Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What are the Roles now?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Eirikrautha" data-source="post: 6501294" data-attributes="member: 6777843"><p>Uhhh...no. Just no.</p><p></p><p>Those "roles" didn't exist before 4e in rules or in play. Period.</p><p></p><p>Now, I know some people did play in a way that they could have categorized their characters in that manner even earlier. But that was not a function of the rules, nor was it a requirement of the game. Many tables never had "roles" that corresponded to those.</p><p></p><p>The entire concept of roles (as differentiated from classes) is a product of the forced miniatures/table-top beginning with 3e. Many of the TotM games I played in had no roles aside from your class abilities. And even those were general. A cleric could hold a doorway and crowd-control just as easily as a magic-user with a wall of force... if crowd control was even necessary (which it often wasn't). Roleplay and DM adjudication meant that players were free to come up with clever and creative ways to solve problems, and combat. Roles are only necessary when you are bound to a handful of legally approved actions on a grid, with a rule set that punishes characters for not specializing. And 5e has solved that, with "rulings, not rules" and bounded accuracy.</p><p></p><p>Look, if you have fun with your group assigning "roles" to your characters, more power to you. Have fun. But that's a feature of your table. It's no more part of the 5e rules than wealth-by-level.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Eirikrautha, post: 6501294, member: 6777843"] Uhhh...no. Just no. Those "roles" didn't exist before 4e in rules or in play. Period. Now, I know some people did play in a way that they could have categorized their characters in that manner even earlier. But that was not a function of the rules, nor was it a requirement of the game. Many tables never had "roles" that corresponded to those. The entire concept of roles (as differentiated from classes) is a product of the forced miniatures/table-top beginning with 3e. Many of the TotM games I played in had no roles aside from your class abilities. And even those were general. A cleric could hold a doorway and crowd-control just as easily as a magic-user with a wall of force... if crowd control was even necessary (which it often wasn't). Roleplay and DM adjudication meant that players were free to come up with clever and creative ways to solve problems, and combat. Roles are only necessary when you are bound to a handful of legally approved actions on a grid, with a rule set that punishes characters for not specializing. And 5e has solved that, with "rulings, not rules" and bounded accuracy. Look, if you have fun with your group assigning "roles" to your characters, more power to you. Have fun. But that's a feature of your table. It's no more part of the 5e rules than wealth-by-level. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
What are the Roles now?
Top