I set up a survey for my players in an attempt to get them to work together a bit more during character creation, asking what party roles they liked and what they didn't. (Incidentally, it didn't totally work - my group is terrible at teamwork during the game, so forget it beforehand...)
In any case, I defined the following 13 roles for the party.
Blaster - a combat role, the blaster's job is to damage groups of weaker enemies. Traits of a blaster include the ability to do area damage.
Buffer - a combat role, the buffer's job is to directly improve the combat potential of other party members. Traits of a buffer include the ability to increase other peoples' attack, damage, armor class, or resistance to enemy attacks.
Burglar - a noncombat role, the burglar's job is to pick locks and disarm traps. Traits of a burglar include the ability to disarm traps, spring traps with little to no harmful effect, pick locks, or smash doors.
Controller - a combat role, the controller's job is to indirectly improve the combat potential of other party members and weaken the combat potential of opponents. Traits of a controller include the ability to create walls, summon assistance to strategic locations, alter the terrain, or create strategic environmental effects.
Debuffer - a combat role, the debuffer's job is to directly weaken the combat potential of opponents. Traits of a debuffer include the ability to decrease other peoples' attack, damage, armor class, or resistance to allied attacks.
Face - a noncombat role, the face's job is to interact with others when violence won't work. Traits of a face include high modifiers to diplomacy, bluff, or intimidate, or the ability to charm or dominate others.
Healer - a primarily noncombat role (arguably), the healer's job is to restore the party's well-being. Traits of a healer include the ability to restore a substantial number of hit points, and the ability to remove persistent conditions (such as blindness, curses, negative levels, or ability damage).
Hitter - a combat role, the hitter's job is to do a lot of damage to a single target. Traits of a hitter include the ability to inflict a lot of damage.
Quartermaster - a noncombat role, the quartermaster's job is to keep the party appropriately equipped. Traits of a quartermaster include the ability to craft mundane and magical items, or to locate items that can't be created.
Scholar - a mixed role, the scholar's job is to give information on enemy strengths and weaknesses, and understand clues and relevant information. Traits of a scholar include high knowledge skills, or access to divination magic.
Scout - a noncombat role, the scout's job is to gather information on what the party will be facing in the near future. Traits of a scout include the ability to move without being detected, read tracks, or access divination magic.
Survivalist - a noncombat role, the survivalist's job is to get the party through wilderness areas without harm. Traits of a survivalist include the ability to find or create safe food, water, and shelter.
Tank - a combat role, the tank's job is to try to soak up hits and interpose themselves between enemies and the rest of the party. Traits of a tank include high hit points, high armor class, or good damage reduction.
Obviously, some party members will have multiple rolls, and some parties may not even have all the above roles.
Are there any that I have missed? Also, what classes can NOT fill these roles, with some archetype or build? For example, I don't think there is any way a rogue can fill the "Healer" role.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Player 1-4. :D
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Usually, I bring snacks. Chips and salsa, sometimes nuts, cheap beer, or soda pop if earlier in the day.
But on a more serious bent, our group, that has played together for over twenty years now, seldom shows the teamwork I have seen in other threads. We have fun bumbling and bumping heads. Every now and then, it actually works. Go figure.
EDIT: I guess if I had to label the roles most prevalent...
The Contrarian Whatever the plan of action decided, she will point out the problems for its guaranteed failure without any advice towards a different plan.
The Brooding Plotter After all discussion and planning are finalized. After the actions have been performed, he will announce to the group, "What we should have done was..."
The Instigator No matter the plan, no matter the moment, he will do something entirely off base. Perhaps in a stealthy exploration shout "we are here!" or decide the queen of the land just needs a lil' lovin' from his character. He is always ready with the wrong action.
The Decibel Diplomat By shouting the loudest, her way becomes the party's decisions.
There are probably others, I just can't think of them.
Greg
|
My thinking is that there are 4 main roles, with a couple of sub-roles.
