You play as the "Nameless Hero", a man who was also the protagonist in the first Gothic. His voice and appearance are pre-defined.
Rather than choosing a class or assigning skill points at the start you are taken right into the game. To develop your character you collect experience and eventually level up, earning you "learning points" (LPs) which you then spend at trainers to improve your abilities or learn new techniques. You cannot teach yourself directly (with the exception of magic items that give permanent boosts when used) nor do your abilities improve automatically with use. Learning points stack up until you decide to use them, so you aren't forced to assign points in order to proceed each time you earn some; in fact, in many cases it's useful to leave a few learning points unspent for when you get access to something that has a high LP cost.
This free-form system means you can make your character into anything you want, within reason. While the game encourages you to stick to a single profession there's nothing to stop you having a fighter who can brew potions or a mage who is handy with a sword; in fact these are both good combinations. Central to the growth of your character is the "guild" (or faction) you choose as part of the main quest; there are three to choose from (mercenaries, militia, and fire mages), and each has its own equipment and training opportunities as well as several exclusive quests and alternate solutions to shared quests. You can only gain access to proper magic by joining the fire magicians, although all characters can cast from single-use spell scrolls and the militia can later gain access to holy magic as a paladin, but beyond that you can ignore the intended skill focus of your chosen faction and go your own route if you so choose. Unlike some games you can finish Gothic II just as easily with a mage or archer as with a fighter; while some degree of melee combat is inevitable, there are no parts where the game throws a challenge at you that is far too difficult because you chose the wrong career path.
