D&D 5E Common Character Roles

[FrogReaver]

There are various roles a character may take in a party. Roles will be split by in combat and out of combat roles. Some roles are used both in combat and out of combat (for example, healer). I think we can categorize roles by function. Here's my preliminary list. Any changes? Is anything missing? Ultimately I think we can assign each class with a certain minimum and maximum value for how well it can fill each specific role. I think it would help provide a nice visual for where class actually stand. Anyways please see the roles below. I'm sure I've missed some. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Combat Roles
Healer
Striker
Ranged Striker
Tank
Buffer
Debuffer
Controller
Artillery
Mage Hater

Non Combat Roles
Scout
Party Face
Infiltrator
Strong One
Smart One
Tracker
Survivalist

 

[Sword of Spirit]

You missed:

Holy Person
Trap-finder

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Gaming groups I have been part of have never used terminology like this, but then, most people I have gamed with never played 4th Ed D&D or WoW, and honestly, when I got back into gaming with the release of 5th Ed, I saw these terms on various forums and had no clue what they meant. The closest my groups ever got to using any special terms for what characters were doing was the point man, the character at the front of the marching order who was the scout/trap finder.

 

[Ath'kethin]

Everybody claims they don't want to be That Guy, but pretty much every group has one.

 

[BoldItalic]

Talker
Listener
Rumour Gatherer
Optimist
Pessimist
Deconstructivist
Holist
One who is favoured by the gods
Philanderer
Map Maker

 

[cbwjm]

I don't think I spotted it but I tend to also have arcanist as a role, someone who knows something about magical matters and has some magical power to back it up.

Sent from my [device_name] using EN World mobile app

 

[Lanefan]

Player roles (usually very clear-cut):

Mapper
Treasurer
Maker of drinks for the DM

Character roles (not always as clear-cut as they might look here, and sometimes one character holds multiple roles):

Scout / sneak
Trap manager
Front-liner
Healer
Blaster / shooter
Support / utility
Diplomat
Professor (a.k.a. knower of things)
Hench or general dogsbody

Can't think of much else a party would regularly need.

 

[FrogReaver]

Gaming groups I have been part of have never used terminology like this, but then, most people I have gamed with never played 4th Ed D&D or WoW, and honestly, when I got back into gaming with the release of 5th Ed, I saw these terms on various forums and had no clue what they meant. The closest my groups ever got to using any special terms for what characters were doing was the point man, the character at the front of the marching order who was the scout/trap finder.

This is not a 4e thing. This is not a WoW thing.

Labels help describe what something is. They help us call out patterns and spot patterns in the future.

For example if a player wanted to play a character like Ricky Balboa (fights with heart and doesn't go down and if he does he gets back up) then we could describe the player as wanting to play a "tank". Then if we had the various classes rated in terms of tankyness the player could review that and make a more informed decision.