Tank- High AC, HP's and decent damage to leep stuff on him. However, without any type of aggro table, and with any sort of monster intelligence, this prolly isn't gonna be very effective
DPS -Ranged
-Melee These are usually high damage, but usually very squishy
Heals Self explanatory
Skills Self explanatory
The importance of these roles will vary wildly depending on your type of game. And yes, I admit I am tainted from playing WoW for many years, so I tend to use terms that don't really have a place in PnP
Lol! Bravo Lilith! Our group has most of your specific archtypes, I just never thought to apply those particular tags.
Oops! Kudos to Greg instead, my bad. My eyes are tired.
Tank
Skill monkey
Support
Damage
These aren't necessarily restricted to particular characters but it's usually in the party's best interests that they have their bases covered.
I don't know why nobody is taking this seriously. These aren't the reductionist classic roles, these are actually fairly meaningful.
Pretty certain Marius and Cylyria were offering "serious" replies. Lilith's reply, though humorous, could also have been serious. She may have been saying all characters can crossover these different roles during the course of a campaign or game session. Dunno..thought it a fun reply though.
Not certain what the "reductionist classic roles" are.(fighter,cleric,thief,wizard?)
As for fairly meaningful, well, maybe for some groups. For most the groups I have played in, if I were to bring this up, eyes would glaze over, and side conversations about Game of Thrones or what so and so is knitting would abound.
If my irreverance is offensive to the OP, I am sorry. I guess I was mostly trying to convey a group can game together and have fun without having great teamwork. My main group got together in 1989. We still play and still do not "mesh" with characters. Current game actually has a person that hates anyone of lowbirth and ugly... and a ugly fellow of lowbirth. :P
Greg
|
|
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
In combat... to shed the boring MMORPG terminology, why not go with something a little closer to IC ideas.
The Anvil the bulwark that enemies crash against. He holds the line, prevents enemies from getting past to the fragile party members. Should have big AC and HP, and probably some abilities to stop enemies moving past him. Sword and Board fighters fit well here.
The Hammer the one doing most of the smashing. While the Anvil keeps the enemy where it should be, the Hammer then goes to town beating it up. This can be a Barbarian, a DPS Rogue, even a blaster caster. May be ranged or melee, or versatile.
The Smith he organizes things and keeps them together. Typically a wizard job with battlefield control spells. This player should have a strong grasp of tactics. Needs ranged abilities. We're thinking of a Treantmonk-style "God" wizard, but it could also be a priest or druid with control spells.
The Bellows keeps the fire burning. Healing, obviously, but since it's more efficient to kill the enemy to stop the hurting soon, than to heal a whole lot during combat, this also involves some blasting. Archetypally a priest, but a blaster sorcerer with a bag of handout healing potions or UMD Wand of CLW can do the job as well.
Of course, with the wide range of classes, the lines get a bit blurry. I think the most defined role is actually the Anvil; all the others blur a lot, but a designated Tough Guy who intercepts enemies is the founding stone of tactics.
I don't know why nobody is taking this seriously...
Apart from the fact that some obviously do, you will notice at these boards that there is a strong objection against putting players/characters into roles defined by one or two sentences.
In other words: everyone can be anything, there is no need for roles, we are all free, yabba dabba duuu.
.
.
.
Oh no, my reply makes me a Contrarian, damn.
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I think it's important to watch out for the mental trap of thinking in MMORPG party roles. Those are similar but not the same, because in a tabletop RPG the monsters are run by an (intelligent) DM, they're not mechanical puppets (usually). You can't rely on the rules of the programming that specify which behaviors will draw aggro. The enemy may even innovate tactics based on your behavior.
That doesn't mean there aren't party roles in PF, but they work a bit differently. There may be a lot more "soft", RP roles out there (Face, investigator, quartermaster, magical analyst...) that don't pop up the same way online.
Some other roles:
Record Keeper - the guy who remembers the intricacies of plot, clues, and things that happened way back.
