Hi Indiana ,
Epic , the developers of Unreal Engine 4 are game developers them self and so , the Game Development Process in Unreal Engine 4 is really well thought out.
Simple Examples:
Actor:Lets say you have a “Door” mesh(3D Model) you want it to be placed around the level , with the ability to be opened or closed
by the player.You would create an Actor Class “Door”
Pawn:Is the recommended Class for a “Playable Actor” , controlled by the Player or AI.
Character:Is a more advanced form of a Pawn Class.“A Character is designed for a vertically-oriented player representation that can walk, run, jump, fly, and swim through the world”.
So it is possible to make a Playable Character from the Actor class , but to implement all the basics needed for a Character is going to be hard work, and thanks to the team at Epic, Unreal Engine has a Character Class with all the basics of a Playable Character already implemented for the developer.
Look through the Content Examples.
You’ll get it eventually.Dont give up.
Ockert