Support chars, generally. Viable in real life, viable in roleplays, provided the roleplay setup can accommodate it.  Doc, field medic, healer, merchant, supplier, a down to earth bard who focuses on the bard thing, roadside wanderer who can't fight worth a damn but can cook, carry, do support things in a fight ("get the macguffin!"), etc.

Sounds like a perfectly viable element, but like anything else in roleplay, it's about execution.