Assassin - someone who takes out special enemies like a caster hiding in the rear.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
The original post is a fairly comprehensive list of things characters can be good at, and things that a group might regret not having. I would add:
Transporter - someone who can move the group rapidly, generally by magic. Teleport, dimension door, wind walk, summon phantom steed, etc.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Words like Healbot and Skill Monkey make my skin crawl...
Tank, DD, CC, Healer, Buffbot
There you have it in all its glory.
^^ Even though the MMO lingo makes me shudder (my own prejudice, probably unjustified), those do cover it.
Of course I'm sure you could get four PC's to cover those five rolls, or spread them over six.
^^ Even though the MMO lingo makes me shudder (my own prejudice, probably unjustified), those do cover it.The "MMO Lingo" owes it's origins largely to D%D. In fact the word "Tank" as a role was used in roleplaying games, particurlarly superhero RPG's years before the first MMO came out.
I think I first heard the term "tank" for someone designed to take lots of punishment in Champions RPG back in the mid to late eighties. IIRC, the others were Blaster, martial artist and EGOist. Could have remembered later editions terminology though. But truthfully, it wasn't until third edition that I started hearing anyone refer to D&D characters with these titles. Or is that D&D toons?
Greg
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
My group is also not very good at the teamwork aspect, though we are trying to improve. Just not always successful.
We have a couple of players that always have the PC's completely planned out long before anyone else even starts to think about theirs. So the rest of try to fit in around them.
We usually go with the need for someone to:
Melee - At least 1 usually 2 that are decent at this.
Healer - Condition removal more than cure wounds, since it is often fairly easy to get a wand or potion of cure. Remove paralysis, neutralize poison, lesser restoration, etc... are much harder to find.
Face - At least 1 preferably more have some charisma, diplomacy, sense motive, etc... We often spread these out over several PC's.
Ranged - Could be spells, arrows, or bullets.
Fixer - Find and remove traps. But we often make do without this one in PF. It no longer seems as essential as it used to be.
Knower of Facts - Knowledge skills, maybe prefession and craft. We often spread these out over several PC's.
Appetizer: Flavorful thing to eat first (cleric or oracle)
Salad: Easy to digest food with few hit points, I mean calories (wizard)
Main Dish: Tough and stringy meat dish (melee warrior)
Desert: Food that looks nice as well as being tasty (sorceror or bard)
Or one who leaves or abandons. Those pesky teleportation spells and all.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
My experience, a gaming group often have these roles:
"The Snowflake": Makes a character based off whatever idea he has at the moment, and brands you a nazi fascist scum if you dare point out that not having BAB+1 until level 4 makes his "Stylistic skirmisher" useless in combat. Usually requires a competent character to babysit him, and a GM that coddles him for his character to have any spotlight.
"Captain Armsrace": The powergamer that annihilates anything as fast as possible. Has at least two dump stats that does not affect him, cares little for actual RP, but does damage in the 100s/has DCs in the mid 20s by level 5. Also applies to GMs who want every fight to be a challenge, forcing the players to optimize to survive.
"The Glue": The guy who does his best to ensure the party works. Doomed to forever play clerics, bards and other support characters that can help snowflakes survive and take care of the "face" aspect that Captain Armsrace disregards.
"The Hardcore Historian": The one who stops the game to voice his opinion that having longsword statistics apply to a BROADSWORD is an affront to his entire being, and that historically accurate should trump rules.
"The Lawyer": The player that stops game to look up rules if there is any disagreement or conflict of understanding whatsoever. Often someone who also GMs. Does not care that flow and immersion is broken, the game must obey the LAW. Will also never accept a GMs ruling if in doubt unless shown written proof.
"The Instigator": The behavioral mirror of The Snowflake. Will voice her opinion, shoot others down, and not give two whits that she is being obnoxious, rude or disruptive towards the penultimate goal of the game: Fun. If SHE is not having fun, NOBODY is gonna have any gosh durned fun!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
My experience, a gaming group often have these roles:
"The Snowflake": Makes a character based off whatever idea he has at the moment, and brands you a nazi fascist scum if you dare point out that not having BAB+1 until level 4 makes his "Stylistic skirmisher" useless in combat. Usually requires a competent character to babysit him, and a GM that coddles him for his character to have any spotlight.
