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Message: <blockquote data-quote="maddman75" data-source="post: 1313428" data-attributes="member: 2673">I think that archetypes are alive and well in 3e.  Sure, you can make a cleric/wizard/fighter/rogue, and completely suck at all of them.  3e will not protect you from making an inefficient character.  If you want to play Bobo the brain-damaged half-orc paladin with a wis of 4 and a cha of 5, go for it.  You'll be the crappiest paladin in history, but the system won't stop you.  While a character may be a Fighter4/Rogue3/OOBI5, they'll still call themselves an "archer".IME, this tendency extends into even classless systems.  Most RPGs are meant for the PCs to act as a team, and everyone wants to be a useful part of the team.  In addition there are generally several roles that need to be filled.  I played a lot of Merc and Twilight 2000, a skill based classless system.  When we'd put our team together, one player would be the sniper, another would be the scout/spotter/forward observer.  Another would be the heavy weapons guy.  Another would be plain 'ol infantry.  Another might be a pilot or expert driver (or commonly both).  Which always made me wonder - why not put these archetypes into classes and save everyone some time at chargen?3e gets you the best of both worlds.  You get nearly all the flexibility of a classless system while still retaining archetypes and niche protection.  This saves work - I've yet to meet a role playing game that didn't reward specialization over being a jack of all trades.</blockquote>

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