improve their station within the tribe, clan or barbarian kingdom. Knights are agents of the status quo, while barbarians can be a disruptive element. A player group which contains both knightly and barbaric warrior types may be in for a degree of internal conflict should certain situations present themselves during play. Situations which pits the chivalrous nature of the knight at odds with the barbarous tendencies of the barbarian.
By encouraging players to choose characters who have a religious or magical focus, not to mention the roguish assassin class, and the referee may influence the potential for an adventure of a much different flavor. I believe this can all be quite intentional on the part of the referee who designs and pitches the idea for the campaign, thereby the group is likely to be exploring ,many different aspects of the setting and all the while making the whole imaginary world seem that much more believable.