"Captain Armsrace": The powergamer that annihilates anything as fast as possible. Has at least two dump stats that does not affect him, cares little for actual RP, but does damage in the 100s/has DCs in the mid 20s by level 5. Also applies to GMs who want every fight to be a challenge, forcing the players to optimize to survive.
"The Glue": The guy who does his best to ensure the party works. Doomed to forever play clerics, bards and other support characters that can help snowflakes survive and take care of the "face" aspect that Captain Armsrace disregards.
"The Hardcore Historian": The one who stops the game to voice his opinion that having longsword statistics apply to a BROADSWORD is an affront to his entire being, and that historically accurate should trump rules.
"The Lawyer": The player that stops game to look up rules if there is any disagreement or conflict of understanding whatsoever. Often someone who also GMs. Does not care that flow and immersion is broken, the game must obey the LAW. Will also never accept a GMs ruling if in doubt unless shown written proof.
"The Instigator": The behavioral mirror of The Snowflake. Will voice her opinion, shoot others down, and not give two whits that she is being obnoxious, rude or disruptive towards the penultimate goal of the game: Fun. If SHE is not having fun, NOBODY is gonna have any gosh durned fun!
i would like to add a few roles to the quoted list
"The Fanboi" they usually have an object of unhealthy obscession they channel through all of thier characters. some of them might seem to be creepy fetishes but this isn't always the case. this object of obscession can be anything from ninjas, to elves, or even fauxlitas. you can tell this is the case when the last 5 characters in a row played by the player in question. it's best not to ban this concept not matter how creepy it may seem, because it alienates that particular player. they typically embody some of the traits of the snowflake. only they are more predictable. female versions are called "the Fangirl"
"Mister TMI" this may take a variety of extremes, but they usually tend to deliver too much explicit detail in thier gaming. this can be as minor as "i need your restroom for 30 minutes" or as extreme as describing thier character's sexual activities or clothing choices in explicit detail. some descriptions work better than other. "youthful and small framed" works a lot better than "childlike"
"Mister Cinema" this guy usually favors cinematic descriptions over following the rules and insists that rolls be fudged in favor of "rule of cool". they tend to complain if thier character dies at an unheroic moment or due to unheroic means.
"The Cheater" this guy is in it to win it. he fudges rolls, cheats and deliberately misreads his sheet and forgets buffs he adds as an afterthought. he forgets to track daily resources but something seems wrong when he has cast 10 fireballs that day.
"the tagalong child" usually the younger sibling or child of another player in the group. they usually require guidance due to not being familiar with the game on the grounds of a short attention span derived from thier precocious age. they occasionally catch party members in blast radius.
"Doctor Forgetful" when they update thier character, they tend to forget thier bonuses, or forget to update them. they often forget about key class features and forget easily ingrained mechanics, such as higher hit points from constitution or the bonuses for a bane weapon.
"the Signifficant other" usually the romantic partner of the DM or an influential player within the group. they get whatever priveleges they want from from the DM due to thier connections. in place of a romantic partner, it may also be a childhood friend or a sibling.
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
A good party needs these things:
- Somebody to kill enemies, this can be a spellcaster, a single-target hacksaw kind of character or a flesh whirlwind a la the alchemist
- Somebody to take the heat off the other characters. A flashy paladin, a meat mountain of a fighter or a summoning focused caster all apply here. A monk with high saves and AC can do it in a pinch(or too well with the right combat styles)
- Somebody to heal afflictions. While, out of combat, healing can be done by most of the classes, there needs to be somebody that can remedy maladies such as blindness, ability damage and such. It's always a spellcaster, but does not need to be a dedicated one. A combat cleric with a Remove Fear is just as fine as a Cleric of Healing and Headpatting
- Somebody to provide general utility. This is best achieved by highly skilled semicasters, like alchemists and bards, but rogues can do it as well. Oh and rangers later on! They are the one with the right knowledges, the correct buff and the useful tidbit that everyone else forgot to carry.
