2.e The Roles

Roles are used as guidelines for player development. Character classes naturally follow certain roles, and so their abilities naturally fit into those roles. Players can enhance those with other choices such as equipment, skills and feats, or they can shift into adjacent roles.

Player Roles

Aegis
Protector first, Aegis focus on abilities that mitigate attrition, and draws attention to themselves.

Architect
These focus on making sure that their team has the right resources to do things.

Ally
These are the ones that focus on bringing out the best in other people.

Transgressor
Usually the most aggressive person on the team, they know how to cause damage to things.

Tactician
These are the stereotypical controllers. Manipulators of the opposing faction.

Trencher
If you need the other side to have a bad time, just the absolute worst time, then this is who you need.

Finding Your Role

RPGs have been around for a long time. And with it, certain concepts have risen and fallen. They have subverted and swapped places. And depending on genre, they have been labeled differently, resulting in people treating those roles differently.

With that, we tried to identify 6 primary roles for players, and establish what those roles are trying to do in the game. While some cross-over does happen and is encouraged, each role has a higher focus on some aspects.

Player roles are labeled in concept as: Prevent Damage, Heal, Buff for your side and Cause Damage, Control, Apply Conditions to the other side. Which isn't saying that Buffing an ally wouldn't Prevent Damage, or that you can't control through damage.

When you are building an encounter, you can make sure your bases are covered with a team of any 3, as long as you have a role from each of the two types, affecting yourselves and affecting others.

Typal Monster Roles

Tank (Vanguard/Warden)
High damage, high defense, high health enemy. This monster role is focused on disrupting targets, either by guarding others or controlling players in the front line.

Fighter (Juggernaut/Diver)
Not as tanky as a tank but with more damage, or with more mobility and higher damage than a tank.

Mage (Burst/Warlock)
Mages are focused on spell casting. They restrict players to allow follow up spells, or sustained area damage.

Slayer (Assassin/Skirmisher)
Fragile, but agile. These monsters can sneak to the back line and hit players who think themselves safe with high damage attacks, and specific ways to defend themselves. They also can be skirmishers, capable of holding their own and repeatedly go in and out of combat.

Controller (Enchanter/Catcher)
Fragile, but focused on disruption and manipulation of positions of the players. Controllers entire focus is on making the fight last longer.

Ranger (Marksman/Artillery)
This monster type does bombardment attacks or sustained ranged damage.

Monster Categories

Typal monsters have 6 primary roles as well. These focus on what the monsters do in combat and are often combinations of Player roles. Furthermore, Monsters get strength categories, such as an Elite, which is a stronger more resilient version, and a Boss which is an Elite with responsibilities.

Finally, monsters can be categorized as Minions or Solo. While a Typal monster sticks to one role, specialist versions of the roles are generally modified as explained below.

Swarm - Monsters with lower health but average ability.

Typal - Average version of a monster.

Elite - A special version of a Monster role. Usually mixing the role with additional abilities and defenses. Might have a second wind, depending on the role.

Boss - An elite that also has healing and buffing abilities for the other monsters. Boss monsters almost always have a second wind, sometimes more, depending on rank and level.

Solo - A monster that is treated as several monsters at once, usually capable of taking as many actions as an entire party, but by itself. While it can trend towards one of the roles, it can draw from abilities from any role. Solo monsters will have multiple second winds as well as a regenerating shield that has to be broken before they take damage.

Second Wind is a monster version of a Life Fount. Just when the Boss is about to be defeated, they come back, seemingly at full power, but with a new restriction or a change in defenses.

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