Class- Role- Power Source

[Sadrik]

There has been a lot of discussion of this in various other threads. I thought I would consolidate into this thread the discussion. Here is my list, I also added psionics:

Arcane Power Source
Defender- Duskblade (or equivalent; never liked the name of that class)
Controller- Wizard, Sorcerer
Leader- Bard
Striker- Warlock

Divine Power Source
Defender- Paladin (please make this class religion driven rather than alignment driven)
Controller- Druid (druids shape change should just be spells that they have access to)
Leader- Cleric
Striker- ??? (I have no idea)

Martial Power Source
Defender- Fighter, Barbarian
Controller- ??? (I have no idea)
Leader- Warlord
Striker- Rogue, Ranger

Psionic Power Source
Defender- Psychic Warrior
Controller- Psion (Psions imo should control by mental stuff not by damage spells...) killed the enchanter and took his stuff
Leader- ??? (I have no idea)
Striker- Monk

An interesting observation when writing this up, there simply could be:
No arcane defenders
No divine strikers
No martial controllers
No psionic leaders

 

[breschau]

I find it so interesting that despite the fact that Rangers have had divine spells since AD&D no one wants to call them Divine Strikers. Ranger were pegged as Strikers in the roles video, and they've had divine spells for 20+ years, I don't think that's going away.

The Druid was pegged as a Leader in the roles video as well. Druids were described as being just as capable at healing as Clerics, making them Leaders, not Controllers.

Although I'd hope they didn't include two arcane controllers in the PHB1, I'm not really sure what role the Sorcerer would fill, other than controller.

As it has been confirmed that there are 8 classes in PHB1, I'd hope they'd include two of each role. Defenders = Fighter, Paladin. Leaders = Warlord, Cleric. Strikers = Rogue, Ranger. Controllers = Wizard, ?

Again, I'd hope both arcane classes in the book won't be controllers.

 

[Sadrik]

I seriously debated putting the druid in a leader role. Really, they are sort of a mixed bag of Leader, Defender, and Controller. I was going to go so far as to make up a class and throw it into the divine controller slot: priest- a less martial cleric with more spell power. Not every god is going to have the "crusader type" of priest some of them should be more scholarly. If Paladin could cover the most martial of the gods, Cleric could cover the middle of the road gods and Priest could cover the more academic and less martial gods. That would be sweet.

Ah, but the original ranger got Magic-User spells and Druid spells. I feel they shouldn't be forced to get spells. I think they should just be a scout/leader/guide/mobile/aware/cunning/skirmishing/archery kind of class. Their primary forte should be fighting and that means they should have martial levels. I wouldn't mind at all if they got access to druidishy spells in lieu of other abilities. You know they can always dip in and grab a couple of levels of druid, I am sure there would be some nice synergy there.

 

[Sadrik]

If the Ranger is a Divine Power source that means that all of there powers come from a divine source? I don't like the ring of that. I think that the most of their power should be martial oriented and not divine in nature- they are not paladins, paladins I can totally see being a completely divinely inspired class. Rangers are archers and high move guys looking for opportune openings in the enemies defenses. That strikes me with being a completely Martial power source, I just cant picture them doing all that at the behest of some deity.

Also, in all seriousness, a Martial Controller could be a Grenadier, someone who makes grenades, bombs, explosive potions and other battle field changing devices and uses them. Could be very cool character class.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Sorry this humor is in very bad taste

You said it. In fact, there is no humor, that's how tasteless it is.

 

[Plane Sailing]

My Versions:

Arcane Power Source
Defender- Duskblade (or equivalent)
Controller- Wizard
Leader- Sorcerer (high charisma wizard types. Bards can come later)
Striker- Warlock

Divine Power Source
Defender- Paladin
Controller- Druid (get more blasty spells than clerics)
Leader- Cleric
Striker- Ranger (don't like it there, but as others have mentioned it has the history)

Martial Power Source
Defender- Fighter (I could see Barbarian as feat/talent choices for a fighter)
Controller- ??? (I also have no idea!)
Leader- Warlord
Striker- Rogue

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

My Versions, with predictions on when they will appear:

Arcane Power Source
Defender- Duskblade (or equivalent) ... call him mageblade [PHB2]
Controller- Wizard [PHB1]
Leader- Bard [PHB2]
Striker- Sorcerer (kills warlock, takes his stuff, and now is thematically different from wizard) [PHB2]

Divine Power Source
Defender- Paladin [PHB1]
Controller- Druid [PHB1]
Leader- Cleric [PHB1]
Striker- Ranger (don't like it there either, but oh well) [PHB1]

Martial Power Source
Defender- Fighter (Barbarian/Monk as a fighter development) [PHB1]
Controller- Grenadier (Characher specialized in area-effect throwing/blasting weapons .. tanglefoot bags, acid flasks, alchemist's fire, caltrops, etc) [PHB2]
Leader- Warlord [PHB1]
Striker- Rogue [PHB1]

 

[Sadrik]

Here is my updated list and I thought I would add the OA character classes in too.

Arcane Power Source
Defender- Duskblade (or equivalent; never liked the name of that class)
Controller- Wizard, Sorcerer, Wugen
Leader- Bard
Striker- Warlock

Divine Power Source
Defender- Paladin (please make this class religion driven rather than alignment driven)
Controller- Shugenja
Leader- Cleric, Druid (druids shape change should just be spells that they have access to)
Striker- ??? (I have no idea)

Martial Power Source
Defender- Fighter, Barbarian
Controller- ??? (I have no idea)
Leader- Warlord, Samurai (this would be cool if they were made more like a noble leader warrior)
Striker- Rogue, Ranger, Ninja

Psionic Power Source
Defender- Psychic Warrior
Controller- Psion (Psions imo should control by mental stuff not by damage spells...) killed the enchanter and took his stuff
Leader- ??? (I have no idea)
Striker- Monk (has to be a psychic striker, imo there is no other way to do it)

 

[Sadrik]

Could characters have two power sources without multi-classing? For instance the ranger and the paladin I can see both of them having a martial power source and a divine power source.

 

[see]

Actually, the idea that the 4e druid is a fully-effective healer is merely not contradicted in the video when the interviewer states it -- but the developer takes care not to confirm it, either. Not correcting speculation is not the same thing as confirming speculation.

On the matter of who-fits-where, I agree with Olgar Shiverstone's lineup. I'm not sure I agree entirely on the which-classes-in-PHB1. I expect, of the eight classes, each role will have two classes provided, and that each power source will have at least two classes in the PHB1 (to avoid the 1/3-of-the-book-supports-one-class thing). Maybe Bard in core instead of Warlord?