- Somebody to coordinate all of these "roles". The kind of gal or guy who can stop this smorgasbård of people from turning into general mayhem or just working off half-formed strategies and not listening to each other. This role does not necessarily have anything to do with the technical side of things. Instead, it requires an intelligent person with some management skills. Tends to remember what kind of loot everyone got, where's the nearest town and what the hell we were fighting last spring. A good person.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
we always looked that for every important skill there was someone who maxed it.
For the rest, one (prepared) magic user, so that we can possibly have any (arcane) spell.
And perhaps one mundane damage dealer, melee or ranged isn't important.
And (because we're oldschool) one healer, even though wands would do the trick just as well.
But really the only thing we decided was who took what skill. Perception being of course maxed out by pretty much everyone.
i would like to add a few roles to the quoted list
"The Fanboi" they usually have an object of unhealthy obscession they channel through all of thier characters. some of them might seem to be creepy fetishes but this isn't always the case. this object of obscession can be anything from ninjas, to elves, or even fauxlitas. you can tell this is the case when the last 5 characters in a row played by the player in question. it's best not to ban this concept not matter how creepy it may seem, because it alienates that particular player. they typically embody some of the traits of the snowflake. only they are more predictable. female versions are called "the Fangirl"
"Mister TMI" this may take a variety of extremes, but they usually tend to deliver too much explicit detail in thier gaming. this can be as minor as "i need your restroom for 30 minutes" or as extreme as describing thier character's sexual activities or clothing choices in explicit detail. some descriptions work better than other. "youthful and small framed" works a lot better than "childlike"
This is not something to take pride in having done. Please stop.
This is not something to take pride in having done. Please stop.i would like to add a few roles to the quoted list
"The Fanboi" they usually have an object of unhealthy obscession they channel through all of thier characters. some of them might seem to be creepy fetishes but this isn't always the case. this object of obscession can be anything from ninjas, to elves, or even fauxlitas. you can tell this is the case when the last 5 characters in a row played by the player in question. it's best not to ban this concept not matter how creepy it may seem, because it alienates that particular player. they typically embody some of the traits of the snowflake. only they are more predictable. female versions are called "the Fangirl"
"Mister TMI" this may take a variety of extremes, but they usually tend to deliver too much explicit detail in thier gaming. this can be as minor as "i need your restroom for 30 minutes" or as extreme as describing thier character's sexual activities or clothing choices in explicit detail. some descriptions work better than other. "youthful and small framed" works a lot better than "childlike"
What are you asking Shuriken to stop?
^^ Even though the MMO lingo makes me shudder (my own prejudice, probably unjustified), those do cover it.The "MMO Lingo" owes it's origins largely to D%D. In fact the word "Tank" as a role was used in roleplaying games, particurlarly superhero RPG's years before the first MMO came out.
I'm not surprised to hear this. The memories of how the game was for me don't represent the community at large. I wasn't a Con-goer or anything. I was in a bubble, playing with a closed group, all of them introduced by me. After a long hiatus I'm playing now with a different generation of gamers and when I first heard those terms I was like what the hell is DPS? I couldn't help associating the lingo with the short attention span that rules the day. Like I said, I know its a prejudice and I need to lighten up. I'm working on it.
I'm not surprised to hear this. The memories of how the game was for me don't represent the community at large. I wasn't a Con-goer or anything. I was in a bubble, playing with a closed group, all of them introduced by me. After a long hiatus I'm playing now with a different generation of gamers and when I first heard those terms I was like what the hell is DPS? I couldn't help associating the lingo with the short attention span that rules the day. Like I said, I know its a prejudice and I need to lighten up. I'm working on it.^^ Even though the MMO lingo makes me shudder (my own prejudice, probably unjustified), those do cover it.The "MMO Lingo" owes it's origins largely to D%D. In fact the word "Tank" as a role was used in roleplaying games, particurlarly superhero RPG's years before the first MMO came out.
