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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 4575875" data-attributes="member: 7635">Wouldn't that be Gygax/Anderson, circa Supplement 1: Greyhawk?Kidding aside, the reason these roles work is because they fill the most common playstyle archetypes for balanced play. The problem with later classes (like bard, druid or monk) is that they don't replace these important niches. Monks can't be "fighters", they don't have the staying power. Nor can they be rogues, they lack the dungeon-skills (traps, locks) to do the job. Surprisingly, that was one of the greatest strike AGAINST earlier D&D that 4e tries to fix; disassociating critical skill and magic spells from specific classes. Before, you had to be a rogue/thief (or a class with similar talents) to find traps. That meant that unless you didn't mind blundering into spiked pits or your DM was leinent on trap-detection rules, SOMEONE had to be the rogue. Ditto with clerics with healing. Some classes had decent replacements (a paladin was an acceptable fighter substitute) but others failed miserably (a bard couldn't hold weight against a rogue's job). This was their form of niche protection; force the need of a certain class as being the only one who could do its job. (A side effect of this was the explosion of new base classes in 3.5: scouts were like rogues, favored souls were like clerics, knights were like fighters, etc.)Now FWIW; 4e has allowed us to break the secondary roles being niche-protected. Rogues aren't the only trapfinders, clerics the only who could cast raise dead. In fact, only COMBAT roles (striker, defender, etc) are hard-wired; a party with a paladin, bard, ranger, and druid with proper skills (perception, thievery) and feats (ritual caster) can do every major thing a fighter, cleric, rogue and wizard can. (Can't say THAT about 3.5!)</blockquote>

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