Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="FireLance" data-source="post: 5778078" data-attributes="member: 3424">Well, I'm glad you found this thread useful! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I think the other class and monster role names are a bit more intuitive, so they tend to be understood better, but here goes, anyway. Note: I think Wotc may have some official definitions somewhere, but I'm away from my books right now. These are just my take on the roles. Others may chip in if they think I haven't got them quite right.Striker (class) Classes with a striker role focus on dealing damage. They usually have either some benefit that increases the amount of damage that they deal with their attacks or increases the accuracy of their attacks so that they hit more often. Defender (class) Classes with a defender role tend to have two related characteristics: they have some ability that encourages their opponents to attack them instead of their (presumably squishier) allies, and they tend to have higher than average hit points and defenses in order to survive those extra attacks. I should add that 4e defenders hardly ever draw "threat" or "aggro" in the CRPG/MMORPG sense. Instead, the "defender" mechanics typically involve interfering with their enemies' attacks or gaining extra attacks against enemies who choose to attack their allies.Controller (class) The controller role is probably the least well-defined, but broadly speaking, they "control" the battlefield with area attacks (encouraging their enemies to spread out), imposing conditions on their enemies, or actually changing the battleground by creating effects that damage or hinder enemies in a particular area. As a side point, class roles are supposed to inform what a specific class is designed to be good at. However, nothing prevents any character from trying to act in any of the roles. A striker might try to get an enemy to attack him, e.g. by getting between it and a weaker party member, even though he might not have any ability that would encourage the enemy to do so. Similarly, even though a defender might not have a striker's accuracy or damage bonus, he can still attack and deal damage.Controller (monster) The controller monster role is quite similar to the controller class role. Controller monsters tend to make area attacks and inflict conditions on the PCs.Skirmisher (monster) Skirmisher monster tend to be mobile and often have some ability that encourages them to move around, e.g. dealing extra damage when flanking. Brute (monster) Brute monsters tend to have higher hit points, deal higher amounts of damage, and have lower defenses. Fights involving brutes tend to be shorter and swingier, as the party would either take the monsters down quickly or get taken down quickly.Soldier (monster) Conversely, soldiers tend to have higher defenses and deal lower amounts of damage. Soldier monster tend to cause longer fights because of their higher defenses and lower damage.Artilley (monster) Artillery monsters have better ranged attacks and lower hit points. They are thus dangerous when attacking from a distance, but tend to get taken down quickly in melee.Lurker (monster) Lurker monsters are slightly more complex. While lurkers can be ambushers, the defining characteristic is actually the ability to enter and leave a "lurk" mode, and the most interesting lurkers are able to switch between modes in the same fight. Fighting a lurker is thus ideally like fighting two different monsters from round to round, and the tactics for dealing with one in "lurk" mode should be different from the tactics used in the other mode.Leader (monster) Unlike the class role, leader is actually a sub-role for monsters. Like class role leaders, monster role leaders typically have some ability to restore their allies' hit points or make them fight better, but they would also also have some other role (controller, skirmisher, brute, soldier, artillery or lurker).As with class roles, monster roles are supposed to give an idea of what the monster is designed to be good at. A DM should try to keep artillery monsters out of melee, for example, and should look out for how a leader sub-role monster can use its abilities to help its allies. No doubt, a DM should be able to infer this from reading the monster's abilities, but the roles would also provide a bit of extra clarity.</blockquote>

Verification