I think it's really cool that you're willing to work on that sort of thing. I've met sooooo many people who are like "Oh, well I blame the MMOs anyway". IMHO, self improvement is always a noble goal, and an extremely positive trait in a person. One can respect someone who can re-evaluate something, rather than plugging their ears and humming. *<(^-^)>* (cheerleading)
Also, fun fact. D&D has DPS as well. It's actually 1/6th your damage per round. That's literally how much damage you deal with every passing second of in-game time. Sweet, eh? So if a fighter can deal 100 DPR, then his DPS is around 16.6. (^-^)
I think the rejection of "MMO-Lingo" is due to a certain archetype of players that many agree are a detriment to the average group.
The war-gamer
Often coming from competitive tabletop/PC war-games, winning is everything for this player. The type who optimizes to the point where he hardly cares about anything else. The kind of player who will know EXACTLY how to get his character to deal the maximum amount of damage, and knows his characters stats by heart... but could never answer questions such as "What is your characters hair color?" without checking the sheet, which he just filled in as an afterthought, between figuring out how to get the most out of his point-buy, and plan his build so he gets build-critical feats as soon as possible.
This player will invariably break the game to some degree. He will have no problem defeating monsters of a CR within 2-3 steps of his level in a single round (unless the GM has tweaked the HP, in which case it might last for 2), making combat frustrating for the GM and boring for the players.
I think it's really cool that you're willing to work on that sort of thing. I've met sooooo many people who are like "Oh, well I blame the MMOs anyway". IMHO, self improvement is always a noble goal, and an extremely positive trait in a person. One can respect someone who can re-evaluate something, rather than plugging their ears and humming. *<(^-^)>* (cheerleading)
Yeah I figured out a while back that being proven wrong feels good because it expands your mind.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Role I expect my party to fill?
Friend.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I think the rejection of "MMO-Lingo" is due to a certain archetype of players that many agree are a detriment to the average group.
Lately Ill take whatever type of player I can get though. The pool of people interested in this hobby is small enough already, so I embrace all of them. It's even helped me discover other aspects of the game that are pretty cool. When I heard the players talking about the party roles they needed to fill in such technical terms, I started building encounters the same way, and now it's fun for me.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I think it's really cool that you're willing to work on that sort of thing. I've met sooooo many people who are like "Oh, well I blame the MMOs anyway". IMHO, self improvement is always a noble goal, and an extremely positive trait in a person. One can respect someone who can re-evaluate something, rather than plugging their ears and humming. *<(^-^)>* (cheerleading)Yeah I figured out a while back that being proven wrong feels good because it expands your mind.
Preach it brother! :D
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Lately Ill take whatever type of player I can get though. The pool of people interested in this hobby is small enough already, so I embrace all of them. It's even helped me discover other aspects of the game that are pretty cool. When I heard the players talking about the party roles they needed to fill in such technical terms, I started building encounters the same way, and now it's fun for me.I think the rejection of "MMO-Lingo" is due to a certain archetype of players that many agree are a detriment to the average group.
I can definitely say with the utmost certainty that a group of NPCs using traditional party roles can make for amazingly fun encounters. All the marks are there, they just might not be so obvious.
For example, if you have an...
Ogre, evil Dryad, Dark Creeper, and an Imp Sorcerer, you have your own little monstrous party, and a fun encounter in the making. :3
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The terms that still get on my nerves are Healbot, Buffbot, Skillmonkey because they sound pejorative and overly reductionist.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In my experience, party roles are fluid, often overlapping and have considerable grey areas, but they definitely do exist. There's no particular need to force them into concrete boundaries but acknowledging their existence can help a lot.
