NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mearls" data-source="post: 4217863" data-attributes="member: 697">It isn't quite that simple. We still want to map all the humanoid types to the different roles, but we'd like to express that flavor in those roles. Here's an example:Gnoll Controller: This guy throws bolas to bring down the pack's prey. He's good at tripping people with ranged attacks, and he can also throw nets that restrict movement. These tactics work well with the rest of the gnolls who want to crowd around a target. He might also have an encounter power that lets gnolls shift 2 or 3 squares as an immediate action, to help pile on a downed foe.Orc Artillery: This guy carries a huge crossbow, heavy throwing hammers, or maybe those orc shot puts from Sword & First, a weapon that's inaccurate but delivers a devastating shot, maybe with a push 1 to allow the orcs room for manuever. The captures the brute feel of orcs. He carries a two-handed weapon and, compared to typical artillery monster, is pretty good in melee and has more HP but a lower AC.The concept is that we want every role to exist within a creature type, but we want to flavor those roles to match that type. The danger of the role system is that it could lead to bland design, with all artillery looking alike, and so on. To push monsters apart, we create "tent pole" mechanics and flavor and then design around that.With respect to devils and demons, the succubus's MO fits devils better. A similar creature cast as a demon might use more brutal, direct methods to achieve a similar end. For example, a demon that uses illusions to appear beautiful or horrid, depending on its goals. In beauty mode, it can prevent others from attacking it, and use mind control to turn enemies into its puppets. In horrid mode, it creates an aura that drives enemies away and causes them to attack creatures at random.We have to accept that sometimes people won't like our classifications, but I think they're important for creating a design blueprint going forward. The game is a lot more fun if gnolls, orcs, demons, devils, and goblins all have significant differences, especially since the design structure could facilitate lazy design that lets monsters blur into each other. You could plug in baseline numbers by role and level and the game functions fine, but fine isn't good enough. We want something evocative and flavorful.</blockquote>

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