I played PFS recently for the first time and when I said I was a bard someone said OK great you be the buffbot. Im the healbot, this guys the meatshield.
I was like "ok well Im built for archery and I took grease and charm person so I was hoping to contribute with a little bit of battlefield control, and maybe find out of combat solutions if the need arises. I think initiating inspire courage might not be my best use of an action every time. Also I don't have the precise shot line of feats yet so if you guys can keep positioning in mind so I can get some clear shots that would be great."
Needless to say I spent the scenario as pretty much a minstrel.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I don't like the idea of party roles, but I do know that parties need functions. It doesn't matter who does them, or if several people do them, but they need to be fulfilled.
Direct Damage: bottom line, somebody has to hurt the enemy. Doesn't matter if they blast it, shoot it, or go with old faithful hit-it-with-something-sharp-and-pointy, the enemy need to take damage.
Healer: In combat healing is not a good thing, but out of combat healing can be essential - especially for nasty conditions like ability drain or negative levels.
Loremaster: usually someone in the party 'knows stuff', usually a wizard or bard. However in their absence every class has knowledge skills.
Tank: somebody in the party has to be able to sustain attacks from the enemy. Preferably everyone.
Trapspringer: locating (and if possible removing) traps is in many cases essential.
Utility Caster: any spell not covered by another category goes here. A party doesn't need a buffer, or a controller, or a transporter, but it does need some level of magical support, and this is it.
Utility Skills: a party does not need a Face, or a Quatermaster, but they are useful to have around. Having a boat isn't much good without a sailor, having a rope isn't much use if you can't climb. Usually everyone has a little of this, unless they dump-stat intelligence.
|
i would like to add a few roles to the quoted list
"The Fanboi" they usually have an object of unhealthy obscession they channel through all of thier characters. some of them might seem to be creepy fetishes but this isn't always the case. this object of obscession can be anything from ninjas, to elves, or even fauxlitas. you can tell this is the case when the last 5 characters in a row played by the player in question. it's best not to ban this concept not matter how creepy it may seem, because it alienates that particular player. they typically embody some of the traits of the snowflake. only they are more predictable. female versions are called "the Fangirl"
Don't forget that the backstory of the fanboy's go-to-character is the epic saga, and your campaign is just the sequel. Also, you'd best not entertain thoughts of killing off that character, because he's DM'ing next and his character is the central NPC.
Roles aren't all that necessary, just make sure someone can heal everyone up after combat and that someone can deal decent damage and you have an okay party.
|
Character roles
-=-=-=-
The Smasher - The smasher is the one who deals the most damage the fastest. Usually a melee character, sometimes a glass cannon. May also be the tank, but not always.
The Technician - The technician is the one who deals damage (or allows the party to deal more damage), but is a lot more tricky about it. Likes to use combat maneuvers and other such things. More about exploiting the enemy rather than just battering them. The technician, like the smasher, is sometimes the tank. Can also be the buffer/debuffer of the party if a spell caster, but generally isn't the tank in these situations.
The Tank - Everyone knows what the tank is, the tank is the damage sponge. They're the fullplate wearing bulwark that keeps the enemy away from the squishies. Often a solid damage dealer, but not always.
The Problem Solver - The problem solver is the one that deals with difficult situations that can't generally be solved by hitting things. This role is usually filled either by a highly skillful character (such as the rogue or the bard) or by a non-specialized spell caster. They're the ones that open locked doors, sneak past guards, spy on enemies, disable traps, and traverse obstacles.
The Face - The face is the wheeler and dealer of the group. He or she is the one who generally acts as party spokesperson and handles the charisma based issues.
Supplier - The artisan is the one who keeps the party stocked in interesting things. Generally makes liberal use of the craft/spellcraft skill or the fabricate spell. Keeps you rolling in arrows, alchemical substances, or magical items at cost.
The Stinger - The stinger is a ranged damage dealer who usually stands back and spreads damage out over the battlefield. Archers and evokers are common in this role.
The Swarmer - The swarmer fights by proxy, using summoned creatures, animal companions, charmed enemies, or undead. Generally a spell caster of some bent.
The Doctor - The doctor generally acts as the party's healer, as well as dealing with status conditions and debuffs. Usually a cleric.
=============
Player roles
-=-=-=-
The Rules Lawyer - The rules lawyer isn't someone that points out the rules when they come up, the rules lawyer is the person who will argue with the DM after they make a decision. Sometimes the rules lawyer is justified (even necessary), but often they are simply an annoyance.
The Method Man - The method man (or woman) is the one who is always in character. While rare these days, the occasional LARPer who also does table-top tends to be the most likely person to fill this role.
The Theatric - The theatric is the one who adheres strictly to the rule of cool. If the bad guy is giving a monologue, they will let him finish. If the paladin is engaged in single combat with the Dark Lord Murderface who killed his family years before, they'll allow the fight to play out because it's something "the paladin has to do alone." Basically they'll act in the manner which is most dramatically convenient.
The Pragmatist - The exact opposite of the theatric. The pragmatist will pay no heed whatsoever to the concept of storytelling, they're there to complete their mission without dying in the process and they'll be damned if they're going to pass up on a golden opportunity to kill the bad guy before the fight even starts.
The Kender - The Kender is not necessarily someone who plays a Kender (for those of you unfamiliar with Kender, here), but nearly every person I've encountered who chooses to play a Kender falls into this category (as such, I always refer to this sort of player as a Kender in my mind). Kender are the people who treat gaming as an opportunity to troll their fellow players and DM. They will build a character who gives them every excuse to screw with the party at any opportunity. They're the person who plays a paladin in a CN party. They're the person who kicks down the door to the evil hideout just after the party finishes detailing their plan to sneak in through the back way. They're the ones who derail the plot, not because their actions make good sense, but because they can. They're the person who plays a Kender just so they can deliberately steal, insult, and wander into stupid situations in order to aggravate the other players. (NOTE: Not all players who play Kender fall into this role. The Kender CAN be played properly, I've just never seen in happen in practice; though I have heard of such things)
The Black Knight - The black knight is the one that insists on quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail at least five times a session. May also quote The Princess Bride, Labyrinth, Willow, Highlander, Hawk the Slayer, Beastmaster, Conan the Barbarian, Dragonslayer, Red vs. Blue, or The Gamers. Everyone does this once in a while, but it seems like there is always at least one person who does it ALL THE TIME to the point where it almost derails the game. (NOTE: Quoting Ladyhawke does not fall under this category, but it will confuse people as they'll have no idea what you're quoting)
The Trademark - The trademark is the player who always makes a character that is a blatant rip off of an existing character. While not always a bad player (one of the best played and most interesting characters I've ever seen started off essentially as a rip off of Neji from Naruto), it can be a red flag. Like the black knight, most people do this once in a while. The difference is that the trademark ONLY does this.
The Significant Other - The significant other is generally there because they are dating/married to one of the players or (more commonly) the DM. While gamers often date or marry other gamers, not all of them fall into this category. This role is reserved for people who are ONLY there because they're dating. These people tend to be very green and either completely uninvolved or ridiculously up in everything.
The Tactician - The tactician is the person who loves planning and scheming. While this sort of player can often be beneficial to the party, they can also turn the most simple of tasks into the most time consuming and convoluted procedure imaginable.
The Metagamer - This is a role that can people can often fall into without meaning to do so. Typically an experienced player who has read all the published materials. They know every monster, they know the DCs of every trap entry, every type of lock, and breaking point of every material. They know how many HP a half-dragon ogre has and the layout of every room in the Tomb of Horrors. Consequently, they often find themselves doing things their character couldn't possibly know. It's not always blatant, they might count HP in their head or subtly alter their tactics, but it's still there.
==========
I could probably come up with more player roles, but I'm getting a bit tired of it right now. Maybe later.